The Indie Fixx Shop is participating in Squidfire’s Spring Art Mart on Saturday, May 10th. It’s being held in Mount Vernon Park in Baltimore, so make sure to come visit me and do some shopping! Puls, everyone who stops by my booth and mentions Indie Fixx will get a free button!

There’s some really awesome vendors participating, including some of my faves showcased below.

Darin R. Gehrke Ceramics

Built in Pittsburgh

Wondercabinet

April Scott

Jenny Jen 42

Jon Wye

This weekend there’s a ton of indie craft shows going on. Here’s just a few of the biggies…hopefully in your neck of the woods.

The Handmade Market - Saturday, May 3rd - Raleigh, NC

San Mateo Maker Faire - Saturday, May 3rd & Sunday May 4th - San Mateo, Ca

Brooklyn Indie Market - Saturday, May 3rd - Brooklyn, NY

Sunday Crafty Sunday! - Sunday, May 4th - San Diego

The Bust Spring Craftacular is this Sunday, April 27 from 11 am to 9 pm at The Warsaw in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 261 Driggs Avenue. Be there, or be oh so square! Featuring 50 indie craft vendors, a 90’s themed prom, raffle, spiked punch, photo studio and more! More info.

My top ten picks from the participating vendors include:

1. Swigg
2. Jezebel
3. Brookadelphia
4. Squidfire
5. SML bags
6. Orangy Porangy
7. Sprout Jewelry
8. Hand of Fatima
9. Rar Rar Press
10. Imogene

****Edited

Oops!  I won’t be able to make the Springtacular as I previously wrote.  Have a great day to all those who attend! 

The Indie Fixx Shop is going to be at the Springtacular in Philly tomorrow on the Liberties Walk in Northern Liberties…weather permitting. It’s actually looking like it’s gonna to be a pretty nice day weatherwise, maybe a little wonkyness in the morning but clearing up for the afternoon. In addition to all kinds of vendors (also including Little Flower Designs), there’s going to be music, eats and $3 Mojitas. Oh yea, I am so there! Too bad, I gotta woman the booth!

Come on out and say, “hi!” Everyone who mentions the blog will receive an Indie Fixx button!

Read more particulars here

The Charm City Craft Mafia is is looking for vendors for their SECOND annual Pile of Craft indie market to held on Saturday, June 21st, 2008. The event, featuring 40+ crafty vendors, will be held indoors at St. John’s Church, located at 2640 St. Paul St, Baltimore, MD 21218, from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

The application deadline is May 1st, 2008. All applicants will be notified of acceptance via email by May 15th, 2008. Please click HERE to apply.

1. BUST Magazine is looking for vendors for their first ever Spring Fling Craftacular set to take place on Sunday April 27, 2008 at The Warsaw in Brooklyn! Click here to apply.

2. Red Prarie Press is having a two-year anniversary sale. All apparel is 20% off until March 17th.

3. Applications are being accepted for Craft Con, the business development conference for the craft community. This is the 2nd year for Craft Con and this year it’s being held in San Francisco. Apply here.

4. Check out Lesley from FashionTribes new venture, Tribal Runway, and choose your flavor of fashion & style ezine.

5. Etsy has relaunched Alchemy, a cool tool that allows buyers to post requests for custom items. Sellers then bid on the opportunity to make the item and get the commission. Buyers will even be able to more easier initiate custom requests to specific shops. Add your request for a custom item here.

Some of you may have noticed a new feature listed under the Contents, while some of you may not be as observant, so I thought I would point it out to ya.  I’ve set up an Indie Fixx Calendar via Google Calendar and I will be listing upcoming Indie Fixx news as well as upcoming inide craft shows and other interesting indie tidbits.

For those who already use Google Calendar, you can integrate this calendar into your personal calendar so you you’ll be up on all the indie events. For those who don’t use Google Calendar, what are you waiting for?

If you have an indie event you like to share, send me a email and I’ll take a look at your event for possible inclusion in the calendar.

Let me know what you think of this new feature!

