Visiting vendors from faraway lands

Of course we love all our vendors equally, but since this is my personal blog I'm going to highlight a few that I'm personally most excited to meet. Most of our artists are local, but a few brave souls are trekking across the country to attend this first-time, unproven, unknown event. This post is dedicated to those crafters who are coming from away to sell you handmade treasures on July 8.

First up, Jenny Harada. Early in the planning process, I decided it would be awesome to host workshops so that attendees could actually learn some craft skills of their own. I contacted Plush Rush to see if anyone there wanted to run a stuffed animal class, and Jenny volunteered! I was already a big fan of her creatures, so I was stoked to sign her up as both a workshop teacher and a vendor.

Also hailing from Ohio Detroit are the lovely ladies (and gentleman) of Tekkat, who sure know how to stage a photo. That page is the only functional one on their site at the moment, but they should have tons of great clothing items for sale at the Craftstravaganza.

Sweetie Pie Press is coming from Toronto. That is in Canada! This makes her our most international vendor, plus, she will be performing standup all weekend at Brave New Workshop, which is very admirable! She is the only one (I can think of right now) who is selling comics and zines, but there might be more. Also she will have "surprises" at her table, so you will just have to come to the fair to see what that is all about.

Heather Wells wins the prize for farthest vendor by coming to us all the way from North Attleboro, Massachusetts. Bright Lights Little City makes lamps out of cocktail umbrellas, and you really have to see that website to do them justice.

We have a few vendors coming from the Chicago/Milwaukee zone, which is great. I've sort of thought of them as local, especially when you compare that trip to one from Boston! I just want to tell you about one today, and that's the prodigious Faythe Levine. She manages the cute and fun Paper Boat Boutique, a retail shop for handmade goods in Milwaukee. She also organizes that city's alternative craft fair, Art vs. Craft. As such, I feel it was sort of a coup to have her come to our show, and we're delighted to have her. Not only will she be a vendor at the Craftstravaganza, she will also be filming footage for her latest project, the Indie Craft Documentary! And I thought we were busy...