Stitches and Thrills

I never seem to know which crafty market takes place when & where in the Netherlands. So I added the Google Calendar gadget to my blog at the bottom of the page. I entered the markets I found on the web to the calendar. I'm sure there are more, so please do send me TIPS about upcoming handmade /art/craft markets. I am looking for markets with booths from artists, designers, crafty people . So please no tips about wholesale commercial creative supplies markets. For this year I plan to visit some of the crafty markets purely as a visitor/buyer, and to maybe meet some artists I only know from the web. I know from experience that once you have a booth you usually are stuck there for most of the day. Also I have mainly knitted hats on stock, not much use for a summer market. To expand my summer collection is high on my priority list. =^x^=

Often fellow crafters/artisans ask in the forums what to do when you have a creative block. One of the advices that is given is: clear your mind, get outside, take a long walk. And it is true. That can get you focused again. But what if that's not enough? Another advice sometimes is: go to a museum. For me, if I'm stuck creatively, that usually has an opposite effect. I see all that great artwork. And back come the regrets of not choosing the art academy when I was younger. I see works I could never ever have the skills to create myself, or worse: I see things I could have made technically and ask: "Why didn't I think of that?". So it depends on the kind of museum you choose. Today I went to Audax Textielmuseum Tilburg And that is a great way to get inspiration. There are so many techniques and materials on display that my mind went into 'creative upload mode' from the moment I stepped in. My favourite hall was the Textiellab : big noisy weaving machines