SOWA Open Market

I did my first SOWA Open Market (formerly South End Open Market) of the season on June 22nd. I shared a tent with the generous Candace of The Intuitive Garden.

Candace's set up in progress:

I did this show in Boston's Arts district twice last year. Etsy offered new sellers two sponsored spots for the season to try it out. The first one I did was how I met Candace! There were to be four Etsy sellers and we were to pair up and share two tents. I went into everyone's Etsy shops and decided that Candace's items were the best match for me so I contacted her to see if she wanted to share and that was the start of our collaboration. It helps she had a tent :) It was so funny that day because the other two Etsy sellers were perfectly matched for each other too! Very goth and dark.

Anyway, I wasn't going to do SOWA again this year, though the setup is easy and the show is very well organized by friendly professionals and I like the mix of vendors. I did it those two times and I didn't make great sales. But Candace is very convincing and she talked me into doing it the full five (maybe 6?) times this year by reminding me that it's inexpensive enough and wouldn't I have fun hanging out with her on a Sunday afternoon? Of course she was right so I signed up and we are in it until October!

We sat next to Amy Burhoe:

And Elizabeth Brennick:

Wonderful neighbors, super nice people who happen to be amazing artists! They were also at the Boston Handmade Marketplace, about which I will blog next :)

(BTW, you can see in the first pic I'm wearing an Elizabeth Brennick apron, got it at stART on the street in Worcester last September, LOVE IT!)

The SOWA Open Market is supposed to be open from 10-4 but the weather has been very unpredictable. Around two o'clock, Chris, who runs the show, came over and told us a storm had blown over Fenway and delayed a game so if we wanted to pack up we were welcome to. The wind was picking up and the skies were threatening...

...so we took the opportunity to escape before it might rain on us and ruin an otherwise really fun day. Candace had just experienced some torrential rain in New York at the Renegade show and she wasn't looking forward to that again. We broke down in record time and escaped dry and tired. And dirty. Wow, there is a lot of dirt flying around in a windy parking lot!

We will be at SOWA Open Market:
July 13
Sept 7
October 5th and 12th

Come say "Hi!"

JAMBRAree and the Marston Building

We attended the JAMBRAree street festival in Lowell on June 14th. JAMBRA stands for Jackson Appleton Middlesex Business Resident Association. It was a new event, a parking garage was just completed on Middlesex Street and the historic Marston building was renovated into 7 open floor condo units with a retail area on the the ground floor. Vendors and performers set up along Jackson and Marston Streets. Even though there wasn't a vendor fee, I did not do the show. But D, Amanda and I did walk over to check it out.


It was hot out, the show was on a side street that doesn't get a lot of traffic. I don't know how well advertised the event was, I felt for the vendors, and after talking with a few of them I was grateful I didn't try to show there.

We did enjoy going through the Marston building which was having an art show/open house where you could walk through all the units and view art on all the walls. the units are outfitted in Ikea and have nice views of the city. It was extra fun to run into friends like Anna Harrison and Ashlee Welz Smith. Also it was a great chance to see Lowell from a different perspective and take pictures! These are from the Marston:

Dirty Smelly Noisy Party!

We had a great time at the DSN opening party on June 7th! It was unbelievably hot, 90+ degrees and muggy but who cared?

E, D and F having fun:

Liz of Lush Beads displaying one of her creations intricately assembled from tiny beads and reclaimed computer parts found on Western Avenue,

Everyone brought food and drink and many entertainments were arranged; DJ, multimedia video show,

Lance Gargoyle on keyboards,

and there was also an Eyeformation Live Paint where the design was created in the midst of the festivities!


I even got to meet the super cool Moontree Studios and Clockzilla, here I am with the painfully adorable Moontree:


The Dirty Smelly Noisy show runs through June 30th so make sure you get up to Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, MA to see all the artwork throughout the mill complex. The closing party will be on June 28th at 7 PM, see you in the loading dock!

I'm in the Boston Phoenix!

So that's nice :)

I was interviewed because the writer saw my blog post about Dirty Smelly Noisy and he came up to check out Western Avenue Studios for himself.

I think he enjoyed it, so if you get a chance, you should come visit too! We have Open Studios the first Saturday of every month from 12-5, and the opening for the Dirty Smelly Noisy exhibit is this Saturday, June 7th at 6pm.

Come say "Hi!"

What's Up?

Hey, thought I'd update you on the latest from Lowell and nearby environs. First, I entered this polymer clay shell pendant necklace in the the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy or PCAGOE June challenge whose theme is "Summer Vacation".


And I delivered my check and photographs to be included in the promotional literature associated with Lowell Open Studios which is the last weekend in September, it's an exciting event for all Lowell artists!

I have been developing a few new products as well. They are not yet for sale in my Etsy shop, but moving in that direction. Here is a nest ponytail holder (thanks to Eve for modeling):



There is also a nest bobby pin in the works (someone is product testing one for me now). And I have had a specific request for nest rings, so I may have to try that as well.


Yesterday I lined up with a bunch of artisans and we lugged our stuff out to the middle of a field for the first ever stART on the Street: stART in the Park event at Beaver Brook Park in Worcester, MA. I shared a tent with the talented and generous Candace of The Intuitive Garden.

It was a beautiful day with no rain, but the wind was brutal.


If you've done craft shows you know how nerve-wracking wind is. The giant gusts blew in and we all scrambled to keep our carefully constructed displays from disintegrating. It was a constant struggle all day and people did suffer breakage :( If you are not a crafter or have never set up outdoors on a windy day, let me tell you, we were all frazzled! Our nerves were shot, but we smiled through it:

(Thanks to Candace who snapped this shot of me!)

Here's our row:


Our tent:


My side:



My view:


The crowd was large and friendly and in good spirits, but unfortunately not too many were in a shopping mood, lots of cute kids though:


I did see friends and meet some new folks and really enjoyed the interactions with fellow crafters. We were lucky to be able to set up next to Peter, glass artist extraordinaire of LaSal Mountains Studio:


Peter and Eve have a studio at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell where I also have a studio.

I was also happy to see the husband and wife team of Such and Such Productions slash Two Guitars and Amy Olson Jewelry



They are the nicest people and they make beautiful things! You may remember how I framed a postcard from Such and Such Productions for D for his birthday.

I couldn't help myself and bought some stunning crocheted earrings from adorable Etsy seller Tangerined:


Another Etsy seller who set up yesterday was Black Sheep Designs. Candace and I were very pleased when she came over and introduced herself, we are both very familiar with browsing her other Etsy shop which sells supplies,
Black Sheep Beads:



And there to help us all get where we needed to go was stART on the street coordinator Sarah of Three Cat Nite, thanks for all your efforts and helpful volunteers!

Now I need to set my studio display back up for Open Studios which happens this Saturday, which coincides with the opening of Dirty Smelly Noisy. Whee!