Check out your buds at Magpie

Or in Cambridge

Don't forget the South End Open Market; or the one in Providence or the one in Mashpee!



Next week look for folks in Hamden, CT

What shows are you doing & signed up for this fall?
post 'em here!

Craft Alert!

Mark it on your shopping Calender!

September 22 from 9-5 in Greenfield MA, join the Western Massachusetts Street Team and other artists, artisans and crafters for an arts and crafts fair.

CALL FOR VENDORS -

The ETSY Western Mass Craft Fair is back on!! We have found a new and better location. It is STILL scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22 from 9-5. It will take place on the grounds of the St. James Episcopal Church on Federal St. in Greenfield . The grounds are lovely and if we have good weather we can probably put everyone outside. The church is in the Tudor design and there's also a covered walkway (cloister) where people with small displays could be set up. If the weather doesn't cooperate, vendors without tents can be put inside - in 2 rooms. The church will be selling food and as this is a cooperative event, there will be some select non-Etsy vendors who will be invited.

We will require a $40 booth fee, some of which we will used for advertising. Checks should be made out to Vickie Hutchinson and sent to her at 33 Spruce St . , Greenfield , MA 01301 . Include with your check: your name and mailing address; email address and phone number, Etsy Shop name, preferred space (outdoor with tent, outdoor without, cloister, etc) table and electricity requests. Please note if you should need any special considerations as well.

The church has a limited number of 8ft tables. They will be distributed on a first request basis. Electricity is not available outside. You must supply your own tent.

Unless you have a tent and are outside, spaces may not all be the traditional 10 x 10 size. The cloister is narrow and the inside rooms can accommodate a 10 ft width but not always a 10ft depth.

Etsy is helping us with advertising by supplying us with a large sign that will be hung in front of the church a couple weeks ahead and signs that we'll put in the center of town. This is still the same day as the Old Deerfield Craft Fair and there should be shuttle buses running from the center of Greenfield . Our location is about a block from there (walking distance.)

We have no application so please be sure include all requested information By September 8th at the latest. Once we know how many we need to accommodate, we'll send you directions and instructions.

Questions should be sent to jbajgier@comcast.net. Valley Artisan Craft Fair

Boston Street Team

The Boston Team takes to the streets tonight.

Showing in Jamaica Plain this evening from 5-8pm at the South Street Outdoor Mall in front of the tennis courts across the street from Harvest Foods is a selection of spectacular art & craft talent. Prints and originals, jewelry and fashion clothing.

Today's exhibitors:
Amy Olson Jewelry
Cozy Cottage Creations
Glamorpuss Creations
J. Hill Design
MuchachaK
Reclaimed To You
Relaxation Works
The Hole Thing
Zesty Betsy

More Events - deadlines very soon!

Hamden, CT Craft Show weekend of Aug 24 - 26. - send email to SulimosDesign@ yahoo.com for info

shop til you drop
Stoughton, MA

Canalfest
Worcester, MA

Sign of the Dove
Belmont, MA

This Thursday (August 2) you can stop by the Shops on South in Jamaica Plain (Boston) to meet and support a group of Etsy crafters showing their works as part of JP First Thursday events from 5-8-ish.

South End Open Market

In Boston in the South End on Harrison Street, there is an open market every Sunday.

Plants, clothing, baby gear, jewelry, pottery, furniture, windchimes and pan flutes, brownies, lip gloss, bread and sandwiches, muffins, italian ice, hemp clothing, indian import clothing, antiques and junk, tote bags, handbags, hair clips and scrunchie, flowers and herbs. All in one spot. Every week.

Etsy sponsors 2 booth spots for 4 Etsy sellers, evey other week (hahaha) stop in to say hi and show support. Pic is goolala, Lush Beads and Zesty Betsy at the end of a long hot day.

Sundays from 11-5. Go for shopping, check out setups, buy a spot and sell.

Bead show in Marlborough MA

Friday thru Sunday at the Royal Plazza Trade Center at 181 Boson Post Rd in Marlborough is the International Gem & Jewelry Show.

I'll be there on Friday wearing an Etsy pin. Say "Hi" if you see me.

Opportunity for vending in CT

Heather of DecadenceDesigns is in the planning stages of a craft show that will be held in the Hamden, CT area.

