hello 2012!

hello and welcome to my first real post about 2012! i finally caught up on my posts all about the holiday shows i participated in- as you can see it was a busy time, but very rewarding and a lot of fun i really like sharing the awesome work i see so that people can really get a feel for what craft shows are all about.

anyhow, 2012 started on a sadder note with the loss of a friend to cancer and another friend to moving across the country! for the latter, we got together for a surprise farewell party the day before she left- here is a pic of us gals just before we said “bon voyage!” here’s hoping i get to go visit her in AZ . . . maybe i can find a craft show down there to vend at?

in other news outside of the studio, i’m learning to snowboard (my first time trying snow sports EVER) and it’s one of the most frustrating and painful challenges i’ve been faced with. however, that sweet moment when you’re actually cruising down a hill all by yourself makes it all worthwhile. sorta. kinda.

last fall, i spent a lot of time tweaking my traveling show set up. it will always be a work in progress, but for now i’m happy. my focus for the beginning of this year is on rebranding- revamping my website to reflect the work i’m making now and not all of my work from grad school, streamlining my etsy with better photographs and descriptions, developing package designs and more for the work i sell at shows, etc. i’ve started with my main etsy storefront- have you noticed any of the changes? i also created a second etsy account called exit343designforlife to house my functional printed pieces- accessories, jewelry, pillows, etc. i felt like these items were getting lost in the crowd on my main storefront. so far it’s light on listings, but more will be coming shortly. check out the packaging i created for my greeting card packs:

another big change in progress is my studio space. on thanksgiving day 2011, i came down the stairs to find my entire studio under about 6″ of water. yes, i know i said inches- it didn’t damage much in the grand scheme of things, but did destroy all of my newsprint, boxes of supplies, fabric that was touching the ground, etc. that mini flood was the impetus i needed to start reorganizing and sealing the walls to (hopefully) reduce my humidity issues in the summertime. i’m only halfway done as i type this, but wow does it look great! here are two shots of the space before:

so crowded and gross! and way too many things sitting on the ground.

the walls were painted a retro mint green, but over time they turned yellow with the paint chipping and all sorts of questionable spots- mold? mildew? who knew.

here’s the same space now:

what a difference the white makes! it makes me less afraid of the walls and there’s so much space to move! i think i can even fit in a proper fabric yardage printing table.  just to get an idea of the difference, here’s a pic of a wall in progress:

pretty gnarly. i can’t wait to be finished! i will then post more/better photographs upon completion so you can get a feel for the space. and then i can get rolling on new work for upcoming spring shows i did get to print one new thing amongst the mess- check out these custom thank you cards i made for my friends dennis + amy- they used them for engagement thank you’s.  made a bunch of extra in different colors that you can purchase on my etsy:

oh! speaking of listing things, i’ve finally listed all of the newer plush i dragged to every show during the holiday season. here are the goldfish friends:

here is the paisley bird collection- each color has a name and story!

oh! and i mentioned spring shows . . . the first of which is coming up in a month! yes folks, that’s right- the 4TH ANNUAL PABST BLUE RIBBON CRAFTING CHALLENGE! on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 2424 Studios in Fishtown from 3-10pm! if you’ve never been before, get ready for an afternoon of beer, more beer, crafts, friends, beer, live bands, more art, beer. here’s hoping they don’t run out- so come early and stay late

that’s all for now . . . back to painting and finishing up a wedding!

Crafty Balboa: Holiday 2011

crafty balboa is one of my favorite shows to do and bonus- it’s in philly! this year, i had the help of my friend katy for the one day event. here she is with my table- she looks like a floating head.

here’s some awesome stuff i came home with:

it seems every holiday i do a swap with melo studios- which is fine by me because i love love LOVE their eco-friendly scented soy candles. my favorite scent? honeysuckle, hands down. although for winter, i snagged  i also got to trade with amber phea jean- how cute is that hair clip? thanks so much for the swaps, ladies!

i fell in love with bethany amilkavich’s elegant ceramic designs. each piece was a soft, cool color with textile impressions. i picked up some buttons for a future project and these two necklace pendants. i wish i could find a website to link to more work

so loving this sweet letterpress card from huldra press.

i loved this coaster set from wishbone letterpress SO much, i got one for myself and for my friend caitlin!

the last two photos are works by my friend bryan from yardsale press- how awesome is that soft pretzel ornament? he made it for the 2011 holiday ornament show at nice things handmade in philly (which, by the way, i now have work there! woo!).

