Holiday Craft Show in Avery, CA

So, MAD Stitches and Annie Maude visited Avery, CA for a holiday craft show. It was so much fun. It was a family affair though for sure. Sadly, my back was out last week and I got a bit behind on aprons. So, I was sewing like crazy on Thanksgiving night and Friday morning...hours before the show...yeesh. My mom even finished a few Vivian Elizabeth aprons for me too. My dearest friend Pamela came with me to the show and we quickly set up the booth. She is a photographer and artist, so she did an extraordinary job adding magical touches to the little table. Together, we worked the booth for two days and sold quite a few aprons--it was SO fun. People purchased them as gifts for daughters, friends, nieces and grand-daughters. I got a kick out of helping people pick out the right one.

It was a JOY to be there in Avery. The people are so friendly and they even braved the ...almost snow weather to shop. My family also came by during the day too. My sister in law, Liz(one of my greatest cheerleaders) brought Jesse and The Viv to see the show. Vivian posed for a picture in front of her namesake apron, The Vivian Elizabeth. My mom and dear friend Linda came by also. Everyone tried their hand at selling an apron--it was so funny! However, Pamela managed to sell the most aprons and helped people pick out a cookie cutter to go with their apron---adding her magical touches again!

All in all, it was a beautiful weekend. I had so much support from my family and some of the vendors at the show. Suzy from Beauty Control hosted a booth next to mine and she gave me a lot of help and support. She has hosted many other shows, so she was able to show us the ropes. She was so friendly and caring---I felt so fortunate to have landed next to her. Jim, the toy man was at a booth near mine and I watched him entertain kids and families with lots of antics about toys--he was so funny. I also made some new friends who are knitters and we did a trade for a gorgeous hat for Annie and they bought some aprons.

Anyway, I hope to do the holiday show at Avery again next year. I loved meeting the people and watching them mill around shopping and supporting their community. This is the shows 23rd year running and it was an honor to be part of it. Here are a few pics of the day that Liz took for me.--THANK YOU LIZ!!! LOVE YA!!

Miixed Media...?

I have always loved art. Years ago I made a decision not to study art because it seemed impractical at the time. So, instead I spent many years in class rooms studying english and sociology and I WAS MISERABLE. What I found was I did not believe in myself enough to officially go to art school. I think this is because I did not think I had the heart for it. I did not think I was dedicated enough to give myself completely over to finding my medium. Looking back now 15 years later, I really don't know if I made a mistake or not. Today, I love sewing and art and we do a lot in our home and I do it joyfully. I have had to steal hours away during my children's nap time or late nights in order to teach myself different art and sewing techniques--So maybe I am more driven now because I am having to learn it on my own--who knows..? Anyway, recently I found myself restless with my sewing. I love making my little aprons, but I felt I needed to add another medium to my list. So, I started messing around with silk screen inks and stamps. I love paint and love fabric so I wanted to playfully bring them together. I ended up stamping some cool stuff onto linen--I LOVE LINEN--it is such a neat fiber and the colors you can find it in are always so sinful! So, I took the scraps I stamped and turned them into pockets for the Vivian Elizabeth apron--I am just so tickeled at how they turned out. There is something about the marriage of ink onto linen that looks so elegant.
I just listed this Yummy little apron in the MAD shop on Etsy too. Now I am off to do some more stamping...

Little Wonders Vendor Event

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a vendor at an All Schools Meeting in San Mateo through my daughters school. It was really neat because I was able to see another side to fellow parents at the school who were also vendors. Some of the booths included handmade clips, outdoor adventures for little ones, a portrait photographer, and books. It was a wonderful way to network about your buisness and find out about other parents buisnesses.

Isabelle and her daughter Ashliegh from Too Cute in Burlingame worked the MAD Stitches booth with me. Isabell brought ponchos by Skipping Hippos and I had the Annie Maude and Vivan Elizabeth aprons on display. It was a lot of fun. I also learned a lot about setting up my craft booth. Although the flowers and stacks of fabric were pretty--I think I should have spent more time on displaying the aprons better. I think people struggled with the small stands I had and lack of size dividers. Anyway--it was a great opportunity to network and get the aprons out there and meet other parents with buisnesses. Here are a few pix from the evening.