I want to pass along a quick little note to you that Bumbershoot, Seattle’s Music & Arts Festival, is now accepting applications for its Indie Market. Bumbershoot is North America’s largest annual urban arts and music festival. Scheduled over Labor Day weekend, they have a special area called the Indie Market with goods from independent artists, designers & crafters for sale.

If you are a craftastic entrepreneur or an independent retailer who supports indie craft artists and what to sign-up to participate, the deadline to apply is March 28th.

Bumbershoot Dates: Saturday, August 30 – Monday, September 1, 2008 Application Deadline for Indie Vendors: March 28, 2008 Apply here!

The Craft Mutiny Collective presents its 2nd annual Holiday Booty Market! This super fun event will be your last chance to find that perfectly unique handmade gift before the holidays. Check out this indie craft event in the heart of Washington, D.C. Admission is free. Music and snacks provided! All you have to bring is your shopping list!!!

When: Saturday, December 15th, 12-6 pm
Where: Hilda’s Giftshop on the lower level of the National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW, Washington, DC

Yesterday was the Squidfire show in Baltimore and even though I was feeling just a wee bit under the weather, I still had a good time. I had a lot of visitors come by and hi, which is always cool. Hi there, Quinn!

I bought a bag from Bake Sale Designs and a tote bag from Cotton Monster, sadly I have no pictures of either one. I was neighbors with Heather from brightlights littlecity and she was selling the cutest cocktail umbrella flashing globe ornaments. I was thinking about getting one, but she sold out before I could! You can still order them online though.

That’s it for me for indie craft shows until next year—I’ll keep you posted about which ones I’ll be doing for sure.

Over 40 indie vendors, including yours truly, are going to be participating in Squidfire’s 2nd Holiday Art Mart in Baltimore, MD this Sunday, December 9th. This time around it’s being held at the Lyric Opera House from 12 - 7 PM. There’s going to be some really awesome shops participating, including some shops I’ve blogged about before—Bake Sale Designs, It Knits, Biggs & Featherbelle, Cotton Monster and goshdarnknit.com. Plus, there will be plenty of new faces, including Miss Chief Productions, builtinpittsburgh, Dear John Goods, Peas & Carrots, Monkey Studios and Girls Can Tell among many others. I can’t wait and I know you can’t either.

If you live in the Baltimore/Washington area, be there or be square! Plus, if you stop by and say hi, I’ll give you your very own Indie Fixx button!

Saturday’s Holiday Heap indie craft show in Baltimore was amazing. I was there as a vendor for both Tilting Swiftly and the Indie Fixx Shop and I was so busy with customers all day long that I almost didn’t get a chance to go shopping. Luckily, I got away from my table because I had my eye of Imogene’s Fox necklace from before the show and I knew I wanted to pick one up. I also got some Honeycomb Fingerless Gloves from itknits. I’ve featured them before on Indie Fixx and after talking to some peeps at the show (Shawna from Pink Kiss) about ‘em, I decided they were just the thing I needed to help keep me warm in my cold studio. I’m using them right now while I type this post.

Overall, it was a great day. I sold a ton of stuff, met a lot of cool shoppers and vendors, bought myself some early holiday presents and I also met a few designers who I hopefully will be carrying in the shop in the future. Thanks so much to the Charm City Craft Mafia for a job well done. You guys really know how to show a girl a good time.

Don’t forget, I’ll be at the Holiday Heap indie craft show in Baltimore tomorrow. Stop by and say hi! Plus, mention you’re a reader and I’ll give you a free Indie Fixx button! While supplies last, of course.

I’ll be back with a post tomorrow evening. Oh yea, and Mintd Friday will return next week.

All you folks in the Baltimore/Washington corridor and vicinity are in for a real treat this Saturday, December 1st. The Charm City (Baltimore) Craft Mafia is putting on their 2nd indie craft show, the Holiday Heap. Their first show, Pile of Craft, was a blow-out success and the Holiday Heap is sure to follow as another smashing success for the group.

