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 you 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.

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

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.

Last night I went to Ikea. As always, I came home with 30% needed stuff and 70% fluff (which is a pretty successful Ikea trip for me). I never really think about buying fabric from Ikea, as I’m usually there on a mission to redecorate my home with weird plastic items that I don’t really need and drink lingonberry juice. But this time, I found myself really liking the choice of fabrics they had for sale. While they don’t have a huge selection, Ikea fabric have bold prints with flowers, weird shapes, and lots of primary colors. I dug through the sale bin and got myself a few yards of nice fabric for crafting, for about $5 total.

The other item I wanted to mention, was the Ikea Fixa… it’s a bi-level dollie that sells for $20.

It can hold up to 60lbs., packs up flat and small and could be extremely helpful at fairs when bringing crafts to and from your car to your booth space. Now, I can’t vouch for the quality of this product, since Ikea has never been the place to find stuff that will last a lifetime… but it’s bright blue and cute, and I’m a sucker for both those things.

I wouldn’t recommend going to Ikea just for the fabric shopping, but next time your there it’s worth a look-see… there might also be some pre-cut fabric for cheap in the AS IS section. Happy Ikea’ing ya’ll.

In the coming weeks, in honor of Earth Day and every day green living, KB the Car-free Crafter will be sharing her secrets to living car-free as a crafter with a busy agenda.

Anyone who has ever applied to Crafty Bastards knows how fierce the competition can be. Last year’s show got 400 applications for 100 spots! That said, don’t be afraid! Ok, be a little afraid, but don’t be so terrified that you don’t try. As a veteran Crafty Bastard, I always get asked for application tips. I decided that it would also be cool to ask former and current Crafty Bastards judges for their thoughts. Lucky for you, I am not going to charge for this advice. Instead, here it is, totally 100% free!

There are two main components to the Crafty Bastards application. Vendor statement (only 300 characters!) and photos of your work. But before we can even get to these things, the first thing that you need to do to get into Crafty is to make something interesting. I can’t stress this enough. If you are new to crafting and think you have a brilliant idea, totally Google it. There might be 10 other people making the same thing and if this is the case, you need to make sure you can put your own spin on it. That said, having a very distinct brand identity is also a really good place to be when you start applying to shows. So, step 1. Know who you are and make something awesome. Easy.

Step 2: Vendor Statement.

If you know who you are and make something awesome, your vendor statement shouldn’t be too difficult. You only have 300 characters to work with, so this is the hard part. Let’s break down my vendor statement from last year:

Tina Seamonster silk screens shirts and cards in small batches at her kitchen table with a Print Gocco. She is inspired by her life as an urban mom of twins in DC. Her designs are mostly about overcoming fears (of zombies, etc!), dealing with stress and living life with humor above all else.

The first thing that I do in my vendor statement is establish my brand identity. This is who I am. Then I immediately tell you what I make and how I make it. One former judge thinks that explaining how you make your items is very important. He says: “One tip that I have is to explain, explain, explain. We received more than a few applications that didn’t really specify the crafter’s role in their work. For instance, if you sell screen-printed shirts, explaining that you draw your own art, burn your own Gocco screens, source your own t-shirts from Africa, and hand mix your own inks from natural pigments is much better than leaving it up to the judges to guess. ‘Cause they just might assume you sent an image to the screen printer and — viola — 2 weeks later 400 shirts show up. And that isn’t gonna win you fans. Explaining why you’re all DIY is good.” Obviously you can’t explain all of that in 300 characters, but you get the point!

So, I explain first who I am, then what I make and how. Next I tell you where I am coming from. This might not matter for everyone, but for me, my crazy lifestyle as a twin mom living in the city is key to what I do, so I mention it. If your crazy lifestyle as a traveling lion tamer is important to your handmade flutes, then let us know! And lastly, I explain the style and subject matter of my work. This is not at all a hard and fast rule to creating the perfect vendor statement. We all have our own style. Maybe your statement will be funny or provocative or memorable in some other way. Just make sure you make every word count!

