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

DogStar Designs!

Craftiest Bastard of the Week

DogStar Designs is featuring brand new Decoupage Piggy Banks! Perfect for the young at heart.

According to Jessica Blaszczak, the piggy banks are made with premium papers, instead of fabrics, for a smoother more delicate feel. What’s more, they are all handmade, with love and patience!

Of late, Blaszczak has also branched out and started creating original paintings and charms. However, “everything I make is children-themed and for the young at heart,” she writes.

Check out the DogStar Designs Etsy page!

Crafty Classifieds for goodies like this and more!

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

Crafters:Applications for Bust’s Spring Fling Craftacular are due tomorrow!

Tina posted application and vendor info here. The show is Sunday April 27th in Brooklyn and will feature talented crafters, an all day dance party with an open bar and an entire room set aside for dancing and mingling. Visit the Craftacular site for more info and to apply.

Fiber addicts: Get your fix tomorrow afternoon from 2pm-6pm in Takoma Park at the Homespun Yarn Party.

Visit the Yarn Party blog for more pictures and interviews with the spinners, dyers and other vendors.

The button ring is so old school indie craft. We’ve all made one or bought one or saved an interesting button for a future project. They are simple. They are beautiful. But unfortunately too many people don’t take the time to find the right glue or perfect their technique and eventually they break.

Hi Tree found a brilliant way to fix that. Her button rings are all made with elastic bands. This makes them not only totally adjustable, but also everlasting.

I bought this one on Etsy recently and love it:

Most of her rings look like little trees, which is just so cute:

Just goes to show that the most simple answer to keeping a button on is to sew it on.

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com. She thinks that unicorns whine too too much.

This interview continues a series of Q&A’s featuring vendors who participated in the 2007 Crafty Bastards fair. Last year, we didn’t get to post all of the Q&As before the festival was upon us, so here they are now!

If ever you find yourself at a loss for the right words, Reba Rar Rar just might have a letterpress print that says it just perfectly. Reba Rar Rar’s colorful stock of prints and posters can be everything from adorable, punk, wistful, bitchy, charming to full of sass. Reba Rar Rar is actually the pseudonym for Rebecca Ann Rakstad, who lives in Chicago and is currently working to get her masters degree at Columbia College’s Center for Book and Paper Arts.

We caught up with Reba Rar Rar and listened intently as she explained how the letterpress came to be an indispensable part of her creative career. Psst! She hand places each letter that is used to make her prints! That’s what I call TLC.

1. How long have you been making things?
I was born into crafting. My mom was always sewing and making crafts, she was a girl scout leader and a home economics teacher. rar rar press was born sometime in the winter of 2004 during my letterpress class at Columbia College’s Center for Book and Paper Arts. I came back to Chicago for graduate school with the idea that I’d like letterpress. It turned out to be my true love, I knew that it was what I wanted to be with for the rest of my life.

2. What is your earliest/favorite crafting memory?
Making MC Hammer pants during 7th grade home ec.

3. Why do you make things?
I love letterpress cuz it allows me to mass produce, and by making postcards my work is very accessible. I’d much rather make a postcard for two bucks for someone to stick on their fridge or put in a cheap frame than make a painting or something that would be unaffordable. I love it that my work makes people laugh. Adding a little unexpected humor to someone’s life makes me so happy.

4. What sort of things do you make?
I mainly make letterpress printed postcards, I’ve made a little over a hundred different ones so far and have a list of twenty more I want to make. I’ve started making record covers (so far I’ve done two for bluesanct… www.bluesanct.com) and posters for some of my friend’s shows. I make zines (distance makes the heart grow fonder and distracted by the stars), artists’ books (my latest is a board book about moustaches) and blank books. I am also working on my masters thesis project… http://firesidebowlproject.blogspot.com/. I’ve been printing posters of memories from shows that happened at the legendary Fireside Bowl in Chicago.

5. Any success stories you’d care to share?
I have a funny story… I did a fair in Indiana and a crazy looking woman came up to my table and said “The devil is in these cards!” Best response ever!

6. Inspirations?
My friends, pop culture, hip hop music, other letterpress artists, especially yee haw press.

7. Craft supplies you can’t live without?
a. woodtype - to actually told each individual letter that goes into my work is such an amazing feeling.
b. a letterpress - I prefer Vandercooks
c. paper - I love French paper cuz it is a family owned, mid western, enviro friendly company.
d. paper cutters - I like guillotines the best, they can go through a huge stack of paper in no time.
e. teflon bone folder and all the book tools in my pencil case.

