Spring is quickly approaching meaning hibernation season is soon over and people are going to be out and about looking for things to do. We are excited to announce a brand new series of craft shows this summer! Paste and The Soulard Business Association are proud to present The Soulard Market Park Arts and Crafts Fair. An event featuring local artists as well as street performers, food vendors and live music. There are three event dates May 15, June 19, and July 17. The fair will take place in the Soulard Market Park located at the corner of 9th and Lafayette. Fair hours are from 9am-3pm.

We are excited about this fantastic opportunity to hold shows at the Soulard Market Park. We will be able to make the most of the large crowd that is already in attendance for the farmer’s market. We have also carefully chosen the fair dates to coincide with other happenings in Soulard that would draw additional crowds to the area. With a readily-available audience, tons of advertising and promotion planned for the fair – we are sure to be a huge success!

Each artist will be given a 12×12 space. The artists are required to bring their own tents, tables and display items. If there are more than two artists sharing a booth there will be an additional fee. There is a $5 non refundable application fee. Booth fees are $50 a space per event. Any artists who wishes to sign up for all three dates (and is accepted) will receive a discounted price of $30 for the last fair date. Payment must be made in full for all dates in which you are accepted no later than 14 days after the acceptance email. All items sold MUST be handmade! Application deadlines are April 15th .

May 15th is quickly approaching, so make sure you reserve your spots ASAP! If you have any questions please contact Katie at Paste. Application can be emailed or dropped off at Paste. Application fee must be postmarked no later than 5 days after you submit your application.

Sincerely,

Katie Shanahan

Paste
1009 Russell Blvd
St. Louis Mo 63104
(314)577-6930
pasteevents@gmail.com

Haven of Grace is also in need of knitting/crocheting supplies for women at the shelter.  If you have unused of yarn or some extra hookes or needles sitting around and feel like helping feel free to drop if off at the store anytime.

The event started at 8am Saturday morning and continued until somewhere around 3am on Sunday.  The store was packed with food donated by local restaurants.  I foolishly bought food the night before thinking we would not have enough, and I couldn’t have been more wrong.  A Super thanks to Nadine’s Gin Joint, Ferraro’s Pizza, Soulard Coffee Garden and Carondelet Bakery for keeping the girls fed!

And now for the super big thanks… Thank you to all of the forty some people who came out to knit/crochet for St. Louis Children’s Hospital. And a special thanks to Holly from South City Studio for helping me plan the event.   We created over seventy pieces to be donated.  With all the ohhs and ahhs one would have thought we were holding a baby shower here at Paste.  From blankets and bibs to booties and burial gowns and even some pumpkin hats.  We had everyone ranging from beginner to expert.  The stuff is so cute I have to admit it’s going to be a little tough handing the boxes over.

What was most spectacular were the women who gave up their time on a Saturday to be here doing something for a good cause.  There was such a feeling of community all day long here at the store and I would be lying if I said it doesn’t make me a little teary thinking about it.

Since Needles for Newborns was such a success we’ve decided to launch a sorta-monthly series of gatherings at Paste for charity called Crafting With Purpose and have Needles be the big annual event. The next event will be on December 13 from 10-8 and will benefit The Haven of Grace, a shelter and rehabilitation center for homeless pregnant women and their children. In addition to needle artists, we’ve decided to invite the scrappy/card making folks as well. When you’re starting a new life, words of inspiration are important! I hope you will join us and bring your big hearts!

One million thanks for not only supporting this event but for supporting Paste.

Katie

Paste is super excited to stock needle felting supplies! We’ve been told finding needle felting supplies in St. Louis is like looking for that dang old needle in the haystack! So, We’ve stocked up. We have over thirty colors of wool roving and more on the way! We also offer a variety of 100% wool felt. We are also super excited to offer needle felting classes.

What is needle felting you ask?

Needle felting is a process which uses barbed needles to interlock wool fibers to form a more condensed material. Wool fibers have scales which when rubbed against each other catch and lock into place to create this denser material called felt. Felting needles are used to entangle the fibers. As the felting needle is moved up and down, the barbs on the needles catch the scales of the wool and entangle them into place.

In other words you can make super cute stuff like this:

Or this:

Nikki is a chunky weight, multicolor, thin and thick texture 100% wool from Cascade. Perfect for felting too!