Indie vendors include some of my favorites, deNada Designs, Tigerlily Shop, The Candy Thief and Little Flower Designs among others. I’ll be representin’ too with some Indie Fixx Shop and Tilting Swiftly wares. There will also be some good food from local eateries and tunes from a dj all day long.

The Holiday Heap event is free to the public and will be held indoors at St. John’s Church, located at 2640 St. Paul St, Baltimore, MD 21218, from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

Plus, bring a canned good or two to help those less fortunate than yourself for a collection for the Maryland Food Bank and receive a free raffle ticket for a chance to win one of several amazing gift baskets.

Handmade Parade
November 10th
10am - 5pm
Masonic Temple - 7001 Granby St. - Norfolk, Virginia

Handmade Arcade
Two days November 10th & 11th!
11 am-7 pm
at Construction Junction, 214 N. Lexington Street, Pittsburgh, PA

Stitch
November 10th
500 E Cesar Chavez St - Austin Convention Center (exhibit hall one), Austin, TX
doors: 4:00 pm

For more indie craft shows going on this weekend and upcoming weekends, visit Indie Craft Shows and the Indie Craft Fair Guide.

• Who: The Handmaidens
• What: The Handmade Market
• Where: 117 S. West St in downtown Raleigh, NC
• When: Saturday, November 3rd - 11 am until 5 pm

Another indie craft show alert for this weekend, this one in Raleigh, NC. The Handmade Market features fine art, apparel, jewelry, accessories, housewares, paper goods, and more from a over 50 designers, crafters & artists. There are going to be some seriously talented folk at this show, so don’t miss out.

I’m just a little bit jealous of everyone who lives in the Raleigh area. If you do, make me proud and do a little homegrown indie shopping.

The UNusual Suspects Arts & Crafts Festival should be a good bet this weekend for some indie shopping fun. Put on by the DC Craft Mafia, this craft show boosts some hot indie talent. Some of my faves (see pics below) include Ugly Kitty, George Ryan, Glittery Blue , Sarah Pei, Modern June & Brookadelphia. The UNusual Suspects show has even been featured by Daily Candy DC in their weekend guide, so you know this show is gonna be kick *ss!

• Who: DC CRaft Mafia
• What: The UNusual Suspects Arts & Crafts Festival
  50+ Amazing Indie Vendors!
• Where: The Anastasi Room, 5020 Battery Lane Bethesda, MD 20814
• When: Saturday, November 3, 2007 - 12pm to 8pm

If you live the DC/Baltimore area, get an early start on your indie holiday shopping and support your local indie peeps!

Jan of Poppytalk has put out a Call for Submissions for the November version of Poppytalk Handmade, a new online street market. Just like a real street/flea market, indie makers of all kinds will be able to rent a virtual table at Poppytalk Handmade. The theme for November is Holiday + Gifts and Jan is looking for gift type products and seasonal items! The deadline to sign up is October 14th. For more info, go to Poppytalk Handmade.

I had a freakin’ great day yesterday at Crafty Bastards in DC and I’m so glad that I decided to go. Here’s a quick synopsis of day—I got lost twice in DC (not bad in my book), ate a ginormous piece of pizza, bumped into about 12 million people, stopped by the booths of some peeps that I know (Annie of Imogne, Mike & Shawna of Spaghetti Kiss & Ileana of india*romeo just to name a few) & shopped my ass off. It was hot and really, really crowded, but I was not deterred and I didn’t let that stop me from following through with my goal of doing some crafty ass bastard shopping.

Here are just a few of my purchases that I made: I bought a Folkloric Deer Tote from Mary Ink, a print from tsai-fi, a heart pin from The Cherry Box, a pencil case from Barry’s Farm & some cards from Rhymes With Twee among other stuff.

Did you go to Crafty Bastards and if so, what did you buy?

My haiku ode to Crafty Bastards:

Crafty Bastards, yea!
I’m gonna get some crafty
loot tomorrow, yea!

Bags, cards, pillows, soap,
Crafty Bastards make them all!
DC, here I come!