Sneak Peek: Gala Giveaways

It's less than 3 weeks until Indie Craft Parade kicks off with the VIP Gala! Did you get your tickets yet? There’s not many left, don’t miss out.

The VIP Gala offers an exclusive first look at the artists’ work. Enjoy the opening night of the festival with a relaxed shopping atmosphere and live music. Comlimentary hors d'oeuvres and beverages (handcrafted coffee, tea, craft beer, and hard cider) are provided.In addition to all this, our gala guests can also win amazing giveaways! Take a look at just a few of the wonderful handmade items our artists have donated for the giveaways:

Credits: Slab. / Crave Studio / Sweeteeth / Perla Anne / Queen's Cupboard

Credits: paperform / Once Again Sam / Emily Jeffords Studio / Block & Hammer

Credits: Lily Pottery / January Jewelry / Spectrum / Maritime Supply Co.

Credits: Finkelstein's Center / Strawberry Moth / Owlette / Pogoshop / Precious America

Credits: Zen Succulent / Very Fine South / Bean & Bailey Ceramics / Oriskany Glass Studio

Credits: Paige Elizabeth Design / Shed Labs / Cory Godbey / Ello Lovey

Credits: Whispering Willow Soap Company / Culleymade Knits / billiamjeans / Muncle Fred Art

You could go home with a giveaway basket worth several times the ticket price! Tickets are $30 each and are available here.  Ticket proceeds help support Indie Craft Parade, a nonprofit organization, and our desire to keep festival costs affordable for both established and emerging artists.

Calling All Volunteers

Every year the festival relies on a lot more than the staff who organizes it or the artists who make it awesome. We need a core group of volunteers to ensure the festival runs smoothly. If you've attended and enjoyed the festival in the past, it's largely to the credit of the people who give their free time over the course of the weekend. The volunteers keep things running smoothly and efficiently, and we're so thankful for them.

So if you'd like to be involved as a volunteer for Indie Craft Parade, please get in touch by emailing jen@makerscollective.org. You don't need any particular skills--mainly a friendly smile and the willingness to dig in and help! 

2014 VIP Tickets now on sale

It’s already that time of year again…VIP Gala tickets are on sale as of today! This kickoff party will begin our favorite weekend celebrating handmade goods.

If you’ve never been before, here are a few things you need to know that make the VIP Gala special:Lighter crowds: The opening night is your best chance to get to know the artists and get first dibs on their work. We sell a limited number of VIP tickets to make that evening special and allow ticket holders to avoid the crowds of Saturday and Sunday.

Giveaways: Our artists always go above and beyond in donating work to our giveaway baskets. We usually have 12-15 baskets worth over $100 each. Each basket will find their way home with a VIP ticket holder.

Free Food and Drink: Catered this year by Chef Peter and his team at Chef 360 Catering, the food is going to be out of this world. And in keeping with the theme of buying fine local craft products, we’ll be serving locally produced beverages including coffee from Greenville's newest coffee shop, Methodical Coffee, house blended teas and lemonade from Tealoha, and a selection of South Carolina made beers and ciders.

Live Music: And to top it all off, there's live music! This year we're excited to have local band Pioneer Fires playing for us during the VIP event. Their sound will be the perfect backdrop to the party. You won’t want to miss it!

The 2014 VIP Gala will be held on Friday, September 12 from 6 to 9 pm at the Huguenot Mill in downtown Greenville, SC. This ticketed event kicks off the festival weekend, and helps support our artists and the mission of Indie Craft Parade. Check out the full details on our website and get your tickets here!

Featured Sponsor: MailChimp

One tool we frequently use that makes our lives easier also happens to be a company who actively supports creative events across the country like Indie Craft Parade. It’s our friends at MailChimp!We like to seek out sponsors whose services are valuable and relevant to our artists and fans. And we also like to share tools we use to make our organization more efficient. MailChimp is both of those.

