VIP Gala Giveaways!

Have we told you how amazing the giveaways at our VIP Gala are going to be? Check out these sneak peeks below. Just so you know, the average value of our giveaway baskets is over $160. What a chance to win one of these baskets? Or one of our other many prizes? Get your VIP Tickets here!

Workshops Galore!

Well, we've officially entered festival week. I can't believe it's here. There's so many great things going on to finalize preparations for the event. It's going to be amazing. Come Thursday we'll be gussying up the Huguenot Mill, getting ready to welcome participating vendors, and about to make a secret reveal about the future of Indie Craft Parade (hint, hint)! But for the meantime, I've got a great show to tell you about. One of yarn makers for Indie Craft Parade is having a special event here in Greenville. This would be worth your time to check out as you get ready for a weekend packed with crafty goodness.

First, this Thursday, Sept. 6, Stacey Budge-Kamison of Urban GypZ Yarns is having a trunk show at Greenville's very own Wool Over Your Eyes--a premier retailer for all things fiber. It's sure to be a beautiful show.

And then, speaking of workshops...we still have spaces available for our workshops on Saturday. There are 5 amazing classes that will teach you a new skill and cap off your Indie Craft Parade experience perfectly. Buy tickets here.

Also, VIP Gala tickets are available for only $25. This night is going to be our best event yet!!!

If you need a reminder of what the classes are, here's what we're offering:

PAPER GARLANDS Taught by: Erin Godbey, cofounder of Indie Craft Parade and compulsive crafter Class Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am Details: Learn to make quick and easy paper garlands that will elevate the level of any event. Take home 6 foot garland perfect for a party or home decor. Ages: 12 and up Cost: $15

LINOCUT STAMP CARVING Taught by: Matt Moreau, professional printer and adventurer Class Time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm Class Details: Learn the basics of linocut carving and make custom stamp as well as your own prints Ages: 16 and up Cost: $25

FLOWER ARRANGING Taught by: Mary Campbell, creator of We Took To The Woods and nature enthusiast Class Time: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Class Details: Learn the foundations of floral design, and make an arrangement of your own. Ages: 16 and up Cost: $40

PINT GLASS ETCHING Taught by: Ben Alier, beverage expert and inventor of things Class Time: 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Class Details: Learn the basics of glass etching, and make 2 custom pint glasses. Ages: 16 and up Cost: $25

PAINTED WOODEN BROOCHES Taught by: Annie Koelle, fine art painter and lover of triangles Class Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Class Details: Paint a wooden brooch; learn about color pairings and aesthetics. Ages: 16 and up Cost: $15

And the vip giveaway winner is...

This event is now closed. If you're still interested in the VIP Gala, we still have some tickets available for purchase. And after I give you a few more details about the event, you're certainly going to want a ticket.

Here's what makes our VIP Gala so great:

1) Relaxed shopping atmosphere. We're expecting a very large attendance on Saturday and Sunday, which means crowded aisles and limited access to all the artists. When it comes to the variety and extent of the artists' work, Friday night is definitely the best to get it. We frequently have artists sell out of goods before the festival even ends, so if you want the best selection, get it on Friday night. 

2) Giveaways! Our artists have gone above and beyond this year in donating work to our giveaway baskets. We have 15 baskets assembled---each one is worth over $100. Some are worth almost $200. The lucky winners of these baskets will be going home with a lot of loot. Besides the baskets, we're also giving away around 100 other items that evening. Both Lark Crafts and MailChimp (Yes, thank you sponsors!) have generously donated crafting books and swag for attendees to take home.

3) Free Food and Drink. We've received the menu from our amazing caterer, Chef 360, and the food is going to be out of this world. The incredibly talented Chef Peter has worked up quite the menu for us---As artful as it is tasty. He's hinted at pork sliders and lo mein shooters on the menu...and something really amazing he's making from Krispy Kreme donuts. Not to mention, we have a special appearance from The Vagabond Barista---who'll delight us with some of the latest trends in coffee brewing. Will Schurtz will brew specialty coffee to order for our attendees, and his techniques are unparalleled for enjoying your coffee. Additionally, a variety of beverages will be provided by The Community Tap.

4) Live Music from Regional Band: The New Empires. We've secured The New Empires for entertainment on Friday night. Their fun, indie tunes are sure to round out the evening perfectly!

It's not too late. Get your tickets here!

