From now until the fair, we’ll be spotlighting awesome items that you will find at this year’s Crafty Bastards. Check out the complete vendor gallery to plan your shopping!

One of the cutest new items that I saw at Crafty Bastards Silver Spring was the tiny Tofu for Obama plush by Chris Creatures. Not only is this tiny tofu cute, he includes a removable t-shirt and an Obama sign for rallies. He’s ready for campaigning!

Chris was nice enough to chat with me about this little guy.

Question: Where did this silliness come from?

Answer: I’m a huge Obama supporter, so for a long time I kept trying to think of how I could show my love. I’m also a big fan of tofu (fried, steamed, grilled, you name it, I eat it!). In my world, tofu would be an Obama supporter. I’ve made the tofu plush before, but he always seemed like he was missing something. I thought it would be funny to give him a sign and a removeable Obama t-shirt.

Question: You sold these at Crafty Silver Spring, what was the reaction?

Answer: I sold the Tofu for Obamas at Crafty Bastards in Silver Spring. It was fun to see people’s reaction to it. They stopped to laugh and take pictures. I made 30 of them for the fair. They sold out and then I took advance orders. I spent a couple of days after the fair sewing those little guys.

Question: Have you sent one to Obama?

Answer: I have not sent one to Obama yet. What is the best way to send it to him? That is the question. I fear that the tofu would sit in a pile of unopened mail for months. He needs to breathe!

I promise to make more for Crafty Bastards in September. A portion of the purchase will go to the Obama 08 Campaign.

The question that Chris didn’t answer was: What food would be for McCain? Pork chops? Sardines?

Be sure to check out Chris Creatures on September 28th at the Marie Reed Learning Center, 2200 Champlain St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, DC.

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at I Like Seamonsters.com. She is currently being vetted for the V.P. slot.

Each week we feature an advertiser from the Crafty Bastards Classifieds. This week the honor goes to:

Push Mah Buttons!

Push Mah Buttons is the legend of students who are “dropping out of school and starting new lives as neo-hippies that travel the country in a VW Bus, peddling their button wares.”

You must check these buttons out! Push Mah Buttons Etsy Shop.

Crafty Classifieds for goodies like this and more!

Make stuff? Place a Crafty Bastards ad, it’s FREE!

Each week we feature an advertiser from the Crafty Bastards Classifieds. This week the honor goes to:

Isabel’s Rose!

Isabel’s Rose is the new and ever expanding line of handmade glass bones, hearts, cupcakes and more, from artist Lori Flanders (aka LORiOLA). Go to the Isabel’s Rose website or Etsy Shop and find a work of art to wear!

Crafty Classifieds for goodies like this and more!

Make stuff? Place a Crafty Bastards ad, it’s FREE!

Each week we feature an advertiser from the Crafty Bastards Classifieds. This week the honor goes to:

Bohemian Babydolls!

Bohemian Babydolls Unite! These are some incredibly cute handmade summer dresses and jewelry for your shopping pleasure. The dresses are available at SMASH! in Adams Morgan. You can see a greater selection of babydolls, vinyl and other fineries at the Smash! Records website!

Crafty Classifieds for goodies like this and more!

Make stuff? Place a Crafty Bastards ad, it’s FREE!

Vickie Howell, host of DIY’s Knitty Gritty and Austin Craft Mafia co-founder, wants to know about you! Her next book, Craft Corps will focus on the craft community and she will be featuring 50-60 short profiles of crafters of all types. On her blog she writes:

Whether you’ve found success selling your handmade sock monkeys on Etsy or you crochet chemo caps for charity, I want to know who you are, what you craft and why you do it. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE PROFESSIONAL CRAFTERS (in fact, it’s preferable as the book’s other content will focus on that)!

If you’re interested in possibly being a part of Craft Corps, you can fill out the following questionnaire, cut and paste it into the body of an e-mail, and send it to: craftcorps@gmail.com no later than August 15th.

Name:

Age:

Location:

Profession (If you’re in school just put what level of student, ie College Student, Middle School Student, ect.):

Craft(s) of Choice:

Blog (if applicable):

Memory, Story or Anecdote related to crafting in your life (no more than 250 words):

For more information, check out VickieHowell.com

Each week we feature an advertiser from the Crafty Bastards Classifieds. This week the honor goes to:

The Broken Plate Pendant Company!

