spring stitch market 2012

This is going to be so much fun!  25 local vendors.  new location.  lovely handmade goodies.  and more!

We've always had this market at Lindsey's house.  Her house is so perfect for hosting a handmade boutique.  Her house IS a handmade boutique.  But, unfortunately, we've outgrown it!

Our new location adds a bit of excitment!  It's right downtown, and it's much bigger than Lindsey's living room!  But new things can also be a bit scary, and intimidating.  We've never done a show this big.  We haven't even met some of our vendors. 

Come check out our exciting and scary boutique this Thursday evening and Friday morning at Grace Church, downtown SLO.

The Stitch Market is growing!

Our last Christmas Market was such a success, we had the best vendors, and such great customers. Here is a slide show of our last couple of markets:





 But then the dreaded city of San Luis Obispo showed up and told us that we were not allowed to do this sort of business in Lindsey's home. Now what!?

Lindsey and I had no other choice. Stitch Market needed to find a new home.  Our next market will be taking place at Grace Church, right downtown!  There will be more space, which means more vendors, which means, more awesome stuff!  We have set a date for the Spring Market:

Thursday April 26th & Friday April 27th

We are now accepting vendor applications here!

Find out more information here.

holiday stitch market in pictures

Part of the charm of this home boutique is the home. Lindsey's house is so fun to play in!

The items not for sale were often mistaken for merchandise to buy, because they all mingled so beautifully together.

We ended up moving every piece of furniture into the garage to make room for all the amazing vendors. And it was a full house!

Brooke brought her deliciously amazing cupcakes again! My favorite: Salted Carmel!

These pictures are only showing the living/dining room space of the boutique. We also had vendors in all the bedrooms, too! For a list of all our amazing vendors see here.

Thanks to Lindsey (and family)for being so generous with your home, thanks to all the local talent who came with amazing things to sell, and thanks to our long lines of customers for encouraging and supporting us! This was definitely the best Stitch Market yet!!

random bits of this and that

I just had to share a few random bits too good to keep to myself!

1) My friend Ginger of Wienerdog Tricks has a large quantity of talents, including her ability to write real well (she is a professional professor, you know) and her seamstress abilities are top notch too! But I'm wondering if maybe she should have been a comedian. I'm not a big fan of vlogs (video blog posts). For some reason they usually embarrass me to watch them. But this vlog Ginger put together had me on the floor laughing my head off! Thanks for the entertainment, Ginger, and the inspiration to "go make something".

2) My other friend, Toni, (another multi-talented friend) just posted on her blog Porridge some darling pictures of some of her kids and all of my kids hanging out together. We were honored to be guests at their house this Thanksgiving, and Toni's camera is never too far out of reach. She not only cooks a fabulous feast, but takes amazing portraits! Thanks for sharing these, Toni!

3) The Stitch Market begins Tomorrow! This will be our 4th annual Holiday Boutique hosted by (another talented friend!!) Lindsey of The Pleated Poppy! If you live nearby, grab your friends and come join us for local handmade goodies, and a sip of wine!!

Thursday Dec. 1st 6pm - 9pm & Friday Dec. 2nd 10am - 2pm.

We have a great line up of almost 20 vendors selling amazing gifts for the holidays!

busy week #1

Busy week #1 is done and gone. We had a super fun time with lots of different family members coming for visits throughout the week. This mixed in with me getting ready for the Queen Bee Market made for a busy week indeed. I made a concious effort to enjoy the little outings we shared with our guests. Walks at the beach, sitting in coffee shops, enjoying meals together, playing scrabble, being silly.

We had a blast with our first visitors of the week, my cousins Megan and Shawna. Megan is one of my photo taking mentors. She has been playing around with making movies lately. She made one while they were visiting that made me smile the whole way through. You can see it here. Thanks for a fun weekend girls!

I am now starting busy week #2. I will be totally ready for a week of vacation and feasting next!

queen bee market, here i come!