Sponsor Feature: TALK Magazine

TALK Magazine is Indie Craft Parade's premier media provider for this year's event, and we're very thankful to have them on board. TALK is a notable resource for the Upstate on fashionable living and trendy events. So if you ever need to know where to go or what to do in our area, make TALK your go-to source. To learn more, check out their online site.

Sponsor Feature: Spoonflower Fabrics

We've recently joined forces with yet another amazing sponsor---Spoonflower Fabrics. If you're a crafty soul, and you've never heard about Spoonflower, then I am about to make your day. Spoonflower is a specialty fabric provider---and get this---you can actually design and print your own fabric. Yes, you heard me right. You can design your own fabric. No more looking at a project and getting frustrated because you can't find the perfect fabric. Now you can get perfectly customized fabric in a variety of weights.

From their website: Spoonflower was founded in May 2008 by two Internet geeks who had crafty wives but who knew nothing about textiles. The company came about because Stephen’s wife, Kim, persuaded him that being able to print her own fabric for curtains was a really cool idea. She wasn’t alone. The Spoonflower community now numbers over half a million individuals who use their own fabric to make curtains, quilts, clothes, bags, furniture, dolls, pillows, framed artwork, costumes, banners and much, much more. The Spoonflower marketplace offers the largest collection of independent fabric designers in the world. The site has appeared in the New York Times, Associated Press, Vogue, Martha Stewart Weddings, Make, CRAFT, ApartmentTherapy, Photojojo, and many other terrific publications and blogs.

So we pretty much think Spoonflower is amazing. Besides the ability to make your own fabric, you can choose from hundreds of pre-made designs...most of which are gorgeous. Spoonflower also has resources like cut and sew patterns and a blog dedicated to DIY sewing projects.

And we're thrilled about this...for Indie Craft Parade this year, Spoonflower is donating a significant number of cut and sew Hugos (our elephant mascot)! People who attend our event can make and take home their own plush Hugos. It's going to be amazing.

So thank you, Spoonflower! We think we've got quite a future together.

VIP Gala Ticket Giveaway!

Alright, everybody! It's that time for us to give away 2 VIP tickets to a lucky winner. We're so excited about this year's VIP Gala, so this is a giveaway worth participating in.

The VIP Gala is your best chance to get to know the artists and get first dibs on their work. As Indie Craft Parade is such a heavily attended event, the Gala allows you to avoid the crowds of Saturday and Sunday. Not to mention the other great perks for attending Friday night: free food and drinks from some of our favorite local establishments and a host of fabulous giveaways. Food will be provided by Chef 360, drinks from Community Tap, and a coffee bar by The Vagabond Barista. This is also the night to win giveaways — baskets of handmade goods straight from our vendors' booths. We'll also have live music that evening, so come and enjoy it.

The VIP Gala will be held on Friday, September 7 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!

So, how do you get these 2 free tickets? Simply leave a comment on this post, and you'll be entered to win! The winner will be announced a week from today, on Friday, August 31.

Don't want to take your chances? You can purchase VIP Gala tickets here and be guaranteed a place at the party!

COMMENTS FOR THIS POST ARE NOW CLOSED

Workshop Tickets now on sale!

Last week we spilled the exciting news that you can learn a new skill from the experts at this year's festival. We've gathered some of the best teachers we know, and now you can sign up to work with them. We're hosting 5 workshops on Saturday, September 8. See below for the times, costs, and details of the classes. Click here to purchase. PAPER GARLANDS Taught by: Erin Godbey, cofounder of Indie Craft Parade and compulsive crafter Class Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am Details: Learn to make quick and easy paper garlands that will elevate the level of any event. Take home 6 foot garland perfect for a party or home decor. Ages: 12 and up Cost: $15

Purchase Paper Garland Class Ticket

LINOCUT STAMP CARVING Taught by: Matt Moreau, professional printer and adventurer Class Time: 11:30 am - 12:30 pm Class Details: Learn the basics of linocut carving and make custom stamp as well as your own prints Ages: 16 and up Cost: $25

Purchase Linocut Class Ticket

FLOWER ARRANGING Taught by: Mary Campbell, creator of We Took To The Woods and nature enthusiast Class Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Class Details: Learn the foundations of floral design, and make an arrangement of your own. Ages: 16 and up Cost: $40

Purchase Flower Arranging Class Ticket

PINT GLASS ETCHING Taught by: Ben Alier, beverage expert and inventor of things Class Time: 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm Class Details: Learn the basics of glass etching, and make 2 custom pint glasses. Ages: 16 and up Cost: $25

