Christmas in July

July 18, 2013July 18, 2013 | leftylex

Hello and happy Wednesday! Today marks three more days until my last craft fair of the summer… I think. I love doing fairs but while they can be exciting, they are also exhausting!

I am, however, looking forward to this particular fair for a few reasons:

It’s going to be a small fair,
I’m sharing a booth with my crafty pal, Kate of Small and Great Crochet (!!!),
This fair’s theme is Christmas (and I had a lot of Christmas items left from last year!)
I get to have conversations with other individuals who support the handmade movement!

This fair is being hosted by the Granite Hills High School Choir from 8AM to 3PM at 1719 E. Madison Ave in El Cajon, CA. You’ll see our little blue 10×10 pop-up in the parking lot. And (if you can keep a secret), we’ll be the ones with a Christmas tree in our booth! Sshhhh! We thought that we were so clever with that idea. Little crafty geniuses.

Click here to check out the event’s Facebook page and to see which other vendors will be there along side us: https://www.facebook.com/events/167172560128811/.

And you can read what Kate’s saying about Christmas in July here: http://www.smallandgreat.com/events. You can also shop Small and Great here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/smallandgreat.

If you’re a local San Diegan, then I hope to see you there!

SDICM Vendor: Lottie Hop

June 15, 2013 | leftylex

Happy Friday ,all! Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to another San Diego Indie Craft Market vendor who also happens to be the head of the San Diego Etsy Society, Brenna Hopkins! She is truly a gem! so! without further wait I give you our interview!

Please tell us a little about yourself! Hello, I’m Brenna Hopkins of Lottie Hop! I have always been an artist. When I was 5 I was drawing comics, when I was 11 I started making jewelry and sewing, and at 27 I taught myself to crochet. I love all types of crafting. I used to work in the food industry in a patisserie, but I am now a stay at home mom to my beautiful two year old daughter Charlotte.

You definitely have many talents! What types of pretties do you sell in your shop? I make what ever strikes me as fun and interesting to make. Right now I make jewelry and accessories using my extensive collection of antique and vintage buttons and sewing notions. I also make jewelry using vintage toys, prizes and charms, which is how I got my start in jewelry making when I was a kid. We didn’t have a lot of beads and jewelry making stuff, so I had to improvise with what I had laying around. I like to be resourceful with my crafting, it’s a habit that never went away. I also crochet toys using left over yarns from projects people never finished, or if they bought too much yarn, I grab it and make something of my own. I also make hats and head bands, and sometimes I take commissions for toys if someone has something specific in mind that inspires me.

What are your favorite items to create with? Antique and vintage buttons, especially very old mother of pearl buttons, black glass and jet buttons from the Victorian era, shoe buttons and mid century colorful plastics. I love crazy colored yarns from the 70’s. And I really like working with wire.

What types of items inspire most to create? At the moment I’ve been inspired by a book I bought that has all of Harper’s Bazaar’s clothing and jewelry adverts from the Victorian era in it. It’s really lovely. I am also inspired by music. My whole line of antique button jewelry I recently made was inspired by the album Ceremonials by Florence and the Machine.

And which of your five favorite creations have you decided to share with us? Gimball the baby octopus. My blue and green mis-matched button hair pins, the buttons don’t go together at all, but I love them. My grilled cheese earrings, they’re a new creation and they’re my favorite thing I’ve made so far right now. My grey mammoth earrings, they’re just fun. And lastly the pig with the top hat I made on commission for my friend Amy.

And where can the good people connect with you online?
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LottieHop
Blog: http://www.lottiehop.com/l/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LottieHop

Please visit the San Diego Indie Craft Market on June 23rd to meet Brenna in person! More SDICM details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/SDIndieCraftMarket?fref=ts. I promise that you will not be disappointed! Now rush through the remainder of your Friday and enjoy the weekend!

SDICM Vendor: LoveNote Crafts

June 13, 2013June 14, 2013 | leftylex

Today I am privileged to introduce you to a fabulous San Diego Indie Craft Market Vendor whom I love to Insta-stalk… Lovenotes Crafts!

Please introduce yourself to the good people! Hi, I’m Emily! I have a fun little shop called LoveNote Crafts where I sell my handmade hair accessories and paper whims. By day, I’m a counselor and by night I’m a crafter. So when I’m not in the office, spending time with friends, or taking care of my family of 4, you’ll find me squeezing in stitching, cutting, crocheting, and blogging in every nook and cranny of time I can find!

