Valentine Craftacular!

I have had a busy couple of months and plan to check in with an update and photos soon so you can see some of the new things I've been making! But first, I want to tell you about my first craft show of 2012! 

The Bookish Life will be participating in the Valentine Craftacular on February 4th at the East Side Club in Madison, WI. There will be around 50 artists and crafters, a photo booth and a make & take craft table. Fun for the whole family! Admission is free and the first 50 shoppers will get a free tote bag stuffed with goodies from the vendors.

Here is a sneak peek at some of the shops who will be at the show. You can go to the Valentine Craftacular website for more information and a full vendor list! Hope to see you there!

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Our last craft show of the season is THIS weekend, Saturday December 11th. Hope you can make it! The Craftacular is always such a fun show. Admission is free and the first 50 shoppers will get a goody bag stuffed with samples, coupons and more from vendors and sponsors!

We will have pocket mirrors, magnets, art prints, clothing for kids and adults and more! Plus tons of goodies from over 40 other awesome vendors. You can see the full list of vendors HERE.

Hope to see you on Saturday!

Thanks for supporting local and independent artists and crafters this holiday season! 

xo

Andrea

Holiday Craft Shows!

Apparently the time for making time to make is RIGHT NOW, because holiday shows are coming up FAST! We are participating in several events in November and December and while I was (and still am) tempted to apply for a couple more shows, I just know that it would be too much. I am already trying to figure out how on earth I am going to be able to be ready for one show or get a batch of inventory ready for one shop. It will all come together, though. It always does, right?

So here are the shows you can find Space Oddities at for the rest of 2010! 

November 20 we will be heading to Chicago for the DIY Trunk Show! The event is at Pulaski Park Auditorium from 10AM to 5PM and will feature close to 100 artists and crafters from the Chicago area and beyond. We participated in this event in 2008 and absolutely loved it. We met so many fantastic people and had a great show. I'm really looking forward to this one and I'm sure it'll be a great first show of the season! 

On the same weekend, November 19 & 20, while we'll physically be in Chicago, we'll also have some items for sale at Lapacek's Orchard in Poynette where Kim from Kim's Crafty Apple will be hosting her annual Handcrafted Hoedown for the Holidays event. There will be items for sale from several local artisans as well as a mini quilt shop, freshly baked goodies from Lapacek's Orchard and fun tarot card readings from Sass Mama Arts on Friday November 19th. Another great chance to shop handmade for the holidays! 

The following weekend we will be back in Madison at the Holiday Craft Lounge hosted by Anthology. This super fun event will be held downtown Madison at the Overture center on Saturday, November 27 from 10AM - 4PM. You can stop in and find make & take craft activities, demonstrations and handmade items for sale from local crafters. We are planning to have a make & take button/magnet/mirror table (personalize a gift or make something special for yourself!) and will also be selling our wares. Actually, this one will be all me. Chad is sitting this show out and I am dragging a friend along. Total girly craft day!  

 And finally, on December 11 we will be at the Sixth Annual Holiday Craftacular! This show is very special to me because my first real show was a Valentine Craftacular in 2007. The energy of this local show is one of the things that got me so excited about crafting when I was first starting and that is still true today. This event will be held at the East Side Club, which is a new location from the past couple of holiday shows. 

We have been working with the fantastic Naomi of Glitter Workshop to design this year's Craftacular posters/postcards/etc. I hope you like the design! 

 

Okay, seriously: Time to focus, Andrea! I truly do not know where to begin. My lack of time combined with my distraction with all things crafty is making it difficult for me to build inventory. I plan to do some supply ordering this week so that I will have what I need to get as much ready as I can in the coming weeks. Wish me luck! 

And as always: Make time to make! I will, too. I really will.

a whole lotta craft

I am so glad to live in a city that is bursting with handmade goodness everywhere I turn. This weekend is stuffed to the brim with opportunities to kick out the craft!! Just in case these aren't already on your radar...

Join crafting sisters Jessica and Anastasia for their first Confectionique market on Saturday April 24. This monthly craft market showcases their own work as well as treasures created by other local artists/crafters. The very first Confectionique market will be from 10AM -4PM at 8300 Airport Road, Middleton. Check it out!

Also on Saturday is the Spring Fling Craftacular! Yes, you read it right! Naomi at Glitter Workshop has decided to hold the craftacular events more frequently so we can enjoy the crafty goodness all year long. Really, who wants to wait an entire year between craftaculars? Not this lady. As always, get there early (doors open at 10AM) to snag the swag! First 25 shoppers get the goods!

And if you feel like visiting us, we'll be at the Dane county farmers' market where you will find delicious locally grown produce AND an awesome handmade market. Last week was the first market of the season. This week it just might be rainy. We're hoping it's not but I suppose if it is, at least we'll have more time to check out the other amazing events that are taking place all around our lovely city!

If you do make it downtown, I would also recommend Anthology for a dreamy craft fix. Easily one of the most inspiring stores in the city, this place always has new treasures waiting to be discovered. It's also Altered Clothing month at Anthology! "Bring your own skirt, shirt...and select from an assortment of fabrics. Make your own iron-on patches, and stitch around the edges for added decoration." What fun!!

After you've packed as much craft into your days as you possibly can, here are some more killer events of note to look forward to this weekend...

Highway 18 Drive-In. It's open! Alice in Wonderland under the stars!

and

Roller Derby! Bout 5! Saturday Morning Cartoon theme!

