Alliday Thanks Its Makers

I realized after my last post here that I forgot to introduce myself!  Oops  I’m Briana of Bifftastica where I make new out of old!

A bit more about me is that I’m a glutton for punishment.  I always seem to have more on my plate than most but I like it.  I enjoy always having something to work on.  Be it with my hands while watching tv or in my head while driving, I’m a constant planner and doer.  Which could explain why last year I thought it would be a smart decision to start a new Arts and Crafts show in Tulsa!

While it was a TON of work, my first Alliday Show proved to be beyond rewarding.  It was held on June 26th at the Tulsa Fairgrounds with 55 handmade vendors!  I had an absolute blast.

Proof:

While make:Tulsa was still a pup at the time, MANY of its members took a chance on the show and were vendors!  I still thank them dearly for believing in me and in the show!

Sam of Bohemian Romance was there and is pictured here with Brett of Pretta Purses.

The Tulsa Craft Mafia was there with make:Tulsa members Weather & Noise, Sunshine and Carousels and Hollyrocks!

Renee of The GreenerMe wrote the nicest blog post about the show that still makes me smile

And of course my friend, Nikki of Gleeful Peacock, was there sharing her beautiful work!

It was such a fantastic whirlwind of a day!  It makes me so happy to still be highly involved with so many people who took the Alliday leap with me!

So people are wondering if another Alliday is around the corner or not…and it is!  Just not as soon as it was last year.  I’ve decided to put the summer show on hold for 2011 and to host a Holiday Alliday!  Alliday will be held on December 17th 2011 at the Tulsa Fairgrounds in the same spot as last year  And after that, who knows what the future will hold!  One show?  TWO shows?

One of my favorite things about the handmade community is their support for each other.  There is no way Alliday could have been a success without the support, encouragement and excitement from my make:Tulsa friends.  I thank you all  And I thank the many who came to support their handmade community by shopping!

Here’s to many future Allidays!

(all photos by Life Captured by Dawn)

Maker Crushes

Remember back in our youthful days when crushing on someone was all you thought about?  Nowadays, I find myself crushing in different ways.  I crush on crafts, creations and creators.  Hard.

Being a part of make:Tulsa has broadened my crushing circle lately to some amazing local talent!  I thought today I would spotlight some of my faves from some of the talented make:Tulsa crew.

I’m a true blue sucker for all things green which is why I am LOVING these spring green shoe clips from Sunshine and Carousels!  Now to find some super cute shoes to pair them with…

I’m perpetually cold.  Even smack dab in the middle of Oklahoma’s crazy hot summers.  I usually have a scarf within arms reach year round but I’m finding myself getting bored with the ones I have.  This oversized cowl from SomerKnits looks like it could easily break my scarf boredom AND keep me cozy warm at the same time!

Being a cold-natured gal who is constantly working with her hands, I often find my fingers are frozen more often than I would like.  Preeeeety sure these wristlets from NeilDesign would end that problem!

It’s pretty widely known that I’ve got a soft spot for all things fuzzy. Adorable, handmade squirrels included. Hollyrocks‘ unbelievably tiny squirrels make me smile from ear to ear every time I see them!

Again, the fuzzies make me happy. And proud. And I would proudly send this uh-dorable stationary from GreenerMe to everyone I knew!

As a jewelry maker myself, I’m quite picky when it comes to what I like and don’t like. Luckily for me, there are some ridiculously talented jewelry makers on hand here in town! I am absolutely enamored with this necklace from Gleeful Peacock. Pretty sure I could make it go with every single outfit I own.

I’m a beginner crocheter. Like beginning beginning. But I’ve got the bug and the yarns from Dawning Dreams have me dreaming about the things I hope to make in the future! I LOVE the color combinations of this one.

Baby fever is running rampant in my group of friends so I’ve been keeping close eyes out for all things cute and tiny for the little ones! These little booties from Crochet by Sherri Lee make me wish I could get my cats to successfully wear clothes!

Bohemian Romance is a woman after my own heart. She makes the most offbeat and beautiful steampunk jewelry that I ever did lay my eyes on. I’m so smitten with the use of buttons in this one!

It may be warm today but we all know that in Oklahoma, we could very well have a blizzard tomorrow which is why I think it’s important to have lots and lots of warm goodies on hand! The colors that Weather & Noise has used in this necklet make me want to build a wardrobe around it!

