April showers bring local, handmade flowers

Courtesy: The Cleveland Flea

Seriously you guys, I know I always talk about the weather but it has been SUCH a nice week here in Northeast Ohio! And with the Indians season underway, two major motion pictures filmed here premiering, patio season around the corner, it's a good time to be in the CLE!

In case that's not enough excitement for you, there are some great local events going on this weekend, if shopping local is your thing (which it probably is since you're reading this blog). Check out the details and support your local artists and vendors!

Tremont ArtWalk
Friday April 11, 6-10pm
Tremont Neighborhood
www.tremontartwalk.com
Did you know this monthly event has been around since the early 90s? On the second Friday of every month over 20 Tremont galleries and businesses come together to showcase art and offer specials and discounts. Whether you're a Tremont lifer or have always wanted to check out the area, it's always a great time. Plus, this is the first really nice weather day they've had for the ArtWalk so you know it won't be one to miss! Check out their website for more details on what to do and where to go!

The Cleveland Flea: April Flea
Saturday April 12, 9am-4pm
Sterle's Slovenian Country House
(1401 E. 55th, Cleveland)
www.theclevelandflea.com
The Flea has really become the end-all be-all of Cleveland arts and craft shows. And to call it an arts and crafts show is an understatement! Over 100 vendors will be in attendance, selling just about everything from jewelry to vintage, photography to food. Located in the historic Sterle's Country House, the event basically has it's own campus complete with multiple bars, live music stages, and of course shopping areas! Be sure to check out the workshops being offered throughout the day including terrarium making and all-day open crafting. (The Flea also does a great job on social media --- be sure to like them on Facebook for more info and updates!)

2014 Summit County Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Saturday April 12, 10am-5pm
Sunday April 13, 11am-5pm
St. George's Fellowship Centre
(3204 Ridgewood Rd., Fairlawn)
We love the Avant-Garde shows and are so glad they pop up so often and in so many locations around Northeast Ohio! Get unique gifts for Mom or pick up something to give your Easter brunch host from the nearly 100 artists and crafters who will be there. Also, check out their Facebook page because in the weeks leading up to one of their shows they will post photos and info about their vendors. It's $3 to get in and part of the proceeds to this event will benefit Drink Local. Drink Tap., a local non-profit focusing on bringing safe water to those in need.

Spring Crafting

At 12:57pm yesterday, SPRING arrived in Cleveland, Ohio! Okay, so we still have some snow and 30 degree days in our forecast but good things come to those who wait. We'll just have to make the most of the warm weather once it comes!

To help get you ready for said warm weather (which I promise WILL come!) I have a couple fun events going on around town this weekend where you can pick up some giftables for any upcoming birthdays, weddings, showers, holidays (Mother's Day will be here soon!) Or if you're just looking for something fun and unique for yourself to help get you in a springtime mood.

Third Friday @ 78th Street Studios
Friday, March 21, 5pm-9pm
1300 W. 78th St., Cleveland
I've blogged about a few events in the past that took place at the 78th Street Studios. However this event which happens on the 3rd Friday of every month (thus the name) is one every Clevelander should attend at some time in their life. This month has a slew of must-see art exhibits as well as some cool boutique areas including Earthminded Tote Bags in the Susie Frazier Showroom, Jewelry With a Twist in the Jeffrey Dubé Studio and Vintage Clothing in the Senjiva Studio!


2014 West Side Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Saturday, March 22, 10am-5pm
Sunday, March 23, 11am-5pm
Rocky River Memorial Hall
(21016 Hilliard Blvd.)
I believe this is the third Avant-Garde event I've posted about, including the fall show, which I attended and had great success finding early Christmas presents. Make sure you like their Facebook page because in the weeks leading up to one of their shows they will post photos and info about their vendors, including some of the nearly 100 who will be at this show in River. This is one of the best craft/handmade shows I've ever been to and there are so many great vendors who will be there! $3 gets you in the door to browse the almost 100 local handmade vendors! Part of the proceeds to this event will benefit Drink Local. Drink Tap., a local non-profit focusing on bringing safe water to those in need.

