There are two different grant levels the 24 Hour City Project (experimental interactive installations in the ream of data, arts, community and technology) and for the Creative Arts (installations that showcase the original artistic talents of the District).

If you are interested in applying for a grant to create an installation, please check out this page. More info about DCWEEK is here.

Meet Baltimore Print Studios! a community access printmaking facility in Baltimore’s Station North Arts District – offering equipment & workshops for letterpress and screen printing. The opening event on Sunday will offer demos of the equipment & processes, info on space rentals & upcoming workshops as well as light refreshments.
Meet founder Kyle Van Horn and tour the facility with fellow local printers, crafters & enthusiasts from 3-7 on Sunday, October 17th (THIS sunday) and get more info on this new and exciting Baltimore landmark!
The event is FREE, no experience required!

Baltimore Print Studios Grand Opening Party!
3-7pm October 17th
18 W. North Ave
Baltimore, MD
more info at www.baltimoreprintstudios.com

Fahey’s official crafty business: 2Hawks 2Fishes blends that recognizable style and love of Americana into a line of dishtowels, bags, t-shirts & paper goods- all screen printed & block printed by hand in her home studio. Her booth is always chock full of treasures big and small, and since most pieces are editioned, they are also quite affordable!

Don’t miss this booth! Our complete vendor gallery is coming really soon!

Sometime last year, a friend of mine sent me a link to the Craftastrophe blog because I was on it! They said that my zombies closely resembled Gary Busey. At first I was upset, but then decided that if someone could make fun of me and make me laugh at the same time, I was down with that. Since then, I check Craftastrophe everyday to see stuff like this:

I won’t even try to explain, I’ll let the folks at Craftastrophe do that. Seriously, if you love seeing failed, funny or just weird projects, Craftastrophe is a good bet.

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  Please forgive the outdated info on the site.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!

Have you heard about the Hello Craft Summit of Awesome? Have you seen the line-up? Keep reading and prepare to be wowed!

Hello Craft’s Summit of Awesome is 3-days (May 1-3) filled with business seminars for artists and crafters, hands-on workshops, the D.C. premiere of the Indie Craft Documentary, Handmade Nation, and a Saturday night party. Through a partnership with the MidCity Business Association, all Summit seminars and workshops will take place in the wondrous and vibrant independent businesses in MidCity (14th and U Streets NW).

The Summit is a great mix of learning and crafting from discussions to hands on workshops, with a little something for everyone.
Special Craftnote Speakers:

• Maria Thomas, Etsy.com CEO
• Jenny Hart – Sublime Stitching

Demos/Workshops:  Learn a new technique or make something awesome with guidance from our amazing speakers.

• Fun with Duct Tape with Kristina Bilonick
• Simple Mold Making with Adam Maron – Pearson Maron
• Fiber Demo with Jamie Chan and Blas Herrera – Urban Fauna Studio
• Embroidery Demo with Jenny Hart – Sublime Stitching
• How to Photograph your Work with Sherry – Dandelion Blu
• Sew a Felt Broach with Beth Baldwin – Tiger Flight
• Make a Snow Globe with Esti Gerson
• Plate Breaking Demo with Juliet Ames – The Broken Plate
• Sewing Demo with DC Threads
• Make a Small Book with Esti Gerson
• Screen Printing Demo with Christy Petterson

Learning Sessions:  The main part of the weekend is to learn and grow your crafty endeavors. Visit Hello Craft for a full list of speakers.  Session topics include:

• Am I a Business? How and when to form a business for your crafty endeavors
• Tax Implications of Starting a Business
• Developing a Product Line. Deciding what to make and sell
• Branding and Identity
• Copyright and Tradmarks, How to protect yourself and your work
• Customer Service. Crafting with a Smile
• Selling Successfully Online 
• Craft Fair Booth Set up and Displays
• Selling in a Brick and Mortar
• The Ins and Outs of Trade Shows
• What’s a Social Network and How to use it for Good
• Street Teams. Why you should connect and collaborate
• Crafting a Green Craft
• Consumption and Sustainability. How DIY will Save the World
• Navagating the Art world with Craft
• Going out on a Limb
• Organizing a Craft Fair
• Event Sponsorship

Also in store for the weekend, you’ll have access to a screening of the D.C. premier of Handmade Nation, a make something awesome crafting area and the first even Handmade White Elephant gift exchange and swap!

Register by this Friday to get the discounted price of $150. After Friday, the cost will be $180. Discounts available for groups and craft collectives. Email hellocraftinfo@gmail.com for group rates.

On Friday, May 1st, Hello Craft will host its first ever Summit of Awesome in the heart of the Nation’s Capital.

Geared specifically for independent artists and crafters, the Summit of Awesome is 3 full days of seminars and hands-on workshops, which will provide business and technical educatation for those in the handmade arts communtiy. The Summit also includes the D.C. premiere showing of the Indie Craft Documentary film, Handmade Nation – A highly anticipated film that captures the superstars of the indie crafting world, and documents how the handmade community began and took it’s current shape.

