Support Local Grow Together (or High Fives For Houston Small Business!)

A few months ago, I became aware of an awesome new... well, I guess the only word for it is a new "movement" here in Houston:

Support Local, Grow Together



The idea began in 2009, when JR Cohen looked around and noticed the effects of the recession. Here's a quote from Cohen in the SLGT Blog:

Other coffee shops and businesses were suffering and going out of business; other people working for corporations were losing their jobs. I was watching tweets from people I know who were foreclosing on their houses; people I hadn't seen in awhile because they couldn't afford to come in for a cup of coffee. People were withdrawing and not being as social. So I decided to use social media and the number of QUALITY followers I have, and see what I could do for them.

SLGT encourages Houston consumers to support local artists, restaurants, and other businesses with "their dollars, their attention, and their referrals." They also ask that local businesses work together so we all can grow and become self-sufficient and thrive locally!

How great is that??


An offshoot of SLGT in Houston is the SLGT Photo Project...
Very talented local photographer and successful blogger, Christine Tremoulet, has created the SLGT Photo Project blog to showcase local businesses and let them either simply get their names out there, or announce specific upcoming events in the area. She travels around, takes pictures of stuff and blogs about it - it's beautiful in its simplicity!

Last month, she came to visit me at the Artisan Market and take lovely pictures of my wares...







There are tons more businesses featured in the SLGT Photo Project, so go there and read to your heart's content - but, more importantly, go out there and support those businesses!!!

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!

Rose Glamour Shots (Stop And Ogle The Roses!)

I just took some shots of the roses I'm working on for The Artisan Market, and thought I'd share...











Oh, and don't forget that once the Robot In Bloom Facebook page reaches 150 "likes" (formerly "fans"), I'll pick one of you to win 6 of these classy blooms!

You may now continue your Thursday.

Artisan Market, VIDA, and Earth Day (or Boldly Going Where No Robot In Bloom Has Gone Before!)

Guys, I'm soooo excited!

The awesome ladies of VIDA Events and Marketing have asked me to participate in a new art and craft event in Houston - the Artisan Market!

VIDA is the up-and-coming marketing team of Carmen Fraser and Brenda Boral. One of the thing I love about their philosophy is that they not only want small business to thrive, but they also seek to do it in an eco-friendly way! They recommend going green for the environment AND for cost-saving measures like reducing the amount of paper your business uses. For example, you can fax a document to the client's computer instead of printing and then faxing. Easy, right?

Anyway, the Artisan Market will be my very first craft show-type thingy and I have a LOT to figure out...

The outdoor market is Saturday, May 22 from 11:00am to 4:00pm at 1740 Sunset Blvd. in Houston (West University area). There will be all sorts of artists and crafters and plenty unique, beautiful things to buy.







So, for the next month, I'm going to be making more flowers than you can shake a stick at, getting banners printed, buying a really big table, and generally spazzing out -

Wish me luck!

Or, better yet, come by and see me in action at the Artisan Market!