4th Annual Art by Craft Exhibit

I have been a member of Denver Handmade Alliance for several years.  It's a great organization that promotes the work of many local artisans and provides networking opportunities.   I always learn from other creative people who love what they do. 

This year I have volunteered with Denver Handmade Alliance.  I am a  part of their Art by Craft committee.  I will be involved this Saturday to check-in artist artwork at  Redline in downtown Denver.  Monday I will help setup the exhibit (just a few hours).  Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the reception but my work will be on exhibit.  I submitted a vintage intricate lace hankie transformed into a Wedding Dress Vintage Hankie Dress.  I will take a photo next Monday and post it on my blog.  Here is the information from:

The Denver Handmade Alliance is proud to announce the 4th annual Art by Craft Exhibit at RedLine Denver. Art by Craft is an exhibition of craft based works within and fine arts setting and we are thrilled to have it again this year at RedLine Denver. This year will be displaying the work of the following 18 local artists:

Adrienne DeLoe
Andrea Thurber
Beth Wood

Carrie Rorvig
Christa Pisto
Heather Doyle-Maier
Hope Rayel Morgan
Isabel Wagner
Jennifer Ghormley
Katy Zimmerman
Lara Nickel
Mary Katz
Nancy Hilton-Briney
Nathan Hall
Pamela Webb
Rachael Boice
Rebecca Peebles
Robert Bell

The opening reception is scheduled for Friday November 9th from 6pm-9pm at RedLine Denver, 2350 Arapahoe Street Denver, CO 80205. Beverages will be on hand from our lovely sponsors Breckenridge Brewery and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Local musicians Land Lines will perform at 8pm and food truck Waffleganger will be on hand.

The exhibition will run through Thursday, November 29th.

CreativiTea

This truly has been a week of highs and lows.  Highs because I am happy to have found a place to sell my handcrafted items in Historic Downtown Littleton at Alamo Antiques, Boutique & Art Gallery.  I am excited about this new venture.

Lows because this has been an exhausting few weeks.  I have spent a lot of time sorting, tagging, packing my inventory for my booth at Alamo Antiques, Boutique & Art Gallery and for the CreativiTea Craft show.  Every single item had to be tagged!   CreativiTea craft show has a central checkout so this requires every item be tagged with my vendor number and price.  The same for Alamo Antiques, Boutique & Art Gallery.

Yesterday, I setup my booth for CreativiTea.  This space is smaller that most of the shows I have done....only 6 x 8!  It was a challenge that required time and patience, but I am happy with the results.  I managed to display everything I took with me.

I look forward to reading a book from my Nook (birthday gift from my husband and kids) during the CreativiTea craft show.  I like interacting and talking to customers and other vendors, but I can also relax and enjoy a book during the slow times.  This show is more relaxing because I can socialize but I don't have to worry about handling cash or the square (credit card sales) -- it will all be handled by the ladies of CreativiTea.

I also want to thank my friend Amy who has helped me so much this week.  I would not of  succeeded in this weeks endeavors without her help.  She has picked up Alex from school on Tuesday so I could continue to setup by booth at Alamo Antiques, Boutique & Art Gallery and Thursday so I could setup by booth at CreativiTea....and she will pick him up today while I am at CreativiTea.  My daughter Laura has also helped me this week by taking care of her brother Alex.  

Here is more information on the 2 day show:

Pictures of my booth at CreativiTea:

Front Side of my booth

Side of by Booth - I love my new door screen display boards.

I forgot my vintage linen bird tree which will go on the metal base with the snowmen clips.  I will add that, along with the vintage embroidered linen birds this morning before the show opens.

Alamo Antiques, Boutique and Art Gallery in Historic Downtown Littleton

I have been waiting over a week to share some exciting news.  I now have a booth at Alamo Antiques, Boutique and Art Gallery in Historic Downtown Littleton.   After finally deciding to rent a space, my husband David and I worked on the space last Saturday.  David added shelves and clothes rack so I can display my handcrafted items in a small room in the basement.  It's just the right size...not too big, not too small.  I also prepared a little color postcard, double-sided to help promote my new space.  I want to thank Amy, owner of  the Pink Attic Cat whose shop is across the street for her advise on my new space.  My postcards are now at the Pink Attic Cat and Amy will make them available to her customers.   (Update 10/25/12 --  my postcards are also now at Vintage Vendors).  I also want to thank Carolyn of  Vintage Vendors for letting me know about space being available at Alamo Antiques. You can say Carolyn got me on this new path.   Vintage Vendors also have a space at Alamo Antiques with great vintage finds.  Carolyn and Amy have been very supportive of my new venture and that support means so much to me....thank you ladies.   Vintage Vendors at 5776 S. Rapp St. and the Pink Attic Cat  at 2555 W. Alamo Ave are my two favorite places to shop in Historic Downtown Littleton.  I love shopping at their shops.

Here is my little postcard:

Front of the postcard

Back of the postcard - A collage of items available at Alamo Antiques, Boutique & Art Gallery

Taking pictures of my new space was a bit of a photographic challenge.  There are several lights near the ceiling which made photos a challenge.  I created a banner with my business name which is at the door frame as you enter the room:

Here are some highlights of my space at Alamo Antiques, Boutique and Art Gallery:

I will also be working one shift a week.

Top shelf has a collection of my Vintage embroidered linen Dress-forms.  The light basically washed them out of the photo....but this is your first view as you enter the room. 

I think my favorite part of this space is the shelves.  I love how this showcases my handcrafted items.  A big thanks to my husband David.