If you receive our Indie Craft Parade or Makers Summit newsletters, then you’ve seen MailChimp in action. (And if you’re not on the list, you can sign up at the bottom of our sites!). MailChimp makes communicating via email so much easier.

They also provide a set of great Resources for beginners, whether you're selling items online, a nonprofit like us, or just getting started sending emails. For those already familiar with MailChimp, be sure to look into the many ways you can integrate your MailChimp account with other services you use regularly like Facebook, Twitter and some eCommerce platforms!

While you're at it, be sure to let MailChimp know you appreciate their support of events like Indie Craft Parade.

2014 Artists Announced

We are excited to announce the 2014 list of Indie Craft Parade participants! Our fifth annual festival will feature 80 artists — 33 new and 47 returning. Mark your calendars for September 12-14 and come see us at the Huguenot Mill at the Peace Center. We know you can't wait to start shopping, so go check out the complete list on our website, and start making those wishlists!

2014 Call for Entries: Last Chance

This is it! Sunday, June 22 at midnight EST is your last chance to apply for this year's Indie Craft Parade. We do not consider late or incomplete applications, so if you've started an application but haven't finished yet, this weekend is your last opportunity to finish and submit!

For those who aren't applying, but know an artist who should submit their work, we've made it easy for you to send out an email introduction to Indie Craft Parade. Help us find the best handmade goods in the South!

Applications Now Open!

The long wait is over! Applications for Indie Craft Parade are now open. Put together your best product photos and send them our way through our online application. We can't wait to see who all comes in this year!

If you're not a maker but you know someone who is (and who you think should be a part of our festival), tell them to apply. We've made it easier than ever to recommend applying to Indie Craft Parade. Check out this automatic message here, and send it to your crafty friends.

Thanks to all our friends and supporters who attend each festival. We'll see you in 103 days!

Etsy Craft Party

The Etsy Global Craft Party is back! And this time it's hosted by our local South Carolina Etsy Team.

What is Craft Party? Every year, people from around the world come together on the same day in locally organized Etsy Craft Parties to create art and inspire each other. In 2013, more than 11,000 people took part in Craft Parties in locations across the globe!

The 2014 theme is Recapture: Bring new meaning to your photographs. Partygoers can bring a special photograph, perhaps one that carries personal memories and nostalgia. Then, with needle and thread or paint and pen, transform that old photograph into a new handmade heirloom.

There will be crafts, food, drinks, and some great giveaways on hand, so mark your calendars now. Bring an old photograph (or a copy of one) to transform, $2 to design your own coffee mug, or your own craft to work on. This is a great opportunity to network, meet local Etsy sellers and buyers, and make some fun memories. All the details are below:

Where: Due South Coffee in Taylors Mill 250 Mill Street Taylors, SC 29687 When: June 6th, from 4pm-6pm

RSVP to reserve your spot.

Next Event: Bookbinding

Our next event is coming up very soon, and if you've ever wanted to learn more about bookbinding, this is your chance! Cindy Leaders, an Indie Craft Parade alumnus and talented bookmaker will teach us how to create books using reclaimed materials. And what better place to learn about making books than at the library?

Join us at the Downtown Hughes Main Library in Greenville and learn how to make Buttonhole Pocket Books, a simple bookbinding technique that is easy to recreate at home. These little books would be perfect for sketching, journaling or even giving as a gift.

Cindy Leaders, with some of her Useful Books.

Students should bring a pair of needle nosed pliers (curved are preferable). Additional materials and tools will be provided to make three 3” x 4” books. All skill levels are welcome.

When: Saturday, May 3, 2014 from 2 PM – 4 PM Where: Hughes Main Library, 25 Heritage Green Place, Greenville, SC 29601 Cost: $22

Reserve your spot now!

