Craft Carnival, my own craft show

I knocked another one off of my list! This past Saturday (Nov. 5th) was the Craft Carnival. A craft show that I not only participated in, but also organized from the ground up.

My awesome craft sisters (cause they are more than friends now) from Handmade Miami and I really worked our butts off to get this show to happen. It was our baby and we can't wait to see it grow year after year.

Me, Frances, Julie & Vanessa... the ladies that made it happen!

I had Mom and Grandma helping me at my booth. I even finished my items a week before the show! That's a real record for me, but I had a rack full of aprons, and I don't think I would have had any more room if I would have made more.

Abuela watching my booth

Mom had an area in my booth too. She made the scarves and cowls that she usually makes, but this time she also made these awesome stuffies! Aren't they cute? The little owls all had their own personalities and the pillow pals were so snuggly

Mom's area! her stuffies were all so cute!

Look at all those vendors in the room! We had about 40 vendors in the show. They sold everything from vintage suitcases to handmade soap and awesome unique jewelry. We were happy to have some first time vendors too, and they had really great items!

the show about to open

A big thanks to all of my customers new and old that shopped with me. I just love helping aprons make a comeback. And Melanie (a return customer) has another designed by Diana apron to add to her collection now.

a satisfied customer, Melanie

The last few weeks were crazy, but I'm glad to say the show was a hit. It ran smoothly and everyone had a great time. If you wanna see even more pics, check out the Craft Carnival Facebook page.

We're already getting our gears moving for the Craft Carnival 2012, so stay tuned and I'll let you know what we have in store.

Are there any great craft fairs in your area? Do you like buying handmade?

Crafting up a Carnival... and other things too

As I mentioned before, along with my group, Handmade Miami, we're putting on the Craft Carnival this November. It's totally a labor of love. We got our postcards this week! Don't they look great? We gave the graphic designer a bunch of images and had him pick the ones that would work best. I was happy to see he picked some of mine.

But along with running Handmade Miami and our monthly Crafter-noons (not to mention our business workshop this weekend), actually working full-time and the Carnival, I feel like I've been neglecting poor designed by Diana! It was time to give my business some love.

So, last weekend I got back into the sewing for dbD. I figured I should finish making my things to sell at the Carnival early, since I'll have a LOT of last minute things to coordinate. And I'd love to make some goodies from designed by Diana to giveaway in the swag bags too.

This week, I've managed to made about 20 pouches! I was totally ready to sew up the 10 others I had already cut out, but as luck would have it, I had no more labels to sew into them. I went over to my printer to print them out and keep going, but, of course, I had no ink in my printer. And if you are anything like me, I drag my feet to get ink. It's so expensive (if anyone has tips on where to find cheaper HP ink, let me know). But I've been on a roll this week, so I figured I might as well get the ink on my lunch break. At least I only need color, so I only have to buy one cartridge.

Since I didn't want to lose my crafting momentum last night I got started making the swag bag items that Handmade Miami will be giving away at the Craft Carnival. It was all going great. I was using my rotary cutter and cutting them out while sitting on my bed and watching TV. Everything was going great, but then I grabbed my rotary cutter from my lap, and cut my leg. Now I've cut my fingers before with the rotary cutter, but never my leg! Note to self (and to all of you too!): close the rotary blade unless you are using it! The cutter had a new blade in it, but I didn't think of anything since it didn't hurt. Then when I got up and saw the blood on my leg, I thought it might be band-aid time.

So the band-aid is covering my craft-related injury and I'm ready to get back to work. I'm also gonna whip up some Halloween costumes for my nephew and niece this weekend, so I can send it to them before October. Those are gonna be adorable, so I'll be sure to post pics.

Wish me luck in my ink search and safe crafting tonight!

The Craft Carnival

It's always been a dream of mine to put on my own craft show. It'd have an indie crafts vibe and be right here in Miami.

When I started Handmade Miami with Frances, Julie and Vanessa, we often talked about this and putting a show together ourselves. Well I am happy to say that finally our dream is becoming a reality.

Along with Handmade Miami, I'm proud to present the Craft Carnival!! This is gonna keep me pretty busy til November, but it's definitely a labor of love.

I hope you can come out and join us. And if you want any information about vending, sponsoring or buying an ad at the Craft Carnival, check out our website theCraftCarnival.com.

It's been a month?

I can't believe it's been a month! I'm sorry to my very few readers. But I've been crazy busy. And the heat. I have to blame the heat, it is the middle of summer after all.

I can now officially say that my fab group Handmade Miami is putting on its very first craft show. It's called the Craft Carnival! It will feature some of the most awesome indie crafters in South Florida, along with food, games, raffles and even a DIY table so you can make and take your own crafts! It's being held on November 5th at the Miami Elks Lodge from noon to 5pm. I'll be posting tons more when the date gets closer.

It seems like the Craft Carnival is taking up so much time, but I'm also juggling planning a new party. I'm hosting a baby shower for one of my best friends, Kristina. She's having her second baby, a little girl, so we're getting ready for her by showering her with gifts. As usual I'm doing a LOT of DIY for this shower, but having so much fun doing it. I can't wait to post all the pics when I'm done.

And tonight I'm hosting a little pool party/get-together for me and my cousins. I wasn't gonna do any decorating, but now I'm thinking up some simple decorations to make and put out by the pool. I'll definitely post these when they're done.

I hope everyone is staying cool this summer!