Special AOH May Meeting with Guest Speaker: Mitch Cohen!

The fabulous Mitch Cohen, Manager and Founder of the First Saturday Arts Market (FSAM), will be joining us at our May Meeting!

Mitch will be there to talk about his future plans for the FSAM(http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/), and for world art domination! Don't miss this chance to ask his advice, and to hear some great anecdotes from FSAM years past and present...

Meeting Information:

Tuesday, 17 May 2011
7-9:00 pm

Cafe Express Uptown Park
1101 Uptown Park Blvd (Galleria area)
Houston, TX 77056

We generally gather in the side room to the left as you're facing the ordering/serving counter. This is an informal meeting, and you are of course welcome to eat- we encourage it!

Here is the link to the Facebook Invitation:https://www.facebook.com/culturedcrittercollective#!/event.php?eid=142981925772958

New Treasury - Blown Away by Hurricane Ike

First, let me say that I hope that everyone reading this blog came through the hurricane with minimal damage to themselves and their property. Well, after 12 days without power and 13 days without internet, I am still struggling to catch up! Between dealing with contractors, dealing with insurance companies and dealing with FEMA, I feel like there are many forces conspiring to keep me in Houston for another month. I felt the need to let my turmoil spill out into a Hurricane Treasury, so here it is: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=12320 - please click all the items. The comments have already filled up, but feel free to leave your comments here. I would love to know what you think. Unsurprisingly, the best Hurricane art can be found from people living in Hurricane territory. So, my Treasury features several Houston artists and a smattering of artists who either live or have lived in Hurricane prone areas. I hope you enjoy it!

Houston in Living Color

I was prompted by Linda's example to create a Houston Treasury of my own. I was inspired by the photo that is top and center to create this Treasury. All the featured people in this Treasury would make great additions to our team. Alas, none of them are currently on the team, though some of them are on the Etsy Texas Crafters Team. Want to join the Houston group? Just leave a comment to that effect. We'll sign you up straight away! Here's the link to the Treasury: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=23268 - please go visit it while it is still active. Leave a comment and click on every picture to move it up the hotness chart! Thanks!

Christmas Market at Discovery Green

On Tuesday, August 26th at 11:00 am, we will be meeting with Tiffany Tyler Kuffner to discuss participating in the Christmas Market at Discovery Green, which takes place every Thursday from the first one in November and until the last one before Christmas in December. The only exception is Thanksgiving Day. There won't be a market on that day. I am really excited to be able to have our group in on the first Christmas Market to be held at Discovery Green. This fabulous new downtown outdoor space is very popular with the affluent, near-town crowd. They started an organic food market earlier this year, which gets part of its funding from grants, making it an affordable place to have a booth. Discovery green sets up the pop up pavilions and can even process credit cards for you. The credit card service is currently paid for by one of the grants Tiffany managed to get hold of, so there is no cost to you for this service. Really. No cost. The customers buy "Market Bucks" from the market's stall and then they pay you in those "Market Bucks". You turn in the bucks at the end of the day, and the market gives you the full face value of the bucks. Too cool. They even designed the park with such markets in mind, meaning that you can drive right up to your booth space for loading in and out. In addition to all the other marketing the Discovery Green people are doing, an outdoor skating ring will open on Thanksgiving Day. That rink is going to attract quite a crowd, and Tiffany anticipates that some of the skaters and parents of the skating kids will come get some of their Holiday shopping done while they are there anyway. Additionally, we'll have the regular market customers, many of whom come to buy their produce every week. It isn't a big leap to think that people who buy organic produce directly from the farmers will want to buy handmade goods directly from the artist. I think it will be a great opportunity for all the artists, and the price is reasonable as well! Come to the lunch meeting and learn more, just please let us know you're coming so that we can get the right size table. If you want more information, leave a comment and a way to get hold of you!

Here are the meeting details from Tiffany:

I look forward to seeing you and the other Etsy crafters at lunch on Tuesday the 26th at 11:00.

http://www.discoverygreen.com/dining/

gives some details about the Lake House. They do open right at 11:00.

The directions and map at

http://www.discoverygreen.com/directions/

will help. I really recommend a meter space if you can get one. That hour of the morning should be OK for it.

More information about Central City and its operations at the Park can be found at:

http://www.centralcityco-op.org/discoverygreen.html

details about the holiday market are not up yet. I'm still working on the materials and trying to confirm things with the park before I write something that ends up not being true. We can talk about all of that on Tuesday.


I look forward to meeting all of you!

Tiffany