FIRST FRIDAY INDIE MARKETS

meet the artisans: the MEN of indie

2011-03-28T08:06:00.002-04:00

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

2011-03-24T18:14:00.005-04:00

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!

2011-03-23T08:30:00.005-04:00

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

2010-11-26T22:55:00.013-05:00

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

2010-10-28T22:07:00.028-04:00

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

2010-09-26T21:16:00.012-04:00

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

2010-08-31T21:50:00.007-04:00

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!

August Poster Contest

2010-07-11T11:08:00.021-04:00

We're having a contest for our Vendors this month and we need your help in picking the winner. Our very own Scott Neely of Home Brewed Art designed the poster for our August Market and suggested we put in a Word or Thought Bubble for the cow. We decided to do that, but as a contest for our Vendors. All of the entries are listed below, along with a rough draft of the poster. Please pick your favorite entry... what you think fits best with the cow and the Indie Market. The entry/Vendor with the most votes will receive 1/2 off of their booth fee for the month of their choice (August - December 2010). Voting is open until midnight, Saturday, July 17th. The winner will be notified on Sunday, July 18th.

July 2nd Market

2010-06-22T21:31:00.014-04:00

Mandy and I are totally excited about the July Market! We were originally going to skip July because the Fun Fourth is the very next day, but we had so many vendors ask us about it, we decided to put the call out to see how many we could get. Y'all answered us loud and clear and we couldn't be happier. Our lot is full and to top it off, we have quite a few new vendors.

Welcome to you all! We're glad you've joined us! =)

A special thanks goes out to our very own Tristin Miller for designing the July Poster. She did a fantastic job and we absolutely love it! Posters will be available at the end of this week. If you would like to help us post them all around the Triad, please contact us and we'll get some to you.

If you would like to design a poster for a free booth space, please see the Call To Artists post in May.

Our vendors for the July Market are:

A.C. Creations
Accidental Photographer
Art by Dara Morgan
Carver Crafts
Dancing Free Designs
Faye's Crochet
Free Spirit Accessories
Gate City GlitZ
Gracie Rae's Recycled Designs
Green Mum Totes
Horse O Peace Ranch
J Britt Gardner Pottery
Jean Jarvis Jewelry & Vintage
Kim Shoffner
Lady Bizness
LeeLa!
LeeLu Creations
Lotus Stone & Crystal Jewelry
Purple Hook
Rainbow Tea
Rough Cuts
Shelton
Squackdoodle
Stini's Sewing Shop
Sweetgum Puppets
TBS Creations
Techno Cake Jewelry
Tristin Miller
Unraveled/Necessity
Verbage
Wendy's Sweet Shop

If you would like to visit an artist's website, please see the links to the left of the page.

See ya next Friday!

Call for Artists

2010-05-25T13:03:00.003-04:00

Are you an Illustrator, Graphic Designer or Painter? We're looking for artists who would be interested in designing our Indie Market posters for July, October, November and December. This would be a trade only venture. What we need is a 300dpi, high resolution, pdf image that's fun, funky, quirky and reflects/represents the life of the Indie Market. The finished image and text will fit on a poster that's 12" x 18" (landscape or portrait) and a card that's 4.25" x 5.5". If you prefer to do art work only, we will gladly put the text in ourselves. What you'll get in return for your artwork is a free 10' x 10' booth at the Indie Market for the month you design the poster AND free advertising.

What do we mean by free advertising? Well... Of course, your name will be on the poster to let everyone know who created it. Every poster printed will be hung up and every card printed will be passed out all over Greensboro and the surrounding areas. A jpeg image will also be sent out to all of our vendors (30+), who in turn will place it on websites, Facebook, blogs and send it out in emails in order to advertise for that month's Market. There's no telling who will see your work and what kind of business it will bring you (hopefully lots). =)

We're all about supporting local artists and helping to get your work out to the public. If you'd like to take us up on our offer to design a poster, please contact Mandy and I at FirstFridayMarkets@gmail.com.

Thanks!

May Indie Market Pictures

2010-05-19T11:36:00.002-04:00

Thank You/Call To Vendors

2010-05-10T13:30:00.004-04:00

The May Market came and went just as fast as the winds blew this past week. Those of you that were at the Shindig or the Kernersville Spring Folly know just what I'm talking about. =) Fortunately, the winds spared us and gave us a gorgeous day and night to work with. It turned out to be a wonderful Market, full of many talented artists and an awesome crowd to support us. Thank you so much to each and every one of the vendors, musicians and fans that came out! We truly do appreciate your support!

Hopefully we'll have some pictures to post for you in the next few days. If anyone else was out taking pictures, please feel free to send them to us at FirstFridayMarkets@gmail.com and we'll post them as well.

We're now gearing up for the June Market and are looking for vendors to fill our lot. If you're interest in participating, please click on the Vendor Application tab above, fill out and submit the form, then submit your payment via Paypal. If you have any questions or problems, please contact us by email.

Thank you again for helping us keep the Indie Markets going!!!

