Crafts In Chelsea! Handmade Market -- Tomorrow, Saturday October 16.

My Zoetrope

Hello Hello!  It's that time again for the 100% local Crafts in Chelsea handmade outdoor market!  Sponsored by the {NewNew} and PS 11, this outdoor event will take place tomorrow, Saturday, October 16 from 9 - 5 pm.  Located at 21st Street between 8th & 9th Avenues, over 100 of the best local New York Artists and craftspeople will be featuring everything from jewelry, pottery, clothing, accessories, and fine art.

Sans Map

Visitors to the fair will enjoy the opportunity to converse with the artists about their creative processes while shopping for one-of-a-kind items.  Perfect for your pre-holiday shopping!

Loella Medina

This event is in conjunction wiht PS 11's annual Fall Festival -- an indoor event that includes food, arts and crafts, bouncy castles, games, and even a petting zoo for New York City children.  Last year this event drew record crowds and helped to fund programs for the students of PS 11.

Nordea Soaperie

Wish by Felicity

KimmChi

We hope to see you there.  Weather is supposed to be lovely!

Lenny Mud

Yania Creation

Where to Find the {NewNew} May 22 + 23

Handmade Shopping Tip #3

Finding Your Favorite Handmade Artisan Again

You stroll through a spring market and pass by a booth with stunning handprinted tea towels*. You backtrack. You buy one, take it home, and realize it's not only the most beautiful thing in your kitchen, but it's super soft, super absorbent, and easy to clean. You want to buy 10 more as gifts for your entire family. But wait - the tea towel doesn't have the designer's name on it. You paid with cash, so you don't have a receipt. You go back to the market the following weekend and search through all the booths to locate the mystery tea towel seller, but you can't find her again. What to do?

The wonderful thing about handmade products is that it lacks that huge tags emblazoned with a company's logo. Unfortunately, it also means that you might not be able to find that artist that you love. Here are some tips to relocate your favorite handmade artisan.

1. Sign up to be on "the list". Many artists send out newsletters with information about new products, upcoming craft fairs they'll be selling at, or when there are special promotions. Be sure to join - you can always unsubscribe later.

2. Take a business card. But don't just grab a business card, throw it in your shopping bag, and throw it out when you get home! Take a second to make a note on the back about what product you like, or to write a reminder like, "Great gift idea for Aunt Sara!" That way you won't forget why you picked up that card.

3. Put the business cards you collect in one place rather than let them collect in your junk drawer. I like to punch a hole in the top left hand corner and then put them all on a metal book ring to keep them all together.

4. Find out if the artist has a blog. Then subscribe!

Now, put these tips into action this weekend, as there will be plenty of opportunity to shop for amazing handmade items from the {NewNew}!

This Saturday, Karen Sieger, the author of Markets of New York, will be doing book signings at the Brooklyn Indie Market. To help celebrate the event, {NewNew} artisans will be selling their wares! Stop by and check out WabisabiBrooklyn, KimmChi, KnitKnit, OffTheMat, OwlidayInn, MetropolisSoap, Fofolle, and MayLuk.

Location: Red and white tent at Smith between President and Union, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Saturday, 11am - 7pm.

Hester Street continues to get great press and large turnouts at this hopping Lower East Side Market. Get a taste of old NYC by visiting this historic hotspot. This Saturday you'll find the following vendors:

HeartFelt4Kids: Colorful and charming natural fiber and eco-friendly wool and bamboo felt children's apparel.

Elements4InspirdLivng: One-of-a-kind fashion accessories and unique decorative items for the home.

PriaVanda: Unique hand-woven stationary.

Location: Hester and Essex Street, Manhattan. Saturday and Sunday, 10am - 6pm.

The Brooklyn Flea continues to be a strong presence on the local handmade scene, and the {NewNew} table has yet another strong line-up of vendors. Keep an eye out for CardsInStitches, AdornmentsNYC, and BhekiPainting this Saturday at the Fort Greene Flea.

Location: 176 Lafayette Avenue between Clermont and Vanderbilt. Saturday, 10am - 5pm.

The {NewNew} team will have a curated table at the famous BUST Spring Craftacular with fantastic items from a variety of {NewNew} artisans. Be sure to look out for them at this fabulous spring event!

Location: The Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Sunday, 11am - 7pm

Karina

WindowsOfAgate

*The tea towels I'm referring to are from Cakehouse and ClaudiaPearson. I love both designers!

Etsy Speaker Series: Handmade Marketplace Panel Discussion

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the third in Etsy's Speaker Series, which this time around was a panel discussion inspired by a book I'd just treated myself to: The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin. Kari was joined by illustrator Jennifer Judd-McGee, jewelry designer Betsy Cross, sculptor Liz Smith, and writer Kim Werker.

The discussion was simulcast in the Etsy Virtual Labs, and I could have attended from the comfort of my couch, but I had heard a rumor that refreshments would be provided by Ninecakes. Needless to say, that encouraged my in-person attendance.

Kari Chapin was inspired to write The Handmade Marketplace because, in her words: "I was working in an adorable home goods boutique as the manager and buyer. The shop already had a strong focus on handmade goods when I came on board, but I saw an opportunity to add even more to my tiny shop's shelves. I started contacting Etsy sellers asking if they would be interested in selling some of their goods in my store, and lo and behold, these amazing sellers had a lot of questions for me. I found myself on a weekly basis writing up long, descriptive emails, guiding these fine folks regarding the ins and outs of working with a brick and mortar store."




The Handmade Marketplace tackles these questions in a clear and concise manner, and is presented in a beautiful and pleasurable to read format.

At the panel discussion, questions broke down mainly into three areas: pricing, selling, and marketing.

PRICING Determining what to charge for your work is often difficult, especially when you add to the mix wholesale versus retail. The panel emphasized the importance of not undercharging for your work, both for your sake and for the sake of other artisans.

There is a great blog post by Jill Hannah on pricing your work.

SELLING Jennifer Judd-McGee called Etsy "an introverts paradise," which made me nod in recognition. In The Handmade Marketplace, Chapin explains both online and in-person retail selling, including the typical yearly calendar of shows, and how to start a new craft fair.

MARKETING How to stand out from the crowd? Chapin devotes a good deal of her book to this, and a leitmotif of the panel discussion was the importance of community in the success of a home-grown business.

Diane Gilleland's great e-book Social Media for Your Crafty Business helps sheds light on this topic further,

It was an incredibly inspiring evening led by women who work hard and seem to be living out the dream many of us have of taking the leap toward self employment in our crafty business.



-MaryAnne LoVerme
wabisabibrooklyn.etsy.com
wabisabibrooklyn.com

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