At this year’s Crafty Bastards Hello Craft wanted to share the fun of making with those at the fair. So we threw up a tent, asked some of our friends to sponsor some projects, and let the creativity run wild.

And run wild it did. The Make Something Awesome Area was packed from start to finish all day long. Anyone who sat down could make a pin cushion from Etsy, earrings from Mary Ellen Doran, knit up a scarf from Knit Outta the Box, embroider patterns by Sublime Stitching or let their imagination dictate the project with access to a myriad of materials.

Much thanks to the DC Craft Mafia who helped guide project makers throughout the day.

Did you make anything awesome? We’d love to see! Be sure to upload your photos to the Crafty Bastards 2009 Flickr Group.

I have to move soon and the most redeeming thing about it is that I will have a new space to decorate. I’m planning to score some accessories for my new home at this year’s Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts fair.

Bright Lights Little City makes fantastic lighting with reused materials like cocktail umbrellas. Perfect for lighting up a dark corner in any room. You can see Bright Lights Little City at Booth #110 on the vendor map.

Girls Can Tell features accessories for your kitchen like these screen-printed  hand towels. Often featuring diagrams of objects like bicycles or cameras, these accessories will teach you something as well as serve useful in the kitchen. Find Girls Can Tell at Booth #23 on the vendor map.

Trees has pillows made from vintage fabrics, buttons and recycled materials. They deserve a spot on any couch. Pick one up at Booth # 139 on the vendor map.

Jessica Knapp’s wall art is a must for living up a dull room. Her “Plushkill Forest Taxidermied” animals can be found at Booth # 83 on the vendor map.

You can visit these vendors and more at the 6^th Crafty Bastards which takes place on Saturday, October 3^rd at the Marie Reed Learning Center in Adams Morgan.

Artist and designer Amalia Versaci loves zippers. She loves zippers so much that she seeks out vintage zippers and spends hours figuring out new ways to use each and every part of it.

And her work is paying off.

Amalia will be offering her unique zipper jewelry and accessories at Crafty Bastards. What is so very neat about Amalia’s designs is that she takes a found and used object, the zipper, and turns it into something fun and new. This is often called upcycling.

The other great green thing about her designs is that she uses every part of the zipper, coming up with new and creative ways to make zipper jewelry and accessories.

Check them out for yourself at booth #10

If nature is near and dear to your heart, why not honor the great outdoors with forest inspired jewelry by Figs and Ginger.

Choose from a fawn ring or a bird or mountain necklace, knowing that Figs and Ginger strive to use the most environmentally sound production practices in their jewelry making, so nature is left in tack for future generations to enjoy.

Each of Figs and Ginger’s pieces are made from a minimum of 50% recycled/reclaimed silver and/or gold and all of their printed materials and mailers contain a minimum of 50% post consumer recycled content.
Each piece is made by hand and much of their work is inspired by the simple beauty found in forests, both imaginary & real.

Find Figs and Ginger at booth #22.

Pinecone + Chickadee is a collaboration between a graphic designer and musician. Together this creative duo silkscreen their art onto greeting cards, journals, apparel and accessories.

On top of creating adorable fantasy settings, their stationary line is printed on recycled paper.

Their clothing is often organic.

And their inks are water-based and earth friendly.

You can find Pinecone + Chickadee at booth #55 at Crafty Bastards.

Everyone loves lunch. With Glue and Glitter you can carry your lunch with style.

Made from vintage, reclaimed or organic, earth-friendly fabrics, these lunch kits will make for a happy lunch five days a week.

Do you have a thing for the messier foods? Wear this adorable cupcapron while prepairing your lunch and protect your clothes. Made from vintage or organic fabrics and eco-felt.

Once your lunch is made and packed, why don’t you relax, put your feet up and snuggle with these happy tree pillows.

Find Glue and Glitter at Booth # 47

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.

There are few places on the earth where you can find as much plush as you will find at Crafty Bastards this Sunday. From the expressive eyes of Tigerflight’s upcycled owls, to the spotty heads of My Paper Crane’s mushrooms, to the furry weirdness of Jenny Harada’s monsters to the simple wonder that are Spooky Daddy’s Roaming Eyes of Doom. You will find it at the fair.

Jenny Harada recently sat down with Impatient Crafter to make make make! Check out this awesome video:

The Impatient Crafter™ and Special Guest Star Jenny Harada!

Need more? Spooky Daddy’s puppet videos/interviews can be found here.

And if you want to make it yourself, go no further than Sewing Stars in Booth #23. She is ready to arm the masses with kits to do it themselves! Check out her blog for tutorials and inspiration.

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.