Handmade The Hippie Way :)

I can honestly say I haven't been to a craft fair/show in a very long time. Even just like a local swap meet or flea market, which i've always been a big fan of. There's just something about outdoor markets, temporary or permanent that I just can't get enough of :) My local Las Vegas etsy team Handmade in Vegas sponsored/organized a craft fair at the Mt Charleston Resort today. I had originally wanted to participate but it was shortly after that I found out about my hand/arm issues so I wasn't going to be able to get enough inventory by the time the fair. I still of course had an interest in going to check out what everyone had to offer, I love handmade items! I saw some really cool and amazing stuff, met alot of cool people, gathered and passed out alot of business cards and learned a few things.

The first person I met was CJ of Art Creations by CJ . She was super cool, helpful and gave me a few great suggestions. It was her first fair, but I did learn some things from her and she shared a few tips I hadn't thought about. Her art is amazing, she makes jewelry art sculptures. Now i'm not talking about jewelry you can wear, her pieces are COVERED in awesomely unique pieces of jewelry. First thing that came to mind after studying her pieces for a few minutes was that alot of the pieces looked like things I remember seeing in my grandmothers jewelry box. After talking to her for a few minutes I learned that she picks up her materials at anything from estate sales to thrift stores and all points in between. She rescues the "broken" and "unloved" pieces and turns them into some amazing works of art. She's even made a piece that hangs in Mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman's office! She is definitely a very talented woman! I fell in love with her little lady bug and lizard, they were both so cute.






Now of course whenever I go somewhere that has jewelry, especially natural stone jewelry I naturally gravitate straight to it. I met Patricia of Rock My Beads, not only did I love her business name but her jewelry was beautiful! I had a great conversation with her, we both exchanged some great info and I know that i'll be purchasing some jewelry from her in the future! Check out her stuff, these are a few things I really loved!







Now if you like cute country style home decor and pillows with cute sayings this next gal is for you. She is Eva from Eva's Designs and she has some wonderful decor items. She had cute little items you can stick on shelves, pillows with adorable sayings, wall hangings, crocheted items,etc. she had a great variety of things. Her pillows were beautiful and very well made they also had some great sayings on them.





I met alot of other really great artists, asked alot of questions, learned alot of great things, got some good ideas for displays. Today was a productive day! I enjoyed being out in the fresh mountain air without the responsibility of kids :) Going to this show today really made me more excited about the show in October! I even wore my new shop tshirt I just got from VistaPrint :) Yeah that's me lookin goofy below! Not to mention it was some great advertisement for me, I handed out alot of cards but the shirt attracted it's fair share of attention, I think I may buy another and tie dye it. I'll be posting more informational stuff in the next post, so keep your eye out!

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