Ballston Arts and Crafts Market kicks off this Saturday from 10am-4pm. Buy handmade lovelies for mom while the kiddies rock out during a special Rock-n-romp featuring Exit Clov, Carol Bui and Gist from noon-4pm.

Disclosure: There are several Crafty Bastards bloggers participating in the Ballston Arts and Crafts Market. Kristina Bilonick organizes the monthly event. Tina Seamonster will be there tomorrow with the Craft Mutiny and Susan Hsu is playing with her band Exit Clov. It’s gonna be awesome.

SquidFire’s Spring Art Mart, also this Saturday, will take place at Mount Vernon Park in Baltimore from 11am-6pm.

If you’re in Charm City, swing by and check out the handmade goodness from artists like the Broken Plate Co., Sweet Pepita, Rebound Designs, Woolarina, DeNada Designs and more.

Vendor list and directions available on SquidFire’s website.

And of course, the mammoth Artomatic opens today. 1,000 artists. 10 floors, and 28 days of mad crazy artiness. Visit Artomatic.org for details. You can view photos we posted from Artomatic 2007 here.

See something exceptional at Artomatic? Send your images to craftybastards@washingtoncitypaper and tell us about it.

Lots to do and see this weekend. Get out and enjoy the spring market season!

Keep your crafty cool this summer with tons of craft workshops and events hosted by the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.

As a partner and host of Crafty Bastards Silver Spring, Pyramid Atlantic knows how to keep the crafty masses happy with events that will have your learning and crafting with like-minded folks.

If you’ve never been to Pyramid Atlantic, you need to check out their ginormous space, located at 8230 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, MD. Pyramid Atlantic’s extensive equipment collection allows members to work with a letterpress machine, screen print posters and T-shirts, make paper by hand, and work on many other crafty activities. Pyramid Atlantic also hosts arts and crafts workshops and events throughout the year that are open to the public.

Pyramid Atlantic has memberships for sale at a reasonable price, and purchasing one gets you into all their workshops at a reduced rate as well as invites to their exclusive events.

NOT YET A MEMBER? HERE’S A GREAT DEAL — To support the Crafty Bastards community, Pyramid Atlantic is giving all Crafty Bastards the opportunity to attend any of their Summer Workshops listed below, at the member rate!!

To get your Crafty Bastards Pass to attend any of the workshops/events at the member price of a mere $10, all you have to do is be signed up on the Crafty Bastards mailing list (sign up on washingtoncitypaper.com/craftybastards). You’ll get your free pass in an upcoming email blast.

Questions? Email craftybastards@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Upcoming Pyramid Atlantic Workshops & Events

5/13 – Tuesday from 7 pm – 9 pm (REGISTRATION FULL)
Letterpress Happy Hour Special Night for Graphic Designers to Mix and Mingle

5/21 Wednesday from 6 pm – 9 pm
Paper Making Society
Papermill Diva Gretchen Schermerhorn hosts this papermaking group
where you can design and produce your own paper.
Cost: $10 - members
$20 - non-members.

5/20 Tuesday from 7 pm – 9 pm
Letter Press Happy Hour
Join like minded letter press maniacs for “old school” printing at its best.
Bring a project that you would like to work on, collaborate with others or
just have fun learning to set type and print.
Cost : $10 - members
$20 - non members.

5/27Tuesday from 7 pm – 9 pm
Letter Press Happy Hour
Cost : $10 - members
$20 - non members.

6/3 Tuesday from 7 pm – 9 pm
Letter Press Happy Hour
Cost : $10 - members
$20 - non members.

6/4 Wednesday from 6 pm – 9 pm
Paper Making Society
Cost: $10 - members
$20 - non-members.

6/17 – Tuesday from 7 pm – 9 pm
Letter Press Happy Hour
Cost : $10 - members
$20 - non members.

6/18 Wednesday from 6 pm – 9 pm
Paper Making Society
Cost: $10 - members
$20 - non-members.

6/24 Tuesday from 7 pm – 9 pm
Letter Press Happy Hour
Cost : $10 - members
$20 - non members.