I hope you enjoyed window shopping with me today! I’m off to send this list to everyone who might be needing to buy me gifts in the near future

make:Tulsans In Action

Have you been wondering about the spring craft/handmade fair season?  Want to know where you can see make:Tulsans in action, hawking their wares?  Here is a quick run down of what I know so far:

Bohemian Romance is going to be at the Oklahoma Steampunk Exposition, April 15th-17th, at the Clarion Hotel in OKC.

Gleeful Peacock will be at Funky Finds in Ft. Worth March 12 & 13.   This show advertises that it is free to get in AND it’s pet friendly!  I wish this was here in Tulsa!

Gleeful Peacock, Weather & Noise, and Sunshine and Carousels will all be at Renegade in Austin.

Gleeful Peacock & SomerKnits will be at Peace, Love & Crafts April 9th here in Tulsa.  This show is free to get in and donations benefit ARF – Animal Rescue Foundation.

And for a whole slew of make:Tulsans in action, mark your calendar for May 7th as make:Tulsa once again partners with Ida Red for a whole day of awesome!  More details soon.

From our last collaboration:

December 18, 2010 at Ida Red

Member Spotlight : Bifftastica

Welcome to our first Member Spotlight! We’ll be featuring a few Tulsa Makers each month. Thanks to Nikki from Gleeful Peacock for putting these spotlights together!

First up is Briana Hefley Shepherd from Bifftastica!

Tell us a little bit about your business:
I work under the name Bifftastica and I make jewelry, bags and lightswitch plates out of reused and repurposed goods! Many people know me from SheezKrafty, the creative group I worked under for many years. I’m also the creator of the Alliday show!

What is your earliest crafting memory?
The one that pops into my head today is from waaaaaaaay back when. I remember my Granny teaching us to melt down crayon shavings into different shapes to make multi-colored crayons. Those were by far the coolest crayons I’ve ever seen and we used them for years!

Favorite thing you have ever created?
Man oh man, that’s a hard one! I made ‘stick art’ for a few years which always made me smile! There’s always a necklace here or there that I have a hard time selling because I love it so much. In fact, I have a couple right now that I’m trying to decide whether or not to keep! I guess when it comes down to it though, there are some gifts that I’ve created and compiled for friends and family that I’m pretty proud of. There’s something much more special about creating something for a certain person that you care for

Who is your crafty idol or crush?
I can’t get enough of Ann Wood’s creations and I love how inspiring Alisa Burke is.

What or Who inspires you?
It’s the pieces that I come across to use that inspire me. I never know what I’m going to make until that piece finds me and then I let it tell me what to do. It’s one of the many joys from creating from the past.

How do you get our a creative rut?
I deep clean! When I can’t create, I clean until I can’t clean anymore and then I start over. Starting with a fresh workspace always helps me!

Best advice given to you?
I’m not sure if this qualifies as advice but it’s something that has stuck with me and something I remind myself of as need be. One night while particularly down on myself, my husband told me to not worry, that everything would be fine because I ‘kick ass’ at whatever I do. It caught me by surprise and has stuck with me ever since. When I start to feel like I’m failing at something or could be doing better, I remind myself of that conversation and it always seems to help me.

Favorite business tool?
My oh-so-futuristic spiral notebook I’m one of those people who writes down EVERYTHING so I try to keep it all in one notebook! I equally love the calculator on my phone as I can barely add 2+2! OH! And I am a HUGE fan of my square reader! Being able to easily take credit cards on my phone changed the game completely for me at shows!

Favorite crafting tool?
I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for my jewelry pliers, naturally. Many years ago, I saved up for the set I still use and they have ever since been an extension of my hands I’m also all about my grommet maker! It’s so much fun to use and I can’t wait to figure out more projects to use it for!

What are your creative goals for the next 1 year/5 years?
Well, I have a lot of creative goals since making my leap from SheezKrafty to Bifftastica! My main goals currently are to be more proactive in having a heavier online presence and to create an amazing space in my booth setups! I believe achieving both of those goals will help with the last goal of upping my sales from last year!

Find Briana’s shop here & blog here.

Sunny Inspiration

It was another cold day today.  Not as cold as it was before, but colder than I would like it to be.  I decided we could all use a little bit of spring inspiration today.  Most crafters I know have already put out or are working on their spring lines.

Here are a few things I found inspirational today.