I'm getting ready! It's a busy time over here. We are having lots of fun family guests visiting throughout the week. I also have lots of fun things to make to be ready for the Queen Bee Market! If you live any where near Del Mar, I highly recommend coming to this market. Just in time for holiday shopping, you can't beat the selection of handmade gifts!

grannys, chevrons, and color

I have found granny squares to be quite addictive. The actual crochet pattern, once you catch on to the rhythm, is so satisfying. And then there's the endless possibilities of color combinations. Not to mention the fact that I could just gaze upon anything made out of granny squares for countless hours, and maybe even more. I found the pattern at The Yvestown Blog, via wisecraft. (Both favorites).

These granny square pillows are 14 x 14 and backed with a piece of recycled vintage material, full of fun color combos, which inspire me daily. They also have an envelope style opening in the back. I'm bringing these babies to The Queen Bee Market, coming up on Nov.18th and 19th.

The other thing I can't stop making right now is anything with a chevron stripe. Again, the color combo's are endless. These scarves are now for sale in my shop, $20 each. Flower pins are sold separately.

camera challenge{d}: the queen bee market

Last week was the Queen Bee Market in downtown San Diego.
I was certainly looking forward to going with my new camera!
But as soon as I got there I realized what my challenge would be.
Bad, inside lighting.
I tried some photos with my flash, but was not happy with the results,
so instead, I cranked up my ISO, and did a lot of light editing later.

Gioia's sweet face from Pillow Factory.

Emily Sparks beautiful crocheted pieces.

I love these bow ties from Bebecha Gifts!

Lollipops cute display.

Creme de la Gems.

Beautiful vintage hair pins.

Funky Vintage Lovely and her lovely rings.

Funky Vintage Lovely painted frames.

Allora Handmade sweet bud earrings.

Stacy Lynn's recycled leather bag.

Spiffing Jewelry sparkly color.

Button butterfly from smitten.

A corner of Blue Corduroy.

**if anyone can help remind me where the vintage hair pins came from
i would appreciate it**

3rd annual kid craft fair

This years Kid Craft Fair was the best yet!
57 booths.
Over 100 kids participating.
And such a great variety of creativity!!

Homemade jam! We got some, and it is YUM!

See the eager shopper on the left? How can you resist?

s

What amazing colors!

My own Ruby's booth. :)

This boy made cupcakes in honor of his sister's birthday.

It's not a kids craft fair without a few pet rocks!

It was such a fun day seeing whole families come together in support of their kids' creativity
and in support of the community as a whole.

With many thanks to Joe and the Los Osos Library staff for hosting the event!

This really is such a simple event to pull together. And this year, with the help of a few key volunteers, I'm calling it the best yet!

queen bee market {summer 2011}

The Queen Bee Market is back again in San Diego!!

Saturday, August 6th
9 am to 6 pm
Bayfront Hilton Downtown
1 Park Boulevard
San Diego, California

Always a collection of amazing hand crafts.
Always creative and talented friends.
Always a good time!

This summer I have a couple of new products I am excited to bring along with me!

The hanging hearts and shells come in a small size (with one heart)
and a large size (with 3 hearts).
The shell makes it feel like home.

T

These jar cozies have an unlimited amount of uses.
I use mine as vases, pencil holders, knitting needle storage, etc.
Or there cute just sitting there, as empty as can be.

If you're local to the San Diego area, or close to it, come on by and say hello!!

3rd annual kid craft fair

Ruby has pretty much been preparing for this years kids craft fair since
the end of last year's kids craft fair!

Ginger doesn't think too much about it, until the last minute, when she decides she's going to sell lemonade (she's sold out the last 2 years).

This craft fair was a hit from the start.
I am so thankful that our library is so supportive of this awesome kid community event.
We modeled it after the kid craft fair in my sister's town of Bellingham, WA where we were happy to be a part of their 40th annual kids craft fair!


This will be Los Osos' 3rd annual kid's craft fair!

It is this Saturday, July 30th
10:30 to 12:30
at the Los Osos Library

This year we will have over 50 booths set up in the library's parking lot.
With Hula dancers for the entertainment.

It's open to kids up to the age of 13.
Each item must be handmade, by the child, and sold for $4 or less.