Chris

9 More Days Til the May Market

2010-04-28T00:17:00.014-04:00

Wow! Time sure has flown this month. I can't believe we're already in the countdown until the May Market. 9 more days and it'll be here!!!

We have plenty in store for all of the folks who grace us with their welcomed presence. =) We have some awesome new vendors for you this month, as well as some of your Indie Market favorites. We even have a Caricature Artist coming out... a first for the Market. We're totally excited about all of the wonderful and talented vendors we have, so please be sure to come out and show them your support.

Our local musicians for this month are:

Serendipity The eclectic Jazz/Folk duo of Alison Perkins & Jeremy Wood. They will be playing from 5:30pm - 7:00pm.

Rob Disner from TV Yellow An Indie Rock group who's members are Rob Disner, Kevin Cox, Ron Moore & Curt Meinhold. You'll remember Rob as the singer/guitarist from last months market. He (or they) will play from 7:00pm - 9:00pm.

If you would like to help us get posters up and pass out cards, please contact us at firstfridaymarkets@gmail.com. They're at the printer now and should be ready by the end of the week. Mandy and I cover the downtown Greensboro area pretty well, but if we can get some volunteers to put them up in other locations around Greensboro, Kernersville, Burlington, High Point, Browns Summit, etc. we would really appreciate it.

If you're on our Vendor Mailing List, you'll be receiving the June Vendor Application by email around the 1st of May. If you're just too excited about participating and can't wait that long, the App is already up here on the blog. Just click on the Vendor Application tab at the top of the page.

We'll see ya next week!

Looking for Vendors!

2010-04-12T21:37:00.003-04:00

We still have a few spaces available for the May 7th Indie Market. If you haven't submitted an application yet, there's still time (deadline is April 15th)!

A Few of our Many Pics from the April Market

2010-04-05T23:47:00.004-04:00

Thank you!

2010-04-05T22:27:00.002-04:00

Chris and I want to thank each and every one of our vendors for helping us make the April Market a huge success! We hope each of you were just as successful individually as we were as a whole. Everything about Friday night was awesome and we couldn't be more pleased. We also need to thank the crowd - turnout totally blew us away, especially since it was a holiday weekend. We knew it would be good, but it really surpassed our expectations.

We're already working on the planning for the May market! If you haven't filled out an application to be a vendor, please do it asap. The application deadline for the May 7th market is April 15th (tax day - you can't forget!). If you've already filled out an application, you can just submit your payment and send us an e-mail to FirstFridayMarkets@gmail.com and let us know you want to participate.

We hope May is even bigger than April - and hopefully a little bit cooler! See you then!

Looking for Vendors!

2010-03-30T20:27:00.004-04:00

Our first Indie Market of the year is only 2 days away (well, 3 depending on how you look at it)! We are going to have wonderful weather and we have awesome vendors lined up for your shopping pleasure!

To make May's First Friday Indie Market even more amazing (if that's possible), we're already gathering names. If you are interested in being a vendor, please fill out the application and submit your payment. If you're not ready to commit to being a vendor, or if you can't participate in the May First Friday Indie Market, please fill out the Vendor Mailing list form to the left so we can keep you in the loop about all of the Indie Market happenings.

Hope to see everyone on Friday April 2nd!!

5 More Days!

2010-03-28T20:43:00.008-04:00

I'm sitting here as all of these thunderstorms and tornado warnings go by, trying to think happy thoughts about the upcoming First Friday Indie Market. The weather is supposed to be absolutely perfect... 80 degrees and full of sunshine and blue skies. How much more perfect can it get!

For our first Market of the year, we got a little nostalgic about the design of our poster. We decided to use the same image from our very first Market (courtesy of Kill Taupe). Meet Gary... the cutest little Cyclops knitter I've ever seen.

If you go into the Downtown area of Greensboro, you'll see his cuteness plastered all over windows and inside many stores and restaurants. We're proud of Gary and just thrilled to have him represent the April Indie Market!

The April Market application is closed and we have all of the wonderful vendor that we need to fill our lot up. If you're interested in being a vendor in May, please feel free to contact us at FirstFridayMarkets@gmail.com or fill out the mailing list form to the left.

We'll see you all on Friday!!!

Chris

We're Back!!!

2010-03-24T10:19:00.000-04:00

The First Friday Indie Markets in Downtown Greensboro are back for 2010. Our first Market will take place on Friday, April 2nd from 4pm -9pm at our usual lot... corner of South Elm & MLK.

Not to throw any names out at you (cuz we wouldn't want to brag or anything), but a few of the almost 30 awesome vendors we'll have in April are:

Yummy Goodness Bake Shoppe
Barehanded Press
Anna Mae Breads
The Gnome Shack
Jordan Grace Owens Art & Illustration
Wendy's Sweet Shop

Of course Mandy (of Purple Hook) and myself (Ikow Designs) will be set up as well.

It's been a big undertaking for us to keep the Markets going, but we feel it's really worth the effort. We love the atmosphere, vendors and all of the wonderful customers that come out to help us support local handmade.

Tell your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers... basically everyone you come across about us. Help us start off the April Market with a BANG!!!

Hope to see you out there!