each one is unique

the day finally came (crafty supermarket)

What an amazing experience! Ladybear (Rachael Smith) and I embarked on our first craft fair not exactly sure what to expect. Will people like us? Will we make any sales? Will we make some new friends? The answers are yes, yes and YES!

It surpassed my expectations. I made some great new connections, bought some amazing crafty goods from talented neighbors, and learned a great deal about vending and myself! The fact that my jewelry sold was just a footnote to it all!

Thanks so much to everyone that came out to support us! It absolutely means everything to me.

Here's some shots from our big day:

Yellowberry & Ladybear.

It's yellow!

The crowd lining up to get in early, and get their hands on the early bird swag bags.

Some of the mega-talented vendors that we shared a space with.

This is our lovely assistant Rachel Scheller. She's the best!

Yellowberry, all set up and ready for customers!

Ladybear is taking care of business!

first peak, a test run

I gave my Crafty Supermarket booth set up a dry run this afternoon. I spent more time than was necessary arranging everything just so. I photographed it a dozen times, so I can duplicate the set up. Then I had my mom, dad, brother, soon to be sister-in-law, and best friend over to have a look at it. They ooohed and ahhhed appropriately.

I think it looks pretty swell, and I can't wait to get down the the Crafty Supermarket on Saturday, and sell next to all those extremely gifted artists and crafters! I'm so happy and anxious.

Also, I would like to take a minute to recognize my favorite ladies who came over and spent hours wrapping little metal rings, stuffing shopping baggies, making buttons, and keeping the atmosphere light. Thanks so much Maria, Allison, Tessa & Alissa. You guys are the best friends a girl could ask for!

Crafty Super Market

Yesterday was a big day for me. First off, I booked a cruise! More on that later. Secondly, Yellowberry (that's me) & her very good friend, Lady Bear Crafts (owned by dear friend, Rachael Smith—no relation), found out we have been selected for a duel booth in Cincy's very own Crafty Super Market!!!!!
Holy moley, do I have some work to do!

The two of us submitted an application weeks ago, and have been waiting with bated breath ever since. We're both so pleased, and so proud to be a part of such an independent, special event. I'll be selling my jewelry and accessories, and Rachael will be selling her uber adorable, hand-embroidered paper goods (think greeting cards and bookmarks and stuff). This is our very first time as vendors, so your support would be treasured! Also, you would have the chance to do some great shopping, and come away with some truly unique pieces.

Here's the skinny:
Crafty Super Market
Saturday April 17th, 2010
11am-6pm
Clifton Cultural Arts Center

Here's my "Ashlyn" necklace that just might find it's way in the show:
This is one of Lady Bear's greeting cards (check out her blog for the latest news in her world):

craft night: bubble paper prints/stationery

Remember when blowing bubbles in your drink and annoying the heck out of your parents was your idea of a good time? It still is? Mine, too. You'll feel right at home with this project. Now we didn't walk away from this craft thinking "success!". Our prints didn't look just like they did in the craft book (but still looked pretty swell). Though, they so seldom do. So I'm not too stressed. However, this was definitely the most fun craft night to date! what you'll need:

1 small bowl (like soup bowl size)

1 straw

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon dish soap

10 drops food coloring

light colored paper of your choosing

What to do:

1. Completely combine the water, sugar, dish soap, and food coloring in the bowl. Be very liberal with the food coloring, otherwise, your bubbles will be rather faint.

2. This is the part where all those "That's What She Said" jokes started to come into play. We're a mature bunch... Get out that straw and start blowing! slower is better. It makes bigger bubbles which print better. That's what she said!

3. Gingerly scoop the larger bubbles off the top of the bowl and arrange them to your liking on top of your paper. Resist the temptation to pop these bubbles or blow them away. Put it aside to dry. At this point, you are done! Now write someone a pretty letter, or do a fancy drawing. If you want to get really crazy, repeat steps 2-3 with a different color for a two-toned affect.The finished product, which was completed by my friend Alissa. She was the one who really got the hang of it.
happy crafting!

craft night: freezer paper prints (again)

Due to the unfortunate amount of snow that we've been experiencing in Dayton, Ohio, craft nights have been few and far between. No one has been sadder about this than I. However, we have a real gem planned for next week, so crafting balance will be restored to the land once more.

