Out & About: SF Etsy Team Marketplace

After my last post about new beginnings, I thought taking some time to get reinspired and reconnect with the handmade community would be a great first step.  The local Etsy team in San Francisco was doing a few weekends of pop up markets so I decided to check it out and see what the SF craft scene was all about.

I found most things felt somewhat similar to marketplaces I'd been to before which was honestly super encouraging for me. I was worried the handmade craft world would feel like it's taken off and gone way beyond me at this point. I don't know if I was worried about my skill level, my trend awareness or what. The whole time I thought "yeah, I could totally make things that would be appropriate to sell here!" and it was a huge relief!

My favorite vendor by far was Bottle of Clouds! I think I loved her stuff because it was very similar to the jewelry I used to make for The Morose Bee as far as aesthetic goes. Cute, silly, random, and awesome earrings and broaches!

My spoils! I ended up picking up mostly gifts for other people, but the beet earrings from Bottle of Clouds are for me. I had a great time and felt like everything was cute and very reasonably priced. I'm hoping to get my act together and join the SF Etsy Team! I just want to refine my shop a bit more before I put myself out there. I feel like things for The Morose Bee in San Francisco are looking up!

Future Craft Shows/Marketplaces to explore:

Patchwork Show- November 4th
Jack London Square, Oakland, CA

link here

Renegade Craft Faire- November 11 & 12
Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA

link here

To Endings and What Comes Next

Yesterday I received my termination receipt from the state of Texas for Made With Moxie. I was both sad and relieved to finally be completely finished with that short lived company. I could have put a lot of effort into it and really tried to hustle in San Francisco to make that little mobile art company happen, but I felt totally fried. I spent a lot of time owning and managing small businesses, sacrificing my personal life, spinning my wheels financially, and being in a continuous state of being overwhelmed. I knew owning a creative business was never going to make me a millionaire, but I loved my work. At some point, the hustle starts to eat you up from the inside. I couldn't help but wonder if I was doing Made With Moxie because I felt like I needed to. Working at pottery studios was most of my adult life. Maybe I was just caught in the flow? Mindlessly ordering pottery and making flyers with paint splatter stock photos because it's all I'd been doing for the last 8 years? I started to lose momentum, but eventually other things in my life started to fill up the space. I wanted to sew all of the time and not just paint. I was working at a preschool and really enjoying interacting with kids on more areas than just art. I did a ton of roller derby officiating and travel. I wasn't really focusing on my business 100%. And when the abrupt time came to move to San Francisco, it just felt right to pull the plug. It was all rather unceremonious. I made a post on Facebook to my friends, but just sort of went about deleting all my website and social media accounts without any real mention of what I was doing on a professional level. Now that my Certificate of Termination has arrived, it feels necessary and cathartic to write this.

Ironically, this weekend is the big Contemporary Ceramic Studio Association Convention. The one I went to for my business. The one I've taught classes at. And friends I made through that industry are posting about their travels and packing on social media. It feels strange not only to not be going, but to not even have realized it was coming up. What's even stranger is I don't really care.

So now I'm back at the beginning. Just me and The Morose Bee.

I'm not sure where to go next. I have a lot of jewelry and I'm working on adding new sewing projects into the mix. Although I've been making so many dang quilts, I'm not sure if I'll ever get to them. No longer being tethered to the ceramics industry means I can do whatever I want and that feels wonderful and terrifying. I know I want to keep making and maybe even do a few craft shows again, but I feel like I need to find my voice as a maker again. What is it that I want to put into the world? The San Francisco Etsy team has a market this weekend and that feels like step one. Take a little time to browse beautiful things made by other people and reassess. It's been so longer since I've been to a handmade marketplace, I don't even what's "cool" anymore! Are people still into owls? Is everyone still making soy candles? What's going on, crafters?!

So that's where I'm at. There's no amazing revelations or conclusions here yet, but I feel hopeful.