Are you waiting til the last minute? Taking photos of super new products? Trying to figure out your vendor statement? Don’t wait too long! The application deadline for this year’s Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair is July 5, 2009. That is this Sunday!

To help, Kimberly Dorn worte an awesome piece on applying to craft shows for the Etsy Storque. Check it out: Craft Show Applications Unravelled.

Now get to work and apply today!

NEW THIS YEAR! Hello Craft, the Washington, D.C. based non-profit dedicated to the handmade community, will be spearheading the Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair. Hello Craft’s Directors includes Crafty Bastards Organizers Sara Dick and Kimberly Dorn, as well as Cut the Craft blogger Tina Seamonster, and local arts writer Kelly Rand. Since all of us have been working on Crafty Bastards for some time (since the beginning for Sara and Kimberly), you won’t see too many changes to the fair. We just plan to infuse it with more awesome.

The Hello Craft team is excited to be working together to produce this bohemoth indie craft extravaganza. Find out more about Hello Craft at hellocraft.com where we not only have a blog but also a listener generated podcast.

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.

We will be adding official event photos and video to the site as soon as we can. In the meantime, share you images with and check out what other Crafty enthusiasts saw and bought, on the with the 2008 Crafty Bastards Flickr pool.

To join the Crafty Bastards 2008 Flickr Pool, just follow these easy instructions:

1. Go to the Crafty Bastards 2008 Flickr Group and click “Join this group”.
2. Upload your Crafty photos to your Flickr account and mark them Public.
3. Go to the page of each photo you want to add to the pool, and click “Send to group”.
4. Select “Crafty Bastards 2008″.

Above photos by Geoff Johnson

Wanna share your Crafty Bastards scores? A fun way to do so is to post about it on Twitter. Just use the words Crafty Bastards or @craftybastards in your post and it will show up on the feed on the Crafty Bastards homepage.

If you don’t already follow Crafty Bastards on Twitter, you can do so here.

Rocks and Salt give their hats real people names, and it’s only fitting as their hats exude personalities of their own. At the Crafty Bastards Festival (tomorrow!), Rocks and Salt will be showcasing their stylin aviator design. Ladies and gentlemen, acquaint yourself with … Amelia!

1. Is there a specific product that you will be selling at the fair that you would like to talk about?

Amelia. That’s our aviator style hat. We’re making it in some really fun wools with furry or sweater lined earflaps.

2. Does this product have an origin story? Did the idea come to you in a dream or through a portal or other strange way?

We like to ride our bikes all winter long and it gets COLD and WINDY. So we designed Amelia to keep our delicate ears happy and warm.

3. What famous personality (alive or dead, real or imagined) would most likely be found wearing/holding/admiring this product? Why?

Amelia Earhart!

4. Convince me that this piece should be one of only 3 things I could take with me to a deserted island!

If that deserted island is in Greenland, you definitely want this hat. Then you can be warm and alone in style.

It seems that the most elusive thing to new crafters or “dabblers” is how to create a product line. How do you go from the early phases of making stuff to give to your friends as gifts to making stuff that you want to sell (and that people want to buy!)?

Here, I put this question to Annie of Imogene, a jeweler who uses mostly sterling silver and traditional metal fabrication techniques to create simple and lovely pieces.

Annie says:

I went to university for jewelry and metalsmithing, but when I graduated, I discovered that I didn’t know how to market these skills or where exactly to go with it. Shortly after school ended, I was offered a job as an assistant to a jeweler. I turned this down because the pay was dismal and offered no health benefits on top of that. Instead I worked as a legal secretary. By the time I left my cubicle, I was earning almost three times what I would have earned as an assistant to this jeweler AND I received health benefits. While working at the law firm, I opened up a little online boutique representing indie designers. I guess this was my own way of keeping craft in my life. I began to sell my own jewelry creations in the store alongside the other work that I carried just to “see what would happen.” I also participated in craft shows as the boutique. I then realized that my work was as marketable as the work of the artists I carried in the shop! The income from my day job and craft shows allowed me to expand my jewelry line and eventually quit my day job. I’ve been selling my work now for about four years and have been self-employed for a little over one year. Now I carry only my jewelry line in the boutique.

My advice to everyone is to believe in yourself, your vision, and your product. You have to push forward with no fear. I’ve been rejected to many shows (even Crafty Bastards!), I’ve encountered criticism, skepticism, you name it, but you just have to pick yourself up and move forward. Constantly work to improve and innovate.