Step 3: Photos.

The dreaded photos. I hate this part. I truly do. But it is so so important. My first advice is to former Crafty Bastards. Send new photos. Don’t assume that because you got in last year or every year that you can send old photos. I nearly made this mistake a few years ago. Don’t do it! As much as you love or are still selling a million of the same items from last year, do try to show something new. That said, former judge Liz of Trees can say the rest better than I can:

First off, and I can’t stress this enough, submit bright, clear photos of your work! Judges look at hundreds if not thousands of photos when jurying a show. Not only do you want your work to stand out, you don’t want to contribute to their eye strain! You are being judged by your submissions and if the judges can’t see how great your work is because the photos are too dark or too fuzzy, you won’t get into the show. Also, if your work is highly detailed with say 10 different decorative stitches on a skirt, make sure this comes through.

Second, show variety in your work. If you make hand-knit scarves as well as kitten booties and iMac cozies, send in a photo of each so the jurors can see the breadth of your work. Don’t just send in three separate photos of scarves.

Third, I’d recommend showing your work in action. If you make pottery, take a photo of someone enjoying a steaming cup of cocoa in a hand-thrown mug or if you make pillows, take shots of them on a couch or with your cat napping on them. It gives the viewer context.

Fourth, inject your personality and style and vision into your photos. If your craft consists of making fun, irreverent clothing, take photos of people wearing the clothes doing fun, irreverent things! If your artwork is somber or goth or melancholy, take your oil paintings to a cemetery on a cloudy day and stage a photo shoot.

Thanks Liz!

A few more photo tips. If you make shirts for the whole family, I suggest that you show that in your photos. Many indie crafters only make shirts in standard sizes. But if you make stuff for plus sizes, as well, try to convey that in your photos. If you make stuff for babies and kids, too, make sure you have a whole family wearing your gear. You don’t need models, just use your family!

Rather than just taking a photo of your stuff on the kitchen table (dude, I have totally done this before), create a memorable world with your photos. Spooky Daddy did this last year with his army of skull bunnies. He was also bold enough to include himself in one of the photos. This makes sense for him because HE is his brand. Smart move and awesome if you can pull it off.

In the end, you do not need professional photos. All you need is good light, interesting backgrounds and a little imagination.

Hopefully I have made the application process a little less scary. Please leave your own tips or questions in the comments. All questions will be answered! Good luck!

And if this didn’t help at all, you can still check out last year’s vendor gallery if you want to see more photos or read more vendor statements.

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com. She is a veteran of all four Crafty Bastards shows. She thinks that unicorns whine too too much.

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

Hi, Sarah Levine here. I’m the newest edition to the Crafty Bastards Blog and work at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Silver Spring as the Office Manager/Publicity Coordinator. Pyramid Atlantic is a non-profit contemporary arts center dedicated to the creation and appreciation of hand papermaking, printmaking, digital arts, and the art of the book. We have extensive studio space that artists can rent as well as workshops, residencies, and a beautiful gallery. We invite artists from all different backgrounds to check out these traditional art forms and use them in their own contemporary work. Find out more about what we do at http://www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org

I started working at Pyramid Atlantic in January and am exploring all the art forms we offer. But up until last week, my closest experience in the Papermill was my mini dachshund peeing on the floor. Luckily Gretchen Schermerhorn, my co-worker and director of the papermill is forgiving of pups and an excellent teacher. Along with some fun classmates, I took Gretchen’s “Hollander Beater Unveiled” class where we learned how to make a variety of pulp, pull paper sheets, and press them.