Holiday Shopping Events - Weekend of Dec. 7

We're 20 days away from Christmas people! We have three festive and FUN events going on around town this weekend that will make your holiday shopping experience one to remember!

Check them out and tell us where you're hitting up on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Cleveland Handmade Market at Tower Press
Saturday, Dec. 7
10am-6pm
Artefino Cafe & Gallery
1900 Superior Ave., Cleveland
(Between E. 18th & E. 21st)
Cleveland Handmade is all about promoting local artists and bringing them to YOU! Their upcoming event is sure not to disappoint, featuring 20 local vendors including one of our very favorites, Ape Made Apparel. Plus enjoy the noms and super chill atmosphere of the Artefino Cafe & Gallery!

Holiday Market in Market Square Park
Saturday, Dec. 7
10am-5pm
Market Square Park, Ohio City
(Corner of W.25th & Lorain, across from the West Side Market)
Crooked River Couture spent Small Business Saturday in Ohio City, and now you can keep the #ShopSmall spirit alive! A part of the Ohio City Holiday Festival, this event is being put on by Cleveland Bazaar along with Ohio City Inc. and R/S Boutique! Browse the vendors in Market Square Park and stay for the many festive activities including carriage rides, Christmas tree sales, AND Great Lakes Christmas Ale!

Downtown River Holiday Walk
Saturday, Dec. 7
11am-4pm
Detroit Rd., Rocky River
(Between Wooster Rd. & Marion Ct.)
The Old River area of Rocky River has always been a great west side spot for holiday shopping. River is going all out for their 2013 Holiday Walk with live music, sleigh rides, food tastings, ice sculptures, and more! The best part is all the specials and deals available at nearly 50 Downtown River businesses. Check out the merchant map below for a complete list!

A Weekend in St. Clair

Forget everything you ever thought you knew about Flea Markets! The Cleveland Flea is a whole new ballgame. Once a month, vendors from all over come together in the St. Clair neighborhood to show off their goods to the fine people of Northeast Ohio. This weekend is "The Flea's" big holiday extravaganza, complete with a Sneak Peak Party on Friday night PLUS the grand opening of Collective Upcycle right down the street! We've got all the details for you right here, and remember to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for even more updates!

Holiday Flea Sneak Peek & Meet the Makers Party
Friday, November 22, 7-10pm
Slovenian National Home
6417 St. Clair Ave. Cleveland
(Between E. 64th & Addison Ave.)
www.theclevelandflea.com
Get a look at the Holiday Flea a day early! Enjoy complimentary refreshments (including BEER!) courtesy of Sterles Country House, Jeni's Ice Cream, and Piccadilly Artisan Frozen Yogurt. Tickets are $20 and shopping starts at 8pm.

Collective Upcycle Holiday Grand Opening Party
Friday, November 22, 5-8pm
6202 St. Clair Ave. Cleveland
(Between Norwood Rd. & E. 64th)
www.facebook.com/CollectiveUpcycle
You like local, you like handmade, how about adding a sprinkling of eco-friendliness? Collective Upcycle is a pop-up shop of Cleveland-area artists who specifically use recycled materials. The party Friday will feature live music from Ansambel Dvojčki, food from Impassioned Baking and Catering, and Slovenian cocktails!

The Cleveland Flea Holiday Show
Saturday, Nov. 23, 10am-6pm
Sunday, Nov. 24, 10am-6pm
6417 St. Clair Ave. Cleveland
(Between E. 64th & Addison Ave.)
www.theclevelandflea.com
The main event! Peruse the dozens of local vendors selling their handmade goodies including jewelry, clothing, food and more! The Flea also features a "Maker Center," that connects local talent and the community like never before. We also hear there will some of Cleveland fabulous food trucks in attendance at this most treasure hunt-esque show!

