Team Lemon heads to Pittsburgh once again

Please come buy up Lemon Cadet gear Sunday from 12 - 4 at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. It will be our only show in Pittsburgh this holiday season and the last show in Pittsburgh for a really long time (maybe never ever again).

Crafts N'At is Saturday!

Stalk me this Saturday at the Pittsburgh Craft Collective's Crafts N'At. "N'At" is Pittsburghese for "and that." So come by from 10 - 6 at the Union Project on N. Negley. Baby Lemon will be home with the grammas so it will just be me and the Lemon Loot.

I have some new polka dot romper guys that I made special just for this show. They are awesome.

More info here. I have to say that this logo is, by far, my favorite of any of the craft shows I've ever done. It's so cool.

I'm in booth 19, at the end of the row that will be facing you when you walk in.

Handmade Arcade: a review and all the stuff I bought

Handmade Arcade this year was so much better than last year.

1. It was not in a filthy warehouse with absolutely no heat.
2. It was in an armory with a working bathroom and big huge tanks and stuff (and heat and lights and windows and doors).
3. I wasn't pregnant.

Because this is a two day show, I had time at the end of the first day and at the beginning of the second day to do some shopping. Also, because it's so close to home (about 1.5 hours), I had some helpers. I usually don't have much time at all to shop at craft shows so this is a big bonus for me. You don't get into this business if you don't like the whole movement (but that's a post for a different day which may discuss why I don't consider myself a visual artist anymore or maybe for just right now).

Zadie was being an absolute angel: sleeping in the stroller when prompted, eating solid food like a big girl, going home with Grandma at the end of the show so Mr. Lemon and I could actually eat a meal out together (Welcome to Moe's!), and being a gorgeous model of the yeti ringer onesie and bean romper lines SO I bought her tons of stuff.

First of all, this amazing elf hat by Sweet Pepita. She will wear this in the Spring.

This amazing horned yeti creature with a red bird on his head by Cutesy but not Cutesy. You gotta see the kid grab this beast by the horns and chomp on that bird. It's really cute.

The squirrel card to make the "S" for the alphabet in her nursery by esoule. We will probably frame the gnome. The wallet is for me and was made by the people at Get Felt Up who were very nice.

I got these cool legwarmers in a trade with Little Lumpkin who also made a Christmas present for my niece. I was so excited to finally be able to meet all of the family as Sarah and I were pregnant at the same time.

Finally, I bought some more fabulous Tim Gunn magnets from Tiny Rat who makes these really cool plastic canvas creations too.

If you didn't make it out, check out the vendor list on the website. Almost everyone has an Etsy shop so you can still buy their cool stuff.

Handmade Arcade this weekend!!!

We are in a frenzy getting our stuff together for Handmade Arcade in Pittsburgh. It's only just over an hour away from us so it's the closest good show we do and we are determined to make the most of it.

Last year was awesome even though we were freezing (no heat) and dirty (in a warehouse). This year is already promising to be so much better as the location has been moved to the fabulous and historic Hunt Armory in Shadyside.

It's on 324 Emerson Street so plug it into your GPS and be there. Find us Saturday from 11 - 7 and Sunday from 11 - 5. There are also some Early Birdie Shopping passes available for Saturday morning so you can get there first and get dibs on the good stuff. I'm right in the middle in the aisle closest to ZipCar in booth 49.

Best of all, I have been working away on some really gorgeous long-sleeved onesies and toddler tees with beans in some cool new suits -- some even out of this crazy expensive Japanese fabric I bought in SoHo (had to have some retail therapy to make up for the loss at Vida's Market). It's fantastic.

Here's a little bit more info from their press release:

Handmade Arcade is the perfect opportunity to jump start your holiday shopping, decorate your home, or dress your fine self while supporting independent businesses and creative ingenuity.

Check out the more than 90 vendors that will be appearing at HA this year on our website vendor page: here. We’re also going to have yummy food vendors like Franktuary, Coca, My Goodies Bakery, and Dozen.

A.I.R. will be back for their second HA appearance with screenprinting demonstrations and “make-and-takes”. The Society for Contemporary Craft will present metal working demonstrations throughout both days of HA.

Handmade Arcade 2008 is Saturday, November 8 (11am-7pm) AND Sunday, November 9 (11am-5pm) at the Hunt Armory, 324 Emerson Street, in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood. The location is just a short walk from a number of bus lines, including the 71C, 71D, and 500, so save some gas money and take the bus! There will also be several bike racks on site donated by BikePGH so we’re peddle friendly too!

I think we can do it.

So this weekend we did our first craft show with Baby Lemon. The little model slept soundly in the car the whole way there, while we were unloading, and while we were setting up. She only woke up when I took her to the Odyssey to eat because I was getting worried. (She probably would have been fine but I'm a new mom...).


The event was a total success. The weather was not. It was incredibly hot and humid until it poured. Luckily, we were mostly packed up so only a couple of the bins got a bit wet. We've got the tent out of the bag and drying in the basement.


As always, the Pittsburgh shoppers were awesome. This was my third show up there and everyone is super supportive and nice. I was hoping to see some of the people who stopped by at Handmade Arcade but the cloudy skies kept a lot of people away.


I made a lot of changes to the whole setup. While reviewing pictures of last year's events, I decided that it was all just too busy. There was too much going on. I made bright lemon shapes and used black sticker letters in different fonts easy-to-read items and pricing. I also made a couple of sale signs. I really like the way they turned out.


Because of the weather, I couldn't use my tall displays. The shirts or onesies just act like sails and are so hard to control. I will definitely be using them again when it's not so windy. I think the look is really important to my tables.

I also decided not to use the yellow baskets with the lemons and cadet plushies. I thought maybe they were a bit distracting but now I think the display is looking a little bland so maybe they'll make a comeback -- or maybe the tall displays are all I need. We'll have to wait until next time to see.


Baby Lemon is generally very cooperative during the day. She was pretty easy this time (thanks to tinted windows and the awesome event coordinators who let me use their offices to feed her later in the afternoon). I've applied to a couple of shows that aren't too far away and have plans to apply for several more to take advantage of my maternity leave. I think we're just going to keep taking it one day at a time.

There are a few more pictures with notes in my flickr.

I Made It!

Lemon Cadet is back in action with a craft show this weekend. Team Lemon (Mr. Lemon, Baby Lemon, and special guest star Sandi Lemon) will be at the I Made It! Market at a huge festival in Pittsburgh, South Side Celebrates 250.

The market will be on 19th Street between Sarah Street and Carey Way. You won't be able to miss the celebration. It seems as though all of the South Side will be taking part with "dining specials and sidewalk sales from 10th Street to SouthSide Works, artist demonstrations, kid's zone, plays, entertainers, a community wide yard sale, food and much much more!"

The whole event lasts from noon until 6 this Saturday, June 28 so there's plenty of time to stop by.

I'm just about finished with the new designs and will preview them on flickr as early as tomorrow. I'm also working on the display and am really excited about how it will look. More on that later.

Hope to see all my Pittsburgh peeps at the show!