Fall/Winter Portland Craft Shows

So I am trying to break into the craft market in Portland and have found some great shows. Now it is just a matter of getting my work selected to be a vendor. If you are in the Portland, Oregon area and want to check out some great urban crafting here are a couple to see.


Crafty Wonderland
The 2nd Sunday of Every Month
at Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside, Portland, OR
11am-4pm * All Ages * Free Admission


Portland Craft Mafia

Date: Saturday September 27, 2008

Time: 5-10 PM

Location; Secret Society Ballroom/ 116 NE Russell St/ Portland Oregon (www.secretsociety.net)

Cost: $2 at the door, kids 12 and under are free

Features: 25 local crafters, door prizes, free swag bags for the first 30 adults in the door, open bar

For more information check out http://www.portlandoregoncraftmafia.com/

Crafty Wonderland
Super Colossal Holiday Sale - 2008!
Featuring art and handmade goods from over 125 amazing vendors!!
Sunday, December 14th
from 11am-7pm
at The Oregon Convention Center - Exhibit Hall E
777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 97232

Fall Artisans Fair at Montgomery Park!

Handmade NW at Montgomery Park - October 2008; Flier designed by Sweet Bonny :: www.mailen00.etsy.com

When

Date(s): October 14th and 15th, 2008
Time(s): 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. both days

Location

Montgomery Park
2701 NW Vaughn Street
Portland, OR 97210


More Handmade NW

• Tuesday, December 2nd - Handmade NW Downtown Holiday Artisans Fair at The World Trade Center!
• Sunday, December 7th - Handmade NW Formal Holiday Artisans Fair at Chelsea Ballroom!
• Saturday, December 20th - Handmade NW Farmers Market Holiday Artisans Fair at The PSU Ballroom!
• Sunday, December 21st - Handmade NW Solstice Holiday Artisans Fair at The Bossanova!

DIY Holiday Craft Show and sale

2Hand Revolution

December 6, 2008
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
August Moon Community Center
111 W. 39th St., Vancouver

Vendors, arts, music, food, drinks and sweet, sweet craftiness.

Vinyl wallets

I like to try and reuse items to make into something new. I came up with vinyl covered wallets that are made from found objects. I started with using scrapbooking paper since it comes in such wonderful patterns. Once I got my technique down, I started experimenting with other types of paper too. I found that making wallets with paint chips... you know the ones you can get for free at the paint stores... made wonderfully colorful wallets. I went crazy gathering up paint chips each time I was near the paint section! How many of those can you take as free samples before it becomes a problem? I guess I will be the first to find out.

When making these wallets I ran into two problems. Finding a sewing machine that wanted to sew through two layers of vinyl and two pieces of paper. My firs sewing machine was too whimpy and once I got a new (used) machine, it found that sewing through such thick material was no problem. I also learned that I needed to use thread with polyester blend or the thread was keep breaking on me... My other problem was finding a snap that was heavy enough to go through all of the layers, but not too big and bulky that it was overwhelming for the wallets. I finally settled on "colored snaps". These worked better than the fun pearl snaps that I loved so much.

I have started experimenting with other fun "paper" to make wallets from such as Bingo cards, flash cards, vintage book pages, vintage wallpaper. I am having so much fun with these. I can't wait to see what else will become my latest wallet.

Reversible Headband from Scraps

What do you do with all of the scraps from your craft projects? I hate to throw them away to end up in a landfill, so instead I tend to keep them hoping for a future project. This is what I came up with. Reversible headbands made from scraps. I can make the headbands wide or thin depending on the size of scraps I have. I can mismatch the fabrics or pick a color or pattern theme. This headband is made from scraps of recycled bed sheets I had been using for a number of other projects.
The neighbor girls have been my testers to make sure I am getting the size right. Making crafts for others is always so much more rewarding. Seeing my neighbor wearing her headband on our walk the school puts a smile on my face.

Cloth Diaper Covers

My latest venture has been diaper wraps for cloth diapers. Since my son is still in cloth diapers, I learned how to make them in fun prints. I was tired of the same old white covers, so I started using my stash of fabric to create fun covers for him to wear.

After experimenting with many types of fabric to use as a waterproof layer, I broke down and ordered some PUL fabric. This stands for Polyurethane Laminate which is used for hospital sheets and pillow cases, waterproof outdoor clothing, etc. It is not sold in any store near me..not even in Portland. I tried using other fabrics like iron-on vinyl (which worked, but was stiff and crinkly) and Gortex (this worked also, but the waterproofing would breakdown through many washes and we all know how often we wash diapers!). I found a great laminated fabric as a reminent at the Mill End Store in Portland in the home decor section. This fabric was used for curtains and was pretty dated fabric. When I went back to get some more, they said they no longer carried that fabric... So I felt my only option was to order fabric online. I like to be able to see and try a small piece of fabric before ordering it, but I was out of luck. When the 5 yards of PUL came, I was happy to find that this was exactly what I needed!

I have been making diaper covers galore to try and make the perfect cover for my son's needs. I think I have it down. I even asked a couple of friends to test them out, used their feedback and modified the covers. Now the next step is to get them into a couple of shops to try and sell a couple. I want to use my vast supply of fabric to make the covers, so they will each be unique without the capability of making too many in one print. Check them out at my Etsy shop www.alvablue.etsy.com

First Day of Blogging

Well, this is my first attempt at blogging. I thought this would be a good avenue for documenting my creative thoughts. I have been trying to break into the craft business by making items from recycled/upcycled materials, but I am having a hard time focusing. Maybe this will help!

I have an Etsy shop www.alvablue.etsy.com that shows the crafts I have been making recently. Last night my husband also opened a shop at www.littleredshed.etsy.com We will see how these shops do! What a great place to see handmade goods. I could spend hours searching through shops seeing all of the wonderful and creative ideas people have. It inspires me to create too.

One of my latest projects are mittens made from recycled sweaters. I love a huge stash of old sweaters that I cut up and have tried making all sorts of projects. The mittens are by far my favorite. I can mismatch the sweaters and combine fun colors and patterns. I have also been lucky to have a friend who makes SwaddleKeepers (www.swaddlekeeper.com) and has large amounts of scrap fabric. She has been happy to give me her scraps so they can be used and not end up in a landfill... (She said she did a research project in college and found out the 40% of what ends up in landfills is textiles, cloth, clothes, fabric, etc.!!!) With her scrap fabric, I line the mittens with super soft miky button fleece. This makes the mittens extra soft and warm.