Annie’s comments about fear are really valuable. When asked this same question myself recently, I answered that the real failure is the fear. Many new crafters are afraid of failure and the truth is that as long as you are making something that you are not failing, you are learning and getting closer to your goals.

You can check out Annie’s lovely jewelry at Booth #119 this Sunday, September 28th from 10am-5pm at the Marie Reed Learning Center in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC.

My introduction to Taffety Punk’s awesomeness was their performance of Damaged Goods: The New Vaudeville at the Black Cat a couple of years back. The show was brilliant and funny and edgy; they call themselves “DC’s distorted classical theatre company” and they ain’t lyin’. Since then, I’ve kept in touch with founder Marcus Kyd [formerly of DC band Most Secret Method] trying to figure out a way to support the group/share their brilliance, and we’ve finally done it! The Taffety Punks will kick off the excellent entertainment in the Performance Pit at Crafty Bastards on September 28, hitting the stage at 10:30 am.

Explain your group’s name and how you formed.

Taffety Punk is from Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well and means a “well dressed whore.” Sounded like a good description of an actor to us.

What are your influences and worst equipment experiences?

We are all classically trained actors and dancers, and aging punk rockers, so the influences include everything from the Ramones to Pina Bausch.

During the Bootleg Cymbeline, we had a prepared dummie to represent the dead body of Cloten ready to go for an entrance. But the actors didn’t know which door the body was at. In a pinch someone collected clothes backstage and stuffed it with anything – paper, cardboard, other clothes – and brought in possible the worst looking dead body anyone’s ever seen.

What’s your favorite local hangout and best stage you’ve played?

We started out at the Black Cat, and miss it terribly. We find ourselves at Jimmy T’s on the Hill a lot for meetings and such. Best stage has definitely been Round House’s Black Box Theatre in Silver Spring.

How do you feel about being a Crafty Bastard?

Fantastic.

Where can the adoring public see you next?

We’re mid-run on an all-female production of Romeo and Juliet at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th Street SE WDC 20003 (near Eastern Market Metro) Shows are 7:30 pm on September 19, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27, October 2, 3, 4 with Saturday Matinees at 3:00 pm on September 20, 27, and October 4. It’s only $10. This is an answer to the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s all-male version. Ours is an hour shorter, a fraction of the cost, and has 100% more women. We will totally crush them! For tickets call 202-261-6612, or email tix@taffetypunk.com.

Skate Vampire is 7 year old Jack Lee’s debut line of stuff. The name came from his Halloween costume last year, which was a vampire skateboarder. This year he says he’s thinking vampire airline pilot. Is there a future of vampire accountant and dentist designs on the way? Vampire dentists would be scary!!!

Inspired by his mom’s 60 bugs designs, Jack thought it would be cool to make his own shirts to wear, so with a little help he designed and gocco printed t-shirts and bookmarks to sell at Crafty Bastards Silver Spring in June. A few lucky kids walked away with the limited edition original Skate Vampire baseball tee, and now he’s ready to try the big time at Crafty DC! Come support Crafty’s youngest official vendor and stop by the 60 bugs vs. Skate Vampire Booth #50 on Sunday!

The 5th Annual Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair is this Sunday, September 28th from 10am-5pm at the Marie Reed Learning Center in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC.

Ruffly, handmade, vintage totes inspired by … underwear! Yay! That’s what Laura Teeler will be showcasing this month at the Crafty Bastards Festival, along with new fabrics and designs. I have a soft spot for undies-inspired accessories, including a headband made from the waistband of a pair of undies. Be on the lookout for Laura’s booth to experience all the fuss for yourself.

1. Is there a specific product that you will be selling at the fair that you would like to talk about?

I’m excited about new bag designs and fabrics I’m using. The clutches have been popular so I’m doing those in different sizes. And there’s a ruffley bag. And I’m doing some baby stuff inspired by everyone I know having a baby in the last few years and gifts I’ve made for them.

2. Does this product have an origin story? Did the idea come to you in a dream or through a portal or other strange way?

The ruffle bottom bag is inspired by those underwear with ruffles on them.

3. What famous personality (alive or dead, real or imagined) would most likely be found wearing/holding/admiring this product? Why?

Hmm, maybe Audrey Tatou in Amelie. Her fascination with found personal objects and their story. The whole saturated color scheme of her world. Her style is cute-ish but odd (the paintings above her bed), somewhat romantic, and classic designs but with great details.

4. Convince me that this piece should be one of only 3 things I could take with me to a deserted island!

You’ll need something to carry your coconuts in.