Today, from noon to 5pm, the Washington Glass School is hosting their 7th Anniversary Open House and party. Visit to check out the amazing artists, buy a glass sculpture, or two, or sign up for a class! Don’t know where to start? Beginners Glass Lovers Weekend is always fun.

If you make it over, stop by and say hi, I’ll be set up in the glass school. And while you’re in the area, make sure you stop by Flux and Red Dirt Studios. They’re right next door!

And if that’s not enough art for one day, here is map to all the different open studios in the Gateway Arts District’s Open Studio Walk:

[click the pics, they grow!]

A whole day of open studio art fun! Today! Saturday, May 17,
Noon to 5pm, 3700 Otis Street in Mt. Rainier, MD

When not writing Harry Potter fanfic, Rania Hassan blogs about
the teaparties she throws for her cats at goshdarnknit.com.

This Friday marks one week of Artomatic in action, and it also happens to be the official Meet the Artists Night.

You can plan your visit ahead of time by checking out the Artist Catalog. Need a place to start? Here is a list of some Crafty Bastards who have artwork on display. I’ve included Artomatic coordinates and links to their catalog pages:

7th Floor:
Rania Hassan: 7 SE C5
Sean Hennessey: 7 SE C5
Dale Hunt: 7 SE D7

8th Floor:
Tigerflight: 8 NE D4
Tina Seamonster: 8 SW B7

11th Floor:
Matt Hollis: 11 NW B2

12th Floor:
Caitlin Phillips: 12 SE D6

[If I’ve left any of you off, please add your info in the comments!]

With 10 floors and over 1000 artists, you’ll be sure to find something or someone you love. Be prepared to ask questions, and do a lot of walking! There are 10 floors to cover, and the easiest way to get around is via the stairways, so wear comfy shoes. Oh, and ride the metro to get there. With the money you save on gas, you can buy some art.

So come out and meet the artists at Artomatic: tomorrow, Friday, May 16th, 7-10pm. Need more details? Visit this link.

Rania Hassan once coated herself in baby oil and rolled in cheeto dust. Imagine if she’d lost the bet! See the results at goshdarnknit.com.

Ballston Arts and Crafts Market kicks off this Saturday from 10am-4pm. Buy handmade lovelies for mom while the kiddies rock out during a special Rock-n-romp featuring Exit Clov, Carol Bui and Gist from noon-4pm.

Disclosure: There are several Crafty Bastards bloggers participating in the Ballston Arts and Crafts Market. Kristina Bilonick organizes the monthly event. Tina Seamonster will be there tomorrow with the Craft Mutiny and Susan Hsu is playing with her band Exit Clov. It’s gonna be awesome.

SquidFire’s Spring Art Mart, also this Saturday, will take place at Mount Vernon Park in Baltimore from 11am-6pm.

If you’re in Charm City, swing by and check out the handmade goodness from artists like the Broken Plate Co., Sweet Pepita, Rebound Designs, Woolarina, DeNada Designs and more.

Vendor list and directions available on SquidFire’s website.

And of course, the mammoth Artomatic opens today. 1,000 artists. 10 floors, and 28 days of mad crazy artiness. Visit Artomatic.org for details. You can view photos we posted from Artomatic 2007 here.

See something exceptional at Artomatic? Send your images to craftybastards@washingtoncitypaper and tell us about it.

Lots to do and see this weekend. Get out and enjoy the spring market season!

Today is the last day to submit vendor applications for Crafty Bastards Silver Spring!

Not sure where to start? Check out previous blog entries for basic registration instructions and get application advice and hints from former Crafty Bastards jury members and vendors.

But hurry! All applications must be completed by midnight!

Join us at Quarry House Tavern on Monday, April 14th, 7pm-9pm, for a chance to ask questions and get advice on everything from vendor statements to application photos and other general tips to help make your vendor applications stand out.

We would love to see all you veteran Crafty Bastards who are interested in helping people with their applications and encourage anyone looking for an excuse to hang out with like-minded crafters to attend. Come out and enjoy the awesome beer selection and yummy food at Quarry House while we fill the place crafty chatter. No need to RSVP, just stop on by.

Where: Quarry House Tavern (8401 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring, MD)
When:Monday, April 14th from 7pm-9pm
Cost: Free!
Who should attend: Crafters in the DC area

Don’t forget! Application Deadline is next Wednesday 4/16!
Vendor applications are due next Wednesday, April 16 for Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair being held Saturday, June 28 at Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Silver Spring, MD. Apply today.