For more information about Pyramid Atlantic and all the cool stuff they do check out pyramidatlanticartcenter.org.

I feel like all of the best upcycled products are bags. I’ve reviewed bags made out of old t-shirts, bags made out of contruction fencing and now here are bags made out of the hated plastic grocery bags. With all of these bags made out of waste, there is really no reason for anyone to ever purchase a non-upcycled purse or tote.

So, fused plastic bag bags. Some of the bags that I am going to show you today are made by fusing together all those unwanted plastic grocery bags. I think what makes these bags cute to me is that some of them are made with grocery bags from regional stores that we don’t have here, so they aren’t the usual ugly Safeway bags. It helps to have some bags in colors other than Safeway tan. Take a look at this green one ($45) from Scary Carrie Creates:

This lunch bag ($14) from Kim Quilts saves 9 plastic bags from a landfill. It is made by using a unique folding technique, then they are quilted over to ensure they are more durable.

She also has some larger bags ($22). The quilting really makes them cute:

A few more plastic bag finds:

Fused Wristlet ($12) from HoneyBearRecycles

Recycled Plastic Basket Organizer ($15) from Curious Doodles.

Wanna do this yourself? Personally, I wouldn’t do this myself because I worry about the fumes. I mean, how safe can it be to use an iron to fuse these plastic bags together? I would rather let others do it for me! But if you are interested in trying it out, there is an awesome tutorial on the Etsy Labs website, here. Check out a tutorial for quilted fused plastic bags over at Craftastica.

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at I Like Seamonsters. She has too many bags.

Each week we feature an advertiser from the Crafty Bastards Classifieds. This week the honor goes to:

My Right 2 Write!

My Right 2 Write is a project by three graphic designers looking to contribute their skills for the good of the local community. Out of a brainstorm came the idea to handcraft blank journals and to donate an unadorned composition book to a local needy school for every original journal sold.

My Right 2 Write’s books are hard cover marble journals covered in vintage & new wallpaper. The covers feature kooky googly-eyed monsters and clever cyberspeak that everyone can relate to.

To see all the journal designs, visit the My Right 2 write Website!

Crafty Classifieds for goodies like this and more!

Make stuff? Place a Crafty Bastards ad, it’s FREE!

A few posts ago, my fellow bastard Tina Seamonster wrote about upcycling with those old t-shirts that just aren’t wearable anymore. Now I have yet another crafty recycling option for you- make paper. At the Pyramid Atlantic papermill we can make paper out of everything from junk mail to your old New Kids shirt (if you can let it go). No need to cut down virgin forests for your crafts- there are plenty of fibers that can be recycled. Most plant fibers can be used to make interesting paper, and the opacity changes depending how long the material is beaten in the Hollander Beater. In short, longer fibers are cut down in the beater and then pulled into sheets of paper.

A few months ago we had a group of kids at Pyramid who cut up their old jeans to make a pretty bluish paper. Also, old cotton t-shirts can be cut up and recycled into new paper, the color either determined by the shirt dye or added later if the fiber is white. In a class I took, we cut up a variety of shirts, and the strong red of one shirt mixed with those others to create a pretty pink.

Like yarn, paper can be made of many sustainable fibers like bamboo and seaweed. Check out this sweet journal made from recycled seaweed. Kozo (also known as Mulberry) is often used in handpapermaking, creating a beautiful translucent paper. The fibers can be harvested without killing the plant, thus creating a renewable resource.

Bamboo is another reusable fiber that we often use at Pyramid Atlantic to make paper, but don’t worry, there is still plenty for the pandas!

For a quick, clear look at the Hollander Beater and Handmade paper, read Ray Rich’s page at http://www.sumi-art.com/my-hmp.html

Last year, we didn’t get to post all the Q&As of vendors who participated in the 2007 Crafty Bastards fair, so here they are now!