The entire Summit of Awesome will take place in the independent shops, restaurants and bars in the MidCity area of D.C., along 14th and U Streets NW. The film screening of Handmade Nation will be hosted at the DCJCC’s Theatre J.

Seminar topics include Business Identity and Branding, How to Green Your Craft, Small Business Basics, The Ins and Outs of Trade Shows, and many more. An exciting line up of speakers who are leaders in their field include Maria Thomas, Chief Operating Officer of Etsy.com, Laura and Allison from DC Threads, and the founders of Cosa Verde, Liz Grotyohann and Jeff Fein-Worton, just to name a few. A complete list of speakers and topics will be posted soon. There will be hands on demos and workshops from some of your favorite indie crafters (wanna see Juliet Ames break a plate?!). But best of all, you will get to meet and hang out with artists and crafters just like you. People who love to make and learn.

Registration includes all programming from Friday through Sunday and is open now.

Tina was asked to discuss making gifts for the holidays and provided a couple simple how-to’s for listeners to try on their own. The piece has already been recorded and you can read about Tina’s experience in the entry she posted on HelloCraft.com.

From Tina:

NPR Weekend Edition Sunday (11/23).
You can find out what time via your local NPR Station as each station plays the show at a different time. Locally in DC, WAMU plays it from 8 to 10. I will also be doing a live chat online at 1:30 EST at npr.org/gifts. You will have to register to chat. You can also upload photos of your projects to their holiday community page while you are in there. Please stop by and ask me a nice or funny question.

Listen in as Tina shares her indie craft wisdom with NPR’s listners. And don’t forget to join the Live Chat! We hear there will be video, too. Oooh, talking pictures. Fancy.

I’ve wanted to learn how to sew since I was young, but I’ve always shyed away from classes where you need to shell out big bucks to use machines that intimidate the hell out of me… so I say thank goodness for the DC Threads Sewing Lounge.

The DC Threads Sewing Lounge is a free program held on the second Saturday of each month at the North Michigan Recreation Center (1333 Emerson St, NE, Washington, DC 20017) from1-4pm. The first session will be held on October 11th.

Participate in a “sew-n-tell” hour where you can bring projects you are working on to share tips and exchange ideas, followed by guided projects that are fun and beginner-friendly. You’ll need to bring your own supplies, but sewing machines are provided, and best of all… the sessions are FREE!

DC Threads is a great resource for local sewers. Get info on their Lounge and local sewing classes, find out where fabric stores are near you, and lots more at www.dcthreads.org.

A photographer since he was a teenager, Geoff’s love of documenting friends and the spirit of his personal photography is at the heart of his professional work.

Having been friends with Geoff for the last 7+ years, I can’t even begin to describe how talented he is. Here is just a small glimpse into mind of Geoff Johnson, Photographer.

1.) How did you get into photography and what led you to doing wedding photography?
I was first taught black and white photo’y and basic darkroom skills in high school, just outside of DC. after graduating from SCAD, with a degree in graphic design, I worked as a designer and art director, all the while still making photo’y. then about 10 years ago, some creative-minded friends that were getting married asked me to take photos at their wedding.

2.) Many photographers do only wedding photography and many won’t shoot weddings at all. Do you do other types of photo’y?
Yes, I take on editorial projects (such as documenting the always exciting Crafty Bastards)… model and fashion… I love location and travel photo’y… the only thing I don’t do is studio photo’y.

Wedding photo’y can be tiresome, repetitive, stressful work. my work process keeps wedding photo’y fun for me and I think that comes through in the images. I limit the number of weddings I do, travel as often as I can (Jamaica wedding in October) and always make sure that I’m a good fit with the couple. I document real moments as they happen, by working unobtrusively and spontaneously. looking through my wedding galleries (www.geoffsphotos.com) you’ll see an approach that is: part fashion photo’r, part photo-journalist, part travel photo’r.

3.) What other photographers or other artists do you admire most?
The last 2 books I bought were a Joel Peter Witkin and Cindy Sherman. In June I attended the “Festival of the Photograph” (www.festivalofthephotograph.org) an annual photo’y festival in Charlottesville, Va. The 3 key speakers were Mary Ellen Mark, Joel-Peter Witkin and James Nachtwey, all world-reknown with decades of experience. I’m a fan of straight photo’y, as opposed to digitally manipulated, so I’m generally drawn to artists that work that way. I’ve always loved Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sally Mann, William Eggleston, Bruce Davidson, Wim Wenders. and there’s so much great stuff happening today that you can’t even see it all. I look at blogs, national geographic shooters, www.aperture.org, www.magnumphotos.com, www.digitaljournalist.org…

You’ll find Geoff shooting his way through 25,000 people at this year’s Crafty Bastards DC. After the fair, you can check out his handy work on washingtoncitypaper.com/craftybastards.

Geoff Johnson is available for commercial and personal projects, big and small, locally and globally. To contact Geoff or check out his portfolio, go to geoffsphotos.com.