Good lookin' group you got there!

The Norfolk Craft Mafia is super-pleased to announce our amazing lineup of vendors for Handmade Parade! We have over fifty talented artists and crafters from Canada to North Carolina that will be showcasing their wares on Saturday, November 10th! Come get your holiday shopping done in one place! Forget the malls and their crazy parking lots and the same old mass-produced items. Buy handmade, support an independent artist!

DC Craft Mafia Polymer Clay Eclectic The Luna Cat Elemental Beads Lark Studio George Ryan Meryl Jones Snow Penguin Love Brenda Maust & Kristina Bourlotos Emotional Baggage MASHULU Autumnomatopoeia Designs Twist Style Virginia Design Company Pizzatron Craftology: A Cocktail of Mixed Media and Craft Disquieting Designs Noosed Kitty Sloane Solanto Interimaginational Institute for Fantastical Exploration & Cartography Wolfie and the Sneak Craftscharms & Collectibles Cherry Mama Amanda Page Stephens Jeff Crag Art Slipstream

ETCPLUS4 K.Parel Design Annie Moon Primitives Creative Treasures Twittering Bird & Beth White Pimento Designs Armstrong Industry Verotricot Kutchicoo Laura Geimer & Rebecca Chase Keen Designs LC Beads 2 Wear Aniela Gray Designs Martha Thrasher Jellybeans Bracelets Infintus Lilypad Creations Bee's Knees Studio Molebaby Buttons Missing Monsters The Monkey and Me Lizzelizzel & Stuntkid Tasha, Kristal & Melissa McKelvey Historically Inspired Designs A Well Mannered Young Lady Lokahi Spa

A sad goodbye

Tomorrow night we are having the Burlington Craft Mafia Traveling Trunk Show at Red Square from 5-8pm. It will be a fantastic evening with handmade goods and the sweet indie-pop sound of Colin Clary and a Magog.

This night is also very special to us because one of our founding members Holly of misshawklet is moving and this will be her final event and last official day with the Burlington Craft Mafia. It was about a year ago when Erinn contacted Holly and I to start this group. We had high hopes of establishing a strong group here in Burlington that would help grow and support the crafting community. Holly has been an amazing member of the BCM. I have learned so much from her and she has done even more to bring this group to where it is today. She will be greatly missed. We wish her all the luck on her journey. Thanks for everything Holly!

WCM Trunk Show

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to our trunk show at Bloom (& to Mimi for hosting us)! We had a great turnout and a lot of really positive feedback for our group and all our work.

Erica of Anneliese & Jen of Tilting Swiftly










Viva Metal Jewelry & Jen of SoulDivine










Jessy (right) of Jessy's Dolls





photos by Darrell Jesonis

Norfolk Craft Mafia TV Debut!

The Norfolk Craft Mafia is making our TV debut! We (we being myself and Amanda) filmed a little segment this morning with Vanessa Coria from WVEC Channel 13 about handmade gifts and the Norfolk Craft Mafia!



I got an email last week from Vanessa saying that she was doing a story about holiday gift giving on a budget, she had stumbled across our website and wanted to do a segment about handmade! With a trembling voice I called Amanda and blurted out, "Do ya wanna be on TV?!?!" We decided to do it and I called all the mafia troops together to get some great handmade items to show off.



We filmed it all at Amanda's house this morning. Here she is getting mic'd up like a pro.



Vanessa and her cameraman (I'm so embarrassed I don't remember his name) were consummate professionals and made us feel totally at ease.



We had an awesome showing from our mafia members, who rallied so quickly to get me their lovely handmade items! We had mixed media collage by Jeannine, handmade plush and a quilted pillow by Cassie, more plush and accessories by Charmaine, pottery by Ashley, knitwear by Tasha, everything from tissue cozies to hair clips to plush by Amanda and also a few of my doggie items.

It was a great experience and I'm so glad we had the opportunity. The story will air next Friday, October 19th on WVEC Channel 13 as part of their Daybreak show. Vanessa's segment is at 5:23 and 6:24 a.m. We will post the video as soon as it's online!

See more pictures from the filming right here!

Stitch Rock Roundup

The Hollywood Craft Mafia packed up and headed north this weekend for the Stitch Rock indie craft fair and bazaar in Delray Beach, FL -- and we're so glad we did! The show was a real testament to the thriving indie arts scene in the Sunshine State, with a line of shoppers forming outside even before the doors opened. The show was also a great chance for all of us to meet in person many of the designers and businesspeople who we'd been admiring from afar on Etsy or other online outlets. Add in a fashion show, rockin' music throughout the day, and truly exceptional catering (with cupcakes!), and you've got the equation for one of the best craft fairs in the area. Check it out:



A really, really full house in downtown Delray


Kachina Herbs' sweet-smelling setup


Journals, jewelry and more from Dragonfly Crafts


Ciara Loves You!'s cat toys and clutches (and hey, is that free candy?)

Here's hoping the awesome Amanda (http://withsugarontop.etsy.com) organizes yet another successful event next year!

Mama Mia! Cookin' with the Petaluma Craft Mafia

It's no secret the crafty chicks in Petaluma love cooking, which is a good thing, 'cause we also love eating. Though we've posted tantalizing hints at our cookbook on the PCM web site almost two months ago, our famiglia has decided to change our cookbook a bit and include the entire community of Petaluma.

We figured that since so many of us have been touched by cancer in some way, (I lost my 62-year old mother to cancer late last February), that so many people in our community might want to donate recipes and stories about their family. And they are pouring in, along with some awesome photos!
Our only concern is that the book is gonna be G-normous, so we might have to get selective and pare it down, and perhaps do our own craft famiglia book separately.

If you're just itchin' to add to your cookbook collection, this is gonna be one big spicy meatball of a cookbook - but don't fret- there are plenty of vegetarian recipes too!

Our goal is to raise awareness about the cancer that "whispers" - Ovarian Cancer. Never did I think somebody so close to me could fall to cancer let alone ovarian cancer. And ladies, ovarian cancer does not run in my family nor does it's gene related cousin breast cancer, it is one of the deadliest cancers and spreads very quickly with barely a symptom until it's at the later stages.

If you check out the symptoms at ocrf.org and find yourself experiencing them, and your doctor casually dismisses them - please get a second opinion or insist on an ultrasound and CA-125 test. It could save your life. Unfortunately, my adorable mother is a cattle rancher's daughter, and is unusually stoic and stubborn. Couple my mother's stoic stubborness with her internist's casualness = disaster. She was finally diagnosed a year later at stage 3. By this time her symptoms couldn't be ignored and she was in such deep pain.

Okay, I'm down from my soap box. I feel very passionate about this. Heck of a way to start my first Craft Mafia blog, isn't it?

We're donating our profits from our cookbook to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, ocrf.org, and Hospice of Petaluma. The cookbook should be ready by early next year.

Happy October, and happy birthday all you Librans. Hope you've all been better at staying out of the Halloween candy than I have! :)

Ciao Bellas

The Sacramento Craft mafia makes their TV debut

At 7am a bunch of us arrived at Sampino's Deli to get ready for a spot on Good Day Sacramento! The people at Sampino's were really nice. They made us some excellent cappuccinos and provided us with some yummy muffins and pastries.

We were interviewed by the lovely and talented Lisa Gonzales. She was a hoot! She fit right in. Part of the segment is up on the Good Day Sacramento web site. There's a part where Lisa kisses my ring! Anyway, you have to watch...

Check it out at http://cbs13.com/video/?id=25572@kovr.dayport.com!