I am super excited today, I just got in the mail my acceptance letter to a show I applied for that is in February. This was the second time I applied to a juried show, which I find (in a good way) kind of stressful, the validation of being excepted is truly inspiring. Hopefully this will carry over into getting lots ready for the show.

It is put on by Henry Ford II Music Boosters, through Henry Ford HS in Sterling Heights. This is the 12th annual event and is well attended. It is called "Crafters Clearance" and the name should not be deceiving it is a full juried show with many local crafters and artisans.

However that being said the element of a sale is advised for participants. I actually love this idea and having a sort of clearance of some items is very appealing to me, you know out with the old and in with the new. I will be bringing along onesie, twosies of things and will bring along some $10, $12, and $15 totes to share with hopefully eager shoppers.

I submitted a rather large collection of photos to be considered, including about a dozen of my items, works in progress and studio shots. It was a good exercise I am sure to repeat for future shows.

I will also use this to premier a few new designs namely by new ereader, hopefully I will have about a dozen to bring along.

Crafters Clearance

Fine Art & Handcraft Show

Saturday February 11th 2012

10am - 4 pm
Show Website

Shrine Show November 18 and 19th

Had a GREAT time at the Shrine show Friday night and will be heading back this morning. My spot was next to my friend Molly, from MollyCoddle Tiles. I had a great time meeting new people and hanging out among such creativity.

This is just a few quick pics to share of my space, looking forward to this morning, and going to grab a few bake sale goodies as well.

State of MInd Art Gallery

I have recently (officially today) joined another local art market, in downtown Northville MI, called State of MInd. I am super excited and lucky there was room for one more fiber artist, my items are a new item for this shop. This artisan market is a bit different then my space at Yellow Door. I went out two times this week and stocked my 3 foot by 8 foot space with about 100 of my creations.

In addition to my wall and shelf space the owner had a purse tree, shown above, I am able to fit about 12 of my medium and pleated totes.

I have five shelves, that are holding baskets of coin purses, carabiner coin purses, tissue cozies, list takers,n etc. I also have gift box sets, and one of my best selling items 3/14.00 accessory sets. There is also a hook system that is displaying my wristlets, these are a great local seller for me so that will be an item I bring more of next visit.

Above is "for now" an exclusive item to State of MInd, jumbo cosmetic pouches, I took 5 of these large stand up zip pouches, I think they would also work as a clutch. Great item in a variety of fabrics.

Looking straight onto my space, the shop is beautiful more of an art gallery and boutique in one shop, beautifully lit and displayed a place you could wander and see new items each visit.

Local in Metro Detroit:
State of MInd Art Gallery
Monday-Wednesday 10-5pm
Thursday 10-7pm
Saturday 10-5pm
Sunday 12-4pm
*First Friday of month Wine and Cheese open to 11pm

Interview: Patch.com Leon and Lulu Artists Market

Leon & Lulu's Artists' Market Attracts Hundreds

Dozens of artists from across the state were at Leon & Lulu on Sunday selling their unique works at the Clawson store's Artists' Market.

The event attracted hundreds of customers who got the opportunity to meet with creators of the artwork. Co-owner Mary Liz Curtin said the store will host four two-day Artists' Markets each year. The first market was in August 2009 and Curtin said high turnout has encouraged her to continue the events.

"We've always had high standards," Curtin said about the jury-selected artists featured in the event. The market has become so popular that, "we have more artist supply than we can accommodate," she said.

On Sunday, 41 different artists presented a variety of unique items for shoppers to browse. Julie Race, who makes recycled items, displayed cloth snack bags and decorative owl pillows made from sweaters.

"The event is wonderful," said Sandy O'Brien of Midnight Creations in Birmingham. O'Brien sold handmade purses, totes and other accessories created from various fabrics. "Everything I make is simple and functional; the fabric does the work."

Kindle Wear, a home-based business, offered a line of screen-printed clothing designed by West Bloomfield artist Kyle Staulter, who said she is "inspired by vintage illustrations."

Janice Degen, of Bloomfield Township, sold jewelry that she called giftables. "I like to take out my frustrations" while making jewelry, she said. "Banging and beating on a piece of metal really helps."

Kim Grant, an artist from Grand Rapids, was popular among patrons at the event. Grant's art comes in the form of handmade cat toys. Filled with strong catnip, her toys were available in fabric fortune cookies, martini glasses, bumpy pickles and more. "The packaging is more for the people; the toys are more for the cats," Grant said.

Sherrie Singer, of the home business Girlie Goodz, nearly sold out of her "Handbags for Healing," which are designed to raise charitable funds after a friend was diagnosed with cancer.

One satisfied customer was Gretchen Greenwood who bought a Girlie Goodz purse. "I love my new handbag," Greenwood said. "I'll never find another one like this."

Many artists who participated in the market were pleased with the event.

The variety "is what makes the event so much fun," said Patrice Pannill who makes paper art, cuff bracelets and free-form bead art. "The wonderful thing is, the people that work (at Leon & Lulu) totally reflect the atmosphere."

