My First Out of Town Show...

So last weekend was my first out of town show, Cowtown Indie Bazaar, in Fort Worth, TX. It went pretty well. I guess I had somewhat higher expectations for an out of town show but it sounds like I did better then some. Everyone from Etsy Forth Worth was super nice though and I would probably go back next year.  

Cowtown was the start to my crazy busy fall! I probably won't be writing more then once or twice a week on the blog because I'm actually in the process of putting together a brand new website/blog for the shop. Along with fall shows every weekend, raising a 3 month old, and my mom visiting next week for the first time since we moved to TX my time is very limited right now. :) I also got into Blue Genie Art Bazaar which is super exciting and stressful at the same time. I have calculated I have exactly 4 weeks of working time to make mass amounts of product for the month long Christmas consignment sale.

Oh, I have also been writing blogs over at Austin Craft Riot to help out with the holiday show. Since I'm overseeing all the goodie bags for the show I'm going to post blogs featuring some of the fun stuff people have donated starting next week.  I will try to keep up with posting some of my new projects (both personal and shop related) along with recaps from shows here but if you need a fix head over to Austin Craft Riot.

This was my booth at Cowtown. I had lots of new stuff for this show including new screen print fabrics, clocks, license plate skulls and more. You can find more product pictures on my Facebook page. 

I also had mini, mini mustache pillows that everyone loved. I originally intended these to be heating pads because they are the perfect shape for your forehead or neck but I got bored so I stuffed them the night before the show.  As you can see my little helper was not much help. :)

On Friday after we setup we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. Everyone said that the Dallas Zoo is better but I was pretty impressed. Wade got up close and personal with a baby chimp who came bolting up to the window when he bent down. The weather was beautiful and I think Gabe just enjoyed all the colors and sounds.

Here are some of the goodies I traded for or won in the raffle while I was there. Lets just say I made out like a bandit!

upcycled clothing necklace by The Snootie Pig
vintage domino pendant by Maggie May I?
skull and cross bones dog lease by Lizziebees
 pirate tooth fairy box by Sima Design
recycled paper necklace by Make It Sick
notebook by Subtle Acts
soap and lotion by Clean Jellybean
notecard, print and love notes by Fifi Duvie
awesome owl painting by 3 Bears Studio

Happy Monday!

I had a busy weekend of grand openings, fall fairs, birthdays and more. Enjoy these pics...

Friday Night...Official grand opening of ATown. My stuff looked great! 

 

Saturday...My first fall fair after being home all summer with baby Gabe.

 Austin Flea at The Highball

My new shutter door display for screen prints. I thought it looked pretty sharp. :)

New mini French mustaches. These were a popular seller this weekend.

 

New CD coaster sets, also a popular item at the Austin Flea this weekend.  

Sunday...I'm 30!! I spent my birthday selling with friends at the Cafe Medici downtown.

Fall Fair: Handmade & Vintage put on by The Thinks.

I finally got to use my other new shutter display and it was great!

Spoons are back! I just inherited 500+ from my sister and her thrifty shopping so expect to see them at all my fall fairs.

Another new display I made out of pegboard, newspaper and a thrift store frame. A little stain on the frame to darken it up and it'll be perfect!

First Shows of the Season

Come join me for my first fall show, Austin Flea, tomorrow at the Highball from 11am-5pm! I'll be outside enjoying this beautiful Texas weather and sipping mimosas. A portion of the proceeds from tomorrows flea will go to the Central Texas Red Cross & Austin Pets Alive to help with the relief efforts of the local fires. For more info visit their Facebook page HERE.

Then on Sunday I'll be at the Cafe Medici with Kelly from GemJunkie and other awesome handmade vendors for the Fall Fair from 10am-5pm. For more info visit their Facebook event HERE.

Fall Fair Preview

Check out this video by Hannah featuring the Fall Fair artist that will be showing at the Cafe Medici on Sept. 11th...including me! Also, visit the Facebook event by clicking HERE for more info and to see who's attending.

