Our neighbors to the north in Silver Spring are opening a new market featuring the “eclectic character of a diverse community”. They are looking for vendors of crafts, artists, vendors of vintage and other interesting wares for the two inaugural markets on Saturday, September 12, 2009 and October 3, 2009 (with plans to go weekly starting spring of 2010).

If you’re interested, please contact Hannah McCann. Or check out http://www.fentonstreetmarket.com/

I got the best email today. Get this. It is already time to start thinking about the holidays. This doesn’t make me sad. This makes me happy, excited. And one of the best things about the holidays for me is Craftland.

Applications are now being accepted for the 8th Annual Craftland, a contemporary craft show located in a retail space in downtown Providence, Rhode Island featuring an eclectic assortment of fine crafts and cutting-edge, quirky handmade items. The sale will take place for the entire month of December.

The application period is August 1-31, 2009. Applicants will be notified by September 15th. Apply online now!

Questions about the application process or Craftland? Click here.

Beer! Crafts! Blue glowing gnomes for sale! – What could be better?

Come to Jackie’s Yard Sale this Saturday night, at Jackie’s Backroom (part of Jackie’s Restaurant), in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Co-owner Jackie Greenbaum has invited some crafters including Crafty Bastards Director, Kimberly Dorn, City Paper staffer Christine Ernest, jeweler extraordinaire Mary Ellen Doran, and a host of others to sell their wares at this one-night sale and party which will benefit the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.

Jackie will also be selling cool bar stuff such as plates, furniture, stemware, and other odds & ends from both the Quarry House Tavern and Jackie’s Restaurant. The party/sale runs from 5 to 11 p.m.

Jackie’s Yard and Craft Sale
When: This Saturday, 7/25, 5pm-11pm
Where: Jackie’s Backroom (8081 Georgia Avenue, enter on Sligo Ave.)
More info: Check out Tim Carman’s Young & Hungry Blog post

Each week, the Hello Craft Podcast collects stories of making and buying handmade.

In this week’s episode, Beth Baldwin finds herself stitching the words ‘thug life’.

Click here to download the episode (right-click and choose “save as” on PC, or control-click and choose “save as” on Mac)

You can check out Beth’s shop online at http://www.tigerflight.etsy.com. Check out a gallery of the Mortal Plush show.

Take a field trip with Hello Craft! Kelly and Kasey, sisters and co-owners of Biggs and Featherbelle, will be welcoming you to their studio on August 22nd. Come and learn how they create health conscious body care products such as bar soaps, bath soaks, lip balms, and scrubs using handmade methods.

The three hour tour will include several product making demonstrations from start to finish, focusing on cold process soap techniques, and an overview on the daily workings of a small craft-based business.

There will also be a hands-on craft project in which everyone will create their very own body scrub!

Before and after the tour, you can take the time to explore the independent shops that make up the Hampden Avenue. There are two sessions to pick from. The first at 10 a.m., the second at 2 p.m. A 6 p.m. happy hour will round out the day.

There is no bus provided for this trip, but Hello Craft will be helping to organize car pools.

Biggs and Featherbelle Tour
Date: Saturday, August 22
Times: Pick from two sessions.
First session: 10 a.m. or Second session: 2 p.m.
Where: Factory in Hamden, Baltimore
Cost: $30/person.
Hurry! There is a 15-person limit per session.

Register Now!

Screw your Facebook event invite. The rock poster is alive and kicking here in D.C., and poster maker and Crafty Bastards veteran, Anthony Dihle wants you to know about it.

Civilian Art Projects is presents its second exhibition of music-based posters following last summer’s Screams & Screens exhibition of artists from across the country. PAPER JAM: The Art and Grime of the East Coast Rock Poster includes the works of 27 artists from the East Coast. The exhibition will open to the public on Friday, June 12, 2009 and will be on view through June 27, 2009. Public exhibition hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 12 to 6 p.m. There will be an opening reception for the artists on Friday, June 12, 2009 from 7pm to 9pm.