We did manage to squeeze one in a couple of weeks ago. It was a do-over since freezer paper prints were so popular, and we had an almost completely fresh group of ladies.

So just to show off what we created, here's freezer paper prints (again):

Scandinavian tea towel by Maria N.

Personal crest tote bag by rebecca r.

whimsical birdie tote by maria j.

It's the "can-you-tell-I-design-school-products" tote by me.

craft night: upcycled paper bows

I'm always excited to find good uses for old magazines and miscellaneous scrap papers. I was overjoyed when I found a tutorial for making your very own scrap paper bows. I found it here at How About Orange. I'm sure she does a better job at demonstrating this craft, but I'll take a stab at it, too.

A word from the wise. This project takes a couple of goes at it until you get it just right. Don't get discouraged! It gets a lot easier and a ton more fun as you get a few under your belt.

What you'll need:

8.5 in x 10 in scrap of paper

Hot glue gun (as always)

Stapler

Scissors

1. Cut 9 strips of paper 3/4 inches thick.

Make 3 of them 9 inches long.

The next 3 should be 8 inches long.

The next 2 should be 7 inches long.

The very last one should be 3.5 inches long.

2. Take one end and wrap the outside so that it touches roughly the middle of the inside and creates a pointy little loop, like so.

3. Do the same with the other side and staple it in the center. I found that the pointier you made the loop, the better the end result. Yes, this is a piece from a different bow. I need to spend less time chatting with my girlfriends, and more time taking pictures.

4. Do the same to all the strips, with the exception of the shortest one. Make that one a little circle, secured by a dab of glue.

5. Layer those loops, one on top of each other, securing each layer down with a dot of hot glue.

6. keep on layering until all loops are used. Glue the circle-loop down in the very center. Just like that, you're done!

Tip: Now, maybe you're the observant type, and you've noticed that there aren't all 9 pieces used in this specific bow. Okay, you caught me! You might have trouble fitting all those loops in, just like I did here. This is the part where I realized my loops weren't pointy enough. But never fear! Just use as many of them as you can fit, and don't worry about it. This one looks perfectly fine with only seven loops.

Here's a couple of finished bows. These utilize all 9 pieces, as we finally got the hang of this bow-making business. The one on the left uses double-sided scrap paper. Mrs. Maria J. so cleverly alternated patterns on each side to create the two-toned effect. The one on the right is a magazine page. I love the subtle punch of yellow on the inside of the bow.

Happy crafting!

craft night: button maker brooches

One of my favorite gifts this Christmas was a button maker. It makes pretty awesome, basic little buttons. However, Leave it to me to come up with ways to fancy up the conventional. I thought it would be fun to add crafty things like clothing buttons, fabric and ribbons and make our very own button brooches.

Here's a rough step by step...

1. Cut the graphic you want to put on your button. You can use fabric, too. The brooch in the photo above uses it, and it looks pretty snazzy. Being the Lithuanian/German/Irish/Who-Knows-What-Else Girl that I am, I chose this map of Europe.

2. Run it through your button maker. Now I apologize if you're like 99% of the population and you don't own one of these awesome but over-priced machines. I'll bet you can wrap it around an existing button, glue it on the back, and it will look just fine.
3. grab some felt and cut out the shape you would like to back your button.
4. Cut a slit the length of your button's pin and slip the pin through like so. Also, see that little doily in the left hand corner? I did the same with that one.
5. Hot glue that stuff down.
6. Add some buttons or felt flowers—anything really to your liking—and hot glue those to your button front. Then pin that baby on!
Here's a sampling of the final products!

P.S. I'm new to this tutorial writing thing, and this project was pretty open-ended, so if you have any questions, please ask! I hope you take a stab at this super-fun project. My friends and I had a blast with this one.

bananaface!

This Christmas has been absolutely bananaface! I've been crafting and wrapping and shopping and baking (or watching Rodger bake), and gifting since December 1st. Somehow I even managed to squeeze in my job and an occasional work out. Unfortunately, the one thing that has fallen to the wayside (other than my laundry pile), is this blog. I promise I will do better.

Here is a very brief overview of what has been going on over the past month.