Will you be caught dead?

You may already be planning to hit up Oceanside's fifth annual street fair in celebration of Dia de los Muertos. While you are down there, take some shelter from the sun and head down Artist's Alley, between Pierview and Mission Ave, where the Oceanside Craft Mafia will be hosting it's first annual craft fair and trunk show in conjunction with the holiday. Plan on being wow'd by members' handmade products. Find original items including jewelry, pottery, hand made cards, baby goods, and much, much more. And, though it may seem early, time does fly and this is a great way to kick off your holiday shopping and support your local economy.

The Oceanside Craft Mafia's Trunk Show is Saturday, November 1st from 7 to 9:30 pm. The Trunk Show booth space is by reservation only and will feature drinks, appetizers, and of course fabulous hand made goods. For information contact info@oceansidecraftmafia.com. Not down for the late night shopping? Find the same great vendors on Sunday, Nov 2nd from 10 am to 2 pm. Follow the chalk art and live music or just map it. Artist's Alley is located at 212 N. Coast Hwy, Unit D, enter through the alley, in Oceanside, CA.

The Oceanside Craft Mafia is a culmination of jewelers, paper crafters, potters and stitchers.  The group embraces the morals and creative achievements of the members of the Austin Craft Mafia (www.craftmafia.com), who began the now national crafters organization.
 
In addition to offering moral support to one another, the OCM works together to creatively market their individual companies and products.  By pooling resources they are able to help one another become more successful in an inundated indie craft market.  It's as much about being a family as it is building business. They rely on one another to inspire, assist and care for one another, and always adhering to strict personal and business ethics.  
 
The real glue that brings this group together is the hope to personalize the consumer market.  We literally have the world’s market to shop from thanks to the World Wide Web.  But so many of our options are impersonal and mass produced.  The OCM supports hand-made and artisan products and believes strongly that they are better made and life enriching.

For more information about the Oceanside Craft Mafia and it's members please visit: www.oceansidecraftmafia.com

Oceanside Craft Mafia | Trunk Show

Oceanside Craft Mafia | Trunk Show
Originally uploaded by aliciadesign

The Oceanside Craft Mafia is a group I started locally to help find other like minded artist|business owners. We are having our first group event November 1 & 2 in downtown Oceanside. First a trunk show, on Saturday November 1st from 7pm - 9:30 pm we will be serving wine, appetizers and hopefully have some acoustic tunes. On Sunday Mainstreet Oceanside put on the Dia de los Muertos Festival or Day of the Dead on Pier View Way in Oceanside this is a free event from 10 am - 4pm. We will have a studio space in the Artist's Alley.
Come down and join us for the exciting events.

Oceanside Craft Mafia Member, Sandee Manuel is at upcoming show

S143
Brings Reinventing the Wheel to San Diego!
Saturday, September 27: 7-11 pm
1660 Logan Avenue
THE VENUE
S143 will build a temporary sanctuary for Reinventing the Wheel amongst the concrete surfaces, high ceilings, and open beams of The Logan. This renovated warehouse adjoins graphic design and marketing firm Miriello Grafico, providing a perfect backdrop for the exhibition.
THE ART
Artists and bikesmiths will evaluate the role of the wheel through painting, restored vintage and hand-built bicycles, sculpture, photography, and video installation. Artisans include Acamonchi, Thatcher, Josh Higgins, Jorge Tellaeche, Gabriel Salcedo, Keikichi Honna, Sandee Manuel, Sean Ward, Mark Klammer, Eneri Abillar, Anthony Bareno, Amy Burkhart, Jeff Faeth, Stacy Kelley, Tocayo, Sean Kelley, Ron Miriello, Tony Greene, and Aki Kaneko.
Y MAS
A group ride from Velo Culture bicycle shop’s new location in South Park will bring scores of riders to the show. Contact Velo Culture to join in on the fun. Sounds will be provided by Gabe Vega, Mr. Biggs, and Will Redd.
Sanctuary143 welcomes all ages to this free event.
Download postcard

Hi Octane Jewelry will be at Primer Nationals Labor Day weekend

Primer Nats08LO
Originally uploaded by aliciadesign

Come see us and check out our new designs. We have lots of cool new pieces. Primer Nationals is Labor Day Weekend at Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Naughty Secretary Club's Book is Out

Naughty Secretary Club Book Cover
Originally uploaded by Naughty Secretary Club

Jennifer Perkins is one of my inspirations. She left her job as a secretary to return to her childhood love of jewelry-making and started a company called Naughty Secretary Club. Where she transforms fun kitsch items into colorful jewelry. In her new book,
"The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry." She shows us how to create some of her ultra-cool resin designs. If you want to order a signed copy you can order it from The Naughty Secretary Site. I regularly read The Naughty Secretary Blog, where Jennifer posts lots of helpful hints for start-up businesses.
I first heard about Jennifer's jewelry years ago when a friend forwarded her site to me. The name stuck with me. Years later when I was looking for ways to promote my internet based jewelry company Hi Octane Jewelry I came across a couple online articles that talked about her company, and I found out they had started a group called the Austin Craft Mafia. Which I immediately looked up and found out they started a site and group devoted to helping people just like myself, called the Craft Mafia. After being unsuccessful finding a Craft Mafia group in my area. I decided I needed to start one. So the Oceanside Craft Mafia was born. The Craft Mafia has been an invaluable resource for finding tips on all avenues of starting a crafting business.

Christmas is Delightful in July

The gals had a great time at the X-mas in July event in Oceanside. Olivia, Stephanie and Leah owners of Happy Baby Slings, Devilish Grin and Peez & Ques sold their great wares! The Artisan Commitee loved the handmade products the Members of the Oceanside Craft Mafia had at their booth. If you missed them you can still find their stuff on their websites!

Happy Baby Slings
http://www.HappyBabySlings.com




Devilish Grin and Little Grin
www.devilishgrin.etsy.com












Peez & Ques: Recycled Stationery
www.peezandques.com

They came, they conquered, they slept

Oceanside Craft Mafia members, Alicia (Hi Octane Jewelry) and Leah (Peez & Ques) are tired after a great weekend in San Francisco for the Renegade Craft Fair. Saturday and Sunday at the first West Coast Renegade event was awesome! Lots of enthusiasm from vistors, great smiles and products from vendors and groovy tunes from d.j's and a punk rock marching band (Mucca Pazza). What's more to say than "wonderful!"

For the vendors it was work! Very hard work! But boy did we love it! By far the best craft show ever! And with this being its first year out west, it has no where to go but up! The vendors were really all individually exceptional! We were also so glad to meet familia from the Los Angeles and Sacramento Craft Mafia!

If you missed Renegade this year be sure to keep your radar pointed to their website for next year's dates. As a vistor or a vendor you will not be dissapointed. You can still check out all the vendors on the Renegade website.
Alicia and Brad also got featured on another blog. You can see it here. You can see it here. Mikkelina's Thoughts