From Feb. 22-24, come see the most amazing selection of contemporary crafters from around the country. Stop by to see Caitlin with Rebound Designs in booth 435, and don't forget to check out the brand new New Wave craft section for more indie artists.

http://www.craftcouncil.org/baltimore/index.php

Craft Mutiny is sponsoring the crafty part of this month's Rock-n-Romp. Check it out!

Bring the whole family to a kid-friendly rock show with a literary twist!

WHEN: Saturday, February 23, 2008 from 1pm-3pm

WHERE: McGinty's Public House, 911 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland (be sure to use the massive FREE parking garage on Wayne Avenue)

ADMISSION: Adults $7, kids always FREE

Author Neal Pollack will read from his latest book, Alternadad, and the rockin' music will be provided by DC's Julie Ocean. Fun giveaways will include a signed copy of Alternadad and a Rock-n-Romp tshirt! Paperback copies of the book will also be for sale, plus there will be balloons, coloring and more crafty fun for the kids sponsored and provided by DC art+craft collective Craft Mutiny!

If you have kids, are expecting a kid or maybe just thinking about having kids someday, you won't want to miss hearing Neal's hilarious trials and tribulations as a new father. LA Times calls Alternadad "revelatory and funny…"Cleveland Plain Dealer adds, "Alternadad gives comfort, with a bonus of lots of laughs, to every parent who is just doing the best he can." Neal writes in a way that parents who are part of the MTV generation can relate to: with honesty, humor and a dash of rock-n-roll.

DC favorites Julie Ocean will play their excellent brand of power pop, and they're sure to have both parents and kids alike romping to the music. Julie Ocean's members have a long history of playing great music in DC with their former bands Velocity Girl, The Saturday People and Swiz.

Bon Jour mon amour, we all know that this thursday....this thursday it is not about zee gifts. No! It is about Zeee Loooooove.

But should you be looking for zee perfect card for your perfect cherie, why not consider these lovlies from local gifted artists?

First, we have zee cards- from zee Seamonster known as Tina Seamonster. Who is not really a seamonster at all, but a lovely young lady. In french, we call seamonsters 'monstre de mer'. Zat ees right. I will also teach you first grade french, ma petite chapeaux. That means 'My little hat'. For I have a tiny head.

Also in zee cards, is a handdrawn illustration by beth b. of Magpie DC. She is crazy, no? But she loves the sideshow art, and thus, drew siamese twins, and printed a bunch of cardswith her gocco machine. Tres adorable- no?

Maybe you like your cards to have a touch of the Risque? Ah, oui.... le risque....Miss Rania of Gosh Darn Knit will be right up your alley with the delightfully double-entendred card.

Also risque- Miss Caitlin, oh Miss Caitlin takes zee gateau! She has made zee naughtiestof pins from pieces of books
Mon Dieu....zat makes zee handsome devil think of other things...but zat is for another time mon Cherie....

With all zee dirty thoughts in my Tete, i should get some soap, no? Good thing there is the delightful Jenny of 8th Street Soaps. And I don't have to tell you how delicious it is to shower with her AWAKE soap. Containing mint and cranberries and oh! So much goodness, if only I could smell myself all day with out being slapped on the street. Mmmmm.....soapy goodness
Well, time ees up for zis Handsome Deeevil. I hope you have a lovely, not lonely holiday. And if it does look like it's the latter for you, why not give me a call?

Au Reviour.

Zee Handsome Deeeevil

Hi, I'm Sean Hennessey. I haven't posted here before and thought i'd start my pressence on this site by inviting you to a cool show i'm taking part in that will bring together 3 important glass art studios.

Glass3 is a collaborative exhibit featuring the works of The Washington Glass School, Cohesion Artists from Sunderland England, and artists selected by the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo.

