Monday, September 24, 2012

Now Accepting Applications

We finally have our date for the next Lowcountry Artist Market. Mark your calendars for:


Saturday, December 8th

10 am - 3 pm
Music Farm

We're taking applications now, so if you would like to be a vendor, email us with:

Your Name
Phone Number
Link to Your Goods
or Attach 3 Images 

Your goods need to be handmade or vintage, but we're open to all categories. In the past we've had:

Vintage Clothing
Children's Clothing & Accessories
Print Art
Stationery
Purses
Candles
Handmade Jewelry
Stuffed Animals
Furniture
Soaps & Lotions
Home Goods
Ceramics

We'll be accepting applications from now until October 7th, with accepted vendors notified by Oct 10th. 

Be sure to check out our FAQ section with any questions you may have.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Welcome Home

Now that the weather isn't ungodly hot, I've brought my bike out of storage. My afternoon rides around the neighborhood have created a little jealousy in my heart. Brightly painted door jealousy. Check out these gems from the Wagener Terrace area.





The orange might be my favorite.

Forgive the distance; the owners had just arrived home.


Classic red.



More purple. Wouldn't expect multiple purple doors in one neighborhood.


Really like the green here.



And if you recall, I love mustard and grey. LOVE it.


Any of you have exciting doors? Let's see them!

Monday, September 17, 2012

In addition to Etsy.com ...

I have a couple sites for you guys to check out, if your checking account can handle it. I'll admit that Etsy, Pinterest and Groupon plague my bank account, but here are two shopping sites that support the local, handmade talent.




Fab features daily design inspirations and sales at up to 70% off. 

You might have seen Rewined candles on here recently. 




VeryJane delivers handmade and boutique deals (up to 75% off) to your inbox.

I learned about this site from Lauren Amos Designs, who was featured on here a couple weeks ago - selling her earrings for only $7. So, it's a site for steals! I picked up some really 

Happy Shopping!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Lino-cut Printing at SpaceCraft Studios

Well, I finally made it over to Spacecraft Studios in West Ashley. LOVED it! My friend Stacey and I signed up for the Lino-cut Printing with Kristen Solecki. You may recognize the Artwork of Kristen Solecki from the cover of the Charleston City Paper's Art Fall Arts Issue.


If you haven't been to SpaceCraft Studios, you have to check it out. The space is amazing. Allison has a retail section set up, carrying some of Charleston's finest. I saw jewelry from Janetics Ink and stationery from Dodeline Design. There were also terrariums, which you apparently can learn to make in an upcoming class. 





So, on to lino-cut printing. We started by digging through vintage magazines and pulling pages to print on. I tried to stick with ads for groceries (and booze) with the intention of framing them up in the kitchen.


Kristen was an excellent teacher. She made it seem really simple. And yes, the idea seems simple. I quickly learned, the execution - not so much. But I'll get to that!

So we started by drawing designs on scrap pieces of paper. Then transfered that to what would become our stamp. Draw design on stamp, cut design out from stamp. Seems easy. Things to note: yeah, your design prints backwards. I decided to go with this fork, knife, and spoon idea. 



Stacey went with a mustache and Twitter hashtag. Again, prints backwards. We were both foiled here. 


All in all, great fun. One or two turned out to be frame-able. But we've got plans to host lady dates here. You could have a bunch of friends help you print custom wedding shower invites or thank you cards. You could do a baby shower and print on onesies. And SpaceCraft is down to rent the space for private parties. Start planning - lots of fun options!


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Carla Bakes Takes the Cake

Just had to take a minute to brag on Carla Walker from Carla Bakes. Last weekend I helped host my friend Angela's 30th birthday party. We went with a yellow and aqua color palette. So when I emailed Carla to make a cake, I sent her a couple pics from pinterest




and suggested yellow. She put this cake together beautifully, combining the styles I sent. It was perfect - and I haven't even mentioned how it tasted yet!




With shrimp and grits being made to order, a pinata to attack, a toast to give, and champagne to pour, we didn't get to cut into the cake until returning home from a night out downtown, topped off with a drag show at Pantheon. 

