Indie Craft Parade: The Milestone That Changed Everything

Indie Craft Parade is a festival of handmade goods held every September in Greenville, SC, that features top makers from all over the southeast. So ... it's just a craft show, right? Well, no. Not really. It's a whole lot more than that. This show changed everything for me.

Once upon a time, in the summer of 2011, I applied to a craft show for the very first time. My Etsy shop Once Again Sam was still fairly new, and trying an event seemed like a reasonable goal for growth. With zero experience, I submitted my application for the “To Wear” category, and hoped my handmade leather jewelry would make the cut. As an after thought, I decided to also apply for the “Fiber Art” category. I had just learned needle felting a few months earlier and thought showing the judges a range of work might help me stand out.

My expectations of being accepted were low. A few hundred people applying for 75 spots = not great odds. The day the jury notifications went out I was bummed my jewelry had been declined, but not shocked. Then, I read the email again and realized my fiber art had been accepted. I believe my exact words were, “What the crap?” I had just learned how to felt, and the photos I used for my fiber art application were some of the only pieces I had ever made. 

That summer, all I did was felt felt felt. Looking back, I can see that having to improve my skills quickly and develop a substantial amount of inventory in only a matter of weeks was a pivotal point for me, a crash course in this obscure craft that helped elevate my techniques in a very short time period. I felted every day for as many hours as I could manage, till it hurt. 

The show went very well, much better than I expected (because I didn’t really know what to expect). I later realized just how well organized the whole thing was, and what a great group of people are behind it all. After that first show, everything changed for Once Again Sam. Countless doors were opened. I began selling in local shops and saw a dramatic increase in my repeat customers. I started taking my handmade work more seriously, as a real business, not just a hobby.  As terrified as I was to stand behind my table and talk to total strangers that first time back in 2011 (hardcore introverts can relate, I'm sure), I got through it somehow, and it paid off in every possible way. The positive response was incredible, I felt overwhelmingly encouraged, and realized I could actually make a good living this way.

Since then, I've been lucky enough to participate in Indie Craft Parade each year, and not just with my Felted Curiosities, but also with my new & improved handmade jewelry (starting in 2012). This show has become one of the major highlights of my year. I use it as a launching pad for new collections, a deadline for improving my booth set up, and a chance to meet other creatives and connect with local customers. I love preparing for this show, I love being there, and I actually feel sad when it's over. There's a sort of a magical, inspirational atmosphere to it all, as funny as that may sound. 

Here's a look back at my last 4 years of Indie Craft Parade application photos. I can definitely see improvement, my earlier work isn't my best now, but it was my best at the time. I still have a lot to learn, a thousand new things I want to try, and I’m sure I’ll cringe years from now at the work I’m most proud of today. It’s the curse of every artist, right? 

This year, my husband’s shop Tree & Laser, will be right next to Once Again Sam at the 5th annual Indie Craft Parade in downtown Greenville, SC. There will be an amazing range of hip hand-crafted goods from regional makers, and you won’t want to miss out. Everything from screen printed t-shirts, to pottery and fine art, and of course, handmade jewelry & felted curiosities brought to you by yours truly. If you’re in the Upstate of SC, come on by!

A Rebranding Story

I’ve always been a DIYer, even when it comes to graphic design, an area I have very limited experience in. My Once Again Sam logo was something I had developed with my husband years ago, when I first started the business and didn’t have much money to invest beyond basic supplies. The template I used to create the red "amoeba flower" logo was actually a drafting template I had left over from a landscape architecture course I took in college - I was using tools that were literally laying around my studio.

The logo worked for awhile. One of my very earliest jewelry collections featured layers of leather in the shape of my amoeba flower, but they didn't sell that well so I eventually dropped them, leaving the logo without much lasting meaning. I started to wonder if there was a better way to brand my growing business, and the tools laying around my studio in more recent months weren't offering any inspiration this time around.

I had been wanting to update my look for quite some time, but couldn’t come up with any fresh ideas in the graphic design department. I was stumped and I didn’t want to go through the major process of rebranding until I had something I really really loved, something that would take me through the next phase of my entrepreneurial experience. I kept waiting for that one good logo idea to come to me, but the good idea never came...except this one: hire a professional.

Chris Jones, the Creative Kingpin of Popcorn Initiative had some good ideas. Some great ones, actually! The first round of logo mockups were 1000 times better than anything I could have come up with. It was easy to see the difference between my DIY attempts and the work of a true professional. Chris developed several options, and I had a really hard time deciding which direction to go, because I honestly loved everything he sent. Each logo shared a different part of the Once Again Sam story (and there are a LOT of parts and pieces to the Once Again Sam story). I make a broad range of handmade items that have little to do with each other, which can cause problems when it comes to defining a brand with just one icon. How can you relate needle felted fiber art with handmade jewelry? The only thing they have in common is the person who made them.

In the end, after a few rounds of logos, I decided on one that would last, no matter how many new things I learn to make in the future (because I could take up woodturning tomorrow, and painting the day after that, and who knows what else the day after that). My new logo is simple, it’s just me, not a representation of what I make, or tools I use, or even a symbol that embodies my handmade business. Everything I create comes from the brain inside my head. Chris was clever with the typography too, because professional graphic designers are good like that - the little upward arrow on the end of “Sam” is a reference to where I got my start, using recycled materials, giving them new life, ONCE AGAIN, in a whole new way.