Art School Dropout is aptly named, as its creations seem to exude irreverence for everything formulaic, and to embrace, instead, a love for all colors and creatures that tickle the momentary fancy. These creatures include everything from hot pink octopi to the delightful “Funny Little Man” (pictured below).

According to Jessee Maloney, making crafts helps to calm the mind and keep her fingers happy. All hand-cast plastic pieces are made in-house with handmade silicone molds. All embroidered bags are hand-drawn on the computer, stitch by stitch, and also embroidered in-house on Maloney’s own personal machine. To see more Art School Dropout crafts, visit the website, where you can even get gift certificates!

Art School Dropout

1. How long have you been making things?

As a business… almost 4 years now - otherwise I’ve been making things my entire life, my mom and grandma made sure I knew how to sew at a young age and they both did art projects with me all the time.

2. What is your earliest/favorite crafting memory?

My earliest crafting memory is of making little dolls out of my mom’s scrap fabric, I would sew them up in weird shapes and put little ribbon and scrap fabric cloths on them. They always fell apart since I wasn’t that great at sewing. Sometimes I wouldn’t even make the dolls, I’d just made little clothes to go on my fingers and basically have finger puppets.

3. Why do you make things?

It’s very calming for me. I’ve been told many times that I’m a happier person when I get to make things all the time, and my husband says it’s my therapy.

4. What sort of things do you make?

I make jewelry, small accessories, handbags, pouches, stuffed toys, pillows, screen printed things, embroidered items (hand and machine embroidered) plus loads of other stuff… not all for my business, and I ALWAYS want to learn to do more. I get very fidgety if I can’t learn something new every so often.

6. Inspirations?

I love colorful Japanese art, clothes and toys. Plus I really love the simple designs of the 60’s and 70’s. And lately I noticed that I get a lot of inspiration from my two little sisters. When making my jewelry I think, “Would Ashley or Cori wear this?”

7. Craft supplies you can’t live without?

My sewing machine, scissors, wire, x-acto knife and 3-in-1 pliers.

8. Describe your work area.

My work area use to be my entire house, and it was a horrible mess!!! I feel very embarrassed to even own photos of that. I seriously work on 5-10 projects at once! But now since I just got married and we’re trying to save up for a house, I’ve had to down grade. I now work in a 4′x6′ area at the end of my bed in my bedroom. It consists of a table, two bookshelves and a bunch of drawers. In that area I make all my jewelry and package orders. I do all my casting and sewing in the basement. In 2 months I’ll have a proper craft room that I’ll probably want to show off.

9. Family? Pets? Plants?

I don’t have any pets but I do have a husband named JC. He’s extremely supportive of what I do, and always jokes that one day he’ll be able to quit his job and I’ll support him. And anyone who’s ever seen my booth at a show knows all about my little sister Cori who tags along to almost every show and even helps out! She’s a very crafty girl. She’s growing up though, so I don’t know how much longer she’ll think its ‘cool’.

10. Favorite color or pattern?

My favorite color right now is Teal, and my favorite patterns are Damask (old looking wallpaper pattern) and woodgrain.

11. Have you been a Crafty Bastard before?

I’ve done the show before… but I’m assuming that’s not what the question meant. Or is that what you’re asking?

12. Tell us about other crafters you love and your favorite handmade purchases.

The crafter I really love is Heidi of My Paper Crane. I own over 25 of her plush toys, plus I’ve bought even more as gifts, and Heidi is so talented and sweet. My other favorite is Danielle Maveal I LOVE her jewelry, I’m not normally a jewelry type of girl, but I wear her necklaces all the time. And she also is a very nice, talented person!

14. What is one thing everyone should know how to do themselves?

How to sew on a button, I’ve sewn so many buttons on people’s clothes over the years! It’s crazy. What would they do if I wasn’t there?

I have always felt like sort of a one trick pony when it comes to crafting. I gocco. I used to do other stuff, but when I got my Gocco Printer about 5 years ago, I stopped doing much else. Nothing matches it when it comes to ease of use. And my lifestyle only gives me small units of times with which to make stuff, so the Gocco makes sense.