So what exactly are your favorite LoveNote Crafts to make? And what materials do you most enjoy working with? Hair clips, sweater clips, and fabric tape ‘n tags. I love working with wool felt—it’s so soft to the touch and easy to work with. Pretty floral cotton fabrics, whether they are vintage sheets or new on the bolt, really make my heart flutter. Roses represent hope and love to me so you’ll find plenty of them incorporated in to my items.

What inspires you to create your lovelies? After a long and productive day in the office, time spent hanging out with friends, or simply enjoying being at home with my family inspires me to sit down, relax, and create. The quiet of the late (oftentimes very late) evening and early morning is when I feel most creative. It’s a reward to myself, i.e., “good job today counselor- wife-mom-sister-daughter-friend!”. To me, these life roles are gifts so being able to sit down after a busy day and craft a bit is another blessing to be very thankful for.

Would you like to share your five favorite creations with us?

1.) Photo Garland Kit—great for displaying photos or notes (cute and functional too!) 2.) Cotton Hair Bows—perfect for the girly girls in all of us. 3.) Wool Felt Blooms—lovely in fun colors all year round. 4.) Sweater Clips/Collar Guards—so “Mad Men” and very feminine. 5.) Cotton Fabric Tape—cute way to dress up gifts or use while scrapping (this is where I get my floral fabric fix!) I cannot wait to see these fabric tapes in person, they look absolutely divine!!!

Lastly, Emily, where can the good people shop your products and keep up with you online? Please stop on by! It would be awesome to “see” you =)

Etsy: lovenotecrafts.etsy.com
Blog: lovenotecrafts.blogspot.com
Instagram: @lovenotecrafts

And, of course, don’t forget to visit Emily at the San Diego Indie Craft Market on June 23rd! Click here for details: https://www.facebook.com/SDIndieCraftMarket?fref=ts. She’d love to see you there… and so would I!

SDICM Vendor: Small & Great Crochet

June 5, 2013June 5, 2013 | leftylex

And now, time to meet the lovely Kate Wood of Small and Great Crochet!

So who are you and what do you do? My name is Kate, and I’m a bit of a crochet newbie — I only learned how to put hook to yarn in March 2011, when my mom (who was just learning herself) taught me the basic stitches during a long car trip. Before I really even had the basics down, I was off and running! Err, I mean, stitching. I went from granny squares to amigurumi to Tunisian crochet within just a few weeks, and a year in, my apartment looked like a yarn store. My friends’ and family members’ homes overflowed with the stuff I’d made, too.

I make all crocheted things great and small! I design all of my own original patterns. I really have two directions I go in. One is my accessories, which are made from hand-dyed yarn. My yarns are named after the gemstone streets in PB, and my patterns for hats, scarves, and more are named for places around San Diego county.Two is my amigurumi, which more or less means “soft toy” in Japanese. Little stuffed critters! My tiny teddies (the little striped bears) are my bestsellers, but I do lots of other stuff. Making their debut at the SDICM will be ladybugs! I would like to interject here and say that, as an owner of one of these “tiny teddies”, they are absolutely adorable and EVERYONE needs one!

What are your favorite materials? Yarn, of course! But I really love working with natural fibers the best. In particular, I have hats that are done with a hand-dyed organically-grown cotton that are just yummy. I also dye a cotton/acrylic blend that I’m really fond of — it feels like an extra-cuddly version of your favorite t-shirt.

Who and/or what inspires you to create? A couple of things. One, I’m very inspired by San Diego. Besides all the pattern and dye naming, my accessories are all geared toward a SoCal aesthetic — laid-back but luxe. Second, nature — I know the stuffed toys and gifts I make are cartoon-y/kawaii versions of the real animals, but I just LOVE animals and plants, which is why I keep stitching them!

Also the reason I got into crochet in the first place is my family. My mom, and my beloved late grandmother, are/were both avid knitters, and really good at it. I always wished I were good at it, but I am all thumbs when it comes to knitting. My mom was taught the basic crochet stitches a couple of years ago by a friend, and though she didn’t really get the hang of it, she figured it out enough to teach me. Once I started, I basically never stopped.

Care to show and tell us about your five favorite creations?