MORE holiday shows: NYM, BUST Craftacular, & Punk Rock Flea Market.

December was crazy busy with shows- 4 shows in three weekends! The first weekend, I traveled to Jersey City for the Not Yo Mama’s Holiday Craft Show held at Art House Productions. The first day of the show was part of the city’s First Friday event and the second was a separate event. Here’s a photo of my setup:

my awesome neighbors (who are also from PA) were the husband & wife team of pop star crafts. check out their unique branch display with handmade star ornaments!

here are some other vendors whose work i really enjoyed:

these tiny crochet animals by studio llama llama bring a smile to everyone’s face.

it was a pleasure to meet and chat with fellow printmaker nicole poko of another husband & wife team of nightingale projects. i really enjoyed their work and setup!

love these cute little creature pins by fluffy goodness.

loved these pantone accessories by defenestration.

how fun are these pillows by ula nice?

i’m a sucker for moustaches! especially these by cheek & stitch.

the following weekend, i ventured to new york city (!!) for my first ever show there! i was a one-day participant in the holiday 2011 BUST magazine craftacular. it was at a great underground space in SoHo- check out the hall i was in:

the next day, i headed back to philly to participate in the holiday R5 production’s punk rock flea market. it was an incredibly successful show for me- although very very chilly in the flea market dome off of spring garden.

i eventually walked around and do some shopping. i got a sweet okkervil river silkscreen poster from illustrator max gordon. i really enjoyed black heart letterpress’ work and setup- they brought out their press for prints on site! this was one of my favorite cards of theirs:

i came home with this sweet card by kristin grossi:

i thought the catjawn! table was hilarious- here’s an image from their site:

 

hotlanta in november: indie craft experience, etc.

 . . . still trying to get through all my photos from my 2011 holiday show season. better late than never, right? back in mid-November, I hit the road with Nick and headed to Atlanta, GA for my first time vending at the Indie Craft Experience. we extended the trip a bit to visit my friend Oates in Chapel Hill (remember him from Jimmy Fallon last year?) and do some sight seeing in Atlanta. Chapel Hill was awesome for the brief time we were there- got some delicious food at Carrburritos and picked up some local brews for the rest of the trip. We arrived in Atlanta that night, got some grub, and freshened up for next day’s sightseeing!

On Friday, we started out by heading north on Peachtree Street getting lunch at a restaurant called TAP. In addition to impressive menu design (seriously! check their website), they had delicious food and some quirky giant animals:

After lunch, we checked out the collection at Atlanta’s High Museum and caught their Modern Masters exhibition. I was particularly excited to see this Lichtenstein sculpture!

The rest of the day was spent on the other end of Peachtree Street, hanging out in downtown. We did the ultimate tourist activity in Atlanta- ventured through the World of Coca-Cola. It was actually pretty cool- some great old advertisements and an international soda tasting room. 

We rounded out the evening with drinks at the top of the Westin in the center of town- check out the view!

For dinner, we had a fantastic southern style dinner at South City Kitchen in midtown- check out their awesome chicken and fried green tomatoes! YUM.