Felted Wool Snowmen and Snow-women Pins

Last week I was having to die-cut many leaves for unfinished  felted wool flower pins I found in a box.  Apparently, last year I tried to finish many new flower felted wool pins for my last craft show of the year, but ran out of time.  I never finished them.... probably because after my last craft show last December, our family went on a Disney family vacation.  Thankfully, while doing some re-organizing (I seem to continually do that!) I found a box full of unfinished flowers.  That was a wonderful surprise because with a little more work like adding leaves, minor details and pin backs, I had a fresh new batch of felted wool flower pins.  These will be ready and available for my upcoming craft shows and .... well, I have a surprise but I will wait until Wednesday to tell you about that.

So, long story short, I found myself doing more than die-cutting leaves last week.  I found my snowman sizzix die which I have never used before.  I decided it was time to use it.  So I cut lots of felted wool snowmen shapes.  Of course, I wanted them to have a vintage feel to them so I looked through my vintage lace, buttons and crochet doilies to see what I could come up with.  They took some time to create, mostly because I have a hard time deciding which materials to use and in what combination.  Once I decided on a style and materials, it became easier.  To make my pins sturdier, I glued two layers of felted wool snowmen shapes together...that way, they can "stand up" straighter.

So, here are my latest Snow people pins!

Vintage Mini Glass Ornaments

When I go estate sale shopping I never know what I will find.  I generally have an idea of the type of items available for sale based on information listed such as description of items and photos for a particular sale; but there is generally much more than what is listed/photographed.   Lately, I have been lucky to find some special finds like vintage Christmas light bulbs, a box full of vintage hankies, tons of crochet doilies, yards and yards of vintage lace.  I was hoping to find a box or two of mini glass ornaments but had not succeeded...until last week.  Last week, in a basement I found a box full of mini glass ornaments.  It took me 3 seconds to grab the entire box and hoped Victoria would give me a price break if I purchased the entire box rather than just a few boxes of mini ornaments.  Victoria did not disappoint... I got a good deal on all these boxes....35 Boxes!

  What am I going to do with all these vintage ornaments?  I will keep some and  plan on selling many of them.  I just have to figure out a price for them and have them ready to sell by next week. 

Made in Japan

Love all the colors and sizes!

Bottle Brush Tree - Vintage Look

When the kids got home last week, they asked, "what is that smell?"  Bleach is just not pleasant.   I had the windows opened but the smell seemed to linger.  I have been wanting to bleach bottle brush trees for what seems like forever.   I loved the results of bleaching the green color away of Christmas bottle brush trees.  I had to continue with this experiment, tinting the trees.  After I tinted the bottle brush trees is several colors, I then added silver German glass Glitter and Vintage Mica.  Oh, I also replaced the white plastic base on most of the trees with wood bases.  This was definitely a project with many steps and some patience but I am happy with the results.   I love the vintage look to these trees.

Dress-form Pins --Felted Wool & Vintage Findings

I just created a new batch of Dress-form Pins.  Using the Tim Holtz Sizzix die, I created the dress-form shapes from felted wool.  I then "dressed" the dress-forms with a various vintage findings like crochet doilies, lace, rhinestones and buttons.  Each is different and unique.

Photo A - Blue, Pink, Yellow

Photo B - Pin Ruffle, Pink Puffy, Pink Flowers

Photo C - Green, Red, Yellow

Photo D - Purple, Green with Pink, Blue

Photo E - Red with Rose, Lace, Red with Rhinestones

Photo F - Lace with Rhinestone, Pink, Lace Flower/Button

Photo G - Purple with Button, Pink Necklace, Purple with Lace

Christmas Mix Media House

This is one of my new favorite Christmas mix media houses.  The paper is from one of my favorite paper companies, My Minds Eye.  I love this particular line by Rhonna Farrer's All is Bright.  I love the vintage look of the paper along with the mix media collage style papers.  I added my favorite, silver German Glass glitter, a bleached bottle tree style wreath with a little tiny snowman!  This is also a box so it makes this a versatile Christmas decoration.  Here is a closeup of one of the 3 houses I created using the All is Bright paper line.

41st Annual Friends Craft Fair

I had been looking forward to the 41st Annual Friends Craft Fair  tomorrow but now with the Colorado weather, the Texas girl in me is not so sure.  The forecast is we will wake up to snow...not a lot, more like snow flurries but nonetheless the grass will be wet (and COLD)!   The high is expected to be in the 40's, low 40's!  I will dress in layers and hope to be  prepared to keep dry which will help  keep me warm.    This is a rain or shine type of craft show and since we (the vendors) will be there, I hope the customers are there too.  We shall see.

UPDATE:  OCTOBER 7, 2012

I've got to say, I am impressed with how many people were at the 41st Annual Friends Craft Fair in Littleton.  Everyone was bundled up and although I did not expect to see many people attending due to our inclement weather (it was really cold!), many did.  Some customers said, they have not missed one show and this year was no different.

Anyway, I did manage to create a few Christmas Mix Media Houses and even bleached Christmas bottle trees.  Even managed to get a few trees sprinkled with silver German Glass Glitter and Vintage Mica.  I will show more closeup photos next week.  Here is a preview:

Vintage Crochet Tote Published!

Two of my vintage crochet shopping totes just got published in the Autumn 2012 issue of Haute Handbags (Published by Stampington & Company).   Having my work published again makes me feel that my creative journey is on a good path.   This really means so much to me.  Here are pictures of the cover and pages inside.