James Heimer

Paper Jam features a cross-section of artists, designers, and printmakers who make music posters. The exhibition is limited to East Coast postermakers, ranging from New Jersey to Virginia, and is intended to shine the spotlight on what is going on here, in our own backyard, in a world increasingly de-emphasizing local focus. Organized by artist Anthony Dihle, the exhibition stages the most fun, interesting, and experimental work from the area.

Ana Benaroya

According to Dihle, “both well-established and newly emerging artists are featured. Their methods of production range from high-end offset lithography to silkscreen to Xerox, and their styles are equally varied, from the rock poster standbys of skulls-n-babes to experimentation where text and form are pushed to convey music using symbols and abstraction. Bands represented extend from internationally known acts to garage bands making their debut show. Most of the work is home-brewed, by the artist, and merges the illustration of sound and lyrics with the requisite need for a poster to simultaneously advertise a show and commemorate it.”

Triggered largely by a renewed interest in live music and analog sound, the recent revival of poster art is being made possible by the availability of imaging software, adaptability of silkscreen to at-home methods, and a burgeoning community of postermakers who share ideas, resources, viewing spaces, and markets for their prints.

Artists in Paper Jam include, Ana Benaroya, Jordan Bernier, Rick Bowman, Chris Cernoch, Kate Crosgrove, Anthony Dihle (Dirty Pictures), Jefferey Everett (El Jefe Design), JP Flexner, John Foster (Bad People Good Things), Jeff Fry, Tim Gibbon (Dynamite Printworks), James Heimer, Adam Juresko, Edward Kelley, Daniel Kent, Chris Kline, Nick Kulp (Undercover Zero), Large Mammal, Robb Leef, Drew Liverman, Magick Outlaw, Nick Pimentel (Planaria Design), Gregory Pizzoli, Post Typography, Brian Potash (Devilish Ink), Public Domain, and Warm.

Tim Gibbon

There is a really great gallery of the work presented at this show over at the Civilian Art Projects web site.

Are you sad that there is only one Crafty Bastards Fair this year (October 3, Adams Morgan, why haven’t you applied yet, slacker?). The craft gods of D.C. have your back and are providing you with Handmade Mart this Sunday in Silver Spring.

Bring the family for a unique one-day shopping experience along Ellsworth Drive in the heart of Downtown Silver Spring. The Handmade Mart will feature more than 50 craft vendors selling handmade goods, awesome live music, and hands-on workshops will be held inside the Pyramid Atlantic Store all day! Bring your own T-Shirt to screenprint an official Handmade Mart Tee and learn to make jewelry. Pyramid Atlantic will also be hosting fun art activities for the kids. The Floating Lab will also be doing live demonstrations and hosting cool activities from their Floating Museum truck at the intersection of Ellsworth Dr. and Fenton Ave.

Be sure to check out the live music on the main stage:
12:00pm -12:30pm Pash
1:00pm – 2:30pm The Paul Green School of Rock Music
3:00pm – 3:45pm The Aquarium
4:15pm – 5:00pm Yell County

You can check out all of the Handmade Mart vendors and fabulous sponsors on pyramidatlanticartcenter.org, and see vendor profiles on the official Handmade Mart blog at handmademart.blogspot.com.

What: Handmade Mart
When: THIS SUNDAY, May 31, 10am-5pm
Where: Downtown Silver Spring, MD, Ellsworth Drive (between Georgia and Fenton Ave.)
Questions? Email handmademart@gmail.com

Download the vendor map!

Debbie and Kim at Handmade Mart are having a Vendor/Volunteer Party at the Pyramid Atlantic Store (924 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring) on May 21 (this Thursday) from 7 pm to 9 pm where you’ll get to mingle with cool, crafty folks, have a drink, sign up for shifts, tour the event site, get more info, and (THE FUN PART) screenprint your very own Handmade Mart tee shirt! The design will be printed with red ink, so bring a light-colored shirt for the best results.

If you interested in volunteering, you can totally show up to this event. If not, be sure to check out the Handmade Mart on May 31st from 10am to 5pm in Downtown Silver Spring. Many many Crafty Bastards veterans will be on hand.

Our friends at the Philly City Paper are hosting a trunk show this weekend.  The show will feature 150 or so vendors including Crafty Bastards vets El Jefe, Squidfire, Tigerflight and more.  From Philly CP’s site:

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.