We are now accepting applications for Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair being held June 28 in Silver Spring, MD. Hurry! Deadline to apply for this show is April 16!

Please read the instructions carefully and have everything ready before you start. Pay particular attention to the payment and booth share instructions.

Payment:Once payment has been made at Paypal, all applicants must click back to the Washington City Paper/Crafty Bastards site to complete the registration process.

Boothsharing: If you want to share your booth, once you have paid your fee you will have the opportunity to send an email to your chosen crafters inviting them to join your table. They will enter their own information and upload their own pictures, so there’s nothing you need beyond their email addresses.

I know, I know, it all sounds so confusing! Perhaps this hypothetical will help:

I am applying and want to share a booth with Tina Seamonster.

1. Get Started: I read the instructions, make sure I have everything ready and click Get Started.

2. Contact Info: I enter my contact info, artist statement, choose my craftegories and hit submit.

3. Images: I upload my three lovely images and continue.

4. Terms & Conditions: I read the terms & conditions carefully, check the box and click submit.

5. Payment: I click the link to make my payment at Paypal, I pay the $10 application fee and look for the orange button on the confirmation page that says “Return to Washington City Paper”:

I see this button. I CLICK THIS BUTTON.

6. Booth Sharing: I enter Tina’s email address, tell her she is rad in the message field and send her the invite.

7. Finished: I’m done! I’ll get an email when Tina completes steps 1-4 of the process.

See, easy! Now get started.

Crafters:Applications for Bust’s Spring Fling Craftacular are due tomorrow!

Tina posted application and vendor info here. The show is Sunday April 27th in Brooklyn and will feature talented crafters, an all day dance party with an open bar and an entire room set aside for dancing and mingling. Visit the Craftacular site for more info and to apply.

Fiber addicts: Get your fix tomorrow afternoon from 2pm-6pm in Takoma Park at the Homespun Yarn Party.

Visit the Yarn Party blog for more pictures and interviews with the spinners, dyers and other vendors.

Are you the next big thing? Fred Flare.com’s annual design competition wants to know! Fred Flare is a super cute online store specializing in accessories, clothing, home decor, jewelry, and more. The competition gives you the opportunity to pitch your product to the FF buying department.

The deadline to submit your design is May 02, 2008. You can submit online here. There is a $5 fee. Of the thousands of entries, 27 will win and FF will order your product to sell in their store. Winners will need to be able to reproduce between 20-200 pieces. They have a really good FAQ about the competition. An important note is that you will need to provide a wholesale price for your products.

You could also win $1,000! Customers will vote on their favorite item and the designer with the most votes will be crowned 2008’s “fred fan fave” and will be awarded $1,000.

Some examples of last year’s winners and their products (including Crafty Bastard, The Small Object):




Check out all of last year’s winners.

So you see that winners are usually cute, colorful and fun. Good luck with your submissions!

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com. She thinks that unicorns whine too too much.

This past Saturday night was the opening of Location in Baltimore, MD. Location is the travelling art gallery project behind Crafty Bastards Entertainment Alumn, AM Radio. Sponsored by Scion and composed of more than 40 members, AM Radio is a group of artists and DJ’s with impressive portfolios.

Location is the first stab at this type of project for Am Radio. Per their own blog, Am Radio descibes Location as, “A project in partnership with SCION where we’re transforming a chic 4 floor townhouse into a lifestyle gallery/residence by fusing original art and multi media elements.”

Am Radio presented just a sampling of their work at Location, in a tour du force opening night. I was invited by DJ Two Tone to get a sneak peak of Location while the paint was still wet on the walls.

AM Radio artist Buck delivered a short but sweet intro to the space:

Opening night hosted DJ’s and breakdancing on the first floor, as well as work from emergin artists. Two more floors showed off impressive murals, paintings and Munnys. The top floor boasted a room designed by industry notable Shop Gentei, and a shoe drive hosted by Grand High; shoes will be donated to The Carmelo Antony Youth Development Center.

Don’t take your sweet ol’ time to check out Location because this space is only open until April 18th. The art gallery is open 2-3 days a week, and AM Radio will host 2-4 different events. Location is located on 17 W. Chase St. in the Mt. Vernon area of Baltimore, MD.

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