The next day (Saturday, the 19th) was day one of the Indie Craft Experience! The space was great- located at Ambient Plus Studio, an older refurbished warehouse building. The space wasn’t exactly what I had expected, but fortunately made it work in part with the help/graciousness of my terrific neighbors element47 and foamy wader. thanks, ladies! here is my setup from day one- things changed a bit on day two after an emergency trip to Ikea.

since i had a helper for the weekend (thank you so much, Nick!) i got to make the rounds, check out the work more carefully, and meet some great people! here are pics of some of my favorite items from the weekend:

how adorable are those little bread slices?! from migration goods.

i love the work coming out of olaria studio- i’d seen it before at art star philly and was excited to get the chance to meet/talk to creator amy mcclure. this photo doesn’t do her work justice.

funky and fun plush by jellykoe!

a bucket of staches by smit craft!

i loved the booth by the argyle academy- mike lowery’s illustrations are awesome.

beautiful work by in the clouds design- i wish i could find a link to their storefront!

fun little earrings by ibby & rufus.

check out these deutsch letterpress cards by concrete lace! (she has plenty of cards for english speakers, too)

as a lover of polaroid, i adored these tiny handmade letterpress albums by racing snail press.

yeehaw industries was my across-from-me neighbor- i’m a huge fan of their letterpress prints.

since the show was in november, it was a great opportunity to work on my christmas shopping (although i’m not completely selfless- i admittedly came home with some goodies for myself). here’s what i came home with:

after sitting across from yee-haw industries for two full days, i couldn’t resist their “cupcakes make people happy” calendar for my cupcake baker friend karina. i also picked up this quirky print by tweet design for my printer friend ellie- thanks so much for the swap, tracy!

 . . . as mentioned before i love polaroid, so i couldn’t resist this silkscreen print by designers and printmakers the knifemen.

these two were gifts for my baker friend as well- an octopus ring by my neighbor alexa of foamy wader and an illustrated octopus necklace by kristina dutton.

bright and fun hair pins by carmen of cg hecho a mano -they were a great gift for my  equally bright and fun friend katy!

at the end of the second day, i met and traded with the creator of these earrings- lynda buckels aka miss chatty crafty, one of the coordinators of chattanooga’s chatty crafty show. i’m hoping to participate in one of her events this year!

after the show concluded and we jam packed my tiny two-door car, nick and i began the journey home- but not without staying overnight at the ultimate kitsch destination: south of the border! it was a childhood dream come true. early monday morning before we left, we walked around the empty tourist trap and i took a handful of photographs. it was a great way to end the trip- here are some of my favorites:

oh, and we couldn’t leave without getting some some souvenir sombreros!

pittsburgh holiday handmade arcade: november 12, 2011.

the weekend after i visited the clover market, i was a first time vendor at pittsburgh’s handmade arcade.

what an incredible experience! the venue was spacious, the vendors were super talented, and the crowd was abundant. it was a great way to officially kick off my holiday show season!

new trunk of new plushies!

a new basket of plushie paisleybirds! they each have names and stories

commonwealth press was my perpendicular neighbor repping pittsburgh with fun and contemporary tshirts.

check out this space! the show was at the david l. lawrence convention center right in the heart of town.

right across from me was this sweet giftwrap print station- check out those screens! the station was run by AIR- artists image resource.

i had purchased a card by L2 Design Collective in chicago- i wish i got one of these bagel cards!

some really phenomenal design by reconstructing ideas.

i really liked kin ship press‘ setup and designs. they were recently featured on fab.com too!

some playful letterpress prints from orange tabby press. gets me excited to use my own new press!

if you recall from my post about renegade chicago, i was SO excited to meet shawn smith of shawnimals fame. WELL- at handmade arcade, i got to meet another artist of kidrobot fame- heidi kenney of my paper crane! i was seriously so excited to get to chat with her. she told me about how she got started and how her partnership with kidrobot happened. thanks so much for being so friendly and down-to-earth, heidi! i love your work

so so so in love with these fabric swatches!

sloe gin fizz by nicole ray had some beautiful work, including these adorable bird stickers. i love her whimsical illustrations!