Purchase Pint Glass Etching Class Ticket

PAINTED WOODEN BROOCHES Taught by: Annie Koelle, fine art painter and lover of triangles Class Time: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Class Details: Paint a wooden brooch; learn about color pairings and aesthetics. Ages: 16 and up Cost: $15

Purchase Painted Brooch Ticket

Sponsor Feature: Chef 360

This past week we had the fun experience of meeting with Peter Collins, the mastermind behind Chef 360 and our caterer for the VIP Gala. At a luncheon tasting, Chef Peter delighted us with both his creative dishes and his larger than life personality. Our stomachs full of treats such as pork tenderloin sliders and house made hummus and pitas, we knew asking Chef to put the finishing touches on our VIP Gala was one of our best ideas. Chef Peter will certainly make the VIP Gala an evening to remember. Beside providing creative, delicious hors d'oeuvres, Chef is bringing a few creative surprises to top off the event (hint: he's mentioned something about face painting for dessert...).

We're so excited and thankful to have him on board with our event. For more details about his catering services, be sure to check out the Chef 360 website. Chef Peter also hosts cooking classes--I can't even imagine how much fun those must be.

Calling all Volunteers!

We've been lucky every year to have an amazing crew of volunteers. Want to join us?

We need festival volunteers! Volunteer shifts will be 4-5 hours, and duties will involve admitting attendees, assisting vendors, passing out programs, etc. We need volunteers during the festival at the following times: Friday, Sept. 7 (8 am - 9 pm)Saturday, Sept. 8 (9 am - 6 pmSunday, Sept. 9 (11 am to 5 pm). 

We also need volunteers before the event to help us put up posters and distribute stacks of postcards. We'll be meeting this Saturday, August 18th at 10 am at the corner of Main St. and Broad St. (in front of The Peace Center) to canvas downtown Greenville. Can't come then but still want to help out? If you'd like to pick up some posters and postcards and distribute them on your own time, just let us know! Our goal is to distribute 300 posters and 10,000 postcards by the end of next week, so we need your help!

Email us at info@indiecraftparade.com and let us know what how you'd like to be involved!

New at Indie Craft Parade: Workshops!

We're always thinking of ways to make our festival more enjoyable, so we cannot wait to introduce this new part of Indie Craft Parade for the 2012 event. For the first time, we're hosting workshops throughout the day on Saturday, September 8. These classes will be taught by local artists and cover a range of mediums. There will be 5 classes from morning to late afternoon on Saturday, including:

paper garland making flower arranging linocut carving brooch painting pint glass etching

Each class can accommodate 10 to 15 people, and will cost between $15 and $40. Tickets will be available for purchase 2 weeks before the event and sold in a first come first serve manner.

So stay tuned! We've got so much more to tell you about these workshops. If you're interested in knowing more about the workshops, or if you want to know when tickets go on sale, sign up for the notification email, and we'll be sure to remind you about all the goodness to come.

Sponsor Feature: Vagabond Barista

We've got a real treat for any coffee lovers at this year's event. Will Shurtz founder of the Vagabond Barista is setting up his mobile coffee bar as one of our sponsors and food vendors. He'll be donating his services for the VIP Gala event (in case you need yet another reason to attend), and he'll also be among our food vendors on Saturday and Sunday of the event.

After working as a local barista for the past 3 years, Will realized a gap in Greenville's coffee/breakfast culture, namely that precious few places brewed coffee using methods such as siphon and chemex brews, and you certainly wouldn't be able to find anything this specialized at local events. Besides making one seriously good cup of joe, Will is a coffee guru. He has a deep knowledge about the beans he's serving, and he only sources coffees that are top quality from planting to roasting.

Will currently brews for various events about town. You can contact him via Facebook or Twitter if you're interested in having at your next event. Otherwise, you can visit him at Cowork Greenville where he's brewing on a weekly basis. The processes through which he makes cups of coffee are both beautiful and delicious. We're so excited to introduce yet another handcrafted element of Indie Craft Parade.

Behind the scenes of indie craft parade: why greenville?

Within the past decade, there has been a rebirth of the handmade, DIY ethic. Now in cities across the nation you can find huge communities of part-time and professional artists, as well as a population of non-artists willing to support them. Three years ago we saw this trend developing in places like San Francisco, Brooklyn, Austin, and Portland and decided we needed to bring it to Greenville, South Carolina. photo by Mike Burton

Why Greenville? It certainly doesn't have the population of a large city, and South Carolina as a whole doesn't necessarily have the reputation as a trend setting state. Nonetheless, our little city has caught the attention of many outsiders. Within the past year, Greenville has been listed among Forbes' "best downtowns" and CNN's "fastest growing cities." Greenville has even impressed the New York Times,which has taken note of our developments. On top of that, Greenville for many years has boasted a thriving fine art community.

