Vendor Spotlight: Melon Bee (Bevin Holmberg)

Ya-da-da! Melon Bee!!

Hola, readers!  We caught up with Bevin Holmberg of Melon Bee who will be sharing her space at The BIG THAW with Melissa Bankhead, seamstress extraordinaire.  We learned that Bevin is a recent Maine transplant (Welcome, Bevin!) and that she has a super cool ‘day job’ to help pay the bills…

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The BIG THAW:  What goodies can customers expect to see while they’re browsing at The BIG THAW?

Melon Bee:  Well, Melissa is going to have some really neat fabric items, like aprons, cute baby bibs, and sweet iPad covers.  She does fun fabric trades with her mom, all the way on the other coast in California.  I (Bevin) am going to bring prints of a series I painted… it’s an animal for every letter of the alphabet!  The originals are colored pencil, ink and water color.  I painted all the animals during a pretty miserable winter in Minnesota, and I really believe they helped me maintain some sanity!  I have also been working on some little painted panels inspired by Swedish textile patterns lately, and I will have a few at the sale.

Loggerhead Turtle by Melon Bee

TBT:  Lots of your work deals with animals and animals are our favorite.  Do you pick the ones you want to illustrate at random or for a reason?

MB:  Growing up, if I wasn’t outside exploring, I was inside pouring through world book encyclopedias, trying to draw all the interesting animals I found.  As a kid, I wanted to be a marine biologist, and my favorite animal was a manatee, so that was a given for the letter ‘m’ in this series, but I tried to make some stretches for most of the other letters!

TBT:  When you’re not painting what occupies your time?

MB: When I am not making art on my own, I am hiding in the backroom of Trader Joe’s, working on signage for the store.  I also love riding my bike and walking around Portland (don’t have a car)… there’s so much to explore!  I’ve been taking a ceramics class at Portland Pottery, too, which has been fantastic.

 

Melon Bee

TBT:  What do you love most about the Spring in Maine?

MB: Well, I actually just moved here in September, and the Fall was beautiful!  …So, I haven’t experienced a Maine Spring yet, BUT I am super excited because I imagine it’s similar to Minnesota.  People just come out of hiding, and everyone is thrilled to get outside and take a deep breath of fresh air.  There’s something about warmer weather after it’s been so cold that just makes your whole body relax!

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Thanks, Bevin!  You can find Melon Bee’s creations and more at The BIG THAW Arts, Crafts and Vintage Sale on Saturday, April 16th (this weekend!) at 10 Mayo Street (Mayo Street Arts Center).  Please email thebigthawportland@gmail.com if you have any questions!

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Vendor Spotlight: Lulubeans

Party Lights by Lulubeans

Today’s Vendor Spotlight is brought to us by Shanna Tice of The Makings of Shanna Tice.  We thank her very much for her time spent putting all this great information together!  You can find Lulubeans set up on the lower level of Mayo St. among the artist studios.  Without further ado…. Lulubeans!

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Basket of Locks by Lulubeans

Soft, dreamy, and luxurious are all things that come to mind when laying your eyes on April Newman of Lulubean’s hand crafted, hand painted fiber and hand spun yarns. April strives for the highest quality fiber when creating an artistic blend for hand spinners. It is also obvious by looking at her work, that she has a sophisticated and elegant color pallet with her hand dyed batches. There is also so much fun in her variety of juicy colors, and she pushes toward a very trendy and modern color combination with her craft as well. I can’t help but think of each batt of blended fibers as a unique one of a kind painting. Not only does April explore color, but she blends fiber in the most creative way using bamboo, faux cashmere, domestic wool, merino lamb, SW merino, sari silk fabric strips, mohair, Tussah silk, baby alpaca, Wensleydale locks, soy silk and kid mohair, and more!

Fiber and Spindles by Lulubeans

When I asked April what inspired her to begin her work as a fiber artist and what gave way to the start of ‘Lulubeans’ she replied, “I taught myself to knit when my first daughter was a toddler. Yarn kept my hands busy and soothed my busy mind. Once I had mastered knitting and purling, making my own yarn was the natural next step!” I then asked her what her favorite part about her work was and the answer didn’t surprise me! ” I love the functionality of what I do. It makes me so happy to know that fiber I have dyed will make a novice spinners first hand-spun yarn, or that a yarn I have spun will be lovingly knit into someone’s favorite hat. Making things that other people use to make things is a great and fantastic thing; the creative chain (and the joy of making!) just keep going, and going. Awesome.” One of her more popular items does just what she loves it to do:  teach others to spin. April sells a complete ‘Learn to Spin Drop Spindle Kit’ which includes one top whirl drop spindle, 4 ounces of handpainted domestic wool top (also called roving), clear, easy to follow drop spindle instructions AND hours and hours of fun! You want to give it a go, don’t you!?!