I couldn’t be happier with my new logo and branding package, and I wish I had done this a whole lot sooner. A huge thank you to Chris Jones of Popcorn Initiative for bringing Once Again Sam to this new level!

For the love of used books

I’m a bookworm, and I’m thrifty, so it’s no surprise I’m a big fan of used books. The Really Good, Really Big, Really Cheap Book Sale occurs annually here in Greenville, SC, and this past weekend I scooped up more than my fair share of reading material (but hey, it was only $10 to fill up a giant shopping bag, so yeah...that’s my excuse). This outstanding event is put on my the Greenville Literacy Association, a non profit organization that collects all kinds of used book donations, then hosts this enormous sale each summer to raise money to help increase literacy levels here in the Upstate.

This year, I walked into the book sale with my tote bag as I have done the last 4 summers, and promised to limit myself to 5 books this year, but since it was the last day of the sale, it was only $10 for as many books as you could fit into a grocery bag, so I didn’t hold back. I picked up a stack of new novels (full list is below), art books, tourism booklets, and even a few vintage nature books I’m planning to use for some collage type of stuff in the future. All in all, a pretty good loot!

- The Activist's Daughter by Ellyn Bache

- 700 Years of Dutch Cartography

- Blue and Other Colors by D. Paul Reynolds

- Halfway House by Katherine Noel 

- What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn

- Trunk, a Love Story by Michael Perry

- The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen

- The Book Shop by Penelope Fitzgerald

- My New American Life by Francine Prose

- Paper is Part of the Picture

- Apples of Gold (compiled by) Jo Petter

- This is Not Chick Lit - Original Stories by America's Best Women Writers

- The Dove in Bathurst Station by Patricia Westerhof

- The Forrest & The Sea - from LIFE Nature Library

GreenCraft Article Published

Writing and crafting: two of my favorite things. I'm excited to announce my second DIY article was recently published in GreenCraft Magazine! I so enjoy reading this magazine, it appeals to my love of up-cycling and repurposing, and I always find inspiration for new eco-friendly projects with every issue. It's a complete honor to be able to contribute my DIY guide to making suede fringe earrings to the Autumn issue of GreenCraft. 

I would say 99% of my writing is fiction, but once in awhile I get the itch to share facts and real life experiences, and I'm lucky enough that GreenCraft has allowed me the opportunity to share this DIY article with them and their readers. I hope you enjoy the magazine, there are so many great projects in the Autumn issue! http://stampington.com/GreenCraft-Magazine-Autumn-2014

Suede Fringed Earrings: A How-to Guide

Craft supplies are everywhere I look, and I rarely visit the craft store. Just about everything I need for jewelry making can be found on a rack in a thrift shop or piled up at a garage sale. My passion is to upcycle leather, suede, and anything else I can get my busy crafting hands on. It’s an affordable, eco-friendly, and extremely rewarding way to create. When I see an old leather jacket or a beat up suede skirt at Goodwill, items that aren’t likely to be used again due to the style or condition of the garment, I happily claim them, but not to wear as they were originally intended to be worn. My plans for these outdated or damaged garments include deconstructing them, chopping them into unrecognizable pieces, then repurposing the material as casual but bold jewelry.

My indie craft business called Once Again Sam is where my love of thrifting and jewelry making came together. I had always enjoyed digging through old clothes at thrift shops for fun, and creating jewelry had been a favorite hobby of mine for years, but it wasn’t until 2009 when I opened my business, that the two became intertwined. Once I discovered how simple and rewarding upcycled jewelry making could be, I was free to buy any thrift shop clothing item I wanted, and it didn’t matter what condition it was in, the style statement it once made decades ago, or how close it was to my size. Having chosen to source materials for my jewelry line through non-traditional means, I learned to walk through a secondhand clothing store and see it as a fabric warehouse. As an upcycler, I was free to seek out luxurious textures and colorful material, and pay only a few dollars in the end, and I love knowing there’s a backstory behind every piece I make. 

Tools & Materials:

-       Hammer

-       Pliers

-       Leather punch: circle 1/16”

-       Scissors

-       Leather / suede garment

-       Jump rings & ear wire

Technique:

To make a pair of lightweight and lovely suede fringe earrings, you’ll need to first choose your material sources. Head out to your favorite thrift store, check out garage sales, or even look in the depths of your own closet for that article of clothing you haven’t worn in years but haven’t been able to part with just yet. Any kind of leather or suede clothing will work, but pants and skirts have fewer seams and more flat material, which make things easier when taking the garment apart.

1. Choose three articles of suede clothing.

2. Use sharp scissors to deconstruct the garments.

3. Select pieces of suede to work with.

4. Sketch out an earring shape, then draw the final design onto a piece of cardboard to make a template for each layer.

5. Trace around your cardboard template with a thin marker onto the suede, then cutout two copies of each layer.

6. Cut into the bottom of each layer approximately 3/4” to create fringe.

7. With a 1/16” circle leather punch, hammer holes through the tops of all layers of suede.

8. Secure all three layers through the punched holes with a small jump ring (6mm) then attach matching ear wire.

9. Enjoy wearing your suede fringe earrings!