The Broken Plate specializes in giving new life to old dinnerware, ceramics, glass and “anything else in my way.” Each piece of glass is wrapped in copper tape and lead-free silver solder to create an original, precious piece of jewelry. Visit the official website to pick out a favorite!

The Broken Plate also custom-makes pendants. So if you ever find yourself with broken pieces of a ceramic that had sentimental value, ask her to turn it into something beautiful (and that can adorn your neck!)

Crafty Classifieds for goodies like this and more!

Make stuff? Place a Crafty Bastards ad, it’s FREE!

The Crafty Bastards Discovery Series is in full swing! With our second workshop in the series under our belt, we’re gearing up for the next one in August.

The Crafty Bastards Discovery Series has crafting experts come to Whole Foods on P Street once a month, to talk to the Crafty community about ways to make crafting a successful endeavor on many levels. The first workshop, hosted in June by Tina Seamonster, gave crafters all the info on how to sell successfully at craft fairs.

Our last workshop, Crafting Online 101, was hosted by Caitlin Phillips of Rebound Designs, who went over various web tools and popular online programs to help artists and crafters sell and promote themselves on the web.

Below is a brief summary of what was discussed at Crafting Online 101. For more details, check out Caitlin’s blog on her site at rebound-designs.com.

CRAFTING ONLINE 101
Having a strong online presence is quickly becoming essential in the crafting world. With the huge boom in the popularity of indie craft, competition is fierce, so the more people who see your work, the better. Here are some tips on how to use the Internet to get your craft business going, or to promote your existing business to new audiences. Don’t get too overwhelmed - you don’t have to do it all at once. There are so many different tools to use online and new ones are popping up every day.

Your Online Presence: Yourshop.com vs. Etsy
Having a place online where customers can find you is essential to success today. There are two main options: Your own website vs. an Etsy shop. There are pros and cons to each.

You can always have both an Etsy shop and your own website, and link to your Etsy shop with an Etsy mini. (See example here: www.rebound-designs.com ) Etsy minis can be put on a blog, or a Myspace page as well.

A few thoughts on Myspace and Facebook: These can be useful tools for promoting your business, but they should not be the only online presence you have. If you are sending customers who are attempting to shop to a Myspace page with blinking graphics and embedded MP3s, it makes you look very unprofessional. Use sparingly.

The #1 Most Important Rule of Websites: Have good photos! Your online store is the only way a customer across the country can see your products, so make sure your pictures are well lit, in focus, and show the product properly. There are lots of good tips on product photography if you search online.

Accepting Credit Cards Online
Having awesome photos isn’t enough. Customers have to be able to buy your work easily online. The simplest way to get started with accepting credit cards online is through PayPal. You can do this in several ways. For no set up fee, and no monthly fee, you can use Website Payments Standard. This lets you either install a cart system, or single purchase ‘buy it now’ buttons, which link to the secure PayPal site. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_wp-standard-overview-outside.

Blogs
This is a huge marketing tool for the craft world. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of blogs devoted to discussing indie craft and design. Some are personal blogs of artists who share their creations, how to tips, favorite things, and so forth. Some are more commercial blogs, with semi- to full-time professional writers keeping up with the hippest new things, and with paid advertisements.

Some of Caitlin’s Favorite blogs include:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/craftybastards/
http://www.designspongeonline.com/
http://indiefixx.com/
http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/
http://www.ohmythatsawesome.com/
http://blog.craftzine.com/
http://extremecraft.typepad.com/
http://modish.typepad.com/
http://readymademag.com/blog/
http://www.boingboing.net/
http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com

Twitter
Twitter is sort of a microblogging tool, which lets you send out short messages under 140 characters. You can send them from your phone, or the web, and you can include links (tiny url is useful here). You can follow other people’s twitters, and they can follow you. You can twitter about a new blog post, or a new item in your shop, or to let people know about a craft show you’re doing.

Flickr
Flickr is a great site for sharing pictures of your work. You can have a gallery of past work, works in progress, your booth displays, or whatever, and you can tag them so others can find them. You can join groups with similar interest, and this is really the best way to get your pictures seen.