Walrus by Lulubeans

There is so much about the fiber arts community that excites April. ” I have so much admiration for so many artists and crafters. The fiber arts community is hustlin’ and bustlin’ and growing by leaps and bounds online *and* here in Maine. I’ve been so lucky to virtually meet so many talented people, and connect with so many fantastic artists right here in my home state.” Lulubeans has a wide variety of fiber available including beautifully finished hand spun yarn. April plans to show up at ‘The Big Thaw’ not only sharing her fiber wears to the public, but to meet and enjoy a day with fellow artists. ” I can’t wait for The BIG THAW! There’s going to be so much talent and positive energy in one place and it’s going to be so good to be a part of that!” I think we can all agree that we love ‘The Big Thaw’, but what we can also agree on we love the most is what ‘The Big Thaw’ will do to bring us together! YAY!

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Hear, hear, ladies!  The BIG THAW Arts, Crafts and Vintage Fair will be held THIS WEEKEND on Saturday, April 16th from 10am to 4pm at the Mayo Street Arts Center at 10 Mayo St.  We can’t wait!

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Art Fer Yer Walls, plus Facebook is Awesome

Speechless! I’ve literally never written a check for anything so cool as 100, limited edition, four-color screen prints of a fox, a bunny rabbit and two birds.  All of them signed and numbered, ready to share with the local universe (and beyond!)

 

so so so so so so nice!

I’ve made an Etsy listing for local people, click here if you’d like to purchase and pick up somewhere on the peninsula (I’m flexible and mobile).

Annnd here is a listing for those who can’t make it to the Portland, Maine peninsula or for those who are insanely busy like me (I hear ya, we’re nuts!) who would like me to ship it to you.  Really fantastic Spring colors, one of these is promised to a frame to hang in the hallway at my place!

 

look at the fox pop! bright, citrus orange against blues and greens!

The poster, which is printed in four colors on gorgeous, heavy-weight paper, will be for sale at the very reasonable price of $10 the day of the fair.  If you purchase in advance, however, the Etsy listings are 20% off at $8.  Coupon clipping be damned, here is a better way to make some savings!

We’ll be using proceeds from the sales of the posters to printing flyers, making proper sign-age the day of the event, populating Mayo Street with candy dishes full of delicious candy and so much more.

Oh!  Did I mention Emblem Studio was available for custom screen printing work?  Such excellent craftsmanship, we are so, so pleased here at The Big Thaw.

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Did you know The BIG THAW is on Facebook?

Well, it is.

Here is the group page:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_121923504545596

Here is the event listing:  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104897699588395&ref=ts

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Beginning tomorrow, The BIG THAW website will be shining the spotlight on our vendors so that all you shoppers can start making your wish lists and saving those pennies (quarters, dollars, benjamins) effectively!

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Sharing Means Caring: Apply With a Friend!

Hi, everyone!  Thanks for visiting The BIG THAW website.  You’re probably looking for more information about how to apply, so you can click on the tab at the top of this page that says “Apply!” to download the .pdf (please email littleeyedesigns at gmail dot com for a .doc file)

Sharing Means Caring. And nothing says caring like a heart-shaped outhouse window. By Little Eye Designs.

I was reflecting today on how huge the response has been already to what was just a seed of an idea at the beginning of January.  Phew!  I wanted to talk a little about how we encourage sharing tables for artists, crafters or vintage sellers who may be doing their first craft fair, who like spending the day with their friends selling awesome things, or maybe don’t have as much start up cash as they’d like.

Let me be the first to say:  applying to The BIG THAW with your buddy to split a space is highly encouraged. Why?  Well, truth be told is that no matter what Carl Sagan says, space is limited.  We calculate to have room for about 30 vendors, if only individuals were to sign up.  But wouldn’t it be great if we had 10 shared tables and were able to expose our visitors to 40 sellers instead of 30?

Here is a little bit of info why it’s great to share + care with your artist-y, vintage-y friends:

1.  Cost. Wow!  The vendor fee just got cut in half like that.  Need I say more?

2.  Company. Sometimes 6 hours can seem like a long time to be on your feet, peddling your wares.  It’s nice to have a familiar face to keep you company throughout the day.

3.  Friends are your best salespeople. Sometimes when sales are lagging at fairs my friends and I have done we’ll trade places and sell each others’ stuff.  It really works – lots easier to be a salesperson for someone else than for yourself (although it’s good to learn that skill, too!)

4.  Someone to watch the table while you go get snacks. And who doesn’t love snacks?!  Mayo Street’s refreshment bar will be open throughout the day so you’ll leave your cash box at the table during snack time knowing someone’s sitting on top of it for you.

5.  Load in/Load out. Lugging five trips from the main floor to your car, no matter how long or short that trip is, is always exhausting.  Better to have four arms than two to make it happen!

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Lastly, I’d like to reiterate that applications will be open through February 28th, 2011.  No applications are considered accepted until vendor fees are deposited and a notice is sent to the seller or main contact on the application.

We really, really, really wish we could fit everyone but just know your organizers are thinking about every aspect of every application and making the tough decisions with due diligence.  And lots of chocolate cake.  Lots and lots.

xo,

Audrey at Little Eye

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