A Hint…

It’s a hint of things to come! Remember to give the gift of handmade for that special someone this Valentine’s Day. Fusion always has something for everyone and stop by soon because we’ll have a brand new artists coming at the end of this month!

Tent Weight Tutorial

Back in 2009, I did my first outdoor juried art show. Besides being super-excited I finally got in after trying futility for 5 years, I felt a moment of panic. There was so much I had to do! Purchase a 10 x 10 tent, build inventory, come up with a layout for the booth… and oh yeah, I need tent weights.

Tent Weights. Tent Weights so my tent will not blow over and damage my jewelry or for that matter, anyone else’s artwork. So let me emphasize… Having tent weights are super important for any outdoor show.

There are several ways I’ve seen artists use to weigh down tents. I’ve seen cement blocks, gallon-size buckets filled with water or sand or just a simple stake in the ground to keep tents from blowing over. While all are viable ways to weigh down a tent, none of these options are close to the 30-35lb per leg requirement at most art & craft shows. Why so heavy? Storms with with strong winds. Storms that come out of nowhere. Check out these photos from the Columbus Arts Festival in June 2011. This strong storm developed in less than 30 minutes. The better you weigh your tent, the better chance you have.

So back then, I ended up making these streamlined tent weights. They are 4-inch wide, 3ft long PVC pipe filled with concrete. With the eyelet on top, I can use rope to easily hang them. It took me an afternoon to make, with drilling the holes for the handles taking the longest amount of time. Trust me, you want the handles to make these easy to carry. If I was picky, I would have added another end-cap so you wouldn’t see the concrete.

But I was tired and practically melting the July heat. And if you ever lived in St. Louis during the summer, you would understand. All in all, it was about $80 to make the weights and they weigh approximately 35 lbs each.

The weight should be enough to meet the requirements most shows and festivals require. A very good investment if you will be doing outdoor shows for the long run.

Written by Melissa Villadiego of Villa Design

Classroom 101: Helpful Hints for Applying

I mentioned in my last post that I came to the crafting community through an interest in making things. As often as we might say that we make things for ourselves, I think that most of us also want other people to see what we’ve created. We show and share it with our family and friends, but there comes a point when we want more. So how did I get out of my basement and start meeting people? Well there are actually several routes to “fully realized craft enlightenment”. Let me tell you about this one… becoming a vendor in an art Co-op.

Fusion recently had its first quarter Open House for 2012. Basically, this is a fancy way of saying we had a party and anybody who was interested in being a vendor or consigner in the shop was invited.  I love open houses, because I get to meet new people, and see a lot of really cool art work.  Oh, and there’s wine and food too which is awesome. Artists often come into the shop asking about how to become a vendor, and I always steer people towards these events. Don’t forget that you’re not just making stuff and sending it out into the world, but you’re also becoming part of a community. This is  an opportunity to meet the working artists,  ask any questions you may have, and show some of your work. Remember that while you are likely going in planning on selling yourself and your work, we are doing the same thing. The Open House allows us all to get to know each other and to decide whether we’re a good fit.

Fusions applications go live the day after the Open House. Basically, it’s looking for Who you are, What you sell, and Where we can see it. The hardest part of this for me was condensing what I had to say where I’m coming from and what I do as a crafter into 150 words. It’s important to make this information as clear, simple and brief as you can here at the beginning. That way, when you’re asked “So, what do you do?” at every event, family gathering, and high school reunion, you can tell people about the AWESOME work you create without stuttering and saying um, too much. This is also called your “elevator pitch”, because it should tell everything you need to say in the amount of time it takes to go from one floor to the next in an elevator.

I talked last week about Pinterest being a great place to show the work you’d like to be doing. Sort of a map to your style. Well, what about what you’re doing now? Where do you show that? From the comments:

“I currently do not have a website but would love to up load some images so you can see my work. Can you tell me how I can do this?”