1.) My little horse — I kept the first successful one I made (this pattern is HARD and it took a TON of trial and error to get it right). He’s become my unofficial mascot!

2.) The “Carlsbad” hat — this is a slouchy beanie worked in hand-dyed, organically-grown and processed cotton. The pic I attached shows examples of the hat in four colors — L-R: Garnet, Turquoise, Tourmaline, Sapphire. It’s the hat I wear the most myself (in the pic you have of me from North Park it’s what I have on).

3.) The “Tiny Teddy” — consistently my biggest craft fair hit. I get custom requests for these guys too. I’ve had several people ask me about doing a smaller version (an even tinier teddy!) so that may be in the works… it needs more testing before it goes live.

4.) My crocheted states. I know these don’t really fit precisely with either of my “themes,” but it was all the enthusiasm and encouragement that I got from giving these to people as gifts that really motivated me to turn crafting into a business. Another interjection here: these are super cute too!

5.) The “Swami’s” scarf — this is a pic of the mini version. I also do the Swami’s stitch as a headband and a larger scarf. I wind up using lots of circles (e.g., my whole booth display is patterned with giant orange circles!) so I feel like this is kind of my signature stitch. I meet a lot of crocheters via this scarf style — people always want to know how it’s made.

And lastly, where can the good people find you? Haha, where can’t I be found!
Website: http://www.smallandgreat.com
Blog: http://smallandgreat.tumblr.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smallandgreat
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/smallandgreat
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/smallandgreat

Kate is great, guys! Show her some love by checking out her Etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/smallandgreat) or my visiting her in person at the San Diego Indie Craft Market on June 23rd from 2-6PM at Queen Bee’s Art & Cultural Center!

Are these not the cutest things?!

Weekend Wrap-Up: 5/18-19

May 21, 2013May 22, 2013 | leftylex

What a weekend! This was the first full, stitch-free weekend that I’ve had in months! I did not touch a single needle! Hmm, let’s reword that, I just made myself sound like a junky! I did not stitch one single stitch. There, that’s better.

Saturday was a full day. After teaching my aerobics class, I spent the day (almost exclusively) with my baby brother. I would like to mention that yesterday was his 16^th birthday and I am in utter shock that he is already this old! I love him so much and I am always so proud of him.

We went to the North Park Festival of the Arts to check out the North Park Craft Mafia.

but specifically, Kate of Small and Great Crochet!

Kate is an amazing crochet-ista (yup, that’s a word, just invented it). I fell head over heels in love with the cutest little colorful amigurumi bear. Guys, it is seriously the cutest thing ever. I am 29 and I honestly just wanted to hold it all day; it’s that cute.

Kate’s space was so inviting and cheery. It was quite worth fighting the beer garden mob just to check out her wares.

Kate actually dyes her own yarn! You should check out the rest of her amazing yarned-goods on her Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/smallandgreat

We walked around the fair for quite a bit checking out all of the eye candy. I even came across a fellow stitcher! She had quite a few Downton Anbbey inspired pieces, which I absolutely adored!

After the fair, my bro and I headed over to (my most beloved) Balboa Park for an Air Force Commissioning Ceremony. We had some time to kill prior to so we photographed a few soon-to-be-listed Lefty Lex products…

And then we toured the Rose Garden. The flowers smelt amazing! And we ran into about 137 couples taking pre-prom photographs. I know that I’m not a teen anymore, but I’m also not 52; so when exactly did it become common for high schoolers (or their parents) to hire professional photographers to do photo shoots pre-prom? Weird.

We then headed to the Spreckles Organ Pavillion where we watched the SDSU’s ROTC Class of 2013’s Commissioning Ceremony where our long-time family friend, JR, received his commission as Second Lieutenant! JR and his family have lived next door to my parents for at least 11 years, so I have seen this guy go from a pudgy little middle schooler to high school football player to college graduate/Air Force officer. I am immensely proud of him! Whether he knows it or not, he’s been a great example to my brother as he too wants to join the AF after college. I’ll truly miss him and wish him the best of luck as he heads overseas.

I love this kid!

Sunday was fabulously uneventful as Husband and I did nothing more than attend church, visit with my sisters for a bit, and shop. Just the wind-down needed after Saturday’s hustle and bustle. Hope you’re weekend was equally enjoyable!