the Handmade Market!

So this past weekend I went to Raleigh all by my lonesome to be a vendor at the Handmade Market, a spring show put on by the Handmaidens - a super awesome collective of crafty ladies around Raleigh. The show was great! It took me about 9 hours to get to Raleigh (I got a little spaced out and had to stop and walk around for a bit) but what a welcome surprise when I got to my sweet hotel at the Sheraton - I swear the paint had just dried because the room was brand-spankin' new with that new carpet smell and just so - clean. I got up the next day with butterflies in my stomach since the last time I did a show out of town by myself, this happened. But I was confident and Greg & I had made sure none of my boxes of display stuff were too heavy for me to lift.

The good news was that the show was really packed and busy! The bad news was I was too busy to shop! That's like torture to me! Oh well, it was a trade off I guess. :) There was so much cute stuff from crafty people I had long admired including: Twist Style, Photo Glass Works, and...

Meredith Steele

I was stealing glances of everyone's awesomeness whenever I had a second to walk around but I wasn't able to really shop. Finally, I totally abandoned my booth around 4:45 because I couldn't take it any more! I agonized at Twist Style's booth but just couldn't make up my mind - I have a feeling she sold a lot including what would have been the perfect piece for mother's day. Then I ran over to Mood Swing's booth and I was in heaven! What had initially begun as myself shopping for Mother's Day became Me! Me! Me! I bought two necklaces and a pair of earrings (shown below) and they are fabulous. The funny thing is, when I showed them to my mom, she loved them too and got online and bought two of her own! I had no idea my mom would love something so funky!


After the show, we had sangrias and tapas at Humble Pie. There were a lot of gals from the NC/VA area - Arlington, Richmond, etc and they all spoke my crafty language! We discussed fellow crafty businesses, craft shows, and other nerdy crafty stuff. I had so much fun hanging out with them (even as we got louder as the evening and sangrias progressed and my voice eventually got hoarse) but then sadly the evening came to an end and I went back to my hotel room. All in all - a fabulously girly and crafty time was had by all!