Hi, I’m Alexa. The brains and hands behind foamy wader. I design my handmade items for women (and even some for men) with varying and eclectic tastes; just like me. A little something for everyone or for every mood.  I love working with gemstones, silver, gold as well as found objects. I draw inspiration for pieces from movies, music, books, nature and even funny quotes from my friends.

Fun facts about me:
I am an amateur filmmaker, I love karaoke, I compulsively organize and I can peel oranges in a single peel.
The name “foamy wader” comes from wading in the foam of the sea or the suds emerging from a soapy fountain.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? I have been making jewelry since 2007. My mother has been creating since I was a small child and I learned through osmosis.  I began my jewelry making journey while working for a bank with no specific goals for my business, but just to see where it took me.  That day jo is now a thing of the distant past and I spend my days doing what I love.

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. Typically I will shop for stones or go hunting for cool antique trinkets and let inspiration grow from them.  Sometimes I will have a specific idea of what I want to make without interacting with the materials, but usually I let the stones tell me what they want to become.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? The best thing about Making for a living is working with my hands and knowing that there are people out in the world who are enjoying something tangible that I made by my own two hands.

The worst thing is doing it all myself. Juggling managing my Etsy shop, shipping, restocking, working on display, scheduling travel to shows and the dreaded taxes takes up a lot of time that could be spent creating pieces.  What I really need is an intern for all that.

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? There is no “wrong”.  Whatever you can think of that you truly enjoy, someone else will truly enjoy too.  That was a major motivator in moving forward with the Knit Beard concept.

Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/foamywader

Hi!  I’m Cody Vrosh. I’m an illustrator and I run an independent small press called Binary Winter Press with my wife, Sheatiel Sarao, who writes and designs. We make original art, books and apparel inspired by the things we love best, from robots and fairytales, steampunk and Art Nouveau.

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. The books and art spring from stories we we want to hear that nobody has told yet.  All the books are printed and hand-pressed in our workshop.  I make my art using a process I call “Wood, Water & Fire”.  I paint on wood with watercolor, and then set it on fire.

The apparel designs incorporate a lot of science fiction elements without being too literal about it, we’re mad about the geek pride but we’d like to think stylishly so.  We get really excited coming up with them, because we get to wear them afterwards.  Everything is screenprinted by hand in eco-friendly waterbased inks on American Apparel.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? I’ve always had a strong DIY ethic and initially the idea that I’d be able to support myself with my artwork was both incredbily exciting and daunting at the same time.  Now, while I don’t have a “real” job, my surreal job keeps me plenty busy.  Sheatiel is a software engineer, and dreams of one day building a robot minion that she can have do her day-job for her so she can focus on writing. 

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? If you want to make art, you have to do it.  It’s easy to waste time thinking about new projects or talking about the art you make when you need to be in the studio creating.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with drawing gasmasks and have recently started a Gasmask-A-Day blog: http://codyvrosh.blogspot.com/

You can check our our websites here…
www.BinaryWinter.org
www.CodyVrosh.com

…and our shops here…
www.BinaryWinter.etsy.com
www.CodyVrosh.etsy.com

My name is Carrie Collins, owner of Fabric Horse. All Fabric Horse products are incredibly functional and all handmade in Philadelphia for both men and women. Originally designed for urban cycling our products expand far and beyond. The utility belts are perhaps what we are best known for, especially our originally designed U-Lock Holster made from seat belts of junked cars. Everything we make uses recycled, reused and new materials to make the most durable product possible.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? After 6 required internships during my undergrad in Industrial Design I knew I would start my own business. Having been raised by two parents that either made most things they needed or knew how to fix what they already had I grew up learning to be self sustainable. After working all sorts of jobs (mainly for R.E.Load bags) for a bunch of years and running an art gallery I am now doing FH full time. I started Fabric Horse not necessarily in response to the craft scene out there (which I was honestly somewhat oblivious to at the time) but because I believe in domestic manufacturing and healthy work environments. I use FH as a vehicle for any and all projects I take on which include traveling to teach skill building workshops to sewing co-ops, art installations, costumes for parades, or working on the set of a film.

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. One of my bottom lines is to be original. In a design world where everyone rips everyone else off this can be challenging. Especially now when several companies across the globe are now ripping me off. It is the nature of the beast. We do our best to supply our market with the most functional, durable, sustainable, and original products . . . and at times we pay tribute to those timeless designs that everyone has grown to love.

