Greenville Open Studios

Many of you probably work or live right around the corner from a Greenville artist, and you don't even know it. Local artists don't always work out of galleries or official studios, which is why you should take advantage of Greenville's annual Open Studios. This event not only gives the community a chance to meet more of Greenville's artists but also to tour their work spaces, to get to know their processes, and to connect on a more personal level. Open Studios this year falls on Saturday, November 5, 10am - 6pm & Sunday, November 6, Noon - 6pm. A few artists are even open on Friday evening.

About Greenville Open Studios from the Metropolitan Arts Council:

Now beginning its tenth year, Greenville Open Studios began as an idea cast about during a casual conversation between a small group of artists several years ago; they discussed doing something to raise awareness in the greater community of the tremendous creative energy in the area. The idea has evolved into a full-fledged annual event. The goals of Greenville Open Studios are to provide free and convenient community access to visual arts, to educate and create a dialogue between artists and the general public by opening artists’ place of work and inviting the community-at-large to participate in the creative process, and to create new marketing opportunities for artists. It is the organizers’ desire that the project will open up the world of visual artists to everyone – from the seasoned collector to the first-time art buyer to the curious general public.

Also check out the Open Studios page for more information about their mobile site which is complete with studio maps--very handy in finding which artists are closest to you.

Every year this event proves the great talent we have in and around our town, and you really don't want to miss out on the chance to enjoy it. Mark your calendars!

Muse Fest

Last night we attended the opening gala for Muse Fest 2011 in Old Town Rock Hill, SC. It's a weekend long music, film, and art festival that is centered on an indie craft show. Muse Fest is very much a sister event to Indie Craft Parade, and we were so happy for their invitation to join in the festivities. If you're near or traveling to Rock Hill this weekend, please check out Muse Fest. It's free and open to the public and runs all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tell your friends!

The event is held in Rock Hill's super cute Old Town at the historic Post Office and Court House. Although the Post Office/Court House has been converted into the UP Gallery, it still holds tons of original charm.Muse Fest decked the building out in their iconic hot pink--complete with a crocheted lamp post out front!

Works by Jay Owens (from Indie Craft Parade's jury) are on display in the permanent gallery.

Check out all of the interior's gorgeous details! We're in love with the vintage PO boxes.

Some of our favorite vendors from the evening:

The Cordial Churchman - handmade bow ties and neck ties, and a former Indie Craft Parade Participant

Bounden Studio - handmade books

Other friends from Greenville and from Indie Craft Parade: Sew Sew Lovely, Emily Clarke Studio and Phoenix Fire Studios

To see the full list of participating vendors, check out the Muse Fest Craft Vendors page.

Artists at the Saturday Market

The art scene never slows down in Greenville, and we have another exciting event to tell you about. The Art & Light Gallery at the Flatiron studios is hosting four crafters this Saturday, some of which were exhibitors at Indie Craft Parade. There will even be a tutorial for felting. Don't miss it! Here's the information from Art & Light's website:

Saturday, October 22 is Market Saturday at Flatiron Studios.  Fine craft and Indie Craft Parade exhibitors will spend the day with us selling their wares - to include Bess Whittington, Deb Potter, Joanna Bursch, and Angie Craft.  Deb Potter will also offer a pumpkin felting class - $10 which includes materials (continual 20 min. sessions 1:30 - 4:oopm).

Angie Craft Ornamental Gourds

Joanna Bursch Fiber

Deb Potter Yarn and Scarves and Felting

Bess Whittington Fiber

Live from Brooklyn, Live in Greenville: Printmaking Show this weekend

This Friday evening, there's a great indie printmaking show in Greenville that you won't want to miss. Dapper Ink (as you may remember from our Indie Craft Parade/Etsy Craft Night) is hosting a show by former Greenville artist Dailey Crafton, the creator of the Live from Bklyn studio. This show called "Live from Brooklyn, Live in Greenville" will feature unframed linocut and silkscreen prints as well as printed home goods and letterpress items.

The event begins at 7PM on Friday, October 14. If you can't make it to the opening, the show will be hanging for the following week. Dapper Ink is open weekdays from 9:00 to 4:30. Or you could contact the folks at Dapper Ink for evening and weekend hours.

Check out the Live From Bklyn Etsy Shop for a preview of the home goods.

Handprinted flour sack towels

Handprinted greeting card

Featured Sponsor: Etsy

Etsy supports many local events across the nation, and we are so excited to have their support. Each year they not only contribute funds to help us put on the event, but they also help us spread the word about Indie Craft Parade. In addition, many of our artists have Etsy shops, and we use some of the Etsy tools (like treasuries) to promote our show and get people excited about what kind of goods they'll see at Indie Craft Parade.

From the About Etsy page:

Etsy is the world's handmade marketplace.

Our mission is to empower people to change the way the global economy works. We see a world in which very-very small businesses have much-much more sway in shaping the economy, local living economies are thriving everywhere, and people value authorship and provenance as much as price and convenience. We are bringing heart to commerce and making the world more fair, more sustainable, and more fun.

