Hello! A month ago I went down to North Carolina to promote The Handmade Marketplace.  These are the (many) pictures and stories from that amazing trip.

Since North Carlina is far away from Massachusetts, I had to go to the nearest airport in Hartford, Connecticut.  After All the security stuff, I had an hour to while away, so I watched a Netflix.

Eventually, I arrived in North Carolina and was whisked away by the crafty Megan Risley, who took me to her house for a delicious dinner, and afterward, we made the hand-out packets to go with copies of the book I sold. Here, one of Megan’s cats is showing interest in a piece of yarn.

Then, it was off to the hotel. The next morning, Megan and my friend Minna (the two of them went to high school together in MA, and coincidentally, with my husband, Eric, as well), picked me up and we went to the farmer’s market. There’s nothing better than fresh, local food and flowers. Then, we headed to the Scrap Exchange. A very cool place, indeed.

Later, I was getting ready, in the hotel, and wow, I looked good in the mirror. Why is it that sometimes some random mirrors make you look really good? I wanted to take it home, but it wouldn’t fit in my bag.

Then, I was off again. We headed out of the Triangle and over to Asheboro, NC to Circa Gallery for my talk and book signing. The Handmade Marketplace pairs wonderfully with wine (any type will do).

Here’s Mandy, a co-owner of Circa Gallery introducing me.

When I first got up to speak, I got really nervous, so I asked the crowd to waive to my husband, and I sent the picture to Eric, back home in Massachusetts.

A moment later, when he got my picture, he sent me this one of Baxter (one of our dachshunds), and the book he was reading (How To Sew A Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew by Erin Bried).

After my talk, I signed books, met great people, signed more books, and met even more great people. Thanks to Minna for taking all of these pictures!

What a great evening! Since my mom lives in the Carolinas, she and her friend stopped by and took me to dinner.  Nice!

The next morning, I went with my mom and Lauren to Duke Gardens. Pretty!

While there, I searched for a geocache…and (eventually) found it!

And signed the log.

Then brunch, and then off to the Maker Faire!

I had a great time at Maker Faire! There were hundreds of people there, all of whom must have been making a lot of heat, because it was a million degrees in there. Here’s a new owner of the book!

Here’s my mom and her friend Lauren.

And my grandparents stopped by!

Then, I got to be there for a wine night at Minna’s house. Fun!

The next morning, Minna and I drove to the ocean. Please ignore my thumb in this next picture. Good thing you can hardly see it.

Here’s Minna taking my picture while I take hers…

As we walked along the beach, we saw we were near a few geocaches. Since she also is a cacher, we had to get them. This is a mailbox on the beach with a log book that asks people to sign it and write something nice in it. The cache isn’t in here, but close by.

Here’s the cache…

We were having so much fun, it seemed like before I knew it, I was at the airport…

And flying back home. I’m going to miss everyone from North Carolina who made my trip so wonderful. Thank you!

OMG! I just went to Venus Zine’s website and there’s the cover of The Handmade Marketplace, on the main page (right below Jack White)! Here’s the link to an awesome review of the book.

One of my secret dreams for my book was to see it reviewed in my favorite magazines, Venus Zine and Bust. One out of two (so far?) isn’t bad. Excuse me while I go and wipe away a tear of joy.

Check out the latest issue (May 2010 – the one with the frog on the cover) of Berkshire Living magazine for a nice review of The Handmade Marketplace!

Here’s a grainy/blurry pic I took with my phone!

If you live in, or near, Burlington, Massachusetts, there are a few autographed copies of The Handmade Marketplace at Borders and Barnes & Noble, freshly signed last night.  Get ‘em before they’re gone!

Oh my! The Handmade Marketplace has been out for just about 3 months now! And so much has happened in that time – I guess it’s time to start updating The Handmade Marketplace page. You can click right up there on the book tab, and be taken over to see all of (or at least a lot of) my reviews, quotes from readers and other fun press stuff.

Soon, I ‘ll try to make a Press tab, but I do believe that my web helper, one Ms. Laurie May Coyle, had her baby last night – so I can hardly ask her for help! Anyhow, if you have a favorite link or reviewed the book on your blog or website and you’d like me to feature it here, send me the link and Ill put it up!

xo, Kari

PS – Thanks Minna Lee Photography for this picture of me signing books in NC!

]]> http://karichapin.com/blog/2010/05/12/press-links-and-book-reviews-oh-my/feed/ 5