What’s the best thing about what you do? The best thing about running your own company is doing what you love and doing it well. Once you realize that you truly can do anything you want in life the world becomes your oyster. And the worst? The worst thing about running your own company is going through a recession doing everything you can to afford payroll. Once you have amazing skilled workers, they become your biggest asset.

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? The best advice I have heard is that there is an inevitable ebb and flow in business. Nothing stays the same and you have to ride the wave of change. When we freeze up in fear that is when everything can slip away. Taking risks are the ways we make great leaps. Another great piece of advice is no matter what you make, somebody will like it and buy it. You might have it for a while, but it will make that person’s day someday.

Our website will be undertaking a complete overhaul this spring!  Keep an eye out for our new products and look book.
www.fabrichorse.com
http://fabrichorse.blogspot.com/

I am Samantha, one of the members of the Sweet Dreams Cooperative. I am 18 years old and in 12^th grade at Lincoln High School. We are young women between the ages of 14-19 who live here in San Francisco. We work as a team to create several products: lavender eye pillows, dream pillows, yoga mat bags, sachet and zipper pouches. All products are hand crafted. We are a vendor to stores around the city, in West Marin and in Pescadero. As coop members we participate in all aspects of Sweet Dreams: product design, inventory, production, marketing, sales etc.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? Turning Heads Sewing & Fashion Design Program mentored students to start our sewing cooperative. The craft business is fun and it’s interesting to create something out of nothing. Attending school is our day job.

What do you like best, coming up with ideas or executing them? Executing the ideas.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? The best thing is working with others in a team. The coop is always fun and always challenges me to do better. The worst is traveling from school to the Turning Heads studio because Lincoln is across the city and buses are unreliable.

What are your creative influences? Making products that are useful, practical and needed.

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? The best advice was to make a business plan and the importance of market research. Before we developed our final yoga mat bag we went to Yoga Tree in SF and interviewed the retail buyer. This was very helpful! The best advice has been always measure – it is most important!

How do you stay inspired? Learning about business is inspiring. Also in the coop we are inspired to grow as a team and to grow productively.

We are passionate about what we are doing and thank you for this opportunity to be in Bazaar Bizaar

Learn more: http://www.sweetdreamscoop.org/
Learn more: http://www.keepturningheads.org/

My name is Debbie Huey and I am the creator, artist, writer and MAKER of Bumperboy. Bumperboy mostly consists of an all-ages comics series that combines whimsical characters, clever plot lines, and a whole lot of silliness. I was a late-bloomer in terms of reading comics and didn’t become hooked on them until my early 20s. Since then, I haven’t stopped reading comics and gained the courage to write my own. If I’m not writing or drawing the comics, I am usually creating Bumperboy merchandise that is inspired by the stories. My latest obsession is needle felting and I’m currently trying to build as many characters in the Bumperboy universe as I can.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? After going to my first indie comic book convention, I was completely inspired by comics and their creators. The comics industry has a great community that is enthusiastic and helpful, so it was easy to get started in writing and drawing my own. I’m currently making my attempt in dipping into the craft industry since I love to do both. I think the DIY aspects of both industries complement each other well. As for a day job, I work part-time at my local library as a Library Assistant. I love all of my jobs!

Describe your creative process when designing / making your product line. Most of my ideas come to me at random times, such as when I’m driving my car or taking a shower. So I keep a sketchbook with me at all times and I try to write down all of those ideas. I think of my sketchbooks as catalogs of my brain. Whenever I’m writing a story or crafting, I go through my sketchbooks and pull ideas from them and things eventually come together.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? The best thing about making comics and crafting is when people tell me that they enjoy my work. My goal in comics is to make people smile, even if it is just for a few minutes. The worst thing about what I do is the fact that comics currently do not get the respect that they deserve from the general public. Too many people out there think that comics are not “real books” and cast them off as junk.

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? Make sure that what you’re doing is something that you love. I don’t do comics and crafts for the money; I do it because I truly enjoy making things and I love to share my craft with others.

Learn more and shop at http://www.bumperboy.net

My name is Bill Robinson and I run a small business called Flimflammery. I sell original art prints, handmade recycled sketchbooks, paintings, bookmarks, pins, and greeting cards. I do all the art myself, which tends to be somewhere between cute and creepy.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? I’ve always been enticed by the idea of making money off my art. I remember as a kid I would get requests for handmade or hand painted gifts. When I realized that there was a market for art prints and handmade books I thought it would be the perfect venue for my work. By day I toil away in the video game industry, but by night I like to channel my creativity into personal projects.

