Forts, Crafts and Cocktails: Austin Recap

My birthday weekend was a beautiful mess of toys, hotel fun, crafty sales and cocktails. We hit the road Friday morning - me in my Element loaded with my handmade goods and displays; my mom, Grandy and Ian in their car loaded with 182 toys:

Saturday morning was a whirlwind of setting up my booth, drinking lots of coffee, and preparing for a day of charming customers and making sales. After nearly six years of doing craft shows, I've got my set-up nailed down and had over an hour to kill before the doors opened:


Saturday night Ellen and John (good friends and owners of Holy Cacao) took me and Jason to Haddington's on 6th. We had copious amounts of tiny chi-chi cocktails with names like Devil's Moustache (mescal, a flaming orange slice + a whole bunch of other stuff). We also had tiny portions of fancy food that cost more than my weekly Tom Thumb bill. Everything was incredible.

Sunday was day 2 of Renegade sales. In the meantime, Ian and the family made forts, went swimming and basically had fun in Austin. I didn't get a chance to do any site-seeing or shopping while I was there - maybe next time!


Oh, and then there's this:

Sew, work, sew, listen to music, work, sew

I'm on a mad sewing blitz these next few weeks as I prepare for Renegade Austin. I don't even think I'll have time to bead a few of my new big wood bead necklaces unless I clone myself.

I'll work on that.

Until then, I'm listening to a little She & Him and Florence + The Machine and sewing like mad in the car at stop lights, on my lunch breaks, in queue at the bank, ANYWHERE.

Here's a crappy photo I took last night of some of my new triangle arrow designs. They are pretttyyyyy!

Next Up: Renegade Austin

Now that the 3rd Annual Spring Bash is over (whew - so much work), I've got my sights set on the 2nd Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Austin TX. It so happens to be on the weekend that I'm celebrating my 36th birthday and my and Jason's 10th anniversary. So come buy my stuff okay!!

Grey Skies fabric sculpture necklace, $35

The hotel room is booked, time taken off from the real job, the parents are coming with to watch Ian, and now all I have to do is:

(1) Make more designs like this one (above). I sold out half my inventory at the Spring Bash!

(2) Make more yo-yo earrings and rings. DONE

(3) Shine the sterling silver chain from some of my necklaces. They are looking a little dull from so much air exposure as I've been preparing for this crazy spring show season for the past couple of months.

(4) Make more fabric hair clips. These sold like crazy at the Bash!

That's about it. Can you believe how prepared I am? Whoo!!! Now come see me in Austin and buy me a birthday beer already.

Renegade, here I come!

Soooo excited to announce that I got in to Renegade Austin! I will be sharing my booth with a super cool designer and fellow Dallasite, Sarah of The Snowy Owl. Alongside me and Sarah will be my crafty pals Dowdy Studio, Cut Out and Collect, and One Up Designs. Mark your calendars and come on down to see us on May 21 + 22 in Austin TX. It's my birthday weekend so I expect you to buy me a sandwich!

Go to Public School

So yeah. I used to teach public school and am not a big fan of it, surprise surprise. What I am a huge fan of is the design collective out of Austin known as Public School. They were at the recent Renegade show with a neat-o photo booth. On my way back from a beer run (one for Tefi, one for Dylan), I decided to stop and get my portrait taken. It looks an awful lot like the ones I had taken from my teaching days. Minus the beers. Or maybe not. Check these guys out: http://gotopublicschool.com/

I'm Headed to Renegade Austin

Meet me there? This will be my very first Renegade show, both as a shopper and as a vendor. I'm honored to have been hand-picked among a select 200 from around the nation. Today I scored a treasury and curated it to showcase some of my favorites that will be selling at Renegade this weekend. Couple the excitement of my first Renegade Craft Fair with a long weekend visit to my old stomping ground of Austin, Texas. It has changed so much over the years since I lived there (1993-98), but it's still my beloved little big town. Come on down and be sure to stop by my booth! Pictured clockwise: Crown Bindery, Berkley Illustration, Cut Out and Collect, Nova Rhyme, Rar Rar Press, tefi (that's me!), Karmacrochet, Maryink, Pamela Michelle, Modest Ambition, Laura George, Dowdy Studio

I'm In Renegade Austin!

Whoo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!! Last month I applied to Renegade's first Austin show. And I was rejected. I gots sad. But then I got an email yesterday inviting me to be in the show after all. Let me say again, in my most professional voice, "Whoo-hoo!!!!!!!! Dance pants party!!!!!!!!!!" What an honor. I'm going to craft my butt off from now until May. What I don't sell at the 2nd Annual Spring Bash, I'll bring on down to my old stomping ground, Austin TX to sell at Renegade (in addition to lots of new stuff just ripe for Renegade). I'll be with boothmate Patricia of Karmacrochet and next to my friends Pamela Michelle and Cheyne of Cut Out and Collect. Ah, so many good times ahead. For example: BALLS. I just listed a ton of my original needle felted Balls necklaces in my Etsy shop, and plan to list more this week. Check them out! These babies are one-of-a-kind and cannot be duplicated. Balls party time!!