Click on the picture to be taken straight to the Etsy listing.

Click here to view the rest of my treasury of sunny springtime inspiration.  Now, tell me what your current spring inspiration is?  What spring making do you have planned?

–Somer
(SomerKnits)

Oh the Pressure!

Hi, I’m Somer of Knit-O-Matic and SomerKnits and I will be blogging it up here today with you.  In fact, I’ll be here all week.  Oh no, wait, don’t go!

Ok, seriously, I feel this need to be funny and clever and witty and entertaining and educational and wowing and all kinds of other things, all at once, but I don’t think I can live up to my own expectations, so we are just going to get this first post out of the way to take the pressure off.

If you can’t tell from my blog name (Knit-O-Matic) or my shop name (SomerKnits), I am a knitter.  Yep, for reals.  I really admire people who can DIY their whole house, but usually you can just find me with sticks and string.

Yep, that would be it.

So, whether you have never tried it before (in which case you should), you have tried it but never moved beyond the basics, or are well versed in the ways of knitting but occasionally still look something up, I just thought I would share some good reference sites and some good reads.

Knittinghelp.com – this is the absolute go-to source for many knitters.  Videos can help you learn the basics or move beyond

Learn-to-knit.com – This site can help you out whether you want to learn to knit right handed or left handed.  Or maybe you want to learn both.

Ravelry – An on-line knit and crochet community where you can not only find help but also she your projects with others.  There are so many people on ravelry that you are sure to find someone with the answers to your questions.

Knitty.com – Full of articles, techniques and patterns

Knit and Tonic -  a fantastic and popular knitting blog, just for fun

Whether you knit or not, I hope you do try new things sometimes and expand your knowledge of the crafts you do know.  Now, hopefully i have bought enough time to think of something clever and broken the ice enough to take off the pressure.  Happy Making!

::hits publish then runs to hide::

A make:Christmas

Details here

July Updates

Hello to all of the friends of make:Tulsa. There are some exciting things happening that we wanted to share with you.

First of all, make:Tulsa is planning a mixer/meet & greet to get to know one another, see what others are making, and discuss what everyone wants from their make:Tulsa membership and what make:Tulsa will be like. The mixer is scheduled for Friday August 6 from 7-9 pm. If you’ve been thinking about joining make:Tulsa and are interested in attending the mixer, email info@maketulsa.com and we’ll get the details to you.

Next up, a couple of Tulsa Makers will be out at the Fiber Christmas this weekend in Kellyville. Click the link to learn more about this event.

Finally, it’s that time again; Indie Emporium is now accepting applications for IE’10. Go here to apply, we’re already getting applications faster than we can read them. The deadline is September 10th, but get your application in early! Also, Indie Emporium has a new mailing list which you can sign up for right here!

Tulsa Craft Party

Tulsa’s Etsy Craft Party was a huge success!  Thank you to everyone for coming out and making stuff with us!  We’re especially grateful for Philbrook for letting us use their space and inviting everyone to check out the ‘To Live Forever’ exhibit.  What fun!  I think we had about 250 folks attend the party, which is *amazing*.  We are thrilled that Tulsa is so supportive of the handmade movement, and of the arts in general.

We’ve got a lot of great photos from the party, so head over to Christine’s flickr to see them.

Banner photo, courtesy of  sunshine and carousels.  All other photos by Larry Sharp.

Oh, and make sure to mark your calendars!  Indie Emporium 2010 will be on October 29 & 30th.  We want to see each of your lovely faces there!

In honor of Etsy.com’s 5th birthday, we’re throwing a craft party to celebrate! Join us for the Etsy Craft Party, a global initiative to energize our local community, make art together, and throw a party in our neck of the woods.

The Tulsa Craft Party will be held at Philbrook Museum. We will have $1 projects, including screen printing (please bring your own tote or tee to print on), making pinback buttons, making matchbook notebooks, a simple knitting project (taught by Loops staff! – please bring your own knitting needles, size 7-8), and an Egyptian bracelet project to celebrate Philbrook’s current exhibit “To Live Forever”.

Free admission, $1 projects! Cash bar & cupcakes!

Please RSVP on facebook here or at http://www.meetup.com/Etsy-Craft-Party/2780/

Etsy is sending boxes of goodies to give out at the parties to the top 50 cities with the most RSVPs and Tulsa came in at #10 worldwide!  We should have lots of goodies to give away!