2007 Craftstravaganza wrap-up post part 2

Super volunteer Mike took this photo on the morning of the Craftstravaganza. We made free swag bags for the first 100 customers. The bags were all gone by 8:45. By the time we opened the doors at 9:00, there was a line of over 200 people stretching down the block.

Traffic through the building was steady all day long. It got a little packed in some areas.

The crowd only seemed to start thinning around 3:30, and by 4:00 we were closed. It was perfect. Some vendors wanted to stick around, but others had already sold their entire stocks and were completely out of inventory.

We had three scheduled workshops (knitting, screen printing, and ATCs). The Textile Mobile was parked outside all day doing hands-on fiber art projects. Vanberto took this photo and a shot of the crowd where you can spot my two little brothers.

Of course we had live music all day too. The perennially popular Roe Family Singers came back to rock another Craftstravaganza. Our other three bands were new. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Here is one of our returning vendors, Aisha Celia. Out of our 90 vendors this year, around 20 had participated in last year's fair. We were excited to get so many fresh faces. It was also fun to see some old friends. Thanks to everyone who came to the fair and made it such an awesome event!

2007 Craftstravaganza wrap-up post part 1

Where to start? I'm still mentally unpacking all the events from last week, it was so crazy. 5,578 shoppers came to the show on Saturday. Hey, actually lots of great photos popped up on Flickr, I'll just let them speak for themselves.

I love this shot of Sarah. I think it sums up the spirit of the fair. Photo credit: sir fanceepants

Nice shot of Fantastic Toys' booth, by the man himself. I bought one of those adorable little mushrooms.

Here's one by Smiling Ram of Hazel's and Melvin's room('s booth).

BundleSass took a picture of my mom.

We took this photo of the free screen-printing workshop.

Vanessa shot footage for Etsy (photo by surlygrrrl)

Blickdicht has an armful of gerbils.

Lots of people biked down. Dancypants was there.

From The Minneapoline: Adam Turman "selling posters like produce at the market."

SPC Media Wrapup

Holy crap, it's been a crazy week, and the real madness is just about to start. Check out our media page for all the press we've had so far. It took me a few hours to update our site this morning, so there was no time for a real blog post. Go read that stuff instead.

p.s. There's a typo in the Star Tribune article. Craftstravaganza is tomorrow, not Sunday.

SPC Vendor Feature #3

I love posters, so I was excited to get designers Lonny Unitus and Nate Nolting in last year's show. For round two, we added Adam Turman and "Miss" Amy Jo to our roster of local gig poster artists. Double the fun!

Adam designed our poster for the 2nd Annual Craftstravaganza, which I apparently never posted here. His main themes are "boobs, flames, and skulls." See if you can guess which two are represented on our poster!

Compared with Adam's bold-line pinups, Amy Jo seems to tend toward a more detailed, vintage illustration-y look. Two Minneapolis poster artists, two totally different styles.

SPC Vendor Feature #2

Of course we love all our vendors equally, but some are more equal than others. We received more than twice as many applications as we had booth space for this year's show. Between my wife and me, we narrowed them down. We picked some because I loved them, some because she did, and some because even though they weren't our cup of tea we knew that somebody else would dig it.

The fair will have something for everyone, but this blog is all about me, so I'm just going to talk about my favorites. I already mentioned it once or twice, but Cricket Syndicate is at the top of my shopping list for Saturday. One-of-a-kind, hand-sewn, box-cut briefs. With that much hyphenation, it's got to be good!

This model is displaying the cut of the under-pants and the fact that they are unisex, which is brilliant, but you can't see the best part: front panels made from recycled t-shirts. What a great idea! Each pair is unique, and you're sure to find something that fits your style (i.e., band, sports team, picture of wolf).

I'm on TV

Click here to watch me embarrass myself on live television! This was one of four segments on local Fox 9 News this morning. The other clips talked about the shop (I like you) and did a couple of craft demonstrations. You can't buy this kind of publicity (well, maybe you can, but we got it for free).

We didn't know in advance exactly how the day would go. So we were delighted to get not just four whole segments, but also four teasers. You know the little clips that run before a commercial and end with "...when we come back" or "...a-right after this"? They did that. Because our craft fair is cliffhanger-worthy.

I'm still thrilled about the coverage and kind of amazed that we got away with it. I think it will sink in when we get to watch the whole thing. Jenna asked her sister to Tivo the whole program, and we'll try to put that footage on the online somehow. Anybody out there who knows how to make that happen?

2007 SPC Vendor Feature #1

Welcome to the first post for this year's gushing about how great our vendors are. I did something similar before the show in 2006. It's part promotional, sure, maybe if more than ten people read this blog on a daily basis. Mostly I'm writing about stuff that makes me excited. In this case it just happens to be vendors for the rogue craft fair that I organize.

Up first is Timothy Haugen of Fantastic Toys. We were hoping for more plush vendors this time around, and he blew us away with these soft-looking creatures. Also check out his gnome mushroom cottage!

Star & Tribune Adventures

We were interviewed for an article in the Strib! My wife and I drove to the Star and Tribune offices in downtown Minneapolis on Thursday morning and had brunch with a friendly reporter. The interview was fun and much less stressful than appearing on live TV. The article should appear in a week.

Afterward, we visited Corazon, another new (2 years old) shop selling (some) handmade stuff. It's a very convenient location if you are walking from Sex World to the Vu, and in between you decide that you would like to shop at a girly chic boutique.

We finished our playdate with a visit to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. I thought I could get some garden ideas. Bad news: it was too early to go; almost nothing is blooming yet. Good news: this was the second-to-last week of free admission Thursdays. Cheap date!

Bird house raising

I picked up a pack of posters by Adam Turman. They look like this (except bigger). When my chores were done for the day, I had an Andrew Jackson burning a hole in my pocket. I saw GTA San Andreas at Target, so I thought about getting that game, and punching imaginary dudes on my PS2. Instead, bought a post at Ace Hardware to hold my bird house up.

Today I learned that:

• Buying hardware piecemeal, in this case, was only somewhat cheaper than a kit.
• The advantage is that I can buy a taller pole.
• The drawback is that it's one solid ten foot pole, instead of several, smaller, pole sections.
• My Saturn coupe is just long enough to fit a ten foot pole inside, going from one corner of the trunk to the opposite corner of the dashboard.
  
• I should deactivate our home security system before I bring the pole into the back yard.
• Corollary: Next time I hear an alarm going off, I will quickly make sure it isn't mine.
  

After talking to our friendly security people, I dug a hole in our lawn. The friendly hardware expert at Ace told me to bury the post at least 18 inches into the ground, but I hit an impasse at one foot deep. I also hit a cable (don't tell my wife OK)! There was a layer of solid rock that prevented me from going any further, so I stuck the pole up and hoped for the best. I think it will be fine, as long as it isn't touched by squirrels, or rain.