2008 Crafty Bastards Vendor Spotlight: 1 Girl 1 Boy
Get to know this year’s Crafty Bastards vendors! We’re posting a series of interviews of crafters who will be at the CB festival Saturday, June 28, at the Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Silver Spring, MD.
1 Girl 1 Boy designs a colorful array of shirts specially designed to match the youthful spirits of any little girl or boy. All of Stacy and Mark’s shirts are hand-dyed and block-printed. The dyes are actually their own creations, developed after test dyeing yards & yards of fabric to get just the right shade. Block printing also gives their shirts a unique look, ensuring that no two shirts are exactly alike! Visit 1 Girl 1 Boy’s website for all of their designs.
1. Using just three words, how would you describe your work?
Labor Intensive
2. What are you doing to prepare for Crafty Bastards? Are there any new products or techniques that you will be trying out for this show?
I (Stacy) have been working madly each night, after the kiddies are tucked in, on some new products. We will be introducing a line of block printed textiles (yardage, tea towels, pillows that kind of stuff) at Crafty Bastards. I am having so much fun working on this new project, I mean so much fun that I don’t mind hanging out till the wee hours of the night playing with color & pattern in our truly dank & unpleasant basement studio. I have always loved pattern & color, so to work on designing yardage is really freeing. I love our little shirts, but on the design end it can be kind of confining.
3. Is your craft widespread in the handmade community? What makes your stuff different from others in your craft genre?
I haven’t run into too many block printers who work on fabric, so I guess I’d say no, but maybe it’s just the crowd & shows we do. Silkscreening seems to reign supreme, which is cool. I love silkscreening, but ended up with this block printing gig because I wanted something more immediate. You know remove all those pesky steps like making screens, letting emulsion dry etc.
4. Starting an independent shop takes a lot of dedication, planning and hard work. At what point did you realize you had the chops to start your own indie craft business?
I don’t know if I do. The actual making the stuff I think I’ve got down, but the website stuff (um just one look at my rarely updated hobbled together site is a clue I don’t know what I’m doing on that end), promoting (what’s that!), ordering supplies, basically all the stuff needed to run a business I really struggle with. I have a plan of sorts, I am taking things kind of slow, learning along the way till our 2 kids are in school (they are 5 & 3 ½ so I’m almost there). At that point I hope to transition things into a more full time serious business, you know actually use those file folders I have & that Rolodex that’s collecting dusk in back of that pile of business cards. For now it’s still this train wreck of late night printing & setting my sewing machine up outside so I can watch the kids in the kiddie pool while I finish up some work.
5. Where are your favorite places to find your supplies?
I get almost all of my stuff online. It’s easier than packing the kids up & going to an art store or, nightmare of nightmares, the fabric store.
6. Crafting is a grassroots revolution of sorts. It’s catching on as people appreciate all things handmade, original, recycled and environmentally/socially conscious. Does this influence/inspire your work? If so, how do you incorporate it into your craft?
I’m just so thankful this little revolution is happening. I’m 36 & after getting out of art school & then getting art school out of me (if you know what I mean) all I really wanted to do was sew & print & have a nice little thing going on all my own. At that time the internet was just getting started, I was terrified of computers (I still don’t know how to type) & having a business seemed impossible. All this happening is just so amazing. Shows like Crafty Bastards are giving artist/crafters a venue for selling our stuff & meeting like-minded folks, the internet making it possible for a girl to stay home with her kids while selling a bit & getting her products seen, even the mainstream media getting interested in what’s going on (thanks Martha!), it’s all so awesome & I’ll ride it for as long as I can & learn as much as I can on the way.
7. After seeing your work, many would-be crafters are inspired to start their own creations. Will you have any DIY kits available for sale at Crafty this year?
No DIY kits, but we always bring some of our hand carved stamps/blocks with us to shows. It gives us a chance to talk about our process a bit & encourage anyone who’s interested in giving it a try.