There are a lot of options out there for showing your work online, and I strongly recommend that anyone working in the art field have a web presence to share it. Personal, dedicated websites are great, and really should be the ultimate goal of our internet efforts, but if you’re starting from scratch I think I’d start a little smaller.  A public photo album on Facebook with a few examples of your artwork is a great place to start. Most of us share photos there anyway, so it’s easy, free, and accessible to anybody who has a Facebook account.  A couple other (free) places are Flickr, DeviantArt, and ConceptArt.org.  All of these are existing art communities where you can get to know other people, share your work, and even get feedback.

There are also a lot of artists who just have a blog. This lets them showcase what they are currently working on, as well as engage their viewers by talking about inspiration, process, and techniques…or just show the work if that’s all they want to do.  It’s like the wild west out there.  Ha-ha-ha!

Lastly, I can’t stress this enough. Make your work as easy to find for people as you can. The rest of the application is vital information, but if there is no link to photos of your work, most people will just skip your application. If the link to your page is mistyped and doesn’t work…What I’m saying is, this is your job. This is your business. Once you take it out of your basement, and into the real world, crafting stops being just a hobby.

I’m so glad to be a part of this community, and the people involved are so great about helping each other out. We all want each other to succeed, and that’s the great thing about joining a co-op. We’re all in this together, and we all get out of it what we put into it. Do you have any stories about your trip from your crafting closet into the big wide world? Please leave us a comment, we’d love to hear them!

• Links:
• ConceptArt.org
• Deviant Art
• Flickr
• Pinterest

Pet-acular Holiday Bazaar at Purina Farms

In December, Fusion artists were invited to develop a children’s craft workshop for the Pet-acular Holiday Bazaar at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, MO. Inspired by the pet theme, Fusion artists Christine Warner, Dana Diaz de Leon, and Amy Poos designed furry, fuzzy animals using pipe cleaner frames and cotton ball stuffing, wrapped with soft furry yarn.

The children loved making their own animals, and dogs and reindeers proved to be their favorites. But we were a bit surprised by how much parents loved to make them, too! In most cases, as parents saw the process and what the children created, they wanted to dive in and make one. It proved to be an idea that people could quickly learn and expand on to make their own creatures. We saw lots of creative ideas, including ducks, squirrels, and even a furry fish!

If you or your group are interested in a class to make yarn animals, please contact us at info@fusionbysmh.com or (636)536-0755. For a list of other classes and parties, see our web site www.fusionbysmh.com or stop by the store for a brochure.

Written by Amy Poos of Twice Baked Arts 

Thanks for Applying!

Thank You Letterpress Card by Print for the Love of Wood,  via Etsy

Thanks to everyone who applied for the Spring quarter at Fusion! Applications are now closed. Our next Open House for the Summer quarter will be April 9, 2012.

Apply Now! ~ Spring 2012

Applications for the Spring quarter is now open! To apply to be a vendor, please click the Apply tab in the menu bar. You will find the link to apply to Fusion. Remember, the deadline to apply for the Spring quarter is January 16, so don’t forget!

Fusion is on Pinterest!

How do you organize your thoughts, ideas and inspiration? Maybe you have a bulletin board in your studio like this one that’s been in mine ever since I’ve had a place to call a studio. What if you don’t have the space for something like this though? What if somebody came up with a better way to do the same thing?  Have you heard of Pinterest?

Like most people, I came to the crafting community through an interest in making things. For me, it was making puppets and models, drawing pictures and making things out of wood. I’m old enough to remember a time when there wasn’t a world wide web. When I was in high school and college I would scour the junk shops and libraries for books and magazines that even mentioned these things. I’d watch every “behind the scenes” special and wore out VHS tapes (remember those) as I tried to figure out how they did this thing, or what that detail was. Then I discovered message boards on the internet, and suddenly there were all these people interested in the same things I was. We were all willing to share what we knew, and point each other in the right directions. As the world of the internet has grown, so has the amount of information on it, and while Google, Wikipedia, and Youtube are great ways to look up tutorials and inspiration, a better way to share these things has finally come along.

