Bazaar Bizarre Cleveland 2011 This Weekend!

Saturday 10th 10a-9p
Sunday 10a-6p

78th Street Studios 
1300-1301 West 78th St. 
Cleveland 44102

This weekend, as you may have gathered is Baz Biz Cleveland. Since I didn't get to do many shows this season Clevelanders (Clevelandites? Clevies?) are going to have a feast at my table. Some new Tadly designs will be making their debut along with my aprons (although I only have a few of those left to bring). Plus a good amount of new squid that aren't in the shop. Also, I have found some items while cleaning out my inventory area. These haven't been seen in quite some time and will never be made again so get 'em while you can.

Squid skirts:

A mini skirt and a pencil skirt. Both size 13. Obviously both black.

I have 4 packs of card sets. They include 1 of each of the designs seen above. Parcel wrapped.

Hope to see you and yours this weekend!

New Things

I spent my sick days photographing new items for the shop. All but the squid pins are up (need to wait for a sunny day) but hopefully there's something there that will strike your fancy.
(also, free shipping until Oct. 31 if you enter the code FREESHIPPING during checkout)

Thanks guys

Thank you, Columbus!

 

This weekend was Craftin' Outlaws and it was lovely.  I haven't done this show in a few years and it was nice to be back in Columbus. I also adore the folks who put it on. We had a lovely breakfast (giant baking sheets with freshly made cinnamon buns) plus a lovely little vendor gift bag. It just made the day that much nicer. 

My neighbor was the ever delightful umbrella girl productions so I stocked up on greeting cards and a fancy little scarf. I was hoping to grab a cape from Amy D but sadly she was sold out by the time I walked over there. I totally wish I did more shows with her. That lady is hilarious.  

After the show was hopped back into the car and headed to our old neighborhood to catch World Inferno play. We had about an hour and a half to kill before which killed my energy so sadly the show was not as enjoyable for me as it could have been. I was almost falling asleep but the band was fantastic and the crowd was hilarious. I forgot that the success of crowd surfing is inherently tied to alcohol consumption. I didn't make it to bed until 2:30 Sunday morning which meant I had been up for 23 hours straight, but it was worth it.

Maker Faire New York

So this post is behind the times but as soon as we came back from New York there was oodles of work to be done. I don't think you can really put into words the awesomeness of Maker Faire and even taking pictures of the place is hard to do so I'll focus on some favorite parts.

While in my booth I spotted this guy wandering around. I pointed and Scott immediately went off to photograph him. The weekend involved a lot of pointing and running off to catch something.

First off, the Bust show was great and I had a blast talking to all of the customers and meeting so many that wanted to talk shop and getting to see why some of them were there (from hackers to robotics teams). Tadly was welcomed warmly and everyone was totally down with the whole plush/animation thing we have going on with him and Abigail. We shared a tent with a lovely gal named Francesca who makes awesome cards that she hand cuts from vintage magazines and the like (we came home with a few). We actually ended up being 1 tent away from the metal dragon that I posted about earlier and that thing did not disappoint. I was excited about it after seeing the video but you really can't comprehend this thing unless you see it in person. Actually, I won't even mention anything more about it because it kind of needs it's own separate post.

The show is in and surrounding the New York Hall of Science. The grounds are actually where the '64 World's Fair took place so peppered throughout were buildings and statues from that event. The Faire is in zones and we of course were in the craft zone. In the Science Hall you could wander through the museum and stop at tables set up throughout. You could make paper cranes, catch a speaker (Scott saw John Hodgman!) or you could enter a darken room and play games that people had developed or watch other crazy stuff made out of lights and strings or people playing instruments with gameboy parts.

My favorite thing in there was a group that made lights for bike tires. They had a simple set for $50 and then were showing off entire wheels that have text and pictures on them (like a monkey running). I tried getting video but my camera was too slow. Outside was a sprawling mass of tents both big and small. There was a Maker Tent where you could learn to solder, make a flashlight, lock pick etc. There were lots of high school robotics teams showing off their creations. People were there with crazy bikes you could ride around. You could be pushed on a giant swing that was constantly "raining", only stopping when you passed through. A team was showing off their work with making a robotic arm work with only your thoughts. And you could sit down, be hooked up with electrodes and try it out for yourself.