8. Describe your work area.
I work all over the place, mostly at Columbia because they have such an amazing type collection and a guillotine paper cutter. I have a very messy studio at home where I mainly work on books and sewing projects. Letterpress is such a heavy hobby, I don’t plan on owning my own press until I’m pretty set on living somewhere for the rest of my life.
pictures…




9. Family? Pets? Plants?
I hangout all the time with my 7 month old niece and 4 year old nephew. My baby is a grey Tabby named Oscar, she really likes to cuddle and spoon and I’m about to get a black kitten that was born over the weekend. I plan on calling it Cooper (black) after the typeface.

10. Favorite color or pattern?
Any bright/bold color. I love good color combos. Green and blue, purple and grey, brown and light blue, orange paired with any color.

11. Have you been a Crafty Bastard before?
I participated in Crafty Bastards last fall (2007). I had a great time, it was probably the busiest fair I have ever been to! I was trapped in the corner of my tent the whole day. I met some really great people and even ran into some old friends. I can’t wait for the next fair!

12. Tell us about other crafters you love and your favorite handmade purchases.
Where do I start, I’m an indy craftaholic. I always find great stuff on etsy, day-lab and cut + paste on-line. I love orangyporangy skirts, jill blissen, maryink, the phantom limb, art goodies, owly shadow puppets, boy girl party, I could go on and on. I also have a bad addiction to buying other printmakers’ work. I especially am in love with the work of rovenko, Ray Fenwick, little friends of printmaking, yee-haw industries, to name a few.

13. What is one thing everyone should know how to do themselves?
How to make a book! I’ve even gone to the extreme and have completely made a book; handmade paper, letterpress printed text and image and then bound it all up. Did I mention it looked like a piece of cake in the end?

Are you the next big thing? Fred Flare.com’s annual design competition wants to know! Fred Flare is a super cute online store specializing in accessories, clothing, home decor, jewelry, and more. The competition gives you the opportunity to pitch your product to the FF buying department.

The deadline to submit your design is May 02, 2008. You can submit online here. There is a $5 fee. Of the thousands of entries, 27 will win and FF will order your product to sell in their store. Winners will need to be able to reproduce between 20-200 pieces. They have a really good FAQ about the competition. An important note is that you will need to provide a wholesale price for your products.

You could also win $1,000! Customers will vote on their favorite item and the designer with the most votes will be crowned 2008’s “fred fan fave” and will be awarded $1,000.

Some examples of last year’s winners and their products (including Crafty Bastard, The Small Object):




Check out all of last year’s winners.

So you see that winners are usually cute, colorful and fun. Good luck with your submissions!

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com. She thinks that unicorns whine too too much.

This interview continues a series of Q&A’s featuring vendors who participated in the 2007 Crafty Bastards fair. Last year, we didn’t get to post all of the Q&As before the festival was upon us, so here they are now!

Rebound Designs is aptly named for its clever reincarnation of old book bindings into arty book purses. Caitlin Phillips, who designs the purses, uses all kinds of books, from the classics to recipe books to your 7th grade Algebra textbook. Funny how book titles have their way with the designs. When bound by the classics, the bags retain a stately, timeless aura, as exemplified in the Shakespeare Tragedies bag. Likewise, the Book of Hymns bag features a more solemn yet glowing rendering in its bright red veneer.

As different as the book covers are, all of the book purses are bound by the crafty acumen of their creator. According to Phillips, sharing her creations is “like little pieces of me traveling around and having a new life, and adding something new to the lives they touch.”

1. How long have you been making things?
Pretty much since I could hold a pair of scissors. My mom is a quilter and crafter extraordinaire, it’s in my blood.

2. What is your earliest/favorite crafting memory?
Well, there’s the obvious macaroni and gold paint with glitter angel for Xmas, or something like that. I think my mom still has all of those that I made. I really can’t remember a time I *didn’t* make things, so picking the earliest might be hard. I remember making Xmas ornaments out of felt, little reindeer and trees and such, and taking them around the neighborhood and selling them. My mom would make me special dresses for the first day of school every year, I had a corduroy jumper with an awesome T-Rex applique patch on it for first grade. I would help her draw out the pattern, and pin it, and I would get to pick my own fabrics. I pretty much grew up in fabric stores, I would look through the pattern books and pick out my favorite outfits, and I loved running my hands over all the different fabrics.

