Bazaar Bizarre Loves Us Too!

When most of us think OMG BIG KICK BOOTY CRAFT SHOW, Bazaar Bizarre probably comes to mind.

Which is why we were SO STOKED to see OUR event posted on THEIR blog!

A lot of us SF Etsy peeps and a few of the Handmade Ho Down (Too Live) Crew are vending at their December event.

Maybe we should do some cross promoting? Not a bad idea!

To read their post about us, click here.

Thanks Bazaar Bizarre!

Behind Handmade Ho Down- Meet the Committee

In this edition of Behind Handmade Ho Down, we introduce you to Erin Cadd, our Sponsor Chair and Vendor Co-Chair.

Erin lives in a small old house in Oakland, Ca with her Shih Tzus and her very tall boyfriend.  She has a particular propensity for things in miniature, as evidenced by her car, her dogs and her curio shelf.

Erin started sewing when she was just a wee tot.  Well, she was more like 6, but you get the idea. Her grandmother taught her on the sewing machine she now uses in her own studio.  She’s been sewing clothes for friends, swim meets, and Barbies ever since.  It wasn’t until Erin went to design school for Interior Design that her love – nay, borderline addiction – for fabrics and color became truly realized. 

When a friend told her about Etsy a few years ago, it was just another (wicked) fun place to shop.  But recently, as many may know, the market has slowed drastically in the Interiors and Architectural fields, just like everywhere else.  When Erin lost her job in February, she took a few months of wondering where to go next, looked for a new job unsuccessfully, and decided Etsy was her next big adventure.  

Her very own Etsy shop, Eristotle opened in July of this year. 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 her items  are handmade by using vintage, upcycled, thrifted or eco-friendly materials whenever possible.

"It has been one learning experience after another", she says.

Yet the adventure continues even still, as do the learning experiences, and hey let’s face it, life in general.  Erin joined SF Etsy, one of the Bay Area Etsy Street Teams just a few months ago. She fell into chatting online one night with a truly hilarious group of Etsy artisans, who turned out to be a dedicated and wonderful group of people as well.  

The idea was posed (by MonkeyandSeal, if she remembers correctly and she is mos def right!) that a craft show would be a great endeavor to pursue.  Hey! they all said, we might even get backed by Etsy! 

"Now look at all these people on our Street Team, just as excited as we are to be part of something like this!"

Erin is the official Handmade Ho Down Sponsor Chair and Vendor Co-Chair and there would be no Handmade Ho Down (Too Live) Crew without her.

Where can we get some of that tasty pie Erin? dang.

IndieSacramento Featured Us!

Word is spreading like swine flu about Handmade Ho Down, and we are all just thrilled with the peep love and enthusiasm of all our supporters!

IndieSacramento was the first craft show for one of our committee members, and we were bummed when they announced the cancellation of their holiday show.

But we were just blown away when they featured our event on their blog. How gracious! We love you IndieSacremento and we can not wait for your next show, so we can be sure to return the favor!

To read their posting click here!

We love you IndieSacramento......xoxo

Behind Handmade Ho Down- Meet the Committee

As part of the series, Behind Handmade Ho Down, we invite you to meet the committee members who have helped make this event possible.

Today we meet Alana Rivera, our Sponsor Co-Chair and Tweeter.

Born and raised in the beautiful yet painfully small town of Willits, Alana escaped the first chance she got to the lovely slightly larger small town of Santa Barbara...

In 2004 Alana moved to San Francisco with happy thoughts of working for the man in a PR firm.  After a horrible stint at a "electric rental car" company for tourists and a multi year "what if I want to be a lawyer" adventure in legal support, Alana finally found a dreamy PR job.  Fortunately, via this PR miracle, Alana realized that she really didnt want to do PR or work for the man after all.

Lucky enough for her, right before the PR job, Alana had received a book on soap making after complaining about her lack of hobbies to her mom.