Map courtesy of The Cleveland Flea

West Side Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show Review

We warned you! Even though we're still a week away from Thanksgiving, Christmas is creeping its way into our psyche. Thankfully, we eased our way into it the best way we know how - with a good ol' fashioned craft show! The West Side Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show last weekend had vendors and shoppers from all over Northeast Ohio flocking to Rocky River Memorial Hall buying and selling goodies of all sorts. We had a blast on Saturday and are here to show you what we found!

Even though there were two entire huge rooms of vendors, we made purchases at the first three booths we hit! #1 was the hand-sewn originals of Aunt Jeannie's Attic. Brightly colored patterned purses caught our eye, but it was this black wristlet, made from vintage men's suits, that had us sold!

I recognized the nautical pillowcases from Avant-Garde's blog when we came by IndoDesign's booth. Our second stop had even more fun patterned fabric goods but we couldn't help but fall in love with these wooden Christmas trees! So unique, this will definitely be a conversation piece hanging at the house around the holidays. Gives off a beachy vibe even amidst the cold Cleveland November/December temps, thanks especially to the starfish tree topper!

Nestled by a window was the soothing smells of Peripeti Home. Also sold at one of our favorite spots, Salty Not Sweet, these handmade soy candles and wax melts have the most unique yet satisfying scents we've ever come across! Orchard Picnic will be great to have wafting around the house on Thanksgiving and Sherwood Forest was too calming to pass up. These layered fragrances are also available in large tins and crackling wooden wicks.

I'm a sucker for fun and unique jewelry - anything that has a story and makes people ask, "where did you get those?" I could have bought every ring, necklace, pendant, and pair of earrings displayed at Diella Jewelry's booth! Her handmade, handpainted, mixed media pieces are not only to die for, they're very reasonably priced! I picked these sparkly earrings for myself along with a few other Christmas presents that I'll have to keep hidden for now...two words: rhinestones and chevrons.

Last but not least, we have to give it up to Colleen Smith and her amazing mixed media, Cleveland pride art! I would totally be down to furnishing my home with Colleen's large scale collage prints but let's start with what we bought from her at the show... we went with the coolest Cleveland Christmas cards EVER and a Browns inspired ornament! Hard to say if we'll be gifting these or maybe even framing them for decorations at the house!

Needless to say by our fabulous finds, the West Side Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show was a success! If you missed out on the fun, fear not, there's an East Side show coming up in December! More details on that to come...

Be cool. Shop local.

The temps are dropping (consistently), decorations are sprouting up everywhere, and Starbucks' red cups are back. It's time to face the facts - Christmas is coming, and that means so is the holiday shopping season! It may seem like a burden when your idea of Christmas shopping is trudging to the mall or busy shopping plaza and facing the insanity.

Believe it or not, it doesn't have to be that way. If you take a page from our book, shopping local is where it's at! Skip out on all the craziness, support independent businesses and vendors, AND chances are, your friends and family will truly appreciate something unique for Christmas this year!

If you're at a loss for where to start, fear not, Crooked River Couture is here! We are all about shining a light on all the fabulously awesome small businesses in the Cleveland area! Keep up with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and of course the ol' blog here for great places to shop as well as shows and events that will help you with your all-local holiday to-do list!

Here are some upcoming November events to kick off the season right...

Beachwood Arts Council Holiday Arts & Crafts Show
Saturday, Nov. 9, 10am-5pm
Beachwood Community Center (25225 Fairmount Blvd.)
www.beachwoodarts.org
Get your arts & crafts on at this free event! Browse the over 50 vendors selling their handmade jewelry, soaps, ceramics, photography, fiber art, handblown glass and more! Plus the Beachwood Arts Council will be accepting canned good donation for the Heights Emergency Food Center to help the hungry during the holidays! It's a win-win!


2013 West Side Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Saturday, Nov. 16, 10am-5pm 
Sunday, Nov. 17, 10am-5pm
Rocky River Memorial Hall (21016 Hilliard Blvd.)
www.avantgardeshows.com
We are so excited about this two-day craftastic extravaganza! $3 gets you in the door to browse the almost 100 local handmade vendors! Part of the proceeds to this event will benefit Drink Local. Drink Tap., a local non-profit focusing on bringing safe water to those in need. Plus on top of all that you can treat yo self at the on-site concession stand!

