My reviews are based on my personal experience with a product or event. I am not a professional product tester nor do I get paid for any of my blog posts.

The items that I post reviews on, have either been purchased on the internet or through a local vendor. Additionally I will review items that I got on sale, as a gift or as a sample from either the manufacurer or some other source.

Note: always read the manufacturers directions on how to properly use a product and craft carefully. Additionally, I am an Amazon Associate and may earn a few cents (literally) from your clicking on my Amazon links. Since they raised the minimum payout from earnings to $10 I haven't seen a credit for a while but eventually I will get one.

Every penny counts when trying to set a budget to get supplies to use for my reviews, tutorials and hauls. However, you do not have to use my links. You can use your favorite search engine to find the best price for your budget.
Glitterfest
Showing posts with label Glitterfest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glitterfest. Show all posts

A review of the Spring Glitterfest 2012 Craft and Handmade Gifts Show



     Nothing says "Spring" better than a cool craft show featuring a fun selection of handmade spring craft and decor pieces.  There were also vendor selling a fabulous selection of crafting supplies, glitter, and other merchandise to tempt folks who like to make their craft projects.
     I love spring and all the excitement associated with it.  So in between planting seeds, replacing plants and designing a new garden, I found time to attend the Spring Glitterfest craft and handmade gifts event.  It was held at the Elks Lodge in Santa Ana, California (which is about 15 minutes away from Disneyland).  The show offers parking at the Elks Lodge or you can park at the store and take a tram to the show site.

    There is a wide offering of merchandise available at the Spring Glitterfest show.  The organizers take care to plan the show floor with care so that you can enjoy the various "eye candy" in a fun and relaxed atmosphere without getting overwhelmed nor over crowded. Since I reviewed the Fall 2011 Glitterfest Event, I thought I would concentrate on introducing you to just a few of the many talented artists who sell their hand crafted art work at this particular show.
   My first stop was the Craftside publishing booth, to visit with my friend Stefanie Girard.  She was giving away some really really cool journals and sketching pads to show visitors.  The Craftside booth also had a great display of some of their more popular craft books for folks to enjoy.   This gave me a chance to look through some of Craftside's newest craft books and see what types of projects they offered.  Something I really cannot do while shopping on Amazon.

Craft book authors Karen and Ann Mitchell,  who are well known for their wonderful jewelry designs


which they sell under the name Ankara Designs were also at the Craftside booth sharing their talents with guests and teaching them how to make jewelry.
The Mitchell sisters are also known for their polymer clay designs and have demonstrated various polymer clay design techniques on cable shows like "Carol Duvall", and other "how to" segments.

The Mitchell sisters are the authors of the new book "Bead Jewelry 101" which teaches the reader how to master basic jewelry making skills and techniques.

They did a "Make &Take" (at the Craftside booth) that taught folks how to make a cute pair of

earrings from paper and other inexpensive jewelry making supplies.  This was an easy craft project that was also an inexpensive craft project for folks to make.  This same project would also make a great upcycle project just by using materials you already have on hand.  You can also use parts from an old necklace and give it a more updated look.
Earrings made from a punched paper leaf.
Visitors of all ages enjoyed making this particular project.

My next stop was the "Ink Stained Book Arts" booth, where I had a chance to talk to Jeanine Stein.  Her most recent book is called "Re-Bound" and is centered on creating fabulous books from recycled and repurposed materials.
She had some very cool hand bound books for sale that were made from unique materials, the book below is made from recycled cowboy chaps.

I loved the hand bound books that she made from Vintage Photographs and frames.  This one is made using a modified long stitch binding that allows for the contents to be viewed easily.
Jeanine also teaches classes in book and paper arts. She also did a "Make & Take" at this show that featured a simple binding technique like the one in the photo below.
She also made a hand bound journal using the advertisement cards for the Glitterfest show and heavy weight paper.
Here is another peek at some of the fabulous items she was selling at the show.

If you look carefully you can see that she makes books from a large variety of materials, including some journals made from vintage french lotto cards.  As a person who collects vintage books and ephemera, I just love her creativity and the beautiful journals and books.
Here is what I went home with, a beautifully bound book made from natural repurposed materials.

