meet the artisans: the MEN of indie

our very own men of indie:

scott neeley of home brewed art - gorgeous pieces of art on canvas, block print and t-shirts

aria handmade - beautiful, original and sustainable pieces of jewelry set this amazing artisan apart from the rest

pf cabinet maker - handmade and functional this is craft that lasts for a lifetime

earthen soul pottery - inspired by nature these works of pottery are nothing short of amazing

wood creations by bill - bring the outdoors in or the indoors out with the fab work of bill stammetti, specializing in hand turn bowls and unique birdhouses

meet the artisans: ikow designs

ikow designs breathes funky into the classic element of silver and the result is rockin' awesome handmade jewelry that makes a statement like no other...

stop by the ikow booth at first friday indie market to chat with chris bettini and choose your one of a kind chainmaille piece on 4/1/11

spring is here!

the flowers are blooming, the weather is mostly cooperating and all the creatives that have been hibernating since the december market are ready to make their way to the first first friday indie market of 2011!

some things stay constant (like or fab location at the corner of s. elm & mlk) and other things are always changing...mainly the amazing talent that the indie market provides each month...so each time you wander through our outdoor mecca of handmade goodness you can discover new and amazing craft artisans.

the indie market brings together the very best of the triad's burgeoning artisan community, it is a collective of handcrafted and vintage shops and gives buyers a unique opportunity to chat with the creator, hear the story and then carry on that narrative with their own happy ending.

now lets meet some of the awesome talent that will be there on 4/1/11:

gremlina a treasure trove of vintage goodness can be found in this magical tent, so if you are looking for the kitsch factor or classic goodness of time gone by, stop in and say hey!

cephalopod ink what is squishy, a cephalopod, a little slimy and smells like the sea? well nothing that this shop makes...come take a deep dive into amazement when you see the creative pottery of Tanya Casteel and her inky octo friends

the gnome shack as it is spring, does your garden need a new gnome-ee friend? well then simone's gnomes are the cure for your gardens loneliness...so spruce up the yard with these handmade guys and be the talk of the block (in a good way)

aimee's garden well beautiful blooms are not just for your garden or table...nope, its time to sprout some gorgeousness on your head! aimee's original and beautiful felted head pieces are sure to add just the right amount of whimsy to your ensemble.

mermaid says is handcrafted and organic body care, if you need to scrub away that wintery skin step into this tent, all five of your senses will thank you!

December 3rd Indie Market & Festival of Lights

Well, this is it... Our last Indie Market of the year and the last one until March or April of 2011. This is our favorite Market to do because it coincides with Grassroots Productions Festival of Lights. Not only will you have all of your favorite Indie Market vendors to see, but there will also be a tree lighting, sleigh rides, hot chocolate and live music on just about every corner, and hopefully snow (courtesy of a snow machine). =) The Indie Market will also have it's very own Santa and Mrs. Clause for the kiddies to see.

Our poster for this Market was done by our very own Tristin Miller. After seeing what she did with the spectacular fireworks poster for July, we were totally excited when she said she wanted to do the December poster. We knew it would be bubbly, full of life and beaming with Christmas cheer (just like Tristin). =) To find out more about Tristin and her work, please visit her website.

We have a huge number of vendors again this month... 49 to be exact. Luckily with the Festival of Lights happening, we're able to spread out a little more. We'll not only be within our parking lot, but we'll also have vendors out on the brick area on the Elm Street side of the lot. You'll be able to see:

FEATURED VENDORS
___________________________________
Defabricate
Dunlap Love
Ikow Designs
Purple Hook
          Techno Cake          

Aimee's Garden Amanda Vaughn-Redmon Anna Mae Breads Aria Handmade Art by Meghan Thomson Carver Crafts, Classes & Costume Jewelry Repair Cindy's Crafts Clara Marie's Authentic Southern Bakery Constanza Diaz Dani Keith Designs DMW Woodworking Donna's Delights Freshly Brewed Designs From Sopris to Whiteside G & M Designs g*beads Gate City GlitterZ! Gremlina J Britt Gardner Pottery Jennipurse Jordan Grace Owens Art & Illustration Kim Shoffner