It is against the Terms of Service of Flickr to exploit it for commercial purposes, so just posting pictures of crafts with the intent to sell them or advertise them is not cool. But, you can still drive traffic to your site in many easy, legal ways.

Social Bookmarking
Check out Wikipedia for a good breakdown of this bookmarking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking.

Mailing Lists
A mailing list is an efficient and direct way to keep in touch with all of your customers and fans. You can send out announcements for shows you are in, upcoming sales and promotions, shop updates, etc. It’s great because past customers that may have wanted to purchase again often forget, and an email is an instant reminder. Every time I have sent out a mass mailing, I have received orders in return. The best way to send out a mailing list is to have a program that collects, manages, and sends the mail for you.

Overwhelmed?
The most important thing to remember about online marketing is that you don’t have to do it all. Try a few things out and see what works for you. But as crafting as a business gets more and more popular, it will get more competitive, and the more ways you have of reaching potential customers, the more sales you will make. The more customers are personally interested and invested in you, the more excited they will be about your work, and it doesn’t get better than that.

Read more from Caitlin on her blog, at rebounddesigns.wordpress.com.

The Next Crafty Bastards Discovery Series workshop is coming up in August. If you’d like to get the exclusive invite, just sign up for the Crafty Bastards mailing list and you’ll automatically receive the invite about a week before the event. You must have an invite to attend, and our friends at Whole Foods provide the yummy treats… cause you can talk about crafts on an empty stomach!

Crafty Bastards alum, Thembe Fashions, is hosting a Trunk Show & Sample Sale at Dekka this Thursday night.

Dekka is the new, funky, hip place to shop and hang in the U Street Corridor. The Dekka showroom hosts fashion, art and music, and showcases local artists, designers, DJ’s, musicians, and other pretty darn cool talent.

Thembe Fashions handmakes classic, unique, and original accessories and clothing.

Philissa Williams, the mastermind behind these ultra chic designs, has made a name for herself in the DC area creating wearable pieces of art with vintage materials.

Learn more about Thembe Fashions in our previous Crafty Bastards Vendor Spotlight post here.

Thembe Fashions Trunk Show & Sample Sale
Thursday, July 17, 6-9pm
Dekka Showroom, 1338 U Street NW (2nd and 3rd floors)

In the week leading up to last month’s Crafty Bastards Festival, we began posting a series of interviews of crafters who were going to be there. Unfortunately, in all the hustle & bustle, we were unable to publish them all. This continues the Q&A’s that we weren’t able to get to!

Just as you shrink from buying soaps for fear of synthetic additives, Biggs & Featherbelle have decided that you should have an alternative — handmade body care products that are free of synthetic fragrances, dyes and additives! Their soaps are made from unique recipes that use the properties of natural resources to heal and nourish different skin types. Pamper your eyes with their array of body butter bars, lip balms, soaps and bath soaks at their official website.

1. Using just three words, how would you describe your work?

Clean, natural and fun

2. What are you doing to prepare for Crafty Bastards? Are there any new products or techniques that you will be trying out for this show?

Making soap…we are always making soap. We are excited because we have a new summertime product. We are bringing our new body scrubs to Crafty Bastards!

3. Is your craft widespread in the handmade community? What makes your stuff different from others in your craft genre?

Surprisingly we never see many other body care vendors at the shows we do. There are tons of great handmade body care folks in the community but there is not an abundance of them at the shows we do. I never frown upon other body care vendors or view them as competition. We are all working together to open up the customers eye to using natural, handmade goodies for their bodies instead of all the commercial junk out there. Our products generally stand out for their ingredients and packaging. We are sticklers for a very clean product with only essential oils and nothing synthetic.

4. Starting an independent shop takes a lot of dedication, planning and hard work. At what point did you realize you had the chops to start your own indie craft business?

We slowly have worked our way into it over five years. The dedication, planning and hardwork never ends but we love it!

5. Where are your favorite places to find your supplies?

We source our raw materials from a lot of different places. A large chunk of our money goes to Columbus Foods for soap making oils and Camden Grey for essential oils. We would love to get everything local but some of our ingredients are unique and not available everywhere. We like to get the best quality and a fair price so we can pass that along to our customers.