i also got to trade for and purchase some great swag. it was tough as i was manning my booth alone, but i managed to make it through the whole show and vend simultaneously. here are the goodies i got:

the truthful “butter is better” silkscreen print is by the husband and wife print team ReuseFirst. they were SUPER nice and i got to see them again in atlanta the following weekend! (that post is up next) the crying raincloud and aodrable little fortune cookie are both by heidi kenney/mypapercrane. i couldn’t resist! the hand colored etching is by my friend and fellow printmaker ellie taraborrelli- she was so gracious to let me stay the night in her home in western pa! i got to see her new studio space and meet her pup ernie. thanks so much for your hospitality, ellie!

boudoir session with jess.

back in november, my friend jess asked me to help her out with a boudoir session to session to surprise her husband for christmas. it was my first time doing one of these and i’m pretty pleased with the results! here’s a selection of some of the photos- you can see more on my flickr.

the clover market: november 6th, 2011.

back in the fall, i was fortunate enough to have a little free time to finally check out the clover market in ardmore, pa. i really wanted to participate as a vendor in the fall but unfortunately had conflicts. i’m excited to see that they’re accepting applications for their spring dates- after visiting in the fall, i was really impressed and hope to be a part of it in 2012!

before i did any perusing, i indulged in a scrumptous cupcake by cupcakes gourmet. they have two brick and mortar locations in malvern and wayne and also participate in the ardmore farmers market in suburban square. check them out- they even have a daily flavor schedule!

sardine clothing creates fun and colorful clothing for all ages from tshirts and recycled clothing. you can even send in your own tshirts for a custom look! pretty cool

how adorable are these unique plushies by hotdogs & catsup??

i particularly enjoyed gabrielle lackman’s work under the name visually delicious. her colorful patterns are very inspiring! check out her cool 2012 calendar.

i didn’t get to take a photo of their work, so this image is lifted from their etsy site- but almanac industries made the trek to ardmore from baltimore! i adored their letterpress creations- you can learn more about the couple behind the bookbinding and printmaking here.

eric and margaret got hitched!

wayyyy back in september, i was swamped with weddings. i finally finished and posted the photos from my friends’ wedding on september 18, 2011 at tyler arboretum. i’m really pleased with the results- and it’s gotten me very excited for another friend’s wedding coming up next weekend! here’s hoping the warm weather we’ve been experiencing in philadelphia sticks around.

prior to the wedding, we did an engagement session all around philadelphia. you can see some other images in this earlier post. want to see even more photos from the e-session? check out my flickr rightttt HERE.

 

 

. . . and then they got married! here’s a selection of photos from their big day- to see the rest, click HERE.

 

 

 

 

renegade craft fair: chicago 2011

it only took me months to finally sit down and go through all of the photographs i took and business cards i acquired and compose this post, but here it is: all about my trip to Chicago in september!

way back in the beginning of fall, i was fortunate enough to participate in my first ever Renegade Craft Fair. on the 10th and 11th of september, i set up shop on Chicago’s Division St. with over 300 other vendors and got to meet all kinds of talented artists and interesting patrons i could write so much about how much amazing work was there, how beautiful Chicago is, etc- but it’s much easier to show you in photographs! and i definitely took plenty. read ahead to see what my new booth fixtures look like, some of my favorite pieces by other vendors, and more! thank you to the lovely people of Renegade for letting me be a part of this amazing event also, big thank you to my friend Courtney Jones for flying out to meet me in Chicago only to sit behind a table 80% of the time. another big thank you goes out to the lovely Veronika Goldberg for letting us crash at her new pad- it was a blast! seriously though- check out this beautiful view we woke up to:

anyhow- the show took place on Division Street in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. the weather was beautiful on both days, my booth was next to my friends Bryan and Hilary of Yardsale Press, i got to debut my new fixtures, and there was a ton of traffic- a great success

check out the new greeting card stands i built! they match my new neutral colored/wood motif.

here is courtney and i on day two- it was so awesome of her to come out to help! it’s been way too long since we’d seen each other. fun fact- courtney, bryan & hilary from yardsale, and i all went to Rowan University together.

the “tshirts are $15.00″ Ts were a big hit- i’m considering printing a short run of them.

here is Bryan manning his booth next to mine- check out those stacked sandwiches!

the show was so enormous, it took both days for me to find the time to go through and see all the vendors. as i mentioned early on, i took a lot of photographs and collected business cards from so many talented artists and crafters. the following is a selection of images and links of just some of my favorites:

how cute are these nugget screens and squeegees?! according to Flora A., these Teeny Screenies are part of a new startup project made up of graphic designers to raise money for the charity The C.A.R.E. Initiative.