Handmade & Vintage Fall Fair at Caffe Medici from Hannah Stoney on Vimeo.

DIY Project: Tabletop Headband Display

This is the first of several DIY projects I hope to bring to you that center around displays for your tables/tent at craft shows. I have some ideas for new displays that will enhance some of my products for this fall and once again I'm excited to share them with you all. This project is also great for home if you have a collection of headbands like me that you would like to show off or don't know how to store properly.

What you need:

• 1.5" or larger diameter wood dowel cut to desired length (mine is 24" but you can make a smaller version if you wish to use this at home on your dresser, etc.)
• 6" or larger round wood base with a minimum 1/2" thickness (mine is a pre-cut wood base from a craft store)
• quilt batting
  
• fabric
• glue gun
• duck tape
  
• drill and a 2" wood screw
• sewing machine (optional)
  

The first thing you want to do after you have cut your wood dowel to desired length is to attach it to the base. Find your center, pre-drill a hole through both pieces and attach with a 2" wood screw. I used some E6000 glue at the joint to help increase the strength.

After you have your base attached the next step is to wrap the dowel with batting until you meet your desired diameter. I started with hot glue at the base of the dowel but had difficulty getting the batting to stick to itself as I added layers so I used duck tape as a base to add glue and start a new layer. I ended up with a finished diameter of approximately 4.5" as shown in the right photo below. This seemed to be an appropriate diameter to fit all my headbands snugly onto the vertical stand without falling off.

The last step is to cover your headband stand in fabric. I used a scrap of cream canvas I had laying around because I like the rough texture and it matches the color theme of my shop booth. You can use almost any type or color of fabric but I recommend using something simple that compliments or shows off your headband collection.

I measured my fabric to desired length (24" plus seem allowance) and used a sewing machine to make a 4.5" tube with a circular top as shown below. Remember to leave the bottom open so you can slide it onto the headband stand. For tips on how to sew a circular pattern click HERE for basic information on how to sew a bolster pillow. Its essentially the same idea. If you don't own a sewing machine you can cut your fabric to desired length just as I did but instead use a hot glue gun to adhere it to the batting/base.

Once your done sewing your fabric cover simply slip it onto the batting/base and use a few drops of hot glue to fold and secure the fabric along the wood base. I left an additional 1" seem of fabric along the base to do this so I could tuck the fabric neatly under the batting. The few drops of glue help secure the fabric so it doesn't shift during your travels.

Add your headbands and your done! I hope you enjoyed this headband stand DIY project. I look forward to bringing you more projects centered around show/booth displays in the near future.

FALL FAIR: Handmade & Vintage

The Caffe Medici holds only a couple shows a year so don't miss out on this one! There is still room to be a vendor so if your interested or have questions please email Hannah at hellothethinks@gmail.com.

September 11th is my birthday so I'm looking forward to a fun afternoon hanging out with my fellow crafters. Put it on your calendars and please come by and visit!

LAST CHANCE!!

Today is the last day to apply for the Austin Craft Riot Holiday Show on November 12-13th. Don't miss out on this great opportunity! If this is your first major craft show don't worry, the ACR team is dedicated and working hard to make your experience a fun and memorable one. For more information or to apply click HERE!!

Renegade Craft Fair

On May 21-22nd the Palmer Event Center here in Austin hosted their 2nd annual Renegade Craft Fair. I was one of the lucky 200+ handmade vendors that was selected to participate. I shared a booth with my dear friend Kelly from GemJunkie and enjoyed the company of my fellow Austin Craft Riot teammates including Craft Chi, Baby Bolt, Pommes Frites, Robo Roku, Nepenthes Bathtime and more.

This fall the Renegade circuit is coming back to Austin November 26-27th for their first ever holiday show. Applications open in August and I am hoping again to participate in this amazing event. For more information or to apply check out www.renegadecraft.com. For now enjoy some fun pictures of our booth from Renegade Austin 2011!

