Head downtown now to catch the final hours of DC’s Downtown Holiday Market, which runs until 8pm tonight.  If you’re looking for something to get the guys on your list, be sure to check out Jon Wye‘s booth for belts, wallets, shirts and more.

DC folks: swing by the Adams Morgan/ U Street area and check out the handmade selections at Meeps, Nana, Smash, and Junction.  If you’re in Baltimore, head to the Hampden neighborhood for shopping at Red Tree, Double Dutch, Atomic Pop, Squidfire, Shine Collective and more.  And, total bonus: scoot on over to Christmas Street for pure holiday decoration overload.

For the fiber addicts on my list, I’m heading to Fibre Space in Alexandria and Stitch DC in Georgetown.

Chocolate makes a great gift & the truffles from Artisan Confections featuring designs by local artists are on my list to pick up.   They also offer classes for $65, which includes,  “a little bit of wine, a little bit of knowledge, and a whole lot of chocolate to take home.”  Yum!  In addition to their diverse line of chocolates from around the globe, Biagio Chocolates in DC carries several locally made brands:

Artisan Confections – Arlington, VA
Christopher’s Confections – Alexandria, VA
Fleurir Chocolates, Hartfield, VA
J Chocolatier – Georgetown, DC
Wanders Chocolatiere – Manassas, VA
Robert’s Chocolates – Alexandria, VA

And of course, I’ll be checking Miss Pixies for cute vintage items my crafty friends can incorporate in to their booth displays.

Time to get moving to get all the shopping done.  Before I go, here’s the list of 2009 Crafty Bastards that listed Virginia as their home state.

Inedible Jewelry: http://www.inediblejewelry.com/
Philip Barbato: http://www.etsy.com/shop/philbarbato
Tasha McKelvey: http://tashamck.com/
Robert Ullman/Atom-Bomb Bikini: http://rkullman.blogspot.com/
this chickadee: http://thischickadee.blogspot.com/
popidiot: http://www.popidiot.com/
Michael Brown – UC Studios: http://www.ucstudios.com/
Moonlight Bindery: http://www.etsy.com/shop/moonlightbindery
molly miller by appointment:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/mollymillerbyappt
imoM / MousyBabe: http://mousybabe.com/
Minda Merinsky: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MINDASART
Richmond Craft Mafia: http://www.richmondcraftmafia.com/
Steve Strawn: http://www.splutphoto.com/
DB PUPPET: http://www.dbpuppet.com/

You can get a listing of all the local Crafty Bastards (DC/MD/VA) in the City Paper’s Shop Local Directory by clicking Crafty Bastards under the partner heading.  Or, just go here.

And I leave you with this holiday message from the sisters of imoM.

Don’t miss Hello Craft’s holiday party tonight in Adams Morgan.  Bring your holiday cheer, a small appetite and a handmade gift to play in the holiday gift exchange.

Head to the Black Squirrel’s upstairs lounge tonight, Dec. 15th from 7 to 10 pm.  Hello Craft will provide supplies to make holiday cards, gift tags and buttons and will conduct a Handmade White Elephant gift exchange.

The White Elephant will begin around 8:30 pm. To participate, bring a handmade gift worth no more than $15. It can be something you made or by someone else, just as long as it is handmade. Not sure what the White Elephant thing is all about.  No worries.  Hello Craft will explain the rules of the game before the exchange starts.  If you attended the Summit of Awesome last spring you know how much fun this is!  I totally scored at that one and went home with an awesome Jaime Zollars pirate hedgehog pencil sketch.  Looking forward to another awesome surprise tonight!

The Black Squirrel is located at 2427 18th St. NW in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in Washington, D.C.

Happy Holidays!

Following the list of DC crafters I posted last week, below you will find links to all the Crafty Bastards in Maryland.  I’m working on the Virginia crafters.  Stay tuned.

But first, one of my favorite ways to buy handmade: craft shows!

Craft shows are a great place to find handmade gifts and come with the added bonus of buying directly from artist.  Over on Hello Craft, I posted a round up of all the holiday craft shows I want to shop this year.  The list includes a few not-to-be-missed local events like this Saturday’s Handmade Mart Holiday Shop and Stroll in Silver Spring (where I’ll be sharing a booth with market organizers Kimberly Dorn & Debbie Lee-come say hi!), and Holiday Heap in Baltimore presented by the Charm City Craft Mafia.