“things that are long” by Missouri letterpress shop 1canoe2- love that there’s a weener dog!

i thought the sweatshop of love had such an awesome shirt design.

tshirts for the typography obsessed by the social department (i personally love a good sans).

 i was SO excited to get to see the Shawnimals booth- as some of you may know, i have started a small collection of moustachios:

as a result, when i met Shawn Smith, it was a little like meeting a celebrity. my excitement to meet him may have been a little creepy, but he was super nice- we even chatted a bit about SXSW. i added the handmade black papa moustachio to my growing moustache family.

another booth i was particularly hype to see was the Little Friends of Printmaking - it was SO exciting to see their work in real life and not just on the pages of some of my favorite illustration/design books! i picked up a sweet tshirt with a cat riding a bike- i’ll show you at the end.

Mokuyobi Threads had some super fun accessories for self and home- i love the bright food pillows!

as a printmaker who works primarily in silkscreen, i was totally blown away by the art prints and band posters by Crosshair Silkscreen Design. look at the image above, read the FAQ’s on the left, and look back at the image- the registration is immaculate! (aside from the image being just plain awesome) their booth had a sweet pile of discount prints and i picked up this double sided monoprint:

ciggies! McBitterson’s- so cute!

yup, that’s a batch of rainbow plush penis’- there’s more where these come from on Abitabite’s etsy.

these necklaces by material+movement are so elegant and unique.

in addition to the many booths of vendors, the Moveable Type Truck parked in the center of all the action. kyle currie travels the country in a converted 1982 chevy truck outfitted with, among other equipment, a tabletop platen letterpress.

bryan and i chatted with kyle and she showed us around her space. i wish i had more time to stay and print! although it turned out that the day before the show, i purchased two of her cards from her company power and light press:

 . . . and how adorable is that cat-erpillar by Cordial Kitten?? that was such an awesome trade- i spent both days eyeing this cat from two booths over. thank you so much, candice!

i LOVE these little plush sx-70s by lets be friends! they also had too cool for school handmade hipster bears:

 . . . and here’s even MORE sweet swag! clockwise from the top: the bike racing kitty tshirt is courtesy of the Little Friends of Printmaking, as mentioned previously. the tote bag with cute birdies is by Vahalla Studios. Little Korboose created the package of postcards emblazoned  with the little blue robot saying HELLO! Illustrated Goods offered up so many great letterpress goodies, but i decided on some colorful blank birthday cards. Nourishing Notes was one of my favorite booths- their prints are all food related and so bright and humorous! i can’t wait to frame and hang up the letterpress print i purchased that reads “count the MEMORIES not the CALORIES”

Renegade was super awesome and I met some great people and artists. I can only hope I’m fortunate enough to participate again in 2012!

Crafty Balboa: Holiday 2011 . . .

. . . is this coming Saturday, December 17th! I really hope that you can make it- it’s my final show of the year and it’s also super local at the Broad Street Ministry in Philadelphia, PA (on Broad Street, below city hall, right next to UArts). Today, i was one of the featured vendors on the website- woo woo!

http://craftybalboa.blogspot.com/2011/12/crafty-chats-with-exit343-design.html

seriously though- this is going to be one of the best events of the season! so many awesome vendors- and if you’re one of the first 50 people in line, you get a sweet swag tote. i contributed some handy gift tags and i know bryan from yardsale press printed his own snowflake tote bags as goodies.

finally, i will be unveiling a brand new plush that is very philly-centric- come and see what it is the show runs from 11am to 5pm- hope to see you saturday!