Thursday, July 1, 2010

Oh Canada and Patchwork

Well hello there:)  Since its been a while figure I'll give a little update on what I have been up to.

OH CANADA:
I had my first vacation of the summer a couple weeks ago up in good 'ol Canada, which by the way Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian peeps!  This was my 3rd trip to the Great White North and I must say I fall more and more in love with Canada every visit.

This time my fiancee and I went to visit his best friend who was getting married, as he had the honored duty to be his best man:)
This wedding was not only beautiful, fun and love-filled but was also quite DIY (which I of course admire).  And the best part was the entire wedding was a complete no-fuss, hassle-free celebration!  Both the Bride and the Groom were extremely laid back, relaxed and care-free the entire time which was palpable to everyone there making for a truly beautiful day.  I can only hope for the same for my wedding:)

The ceremony was set in the Grooms Aunt Lilly's back yard garden which was absolutely breathtaking, I cant even imagine the upkeep!

 Here are just a few close ups of some of the beautiful flowers that fill Aunt Lilly's garden

The Bridal bouquet was handmade by the bride with gorgeous Peonies freshly cut from Aunt Lilly's garden!  They had the most wonderful scent, and were some of the largest Peonies I have ever seen!

I had the honor of making the boutonnieres and corsages which although I had never done was thrilled and excited that the bride trusted my mad skills.  
Here is a shot of the handsome best man wearing one of the boutonnieres I crafted:)

And of course following the ceremony there was good food and some boogies on the dance floor!  Overall the week was a lot of fun and I truly enjoyed hanging out with the bride and groom and all of their friends and family.  It really was a memorable week and I felt honored to be a part of it.

PATCHWORK INDY ARTS AND CRAFTS FESTIVAL:
After a relaxing trip to Canada I returned home with only 5 days until the big Patchwork Long Beach Indy Craft and Design Festival, where I would be displaying my wares.  This meant a lot of craft show cramming!  I have been working hard on some new designs for my shop to premiere at the Patchwork show, and I am happy to say I got everything accomplished and cant wait to share my new designs with you.  They will be premiering in my Etsy shop early next week.

Although I was much happier with my table set up this time, I definitely feel that it is always a work in progress! 


As a shopper myself I always try to keep that perspective in mind when setting up my booth, and attending a craft show.  I know I definitely have some pet peeves and do's and dont's for craft shows like;
#1. Dont ignore people who walk up to your booth!  I really think this is the most important for me, I find it a real turn off when I walk into someones booth or up to their table and they dont even acknowledge my existence...they loose a sale from me for sure!
#2. Have all of your prices marked on your items or on signs.  It just makes it easier to shop.


Do you have any Craft Show tips?  Pet Peeves, or Do's and Dont's?  I would love to hear them in the comments section below.  Its always great to get other people perspectives especially the shoppers:)

Well finally the sun has really come out today so that means no more playing on the computer, its time to go outside and play...aka knit:)
Hope you all have a wonderful day, and stay tuned for my B-day wish list tomorrow!

4 comments:

  1. The boutonniere looks great, and wow, what beautiful flowers!

    Did you ever count the buttons? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Aube, yes I did there were 511 Buttons in that jar:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amanda I think your advice about craft shows is great, nothing unnerves me more then to go look in someones booth and they are back there reading a book! Your table looked great, saw it with my own two eyes!

    glad you had a great vacation to Canada!

    ReplyDelete
  4. hello! your table looked very cute! sorry i didn't end up making it out. it was our first dragon boat paddling practice that morning and i ended up hyperventilating and nauseous from overexerting myself at practice so i thought it was best to just rest for the rest of the day. hope business was brisk!

    ReplyDelete