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. It’s not very organized. I’ve been doing this now for a little over a year and I am starting to feel more comfortable with it. When I know I have a show coming up I like to sit down and make a list of all the cool new ideas I can think of. Then I have to go through and consider my costs for each item and whether it is feasible. If the final product is an art print, what size will sell best? What sort of packaging will I need for the item? How much time and effort will I have to put in versus the final profit? Will it be a labor of love or a moneymaker?

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? The best thing for me is meeting people and getting my name out there. Craft shows and comic conventions are terrific exposure for an artist that’s trying to build a brand. Also, just knowing that your art is hanging in someone’s house is a really fun feeling. That never gets old. The worst is probably the amount of time and organization involved in running a business. Keeping track of expenses, coming up with new ideas, actually producing products, knowing your competition, etc.

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? I would say the best advice is to make friends at every show you do. You will see these people over and over and there is a real community around these type of events. There tends to be a good rapport among the DIY indie craft/art crowd and most are happy and willing to share names of suppliers, printers, materials, processes, etc.

Anything else you would like to tell us about your business? Promos/coupon codes etc…for your website or other news can be included here. If you would like to check out my work, you can view my blog at http://flimflammery.com. I also have an etsy shop at http://flimflammery.etsy.com. I have plans for two books that will hopefully be self-published within the next year, so keep your eyes out for those.

Hi. I’m Amberry Jam. I’m a costume and fashion designer based in Texas (Houston and Austin to be specific).

I fell in love with the process of hat making and it just took over my life. Millinery combines the methodic, preciseness of pattern making to create a solid, well fitting foundation with the absurdness of asking yourself- “What completely unnecessary item do I feel like balancing on my head today?”

I recently launched a ready to wear line www.classic-harlequin.com.

It’s a fun site, erasing the line between costume and fashion to create unique pieces that can be worn everyday. But my favorite work is customorders. I adore creating one of a kind pieces of playful, wearable art.

The design process is different for each hat, but usually it’s begins with talking to the customer and sketching out different possibilities. After creating the base structure and layering with fabric, I trim the hat with ribbon, resale-shop jewelry, or found items.

Thanks to the unpredictablity of thrift stores, the final product is usually different (and better!) then originally designed. Top hat’s are my favorite thing to make, but the space required to haul that many tophats from Texas to Cali is a lot more than you would think! So the items at the San Francisco Bazaar are going to be smaller cocktail hats and ornate headbands. I’m so excited about Maker Faire and I can’t wait to see everyone else’s work!

Shop: http://classic-harlequin.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/amberry.jam

I live in a small old house in Oakland, Ca with my two funny little dogs and my very tall boyfriend and I have a peculiar propensity for things in miniature.

Eristotle is about fun and funky ways to decorate your pad and your life with reduce-reuse-recycle front and center to every design. All of my creations are designed and sewn by me using vintage, reclaimed or eco-friendly materials whenever possible.

I was raised with a recycling bin under the kitchen sink and a compost pile in the backyard. “Put your scraps in the compost bin like a good little hippy child” was heard at every meal. The ‘rents were kind of kidding about us being hippy children, but not about the composting! It is important to me to continue that line of eco-thinking with my business as much as I can.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? This seems to be a recurring theme amongst the crafty set; I’ve been crafting since I was a wee tot. I love how it seems like so many crafters started with paste, big fat crayons and plastic lanyard – and just kept that going into adulthood. I’ve always loved to make things, and turned it into a professional career when I finally figured out how. I went to school for Interior Design, and worked for a couple different architecture offices after. I had never really sold anything I made as a legitimate business, though. I decided crafting as a business was my next big adventure. I now moonlight (or maybe I should say “daylight”?) doing merchandising for the kids’ store, Monkey Bars in Alameda.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? I love playing with the fabrics, figuring out which ones go best with others for the best visual impact. And I love when people get excited about one of my pieces they bought. It’s so nice to get that appreciation from a customer on a piece I’m proud of. The worst? I feel like I’m not the greatest time-manager in the world. And I really feel that’s a key element to success in one’s business. Sometimes I get down on myself for it, but I try to see it as an opportunity to grow.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given about your business/craft practices? “you need an agent.”  We’ll see how that pans out. ;)

Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/eristotle
Tweet: http://twitter.com/eristotledesign
Stalk: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eristotle/