Who We Are: Little Brown Bag, A Handmade Market

 As we were downtown passing out postcards for Little Brown Bag, A Handmade Market, we had a few people ask us what it is exactly. So we're going to let you know a little bit about us and a little bit about LBB!

Audra and I are two sisters of four. I (Belinda) am the oldest, Audra is third. Between Audra and I is Amanda, who lives in Florida with her family, and Clara is our baby sister. You may know Clara as the owner of Kindred Calligraphy, also a favorite LBB vendor.

We grew up with very crafty parents. Our mother sews, she cooks, she decorates...she IS the original Martha Stewart. Our father can plan, build and fix ANYTHING. Growing up they would drag all of us to fabric stores, home improvement stores, antique stores and CRAFT FAIRS and we hated it...and now, guess where you could find us on any given weekend? Any one of those four places. We not only love crafting, creating and DIYing, we thankfully each inherited a portion of their creativeness.  Audra has a photography business, Audra Marie Photography and I have an Etsy store that sells, banners, bunting and other paper party supplies.

So after years of going to craft shows all over Southern California we wanted to host a local one ourselves! We love Redlands and knew that there were many hidden artsy creators and handmakers right in our neighborhood and we wanted to share them with all of you! We love that Redlands has a handmade, recycled and organic culture and knew that if we created a 'craft show' it was not going to be' your Mama's craft show'. We wanted it to be really  unique and showcase truly HANDMADE items. So one night Audra and I sat at my kitchen table and thought of a name, a location and some friends that had small handmade businesses. We came up with Little Brown Bag because we love going to boutiques and markets and coming home with lots of little brown bags, filled with goodies! To us, when we see a little brown bag, we know there must be something cute and quaint inside!

We held our first LBB in October of 2013 across from Audra's photography studio downtown,  it was warm, a treck upstairs  and very small. But, we were happy to hear good feedback from the handful of vendors we had. Since then we've hosted two more at The Mitten Building, this upcoming one being our fourth and largest! 32 vendors to be exact! While we are still 'starting out' in this handmade market business we LOVE doing it. We truly do it to let all of you know about what awesome craftsmanship lies right beneath our noses. Items that make great gifts and keepsakes and that years from now you'll remember the person you bought it from.

We hold handmade items near and dear to our heart because of our parents. We know how much time, effort and love goes into making each and every item that you'll see at our markets. We remember the trials, errors and hours our Mama went through making gifts from the heart as well as the time and attention to detail our Papa spent building and fixing to make it perfect. We hope that you'll come see us next weekend, and that you will find something there that calls to you. We ask that every time you look at it you remember that it was not made by a machine but by someone's own two hands and heart.

Belinda & Audra

Little Brown Bag, A Handmade Market