Le Charlie Bear LeeLu Creations Little Orange Lotus LuLu Lather's Vintage Felted Soap Menace Inc. Militant Cup Cakes Niche NJLuvDolls Richard J. Ronsick Robert Carter Slow Turn Studio Sometimes Summer SoulEnergy SquackDoodle Sweetgum Puppets TBS Creations Tristin Miller Witch Hazel Handmades Yanno Press Yummy Goodness Bake Shoppe Zen Cat Bakery

Be sure to bundle up, bring the family and join us for a wonderful, magical night in downtown Greensboro. Hope to see you there!

November Market

The November Market is upon us and it’s gonna be GREAT!!! We’ve always said that we have the best vendors in the world, but this month, they’ve really out-done themselves. We had so many talented folks sign up to participate in November, we just couldn’t decide who to turn away and who to keep. So we put a call out to our vendors, told them our dilemma and asked if anyone would be willing to share their tent space. To our surprise, quite a few of them volunteered to share just so we could get everyone in. A few of them even volunteered to sit out this month for a guaranteed spot next month. Because they were willing to open their hearts (and their tents), we are excited to say that the November Indie Market will have a WHOPPING 51 vendors this month. Before we get to the list of vendors, here’s a little bit of info on the Artists who created our poster.

Karen Hutchinson, a wonderfully talented lady, volunteered to do our poster out of her love for the Indie Market. Unfortunately, she is not one of our vendors, but does graphic design/illustration as her day job and as her passion. We’re very fortunate that she found us and can’t wait to see her work as one of our posters next year. To view more of Karen’s work, please visit http://www.creativeshake.com/Karen_Hutchinson.

The entertainment this month is local band, Firelight Saga. Their fans labeled them “Adventure Rock”. I’m not quite sure what that means (LOL), but to me, they sound more like Folk Rock… kind of along the lines of Pete Yorn (one of my favs). If you would like to get more information on them, head on over to their Facebook page.

Now… about our vendors. Like I said before, we have the biggest number of Vendors in Indie Market history. =) 51… Can you believe it??? FIFTY ONE VENDORS!!! It’s crazy!!! We’re totally ecstatic about it and can’t wait for you to see them all. Some will be doubled up in tent spaces, so be sure to take your time and visit everyone.

FEATURED VENDORS
___________________________________
Clara Marie's Authentic Southern Bakery
Dani Keith Designs
Little Orange
Richard Ronsick
       Riverbasin Outfitters      

Aimee's Garden Amanda Vaughn-Redmon Anna Mae Breads Aria Handmade Carol Hunter Photography Carrie Magill Jewelry Carver Crafts, Classes & Jewelry Repair Cindy's Crafts Constanza Diaz Defabricate Donna's Delights EL Arts 30 G & M Designs G*Beads Gate City GlitterZ! The Gnome Shack Homebrewed Art Horse 'O Peace Ranch Hurley Rose Ikow Designs J Britt Gardner Pottery Jean Jarvis Jewelry JenniPurse

Juan Pablo Designs La Boutique de Charlie Bear Lady Bizness LeeLu Creations LuLu Lather's Vintage Felted Soap Militant Cupcake Handmades Nancy Utz Necessity Niche Organic Jewelry Purple Hook Robert Carter Slow Turn Studio Sometimes Summer Soul Energy SquackDoodle TBS Creations Techno Cake Undoings/Emily Crochets Pants Witch Hazel Handmades Yanno Press Yummy Goodness Bake Shoppe Zen Cat Bakery

Enjoy!!! We hope to see you in December as well!

October 1st Indie Market

Dare I say it... I think Fall has finally arrived. YAY!!! I hope I don't jinx it by saying that, but we couldn't be more excited about the cooler weather. It's been a long HOT summer... year really, since the heat rolled in during the April Market, and we can't thank our vendors and fans/customers enough for sticking in out so we could continue holding the Indie Market. Hopefully the cooler weather will bring out more folks who end up walking away with more of our handcrafted goodies. =)

Now on to the October Market info...