Also, DC’s Downtown Holiday Market kicks off this Friday and runs daily from noon-8pm through December 23rd.  Next Saturday, you can scoop up handmade goods at the Squidfire Winter Art Mart in Baltimore.  And, last minute shoppers, be sure to check out the Holiday Booty Market on December 19th.

And now, as promised, all the 2009 Crafty Bastards that listed Maryland as their home:

Crafty Bastards: Maryland Edition

60bugs: http://www.etsy.com/shop/60bugs

Alitas Jewelry: http://www.etsy.com/shop/alitasjewelry

Amy Klainer: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AmyKlainer

BEST: http://baltimorecraft.com/shop.html

beth pohlman jewelry: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bethpohlman

Biggs and Featherbelle: http://www.biggsandfeather.com/

b-kao: http://b-kao.com/

Block Party Press: http://www.etsy.com/shop/blockpartypress

Brown Paper: http://www.etsy.com/shop/brownpaper

Carlybird Weaves: http://www.carlygoss.com/

Cotton Monster: http://www.cottonmonster.com/

Dandelion Blu Jewelry: http://www.etsy.com/shop/dandelionblu

DIRTFARM!: http://www.bendependent.com/

Dots, Lines, and Polygons: http://www.dotslinesandpolygons.com

Elisa Shere Jewelry: http://www.etsy.com/shop/elisasherejewelry

Fisticuffs Leather:  http://fisticuffsleather.com/

Folktale Fibers: http://www.etsy.com/shop/folktale

Jaime Zollars: http://jaimezollars.com/category.php?new=1

jennyjen42: http://www.etsy.com/shop/jennyjen42

Maganda Design: http://www.etsy.com/shop/magandadesign

My UglyKitty: http://myuglykitty.com/

Neighborhood Fiber Co.: http://www.neighborhoodfiberco.com/

Pellinore Press: http://www.pellinorepress.com/

pistolstitched: http://www.pistol-stitched.com/

Rebound Designs: http://www.rebound-designs.com/

Red Prairie Press : http://www.redprairiepress.com/

spaghetti kiss: http://spaghettikiss.websiteanimal.com/

squidfire, inc.: http://www.squidfire.com/

Sugar Paperie: http://www.etsy.com/shop/sugarpaperie

Sweet Pepita:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetpepita

The Broken Plate Pendant Co.: http://ibreakplates.com/

The Devil Made Me Do It: http://thedevilmademedoitclothing.com/

The Garbologist’s Wife: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGarbologistsWife

The Littlest Bean: http://www.littlestbean.com/

Tigerlillyshop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tigerlillyshop

tlane: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tlane

Woolarina: http://woolarina.com/

Happy shopping!

Image Credit: Spruce Springstein Soap by 8th Street Soap Kitchen.  Buy online or in person at Handmade Mart this Saturday.

In case you haven’t heard, holiday shopping season has arrived.  Since you are reading this, I’ll assume you’re not the sort that rushes to big box stores at 4am the day after Thanksgiving.  If you’re like me, you want no part of the mind-numbing mall experience and would rather avoid our nation’s gross display of holiday consumerism altogether.

But you still want to give gifts and you want them to be meaningful.  If you’re not making the gift yourself, you prefer to buy handmade from someone else (even better if they live in your area).  You shop on Etsy, but sometimes have a hard time finding locally made items that appeal to your sensibilities.  I know.  It’s tough being a discerning handmade consumer.

I want to help.  This post is the first in a series focused on buying handmade in the DC area.  Check back over the next few weeks for shopping guides to local craft markets, stores that carry handmade goods and links to the 2009 Crafty Bastards vendors from the DC-MD-VA region.

First up, the District of Columbia’s finest.  This list features the 2009 Crafty Bastards vendors that listed DC as their home:

8th Street Soap Kitchen:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/8thStreetSoap

blugrn design:  http://www.blugrndesign.com/shop/

Catherinette:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/catherinette

craftgasm:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/craftgasm

Daisy Lacy:  You can find her stuff at Smash!

