The Simple Things
Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the US - it was 6 weeks ago here, in Canada, and I didn’t even have to toss leftovers out unseen this time - and today marks the shopping frenzy called Black Friday. There’s even a bit of it here with lots of chains offering special discounts. It’s enough to make slightly shyer folks like me want to hide inside.
I put together simple ornaments yesterday and today. Some already went off to the US for the Fabulous FAM Ornament Swap. One of them is this guy:
I figure I’ll wear it on a ribbon as a pendant because I’m just kooky-artistic enough to do that. But they were made to look cute on your tree, too. I have some slightly pinker ones and these rich red ones.
Tomorrow is the show at the next to closest community to mine. It was probably the first craft sale I did with my grandmother about 15 or so years ago and I’ve done it most of the years since! My daughter even learned her first few Christmas carols to the skipped part in the tape they used to play. The show organizer has it so organized by this point that it is always a pleasure to do this show and, in keeping with recent trends, they’ve begun enforcing a handmade items only participant list.
If you’re in Calgary pop by the Marlborough Community Association show. It’s directly behind the Marlborough Mall and the weather is supposed to be lovely (for Calgary, in November) this weekend. There’s a concession, children’s activities and free babysitting, baked goods and all handmade items.
Tray of Goodies
I’m sure a lot of my Southern neighbours are enjoying less.. plastic… baking today with the American Thanksgiving festivities. Here, I will have to make do with this pan of goodies:
This was the stack of items that require sanding that I referred to in my post yesterday. I doubt they’ll all get sanded up for the weekend shows but I’ve made a good dent despite this silly cold that has crept up on me!
The Chance to Make Stuff
The benefit of selling at craft shows, for me, has been the chance to not have to focus on beads or canes as I usually do for online sales. Not that I don’t LOVE beads and canes and they ship so nicely but sometimes I like to use them..
Of course my first couple of pictures ARE beads:
Then a tealight holder that is similar to my mini bowls:
And a few new ornaments:
I have a stack of vessels (literally) waiting to be sanded and buffed including a new bowl with the Delft patterns I’ve been enjoying the last few weeks. I’ve promised myself that I get to go stroll the two huge shows the next few days if I make a dent in it today.
The Festival of Crafts(at the Roundup Centre) and Art Market Art & Craft Sale(at the Telus Convention Centre) are both running in Calgary from Thursday to Sunday. I have several vendors at each show that I’d love to go see and meet. Wanda Shum, in particular, is a polymer clay and millefiori artist who I’d like to meet and she has a booth at the Art Market show.
Some of the show strolling is also going to be research. I’d like to do one of the very big shows next year but need to do my research!
Pomomama: a Feature
I’ve seen Ebb & Flo pretty much since I joined Etsy - I made a particular effort to look up and keep an eye on Canadian sellers - and she’s a pretty familiar face for forum lurkers like me! So when I found out that I had the perfect chance to dig a little bit more as a result of the Blog-a-Day Giveaway, I was happy. Here’s a little more about the artist who sells as both Ebb and Flo (unique, handcrafted jewelry) and Pomomama (handmade supplies, papercrafts and patterns).
Tell us a little about yourself!
I’m a SAHM who crafts in, around and in spite of her family in an effort to stay sane.
What inspires or influences your work? What themes or motifs do you notice most often?
Quirky shapes and unusual presentations influence my work. I’m also noticing colour a lot more than I used to. Blue/green is my comfort zone but I’m trying to break free. Glass is a favourite medium.
Do you have a favourite piece or series? If so, do you have links to them?
I really like my flotsam pieces as I think these are very unusual, combining wire, metal and fibre with felting. Here are some examples.
Have you done any work specifically for the winter holiday season?
I produced a Fall range in copper wire crochet and metal and have been working on winter ‘bling’ for the party season. These will be available at the craft fairs I attend soon.
What lead you to sell online? What’s the best part? The most challenging?
I had a hobby which made me happy but due to household budgeting I needed to make it self sufficient. ….. and it is now but not solely from selling online.
What are your favourite materials to work with?
Wire, metal, fibre and I love setting pieces of art glass from the amazing Etsy glass makers eg. Willowglass, Lis Kidder and Shoozles
Where can we find you online?
At Pomomama Design - www.pomomamadesign.com
Do you have any specials, promos, or upcoming events you’d like to tell us about?