If you haven’t heard of pinterest yet, our friend Rob Lammle wrote a really good beginner’s guide that I encourage you to check out.

Personally, I think of it as a way to curate projects, ideas, and images that inspire me in a way that I can both save and share them. It allows me to show people the things I like, the styles that I’m drawn to, and the types of projects I’d like to be doing. Alongside my website or blog, this allows me to give a more complete picture of who I am and how I work to potential customers, contacts, collaborators, and clients. Instead of the message boards of yore, it’s become virtual pin boards…but this blog isn’t about me, it’s about Fusion. Which brings me to another cool aspect of the site, you can set up boards with multiple contributors. Fusion has set up a group pinboard where we can share things that inspire us as a group, and we’re all really excited about sharing it with you!

So what inspires you? What have you always wanted to do? What new thing will you learn today? Drop us a comment! We’re always interested in hearing from you too!

Links:

• Fusion
• The Upcycle Exchange
• Pinterest: A Beginner’s Guide

Green with Indie

There is still time to apply to Green with Indie, a unique eco-friendly indie & craft show being held at Webster University, March 10th!  Deadline is this Saturday, Jan 7 to apply. Check their website for more details.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2011 was a great year, that offered us all some exciting changes and opportunities to grow.  Some of the big things that happened here at Fusion include welcoming  several new artists and friends into the group.  It’s always an exciting thing when we have to push the back wall further into the shop to make room for new vendors! Speaking of the back of the shop, did you know that one of our  painters, Christine Warner, does art classes every Wednesday and Saturday? They are all-ages classes where she works with students individually on projects that they find interesting and stimulating.  What a great way to foster a sense of community and a love of art into kids and adults alike!

While we always love to have new artists and crafters join us, sometimes they leave us too. Sometimes that’s a source of excitement as well.  Our friend Jessi from I Am What I Am, left us this year to open her own store front in Saint Charles, I Am What I Am On Main Street. Sad as it is to see them leave the shop, it’s always exciting being with our friends as they move forward and succeed.

Well 2011 is behind us now, and we’re all looking forward to seeing what great things 2012 has to offer us. We’ve got a lot of great ideas for the new year here at Fusion, including expanding our involvement in the crafting community, bringing all the great ideas and people out there in the Saint Louis area together.  A part of that is increasing our web presence to include not only our Facebook Fan page, but also this newly redesigned website, a pinterest board of things that inspire us, and this blog.

Kermit the Frog once said “I’ve got a dream too. But it’s about singing and dancing and making people happy. That’s the kind of dream that gets better the more people you share it with. And…well…I’ve found a whole bunch of friends that share the same dream, and that makes us kind of like a family.”  One of our new years resolutions is to keep this blog updated regularly, not only with event updates, but also sharing thoughts and insights behind our artists, projects and community.  What resolutions do you have for the upcoming year? What things would you like to see us talk about? Leave us a comment!

And one last thing.  Our open house for artists wanting to become vendors is coming up on Monday, January 9th, at 6:00! Mark it on your calendars and come out and see us!

Call for Artists!

I know it’s hard to think of Spring when we just celebrated the new year, but Fusion’s Open House is just right the corner and we are looking for a fresh influx of artists, crafters and designers at Fusion. On Monday, January 9, 2012, please come by  anytime between 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. and enjoy a little wine, some snacks, get a feel of the space. We’ll be here to ask any questions you may have.

New for 2012, Fusion is now accepting Consigners! We are continuing to grow, so stop on by. Hope to see you there!

WHAT: Fusion Open House
WHEN: Monday, January 9, 2012, anytime from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
WHERE: 209 Chesterfield Mall, Chesterfield, MO 63017, 2nd level in the Sears Wing