6. Crafting is a grassroots revolution of sorts. It’s catching on as people appreciate all things handmade, original, recycled and environmentally/socially conscious. Does this influence/inspire your work? If so, how do you incorporate it into your craft?

Our products are all about being handmade and green so we love the fact that more people are understand and embrace the value of it.

7. After seeing your work, many would-be crafters are inspired to start their own creations. Will you have any DIY kits available for sale at Crafty this year? Could you provide any simple how-to’s or tips for readers who want to get started on their own designs?

People are welcome to ask us questions anytime! We have even done some demos on making products. We learned by reading books and experimenting. If anyone is interested in handmade body care products, we have a lot of good books and information to pass along.

I think we did a fine job finding totally excellent performers to fill the schedule! There’s something for everyone, so be sure to time your visit right to see your top picks! At the front of the fair we’ve got the acoustic Welcome Mat Stage to draw you in, then the Main Stage in the back to keep the crowd in a festive mood. I really can’t wait to see and hear everyone…so much great music! Be sure to check back in the Crafty blog for Q&As with all the performers, too.

MAIN STAGE

10:30-11:15: DJ Ca$$idy
www.myspace.com/garutachi

Resident DJ and co-founder of Garutachi Events, DJ Ca$$idy spins a playful mix of indie dance selections.

11:30-12:15: Rock-n-Romp featuring We Were Pirates
www.rocknromp.com, www.pirateswerewe.com

Rock-n-Romp, the awesome kid-friendly indie rock concert series, hosts multi-instrumentalist Mike Boggs and his live band comprised of a rotating cast of friends, as We Were Pirates. Bring the kids to see them play and they can also get a moustache painted on, a cool tattoo and stop at the coloring station to create their own works of art! Moustache painting and coloring books sponsored by Spooky Daddy. Tattoos provided by Craft Mutiny.

12:30-1:15: The Beanstalk Library
www.thebeanstalklibrary.com

Sounds like The Beatles and The Band had a bratty baby in the polluted Atlantic Ocean that washed up on the Carolina coast and hitchhiked to Washington, DC.

1:30-2:15: Aligning Minds
www.aligning-minds.com

Aligning Minds is the unique collaboration of two producers using sound to achieve a mutual vision. Hypnotic breakbeats, infectious basslines, dubby soundscapes, and idm experimentation.

2:30-3:15: Head-Roc featuring the G.I.F.T.
www.head-roc.com

Head-Roc, The Official Mayor of DC Hip Hop, introducing new material - backed by The Godisheus International Funk Train aka The G.I.F.T.! A 21st century Funk, Rock, and Soul Band experience you won’t want to miss!

3:30-5:00pm: Rockabilly Rave Up featuring J.P. McDermott and Western Bop
www.westernbop.com

With soaring vocals, hard-rocking rockabilly, and a heartfelt way with a ballad, D.C. native J.P. McDermott is breathing fresh air into one of America’s great musical traditions.

WELCOME MAT

10:45 - 11:30 Friends of the Library
www.myspace.com/thefriendsofthelibrary

Friends of the Library are a female-fronted indie rock/pop band from the DC area. They hope you enjoy the show and the festival.

12:15 - 1:00 Arthur Harrison on Theremin
www.harrisoninstruments.com/

Arthur Harrison, a member of “The Cassettes,” specializes in the “theremin.” He’s performed extensively throughout the country providing the public with the unique experience of this seldom-seen instrument.

1:30 - 2:15 Montgomery Fox
www.myspace.com/theberbers

Montgomery Fox is a bombastic folk musician. He sings, shouts and blows (on his harp) original and otherwise tributes and criticisms to the world. He also does fun kiddie tunes…. now that he has a toddler.

2:45 - 3:30 Third Channel
www.myspace.com/thirdchannel

Jason Hutto, Samantha Spinney, a casio, delay pedal, tambourine, time, space, crafts.

4:00 - 4:45 Sweet Teeth
www.myspace.com/bearclawtx

Started by Chris DeWitt in 2005, Sweet Teeth began as a minimal folk outfit, and has since grown into its own more electrified sound.