Buffalo Indie Market Review

We did it! We did our first craft show in Buffalo! And the drive was not so bad as I had the good company of my hunny and my dad!

The Buffalo Indie Market was held at the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, which is in a very old brick building in downtown Buffalo near the baseball stadium. I adore really old buildings. Over 40 craft show vendors were on hand. This show consisted of 100% handmade vendors, no resellers and no home party vendors. Live music was played throughout the day. Attendance was exceptional! I didn’t know what to expect this being our first time at this show. It was a much younger demographic than the craft shows in Rochester get. That made me happy as that is my target market.

The big sellers were the Scrabble tile pendants and altered domino ornaments. Maybe I should drop some other product lines and focus on making things that sell for $10 or less. The economy is affecting how people spend and I want to adapt to that to stay afloat until things get better.

All in all, I’m happy with how the show turned out and look forward to doing another one soon. This particular show is held on the second Sunday of each month so we will be going back again in 2009. I’ll keep you posted as to when!

Shuffle Off to Buffalo…

… for the Buffalo Indie Market on Sunday, December 14th from 12 pm to 5 pm!! I’ll be there at the Pearl Street Grill and Brewery with my wares!


I’ve already blogged about how great the Buffalo Indie Market is at promoting indie craftsters like me. The show has been gaining popularity in its short run as a monthly handmade arts and crafts show. The organizer, Mary Stephens McGinnis, seems to work tirelessly at promoting and offering the artists in her area a chance to advertise and be part of something big! So that’s why I’m going to drive 1.5 hours to celebrate the holidays with the Buffalo Indie Market. Won’t you join me? Included in this fun day are live music performances and artist workshops and demos!

You may not know this but here at In My Head Studios, I make much more than just collage pendants, domino ornaments, and greeting cards. At this show I will have felted bags, bowls, necklaces, bracelets, and pins, a few pieces of fine art and collage, some ACEOs, and handmade glass tile magnets. There may be few more surprises as well!



1. Heart and Family Altered Domino Christmas Tree Ornament - Live Laugh Love, 2. Dove Altered Domino Ornament, 3. Fly Away Home Pendant :: Front, 4. Queen of Hats ATC, 5. Blue Sparkly Felt Bead Necklace, 6. "Coffee Lover" Double Sided Art Collage Pendant :: Front, 7. Bird's Nest : Felted ATC, 8. Weaved Felted Bead Necklace :: Close Up, 9. Pink Sherbet & Classic Beige Felted Wristlet Bags

If you can’t make this show then I will also be at the Irondequoit High School on Saturday, November 29th from 10 am to 4 pm.

All New Buffalo Indie Market

Mary Stephens, Founder/Director of the new Buffalo Indie Market in Buffalo, NY, has launched a monumental undertaking in setting up a monthly independent artists’ market. Local artists now have a place to set up shop and sell their handcrafted wares. The Market will be open every second Sunday of the month starting May 11, 2008.

The first event will be on Saturday, April 12th from 11 am to 4 pm at Pearl Street Grill and Brewery on the second floor in the Pan American Room, 76 Pearl Street, Buffalo, NY 14202. The Pearl Street Grill and Brewery will be the home of all the Market’s events.

The Market’s mission is “to bring a monthly market of unique and stylish handmade products to the Buffalo community while nurturing the professional talents and business potential of up & coming designers & crafters. The Buffalo Indie Market offers local consumers a whole new way to shop and provide the Buffalo community with a space to discover hand-made jewelry, handbags, clothes, stationery, pottery, knitted items and more.” [quote source: Buffalo Indie Market website]

More about the Market: “When starting Ry Stephens Design, a handmade cards and invitations business, Mary [Stephens] quickly realized the need for a more current year long market. With the recent growth of on-line markets and independent artists, a need for a Buffalo market of current handmade products appeared obvious. In October of 2007, Mary took part in Brooklyn Indie Market, which is a weekly Independent Artists market in Brooklyn, New York. The warm welcome she received there and the pleasant community atmosphere developed by Kathy Malone and Johanna Resnikoff, a native of Buffalo, spurred Mary's desire to start an Indie Artist market in Buffalo. Buffalo has long awaited for a market that brings all the latest handmade creations from the local Indie Art community to the area’s consumers.” [quote source: Buffalo Indie Market website]

Buffalo Rising Online recently gave the Market some great press. See it HERE. There is also a group at Indiepublic for members interested in networking with each other.

I am looking forward to hopefully participating in this market in May. Even though I am not from Buffalo, it still is a local scene for me as it is only a 1.5 hour drive from Rochester. Now we indie artists in Rochester have to get on the ball and open our own market. Mary Stephens has set the bar pretty high.

Thank you, Mary, for all the hard work you have put into this! So many people are going to benefit from it.

Applications for future events can be found on the Buffalo Indie Market website as well as flyers and postcards to distribute for advertising the events. Spread the word!