Craft Show, Craft Show, La-dee-dah-dee Craft Show.

Wow, have we been away THIS LONG? Really? Well, there have been some good reasons surrounding this extended absence from our blessed blog. A masters degree has been finished (Oct. 2010) and much knitting has commenced.

Janie and I have finally gotten ourselves involved in craft shows. It is quite an experience. Finally WE are the people sitting behind a table-o-stuff saying "How 'ya doin'?" to the passers-by, anticipating an "oooo" or "awwww" as they look at all we have to offer.

We began in September 2010 with the Cowtown Indie Bazaar. This was a wonderful experience for the inexperienced. Everything was organized and simple. Even though I was in charge of organizing the musical performances for the event, Janie and I managaed to meet and greet many potential customers, hand out some "business cards" we had to write on pieces of notebook paper (doh!), and make some sales.

Then we had the Soul's Harbor Community Church craft fair in October which was good exposure and an opportunity to network with other folks.

Then we moved up to the big time and ventured into the Big D. No, not D-I-V-O-R-C-E,

D-A-L-L-A-S. We signed up to be a non-food vendor for the White Rock Local Market. This was such a fun show. It was from 8am-1pm and we did the best we had ever done. We were finally validated for all the work we had done in our own little knitting worlds. Janie and I could say, at last, that we are getting paid for what we love to do.

Isn't that the whole point of life before retirement? In some areas of the world, I'm sure it is.

Come on out to the Catholic Charities of Dallas on November 18th between 6:30pm and 10:00pm to buy some great holiday gifts from vendors promising to make a donation to the church. http://www.catholiccharitiesdallas.org/

Win an Etsy Shopping Spree!

You know you would love love love to spend $800 at your favorite Etsy shop. Now here's your chance to do just that.

Just go to http://www.readymade.com/, create an account if you don't already have one, then look for the Etsy Sweepstakes button on the top right of the home page. Click it and enter once a day until September 26th. How easy can it be, right?

On to other things, I know its been quite a while since the last blog post for KKBB. We've been busy knitting and crocheting away in preparation for the Cowtown Indie Bazaar in Fort Worth, TX. http://www.cowtownindiebazaar.com/ This event is happening on Saturday, September 4th. We have our booth and we are creating as many awesome handknit knits as humanly possible. In fact, I had to take some pain meds last night because my left thumb was giving me some troubles. But, its all in the name of handmade madness.

Come by our Etsy shop http://knittyknittybangbang.etsy.com/ to see what's going on. We are going to be getting ready for another successful winter season full of chunky scarves and Janie's socks, nearly a household name.

Newest Crocheted Baby Hats by Janie

Ok folks, get your oooo's and ahhhhh's ready for the newest crocheted addition to KKBB. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43875039

Model Astrid is wearing the Antique Spring crocheted cloche with a bright beautiful side flower. Hand crocheted by Janie Bull with 100% cotton yarn. Sure to keep your baby's head protected from the sun while cool.

In all it's Glory.

http://tinyurl.knittybang.com

Here it is in all its glory! Support Handmade and Cafe Handmade.

Ashley

Cafe Handmade Featured Artist!

So, after applying to the awesome Cafe Handmade blog, KnittyKnittyBangBang won the chance to be a featured artist. Our day to shine is Monday, March 29th so check out www.cafehandmade.com for the blog and our feature!!!

We're knitting away as fast as we can. Janie and I are also putting our heads together to make a knock-out appearance at our very first craft show, the Cowtown Indie Bazaar in September '10. We're thinking fall afghans, winter socks, perhaps some naughty knit panties and Knit-it Kits.

More later lovies.

Take a Deep Breath, Now say "Ahhhhhh..."

And exhale.........

After all the craziness and excitement that circled around our heads during the Funky Finds Spring Fling on March 13th, I'm finally ready to blog again.

The FFSF was my first time to work a craft fair booth and it was a successful learning experience. Luckily for me, two of my hard-working fellow Esty FW teammates were there with me from beginning to end. Thank you to the crafty minds behind Christi's Creations (http://christidj22.etsy.com/) and MakaylaCreations (http://makaylacreations.etsy.com/) for the help!