Gem Junkie on Etsy

Well since things didn't work out to great for Pommes Frites at the Gibson Street Market I joined forces with Kelly from GemJunkie and Etsy Austin this past weekend. Saturday afternoon we both set up tables at Newflower Market Art Bazaar. They treated us really well and I hope to make it back there soon. Sunday we were back on Gibson and South Congress and decided to try and share a tent. I think it worked out pretty well and we are going to give it another shot at the Salado Market Days coming up on August 7-8th. Here are a few goodies I took home from Kelly this past week....

Surprisingly I don't have any brass earrings in my collection (I'm a silver girl) so I was excited to get these two pairs of antique brass earrings with turquoise and green mosaic beads. I love the birdies!

I also got these adorable silver pears and ceramic pendant. Check out more of Kelly's famous $5 earrings and bead supplies at GemJunkie.etsy.com!

CRAFT FAIR UPDATE

Well as you may know I tried a new location this last weekend at the LAZ lot on the corner of Gibson Street and South Congress with Kristen from PommesFrites. It went much better (for one of us at least). The location was easy to get to, free parking, lots of traffic and overall a great environment. Oh yeah, and I actually sold a ton of stuff! I'm definitely going back on Sunday. Not sure PommesFrites will be back but you'll be able to find Kristen and her shop at a variety of fall events starting in October. Don't forget you can always visit her shop at www.pommesfrites.etsy.com.

Also selling at the Gibson Street lot is Kelly from Gem Junkie (famous $5 earrings) and Merritt Gade (beautiful wire jewelry) from Etsy Austin and I am hoping Ginger from Modern Macrame joins us this weekend.

This coming Saturday I'll be at a craft bazaar from 2pm-7pm at the Newflower Market on Manchaca Road. Feel free to stop by and say hi!

My New Shop Sign

Above is my sewing station I set up in the middle of our living/dinning room when I need to spread out and work on big projects. Below to the right is a detail of the letters I stitched onto scrap fabric I had left over from other projects. I used left over turquoise fabric from my new table covers to line the backs of each piece. On the left is my new Baby Lock sewing machine. Its a great little machine for basic sewing.

The finished sign for my craft fair booth. Its about 8-9 feet in length and the individual squares are 7"x9.5". I love how it turned out! I'm hoping it catches a few eyes at First Thursday next week.

ARTISAN MARKET

Well, my first booth at the Artisan Market on South Congress here in Austin didn't go as well as planned. I was told it was the slowest Saturday of the season so far and I believe it was due to the 90+ degree heat we had. I was one of only three booths in my area that made any sales and I barely made enough to cover my fees. It was also very windy and I wasn't able to set up some of my displays as planned. It was still a great experience. I met some nice people; got a lot of compliments on my booth; and gave out quite a few business cards. I believe the money and time was worth its gold in marketing even if I didn't make a lot of sales. Depending on the weather I'm definitely going back this weekend to give it another shot. This week I'm working on a few new projects I didn't get done last week including some scrap fabric sign banners and a picnic silverware/napkin set made out of tin cans. I'm also hoping to get some of the new items I have photographed and up on Etsy.

Here are a few photos of my stuff from the fair. Enjoy!

My Sign & Paper Goods
(I'm going to redo the sign with color and better lettering for next week. I felt rushed to get setup and ran out of time.)

Garden Spoon Makers

Bottle Cap Magnet Display

Bottle Cap Pendants & Longhorn Charm Necklaces

I didn't get a great picture of this at the fair but I wanted to show you my display tree I made with a pieces of scrap metal and a dead branch from our front yard. Its about 24" tall and it worked great to display my license plate garden decor and two small wind chimes I had.

NEW LABELS

I've still been busy, busy getting ready for my first Saturday market. I can't wait to take pictures and show everyone what I've been working so hard on. I did take two days off last weekend to enjoy a Miranda Lambert & Wade Bowen concert and an afternoon of BBQing by the pool. I also picked up a 10x10 commercial canopy at Cabellas to cover my table from this unpredictable weather we seem to be having.

