Cool Craft Kits

One of my favorite things to look for on Etsy are craft kits. Just about any kind of craft you’re interested in, but don’t know where to start has a kit put together by another maker. I like them much better than the kits you find at art stores. Mostly those kits are geared towards kids and have shoddy supplies. These kits are for the most part put together from whatever supplies that maker would want to use. Plus you get their first hand knowledge in a project or two with it.

This screen printing kit is actually in my etsy shop. A lot of the free stencils I offer on my blog work well with it too.

This Frame Loom Weaving Kit from Hello Chiqui is an amazing starter kit. It comes with everything you need, and each piece is made beautifully.

If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at the urban homesteading skill of soap making, this Cold Process Soap Kit from Wild Herb Soap Co looks great.

The Embroidered Doll Kits from Kiriki Press are adorable and would be a great way to practice your embroidery.

JPants has so many terrarium supplies, but my favorite are the complete kits. Everything is packaged beautifully and comes with tiny amounts of everything you need. This Desktop Terrarium Kit looks really fun.

All photos in this post belong to their respective and linked owners, except the first, which belongs to me.

Division Street Fair

You’re probably wondering what happened to me last week. Or not. Either way.

I ran out of my prepared blog posts and thought maybe I’d have a chance to make some things and post some things, but frankly I am swamped! I’ve had big, huge, life changing, crafting events two weeks apart all summer. How amazing for me, right? Also I’m a bit on the exhausted side. I’m super, super lucky that I have some amazing friends who have been more than supportive while I suffer these growing pains.

I’ve got some great photos from the Division Street Fair, which was pretty hot and a lot of fun. But first, news!

My etsy store is open! It only has 4 things in it, but more to come. So go check it out and tell your friends! You can see a link to it on the sidebar too. In case you need to find it again.

Renegade Portland is coming to town August 9th & 10th and I’m doing free Mini Pinata Workshops all day(s) long at it. For anyone unfamiliar with Renegade, it’s an awesome craft fair with amazing vendors and cool happenings. It’s got a little different flavor than the local Crafty Wonderland. And this is the first year it’s in Portland.

Thanks to everyone that I met and talked to me at the Street Fair. I loved seeing how people interact with my products and I got some great feedback that I needed.

While I was actually pretty good and got most of my prep work done in advance, I did end up making my sign at 10:30 the night before when inspiration finally struck.

There was a parade!

There was much more than this one band, but I was too busy to leave my booth to get any photos except for a few shots of these guys. That rolling drum set was amazing.

The Birthday Party In a Boxes were a big hit. People were absolutely fascinated by them, although I think most people were at first confused by the concept. This kid negotiated with me so he could buy one with his allowance.

Hope to see more friendly faces at Renegade this weekend. I’ll have more kits and patterns available for purchase as well as the free pinata making.

Sneak Peak!

I feel like I hardly have a moment to spare to even write this post. As happy as I am to have given myself a deadline when products, packing, etc needed to be ready to debut, I feel like there’s no way I’m going to get it all done. Slowly but surely everything is coming together.

Hope to see you on Saturday, if you’re in Portland! Looks like I’ll be on SE 36th between Division and Clinton Streets.

Top Row: Pinata, Cat Bow Tie, Tiny Party Hats for Birthday Party in a Box
Bottow Row: Bunny Plush Toy Patterns, Fox Plush Toy Kit Packaging, Screen Printing Kit

All of these were posted to my Instagram. If you want to see what I’m working on, or how adorable my cats are, that’s where to look.

If you aren’t local, next week all of my new products will go up into an Etsy store that’s still in the making. And then I’ll be planning my approach to stores for wholesale accounts. Have I mentioned this is a lot of work? Also a lot of fun. I am SO excited about these products and can’t wait to see how people react to them! That’s, honestly, the best part about selling at a street fair like this, the immediate customer response.

I’ll be at the Division/Clinton Street Fair This Saturday

This is shaping up to be a pretty busy summer for me. I’m excited to announce that I’m debuting a line of handmade art supplies and craft kits this Saturday, July 26th at the Division/Clinton Street Fair.

Some of the exciting things I’ll have:

• Shrinky Dink Buttons (for sewing on clothes, etc)
• Plush Toy Craft Kits
• Upcycled Envelopes
• Screen Printing Starter Kits
• Chalk
• Notebooks

Plus, I hear there’s going to be a parade. I’m a sucker for parades.

I’ll also have the last of my Karen’s Monsters stock available to purchase, with t-shirts at a VERY discounted rate.

The street fair goes from 10 am to 10pm. However the vendors are only there from 10 am to 5pm. I’m not sure where exactly I’ll be, but I’ll tweet it.