But this past month, I decided to venture out and commit to two art projects that would require that I use up lots of Gocco screens and bulbs. Like, lots. This was getting expensive and stressful, so I decided it was time to learn something new. I started researching ways that I could transfer lots of words onto wood. Stories from my blog, twitter posts, all kinds of stuff. I wanted each piece to be relatively one of a kind, I wanted the freedom to be able to randomly make a piece of wall art the way I would jot down a note in my Moleskine notebook. I wanted to be break free from the Gocco.

A call to the factory where I was buying irregular bits of wood for these projects helped me discover the wood burning pen/tool. You know, the kind of thing that Boy Scouts use to draw deer heads on patches of leather? Apparently everyone’s older brother had one of these things. Still not sure what I am talking about? Here’s the page from the catalog that I ordered mine from:

You can totally pick these up at any craft store for about $35, but those places stress me out with all the scrap booking stuff, so I try to stay away! For about another $20, you can pick up a set of alphabet stamps! This was my first idea, to burn in my silliness one letter at a time. That was until the woman taking my order told me about the transfer tip for the tool. It sounded too good to be true. With the flat tip of the pen, one can transfer laser prints onto word, fabric, leather, whatever. Just reverse any text, heat up the pen to 750 degrees and you are in business!

My first night of learning was stressful. Here I am working on my first transfer:

And after about an hour of working on it, this is what I got:

Not great, but not bad either!

Note to self (and Crafty Blog readers): Do not ever try to learn a new craft 15 days before needing 40 new pieces for two different venues. Don’t do this to yourself. Even if the instructions on the box make it look like anyone can wield the wood burning/transfer tool, know that it is not this easy. And if you only have two hours a day to perfect your new craft, odds are you will not perfect it in time to actually finish said 40 pieces. Ok. End rant.

My second night of trying out the tool yielded slightly better results, if still not perfect. Here is a “finished” piece:

Each time I use the tool, I learn something new and get better at it. This past weekend I got some help with my twins and was able to work for about 3 hours uninterrupted and finished about 6 pieces (photos to come once Artomatic opens!).

I am energized by my ability to pick up something new and encourage everyone to step out of their crafting comfort zone and try something different.

What is your dream skill? Mine is actually quilting, oh my, who has time for that?

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com. The title of this blog is what she was burning into wood today.

Each week we feature an advertiser from the Crafty Bastards Classifieds. This week the honor goes to:

Plastic Heaven!

Craftiest Bastard of the Week

Earth Week was last week, but it’s never too late to celebrate earth-friendliness. Plastic Heaven makes t-shirts, jewelry, accessories and tote bags — all while promoting the word of peace and eco-friendly consumer lifestyles!

Pictured above is a t-shirt featuring a phrase that Plastic Heaven’s mother used to teach: Want Not Need. The Plastic Heaven website includes a new line of t-shirts featuring historical icons of peace. Check it out at the Plastic Heaven website!

Crafty Classifieds for goodies like this and more!

Make stuff? Place a Crafty Bastards ad, it’s FREE!

It is totally too bad the Crafty Bastards application doesn’t require video submissions. Check out Cousin Loomis’ plea for Spooky Daddy to get into Crafty Bastards:

I would totally watch Sesame Street again if Cousin Loomis replaced Elmo. Ok, maybe not Elmo, maybe just Telly or Grover.

Are you making creative videos with your handmade goods? Be sure to share them with us by emailing us at craftyupdates@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Hey Crafty folks! Do you sew baby bibs? Make kid-friendly plushies? Mix your own skin care line? Then you’d be a geat fit for the Celebrate Mama! festival.

Celebrate Mama! will take place on Saturday, June 7th, from 11am to 4pm at Lafayette Elementary School (5701 Broad Brance Rd. NW). This free, yearly, family-friendly celebration brings together products, services and information for mamas at one big event.

This year’s Celebrate Mama! is open to new vendors, sponsors and entertainers. If you’re interested in selling your wares at this event, contact Janine Boyle at Boyle422@verizon.net.