Maybe we will cross paths this fine weekend? See you around!

xo
andrea

Craftacular!

craftacular postcard
Originally uploaded by space oddities

It's almost Craftacular time! Chad and I are excited to be sponsoring this awesome event again this year. It's organized by Laura & Sachi from Anthology and Naomi & Jerome of Glitter Workshop and it's an event worth marking your calendar for! Over 60 artists and crafters will be selling their unique crafty wares all in one place on November 28. You can find more info here.

Chad and I created the postcard design for the show. Last year we made the forest critters cutting out snowflakes. This year they are giving knitting a try. This is one bunch of crafty forest friends! We're still working on some details but the postcards and posters will be finished and printed soon.

If you're in the Madison area please mark your calendar for this event and spread the word!

xo
andrea

Craftacular! Craftacular! Craftacular!

This Saturday is Craftacular time!

Come visit us and over 60 other local and regional vendors at the Madison Masonic Center, 301 Wisconsin Ave, Madison, WI. THIS SATURDAY December 6 from 10am-6pm.

You can find more details including a vendor list HERE.

Come early! The first FIFTY shoppers will receive a canvas tote bag filled with goodies and coupons from vendors.

Excellent! So I'll see you there!

xo
Andrea

i heart minneapolis

Where do I begin? Minneapolis kicks ass! We spent the weekend doing crafty stuff with crafty people in crafty places. Good times, good people, and lots of amazing art!!

Saturday we drove up to White Bear Lake as eaaaarly as we could make ourselves and made it just in time to set up our table. The show was fun. Our neighbors made by keli and fahzies were both fantastic and fun to chat with. Thanks so much to the ladies from Truly for putting on such a great show! We are planning to send items to them for consignment soon so if you're in White Bear Lake you should be able to find some of our work there soon.

After the show on Saturday we went out to dinner at Triple Rock with our friend kelly and her boyfriend greg. You may know Kelly from her etsy shops kellybot and pequenopequeno. The food was amazing (I've been dreaming about another minneapolis po' boy,) kelly and greg are amazing, and the only thing missing was sheela's cupcakes (triple rock was fresh out of them, boo!) I have to insert a HUGE SHOUT OUT/thank you/we owe you/you are awesome to greg and kelly for letting us crash at their place on Saturday and making our stay in the cities way better than it would have been if we were not in the company of friends.

Sunday we peddled our wares at the Handmaidens Fall Show in uptown Minneapolis. Again, it was super awesome. The i like you girls really know how to put on a show! There was a steady crowd of lots of enthusiastic shoppers and again, tons of great artists and crafters. We had more terrific neighbors and met lots of people we hope to see at future shows. We also started some early holiday shopping and made some fun trades with other vendors. Excellent.

If only we had MORE TIME to spend in the twin cities! Well, we'll take we can get. Thanks for your awesomeness, Minneapolis.

p.s. - my favorite thing all weekend was the "i (stomach) minneapolis" shirt at the i like you booth. hahaha! so clever.

A weekend of INDIE CRAFT GOODNESS!

We are heading up to Minneapolis this weekend! We'll be selling our wares at two shows, one in White Bear Lake and one in Uptown in Minneapolis.

On Saturday we'll be at CRAFTED TOGETHER which is featuring 60 local artists and crafters, live music and yummy food.














On Sunday you can find us at the Handmaiden MPLS Craftacular sponsored by i like you.

















Chad and I are thrilled to be able to do both shows and spend the weekend in Minneapolis. We'll also get to meet the fabulous lady behind Kellybot and PequenoPequeno, yay! We haven't been to the Twin Cities in YEARS. I wish we had an extra day to just hang out and shop but we'll take what we can get.

If you're in the area please stop by and say hi! Looking forward to meeting lots folks this weekend!

fall shows, to-do lists, stuff

Look, a new mirror!


french text mirror
Originally uploaded by space oddities

I can't believe it's already Thursday! The week has flown by. This week at work I've decided to force myself to be severely cheerful. To my surprise, it's really working and is making my days go faster and things generally more pleasant. Not that my work isn't generally pleasant...it's just that lately there are a lot of times when I'd just rather be home with my family, you know? It's funny how the pretending to be in a good mood can work. I'm really in a good mood. But...well, it's 3 a.m. and we'll see how I feel at six when I get up to go to work again. Ha!

Today I made a massive list of things to do to prepare Space Oddities for upcoming fall shows (see the list on the top left for Fall Shows!) and the upcoming holiday season online and in brick & mortar shops. It turns out I have a LOT to do! One thing I have to do a lot of is packaging. I have a ton of pin and magnet sets and mirrors ready but need to make them look pretty and and finished. I've started to cut paper in bulk which makes things faster, and have realized that I should probably begin to print my labels instead of hand stamping them all due to the time it takes. But I really love the hand stamped look even if it's NOT so perfect and polished. So I think at least for now I'm sticking to it.

I'm excited for our non-eventful weekend. I'm hoping we can just hang out at home, maybe go to the market on Saturday, and spend some time crafting! I just ordered a batch of new tote bags to print on and just maaaybe I'll get them in time to bust out the gocco and print this weekend. Fingers crossed!

Craftacular Time!!

The High Noon Holiday Craftacular is this weekend! If you're in the Madison, Wisconsin area, please please come check it out! Featuring 20 awesome vendors and free goody bags for the first 50 early birds on Saturday.

Here are the details
Saturday & Sunday November 24 & 25 from 10am-4pm
at High Noon Saloon, 701 E. Washington, Madison, WI

I created an etsy treasury to showcase some of the vendors who will be at the show. I think I found every vendor who sells on etsy and ended up adding one of my items in so I didn't duplicate. Look at all of the cool stuff that you can find at the show this weekend! Hope to see you there!