At the end of August Dell and I drove up to Portland, Maine to attend Picnic Portland, an outdoor crafts and music festival. It was extra fun to walk around and play tourist instead of being a vendor myself. The bonus was that so many of my amazing friends were set up and selling! Here's a recap of the people I saw and since it is show season, I asked them to tell me where they will be selling in the coming months so you can go find them and purchase their excellent handmade wares.
First up is Danielle of Merriweather Council! I love her intricate and elegant embroidery, I will soon have TWO of her hoops hanging on my studio wall.
Check the calendar section on her blog to see where you can find Danielle's work in person:
http://www.merriweathercouncilblog.com/calendar/
Next I found Eling of Migration Goods and Rhino Fluff with all her adorable hand-cut felt accessories and her beautiful handspun yarn:
Check out the links in the sidebar of her blog to see where Eling is showing this season:
http://elingeling.typepad.com/blog/
Next I was pleased to run across Laura of Pansy Maiden, especially since I have one of her wonderful bags :)
Find Laura's list of upcoming events here:
http://www.pansymaiden.com/events
Another bag maker I love is Lisa of Red Staggerwing. I have a bag from her on my wishlist, the materials she uses are fun and contemporary, and I love the bag shapes as well.
You can get a beautiful bag of your own at Lisa's upcoming shows:
9/24 Concord Arts Market, Concord, NH
9/25 SOWA
10/8 & 10/9 Warner Fall Foliage Festival, Warner NH
10/15 - back at Concord Arts Market, Concord, NH
10/16 - Portsmouth Open Market, Portsmouth, NH
10/29 - Concord Arts Market
10/30 - SOWA
11/26 & 27 Hingham Shipyard Holiday Market, Hingham, MA
12/4 Bazaar Bizarre, Cyclorama Boston
12/10 SOWA Holiday Market, Boston
Jen of Zooguu was also there, with her adorable plushies. They are irresistible to children and adults alike! I have a fox ornament and I can't wait to put it on the tree this year:
Check out the cuteness at Jen's upcoming shows listed on her shop homepage:
http://zooguu.com/
Last year Dell and I bought all our holiday cards at craft shows, it was tremendous fun and I suggest you do the same. A great place to start would be with letterpress artist Melissa of Pressbound:
Check her events page to see where you can find Melissa's paper goods this season:
http://www.pressbound.com/events/
Another purveyor of paper goods was at the show, the lovely Kristin Crane! Her travel inspired journals are perfect for those with wanderlust:
Check out her paper-goodness at these locations:
November 11 & 12: Twist, in Northampton
November 20 & December 11: Craftopia in Pawtucket
And of course the amazing Craftland shop in Providence, RI!
I met Amy of AG Ambroult on the craft show circuit, I love her handcrafted jewelry, it manages to be rustic and elegant at the same time:
Find her work here this holiday season:
Portsmouth Open Market Oct 9
South End Open Market Oct 30
Hingham Shipyard Holiday Market Nov 26&27
SoWa Holiday Market Dec10
There were two people I'd developed craft crushes on over Twitter and I was undaunted by threat of impending hurricane as I raced northward to meet my e-friends. The first is Cassie of Shop Clementine (not pictured) whose delicate and thoughtful jewelry has everyone captivated:
Find Cassie's work in her Etsy shop and at these fine shops:
Grow Gallery, Shelburne Falls, MA
The Feather's Edge, Bend, OR
Monograham, Delafield, WI
Sacred Hour, Lakewood, OH
Sassafras, Rochester, NY
Rural Route 1, Chicago
Andi's Closet, Duluth, MN
The other crush was on Amanda of Longwinter Farm. I'd bought her soaps a long time before I found her sassy tweets on my twitter.
By the way, my shop crushes were justified, they are real and they are spectacular. Cassie and Amanda, I mean. Amanda's soaps and balms can be purveyed in her Etsy shop!
I hope you get to visit these fine hard working makers this season! You can find where I'll be showing on my Appearing Live and shop links sidebars over there ---->