3. Why do you make things?
I don’t know any other way of living, I’ve just always made things. I was a Girl Scout growing up, I’m actually a lifetime member, and we did more crafty things than anything else. There’s something so satisfying about an object that has been created with your own 2 hands. Whether it’s an idea I came up with, or following instructions from a book or a class, doing it myself is infinitely better than buying it, because every time I see the object, or use it, I’m reminded of how I felt while making it, and how good it felt to have made beauty where it didn’t exist before. And I love when my purses or anything else I’ve made goes to someone else, it’s like little pieces of me traveling around and having a new life, and adding something new to the lives they touch.

4. What sort of things do you make?
Right now my main craft is the Book Purse. I make one-of-a-kind purses out of old hardback books, all kinds, from children’s books, to classics, old textbooks, cookbooks, you name it. I love doing custom orders out of books people bring me, it’s amazing the memories that are tied to not just the story inside the book, but from simply the covers. Bibliophiles, don’t fret, I use primarily discarded and damaged books. Most of the books I get are from library discard shelves, thrift stores, and yard sales, your first editions are safe. I save most of the pages, so any local artists who want pages for collage or other projects, just let me know, you’re welcome to whatever I have.

5. Any success stories you’d care to share?
Yes! I just participated in the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore, which is one of the largest professional craft shows in the country. It’s a huge honor to be part of this show, I’ll be exhibiting next to people who have been perfecting their craft for longer than I’ve been alive. Even though I’ve been making things my whole life, I’ve only been a professional crafter for 3 years, so it’s amazing to be included in this show with so many exemplary artists. There was also a bit of drama from the show surrounding my fellow alt/indie crafters who were in the New Wave section, you can read more about it from Rania here on the Crafty Blog, or here from Annie of Imogene.

The outpouring of response from the issue has been great, I’m excited to keep the dialogue going when I get out to San Francisco for the upcoming CraftCon.

6. Inspirations?
My mom and my dad, they really instilled in me a love of learning and making. My father gave me his love of books, and my mom her love of craft, so I feel like this is what I was meant to do.

7. Craft supplies you can’t live without?
Sharp scissors, glue, and a good ruler.

8. Describe your work area.
I have a live/work studio in the Mount Rainier Artist Lofts right over the DC border in MD. My living room doubles as a studio, I have 7 foot tall wire shelves full of fabric, and a whole wall of books. I have big tables that fold down so I can spread out or work small as needed. There’s usually several boxes full of books, often with a cat on top of it. It always smells like books, cats, and glue. (The photos I have attached are of an open studio tour, normally I don’t have big displays of purses up.)

9. Family? Pets? Plants?
I have 3 cats, Dragon, Mithril, and Xander the Amazing Golden Boy. My boyfriend Justin and his cat Flash come over and visit often.

10. Favorite color or pattern?
I mostly wear black, but I love all colors, particularly reds. I have a mild obsession with polka dots and stars, as evidenced by my fabric stash, but I’m also in love with all Art Nouveau and William Morris patterns.

11. Have you been a Crafty Bastard before?
Yup, this is my second time doing the show, and I plan on many more years ahead, it is my favorite show of all.

12. Tell us about other crafters you love and your favorite handmade purchases.
I love Samantha Tate of t8 designs. My boyfriend bought me an amazing necklace just dripping in chains, and then we met her at an etsy party, she’s super sweet. I love the headband I bought from The Candy Thief at Renegade Brooklyn this year. All the crafters from the Craft Mutiny are of course super fantastic. Another favorite is my good friend Erika Rubel of Had Matter, we exhibit at Eastern Market together. I also love Sarah Ogren’s collage work, I have about 5 of her pieces by now. Margaux Lange’s Barbie Doll jewelry never ceases to amaze me, and she’s one of the nicest artists I know.

13. What is one thing everyone should know how to do themselves?
Mix a good stiff drink.

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

Ray Hart!

The works of Ray Hart feature original paintings in the abstract and surreal style. Hart’s pieces often reflect a sense of constant motion, inspired by his reverence for freedom and the “mysterious unknown.”

According to Hart, art is an effortless, natural occurrence. “I do not paint these paintings, they somehow paint me. Every emotion, which I may have suppressed in my past, is evoked here in my artwork. Thus, the constant focus is on the underneath, as it prepares to rise.”

Visit Ray Hart’s website for more examples of his work!