After learning about different fibers and some background on papermaking we prepared to make a cotton rag pulp. We cut up orange, red, and white fabric into 1″ pieces, a pound total, which is a lot of cutting! I will skip the explanation of how exactly the Hollander Beater works because it’s somewhat extensive and it’s been a long day. So dot dot dot, after about 1/2hr in the Hollander beater we took it out and strained the pulp. Next we “pulled” the pulp through deckles/moulds (often made from picture frames). It was really fun and a bit wet and I think the whole class enjoyed the feeling of dipping our hands into vats and pulling sheets. I am excited to see how the different sheets come out. The class used about 4 different types of fiber to make our pulp. The different types of fibers and the length of time that they are beaten leads to a variety of paper thickness and appearance. Some of the pulp was thinner and very difficult to work with, sticking to the mould, but produced beautiful translucent paper. There was a bunch to clean up but we all pitched in and got it done.

Since I’m among crafters I probably don’t have to explain why someone would want to take the time and effort to make their own paper when they can just buy it. Even though computers and the digital age has done away with lots of paper, when you think about it, paper has been very essential to society. We record our history, beliefs, hatreds, loves, cures, stories, etc on paper. Even though I recycle like a fiend, I gotta have my paper and am not a fan of digital books and I don’t keep my diary on-line. There will always be something special about the tactile experience of books and written letters, and making your own paper makes it even more unique.

Don’t like the New Wave label? Here’s your chance to help define and shape the future of the handmade movement. You may recall my excitement last April after attending the first ever Craft Congress in Pittsburgh, PA. Craft Congress is back and will take place in craft-friendly San Francisco! From CraftCon.org:

We’d like to invite you to attend Craft Con 2008, a business development conference for the craft community. This remarkable gathering of leaders and organizers in the evolving craft and design movement will be held in San Francisco April 4-6. Last year’s Craft Congress was the first event of its kind, bringing together an amazing group of craft promoters from all over the country and as far away as England to network, share ideas, and discuss the future of the resurging movement.

Craft Con 2008 heralds huge growth for the project, bringing together event promoters, internet entrepreneurs, authors, store owners, craft teachers, and businesspeople to network, talk about the future of craft, and strengthen the community’s voice. With the explosive popularity of countless craft-related business ventures, the crafting world is poised to keep getting bigger and better - the question is, where do we want to go from here? This is our chance to help shape the future of the handmade movement and its place in society - we hope you’ll join us!

The cost of attending the event is $150/person, which includes a tour of San Francisco April 4th, meals and sessions April 5th and 6th, and a gala event the evening of April 5th where conference attendees will get to experience the unique culture of the San Francisco arts scene.

Hurry up and fill out an application to attend before the 250 seats available for Craft Con 2008 are filled!

If you are currently a seller on Etsy.com or are thinking about setting up shop, you will be interested in their new Cooperative Advertising Program.

For me, I have always been afraid to buy my own ads in national magazines because the price just seems too high for such a small space to show off my work. So Etsy is trying to help sellers out by securing advertisements in magazines like Bust, CRAFT and Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion. Here are some important points from their announcement:

• Etsy will purchase ad space in various magazines, cover half of the cost, and design the ads.
• Etsy Sellers are able to purchase spots in the ad at the discounted rate.
• You will get to display your shop name, an image of one item, its price, and its category.
• The limit is one spot per seller, per advertisement.

The first opportunity for a space in the Bust ad sold out in 6 seconds! The next ad will appear in the May issue of CRAFT and is on sale on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 3:00pm EST. 36 spots will be available to sellers at a price of $50 each.

My advice if you do plan to buy a space is to make sure you pick a spot in the right magazine and that you put your best photo forward. You wouldn’t want to pay $50 for a spot and send a bad photograph of the wrong item for that publication’s demographic. So, do some research and know your customers!

Upcoming opportunities are:

– Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion, spots go on sale: Monday, March 3rd, 2008, 30 Spots at $75 each

– Venus Zine, spots go on sale: Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Visit the Storque article for more information on this program (including where to go to buy a spot!).

Oh course, this is only for people who currently have an Etsy shop, so what are you waiting for?

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com. She thinks you are rad.