For a bit of whimsy, I decided to stop off and take a peek at the wonderful hand sculpted work by David H. Everett.  

His booth featured his "Chicken Lips" line of whimsical art. These amazing creations are made from paper-mache.

The detail in these pieces is incredible.  I have worked with paper-mache and can appreciate the amount of creativity and talent that he puts into each of his creations.  He actually hand sculpts each and every paper-mache figure that he creates.  Then he covers the base material in gesso. Once the gesso dries, he hand paints each figure giving them their individual personalities and features.  If you want to learn more about his creations, he has a fun blog where he shares his musings and his newest creations.  I am

a huge fan of his halloween line and am looking forward to seeing what he creates for the upcoming 2012 fall season.   The Glitterfest Spring 2012 show offered so many different types of handmade and vintage art that it would take too much space to cover it all here.  I highly recommend checking the show out if you are in the Orange County area.  You can also find similar shows in your own area by doing a local google search.


Do you have any favorite craft shows or events that you like to attend? Leave a comment to share it.

Disclaimer

A peek at the Glitterfest gift show held in Santa Ana, California

As spring is approaching, one of the fun upcoming events is the "Spring Glitterfest 2012" show.  This is

an opportunity to embrace the creativity of the spring holidays, enjoy unique handmade items, and/or collect vintage collectibles.   The "Glitterfest" shows are created by Sheryl Simpson and

Dianne White.  Here is a peek at what I found at this year's Fall Glitterfest which was held on October 15, 2011, at the Elks Lodge in Santa Ana, California.  My friends and I arrived early to be able to catch all the fun and excitement of the event.

So we followed the excellent signage and joined the line of excited attendees who were kind enough to share their excitement with us.  They told us a little about the various artists that they were going to see.  Below is a peek at some of the wonderful work these artists had on display (and for sale).
IAbove is "In My Blue Room" and below is work by "Dennis Haynes". 





I also stopped to see the fun characters created by Jenny Hernandez (The Polka Dot Pixie).
Jenny also teaches sculpting classes at different locations throughout the year.  You can also so see more pictures of her whimsical characters on the Polka Dot Pixie flicker site.
The outside area of the show had some amazing booths that included the "Blossom Vintage Chic" booth, where I got to meet Debbie Watts.
I had a fun time talking to her and seeing her great selection of vintage and antique merchandise.  I also
spent some time talking to Linda Fitt and Sandi Woods of Eurotrash.Co.  They had some fun mini kits

for jewelry making and for tabletop decor, as well as a great selection of vintage inspired jewelry.
I was excited to find out that Michele Legler (Mosaic Cottage)  had a table at this show.  I love her

mosaic work and I was excited to see what merchandise she had to sell. She makes these very cool
mosaic cupcake pieces  and mosaic cakes that I just adore.

Another fun booth was "Beyond the Poison Apple" with fun selection of holiday merchandise made by

Rose Polanco.  I especially enjoyed her cute Halloween inspired tree ornaments and potion bottles.
Of course it would not be glitterfest if there was not at least one vendor actually selling an amazing selection of German glitter.  The Myer Imports German Glass Glitter Staff was so very helpful in
explaining the difference between the glass glitters and some of the cool fun things I could do with them.
They have a blog where they post ideas, links, and more on glitter related topics. I purchased some cool silver glitter, that tarnishes over time, to use on my crafty projects.

Additionally, each person who attended could enter their names in a drawing to win one of the many
Fun earrings by Sandy Moreno

Trinket Pin by Susan M. Walls

lovely prizes shown below (this is only a sample of the prizes).

A close up of the cool fairy piece.



The spring show is scheduled for March 10, 2012 and will be held at the Elks Lodge in Santa Ana, California.  The admission is $7.00 at the door and the parking is free.  You can park at the store in Tustin and take the shuttle or park at the Elks Lodge. I recommend the shuttle service because then you can visit the vintage "Whimzy" store and have a lovely lunch in the downtown Tustin area.

Disclaimer


Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Copyright Keep Calm and Craft On Blog. Design by Balkeni Studio. Development by TBK.