Glass3
February 21st- March 9th
Monday- Saturday: Noon- 8PM
Sunday: Noon- 6 PM
Reception: Thursday Feb 21, from 6-8PM

The Shops at Georgetown Park
3222 M Street, NW

Please come check it out and see my new working combining glass panels and concrete. For more information, please click HERE

thanks,
sean hennessey

Liz of trees3.etsy (you may know Liz from our Holiday Booty Market or as a Crafty Bastards organizer) just started listing items in her shop this week and has already had 2 sales!!! No special marketing or previous knowledge of her stuff. I just think that is awesome and goes against many concerns I've heard about Etsy. Really inspiring!

Go Etsy!
Go Liz!

Hurry to her shop to get lovely pillows at very reasonable prices before each handmade one is gone.

One of my favorite quotes, from Martha Graham, as told to Agnes de Mille:

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open."

Put that into your pipe and smoke it.

I just got an email from our wonderful friends from BUST and - hooray - here are the details:

BUST Magazine is excited to announce the first ever Spring Fling Craftacular set to take place on Sunday April 27, 2008 at The Warsaw in Brooklyn! After 3 years of enormously successful Holiday Craftaculars, BUST is ready to spring into step with our first ever Springtime craft fair and '90s themed dance!

We are handpicking the most unique and talented crafters we can find from across the country to sell their wares from 11am until 9pm at the Warsaw in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Fill out our online vendor application, which can be found here!

Applications will only be accepted online and must be submitted by March 30, 2008.

Jung Yeon Choi

Haley Reneé Bates

Hello, I'm Rania of goshdarnknit. This is my first post here and I thought it would be nice to start with details about my trip with Sean to visit the American Craft Council show in Baltimore. The two main reasons I really wanted to go to the Baltimore Craft Show were to meet CircaCeramics and Margaux Lange, but I also ended up finding some new favorites.

I've been a big fan of Chicago based CircaCeramics for a very long time: gocco and ceramics, genius! I frequently covet their work on Etsy where they've had some fabulous articles written about them in the Storque.

CircaCeramics

At Crafty Bastards 2007 I had wanted to see Margaux Lange's work but I didn't have a second to skip over to visit, so a few weeks later I bought this as a little gift to myself when I reached 300 sales on Etsy. Getting to meet Margaux in person was awesome, and I hope to cross paths with her at some point again in the future. Be sure to visit her blog where she writes more about her work.

Margaux Lange

It's always nice to visit with familiar faces, Caitlin of Rebound Designs is a member of Craft Mutiny and this was one of her biggest shows ever. Her display looked fabulous!

Rebound Designs

One of my favorite finds at the show was artwork by Elizabeth Perkins, made of cast glass. Described on her website as: "cast glass using the pate de verre method. They are replicas of tatting, lace, and doilies made by my great-grandmother and her sister. The colors are inspired by 1940's lingerie."

Elizabeth Perkins

Almost all of the work I was attracted to was in the 'New Wave,' 'Searchlight,' and 'School to Market,' sections, but all three of these areas were hardly given any space at this event. The New Wave section artists barely had three feet of space each, and they were all crammed together in a fenced off area. I would hope that a greater focus is given to up and coming artists at these future events.

I think for a lot of us, the holiday craft season was overwhelming! back to back to back shows, lots of driving, planning and hosting a craft fair, meeting new crafty folks, making even more stuff to sell.. super fun, but man was I happy to have the holidays to make stuff for me me me! (and maybe a few handknit gifts!) I told myself I would finish *me* projects, and hopefully that sweater my husband keeps asking about, which only needs a measly sleeve sewn on! Well, that didn't work!

I made it a couple weeks into January when I started knitting more hats. To sell, eventually. Then I started plotting with a friend. The end of January it was discussed with some others on ravelry. And now? Haha. Now I am obsessed! With making more stuff, planning new things, deciding what to bake, thinking how we can get more people involved!

Part of me wishes I could just. stop. making. But...

the fun!!

(postcard by storm moon knits!)

A bunch of crafty yarnsters are getting together next month to wreak colorful wooly havoc on the city of Takoma Park. There will be yarn! Fiber! Friends! and COOKIES! And lots of fun people! The best part is free admission! :) Check out the blog for coming details!

sigh... so I will be making! Until then, at least! ;)