Crafterateur

2024 was the year of the Crafterateur relaunch with a branding glow up. I started recognizing myself more as an artist, taking time to experiment with my own macrame designs and giving myself permission to explore my other creative interests, like regular clay and jewelry making! And, because I missed craft shows, I started selling my macrame art! It was hard to sign up for events, but what made it fun was vending with friends and meeting new-to-me makers. Here’s a little 2024 pop up wrap up, a craftera-tour if you will, with special shout outs to maker friends!

Redemption

I braved a ‘far’ show as part of Redemption’s regular farmer’s market pop up series. It was an easy set up and I had the loveliest pop up neighbor – PHsstore – who sells crocheted goods. I rolled up with my craft cart and did a combo macrame and felt crown display.

Patchwork

I had a leftover credit from a cancelled 2020 Patchwork show, so I decided to finally use it! I borrowed a tent and got a banner made – so official! Since I had some hanging space on the tent I did live macrame so folks could see my process while they shopped.

Unfortunately, this show was a complete bust but I’m glad to have met some lovely folks like my neighbor across the way – Sandy of Little i Jewelry – and Kay who made this adorable bun-nana! We did a trade so I could take him home with me. 🙂

Summer Kick-Off Party

My new favorite flex is being able to join a craft show where I can literally load up a cart and walk over to the venue. Enter: the El Cerrito Summer Kick-off Party at Hana Gardens! Thanks to Rachel of @thelittlehill my ‘walk to work’ dreams are fulfilled! For this show I helped set up the colorful entry arch the evening before, and got a little peek at the show set up.

It was a fun show and I only had a little FOMO that I was vending inside because there was also music, games, and other exciting things outside. In my corner I also experimented with creating macrame flower wraps, and my little visited me and ate my snacks. Shout out to my neighbor Liv & Sloane for the conversation, hangs, and regular do you need anything check-ins; they are the sweetest family you’ll ever meet at a craft show!

Bella Vita

As part of the Rockridge business district’s Rock and Stroll I popped up in front of Bella Vita. They let me borrow the cutest pink umbrella which was totes on brand. I scored a sign display on Nextdoor which I used as a table-top hanger for extra display height. My booth neighbor and part-time shop keep at Bella Vita was Pamela Kohler who paints, has a sticker line, and makes really cute accessories like gummy bear earrings!

Pop Up @ the Shop

Times three! This monthly first Saturday pop up at Julie Silber Quilts was super low key and filled with friends and snacks, because my friend Angel of Sash A curated the show!

I made a ‘quilted’ felt sign because why not, and we displayed it for each of the events. My set up changed each month; it was fun to experiment with different smaller set ups, even sharing a 4-foot table for one of the events. Also fun: taking pictures of my work with quilt backgrounds!

El Cerrito Maker’s Faire

Rachel of @thelittlehill did it again with a winter maker’s faire! I loved all the community feels at this event. I reunited with maker friends from the summer pop up and some new friends came to visit, too!

I had lots to debut at this show including my larger macrame pieces, assorted ornament styles, plus one-of-a-kind bag charms. And when the last minute opportunity came up to go from a 6-foot booth to a full 10-foot x 10-foot canopy space outside, I went for it!

Shout out to this show’s booth neighbor Andrea of Left Field Flower co – also my real life city neighbor / fellow El Cerritan and founding member of the Mural Mafia of El Cerrito – who traded me this gorgeous floral ornament!

Malcolm X Elementary’s Craft Fair

This yearly event is always so fun because my crafty bud Angel (Sash A) is usually my booth neighbor, and fun fact: she founded the event back when her kid was a student at the school! It’s an opportunity for us to share our creations with the community, but also to chat, eat snacks (this year it was breakfast burritos from Casa Latina and assorted sweets), and brainstorm potential projects (we played with adding lavender to my trivets!).

This year’s event had many more kid and student vendors and it was the cutest! Here’s my awesome ‘trades’ haul! – A bespoke and made-on-the-spot hand puppet, a crochet squid, a slime kit, jams, terrariums, an aromatherapy spray, and lavender sachets.

What a tour! Thank you for being part of my creative journey, whether it’s visiting me at shows, chatting with me about your next craft project, or being here reading my journal entries! Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and creative 2025!