Our Silent Auction baskets had so much cool stuff in them that people started to ask to buy things right out of the basket. Since the awesome Etsy FW members offered to donate their products that could have been sold in-shop, we were benefitting the Tarrant Area Food Bank with the proceeds from the Silent Auction. The executive decision was made at noon to difuse the Silent Auction and sell items from the baskets singly. We made a larger donation to the TAFB that way, and we all felt better about it. Plus, more people got the great stuff from Etsy FW creators that they wanted!

In the world of KKBB, I stumbled upon a website or an email or something that gave my shop the opportunity to be featured in a blog. http://www.cafehandmade.com/ is the blog that features artists and crafters every other day. It's exciting because I got to fill out a cool questionnaire that made me feel like a supa-stah! I also got to pick and choose some of my favorite photos of the items that Janie and I knit to send in for the feature. Thanks to Jill Johnson (http://www.jilljohnsonphoto.com/) I was able to make some simple decisions on which photos to choose. In past blog posts, its easy to pick out the professional photos from the one's Janie and I had attempted. Hey, we tried, but Jill is the ultimate expert!

March 29th is the Big Day for KKBB as we are the featured artist in the blog for Cafe Handmade. Go visit, be amazed, and don't forget to follow this awesome blog that is supporting artists, crafters, and designers. Hey, maybe YOU could wind up getting your shop featured there as well.

Happy First Day of Spring (even though that's three days away).

Valentine's Day LOVE!

I love love. It's a wonderful thing. I love Etsy because it lets me unleash my creative knits to the world with a no-holds-barred (whatever that means) attitude.

I'm doing that today with my love for Valentine's Day. I'm "no-holds-barring" my price for the lovely American Indian Princess Afghan.

This afghan was hand knit by yours truly with a completely original and on-the-spot color scheme. It can be yours for half the price of what it usually is listed in the store. I have adjusted the price to the listing so you don't have to wait for a pesky refund. Oh, did I mention Free Shipping to the US. Well, there's Free Shipping to the US, guys and gals.

Other promotions for Valentine's Day are also happening in the shop. Jump on it!

Buy one item -----5% off

Buy two items----15% off

Buy three items--25% off

Buy four+ items--35% off

This discount applies to your entire order, pretty sweet. Shipping for each item still applies.

Check it out! Or Cross it out! Or Heart it out! Whatever you do best on this Valentine's Day!

http://knittyknittybangbang.etsy.com

Ashley Ammons

Love Monger

Funky Finds Spring Fling in FunkyTown, TX

So, getting ready for the Funky Finds Spring Fling sure is fun for me. It is my first time to be involved in behind-the-scenes action like this. Etsy Fort Worth is the official sponsor of this craft fair at the Will Rogers Center and its sure to be a good time for all.

I'm volunteering to be a general helper on the day of the fair. I'm also helping to put together the silent auction baskets, proceeds of which will support a local charity. So many of our wonderful Etsy Fort Worth members have already donated items that they would normally sell in their shops on Etsy to make the baskets a huge success.

Our basket themes this year are Baby, Mother's Day, Green (the color and eco-friendly) and Spring Time. We've got jewelry, buttons, matchboxes, hand-knit items, bags, more jewelry, pot holders, eco-friendly sandwich wraps, some more awesome and beautiful jewelry, baby sensory toys, aprons, and eco-friendly repurposed clutches. This is just to name a few items in each of the baskets.

Visit our blog at http://www.etsyfortworth.com/ and visit my shop at http://knittyknittybangbang.etsy.com/

Princess Cut Treasury

Today I nabbed an Etsy Treasury and decided to title it "Princess Cut." The idea had been on my mind a while and I have my Treasury-nabbing method down to a science now. So I included all sellers who I had never heard of before. It turns out that I got a fellow Texan in there and I also got two sellers who are new to Etsy and had never been included in a Treasury before.

That made me feel really good that I was helping to expose new sellers. I know that I wouldn't be as familiar with Etsy as I am today without other Etsians helping me out along the way.

Jennifer Williams was the person who founded Etsy Fort Worth. Her Etsy shop is Blueskysunburn Creations. She has helped me become more involved in the real-life applications of Etsy in my community. I am happy to be a part of Etsy FW because I am helping head up the Adopt-a-Platoon volunteer effort. We have already adopted our soldier and will be sending care packages to him consistently for the next year. http://www.etsyfortworth.com/ is our blog. Check it out for the latest Weekly Giveaway.