Artisan Market Wrap-Up, Part 2 (or Different Awesome People, Same Awesome Day!)

OMG, how good does that look??
Well, once I saw the adorable packaging and sampled it, I just HAD to have a bottle of Te House of Tea chai for myself. The flavor is very complex, yet light, and it has an extra little punch of spice at the end that keeps you coming back for another cup!



Te House of Tea was started by Connie and Alyson who wanted to create a community space in Houston that provides organic and fair-trade teas, delicious food, and local entertainment. Josh and I can't wait to visit!


At the next booth was the adorable and talented Rosa Yoo.



Rosa creates all types of cakes for all types of occasions...



Obviously this gal knows what she's doing visually, but she's also an excellent baker! I tried a sample of her red velvet cake and it was, hands-down, the tastiest red velvet cake I've ever had.



Not only does she make cakes, but she also makes empanadas, docinhos (a Brazilian sweet), and even taught me the word "fuxico" - which are little decorative scraps of fabric that American's sometimes call "yo-yos". (I was wearing an applique I made that day. You can see it toward the end of this post.)


My neighbors across the way were definite craft mavens...
What Texas craft event would be complete without girly cowboy hats?



Nakoa Holder of Nakoa's makes the cutest, funkiest hats and jewelry!



I think what I like best about her work, other than the explosions of color, is the sheer size of some of the pieces. I'm a gal who likes her jewelry chunky and bright, and so does Nakoa!




Her craft booth neighbor and friend was Stephanie Brennan of Maddy Lou's.



Stephanie creates all sorts of adorable things, like these amazing flower bows for girls!



She also had some beautiful flower fascinator headbands that would be perfect for a spunky vintage wedding - or for daily wear for a gal like myself. (Yet another item I had to tear myself away from!)

I'm hoping that Stephanie and I can collaborate and make some really unique flower pieces once I figure out how to make my flowers wearable.



Now, last but absolutely not least, I got to visit with the women of the day: Sheny and the awesome team at VIDA!



The Artisan Market was held on Sheny's property in the gorgeous, tree-lined West University area of Houston.



Sheny is yet another accomplished jewelry artist who not only creates her own designs, but she also can up-cycle old pieces and make them new again!




Her shop carries her work as well as work from other artists - even her own daughter! Lucia is the multi-talented artist of bLuGrn Design. She does everything from jewelry to graphic design, and currently has an awesome line of Alice In Wonderland inspired jewelry that I just adore!



Finally, it was time for a photo-op with Brenda and Carmen of VIDA Events and Marketing.





The ladies are total sweethearts and I really look forward to participating in the Artisan Market again, and other events they have cooking around town!

(PS - Sorry, ladies. I tried my best to edit the heck out of us so that we didn't look all shiny and tired from being in the 94 degree heat all day! :)
PPS - Did everyone else notice my fuxico??)

A great day, indeed!

Artisan Market Wrap-Up, Pt. 1 (or Awesome People, Awesome Day!)

I learned two important facts at the Artisan Market on Saturday:
1) There are some really talented, creative, friendly people in Houston!
2) It's very dangerous to let me attend a craft fair because I'll want to spend all my profits on others' handiwork!

As for the day's specifics, let's start with me, shall we?



The day started out with quite a bang.
As I was setting up my booth, a lovely woman named Helen happened to jog by and bought all my tissue poofs and half my "wacky" flowers! She rode home with the flowers nestled inside her bicycle basket. Tres jolie!

After we finished setting up, to prime the pump (as it were) Josh and I added a few fake addresses to the mailing list sign-up sheet. See if you can guess who they were for... (Leave a comment if you think you know!)





I soon decided to wander around and look at my fellow artisans' wares.
The first place I stopped was Crossroad Creations by Kelley.
Robin Kelley and her husband work together to create crosses out of stone, wood, and metal.



Many of their pieces include chips of amethyst, turquoise, and other gemstones to give the rough-hewn stone pieces a bit of sparkle.
Humble, yet special... I love it!