Ebb & Flo goodies will be at Devil May Wear in Vancouver, BC
If YOU are interested in entering the Blog-a-Day Giveaway, all you need to do is check out the goodies on the site, pick one (or several, you can enter multiple times), and write a post about the person’s shop, pieces, blog or some other related item. Once you have done that, return to the Giveaway page and leave a comment with a link to the post. Voila! You have an entry. You have one entry per comment and the giveaways continue till December 4th.
The Craft Show Lament
If I didn’t love doing the darned things so much… This weekend marked the first effort at a fall show by my local community. It was better than their spring show this year and I did make several times my table fee. And the organizer, this time around, was very open to ideas about improving and making it better.
Next year, alas, I won’t be living in this community! Boo! Hiss! So I’ll miss seeing it evolve.
On the plus side, I had the most amusing situation happen! A complete stranger walked up to me at the show, even before I’ve begun setting up. She introduces herself as Mailled, from Etsy. Now, introducing yourself by your online nickname is not that uncommon to me but it still warrants a bit of a look. So I got to sit and chat with Angela of mailled.etsy.com and her mom of grandmarose.etsy.com For icing on the cake, it turned out that Mailled was my secret Santa in our Alberta Street Team’s gift exchange! I got to pick goodies from them! Woohoo!
I make a lot of simple bead on a cord type pendants and they are good sellers. Shiny, pretty bead on a comfy, casual cord. Win. But my previous necklace board was not inviting people to admiring the masses of them or take them off and play with them. People would touch the few laid on the table around it but not the ones on the display. I needed something a little more casual, fun and inviting! Enter a box of brightly coloured (Christmas light like?) pushpins and one of my old cork board. And a MASS of pendants.
It got people to stop and look which is more than half the battle at shows.
Winter Inspiration
Despite the fact that I’ve done half of my seasonal shows already, it’s been a little hard to get in the winter holiday spirit! The fall has been unseasonably warm for Calgary.
The peek outside my window this morning should cure that though. I can almost feel the urge to pop some Christmas carols in my playlist and pull out the “in progress” angel cane I’ve had sitting here for WEEKS. Here is a little blue heart on ribbon that somehow came back with me from this weeks show. It’s sort of winter coloured, no?
This week has me teaching my first class at the Sheep Creek Weaver’s Guild. I’ll be covering the basics of clay and helping the talented group make up some beads, buttons and other embellishments that can be used in their fiber arts.
Saturday is the Craft and Bake Sale held by my own community. It’s usually a leisurely thing with time to chat with friends, drink coffee and do crafts. They are in a busy part of town and, at my last glance, still had space for vendors. If you are in Calgary, give the Albert Park Radisson Heights Community Association lady a call! Or, drop me a line and I’ll forward you her email.
Come Wave at Me
When I was younger I looked forward to the fall because it was a chance for me to hang out with my grandmother, one of my favourite family members. She did craft shows throughout the fall and my grandfather was not the most patient of company. So I went along, made change, kept her company and along the way fell in love with the whole concept of the small, community based craft shows.
Fast forward about twenty years and now I do these mostly on my own or with my mother and daughter (who is about the age I was back then!). My grandmother still comes sometimes to keep me company and demands the stories you collect from these events.
There is my table at the show from last weekend, held by some of the sweetest, best organized folks I have ever met at the Robert McClure United Church here in Calgary. The unsmiling person there is me because I just turned around to face a chortling 9 year old. I promise to smile if you come wave at me this weekend at the Elbow Valley Art and Craft Market!
For the rest of my shows please see my calendar. If you’d like to know where there are an awful lot more Calgary and area craft shows check out my friend’s huge list!
Colour Me Blue
I got a shipment of lovely clay in on Friday and between that and all my upcoming craft shows (yes! 5 in the next 6 weeks) I’ve been digging in.
First up is a refill of my Delft blue canes. A small change this time - I used the last of a block of Fimo’s porcelain white for the background which is essentially a translucent, milky white.
Next up is a new batch of poinsettia leaves to use on the row of naked ornaments waiting patiently on my desk!
Bloggy Giveaways Winner and the Next Giveaway Launch
And according to the wonderful number generator on Random.org the lucky winner for my Bloggy Giveaway is comment #128 which corresponded to Nikki!
While Nikki picks out something lovely from my collections of goodies, please consider my next giveaway which is part of the much larger (one item a day, for a month) giveaway at the Sweet Figments blog. You enter by creating a blog post about the shop of the day (though, feel free to enter a few times every day about a few different shops - just make sure to comment with a link to your post for each entry you want to make saying that you posted about the shop!)
Here’s what’s up for grabs:
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