Etsy in Austin for South by Southwest!

The folks from Etsy headquarters in Brooklyn have arrived here in Austin for the awesome SXSW event they've been planning! It starts tomorrow & continues through Sunday, at Venue 222 on Sixth Street. Two full days of craft demos, music & more! See the full schedule of events on the Etsy in Austin event page.

The EtsyAustin street team has partnered up with Etsy for this event & we'll have a fabulous display of our work ("The Wall of Wow") at the event. I'm on the committee for that & have seen the setup, so I can tell you first-hand that it will indeed wow you! More event info, plus our team members' guide to Austin, on the EtsyAustin blog.

We'll also have a Meet EtsyAustin booth and the coolest photo booth in town. Seriously, you do NOT want to miss getting your picture taken with Babsy the larger-than-life, mustache-sportin', tiny hat-wearin', cat. Saddle up!

I got to meet many of the Etsy folks last night at a meet n' greet they hosted for our team leaders at Polvo's Mexican restaurant. It was super fun to meet them & talk plans for this weekend. It's going to be craftacularly fun - hope you'll come out & see us!

Recap: New Media Fashion Brunch & Boutique Crawl

{Re-posted from Get Crafty, Austin}
The New Media Fashion brunch and boutique crawl was an all day fashion networking event held March 12, the first Friday of SXSW. This awesome event for fashion-minded individuals who run online style sites, communities and fashion blogs was hosted by Indiana Adams of adoredaustin.com & it was the first of its kind here in Austin. Way to go, Indiana!

L to R: Anna; Kelly; Katy; Pamela; our fabulous hostess, Indiana; Kristin; Diya & Rachel

This delightful brunch was sponsored by Polished Two and EtsyAustin, whose members provided amazing handmade & goody-filled swag bags for all of the guests.

The WonderCraft also sponsored the event, bringing a trunk show from Stella's Boutique for the ladies to shop. We also donated our DIY obi-style belt kits for the goody bags & demonstrated how to fashion the fabulous belts from vintage neckties. The belts were designed by Kim & are shown here modeled by the Beths.

The gals all had a great time picking out ties & sewing them together to make their own stylish obi belts!

L to R: Rachel from Austin Style Watch & Cassiday from Mix 94.7 get some tips from Beth A; Grechen of Grechen's Closet & Janette of Fashion Loves People sewing with Beth H

L to R: Janette, Pamela, Grechen, Rachel, Kelly, Indiana, Diya, Kayla, Tiffany & Jacqueline

After the brunch, we all headed down to the 2nd Street District for a super-fun boutique crawl! We started at Eliza Page where we browsed the beautiful jewelry displays with champagne in hand.

Beth A got these awesome shoes at Girl Next Door. I found a beautiful blue retro-styled (& magnificently marked-down) dress at Estilo.

clockwise from top left: Merritt, Tran, Diya, Indiana, Kayla & Rachel at Cru

Along the way we enjoyed wine & chocolate-covered strawberries at Cru Wine Bar and amazing cupcakes that lived up to their name at Delish. We visited so many fabulous boutiques that I can't even remember them all, so be sure to check out the handy 2nd Street District directory to get the deets on all the great shops & restaurants in the area.

Big thanks to Indiana for hosting this & inviting us to participate - we had a fabulous time! We enjoyed meeting all of these awesome bloggers - every one of them is so cool and so sweet. Check out their blogs. More great pics of this event in our Flickr set & Fashism's Flickr photo set & in blog posts by Diya, Rachel & Cheryl. Also, be sure to check out Anna's News 8 story & video!

Holiday Fun!

Last night we put up our Christmas tree, hung the stockings & strung the lights around the house. It's looking quite festive! I always love decorating the house for Christmas, and I needed to get it done because it's going to be a busy, busy holiday season for me this year.

To start, I'll be out at the Lights of Love 5k with the other WonderCraft gals this Friday. It's a fundraising event for The Ronald McDonald House. We'll be making felt snowmen ornaments with the kiddos as part of our outreach program. Come by & see our Airstream, Stella, with the adorable handmade boutique we've just set up!

The very next day we'll be out at EtsyAustin's Craft Riot! If you're local, you'll want to come out to this fabulous holiday bazaar! It lasts the whole weekend, and in addition to all of the lovely, handmade items you'll find there that will make unique gifts for everyone on your list, you'll also enjoy wine tastings & photos with Santa! Head over to EtsyAustin's blog to "Meet Your Makers" (including yours truly)! We WonderCrafters will be there with Stella, with each of our own handmade items & nifty WonderCraft DIY kits inside, as well as the photo booth.

Then, the handmade holiday fun continues the following weekend at the Cherrywood Art Fair. Stella will be there as well, and we'll be selling all of our own handmade items & WonderCraft DIY kits again. Cherrywood is an amazing shopping paradise for those who love unique, handmade items & one-of-a-kind art - over 80 vendors! Here's a peek at a few. Plus lots of great live music, kids' activities, artist demos & a huge silent auction (bid on my Lion Family collage!). Over at The WonderCraft corner, we'll be demonstrating lots of cool upcycled gift-wrapping techniques throughout the weekend. Come on by!

Hope to see you out & about this month! Happy Holidaze to you & yours!

Snuggle Herd at Blues on the Green!

sweetwolf, devil girl designs, leah duncan and debbie carroll designs
Originally uploaded by Trixie SweetWolf

Come out & see members of EtsyAustin, some of the hippest, craftiest gals in town, at Blues on the Green. Live music, great food, great shopping, & It's free! What more could you ask for? It happens every other Wednesday throughout the summer, and I'll be at this one on July 1st & the next one on July 15th. Stop by & say hi!

more info at http://www.kgsr.com/Other/blues/index.html

breaking news: 4/25 Austin Handmade Market postponed

The Austin Handmade Market scheduled for this weekend (April 25) is being postponed until the following Saturday (May 2). That will be the weekend before Mother's Day, so it should be a good one!

Another Austin Handmade Market this Saturday!

Etsy Austin | Austinites on Etsy: Austin Handmade Market April 25th noon-6p

Here are some pics taken at the last Austin Handmade Market on Easter weekend. Click on the pics to see each of these EtsyAustin members' shops!

A Must-Have: "I Make Stuff" Totebag

Meet Beth (not talking about myself in third person here; different Beth). She's awesome. She's one of my fellow crafty chicas on the EtsyAustin team, shown here peddlin' our team stuff at the Austin Handmade Market last Saturday.

Beth designed the nifty team t-shirt she's wearing, as well as these fabulous new totes screen-printed with "I make stuff." They are so cool! They're really roomy & only $20, which goes toward operating expenses for the EtsyAustin team.

These totes will soon be available in our team Etsy shop, but if you want one right now, you can contact Beth & order one. Be sure to check out her other adorable tote bags, stationery and gifts in her Paired Hearts shop!