We've lived and worked in Greenville for a number of years, fell in love with the city and all it has to offer, and decided that it would be the perfect location for an Indie art fair--just like all those big creative cities.

We frequently get asked if Indie Craft Parade is part of a franchise or a larger national craft fair. We're so happy to reply--no! Indie Craft Parade is an independent event, created specifically for the city we love. Most of our sponsors and nearly all of our volunteers come from right here in the Upstate. And while we invite people from our surrounding states to visit our event, even our attendees hail mostly from here.

We're so thankful to be going into our third year as Indie Craft Parade--so thankful to the people in our town for supporting us! And we think it's pretty awesome that Indie Craft Parade is making a contribution to the national crafting movement.

"Love Greenville" tee created by Indie Craft Parade vendor Parachute Clothing

VIP Gala tickets now on sale!

Get 'em while they're hot! Your ticket guarantees you an evening of relaxed shopping, great food, and a chance to win gift baskets from our artists. Food and drink will be provided by Chef 360 and the Vagabond Barista. Keep checking back with us to learn more details about this fabulous evening.

Tickets are already going fast, so make sure you reserve your spot! We hope to see you there!

Sponsor Feature: BuySellAds

We're so thankful for all of the companies that donate goods and services to make Indie Craft Parade possible. However, there are a few that go above and beyond in their contributions--one of which we want to introduce today. I'm referring to BuySellAds.com, a company that can help you wade through the confusion of online advertising. BuySellAds is a hassle free way to either increase the amount of people who advertise with you or to find the best means to tell others about your business. Whether you're a small business, a large corporation, a developing blog, or a event (like us!), BuySellAds has a solution for you. Not only does BuySellAds have plans within a variety of price ranges, but also they provide great support for their customers. They're a team of real people ready to answer your questions about where and how to advertise. They also have help topics and fun infographics (like the one below), to help you learn more about the online advertising industry.

Thank you BuySellAds for all you do support the creative community!

Announcing the 2012 VIP Gala!

After the smashing success of last year's VIP Opening Gala, we decided the 2012 event would not be complete without another one. We're so very excited to share all of the details with you.

On Saturday and Sunday, September 8 & 9, Indie Craft Parade is free and open to the public. With the fabulous vendors, great food, and fun atmosphere, those days attract hundreds of people per hour. So we've created an exclusive event that gives a limited number of attendees a first look at the amazing goods for sale. On Friday night, September 7 from 6 to 9 PM, ticket holders will be able to not only enjoy the relaxed shopping atmosphere, but also enjoy complimentary food and drink as well as live music and a chance to win gift baskets provided by participating artists.

We received rave reviews about the event last year, and we believe that this year's party will be even better. Tickets will go on sale August 1--less than 10 days away. We expect  the passes to sell quickly, so be sure to put the sale dates on your calendar. To learn more about the event, see more photos, or be notified of when tickets go on sale, visit the VIP Gala page of our website. We hope to see you there!

Food and Drink will provided by these amazing sponsors!

Some Fine Print from our website:

Tickets will be sold online in a first come, first serve manner beginning August 1st at 10am. At the event, ticket confirmations must be presented at the door.

Tickets include admission for only one person. Children cannot be included on an adult's ticket. Tickets only apply to the Friday night event — Saturday and Sunday are free admission and open to the public.

A selection of wine and beers will be included in the menu. You must be 21 or older and present a valid ID to drink.

DIY Round Up: Pet Accesories

We like to put handmade touches on all aspects our lives. Why shouldn't that apply to our pets as well? Give your pets a little handmade love this weekend, and get crafty with something you know they'll enjoy. Cats and kittens just want a hole to cuddle up and hide in. So why not make it a cute cubby like this one from Eilen Tein. (English knitting pattern at the bottom of the post.)

Always forget to bring the plastic baggies on the walk? Make your pet carry his own. This cute collar pouch tutorial from The B-Line.

Love this adorable dog bed DIY from My So Called Crafty Life.

Love cute treat bins, but don't want to pay the designer price? Tidy Mom managed to make this cute tin for just a couple of bucks. Works for pets of all shapes and sizes.

I really do enjoy having my cat chase me around the house as I drag a string in front of her. I'm looking forward to making something cute for her to catch. Tutorial from Martha Stewart.