Just do it (yourself)!

I’m baaack! I know it’s been a while since my last post, and trust me it’s been killing me. On my time off however I did take a fun little trip to Los Angeles. I had a blast and even as you know I love the Cleve, it was good to get away. (And the weather was beautiful!)

So between the trip and work I’ve had limited time to get my blog on! But fortunately I had some recent inspiration for a post and I’m bringing it to you right now.

I’ve noticed lately that DIY projects are becoming really big. It’s always cool to answer the question “where did you get that?” with “I made it myself!” Whether it’s an expertly crafted silver ring or just a scarf made from some fabric you found lying around the house. That particular joy, plus the usually cheaper cost, makes DIY the perfect way to add new items to your collection.

This personal DIY revolution of mine started this spring when I saw something online about making old t-shirts into scarves. I have so many old tees that, for some reason, I refuse to get rid of. (Never know when you might need that holey graphic tee from Target that never fit…right?) I figured that making things I hoard into things I’ll actually use was a pretty good idea.  I preferred the simple t-shirt scarf to the fringe one. It’s so easy, just cut a straight line across the tee right under the armholes so it’s just a rectangle (or square) shaped. Throw it over your neck and voilà!  I made a few scarves, but seeing as how it was late April I didn’t have a ton of time to wear them. Looking forward to the fall for that!

I kind of went scarf crazy and cut up a ton of my old shirts. Some were kind of small and weren’t going to make great scarves. So I got creative and made headbands out of them. Especially in the summer I wear a lot of cloth headbands to keep the hair out of my face. My favorite one that I made was this one, constructed out of a shirt printed with a plethora of peace signs. It was always so cute, but just not as a tight fitting t-shirt. I didn’t have to do much after I cut it for the scarf, again just straight across under the armholes. Then all I do when I want to wear it is twist it around, double it up, and stretch it around my head!  I usually twist it twice, it makes a nice knot on the bottom and looks a lot better. When I’m feeling particularly funky I sometimes put the knot on top instead of under my hair. Either way, so cute, so simple and so cheap!

A little while later I took a trip to Pat Catan’s, also known as the World’s Greatest Craft store. Look it up. Seriously, Catan’s is one of the greatest Cleveland institutions, far superior to national craft supply chains. I had been noticing that feathers were very in but I could never find any feather accessories I was crazy about, although I liked the idea. I thought I would see if they had any fun feathers at Catan’s to maybe make something out of. You know how sometimes you have a shopping mission that comes up short? Well this surely was not one of those times. I found a four pack of tan and black feather bunches that were so perfect. All I had to do was wrap the tips with wire and slip on an earring hook and I got these great new feather earrings! A very legitimate alternative to feather hair extensions.

With this DIY kick still going, I found myself in Urban Outfitters at Crocker Park one lovely spring day and happened across this great book on their book table. It’s called P.S. – I Made This… and it is choc full of fun and easy DIY fashion projects. Instead of paying $20 I figured I’d see if the library had a copy. Lucky me! Found one at the Lakewood Library for, oh what? FREE. There are so many great ideas in this book, I highly recommend checking it out.

So far I’ve only done one project but I definitely plan on doing more. The second I turned the page to see this ring necklace I knew I had to do it. I have so many rings I never wear and, as the book describes, not enough fingers for! From class rings, to a bent Claddagh, heirlooms from my mom and grandmas and cheap ones from mall stores, I had plenty to go around. All I had to do was round them all up, buy some strong cord and slide them on! I twisted the cord to create a braided effect and to make it extra strong. I just did this one the other day so I haven’t worn it yet but I am so excited to. It is sure to be a huge conversation piece!

I hope this will inspire you go out there and make some of your own fashions! Not only does it keep you from spending money you don’t have, it really is fun and makes each item more meaningful.  And, coming from someone who can’t sew to save her life, it’s easy to find ideas for any skill level. Have fun!