Saturday, the 7th of May was the Crafty Wonderland Spring Sale and it was great!  I was working the I Heart Art booth, because I am one of the members of the I Heart Art Leadership Counsel.  All of the members take turns volunteering for this program.

If you’re not familiar with I Heart Art let me tell you a little about it.  I Heart Art is a collaborative project between PNCA, the Museum of Contemporary Craft, Etsy and the PDX Etsy Team.  This program is all about offering professional development in the form of workshops and events for Portland’s artists and makers.  These workshops and events are very affordable, as in $10 or free, which makes them accessible for everyone.  I helped set up the booth at Crafty Wonderland and also worked the first hour of the sale from 11-12.  We offered a coloring contest at the I Heart Art booth as well as information about the program.   I was surprised by how many people didn’t know about this amazing program.  All were really excited about I Heart Art once I filled them in on the program.

If you’re a maker and you’re anywhere near Portland
you should really consider getting involved with I Heart Art.

OK, back to Crafty Wonderland . . . usually I sell at Crafty, but this time I didn’t have enough time to build my inventory so I decided I’d wait and do the next sale (that is, if I’m juried into it).    After I finished my shift at the I Heart Art booth I was able to walk around and talk to people – vendors, customers and friends, which was wonderful! I got to see  Susan Beal and check out her new book, World of Geekcraft, which are available online or you can find them locally at collage.  I chatted with my friend Kirsten Moore of Piper Ewan and Cynthia Lucas of Bella Sisters.

The community of makers in Portland are a special breed of awesome!

Here’s a picture of the I Heart Art booth.  One of Portland’s special breeds of awesome is my friend Shawn Collins, who makes Fuzzy Lamps.  He agreed to help me with my volunteer shift at the I Heart Art booth.

Cathy and Torie do a great job organizing Crafty Wonderland sales.  The Convention Center was packed with cool art and crafts and tons of shoppers!  When I think of community, cool and creativity I think of Crafty Wonderland.  Hooray for Cathy Pitters and Torie Nguyen and the hard work they do putting on such a great sale!

After Crafty Wonderland  I went to a Kentucky Derby Party.  Overall it was a wonderful day!

by: jen

Crafty Wonderland’s Super Colossal Sale was amazing to Richard and I this year.  We took a lot of time to set up our booth to make it really eye catching, which if you are a vendor is a pretty critical element to a good sale.  Another necessity for a good sale is choosing your shows wisely.  Participating in a show that is well run and marketed, which Cathy Pitters and Torie Nguyen have in spades can make your sale experience incredible.  No matter where you live, Crafty Wonderland is a show that is worth traveling to and selling at. 

Our booth was hoppin’ almost the entire time of this 2 day event.  Richard and I both loved meeting shoppers, new shop owners interested in carrying our work and the sheer joy of selling our art. We hung the DIY Lounge sign on the front of our booth even though we were selling for our other businesses, Knot Ugly Designs and Sinister Concept.

We had so much fun and we are truly grateful to all of the folks who came out and shopped, which was somewhere in the neighborhood of 12,000 people I think I heard.  It was an honor to sell next to all the amazing handmade artists who’s work was represented at Crafty Wonderland and the biggest thank you of all to the show organizers.

Learn more about Crafty Wonderland from this video that DIY Lounge produced and directed about Crafty Wonderland.

I am re-reminded again and again that this is a great community and I am so fortunate to be part of this amazing artistic scene!

by: Jen

Phew, this is a busy time of year!  Richard and I have both been selling our art at art and craft fairs all over Portland, Oregon.  I create my work under the label Knot Ugly Designs and Richard has been selling his work under the business name Sinister Concept.  Our art and  sales have really been the focal point for both of us for the last few months, which has left less time for DIY Lounge.

You might be wondering, what’s happening with DIY Lounge? Well, we’re working on a number of different projects, such as emceeing at the Scrap fundraiser, speaking on a panel about DIY culture and getting a new HD video camera.  Recently, we’ve decided to shift our focus away from the TV show concept and back in the direction of crafty videos.   We will definitely continue making craft videos featuring Richard and I, as well as online video tutorials.  We’ll still offering Birthday parties and other art parties at both collage locations in Portland Oregon, too.

This Saturday and Sunday Richard and I will be selling our work at Crafty Wonderland.  The sale hours are 11am – 5pm at the Convention Center in Portland Oregon.  We hope to see you there!

We are very excited that Morgan at Etsy offered me the opportunity to create a blog post describing our project, DIY Lounge.

It went live the other day and we’ve been receiving many compliments and well wishes.  We are hoping that this will invigorate our Kickstarter fundraising campaign.

If you haven’t read it yet please click on the link below.

We are beyond pleased to announce that, Mark Montano, author of “The Big-Ass Book of Crafts”, Dollar Store Decor: 100 Projects for Lush Living That Won’t Break the Bank, and many more, will be appearing at the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Spring Sale. Mark is also the star of many TV projects including: WeTV’s She’s Moving In, and TLC’s While You Were Out and many of you will recognize him as the face of the Yudu.  He will be on hand to sign his brand new book, The Big-Ass Book of Home Decor: More than 100 Inventive Projects for Cool Homes Like Yours.  Mark will also be doing a Make and Take and generally spreading his crafty goodness around Portland.

DIY Lounge will be interviewing him for the upcoming Pilot Episode in our booth so come by and say hi.  It will be so nice to introduce him to the amazingly creative denizens that call Portland home.

See You All There!

Dear Faithful Friends and Fans,

As you know we are going to be appearing at the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Spring Sale.  We will be doing some filming, interviewing, etc. One of the many things we’re really excited about is the DIY Lounge Raffle, a chance for us to raise some money for the project and a chance for you to obtain some awesome swag for the price of a raffle ticket.

We are so honored and excited by the generous contributions.  One of our favorite companies is, Namaste, a company specializing in bags and accessories specifically designed to carry all of your knitting, crochet and miscellaneous craft products.

These vegan bags and accessories meld form and function seamlessly. Here are a few examples:

So, don’t forget to stop by and say hi.  We are really excited to be part of the Crafty Wonderland Family.

Cheers,

D.I.Y. Lounge will be a sponsor and presence at the upcoming, Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Spring Sale.  We will be on-site taping the event, showcasing artists and their wares and promoting our upcoming TV show.

We are very excited about having a presence at our favorite Handmade Bazaar.  Cathy Pitters and Torie Nguyen have been wonderfully supportive of our fledgling show and we hope to return the favor by showcasing this great event.

This time Crafty is going to be a two day event, Saturday May 1st and Sunday May 2nd from 11AM to 5PM.  Remember the admission is free and the First 200 Shoppers receive some goodie bags filled with some handmade goodness.

So stop by our booth and say hi.  We will be selling raffle tickets for some amazing prizes with all proceeds going to produce the TV Show.

See you there!!!