Eventually, she realized that her true passion was products, and after completing a Certificate in Herbalism (study of medicinal qualities of herbs) she started an eco conscious bath and body company, and thus Etta + Billie was born.

She loves to cook and is an avid reader who is absolutely obsessed with the True Blood series at the moment.  She desperately wants a dog but must resign herself to fish for the time being.  Alana likes to dress up in 80s prom dresses and trys to live her life in a more earth friendly manner.

Alana is the Sponsor Co-Chair, the official Handmade Ho Down Tweeter, and is responsible for keeping us all clean.

Behind Handmade Ho Down- Meet the Committee

As part of the series, Behind Handmade Ho Down, we invite you to meet the committee members who have helped make this event possible.

Today we meet Rick Kitagawa, our Volunteer, Social Networking, and Graphics guru.

Rick started selling pin-back buttons on Etsy in January of 2008.  He is a San Francisco-based multi-disciplinary artist who lives and collaborates with his life/business/artistic partner, Eve Skylar, and together they form Monkey + Seal.  He has only recently started becoming more involved with the Etsy community and joined the SFEtsy street team last month.

Rick (aka Ri.S.K.) found Etsy when one of his friends asked if she could buy some of the buttons he was wearing.

"I had bought a button maker a few years back to help promote some of the theatrical shows I was part of back in college.  I was wearing one I had just made for the hell of it and my friend wanted one.  She told me that I should sell my buttons on Etsy, and the rest is history.  Kinda."  

After eventually letting his button shop drift by the wayside, Rick and Eve came up with the concept of Monkey + Seal for the San Francisco Zine Fest.  "I wasn't putting enough time into the shop, and just sorta let it die a slow, quiet death.  We were focusing on going back to school for our 2nd Bachelor's in Art (Rick has a Biology degree and Eve studied Narrative Theory), and we were approached by my friend who ran the Zine Fest.  He told me about the Fest, and we got our act together and started making zines, comics, and art for the show."

After their overwhelmingly positive reaction at the Zine Fest, Rick decided to start up a new shop and Monkey + Seal was born.  "Our name comes from our baby pictures.  When you look at us when we were kids, I'm pretty obviously a little monkey and Eve is most definitely a seal." 




Ever the overachiever, you can find out more about Rick (and Eve) at www.monkeyandseal.com, www.littleyeticave.com (his wedding invitation design studio), or at www.rickkitagawa.com (his artist site).

 "Why did I want to help start the Handmade Ho-Down?  Because I want to take over the world!!!  Just kidding.  Sort of."

Rick is the Volunteer, Social Networking, Graphics, and everything Monkey Business Chair.

What Application Process Snafu?

Hey all you Handmade Ho Down peeps!

Just a quick post to let you all know, that we know,  that some of you may have been having problems with the actual application on the website. 

This snafu has been updated and repaired.  We have modified our application process so you should be good to go!

We apologize for any frustrations and really do hope this new format works better for you.

If you are one of the many vendors that have already applied, you don't need to worry about a thing. We have everything we need for now!


Thank you for bearing with us as we iron out the small kinks in this new system, and thank you for your understanding. 

Can’t wait to see more application submissions and we’ll see you at the show!

(if you are still really irritated with everything just look at this puppy and kitten duo...)

Registration Now Open

 Can I get a "Ho Down"!?

bells and whistles please.....

Please visit us at www.handmadehodown.com. The Handmade Ho Down Crew has worked their behinds off getting the website ready in time for today, and guess what? WE DID IT! It is on this brand spanking new site that we have revealed the location and our official charity of the event!

Registration for Handmade Ho Down 2009 is now officialllllllllly open! Registration closes October 22nd so be sure to get to it!

The registration process is simple, quick, and easy. There are just three steps! From the website, just click on the Vendors page, then click the magic button to register. It is all mapped out for you.

On behalf of the Handmade Ho Down Crew, I would like to personally say that this whole event has been put together with you, the vendor, in mind. I can not wait to see you there!


Feel free to email us at info@handmadehodown.com if you any questions or feedback.