Workshop Recaps

It's hard to believe that there's only a couple of workshops left on the calendar. We've had such an amazing time getting to know all of you who have attended the workshops. We began the monthly workshops to extend our relationships with the community, and we think it's been a great success. I know we've seen some of you at every event--so wonderful! We're also thankful to the instructors who have so kindly shared their talents and knowledge with our participants. Here's a quick look back at the previous two workshops. Also a look ahead at what's on the calendar.

Jivan Dave demonstrating and instructing the best way to use your iPhone for product photography:

Amy Walcher of Urban Digs teaching how to build and maintain a successful terrarium. We had no idea what all went into it--such great information!

A look ahead:

Remaining workshop classes--Bookbinding and Homebrewing Indie Craft Parade applications open on June 1!

Upcoming Class: iphone photography

We're continuing our spring series of Indie Craft Parade workshops, and next on the calendar is the iPhone photography class. People who attended The Makers Summit may have gotten a taste of this class. However, if you were unable to attend the workshop at the conference or if you're just looking to up your photography game, this is the class for you. In this 2 hour seminar, you'll learn how to get the most of your iPhone as well as some really great editing tips.  Taught by the incredibly talented Jivan Dave, this class will be invaluable to your Etsy shop, Instagram feed, or however else you share your products with the world. And it's very reasonably priced. The $20 class fee will pay for itself over and over again.

For further details or to sign up for the class, see information here.

The Makers Summit Recap

Wow! What a weekend. It was thrilling to gather with so many new attendees, speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and friends. I hope you've been reliving the day through the attendee photos on Instagram. Indie Craft Parade will release our recap video and official photos in the next week or so, but until then, be sure to check out #makerssummit on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also read a really great takeaway from the event from the Brains on Fire Blog. Here are some of our favorite attendee Instagram shots:

Entering The Makers Summit by goinghometoroost.

The main conference hall by bofagram.

The business card guestbook by french_ashley.

Vagabond Barista's pour over bar by theflyformal.

Makers Gonna Make Tattly by tjbreil.

Jude Landry's keynote by indiecraftparade.

Just before dinner by lilyasher.

Menu shot by our presenting sponsor virb.

Party Lounge during The Best Craft Party Ever by michelle_smth.

Goods from all the party stations by onceagainsam.

Sponsor Feature: Frontier Label

Frontier-Logo-blog

We're shouting it from the rooftop: We Love Frontier Label! If you're a maker and want to take your product to the next level, you need to talk to them right away. Frontier specializes in every sort of custom labels. And there's a good chance they've printed labels for companies and products you love.

Fast, efficient, friendly, what more can you ask from a company? Frontier is all these things and more. What amazing products have they done? I'm glad you asked. Just see below.

Liddabit Sweets

Charleston Soap Chef

Knot & Bow

For many more samples of their incredible work, check out their Pinterest page.

One Week away!

Hey Makers Summit Attendees! We'll see you a week from tomorrow. Just to get you excited, here's our video from last year. We're very proud of the 2013 conference, but we think that 2014's will be even bigger and better. It's gonna be a great day!

http://vimeo.com/59165227

Featured Sponsor: Virb

We're only a week and a half out from The Makers Summit. Crazy! We've been planning and working for what seems like months on end, and now it's almost here.

In the short time we have before meeting everyone at the conference, we want to get you pumped up about all the amazing people you'll meet next Saturday. Speakers, sponsors, and attendees alike contribute to make this conference and party memorable, but we really wouldn't be able to provide what we do

without the help of Virb

--an incredible build-your-own website service.

Your website--which tells the world who you are--can make or break your business. That first online impression is so important, and Virb can help you communicate your brand and products in a simple elegant way. This is one product that we'll sing the praises of over and over again.

http://vimeo.com/49684263

Here's some first hand experience from Erin, one of our directors:

I recently used Virb to build a website, and was blown away by how incredibly easy it was to create a beautiful website. My husband is a professional 

illustrator, and had been needing a new website for years. I'm relatively tech-savy, and thought I knew enough to use one of the various website template services. I tried a couple different services, but was so frustrated by the difficulty that I was about to give up, when a friend recommended I try Virb. After tinkering with it for a few minutes, I was hooked. A couple hours later, I had created an amazing website! 