The Etsy Booth at Indie Craft Parade

This year we had the privilege of having official Etsy representation at our event. If you stopped at the Etsy booth, you talked to a member of the South Carolina Etsy Street Team. Volunteers from this team handed out information about their team members and explained how the site works to those who weren't familiar with Etsy. This is a great support group if you're an Etsy seller or would like to be. You can join this team if you're an artisan "living in South Carolina who maintains an etsy shop containing a minimum of 5 items" Visit their page for more details.

Etsy is a great tool, especially for artists who are just getting started and want to quickly and easily set up an online shop. They also have many great resources for finding handmade goods.

We've often explained Indie Craft Parade as Etsy in person. So if you missed the show, or want to know where else to buy handmade goods, Etsy is a great place to start. Use their Shop Local tool to help you find artists near you!

Ad Space for Grabs

Hey Indie Craft Parade Vendors! We just wanted to tell you about a cool way to get a little more attention for all the goodies you sold our festival. There's a new website being launched called Indie Show List, a source for all things crafty. Although the website isn't fully operational just yet, they do have a social media presence. Besides being a great resource for craft news, Indie Show List wants to give you some press. They're currently hosting a competition on their Facebook page for the best booth display. Simply upload a picture of your booth to their wall with your information. If they decide your's is the best, they'll give you 2 months ad space on the new www.indieshowlist.com. With all of the amazing booth designs we saw at Indie Craft Parade, I'm sure you'll make their decision very hard. Check them out. All the details to the competition are here.

Children's Art Auction for the Pendleton Place Children's Shelter

Hey everyone. We want to tell you about an awesome opportunity that the people of Greenville have to give back to their community through the arts. Next week at Spill the Beans downtown, children's paintings will be auctioned off to benefit the Pendleton Place Children's Shelter. Pendleton Place provides for kids who have been either abused or abandoned. As part of their program, they teach the kids to paint and expose them to the arts. In turn these kids have created paintings to help bring in funding for the organization that has helped them so much.

The event is Thursday, August 25 from 6-10 PM. We've included some pictures of the kids' work. They're really great, and this would be an awesome organization to contribute to. Please consider attending.

Here are some more details from the Pendleton Place website:

A group of volunteers from Origins Church are working with local Greenville artists to help teach our children the joy of expression through painting! They will be helping children create canvas paintings to be auctioned at a community event to benefit the shelter. We are so grateful to be a part of this project and to be able to expose the children at Pendleton Place to the therapeutic advantages of art. The Art Auction will take place on Thursday, August 25 from 6-10PM (bidding ends at 9PM) at Spill the Beans on Main Street. Please consider supporting our volunteers by 'friend-ing'Pendleton Place Art Auction on Facebook to learn more information about this event! If you cant' attend the event, but would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to support our young artists, please click here.

Garden & Gun Made in the South Awards

We always want to let people know about new opportunities to get involved in the art and craft scene, and today we have a good one! You must check out the Garden and Gun Annual "Made in the South Awards."  This is an awesome chance to show off your handmade goods.

Check out the official information from their website:

Artists and designers, don't miss this great opportunity to share your work! If you live in the South and make amazing things that fall into one of these categories — food, sporting, fashion, home — then you need to enter this contest! Garden & Gun hosts the Made in the South Awards each year to celebrate "the rich cultural traditions of Southern craft, design and ingenuity." The deadline to enter is August 1st, so make sure you get your work in fast. Winners receive a cash prize as well as being featured in the Dec/Jan issue of Garden & Gun.

August 1st is coming up quick, so if you want to enter, be sure to do it quick. Check out the application here.

Also, take a look at some of the featured winners from last year. Some seriously gorgeous stuff here!

Leather bags from Emil Erwin

Handcrafted Furniture from Holler Designs

Lace designs from Gabrielle Jewelry

CoCraft This Upcoming Weekend

Just wanted to let everyone in the Greenville area know about a super-fun crafting opportunity coming up this week. This Saturday, July 23, is a CoCraft night hosted by Mandy Blankenship. You can either learn how to make cloth napkins or bring your own crafting supplies to work on personal projects. The party will be held at 514 Glenwood Ave. in Anderson, SC. Please RSVP here if you can make it! For further details, check out the CoCraft page.

Exciting Book Release

Here's some fun news from the world of design and crafting. Design*Sponge is releasing a book! For the past few years this enormously popular blog has inspired its followers with its posts on home decor, fashion, food, graphic design, and of course crafting and DIY projects. The new book features an entire section of Do It Yourself projects, providing tutorials on a variety of subjects. So, check out the book trailer below. It's beautifully produced. If you're already a D*S fan, you can imagine all the goodness that will come from this publication. If you're just now hearing about this blog, you'll want to check it out. You'll be amazed at the inspiration that's in store. http://vimeo.com/22861096