Oh, man, I can hardly contain myself. In just 8 hours I am leaving Indianapolis for Chicago to enjoy the spectacle and wonderment that is the Renegade Craft Fair. This will be my fourth year attending (I even went last year when it poured down rain). I usually spend most of my time wandering from one amazingly unique booth to another, buying Christmas presents for all my loved ones (yes my husband really did need a magenta t-shirt with a dinosaur saying “make me a sandwich” on it) and trying desperately to buy a few things for myself from the vast quantity of items that I want.

I love this event because it reminds me that there is so much creativity out there. It also gives artists and craftspeople an opportunity to sell their wares in an environment where people are receptive and excited about what they do. It is so inspiring to me to see artists making a living doing what they love and seeing more and more people understanding how special buying handmade is.

I hope that if you are in the Chicago area you will check it out. You can get more information right here. If you are unable to go click here to see all the artists that will be there and visit their online shops. You will be happy you did I promise.

While the bulk of the development is already done, I’m still putting a few final pieces of polish in place. We’re talking about accepting credit card information after all, so I want to make sure that everything is working exactly as intended. Shops are currently scheduled to be available next month.

I apologize for the delay. Believe me, we’re as excited to get the shops to be up and running as you guys are. Stay tuned for a big announcement on this blog next month when we do the big reveal.

Clay and I have been working for the past two months with Amanda Taflinger, organizer of the amazingly awesome INDIEana Handicraft Exchange, to re-do their website. She wanted to make it easier to get information about the event, yet keep their “look”, and make it easier to update information herself since there are two events a year and content is always changing. This is where Patron stepped in. We worked with her to identify her needs then I designed a clean, yet stylish design for the site, and then Clay went to work putting that design into an easy-to-use content management system. The result is a website that is functional, easy-to-use, and stylish. Check it out right here.

I am so sorry that I have not updated this blog in awhile. Patron has been very busy preparing an RFP or request for proposal to re-do the website of a local non-profit organization. As I was working on our proposal it got me thinking that some artists may not be aware of what exactly an rfp is or how they can use them to their advantage.

Often times artists are used to making a living by selling their pieces to the general public via art fairs, gallery exhibits, web sales and referral. Searching out rfps is another great source of income that could lead to both paying jobs, large-scale projects and public recognition. Each year there are opportunities for artists to provide concepts for installation art at area universities, corporations and government facilities (just to name a few) as well as, public sculptures, murals, poster designs, and so many more.

One of the best places to begin your search for artist request for proposals is your local arts council. In Indianapolis, where Patron is located, the arts council is www.artscouncilofindianapolis.org. These sites are a great resource for grant opportunities, request for proposals, exhibiting in public areas, upcoming events, contact information for people that can assist you, and artists databases where you can create a profile.

We understand that it can be hard to make a living as an artists which is why we want to help you find any avenue available to create and display your work.

Clay and I were lucky enough to sponsor a contest for the vendors at the INDIEana Summer Handicraft Exchange. All the visitors to the event got to vote on their favorite vendor, and, as I posted yesterday, Allison Ford from studio AMF won a free custom Patron website! While I am very impressed with Allison’s work, I was also excited by the range of items for sale at the fair. I wanted to do a quick post of some of the other vendors participating in the contest. Click here to view the gallery with vendor names and links.

I am so happy that events like this are taking place in Indianapolis. Thank you to Amanda Mauer Taflinger and her team for putting together such a well organized and unique event!

Allison Ford of studio AMF!!! Allison was the winner of a custom Patron website and one year of hosting by being the crowd favorite at the 2009 INDIEana Summer Handicraft Exchange. She is a very talented jewelry designer with a focus on beautiful wood jewelry some with special messages stamped in silver. I was fortunate enough to pick up one of her zodiac pendants.

We are very excited to have the opportunity to build a custom website for an artist like Allison, but if you cannot wait until then to view her work you can check out her Etsy site right here. Stay tuned for more from studio AMF in the near future.

There is definitely some overlap between our audience and Etsy’s audience, but in case you aren’t already familiar with Etsy the simplest way I can think to describe it is an hip, stylish version of Ebay that caters to crafters.  Etsy is focused on creating a site and service, and they nail it.  One of the areas they aren’t focusing on, though, is allowing their users to create unique sites to show off their personal style.  Sound like anyone you know?  That’s why we think Patron and Etsy compliment each other beautifully.

So the great news here is that you’ll be able to pull the items from your Etsy store directly into your Patron site.  Etsy takes care of the payment processing, the security certificate, and all the other logistics of the sale.  Changing the approach does mean that the shops going live is getting pushed back a few weeks.  Expect to see a roll out in July, though. 

What if I don’t want an Etsy account?

We are still planning on developing an independent shop system into Patron that will not rely on any third-parties.  We expect the option to use Etsy will remain available, but in the future you’ll have the alternative of a proprietary shop.  By using Etsy’s API right now, though, we can give you the opportunity to sell your art on your Patron site, while we continue to add the killer features we’re excited about.

Ladies and gentlemen, Patron is proud to be a sponsor of this year’s INDIEana Handicraft Exchange. There are going to be over 75 contemporary crafters together in one place this Saturday, 6-13 from 11am – 10pm selling their goods at the Harrison Center for the Arts in downtown Indianapolis. Clay and I will be there, too, talking to people about Patron and doing some shopping of our own. Hope to see you there!

I am sure many artists, like me, got their start at a very young age making masterpieces with their prized Crayola crayons. I even remember the year I got the special 64 pack for Christmas with the built-in crayon sharpener. I had those crayons on my desk for years.

The Dieline, an amazing site dedicated to the best in package design, posted a retrospective of different Crayola packaging through the years. Enjoy this blast from the past.