Making The Farm Chicks 2015 Promo Campaign

This year I commissioned the talented Karli Ingersollfor the 2015 Farm Chicks Faircampaign. My theme was “Adventure”. Karli liked the idea of creating a poster with a multi-layer textured effect and it really came through. Patches, stitching, fabrics, and papers were represented.

I decided to make the promotional cards as sticker sheets this time around and Karlitook the key elements of the campaign and turned them into stickers:

The cards doubled as postcards on the backside, so they could be mailed in addition to being handed out.

For a pre-show event at our local mall, table tents were needed for the food court tables. Rather than making standard table tents, I thought it’d be fun to make actual tents. I started with a piece of paper and folded and folded until I came up with a one-piece design for a tent that could be printed, cut, folded, and glued into place. Karliworked the poster graphics into the tent design. They were SO MUCH WORK, (I hand-cut and glued each one), but I really loved the end result:

I had a 16 foot tall poster made to hang from the entryway of the mall as well:

My son, Lucas, and I brainstormed on a short film to promote Farm Chicks. The idea was to use the stickers we’d created and bring the story of this year’s adventure to life. I wanted it to feel homemade and Lucas had the great idea of creating a hand-drawn pop-up book to tell the story. It was so special having Lucas create this special little film:

The Curator’s badges, which were buttons, were made to look like patches.

I made press packets that were little tents as well, hand-cut from cardboard, and filled with promotional items:

The admission bracelets were inspired by childhood camp bracelets, with the knotted embroidery threads:

I had the illustrated patches and designs from the poster made into real life patches that were incorporated onto camp tote bags that were sold at the FC Fair:

Adventure Guides were passed out to all who entered, which contained information about The FC Fair, a map, etc. and the recipe for Spicy Camp Bars from The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen cookbook.

I loved how everything came together this year.Special thanks to Karli Ingersoll for her work on this year’s campaign!

And to Lucas for his work on the film.

Next up, I’ll be sharing the behind-the-scenes story of the 2015 Farm Chicks Fair installation. (My favorite one yet!)

The Farm Chicks Fair is held the first full weekend in June each year in Spokane, Washington and features more than 75,000 square feet of antiques, vintage, and handcrafted goods. I call it the happiest event on earth.

IT'S ME, SERENA!

I bounced through the first years of my life in a hippie gypsy wagon, hand-built by my father, wandering the back roads of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. My family eventually settled into a tiny cabin in the woods on property that was once inhabited by Native American Indians.

I spent my childhood days searching for arrowheads, teaching myself to sew on a treadle sewing machine and to bake in a wood-burning stove, with no running water, refrigeration, or electricity in our home. My family lived frugally and early on, inspired by my parent’s thriftiness and style, I gained a knack for thrifty creativity and turning ordinary objects into something useful. And I dreamed of the home I would create for my own family someday.

Now I’m married to my husband, Colin, and our children are all grown. After 24 years of producing The Farm Chicks Vintage & Handmade Fair, I'm spending time visiting other markets around the world. You can watch episodes of Serena Goes to Market here.

I share more about my life story from time to time, here on my blog. You can also find me on Instagram, and Facebook.