It was exhilarating to be around such a large mass of people who were exited to make things and learn. Sometimes I get a bit bummed being around others who seem to not only not care about how the world works but actively mock people who are trying. Trying to learn, comprehend, interact with the world around them, make things, anything that will make the world or even part of someone's day a little better or just more exciting and fun. This place had none of that and it was wonderful to behold. It made me exited to be doing what I do and it was just great to walk around and have everyone marveling and sharing all sorts of ideas.

My favorite scene I witnessed that summed up the spirit of this weekend involved a bike (or two) tricked out to be a moving cart. The pirate riders would stop occasionally in the crowd. This time they stopped in front of the metal dragon and the rocket statue. One pirate passed out foam swords and encouraged attacks on himself.  A second rider antagonized the children and adults from inside by poking out of various windows. Mostly everyone would focus on the riders but occasionally they would branch out. I witnessed a wonderful fight between a mother and daughter. When the pirates were "beaten" they rang a bell, the swords were given back and off they went.

See you Saturday and Sunday at Maker Faire New York!

Hello everyone,

We will be at Maker Faire NY in the Bust Craftacular section, booth/tent #52. 
New York Hall of Science
September 17th (10a-7p) and September 18th (10a-6p)
You will see new Tadly and Abigail and loads of new squid. And! My aprons will be there, which rarely get to make an appearance due to lack of display space.
It's going to be a gorgeous weekend (no rain in site!) and you will see awesome stuff. Like really, really awesome stuff. I highly recommend including Maker Faire in your plans. Because this will be here for you to ride.

Did you see this? 

YOU CAN RIDE THIS.

It is the closest you will ever get to riding a dinosaur for a myriad of reasons.

Hope to see you there!

Maker Faire prep work

 The days are counting down to when I need to pack up the trunks and head to the Hall of Science in Queens on Saturday and Sunday for Maker Faire New York. We'll be in the Bust Craftacular section, Booth 51. It promises to be a splendid Autumn weekend so stop by and say hello!

You can find more info here.

Travel Time

Hey Folks,
We are getting ready to drive across a few states to make it to INDIEanna Handicraft Exchange that is happening Saturday.  I will be indoors at Booth #44.  Even though I won't have my tent the space is bigger than normal indoor spaces (yay!!) so I will have my aprons (double yay!!!).  Since this summer involved not knowing when our move would happen this is the only show I was able to so you won't see me around again until the fall.  But that's good news for Indiana since I have so much new stuff to show you!  There are lots of new aprons to gander at along with new squid (accessories and types) and of course Tadly and Abigail will be making an appearance. 

Hope to see you there!

Craft Shows Through the Years (outdoors)

Here's a little peek at how my outdoor displays have evolved over the years. Enjoy!

Spring Bada Bing 2005

This was my first show ever.  I had no idea what to prepare for so I spent quite a bit of time looking through the suggested list of items to bring they sent along.  I based my prep list on a lot of things I first found here.  I didn't need a tent because they had wooden shelters for us to use but they didn't have a roof so tarps were suggested.  It did end up raining so the tarps proved quite useful.  I do remember us being one of the only people that had a tarp on the roof and also behind us so we were quite cozy and had lots of visitors hanging out in our space until the rain subsided.  I had no idea how to display my squid at the time so I used a bulletin board.  I also didn't have much stock so I sold out pretty quickly of most things, which was a nice feeling.  Also note the how we first did our signs. 

Crafty Bastards 2005

This was my second show and I bought a tent.  A beautiful tent.  I found it in the tailgating section of Dick's Sporting Goods in Altoona.  It had wonderful vents, was quick to set up, and had a silver lining so it was always nice and cool under there.  At this point I still had not sewn tablecloths and was using some unfortunate polka dot fabric.  I did make a fabric sign for the outside which served me well.  I have since retired this into a memento box.  You can kind of see some of the signs Scott started to make peeking out. These proved to be quite a hit with folks.  I think my signs get just as many photos taken as my plush.

My set up for outdoor shows didn't change much for the next few years and I don't really have any photos of these times so I'll jump ahead to 2008.

