Craft Shows

I just did the opening weekend of the South End Open Market in Boston,Ma. It was great start to kick off the craft show season. There were about 150 vendors and a swarm of people. I shared a booth with a my friend Amy Burhoe who makes jewelery, nightlights, magnets, mini bowls, etc.. out of colorful fused glass.
Here are some pictures of the show taken by Amy's husband Wes. Thanks! Also here's a list of the shows I'll be selling at:

Providence Open Market: Saturday's May 31st Opening day, June 7th. Time 12-6 Location Westminister Str. Providence,RI

JP First Thursday's: June 5th, July 3rd, August 7th. Time 5-8 pm Location Curtis Hall lawn in Jamaica Plain,Ma.

South End Open Market: Sunday's June 8th & 22nd. Time 10-4 Location 540 Harrison Ave. Boston,Ma.

Boston handmade Marketplace: Saturday June 28th. Time 3-7 Location Union Square Somerville,Ma.

Missing In Action

So I've been missing in action for awhile on my blog. I just been really busy with the house. This past weekend I finished painting. With all said and done I painted four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, two hallways, and stairs. I did have some help from my dad but pretty much this was a one women show!
I also contribute post to my group blog Boston Handmade. A new post I just wrote is now up about my wrist pin cushions. So click over to the site and read all about them!

Beth

Valentine's Show

Boston Handmade Valentine's Day Show

I'm very excited about this show it's the first one of the year and it's with my group Boston Handmade. There will be a great mixture of talented ladies and love will be in the air. The show is being held at the Alchemist Lounge in Jamaica Plain. Once a neighborhood dive bar, The Alchemist has been transformed into a hip restaurant and lounge featuring everything from live music and exotic cocktails to weekend brunch. Save the date and come visit us on Saturday February 9th form 11-3.

Custom Jobs

In the beginning most of my work were custom jobs. One of my first was updating a living room set of valances and pillows. I went with the customer to the fabric store to help pick out fabrics and trimmings. She asked for ruffled valances for her windows and let me use her old ones as templates. I also covered sixteen existing pillows with the fabric and piping. Out of the sixteen I made three decorative pillows a bolster, envelope, and a tiered pillow. Now you would think sixteen pillows was enough but we still had fabric left over. An additional four pillows were made with fabric covered buttons. Along with the whole set I made runners for the coffee and end tables. It was a lot of work especially covering all the piping but in the end the room turned out great and most important the customer loved it. I still do custom work it's a nice change from my everyday sewing. It also shows some of my other talents because I don't do a lot of home decor items and it's a great addition to my portfolio.

My First Sewing Experience

My first sewing experience was for a friend having a baby shower and instead of buying from the registry at Babies R Us a creative light popped up in my head. I always hated the bags there but having children of my own you can never have enough of diaper bags. Though it was quite the first experience I made the bag and it came out great! She loved the bag and couldn't believe it was handmade. Now this was awhile ago way before Etsy and I decided to make another one and sell it on Ebay. Well it sold in a heart beat and I got PAID for something I love doing. From there it was word of mouth and that spread quickly along with me sewing as a full time business.

I have gone on to sewing a variety of items for my line but always find time designing and sewing stylish and functional bags.

Here are some old pictures of me and my best friend Lisa with my first line of bags.

Felt Bird Hair Clip

Here's a new item that I made to sell this past Holiday season at Craftland in Providence,R.I.. I love hair clips and having bangs whenever I feel there in the way I put a plain brown hair clip in. Well I want hair clips that are just as cute and stylish like my daughters but that work for both kids and adults. I bought some hair clips, a colorful selection of felt, and seed beads. I used the clip to trace a pattern out so I can cover both sides of it. Then I drew a pattern of a bird and his wing. Young and old everyone loves birds. I sewed the bird onto the moss green felt added a beak, brown thread for some legs, and a blue eye. I then took some felt and just started cutting away to make what I think are flowers and added a yellow seed bead to those. I paired up a huge selection of colorful felt to make a variety of these little bird hair clips. They add a little bit of color and playfulness to anyone's hair and are for purchase on my Etsy site.

My First Post "Intro"

I thought for my first post I would tell a little about myself. I'm a wife and mother of two great kids. We live in Seekonk, MA. south of Boston. I've been sewing now for three years and about a year ago I made it my full time job. I've never sewn anything before this but I have always been creative and love to draw. My Nana was the sewer in our family and when she past away six years ago I inherited her sewing machine and supplies.
I started with bags and from there ventured into sewing anything that interest me. I now sew clothing, baby clothing and other items, accessories, home decor, and sewing items like pin cushions. Also in the past year of my business I joined a remarkable group of other talented people called "Boston Handmade" you can visit our blog at http://www.bostonhandmade.blogspot.com. I'm selling my items at local craft shows and loving every moment meeting other crafters and the awesome people who stop by.
On top of all of this business our house in under construction and I'm taking over our old bedroom to make a studio. So please come back again and I'll be posting new products, shows, and the new studio.