But oh, how good is cake at 2 am? 




Be sure to hit up Carla Bakes for your special events! Rumor has it you may be able to visit her bakery soon ...

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Gettin' Craftsy?


I love Google Reader. I use it to follow some of my favorite blogs, read the news - and keep my inbox relatively empty. Mashable recently put out a story on Craftsy.com. Being that I didn't know what this was, I was intrigued. Have you heard of this site? Here's the rundown:
Craftsy is a community of people who love to make things. We're learning from, inspiring and helping each other. We are dedicated to providing the best education and resources for crafters. - Craftsy.com
From Mashable:
In 2010, John Levisay realized that the “promise of online education was not being fulfilled.” The former eBay and ServiceMagic executive went on later that year to found Craftsy, an online platform that teaches users a range of craft skills, from cake decorating to weaving, through paid video courses. The company raised an angel round of funding in May 2010 and launched a website one year later.
“We were seeing glorified PowerPoints with voiceovers, grainy video taken at the back of classrooms — it wasn’t what online education pledged to be,” Levisay recalls. “We wanted to create something that captured the magic of a live classroom, not only a great instructor but also interaction with that instructor as well as fellow students. We knew there were thousands of categories where people want to learn, and we remembered from our eBay days what a huge, underserved market crafts and hobbies instruction is.”
Most of Craftsy’s courses offer between four and six hours of lessons, and cost between $20 and $40 — expensive for some, but Levisay says some instructors charge as much as $500 for a live course. Viewers can pose questions to instructors at any point during the videos, and see answers to questions instructors have already answered. They can also go back and review course material they might later forget.
The most popular category is quilting, says Levisay. Cake decorating is the fastest-growing. Nearly 100% of customers are female, 80% are older than 40 and nearly a third are 61 years old or above. “We have what we consider to be an underserved demographic that are passionate and affluent, and who are fantastic and loyal customers,” Levisay says.
Beyond video courses, Craftsy also offers step-by-step, photo-based Workshops, and a marketplace formaterials and supplies as well as patterns created by other users. Craftsy does not take a cut of any pattern sales — “We think it helps indie designers, and it brings users to the site,” Levisay says of the company’s decision not to charge.
Instructors are usually flown in to Craftsy’s Denver, Colo., headquarters to film courses. About 14 are filmed per month. So that instructors will promote their own courses, they are paid a percentage of total course revenue.
The company’s customer acquisition strategy is centered on social media, namely Facebook. Craftsy operates a number of unbranded clubs, like this one for quilting, which has more than 230,000 fans. Through those clubs, Craftsy offers free content and special offers on courses. The company also posts excerpts on YouTube, and has done offers through Gilt City and LivingSocial to reach consumers who might once have been knitters or jewelry-makers and want to get back into crafting.
Paid search is not a major customer acquisition channel for Craftsy. “When it comes to education, there’s not a ton of intent,” says Levisay. “You don’t wake up on a Sunday morning and say, ‘I want to take a quilting class.’”
Scaling and production are the two main focuses for the rest of the year, Levisay says. In two weeks, Craftsy will also launch an iPad app.
By the end of 2012, Levisay estimates Craftsy will have about 600,000 enrolled students — 1,600 people are enrolling each day on average.
The company has raised $20 million in funding to date.
Have you used Craftsy? If so, what classes did you take? Thoughts?

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Chevron: Local & More

I had this idea on doing a chevron round up among the local vendors. I thought I would start with the great iPhone covers from Whiskey Kittens:




Then go into the cutest skirts and accessories from The Fresh Stitch:






Move on into the tough, structured jewelry from Talon Jewelry:


Then I went to etsy.com to find a couple more examples I knew I was overlooking and found something I wasn't looking for but LOVE: a plethora of lovely pillows from Bed Buggs Boutique. I don't know anything about this vendor. Never ran across their page. But once I can decide, I'll be placing an order:











And now appreciate etsy even more. What are you favorite random search finds?