Dirty Pictures: http://www.ant-hive.com/dirtypictures/

goshdarnknit: http://goshdarnknit.com/

Jenny Wren Jewelry: http://www.etsy.com/shop/jennywrenjewelry

Jon Wye:  http://www.jonwye.com/

Kelly Towles:  http://www.kellytowles.com/

Kristina Bilonick: http://www.kristinabilonick.net/

Les & Oscar: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lesandoscar

Sean Hennessey:  http://dcsean.com/home.html

tigerflight: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tigerflight

Tina Seamonster:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/tinaseamonster

Stay tuned for the Maryland & Virginia Crafty Bastards lists.  Be sure to tell us about your favorite local artists and where you find handmade items in the comments.

Image Credit: Gocco-printed Happy Holidays Bike Card by TwoGuitars.Etsy.com. Not local, but still awesome.

Meet the makers and buy from them in person tomorrow at Crafty Bastards from 10am-5pm at the Marie Reed Learning Center in Adams Morgan.  See you there!

Hello Craft is excited to be partnering with the One of a Kind Show & Sale and will have a booth at OOAK’s holiday show at Pier 94 in New York from December 11th-13th.  We’ll host a Make Something Awesome area with hands on craft projects and conduct shopper interviews along with a workshop or two.  More details will be announced in the coming months.

If you are interested in exhibiting, space is still available,  but hurry!  Artist criteria and application info is available here.  Contact Libby Hanna at 312.527.7757 or lhanna@mmart.com, or Courtney Walsh at 646.778.3236 or cwalsh@mmart.com to find out what is needed to qualify for the show.

Here’s some more info about the OOAK NYC show from their site:

Launching December 11-13, 2009 at Pier 94, the One of a Kind Show and Sale NYC will be an extraordinary holiday shopping show featuring the best in fine art and fine craft from hundreds of unique artists, artisans and designers from across North America.  Each item for sale at the show will be made by hand, one piece at a time, and every artist represented will be in attendance—offering shoppers the wonderful opportunity to buy pieces directly from the artist who created it and support the independent artist community.

And, if you haven’t had a chance to listen to the latest episode of the Hello Craft podcast, check it out.  This special episode is sponsored by our friends at One of a Kind Show and features an awesome story about how Tina Seamonster learns to embroider and relax.

If you completed an application, but don’t see the notification email from Crafty Bastards, please do the following:

1. Check your junk mail/spam folder. The email was sent from: craftybastards@washingtoncitypaper.com
2. Still not there? Email craftybastards@washingtoncitypaper.com and let us know.

Join us in Philly’s largest open-air market for a celebration of 150ish emerging artists, crafters and designers

hand-made crafts * hot new designer
wholesale designer clothing and accessories
food * booze * music * more

Saturday, May 16
11 am to 4 pm

For vendor opportunities, call 215-735-8444.

Applications for Crafty Bastards 2009 are now being accepted. The deadline to apply for booth space is July 5, 2009.  Get more info and submit your Crafty Bastards application here.

There is a $10 non-refundable application fee. The jury will review and score all completed entries on various criteria from design and craftsmanship to saleability and alternative subject matter.  Applicants will be notified of their status by July 20th.  If accepted, the booth fee is $120 and will be due July 31st.  The vendor list will be announced in August.  Crafty Bastards will take place Saturday, October 3rd from 10am-5pm.

In the past we have received between 300 and 400 applications for the 100+ spots available at the show.  Vendors from previous years are not given special consideration or guaranteed a space at this years’ show. All applicants are strongly encouraged to submit clear images and descriptive work statements.  Tina posted some craft show application tips here and here.

Questions?  Send them to craftybastards@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Crafty Bastards 2009 planning is underway and vendor applications will be availble soon!  Please forgive the outdated info on the site.  We are working to get everything updated.  A couple notes about Crafty Bastards 2009.

There will not be a Crafty Bastards show in Silver Spring, MD in June. However, the folks at Pyramid Atlantic have paired up with Party Hat Rodeo (aka Kimberly Dorn) and 60Bugs (aka Debbie Lee) to produce the first ever Handmade Mart in Silver Spring.  Vendor applications are being accepted through April 30th.  Read more here.

The fall showing of Crafty Bastards is scheduled for Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 from 10am-5pm in Washington, DC.  For 2009, the City Paper has joined forces with Hello Craft and promises another awesome showing of handmade goods you won’t find anywhere else in the area.

Applications for Crafty Bastards 2009 will be online soon!  We will announce when applications are ready on the blog and to the Crafty Bastards email list.  Stay tuned so you don’t miss out!