Lemon Cadet hits the Charm City!

Lemon Cadet is taking to the streets. Find us this Saturday, May 12 at Squidfire's Spring Art Mart in Baltimore, MD. It's in the heart of the city at Mount Vernon Square, Monument and Charles Streets from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

We'll be under a big white canopy -- just follow the scent of lemons. Along with the entire collection of onesies and shirts, there'll be several new button designs, a new yeti mirror and a fabulous bean mirror with a hip white background.

Please stop by to say hi and check out all the new items.

Welcome to the world, Jackson Nathaniel

Jackson Nathaniel, nephew number 3, was born Friday at 4:30 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 21 inches long.

Look at his scrunched up little red face! So cute. Hopefully I'll get some better pics soon.

Support the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls

If this camp was around when I was a kid, I'd have been in heaven. I always wanted to be the lead singer in a rock band. Now that I'm older, I have to settle for low-budget karaoke in dingy, smoke-filled local bars.

The Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls aims to change all that. From their website, "Founded in 2004, Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls is a non-profit summer day camp serving girls aged 8-18 in New York City. The program offers girls the chance to learn how to play musical instruments, write songs, perform, learn about different types of music, and generally "rock out" in a supportive environment that fosters self-confidence, self-esteem, creativity, tolerance, and collaboration.

They are currently holding an online auction raising money for scholarships to bring lots more girls to camp. There are some really cool items in many different price ranges. Check it out!

Watch out for the Craft Mafia

I'm thrilled to report that I've been accepted into the Pittsburgh Craft Mafia! It's a bit of a hike but since I do most of my fabric and veg food shopping up there, I thought I'd just plan my trips around the meetings.

The first Craft Mafia was founded in Austin, TX in 2003 by a bunch of super cool crafty ladies. Lots of other cities followed their lead and created local chapters. There's a permanent link to the Pittsburgh Craft Mafia website over on the left.

They've got a great website to which they've recently added a shopping list. So if you want to buy handmade and support the Craft Mafia, there is a list of easy links organized by category. I'll be up there soon!


In other news, I just ordered 1,000 postcards to use as promos for swag bags and freebies that are given away at all the upcoming craft shows. That's a sneak peak. Each postcard will come with a little bean guy. Obviously he'll have a little face (I'll hand embroider each one as usual) and attach to the card by a pin. That way if you want, you can take him off and wear him. The back has my email address and website. This image is a scan of my printout from home so it's not the best quality but you get the idea.

Rare Bird Finds

Rare Bird Finds is an amazing blog featuring some of best stuff to buy on the web. She scours the internet to find unique gifts, original creations, and really hip stuff. I check it out all the time because she often mentions Etsy sellers and their work.

The best part of the blog is her compilation of a 100 Cool Goodies for $10 or Less Guide. It's not all handmade stuff but it's a great assortment of intersting things. It'll come in handy for those weird secret santa swaps you have to enter at work around the holidays. It's also good for impulse buying -- like when you need retail therapy but don't have a lot of extra cash.

I really like her taste. She chooses a lot of items with contemporary design, functional objects with a humorous kick, and some things that are just stunningly beautiful.

Her site was also nominated for the blogger's choice award for Best Shopping Blog.

Wish me luck!

So I've been taking lots of baby steps lately to try and get Lemon Cadet out there. After months of listing new items on Etsy, I've decided to take this to the next level. I've contacted an online magazine, sent a couple of emails to baby stuff blog sites, submitted applications to some juried Indie/DIY craft shows for this summer, and returned emails from stores asking for wholesale orders.

One small leap I took this week was entering Fred Flare's Next Big Thing Contest. Each year the peeps at Fred Flare choose some of the coolest items in craft and design. This year the customers will vote on a favorite and the winner gets $1000. The best 27 entries will get featured in their online shop and have their name and item up in the list of winners for a long time. As of today, there are links to all winners from both 2005 and 2006. That's a lot of publicity. The work of the winners is amazing.

It only cost 5$ so I worked up a snazzy blurb about the fabulous Yeti Panties with the assistance of my elves and submitted it along with my website and a photo. I also found a couple of wholesale suppliers online so if the Yeti Panties do get selected, I'll be ready to go to fill their order. I won't hear anything for months though so keep your fingers crossed until mid-Summer.

Crafter in need

Alison Gordon, crafter of WonderlandQ, co-organizer of Bazaar Bizarre and Sampler Contributor Relations superhero, very recently faced a medical emergency. Like so many other independent artists and crafters, Alison is without health insurance.

The Wonderland Retreat etsy shop (named in honor of Alison’s website) was created by her friends to help ease the financial burden of her ordeal, and etsy is waiving all fees. If you would like to help a fellow crafter, please consider purchasing an item from the shop or donating an item of your own. To donate an item, please contact Renee Garner at wonderlandretreat [at] gmail.com for more information. To make a monetary donation of any size, please send paypal to info [at] auroraseven.com.

If you’d like to donate something handmade, please send the following info to Renee:

–name
–1 biographical sentence
–website for more detailed info on the artist/goods (if you have one)
–address/contact email
–a photograph of the product
–a short description of the product
–suggested price
–mailing info: will you mail straight from their location or will you mail to her to ship upon item’s sale. If you mail will you cover shipping or should that be added to the transaction?

Thank you for reading! And Alison, hope you’re feeling much much better after all the craziness.

I just sent along info and pics on this little guy, Drew Bean, from the Lemon Cadet baby line to be added to the Wonderland Retreat shop. He is a size 3 - 6 onesie. Free shipping! As much as my day job takes away from my crafting, I feel very lucky to have health insurance. I hope this little donation helps.

And get well soon, Alison!!