(You can check it out here.)

 Their websites are designed specifically for the creative community, and have all kinds of great features like integrated shops with Big Cartel and Etsy. The templates are so beautifully designed and easily customizable, it was dream to work with. After seeing how easy Virb was to use and how ideal it was for makers, I knew this was a resource we needed to share with the makers community. I reached out to Virb and asked them to partner with us for The Maker Summit, and the rest is history! 

Virb will play a huge role in our event next week. In addition to being the presenting sponsor of

The Best Craft Party Ever

(which is shaping up to be amazing!), Virb is hosting one of our 4 workshops. The lucky people who snagged tickets to the conference will have an opportunity to learn first hand how to make a customized website start to finish.

Whether or not you're attending The Makers Summit, it's worth taking a look at the services Virb has to offer. You'll be amazed at how something so simple will yield such impressive results.

Featured Sponsor: Big Cartel

One of the newest sponsors to join The Makers Summit this year is Big Cartel, another partnership we are really excited about! Big Cartel has been around since 2005, and handles behind the scenes shopping functionality for all kinds of beautiful online shops. One of the biggest benefits Big Cartel offers is the ability to host your shop on your own site, fully customized. They also have very reasonable flat fee pricing, beginning with a free plan that you can try out and see if it works for you and your products.

One of the pieces from The Big Cartel Shop

If you're thinking about opening an online shop soon and want to know what options are out there, you'll definitely want to hear our Makers Summit panel about this very topic. We'll have representatives from Big Cartel, Square Market and ScoutMob discussing various methods of selling online, and answering attendee questions about getting the most out of your shop.

Another reason that we love Big Cartel is their support of independent artists. Initiatives like their Field Guides help artists tackle issues like copyright, taxes, and making your shop better. These efforts are perfectly in line with our plans for The Makers Summit, so we're excited to join forces and tackle these things together next month.

If you haven't already, grab your Makers Summit ticket and come see what else Big Cartel has to offer!

MailChimp: Featured Sponsor

MailChimp has been one of our biggest supporters from day one, and we're pretty big fans of theirs as well. They are a sponsor of the 2014 Makers Summit! A few months ago, we finally had the opportunity to visit their Atlanta offices. One of the first things we saw when we walked in was this amazing embroidered front desk! We knew we were in the right place.

MailChimp has a reputation of supporting creative and small business ventures like ours. So it seemed fitting that their front desk would be a giant example of craftsmanship.

We got to explore the offices with our friend Marco, and meet a few of the people that make MailChimp tick.

We were especially impressed by the 3D printer station for employees!

If you receive our Indie Craft Parade or Makers Summit newsletters, then you've seen MailChimp at work. (And if you're not on the list, you can sign up at the bottom of our sites!). MailChimp makes communicating via email so much easier. And they provide a lot of Resources for beginners. Here are a few to get you started:

MailChimp for Online Sellers MailChimp for NonprofitsMailChimp for Bloggers and even, a coloring book for kids!

We know you'll enjoy working with Freddie just as much as we do!

Learn to Knit

The next workshop in this year's series of events is Learn to Knit with Deb Potter. You may remember Deb and her beautiful yarn from our festival, or from our About video, where she gives us a tour of her farm.

If you've always wanted to learn how to knit, or maybe you're just a bit rusty, this is for you! And in the spirit of all things warm and cozy, what could be a better location for this class than a tea room?

WHEN: Tuesday, February 4, 2014 from 7 PM – 10 PM WHERE: Tealoha, 131 E McBee Ave Greenville, SC 29601 COST: $25

DETAILS: Come for an evening of fun where you'll learn the basics of knitting. Create a cup cozy using a skein of Deb's handpainted wool yarn and go home with a finished product at the end of the night. All supplies are included in the cost of the workshop.