Next up was the lovely Ana Maria Sanchez of Amaria. She creates luxurious, feminine jewelery that would be just perfect for any bride! Obviously, they'd be lovely for anyone, but I think brides could particularly benefit from her talent.



Many of my favorite pieces were her pearl ones.



Check out her Etsy shop for more examples of her finery!





Arlinda Smith of Quilt Addiction does superior quilt work, but there was one quilt that I really had to tear myself away from:



Not only is the color combo right up my alley, she also told me that the fabrics were recovered from Galveston Island after Hurricane Ike. How cool is that??

I also really liked her fabric bowls...







Right in front of Arlinda's display was Matt Slimmer, metal artist.



He doesn't just do small stainless steel sculptures like the ones at the Artisan Market...



He's also an accomplished Art Car artist! If you don't know, art cars are kind of a big deal here in Houston and there's an annual parade for the local artists to show off their creations.



Matt made the "Toybota" car/boat featured in the Readers' Digest article referenced on this site.



My booth neighbor was the adorable Mandy Welch of Help Me Pledge.



Mandy's business offers a really unique way to help fundraise for charities...



Help Me Pledgewill come and set up a booth at your charity's fundraising event and will donate 50% of the day's profits to the charity - with no cost to you!

A creative gal with a creative business idea!



Okay, that's probably enough for today...
I'll post the rest tomorrow. Tomorrow will have more excellent jewelry, excellent edibles, and one picture of me looking mega-funky after a long day in the heat.

Stay tuned!

Houston Artisan Market This Saturday! (or Come One, Come All!)

Destination Moon Designs (or TMBG Fans Of A Feather)

When I meet rad people, I like to let people know about it... and I've recently "met" two totally excellent graphic designers and people -

They're Jen and Alex from Destination Moon Designs.





I ran across these self-proclaimed "designer(d)s" on Twitter at just the right time. As you probably know, I've been scuttling about, trying to organize everything for the Artisan Market on May 22nd (TEN days! Eek!) and I needed major revamping of my logo, and I needed it now!

Luckily, I saw their business name and was naturally intrigued. A devout follower of They Might Be Giants myself, I figured that anyone who would name their business after a TMBG song, has to be cool, right?



(Note: They didn't make that video.)


And I was right!
Not only did they do a great job, but they did it fast, cheap, and were completely flexible!

Hm..... Let me rephrase that: Destination Moon did excellent work on my project.

Anyway, I highly recommend them for your web and non-web based design needs. They're very versatile and will tackle any job - check out their services here.

They're excellent at event-related design, too. They can create your ideal dinner party invitations, a tragically hip wedding website, or elegant thank you cards - anything you need for your special day!

And, the best part for you, my dear readers, is they'll give a 10% discount to anyone who mentions that they found Destination Moon Designs through Robot In Bloom!

Contact them, stat!

We Have A Winner (or Today's A Good Day To Be Named Erica!)

Hurrah!

The Robot In Bloom Facebook page has reached 150 fans which, as you probably remember, means a giveaway!

Well, if you look at the Facebook page, you might notice that I didn't catch the fan count at 150... but at 152. Not to worry, though, because I think my solution to the issue makes the drawing more accurate:

I am counted in that 152 fan count, and I have no business entering the drawing. Also, my sister is counted in the 150 fan count, and I've decided to take her out of the running because I've already given her free roses in the past and I shan't be doing that again! Tough luck, Christine! :P

So, that leaves us with 150 fans again!

After logging the data into the random number generator at Random.org the lucky winner is.............


Erica Kasprzyk Clements!






Congratulations, Erica! I didn't see an email address on your Facebook page, so please email me as soon as you can to let me know what color you'd like, etc.

In the meantime, I hope all my wonderful little robot minions continue to pass on the good word. Please keep checking back on the Facebook page and the blog because I've got lots of giveaway ideas cooking for the future...