The Rust Belt Market in Ferndale

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

Recently, I took a trip down to Ferndale to visit The Rust Belt Market.

Rust Belt is a year-round brick-and-mortar market for handmade and vintage goods.  Vendors sell their wares directly to shoppers every Saturday and Sunday from 11am-7pm. 

Chris Best and his wife, Tiffany Best, own and operate The Rust Belt Market.  I had the pleasure of meeting Chris at the 2011 [IN]spire Conference where we spoke on a Creativity & Commerce panel together.

Chris, Tiffany and all of their vendors are doing amazing work in support of the handmade movement in Michigan at Rust Belt!

  

Awesome painted wood journal by Jessica of Ink Stain Design (InkStainDesign@live.com).

Upcycled license plate signs by License Plate Heaven.

DetroitGT has a pickup truck parked INSIDE The Rust Belt Market for their display of Michigan shirts.

Melanie of Earthenwood Studio had a very clever business concept.  She sells premade necklaces with her own handcrafted porcelain beads...

...or you can pick your own beads and charms...

 ...to make your own mix-and-match necklace!

The Rock City Pies looked pretty tasty!

The vendor booths just keep going and going in the 15,000 square foot space!

There is a stage with a grand piano in the middle of The Rust Belt Market for live music!

Flint Handmade is considering sponsoring a carpool field trip to Rust Belt sometime in 2012.  Email us at flinthandmade@hotmail.com if you are interested!

Sweetest Day is now Sweetest Craft Day!

Posted by Crystal

Now, I consider myself a romantic person, but doesn't Sweetest Day just seem like THE absolute fakest of holidays?!?  Well, I am starting a new tradition...Sweetest Day is now Sweetest Craft Day!

Whether you are single or coupled, I encourage you to explore your creativity on whatever day in October the greeting card companies decide is Sweetest Day.  ;)

I took myself to THREE different artistic stores/studios for Sweetest Craft Day this past Saturday: Green Daffodil Studio in Ferndale, Naka in Ferndale and The Glass Academy in Dearborn.

I think most of the photos below speak for themselves, so I'm going to go easy on the captions for this post.  Just sit back, relax and enjoy the lovely images from my Sweetest Craft Day!

GREEN DAFFODIL STUDIO IN FERNDALE

Green Daffodil Studio was hosting a Smashing Re-Opening Party featuring bags by Teresa Rogers of Burlap Boutique!  They recently moved within their building to a large, gorgeous suite with huge windows facing Livernois Street.

NAKA IN FERNDALE

Naka was celebrating its 5th Anniversary!  I love knowing that a handmade and gift boutique is thriving after 5 years!

THE GLASS ACADEMY IN DEARBORN

The Glass Academy was hosting its 2nd Annual Glass Pumpkin Fest with free glassblowing and lampwork demos.  They sold beautiful glass pumpkins to raise funds for the studio.

MY HAUL!!!

I got an awesome clock collage print at Green Daffodil Studio. I have a wall in my living room that I recently decided to dedicate to clocks and images featuring numbers. At Naka, I got a tote bag and two rolls of wrapping paper. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE gift wrap supplies?!?

I didn't get anything at The Glass Academy, but I'm going back in less than a month to take a glassblowing class, so I'll be sure to post a blog about all of the glass pretties I create!