Class size is limited, so grab your friends and register here.

Indie Craft Parade + The Children's Museum

 Next Saturday we're going to have a station at the Kids' Maker Fest--a special event with The Children's Museum of the Upstate. The whole day is dedicated to teaching kids about the value of making and the different avenues that people use to incorporate making into their lives.

From The Children's Museum:A maker is a do-it-yourself kind of person, who engages their creativity and knowledge doing hands-on projects. Some makers are science and technology oriented while others are more crafty. All makers share a passion for creating, and believe that if something can be imagined it can be made!

Highlights from the day include:

• --Make and launch your own paper rockets
• --A hovercraft demonstration & make a mini hovercraft
• --Coder demonstrations on SCRATCH and STARLOGO
• --Use your imagination and build with MAKEDO cardboard projects
• --Playdough circuit activities
• --Make a bristlebot
• --Play with large robots
• --Designing stamps with the Indie Craft Parade
• --Trebuchet launch

If you've never taken the kids in your life to The Children's Museum, this is the perfect opportunity. Not only will you get to see their amazing regular exhibits, but also kids have access to all the stations available with The Maker Fest. Participation in The Maker Fest is free with general admission.

We hope to see you there! It's going to be a great day.

cheers to 2013: Indie craft parade Year in Review

Thank you all so much for joining us for all the fun of 2013. We've had an amazing year...our best yet. This community is so supportive, and we know we can't succeed without you. Just for fun, as we're standing on the brink of 2014, we wanted to highlight our favorite moments of the past year.

SPRING 2013

School Scholarship We love to give back to our community whenever possible. Here's a look at our School Scholarship recipient from 2013.

The Makers Summit It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since the initial Makers Summit--so many great sponsors, speakers, and attendees. Be sure to put the upcoming conference on your calendar. For all ticket information and details about the Best Craft Party Ever, check here.

SUMMER 2013

Indie Craft Parade visits NYC This past June, our staff took a trip to Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, which is a huge part of the national arts and craft movement. This adventure also led us to a great partnership with some of this year's sponsors like Etsy and Tattly.

New website! Thanks to the creative genius of Andrew Ramos and Robojuice, we got an amazing online makeover. Remember this old website? Feels like forever ago.

Community Worknight An expanded festival means more garland. We were really happy to give our artists and attendees more room this year, but that required a lot more decorations. Thanks to the help of an amazing team of volunteers, we cranked out hundreds of linear feet of our 6 color garland, one of Indie Craft Parade's trademarks.

FALL 2013

The Festival Every one of the four festivals we've hosted has incredible memories of meeting new friends, discovering new artists, and making an impact on our community. I can't think of this past festival without becoming a little overwhelmed with gratitude for the support shown to us. We had our biggest event yet--a sold out VIP Gala and filled to capacity attendance throughout the weekend.

Recipe for Press workshop Press guru Amy Flurry brought our community a powerful seminar where she shared insight into how to think like an editor.

WINTER 2013

New to Indie Craft Parade: DIY workshops We're immensely thankful for the people in our community who help foster a love for art, craft, and design. So over the past couple of months, we've partnered with some of them to spread new ideas and skills with our followers. So far we've hosted workshops for furniture makeovers, paper crafts, and wreath making. If you missed this classes, don't worry! We've got a great line up of classes for 2014.

The Holiday Fair And to our last favorite moment of 2013...we closed out the year strong with our Holiday Fair, an abbreviated version of the September Festival. We hope that all of your gift recipients enjoyed their handmade holiday as much as we did.

It's hard to believe it, but Indie Craft Parade is entering its 5th year as an organization. Thank you to those who've contributed to our success, and welcome aboard to anyone who's just getting started. Because of all of you, we're anticipating an even better year for 2014.