We'd like to thank our own Kim Shoffner for creating such a great poster for us! It's a little different from the norm, but still absolutely fabulous and in total Indie Market style. We're still needing some help getting the posters up, so if you'd like to hang a few in your neck of the woods, give us a shout at firstfridaymarkets@gmail.com. Between Mandy and I, we should be able to meet you somewhere convenient.

Our band this month will be the one... the only... Crystal Bright & The Silver Hands, performing from 7pm - 9pm. They have their own wonderful, quirky style and we are absolutely thrilled to have them perform at the Market. Taken from one of their websites - They are "A roller coaster of experimental, multicultural, ghostly carnival folk." To preview their music and find out more information about the band, you can visit ReverbNation, Facebook, or their Website.

We have a long list of fabulous vendors for you this month:

Anna Mae Breads

Art by Dara Morgan

Art by Meghan Thomson

Carver Crafts, Classes & Costume Jewelry Repair

Chantilly

Constanza Diaz

DMW Woodworking

Donna's Delights

Flytrap

Freshly Brewed Designs

G* Beads

G & M Designs

Gate City GlitterZ!

Gremlina

Hatched Prints

Homebrewed Art

Ikow Designs

J Britt Gardner Pottery

Jean Jarvis Jewelry

Jennipurse

Kim Shoffner

LeeLu Creations

LuLu Lather's Vintage Felted Soap

Mike's Plants

Militant Cupcake Handmades

Nice Arts, Inc.

Niche

Off The Hook

Purple Hook

Shard Times

Slow Turn Studio

SquackDoodle

Sweetgum Puppets

Undoings/Necessity

Yummy Goodness Bake Shoppe

Come on out and enjoy the gorgeous Fall weather and see some of the best handcrafted talent in the Triad.

We'll see you Friday!

Chris & Mandy

September 3rd Market

It’s been one heck of a hot Summer, but it sure hasn’t stopped the crowds from turning out at the Indie Market. The August Market was great and we really appreciate all of the vendors and attendees that came out to support us.

The September Market is coming up this Friday and it’s going to be as wonderful as always. The talented, Dara Morgan, let us kick off this market by using one of her beautiful paintings as our poster and we can't thank her enough for it. We have 31 vendors for this one… some new and some regulars. We also have not one, but two great musical sets happening.

From 5pm – 7pm, Todd Eric Verts will be playing. “ With the emphasis on telling stories of everyday life, Verts' style is best described as 'Outlaw/Folk'.” You can hear some of Todd’s work at http://www.reverbnation.com/toddericverts.

From 7pm – 9pm, The Lake Isle will be playing. “The sounds we make blur the acoustic stylings of Mojave 3, the lyrical work of Sun Kil Moon and the vocal prowess Morrissey, adding its own blend of lush guitars, expansive harmonies and dreamy atmospherics.” You can listen to their music at http://thelakeisle.com.


The participating Vendors this month are:

Amanda Vaughn-Redmon
Art by Dara Morgan
Carver Crafts, Classes & Costume Jewelry Repair
Cindy's Crafts
Clara Marie's Authentic Southern Bakery
Dani Keith Designs
Donna's Delights
G*Beads
G & M Designs
Gate City GlitterZ!
Glow Kouture Designs
The Gnome Shack
Gremlina
Hatched Prints
Hirsch Wellness Network
Home Brewed Art
Horse 'O Peace Ranch
J Britt Gardner Pottery
Jean Jarvis Jewelry
La Boutique de Charlie Bear
Lady Bizness
Lotus Stone and Crystal Jewelry
LuLu Lather's Vintage Felted Soap
Purple Hook
Richard and Linda Ronsick
Slow Turn Studio
Squackdoodle
Sweetgum Puppets
TBS Creations
The Ugly Horse Bakery
Witch Hazel Handmades
Zen Cat Bakery

Be sure to start your Labor Day weekend off right. Come on out and share a night of awesome handmade arts, crafts, food and live music with your friends and family at the Indie Market.

We’ll see ya there!