Crafty Classifieds for goodies like this and more!

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

This past Saturday night was the opening of Location in Baltimore, MD. Location is the travelling art gallery project behind Crafty Bastards Entertainment Alumn, AM Radio. Sponsored by Scion and composed of more than 40 members, AM Radio is a group of artists and DJ’s with impressive portfolios.

Location is the first stab at this type of project for Am Radio. Per their own blog, Am Radio descibes Location as, “A project in partnership with SCION where we’re transforming a chic 4 floor townhouse into a lifestyle gallery/residence by fusing original art and multi media elements.”

Am Radio presented just a sampling of their work at Location, in a tour du force opening night. I was invited by DJ Two Tone to get a sneak peak of Location while the paint was still wet on the walls.

AM Radio artist Buck delivered a short but sweet intro to the space:

Opening night hosted DJ’s and breakdancing on the first floor, as well as work from emergin artists. Two more floors showed off impressive murals, paintings and Munnys. The top floor boasted a room designed by industry notable Shop Gentei, and a shoe drive hosted by Grand High; shoes will be donated to The Carmelo Antony Youth Development Center.

Don’t take your sweet ol’ time to check out Location because this space is only open until April 18th. The art gallery is open 2-3 days a week, and AM Radio will host 2-4 different events. Location is located on 17 W. Chase St. in the Mt. Vernon area of Baltimore, MD.

Dude, the world of Chickenpants just got cuter.

Chickenpants Adventure #3 - Super Pants

Check out the world of Absolutely Small. These videos are not only cute, but are some of the best examples of viral marketing in the world of indie craft.

Organizing a craft event? You’ve got your venue squared away, and now you’re ready to squeeze in as many vendors as you can..and not just any vendors, RAD vendors that make awesome stuff.

I organize a monthly outdoor craft market and have found some interesting ways to ‘tap into’ the craft community and get a lot of responses to our calls for crafters. Here is a step-by-step guide:

• First, you need to have some sort of web site for the event. It’s important to have a place where prospective vendors can easily get information on the show, how to apply, and how to contact you with questions. This can either be a page on your existing web site, or if you don’t have a web site, you can start one easily in minutes using Blogger or Wordpress (both are free!). Here’s an example of a blog my friend Moira of Bookish Lady put together for her Valentine’s Day themed craft event:Crafts and Kisses
• Once that’s ready to go, you’re ready to start posting. A great place to start is IndieCraftShows.com. This site is a great, free resource for crafters and organizers alike. It’s easy to create a login and start posting the call for everyone to see.
• Trade publications are another way to go. There are hundreds of magazines that focus on the craft industry. One that I’ve had luck with is The Crafts Report. For $25 you can list your show in their online ‘craft show finder’ and reach vendors on a national level.

Looking mostly for local artists? Here are some more easy (and free!) ways to find artists in your area:

• Craigslist…ahh, the neverending free resource that now reaches people in all nooks/crannies in the US and beyond! On Craigslist there are a couple of categories you could post your call in. Post in the ‘Artists’ section of the community bulletin board, or under ‘Creative Gigs’ in the employment section. Craigslist now allows for pictures and hyperlinks so you can really trick out your call and make it look appealing.
• Your local paper: A lot of local rags offer free or very affordable classified advertising for arts and events. Check out your favorite
  local newspaper and see about their online and print classifieds. If you’re in the DC area, the City Paper has their Crafty Bastards classifieds section which is free and has become a ‘go-to’ place for crafters and craft show organizers alike.
• and my new favorite way to find vendors in my region is Etsy. Etsy now has a ’shop local’ feature that allows you to search for artists by city + state. For my upcoming craft event, I did searches for DC, MD and VA and then contacted artists who had work I liked. You need to have an Etsy account to contact the crafters, but it’s free and easy to set up.

By following these steps you’re mailbox will be flooded with tons of applications from near and far, and your indie craft event is sure to be packed with cool vendors selling the hottest handmade products!!

Here are some of the vendors I found for my market using these ‘tactics’…(I’m gonna be broke by the end of the summer):

For the full list of 2008 Ballston Arts & Crafts vendors (which just posted yesterday!) check out our blog: ballstonarts-craftsmarket.blogspot.com.

If you build it, they will come!!

xo, kristina

kristina bilonick is a dc native and fellow craft-addict, cooking up only the finest from her downtown dc studio. www.kristinabilonick.etsy.com