American Craft Council Show: Local Stars of Alt Craft

Today marks the end of the American Craft Council's annual extravagannnnza here in Charm City. Rachel and I made the trek together on Friday to ferret out all the coolness we could find. Now, before I begin, let me say as a disclaimer that this show is BIG. I mean, it's so. Freakin. Big. So, in our end-of-sickness (Rachel) and hunger (me) delirium, there might have been a couple booths of supreme awesomeness that we missed. We did our very best to sort out the amazing from the equally amazing, but perhaps less interesting to our sensibilities, just for you, dear reader. I'm going to be writing a few posts this week to cover all that we found, but if there were things you saw that we missed, please jump in and let us know in the comments.

And, here we go.

The first section we beelined for was AltCraft. We knew a number of close friends and buddies were to be found there, including Annie, of Imogene (Annie's on the right, Rachel on the left).

Here's Annie's new display, which I found very effective, and I know Annie found much easier to transport than her former setup. Rachel and I were noticing a lot of amazing displays that really presented such a strong statement- they were very different, but some were so effective in presenting a cohesive idea, I found myself drawn to the booth despite having no interest in the product. It really made me think about my display and what I'm trying to convey with it.

I digress... Hey, look at this pretty lady! It's our own Shannon, of Sweet Pepita!

See those dresses behind her? Someone I know needs to have a baby of the girl variety so I can justify buying one of those.

Shannon was right inside the AltCraft section, which we found much more open and spread out than last year. Each booth in AltCraft had an individual lighting rig, which was really nice. It was easy to navigate, and spacious, as you can see in this shot:

That snazzy sign wasn't too shabby, either. There's Shannon's booth on the right hand side. Moving along the line, we came to Rania Hassan of goshdarnknit's knitted painting display:

So cool, so cool. And if you missed it, go check out Rania and Shannon (as well as Caitlin, who we'll talk about in a later post in this series) on the latest Hello Craft! podcast.

Moving around the perimeter, we came to our good friend and BEST member, Allison Fomich of Tigerlillyshop, who can now add "Television Personality" to her list of credits... go check out her blog for more info on that.

Allison was showing her electroformed line of jewelry, which is sort of like plating, but instead of silver or gold, she uses copper. The process is really cool, and as you can see, the results are beautiful.

Hooray for our local AltCraft heroes! Well done, ladies! Stay tuned for the next peek into the ACC's 2009 Baltimore show later this week...

Help The Baltimore Clayworks!

Maryland Citizens for the Arts has asked us to ask YOU to send an Email to Legislators .
The House Appropriations and Senate Budget & Taxation Subcommittees held budget hearings on February 19 and 20, 2009, and a large group of representatives were in Annapolis to testify and support the MCA advocacy goals. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Today, we are launching the next step in our Advocacy Plan - an Action Email Blast.
For this, WE WILL NEED EVERYONE'S HELP!

The process is very simple. As soon as you have read this alert, click on this "Take Action" icon. That hyperlink will take you directly to the Maryland Citizens for the Arts website. There, using a prepared letter which insures that the issues are properly identified and our advocacy goals are clearly defined, you will be able to contact your legislator directly. Enter your zipcode, which will identify the senator and/or delegate from your district who serves on one of these subcommittees. After you have provided your home address, you will be able to read the letter, edit it, and provide your e-signature. Please take a few minutes to do this right away!

NUMBERS ARE IMPORTANT! Encourage your friends and associates to join in sending this message. Pass this message on to the local arts advocates in your region, and urge them to send this email. *Please note that CapWiz will ONLY allow you to send this message to the legislators from your district. That is why we need participation from every part of Maryland !

One person CAN make a difference! Hundreds of people can make a HUGE difference!

If this cut is sustained, Baltimore Clayworks will lose approximately $40,000 in funding, and murals like this one made by residents in our urban community, classes for children in city schools, exhibitions like Tour de Clay and much, much more will be in jeopardy. Please act NOW!!

Thank you for caring and transforming your care into Action!

PS:
MCA WILL HOLD AN ADVOCACY CONFERENCE CALL TO THE FIELD ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2009 AT 3:00 P.M. TO UPDATE YOU ON OUR ADVOCACY PLAN AND TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. THE CALL-IN NUMBER IS 1-800-935-3856 PASSCODE: 465287

Apply for Spring Shows Now!

It's that time again - time to start thinking about spring & summer craft fairs... which gives us hope that Spring is around the corner, so we don't mind one bit. BUST magazine recently posted the above call for entries for their Spring Fling, and there are plenty more popping up all over the country. Two great websites for you to check constantly for new applications are:
IndieCraftShows.com & Craftershock.com. Are there other sites any of you look at for news of new fairs?

Hello Craft & The ACC show!

Tina Seamonster and the folks of Hello Craft have really outdone themselves this winter, setting up the Hello Craft website, running a great craft blog, and creating a very addicting crafty Podcast that we can all listen to for FREE on their site, at any time. And just to turn up justification for our plug of this new site one more notch...we'll remind you that these are the same heroes behind Crafty Bastards Craft Fair in Adams Morgan & Silver Spring. Where do they get all this energy?

In the latest episode of the Hello Craft podcast, the Hello Craft gals took stories from 3 local crafters who will be showing at the American Craft Council show this week! Caitlin of Rebound Designs, Rania of Goshdarnknit, and our very own fellow mafiosa, Shannon of Sweet Pepita! It's a great podcast - so if you get the chance- go take a listen.

All three of this episode's contributors, as well as the ladies of Hello Craft will be at the ACC show this week in Baltimore.
For more info on the ACC show, visit www.craftcouncil.org/baltimore
For more info on Hello Craft, visit www.hellocraft.com

CCCM In Southern Living Magazine!

Pick up the latest issue of Southern Living Magazine this month, and flip straight the the Mid Atlantic Living Section! The folks from Southern Living were nice enough to interview us a while back about crafting, community and running our businesses & the craft mafia in the Greatest City in America. It's the March 2009 issue. On shelves now (we think)!

Crafting Your Own Hula Hoop with Carlybird!

Photo of Carly courtesy of Kevin Griffin Moreno.

Spring is coming and you'll be kicking yourself if you aren't prepared to make the most of it.

Carlybird Weaves offers workshops not only in weaving but also in hula hoop making!
This Saturday, February 28th, I will teach you to make your own adult-weight hula hoop. I provide all the necessary tools and supplies, and you provide a creative mind and a desire to swivel your hips in style! Once our hoops are made, I'll teach you a hooping trick or two to boot!

Email me at carlygoss-at-yahoo.com to register!

Crafting Your Own Hula Hoop I
Saturday, February 28, 2009
2:00pm - 4:30pm
$20.00
Open to 5 students.

...and if you can't make it this weekend, there's always March!

Crafting Your Own Hula Hoop II
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
6:00pm - 8:30pm
$20.00
Open to 5 students.

After the Oscars

Feeling fabulous after watching the glamour of the red carpet? Why not dress up your everyday with a bit of glam from Feather Brain of D.C? Her beautiful headbands are inspired by the 20's flapper era of fashion. Each design is named for the famous jazz musician who inspired it. Check out her etsy shop if you would like to pick one out for your next red carpet debut!