maker's market

{photo credit}

i know you guys have been waiting with baited breath to find out what the exciting news is that i mentioned a couple of posts ago. right?! (say yes!)

i am super excited to announce that i am participating in my first craft market this weekend! cue the balloons falling down all around. i have been wanting to have a table at a craft fair for a few years now. if you remember, i even applied to this one and this one and got rejected. from both. double whammy.

i didn't look into having a booth elsewhere for a long time after that. it wasn't that i felt super discouraged about not getting in, but i guess i didn't find what i thought would be a good "starter market" for me. (come to find out, both of these markets are highly competitive, and now the thought of me applying with my little picmonkey collage photos makes me laugh.)

fast forward to the recent months. i attended one of sola's pop-up artist markets with my boyfriend during the summer. i was super inspired by the handmade items that i saw and the artists that i met, and i especially loved the table that kristin from bird and beau had set up. she had such a pretty display and her jewelry is just beautiful. i left this market feeling creatively charged and even more interested in being involved in the art market scene. i started thinking about my art and where i wanted to go with it. what was the next level? i didn't know exactly what that looked like, but i knew that participating in some kind of arts and crafts fair/market should definitely be part of my process.

and then about a week before my trip to california, i noticed that kristin of bird and beau was hosting her first art market in raleigh! i made it a point to schedule my day around that single event so i could check it out and officially introduce myself to kristin. she was super nice and friendly, and i told her i was interested in being involved in the next market she hosted. (go me! make things happen!) she told me they would definitely be having another event and to keep my eyes open on her instagram for details. oh, i will keep my eyes on your instagram. i WILL.

so, all that to say i am joining the art market ranks as of this saturday! i have been prepping my table with display props, working on building my jewelry stock, stamping business cards, collecting tissue paper for wrapping, and trying not to get too nervous about the big day. my trusty roommate will be by my side to help me put items in bags and smile at people, but mostly to add and subtract numbers. i seem to not be able to do correct math when in front of people. performance anxiety, i guess.

i have no expectations for the big day except to have fun and learn what i can. i think that will be a success in and of itself. i promise to take pictures and tell you alllll about it when it's over! wish me luck!

new business cards

{photo credit: me}

i'm so excited to share my new business cards with you guys! it's been a long time since i've had updated business cards. the last ones i ordered were pretty cool and didn't cost me that much to order, but they were still missing that special something. i have been thinking about what i wanted my new cards to look like and considered making them myself, but i didn't want them to turn out looking like a bad art project. after some research on pinterest and etsy, i decided to go the route of rubber stamp business card. so very happy with how it turned out!

{photo credit: me}

{photo credit: me}

{photo credit: me}

i found sam on etsy, and she was the sweetest and coolest girl to work with. her shop is yournewfriendsam, and she is so talented. she does lots of custom design work, hand lettering, rubber stamps, and photography. i highly recommend her for any custom design work! she was always very quick to respond to my questions and emails, and once i decided on what i wanted my stamp to say, the turnaround time was super quick. my stamp was in my greedy hands in probably about a week!

{photo credit: me}

the thing i like so much about using a stamp as my business card is that i can never run out of cards. when my stock is running low, i don't have to re-order online and wait two weeks for them to arrive. i can simply stamp up a bunch of fresh cards! and by using different colored inks and papers, i can customize how each set turns out.

thank you sam for designing such a beautiful stamp! it's like i'm a real artist now.

{photo credit: me}