Taste of Central West End.... Fun, Lots of Sun, and the Best Customers EVER

June 15, 2009
This year, we had a booth for the second time at the Taste of Central West End Festival in the hip and happenin' CWE area of St. Louis.

I (Malene) drove into a horrendous and violent tornado-warning storm storm (what we like to call normal summer weather in the Midwest) while commuting from Atlanta to St. Louis for the festival. Because every radio station in ears-length was screaming out the fact that a tornado was on the ground - and that I was driving right into the heart of the storm at night - I surged on and did not let the rain dampen my spirits and hoped for a great weekend (okay, I'm completely lying... I was scared out of my mind)....

scary St. Louis weather (seriously, ya'll)

I had thoughts of turning around and stomping right back to lovely Atlanta (where we only have to worry about the heat wave), but persevered. I arrived safely in St. Louis two hours after my scheduled arrival time and kissed the ground when I arrived at Mari's house.

Mari did this festival by herself last year, and realized it was an extraordinarily busy event. With the success of last year, we decided to give it another go with the two of us this time around.

our booth at the festival

Despite the scary commute to St. Louis, the weather over the 2 and 1/2 day festival was FAB-U-LOUS, and the customers came out in droves. Admittedly, were placed in quite an odd area off the main drag of vendors, but were placed toward an exit area, which resulted in a great flow of buying customers.

standing room only!

Anyone who has ever worked a festival knows that it's a trying, tiring effort that that takes all the strength you can muster. This particular festival went from 11am to 11pm every night, so we needed help just to make it throughout the day. We're thankful to have wonderful friends and family who are always willing to stop by and help. Big "ooo-ooooh's!" and hugs to our mama and great friends, Mike, Cara and Liz. We can't thank you enough.

We also had the pleasure of neighboring with a fellow jewelry designer named Melissa. Her jewelry was also chunky and funky, and she had a good weekend overall. Spending time with her and her parents was great fun.

our beautiful mama modeling our necklace and ring

the brains and the brawn for the weekend, our friend, Mike

our booth neighbor and fellow jewelry designer, Melissa

The biggest advantage of doing festivals is that we get to meet our buyers in person. There's no better test of your product and marketing efforts than seeing how your own product presents itself in the face of the potential buyer.

I'm proud - and unabashed - to say that our customers are the BEST new business owners could ask for... they're always honest in their assessment of our new designs, and are happy to give recommendations (and plenty of compliments) on our lines as a whole.

As it says in the liner of this entry, we also have the most fly and cutest customers ever! From indie, to sophisticated, to conservative, we create designs that look great on all. The best part?

Our oh-so-cool customers allow us to take photos of them wearing their purchases! If ever you visit our website - http://www.iidesigns.com/ - and are unsure whether or necklaces will fit right on your frame, or whether they're too big for you, just take a look at these lovely ladies wearing some of our creations:

yellow jade woven necklace

rust recycled palm wood woven necklace

green recycled palm wood double woven necklace

gray agate slab single strand necklace

It was a fantastic festival full of great music, great food, and great people. We look forward to seeing you all next year!

The 2009 Indie Craft Experience - Beehive Style

05/31/2009

This weekend heralded the 2009 Indie Craft Experience Festival in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. For the first time, at the ICE Festival, 12 talented designers from the Beehive Co-op joined together to create one big "mega booth." While sales were slower than last year, the ultimate result was a day of fun filled with lots of light, laughter and learning.

I.C.E. Patrons braving the heat Our Beehive "Mega Booth"

For this link, I'm going to give some shouts out to my fellow designers, and give you links to their websites so you can learn a little more about them and their wonderful products.

Brandi of Just Add Honey

Hazel Studstill of HJ Designs

Carrie and Sara of Brightshop

My booth, shared with uber-talented designers and friends, Shannon Edwards and Tasha Hussey

My boothmate, Shannon Edwards of Shannon Lynnette

My other wonderful boothmate, Tasha Hussey of Tasha Hussey Designs

Amy Leff of Throwing Stars Jewelry and Julia Farrill of Red Bird Ink

Julia and Amy shared a booth with the inimitable Arwen Fine of A. Fine Shirt

Alejandra Dunphy of Alejandra Dunphy Designs

An old Beehiver and friend, Wendy Burnley of Bella Bee

I encourage you to check out each of their sites. Their products are well made, handmade, and are local! Shop away!!!

Cold as I.C.E. - On a 90+ Degree Day

June 9, 2008


The Indie Craft Experience's "Lucky #7" Festival was this past weekend, and iram-inal designs was a proud participating vendor. Although the weather would just not quit (never creeping below 90 degrees), those who love all things handmade came out in full force.


Our setup for this fair. Normally, we are enclosed, with a boutique-type feel... however, the heat prevented any of the vendors from keeping their tent walls down.


Customers looking at the variety of vendors.


A lovely iram-inal customer wearing amethyst and ruby quartz cluster earrings. She was sweet to let me take her photo for our blog!

Set in beautiful Centennial Olympic Park, folks munched on frozen lemonades and purchased all of the handmade goodies offered by a wide variety of artists, from jewelry makers, to handmade handbags, to specialty stamps. Surely, there was an item for all.

As my sister and I both had festivals on this weekend (me in Atlanta, and Mari in St. Louis), I found it was particularly difficult doing the fair without her. My neighbors, however, were wonderful about watching my booth when I had to step away, and bringing cold (and much welcomed) drinks throughout the day.


Katherine Smith of KSmith Jewelry out of Atlanta. Beautiful, elegant pieces made with semiprecious stone and silver.


Sarah Neuburger and friend of The Small Object. She makes a wonderful variety of items, from paper goods, to custom stamps. You may see her items at http://www.thesmallobject.com/


The crazy, wonderful girls of The Mod Dog, out of Atlanta. They create unique, custom designed collars, leashes and pet accessories for your dogs and cats. You may see their collection at http://www.themoddog.com/.

Also, a big thank you to the I.C.E. organizers and all of their helpers for pulling off another wonderful event. iram-inal looks forward to participating next year!