Northern Grade

Hi!

Being the official photographer/instagrammer for Northern Grade last weekend was like a dream! I got to spend two days straight with wonderful small business owners, most of them local. We all spent time together setting-up the day before the sale. And we all tore-down together after it ended. It truly was a wonderful way to get to know the people who work hard to represent our state and our country by making well-crafted American-made goods.

Urban Undercover's cute table {www.UrbanUndercover.com}

Most of them are family businesses. They all put in long hours and it is obvious that it is a labor of love. Moms and dads and brothers and sisters were all there - either visiting or working. 

Lanona Shoes' sweet baby {www.LanonaShoes.com}

It really makes you realize why Northern Grade is so special. And why it attracts such a large crowd. They had record attendance!

Hand painted canoe paddles by Sanborn Canoe Co {http://www.SanbornCanoe.com}

I also spent a lot of time at the Stormy Kromer booth. It was great fun to rep the products and meet some of the faces behind the brand! I wore my favorite Stormy Kromer cape and hat the first day of the event! 

Additionally, I had about 13 pieces of art hanging around the building. It took us three hours to hang the art the night before the show. My friend Sunshine and her husband Mark, who is a carpenter, hung most of the art. Thank goodness for their help! I was also grateful for the help of Lee from Leather Works Minnesota (www.leatherworksminnesota.com) We had a lot of laughs and she helped me lay out my art.

Nevertheless, I am thrilled to say that over the course of the weekend I sold around 10 canvases! I also sold a ton of my new holiday cards!  Mac, the owner of Northern Grade, liked my cards so much that he asked me to bring in extras for the second day of the event.

My art behind the bar! This room in the Solar Arts Building and the delicious food were both created by Chow Girls Catering! www.ChowGirls.net Yum!!

So on Saturday night (the night in-between the two days of Northern Grade) I stayed up late carefully packing up the remainder of my on-hand card inventory. Each card had to be folded, paired with an envelope and placed into a plastic sleeve. Talk about a labor of love. It took a few hours!

Then on Sunday I brought them to Northern Grade with me. And Mac packed them in his box labeled "NYC!" My cards are going into their flagship store in NYC - opening this Tuesday, November 10th!! I am thrilled!!

On their way to NYC

Mac also asked for 4 large (30" x 30") photos on canvas to decorate & be sold at the store! I can now proudly say that I have art in NYC! Yay! And, after my detailed description of the retailers at Northern Grade, I am sure you can imagine how pleased I am to be included in the list! My art will be displayed alongside these hard-working + Made-in-the-USA companies! Northern Grade is going to be an amazing store! They work hard to represent the best of the Made-in-the-USA brands.

Shine On Photos, LLC soon to be added here!!

Thanks so much Northern Grade + vendors for everything! I truly appreciate your companionship and your support!!

xo

Jill

Cards For Sale!

Hello,

I have a big week of retail coming up. I have created 10 different note cards that I am selling at a few different places. You can find some of them at Equation Boutique - Mpls at 50th & France. And you can soon find others at the Edina Art Gallery. Click here to see my full selection.

In addition, I have created several new large art canvases which will make their debut at the Northern Grade roving market- the last weekend of October at the Solar Arts Building in NE Mpls.

All of the new art has been added here: http://www.shineonphotos.com/print-for-sale/

Minnstameets + The Mall of America

Through our organization Minnstameets (www.Minnstameets.com) my friend Rita and I have been working with the Mall of America a lot in the past month! We worked very hard to curate a collection of 70 photos representing Minnesota's community of Instagrammers! We asked the community of 5,000+ people to add a hashtag to their top three favorite photos. A week later we went though all of the photos and selected what we thought was a good representation of our community. You would be amazed (I am!) at the quality and depth of photos our community produces... These are people who love photography. They do it with their hearts and it shows!

Once we had our selections, the Mall of America graciously printed them and gave us our own gallery space to display the photos! Rita and I spent an entire day choosing the layout and hanging the photos.

Once we were done, it felt so amazing just to sit in the space. Like we were surrounded by friends - like a big hug! 

photo of the art gallery sign taken by my friend Ben Henning

On Thursday night we threw an Instameet there and we had over 200 attendees! If you live in Minnesota, check out our gallery - it is across from J Crew and will be up for about a month! I couldn't be more proud!

(photo by Rita Farmer)

So the Mall of America also invited us to their Art + Style Series fashion show last night! They asked 5 designers from past seasons of Project Runway to share their latest collections. We attended the VIP party beforehand & told we would get VIP seating too. Well you cannot imagine our surprise when we were seated in THE FREAKING FRONT ROW!!!! It was epic. The clothes were epic. The energy was palpable. Serious goosebumps material. I was especially happy to see that black and white with pops of red is definitely "in" this season!

And wow - we were in the front row to take it all in! The entire way home I kept wondering how this mom with an iPhone is suddenly sitting in the front row at a fashion show - next to the style editor from MSP Magazine. How the heck did that happen?! Crazy and wonderfully exciting at the same time!  Thanks so much Erin & everyone else at the Mall of America! It feels like a wonderful start of a new partnership!