The space can hold 3 seller spots at a time and I would be booking several dates to accommodate all interested sellers.

One option is Friday nights to do a "crafts and cocktail hour" kind of thing, seeing that most sellers are booked on weekend days with other craft shows.

Another possibility would be to do a Friday night, Saturday day and Sunday day craft show, with 3 sets of sellers (so 9 in total) so that every one gets a chance to exhibit.

She'd like to start a list of sellers that can be contacted once dates are confirmed.

To get on the list please convo DecadenceDesigns your contact info.

oh no what's a promo?

What makes a good promo item?

anything that you can put your business name onto or that will remind folks of your business.
ideally something that they person will keep around to look at for a while.

magnets strong enough to actually stay on fridge
pin back buttons especially if your market is a younger crowd
key fobs if you can get your name on them
stickers might be good
tiny parts or pieces of your normal work (I heard of one person who promo-ed out 1 earring, and if you ordered from her store you got the mate as well for free!)
matchbooks imprinted with your info
small art & info glued to a match box?
candy? shorter life span since folks wouldn't keep the wrapper, but they might remember the sweet.
a small pouch with your logo & info
a t-shirt with your logo & info
a mug or cup etched or painted
tiny gift sized note cards


What do you use as a promo item?

Old Deerfield Summer Craft Fair

* Jan Bajgier of JansJems and the Western Massachusetts Street Team went to the fair this weekend:

This year’s Old Deerfield Summer Craft Fair provided a number of surprises. Living in So. Deerfield I have the opportunity to attend often. So I recognize many of the vendors who are often in the same spots each year. But this year brought a number of new artisans with very impressive items. Right off the bus (they run shuttle buses from 2 parking lots in South Deerfield) we walked into the white church and found Susan Fine. Her shop is “Forbidden Fruit” and she makes the most incredible belt buckles I’ve ever seen. They’re made from clustered and arranged gemstone beads and chips—everything from turquoise to topaz. Next to her was “Idle Time Crafts” doing a booming business selling handcrafted wooden items—very American Country style pictures, shelves and plaques. I really wish I had more wall space in my kitchen because I fell in love with a great rooster painting. Outside on the street we stopped in at a booth of ceramic scarf slides and scarves. The gentleman there was such a salesman, engaging you as soon as you stop. The booth was filled with women trying on scarves in front of the mirror and matching them to slides in every color on the Sherwin Williams paint chart. Farther up the street was Sha-Sha Beads. Penny Despos is a favorite of ours. She wire wraps natural stones in unique ways attaching coordinating colored gems and crystals. She really needs a website. Both my daughters & I have several of her pendants and today I bought another one.

This summer’s fair had more people demonstrating their crafts than I’m used to seeing. They had a blacksmith in one area, a potter working his wheel, and a couple of jewelers doing some beading. Yankee Candle is a sponsor of the Deerfield Fairs and they had a candle dipping station set up that was perpetually busy. I saw a new food vendor, a woman from Florida with dried ingredients for corn chowder and shrimp scampi. We almost didn’t need lunch with all the sampling we did at the dip and jelly booths.

The most important bit of news, however, is that people were BUYING. Everywhere you looked people were carrying multiple bags and getting back on the bus was a major production. This is important because Deerfield runs 4 craft fairs a year; 1 every season. Two are indoors and 2 are outdoors and the cost to get in runs from $275 to over $600. So you really need to sell. But traffic at the summer fair runs from 9000 to 11000 people for the weekend even with a gate fee of $6. Any crafters interested , more info.

Sadly, Bethany and I didn’t see any Etsy people, at least no one advertising that they were with Etsy. We’re hoping to change that next year. The girls & I are planning to apply for the 2008 Christmas Sampler that Deerfield does at the Big E in Springfield. Wish us luck!

June 24 SEOM

Rain or Shine the South End Open Market is there on Sundays all summer season.

Every other weekend there are 2 Etsy Booths with Etsy sellers! be there this week with LushBeads and gooLaLa; ZestyB and designsbylulubelle.

If you stop in on Sunday & tell Betsy you read the blog - She'll give you a free pair of 1" buttons or 1" post earrings.