This week I've been working on packaging everything up so that means stickers! I designed these cute "Thank you" stickers for my recycled brown bags and the small ones for the back of my pre-packaged products. I am also toying with new business cards that I would like to get professionally printed eventually in both aqua blue & chartreuse. Let me know what you think. :)

(Sorry for the FCC sensor blocks but I didn't want to advertise my personal cellphone openly on the web. I like to keep it to customers, friends and family)

CRAFT FAIR TABLE

This is some of the great stuff I've picked up for my craft fair table so far. Almost all of the second hand items you see I've picked up for under $50! I will mix in a few more things from around the house and I should have a beautiful, coordinated booth of products.

I picked up some antique drawers, baskets, silver trays, glass bowls and an old Samsonite piece of luggage to display everything in. I found a cute (and fairly comfy) compact chair; a mirror for customers to try on jewelry; and a chalkboard for $2 to make a welcome sign. I also picked up a blue glass vase for $1 and a few dried flowers for display. With all the beautiful fabric I will make a table cloth and a fabric banner with my shop name on it. I'm using the extra scraps of fabric to make other projects such as the gift tags I posted Wednesday. I'm very excited this is all coming together!

RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR REVIEW

I loved it! It was a long Saturday and a little overwhelming but it always can be with these kind of events. Coming from a small town in Idaho we don’t get many big craft fairs and when I would visit a fair it was usually a bunch of crafty old women with country décor and baked goods. This was not country crafts! It was a very young, very modern group of artists and craft fans. I was impressed with the variety of products and shops that were there, and there were a lot of them. Many of my favorite sellers from Etsy were in attendance along with some amazing local artists. There was everything you would expect to find at an indie craft fair: screen print T’s and posters, unique ceramics, jewelry, letterpress cards, printed pillows and home décor, hand sewn bags, buttons, clothes and more. This year’s Renegade mascot was an owl and a theme reviled itself as you walked the isles of the Palmer Event Center. I wasn’t there to shop but I ended up taking a few things home from some of my favorite Etsy sellers in support.
Stuff I picked up at the fair:
1- ‘You and me are awesome’ poster, unknown! I lost a few business cards and I’m terribly sorry I did because I really liked these guys and would like to give them credit.
2- Tree print, Laura Berger Art & Illustration, www.laurageorge.etsy.com
3- ‘It’s not that far, really’ 5x7 card, Rar Rar Press, www.rarrarpress.etsy.com
4 - Letterpress cards, Letterpress Delicacies, www.letterpressdelicacies.com

The main reason I attended the Renegade Craft Fair was to scope out how the professionals set up their booths and present their products. I’ve done a few craft fairs back home with my future mother-in-law but it was nothing compared to some of the beautiful setups I saw this weekend. A couple common themes were vintage display cases, luggage, furniture or crates to house products; and colorful banners and fabrics with shop names or Etsy store info. These are things I’m going to take into consideration over the next couple weeks as I prepare to set up my own craft table at our local Artisans Market on South Congress. Here are a few photos from my favorite shops and artists…

Pictures starting left to right and down:
1- Mary Ink, www.maryink.etsy.com
2- Laura Berger Art & Illustration, www.laurageorge.etsy.com
3- *Letterpress Delicacies, www.letterpressdelicacies.com
4- Circa Ceramics, www.circaceramics.etsy.com
5&7- *A Wahl Designs, www.awahldesigns.blogspot.com
6- Smug Mug, www.weekendcreations.etsy.com
8- Clay Wood & Cotton, www.claywoodandcotton.com
* Austin Locals

If your anywhere near one of these major cities I would definitely check this craft fair out: Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Brooklyn. Its free and a great place to find unique handmade gifts, home decor, jewelry and clothes. You can find more information at www.renegadecraft.com.

You can see all of my pictures from the craft fair at My Flickr. Enjoy!