extreme craft weekend

This weekend was Murphys Seasonal Bazaar & Bloomington Handmade Market. We also made a visit to Bloomingfoods (actually, 2!), Paper Crane, and Fountain Square Mall to visit Yarns Unlimited and Stefano's Ice Cafe.  I was busy, and pooped by the end of it - to say the least.

The weekend began at the Murphys Seasonal Bazaar, where a bunch of us were crammed in the west hall offering a seemingly non-stop mile of art & crafty stuff (okay, a mile is a bit of an exaggeration). I loved how close in proximity we were to friends (like Martha of Sunday Afternoon Housewife and Michelle of Busty's Fun Bags) so we could actually chat! It was busy at times, but as with most first fridays, we had more lookers than buyers.

The next day we were up before the sun to head down for Bloomington Handmade Market. I wasn't vending, but Mamus was. I was running around town while he was slinging teeth & ornaments.  I spent a few hours "working" at Bloomingfoods, and then picked us up some delicious lunch. I got to visit a favorite local yarn shop (even though I read many good reviews, it doesn't hold a candle to Mass Ave Knits) & we got coffee from our favorite Bloomington coffee shop, Stefano's Ice Cafe.

After wrapping up a pretty successful day, we headed over to Paper Crane for the after party (and to finally check out the space!). The space is beautiful - simple without being overwhelming. I'm excited to see where they go with things as they grow! We spent a while chatting with other tired folks like Mike Altman and Luke of Opera House Press before taking off for the hour long drive home.

And now I am 2 days into an extremely long work week - 6 days, 4 demos, and Georgetown Market's two-day anniversary sale.  Not to mention the load of special orders I have to complete, and the men's scarves I'm making for Fabricate in Cincinnati.  Whoa, I just got tired thinking about it!

Luckily there is a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow (week), and his name is Ben Kweller.

 

Have you ever seen a better tour poster?  Once again, for the third time in under 2 weeks, I will return to Bloomington.  If you know me, you know I don't like Bloomington.  But, I think it's rubbing off on me. Any tips on where I should visit this weekend while I'm there? 

Murphy's Seasonal Bazaar

Join me at Murphys Seasonal Bazaar tomorrow, November 6th, from 6pm to 10pm, for part 2 out of 3 of my seasonal events!

 

I'll have more than enough warm, winter goods for you to wrap yourself in.  And by the looks of things, you're going to need it.  We've see a few rogue snowflakes today!  

If you don't see anything you like tomorrow, I'm still taking custom orders!  You can find the available styles & yarns over at nutritiousknitting.blogspot.com.  Handmade gifts make great holiday gifts, and it's even better if it's customized to fit your preferences!

Saturday I'll be at the Bloomington Handmade Market with Mamus slinging his goods. 

He'll have some of his ever popular monster balls, cute hair pins, new drawings, & these amazing little teeth.

 See you soon (hopefully)!

fifteenth

bloomington handmade market has now come and gone. there was a pretty nice turnout & a nice selection of products/artists - overall pretty successful for a first time craft show/fair. i didn't do as well as i had hoped, but still good!

here are a couple of shots of our "booth":





it was crazy sunny in there the first half of the day - probably the first day in a few months that i got my fill of vitamin d!


my poor scarves didn't sell as well as i had thought they would. but i've come to somewhat of a conclusion based on comments & whispers that i've heard - everyone believes a hand knit scarf is something that they can make themselves. james suggested that my knitting is "too good" and doesn't look hand knit (awww, isn't he sweet) so people are not so inclined to purchase such an item.

regardless, since most of my knitting patterns are based upon my own designs, i think having a pattern (or small pattern book?!?) available for sale may be the way to go. maybe even a kit...

james had tons of success with his monster balls:




aside from the fair itself, my car was trying to overheat the whole way down there - but we made it. we unfortunately drank some terrible coffee but then made up for it with some super delicious coffee (from stefanos cafe! we met some super nice people. some lovely friends drove down to meet us and eat fried pickles & greek food. and on the way home we stopped to get a thin mint blizzard!

next up, holiday hoopla - indieana handicraft exchange mini on friday, december 4th @ the chatham center. i'll basically be selling monster balls for james, a few scarves, and perhaps some of my own holiday items (handmade stockings? knit ornaments?). should be fun fun fun - terrible sleep pattern time in full effect!