The Artists' Market not only caterted to customers and artists, but also to charity. The event benefits Cass Community Social Services by selling their mud mats. Cass employs homeless men to collect abandoned tires around Detroit and recycle them into handmade mud mats and 100 percent of the profits go back to the nonprofit. Leon & Lulu also served hot dogs, beer, wine and other snacks and beverages, donating all tips to Cass Community Social Services.

Thanksgiving Weekend Holiday Shows

I did back to back shows this past Thanksgiving weekend. Troy Elf Shelf and Leon and Lulu Artist Market. I had a great time at both events and managed to get up Monday, stock Yellow Door and get back into the sewing room.

Troy Elf Shelf, before and after

Friday was set up for Elf Shelf, they said it was a long walk from parking to the building and they were right, it was extremely long, and extremely cold and windy, temps in the mid 20's. Luckily we have a dolly and it took about 5 trips to bring everything inside. I got it all set up in less then 2 hours.

I had hoped to keep the truck packed and just go straight to Leon and Lulu Sunday, but really felt I needed to regroup and reorganize my items, so we did end up bringing them inside. Luckily for Leon and Lulu I only needed 1 gridwall, and my products. I will be returning to Leon and Lulu Tuesday 3-8pm.

Leon & Lulu Artist Market, this is my third time attending this event

Back to the sewing room, I really need to start over on cutting and sewing. When I do this I pull out stacks and stacks of fabrics and begin, planning, cutting and sewing. I really have lost track of what has sold where, and what I need to make so I am just going to dive in and cut and sew.

Monday morning, quiet, back in the sewing room

Yellow Door Friends and Family Night

I am super excited to have sent out my invite for the friends and family night. I have decided not to do my annual home show and do this instead. It will be fun to have everyone come see my new shop, and see all the other super talented Michigan artists.

The date for this event is November 11th, best part I don't have to clean the house and they will be handling all the "sips and snacks" it will be great to just hang out and chat and show off my "shop". Plus spending a few hours at Yellow Door will be a real treat.

I had actually wanted to do my invite the end of last week but evite the service I usually use is migrating to a new site, so it was a new invitation site and setting that up the held me up for a few days.

I opted to use "Socializr" it was much more intuitive, easy to create my own design with my own pictures. It gives you the option to look at stats, comments and replies all from your event page. I highly recommend them and will be my choice for future events.

Troy Elf Shelf

I am super excited to be participating in this years "Troy Elf Shelf", this annual juried show is held Thanksgiving Weekend at Troy High School. The organizers of this event is the Troy Womens Association who is a local volunteer group supporting many local charities.

This is the 39th year of this well attended show, it will feature 150 artists. The show is November 27th at Troy High School from 9am-4pm.

Leon and Lulu Artists Market

I recently did my first juried show, at a local furniture and accessory store called Leon and Lulu. This is a quarterly show that is quite unique both in its setting and in the selected artists. The show is always held Sunday and Tuesday of the given weekend and is attended by hundreds of shoppers, each event also supports a local charity.

Leon and Lulu is a destination type of store the kind you could wonder around several times and still not see everything. One of a kind artwork, furniture and accessories all in a renovated roller rink, complete with hundreds of pairs of roller skates. You will also find a sweet big dog named Spot wandering around as well, he is especially keen to make friends with you if you happen to grab a bag of popcorn from the snack bar.


I had a great time during the show, the in person feedback I get is always helpful to get new ideas or tweek old ones. I also met several local artists/crafters and hope to keep in touch with them to share ideas and events in the future.

I had a great space to set up, in dining room display, so I had a large table, a buffet, and next to me was a bed with a sofa table, so I had lots and lots of room to spread out, I also brought a grid wall for my purses.

I had prepped two new offerings for the show, what I call "Accessory Ensembles" these were coordinated groupings of...accessories. I had large ones which started with a cosmetic pouch and had varying coordinated accessories like change purse, tissue cozy, pocket mirror, eyeglass case, key chains, hair accessories, mini composition books. I was super happy with the presentation which was simple crunchy cello bags, each labeled with contents and pricing, they looked really pretty and colorful when displayed. The pricing for these was 20.00-30.00 each. These did not sell as well as I had hoped BUT got lots of attention, I think if it were closer to a gift giving time like Christmas or Mothers Day they would have sold more, I would do more of these in the future.

I had then done "mini accessory ensembles" that were just a three piece set, many with a mini coin purse, pocket mirror and tissue cozy, each presented in a tulle drawstring bag each were $12.00. I had made over 35 of these and had less then 10 left, and got lots and lots of positive comments on these as well, I think closer to the holidays these will be a huge hit, I would bring even more next time.

Other items I had were carabiner coin purses which are a great seller for me in general and a personal fave of mine too. I sold lots of pocket mirrors, eyeglass cases and jumbo paper clip book marks. I had several requests for card cases and tea cozies and would definitely add these to future shows.

All in all my first Leon and Lulu show was a success, I plan to re-apply for a fall show and take all that I learned from this one and improve for the next.