Ruby's favorite part is the last 15 minutes when Joe, our librarian, blows the whistle and announces "fire sale". The kids then start trading whatever is left of their wares with each other. So they not only come home with some cash, but a whole handful of awesome crafts!

summer stitch market

are you ready for some handmade sunshine?
it's time for
summer stitch market!!

friday, july 15th, 6 to 9pm
saturday, july 16th 10am to 2pm
near downtown san luis obispo

contact thestitchmarket@gmail.com for directions

we've been working hard at making the stitch market the
best local boutique on the central coast.
just come on in, grab a shopping tote, a tasty snack, a glass of wine, and enjoy all the lovelies.
now with 2 days of shopping and centralized
check out to make your experience even more relaxing.

check out these posts from previous stitch markets:

holiday stitch market: via pleated poppy
spring stitch market: via lollipops
fall stitch market: via blue corduroy

art after dark

art after dark is tonight!
and every first friday of the month all summer long.
it is a way for visitors and residence of san luis obsipo to celebrate art.
many stores, salons, retaurants, etc. open their shops up to local artists to display their talent, while hundreds of people come to discover them.

i will be an artist featured at bambu batu (1023 Broad 788-0806) along with
Mosaic works by Cheryl Barton-Petrie, t-shirt designs by Anarchtees,
SLO Chai Ale & gypsy jazz.
from 6 to 9 pm

tonight there will be 28 shops featuring local artists.
you can see who is participating here.

a fun evening of art and community.
if you're downtown tonight, come say hi!

the queen bee market

this is where i'll be!

and this is why i haven't been here.
there's a lot of work behind the scenes getting ready for a market.
and then i discover my blog is neglected.
but i think i'm doing better at staying balanced.

anybody love contests?
the queen bee market is having a "spread the word" contest.
find the details here.

anybody live near del mar? wanna come?

the stitch market is coming to town!

the spring stitch market local boutique is happening next week!
this year even better! 2 days of shopping.
centralized checkout (buy all your purchases at one time).
a dozen amazing vendors!

the stitch market will take place in san luis obispo, near cal poly.
for address information, contact me.

see the market blog for a list of this years vendors and more information.

different, but the same

the tea dress is a must. one of those dresses your girl can do anything in. from parties to playgrounds to school to the beach. i actually had one customer say that her daughter asked if she could sleep in it!

this season, the tea dress has a cute little bow on the front waistline. a fresh new look. same comfortable fit, same colorful recycled vintage prints.

i've just filled the shop with a bunch of these in sizes 2 to 8.
perfect for easter and spring!


***coming soon... the stitch market...april 28th and 29th...a local boutique***

teapots and other things

since my latest realization that i needed a teapot,
i now have the beginning of a small collection.

one is for a small, intimate tea date.

the tall mama in the back is for a real party.


oh, and you can't forget that darling sugar bowl that was a whopping 50 cents.
the joys of a good day thrifting.

also....i just found out this morning that i was accepted to be a vendor at the upcoming
queen bee market in del mar, ca. yippee!!!

and....don't forget to spread the word about
blue corduroy's 25% off sale through the end of march.

holiday boutique line up

i am busy and overly excited preparing for two local holiday boutiques this week!

the first will be this thursday at my buddy lindsey's house. this is always a fun, festive, creative extravaganza. this show will have a handful of talented guest artists among our usual group of hardcore crafty geniuses.

the stitch market's winter boutique
thursday, december 2nd
open house 6-9pm
the more friends you bring, the more raffle tickets you get
(and the prizes are amazing!)
contact me for directions.


next up on the calendar is a holiday trunk show and benifit put on by craftinista.
they are providing a fabulous array of artists, a toy drive to benefit needy children, and yummy local treats and wine.

craftinista holiday show and benefit
friday, december 3rd, 5-7pm
hosted by bambu batu
1026 broad street, slo
bring an unwrapped toy to be entered in the raffle

if you're local, please come!! i'd love to see you!

thank you!

the stitch market boutique the other night was so fun!

i want to thank lindsey for opening her beautiful home up for this creative event,
and for being the hostess with the mostess!

i want to thank all the amazing vendors who worked so hard at making
some amazing works of art!

and i want to thank all our friends, new and old, who came to
encourage, inspire, and support us!

stacy lynn designs

eden's beadlings

dondi's bags

blue corduroy

sage's cranes

and of course, the novice photographer that i am, i did not get pictures of everyone's work.
there was also lollipops stationary, jenmen jewelry, cookies and curly, and sisterhood of the traveling pillow.