Renegade Brooklyn 2008

I think this is the first time we used any sort of trunk.  We found it to be quite useful and this seeded the idea for the steamer trunks that Scott thought of later that year.  At this time I was still using spinning racks for the squid .  Horrible! These would blow around all of the time and tangle the squid.  Even in an indoor situation they weren't ideal (hindsight) but outside it was just a lost cause.  I also still had some gridwalls.  These also weren't ideal for the type of items I was making.  I still had my outdoor sign plus a new pennant I had made.  We were in the pool again this year and there were thunderstorms and the pool flooded in some spots.  Our tent was a trooper though, at the end of the day when my tent was taken down and folded up the wind was so strong it blew the tent about 15 feet away from our space.  We had been the year before and although it had rained it wasn't terribly bad (this was how I first learned that plastic bins are the way to store your extra stock under tables).  This was our first hint at how early June weather in Brooklyn can be.

Crafty Bastards 2008

 The trunks are in full force, the gridwalls are gone, clothes lines are utilized.  Still have too many extra little baskets and display holders but after this I got even more ideas on how to consolidate (and better display) all of my items.  This also included getting rid of certain products to focus on ones I enjoyed making more.

Brooklyn Renegade 2010

 Probably the saddest show we've ever had.  The wind and rain was already pretty bad when we arrived and the forecast wasn't promising.  I don't know if it was our position but we seemed to be right in the line of the wind.  Our tent (which was ridiculously weighted) was one of the first in our area to be taken out. Even our wooden and metal trunks toppled over a few times.  Also, there was a softball game going on in front of us.  One ball hit a display trunk (thankfully missing a customer). Our dear neighbor Meg almost got a ball to the head at one point as well.  We only made it a few hours before our tent and merchandise was out of commission.  We made the decision to cut our loses since our trunks were in need of repair, our tent had buckled and I had lost a bit of squid to water damage.   I was super sad to leave a show and to know that my faithful tent had finally bit the dust.  Scott made me feel better though by taking me to Coney Island for the first time (because of course, the weather was looking up after we had left the show).  We also missed the second day of the show because I didn't want to rush out buying a new tent without doing research, especially considering the weather for the next day.

Renegade Chicago 2010

 This was our maiden run of a new tent.  I kept the wall from the old tent to use.  I spent so much time researching our new purchase and we realized once we put it up it should just be burned alive.  There were pinhole tears everywhere.  The vents didn't work. Also, it seemed to be low.  This was confirmed when someone came in and said they had the same tent and it should be much higher.  We also had to set it up in the rain and realized it was not as quick to put up as our first one and we were having problems getting the legs to lock and unlock.  We were soaked and worried about having another rerun of our last outdoor event (every single outdoor show we did last year had some sort of severe weather mishap).  After this show we had another outdoor show in St. Louis and ended up having to put a tarp over the roof in order to stop the leaking (which worked quite well).  Given all of the problems we had last year with the rain plus the prospect of moving this summer I'm not doing as many outdoor shows although I am still on the hunt for a tent for when I do.  I wish they still made our lovely purple guy but alas, I have yet to find it.  

Under Thy Table

shelf boxes, bin, tadly duffle, squid bags, lunch and purse

Not much to say on this post just wanted to give you a peek.  I'm not sure if everyone is like this but I like to see what everyone keeps out of view.  Not enough that I pull up other people's tablecloths at shows.  Mostly because that would be scandalous and kind of awkward to explain if anyone caught you.  I would be so ashamed.  But I do wonder about it enough that I figure someone out there would be interested in knowing.  And hey, isn't that why we all have these blogs anyway?

New Squid

A little sneak peek at some of the new squid that will be at Handmade Arcade on Saturday.

School Teacher

Graduate

Cat toy

Craft Show Prep

Waiting to be sorted.

I took last night to pack up the squid and Tadly for Handmade Arcade.  One thing that's nice about doing this for 5 and a half years is along with getting much faster at sewing I have become much, much better at packing.  I have everything packed into our 2 display trunks, a giant duffle bag and one rolling bin.  The only thing left is our 2 boxes with the wooden Tadly shelves and depending on the show a tent, chairs, tables, an extra mini trunk display and a cooler.  Now let's take a closer look at everything.  First up, the duffle bag. 

the duffle bag.

