Next Saturday, October 17th...

The INCrowdteam's Hoosier Artisan Holiday Boutique

Saturday, 10/17/09: 10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

The Mansion at Oak Hill: 5801 E. 116th Street, Carmel, Indiana 46033

Raffle proceeds to benefit the March of Dimes, Indiana Chapter.

INCrowd Interview, 5/31/08 - Linda Themer, texturedturtle

INCrowd's texturedturtle is a busy woman of many talents, but she took out a few minutes to talk with me:

Were you born & raised in Indiana?
Born in Louisville Kentucky and lived there 29 years. Moved to Indiana 20 years ago.

Where in Indiana are you from now?
Seymour

What's your educational background, as it relates to your work?
I went to college for a year but didn't finish (was going into accounting)

How'd you get started creating?
I have always done crafts, made fabric animals and my own clothes in the 80s. Then wall quilts in the 90s. About six years ago I started making textile art and also discovered mosaics.

What made you want to join the INCrowd?
Because it is fellow Hoosiers and artists!

What's your favorite thing about selling on Etsy?
They make it so easy to set up your shop and the fees are so reasonable.

What are you up to right now?
I was juried into the Bead and Button show next week,
It's my first entry ever, for a set of mosaic buttons titled “Across the USA ”. The accepted entries will be on display at the show, will be eligible for prizes, and will be in the magazine this fall.

Bird Buttons













I started my shop on Etsy last summer and got discouraged by low sales. I work in fabric and mosaic so I tried a variety of items to sell. I finally sold some mosaic shawl pins, but with a full time job I haven’t done much marketing for myself or my shop. I was trying to decide what direction to go with, when ladies from the Indiana Button Society started buying my buttons and then this show came up. So I have been making buttons and pendants. After the show, I will list items on Etsy and hopefully become more involved in the INCrowd.

Sounds great to me! Recommend your five favorite shops on Etsy...

newmoondesign
myword
mixedmediajewelry
theivyleaf
lisapetersart

This is great news for Linda, and for the INCrowd! I know all members join me in wishing you tons of luck at the show.

Pendleton Heritage Fair - Sept 7 and 8

The Pendleton Heritage Fair was held in the usual spot, a lovely park setting with the sounds of Fall Creek near by. The fair had light attendance on Friday and business picked up quite a bit on Saturday. How about we skip the discussions on the rain and storms. (I'm all for indoor events now) Luckily, no one was injured this time.

Four members of the INCrowd attended, TheresasArt, Dragoncat, MyWord and DBrown.










Thanks for attending the show with me, it was a delight to see you all again and to meet Teresa, the 7th Incrowd member I've met. And congratulations to Earlynn, her parrot brooch sold, and it will be sadly missed.

Summer Heat Festival Review

Sumer Heat Festival 2007

This year the Summer heat festival in Muncie returned to its original location at the AMA. The festival was privileged to have Stufffromthebunker, Deb, as the Vendor coordinator, which was a volunteer position given to her just weeks ago! Deb did an absolutely incredible job organizing the vendor locations, mapping it out, getting everyone checked in and maintaining their happiness throughout the 3-day event.

It was so wonderful to have so many Etsy artists have booths. Studioamf (Allison), Myword (Joanna), Stufffromthebunker (Deb), DBrown (Debbie), and beckbydesign (that’s me!) all had, or shared a booth. We had lots of Etsy promos to hand out (thanks to everyone who sent some) and talked up the raffle baskets. I think I can sum up the festival pretty easily – HOT!!!! Granted, it’s called the Summer Heat festival for a reason; however it was extremely steamy all days. Unfortunately after setting up on Sunday the downpour forced us to pack up and head out. I think I can speak for those of us who attended, that although sales were quite low, we had a great time getting to know one another and learning from each other. The festival team is certainly blessed to have Deb volunteer so much of her time and energy into making the vendor section better each year and I look forward to seeing the big changes she has in mind for 2008.

I’ve attached a few photos of our booths from the festival.

Deb manning her booth & the vendors

Allison (studioamf) & John

Joanna (myword)