My heart really does go out to people (especially kids) who can't have a pet because of allergy or space reasons. So I think this fun make-your-own pet tutorial could be a way to get your kids crafting and to give them a pet of their own. Make your own jellyfish in a bottle from Bhoomplay's Blog.

Sponsor Feature: MailChimp

The closer we get to the main event, the more we want to tell you about the people who make the festival possible. Today, I want to share all the goodness of MailChimp with you. If you're a business owner, event coordinator, or leader of any group that takes a lot of communication, MailChimp could be an indispensable tool for you.

MailChimp describes themselves as a way to help you: design email newletters, share them on social networks, integrate with services you already use, and track your results. In short, they call themselves "your own personal publishing platform." Besides keeping you and your followers organized, MailChimp provides beautiful design templates, loads of free advice and tutorials, and even ways to manage all of your features on the go. Best of all, you can get most of the MailChimp services for FREE! Their no-nonsence approach to mass communication combined with their fun personality and great design make MailChimp a great tool for anybody.

We at Indie Craft Parade have used MailChimp to organize our newsletters and campaigns for the past few years, and we're so happy to say they've joined forces with us this year. The generous donations of this creative company truly makes it possible for us to continue putting on the high caliber event we give Greenville each year. We're so thankful that MailChimp supports the creative community!

Sponsor Feature: Lark Crafts

We've officially entered festival season! Only 9 short weeks and Indie Craft Parade will be here--9 weeks, can you believe it? We've got so much to share with you between now and then: featured vendors, new things to expect this year, details about the VIP Gala...the list goes on and on. But today, we're excited to share with you one of our fabulous sponsors--Lark Crafts--a resource you need to have in your crafty arsenal. From their website: Lark Crafts is a creative publishing group based in the beautiful and artistic mountain town of Asheville, NC. We love showcasing the best the craft world has to offer through how-to projects, comprehensive technique guides, spectacular visual galleries, and everything in between. Lark has been in the business of providing crafters with information and inspiration for 25 years, so we’re steeped in tradition. We’re also enthusiastically engaged in where crafting is going. We’ve been an integral part of how the craft community has grown, changed, and evolved over the last couple of decades—and how it has recently exploded in size and expanded in all kinds of exciting new directions. 

For the 2012 Indie Craft Parade, Lark Crafts is generously sharing from their stores of crafty knowledge by donating over 100 books to the event. That means over the course of the festival we're able to give away all of those books to our attendees, pushing crafty inspiration even further into our community. Just take a look at some of the titles that we have access to!

Making Mini Books

Hand in Hand

Soapmaking the Natural Way

Simple Stitches: Sewing

Paper Cuts

Stash Happy: Felt

Easy Concrete

Doodle Stitching

So, if you didn't already have a million reasons to attend Indie Craft Parade this September, come to win one of these amazing books! Just a note: your chances of winning a book are greater when attending the VIP Gala, so stay tuned to know when tickets become available.

DIY Roundup: Ombre Dyeing

Ombre dyeing continues to be a trend in the fashion, craft, and decor scenes, and why not? Ombre done right can yield the most beautiful, artsy results. So, here's a small collection of DIY ombre projects to get you inspired. With a little time and patience (and guidance from these great tutorials), you too can create the trendy ombre products you've seen. Ombre dyed ballet flats from Swell Mayde.

Paper gift tags from Momtastic.

chrysanthymum-lantern640

A giant chrysanthemum--perfect for parties-- from Aunt Peaches.

Of course, no round up for ombre dyeing would be complete without a tee shirt tutorial, like this one from A Pair and A Spare.

Then to finish things up, these lovely ombre napkins from Camille Styles. These are actually spray dyed.

Have you experimented with ombre dyeing? We'd love to hear about it!! Email photos and stories to jen@indiecraftparade.com.

The Jurying is complete!

We had a great weekend with Indie Craft Parade! This past Saturday, we spent the whole day with our prestigious jury, as they sorted through scores and scores of applicants to select this year's vendors. As always, the jury's job was not easy. We had so many good applications, which makes for stiff competition. However, we believe they did a great job (why we picked them to serve on the jury in the first place). And we're thrilled because we'll get to announce the official list of participants in the very near future viewing anonymous application photos on a flat screen TV, keeping in mind the Indie Craft Parade standards

All applicants should receive their status notifications today via email. Once they've sent us confirmation, we'll be able to share with you who's in the show. It's killing us having to wait like this, but we think you'll agree...this year will be an amazing show!