This was purchased at an Army Surplus store by the turnpike that we stopped at last August.  I remember it being August because the display outside featured a bomb on a gurney with a sign that had back to school items listed next to it.  I think I may have that photo.  Hold on....



 
Ah, here you go.

Ok, so the duffle bag is specifically for Tadly and Abigail since they're pretty big and can be a tad unwieldy.  Last year at Renegade Chicago I was opening it up to restock and a little girl who was in the tent saw me reach into a 4 foot long bag filled to the brim with plush octopi and calico cats and her little mind was blown. 

Now it's time for the trunks.  The trunks have been with us for a few years and normally they are on either end of the table housing squid and signs.  Like so:

 

Below is how they look before we set them up.  Having our display trunks also double as our carriers has helped out immensely.  There is not as much stuff to pack in the car, carry to the show site, and to hide under the tables at the show.  I have gone through many items to use to hold and hide the extra squid.  Usually after every show season I'll head to stores to check out what types of storage products they have which may work better. One of the items I had for a bit were boxes that folded flat but they were bulky in the trunks and under the tables so I moved onto 6 recycling bags I found from Ikea.  They are narrow but tall, sturdy and waterproof (which is a HUGE plus when it rains hard enough that water pools on the ground).  They also have lids and handles.  Perfect. 

In the summer one trunk carries the squid and the other carries the Ikea bags along with all variety of mini squid. If it's an outdoor show aprons are gently folded and laid on top of the other products at the last minute.  In the fall/winter there is also a creche, mini  Halloween or Christmas squid sets and a few more bags of squid.  I then take an extra super old mini trunk to carry some extras.

These ziploc bags have been with me for about 4 years as you can probably tell.  They're renamed depending on which squids have been added or detracted. I'd love to have something else for these guys but I haven't found anything that works quite as well or is see-through.

The one thing with lugging these trunks is that the handles could dig into your skin so I made some detachable padding made from felt and ribbon.  This has made carrying these for long stretches of time pretty darn pleasant.

And now onto the most wonderful part of my setup.  The Bin.  The Bin holds everything that we could possibly need for a show.  Over the years we have added items based on things we can't live without or other items we used in a pinch and have now found to be great multi-taskers (like thumb tacks with flat heads). 

The Bin.

The bin is filled with all of the essentials.  Over the years this bin has evolved to hold everything we have needed the most through the years.  

Here's a handy list of what's inside: 

Tablecloths (2 types)

banner (2 types)

cash box (in here I keep a tablet, pen, calculator, and the square reader)

knuckle buster with credit card slips (in case wifi or 3G isn't available)
camera

business cards

business card holder

candy jar (this used to hold candy or free pins but due to space limitations it now sits behind the scenes filled with pens, markers and other things we need to grab quickly throughout the show)

flyers

pens

permanent marker

a file folder with all of my laminated signs plus extra cardstock  for impromptu signs
sketchbook or extra loose paper

tissues
receipts (for folks who purchase the squid a month show special)

cotton string

2 different sizes of twine
nylon rope

clothes pin
more pens

hooks for the trunks

all of my shopping bags (squid, tadly and bigger bags for larger purchases)

extra tags
lint roller

hole punch

extra squidtivity and mini squid set boxes in case some of them are crushed during the show

hand sanitizer or a mini bottle of hand soap (soap runs out pretty quickly at shows)

hand creme

3 types of tape (duct, packing and scotch)
PENS

scissors

safety pins

thumb tacks

oh and of course the trusty inventory list.

The list is usually at least 6 pages long and by the end of the show is covered in quick tallies of how much we spent on food and purchases along with Scott's doodles.  Everytime something sells it's crossed off, easy-peasy.

If we have downtime at a show (or most likely on the drive back) we usually spend some of it brainstorming new products or new ways to streamline the display. This is how in 2008 Scott came up with the brilliance that is the storage/display of the steamer trunks.  Driving through the night from Chicago to Pittsburgh is also how we came up with Tadly.
Since I've covered in greater detail than I thought I could about craft show prep I guess next week I'll show you the progression of how I got to the display items I have today.  This will feature photos all the way back from shows in 2007 with some really ugly tablecloths.