upcoming spring shows in philadelphia and brooklyn.

hey all! if this past weekend was any indication, spring is quickly on its way to being sprung! and along with the beautiful weather, flowers, outdoor weddings, and hoards of dogs being walked outside comes spring craft shows! as usual, i have a pretty full schedule. if you live in the Philadelphia area or NYC, please come out and check out all of the handmade goodies us vendors have been working on all winter

 

kicking off my craft season and The Clover Market spring season, I will be returning to the popular show in Ardmore, PA on Sunday, April 14th! the first date listed will be the only one I’m participating in, but if you’re free any of the above dates you need to check out this show. not only is it packed with a rotating cast of talented artists, but there are unique booths of vintage and antiques to peruse as well. here’s a list of the vendors, broken down by each month. to get a better visual idea of what will be there, check out this comprehensive pin board. also, tune in to my blog tomorrow for a clover market themed etsy treasury tuesday post

 

the following Saturday, April 20th I’m headed to West Philly to return to the local favorite Go West Craft Fest at the beautiful Woodlands Cemetery. this show features a wide range of handmade items and is really family friendly, with a small local acrobatic group performing throughout the day and local snack and ice cream vendors. it runs from 11-5pm and is easily accessible via public transportation- steps away from a trolley station and short walk from 30th Street Station. here’s a list of the vendors and here’s a Go West! themed pin board to get a visual of who all will be there

the weekend after that, I’m taking a break to celebrate my birthday with friends since I was away for the actual date in March. however, if you’re looking for a fun activity to fill up your Saturday, check out Crafty Balboa in South Philadelphia, one of my favorite craft shows that runs in conjunction with East Passyunk’s Flavors of the Avenue event.

I’m kicking off the month of May in New York City with the annual BUST Magazine Spring Craftacular on Saturday, May 4th. It’s been over a year since I’ve done a show with BUST and I’m pretty excited to come back, see some new faces, and shop! This outdoor show is at the Pearl Street Plaza on the DUMBO, Brooklyn waterfront- right near the Brooklyn Bridge! The vendor list isn’t up at this time, but keep an eye on my twitter and I’ll post the link. The show is one day and runs from 11-6pm.

 

I’ll be ending the spring season with a bang at the biggest Philadelphia show of the year- Art Star Craft Bazaar at Penn’s Landing on May 11th and May 12th. This two day event coincides with Mother’s Day weekend- Saturday is a great day to shop for your momma and Sunday is a great day to shop with your momma This show is huge and brings vendors from near and far- here’s a comprehensive vendor list with links and photos. the first 150 people to arrive each day will get a tote bag full of vendor goodies. also, a little birdie told me that the Art Star ladies will be holding a Craft Bazaar giveaway on social media sometime in the near future- be sure to check them out on twitter at @artstarphilly and instagram also @artstarphilly

That’s all for now, folks! I’m looking at a couple of potential shows in June, but will be taking a craft show break for the majority of the summer. Hope to see you sometime this spring!

 

 

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art star craft bazaar, may 2012.

On Mother’s Day weekend of this year, I was a third time participant with Philadelphia’s famous independent craft fair, Art Star Craft Bazaar. Held every year at Penn’s Landing, the show is curated and run by the ladies of Art Star Gallery & Boutique, on 2nd Street in Northern Liberties. Also every year, it gets more awesome! This year, my booth was in a cluster next to the Seaport Museum.

It was super sunny on Saturday, so Katy and I soaked up the rays.

I also debuted my new plush kitty cats! They come in three colors and each is slightly different. Each color of kitty has a name tag with a little description about its personality. The orange cat is “Big Tig,” the purple cat is “Dr. Fuzz,” and the grey cat is “Kasey.” If you’re interested in picking one up, here’s a link to my plush kitty cat etsy listing.

On Sunday the 13th, I got to roam around the show, take photos, say hi to friends, and pick up some great items! Here are some of my favorites:

My booth neighbor was gioconda padovan, an artist who creates her own children’s stamp sets from original illustrations. Her products are super cute and whimsical- you can see from one child’s example, they’re easy to layer as well. She had a table set up for kids to test them out, which was cute entertainment all day long.

I’m psyched about this purchase, a print by Shawn Hileman of Philadelphia’s Masthead Print Studio fame. It’s currently living in my studio, naturally.

Just down the way from me was Laura of The Wind and the Sail, my booth neighbor from last year! She hails from Indiana and I cannot say enough how much I adore her work- last year, I picked up a kitty cat with a mole (just like my own cat) and a cute plush beaver friend. It was great to see you again this year, Laura!

One day . . . one day, I will buy something from Bubbledog. I love all of their colorful goods, so I can honestly never decide what I want to bring home!

I had seen a preview from Art Star about Betsy Olmsted’s work and I couldn’t wait to see it in the flesh . . . holy moly is it beautiful (and very inspiring). Who would ever want to actually use one of these hand towels?? They’re way too pretty to ruin in the kitchen!

To continue with artists from PA Dutch country (Betsy Olmsted resides in Lancaster), I picked up this sweet, springy thank you card from Ready the House, a design team based out of Lititz. Check out their etsy for some bright, locally influenced designs.

I’m so into this new coaster set by my friend Bryan of yardsale press- it’s the perfect housewarming gift!

At every show I see her at, I drool over Namoo‘s fabric goodies. This time was no exception.

Neogranny had such a colorful setup, packed with laser cut wooden embellishments.

As mentioned before, Heidi Kenney’s plushies are some of my all-time favorites. How hilarious (and well crafted) are these dirty bananas? Too much cuteness.

Courtney and Justin of Wider Awake Print & Design did such a stellar job with their first setup as Art Star vendors! I am a huge fan of their work and you should be too- make sure to check out their site and etsy storefront for colorful and quirky silkscreen goodies.

I’m a big fan of these new Overdue Industries bunting necklaces- a fresh departure from their other necklace styles.

To continue with necklaces, these chevron ceramic necklaces by Tasha McKelvey are really hip. I didn’t pick one up, but I did get this beachy ceramic dish from her, pictured below:

In the dish is a “surf and turf” pin set from yardsale press. Underneath is a silkscreen print on a wooden postcard by Melanie Linder of Spread the Love.

I always love work by Phil Barbato! Check out these new baby octopus plush- look at that rotten tooth on the back one! Too funny

Holland Cox featured a great assortment of bold, patterned clutch bags and wristlets.

Sun in my Chest’s booth made me so happy (just like their prints say) thanks to their assortment of mono-printed goodies. As I mentioned last week, as much as I love silkscreen printing, it’s always exciting for me to see older, more traditional printmaking processes at these kinds of shows.

I wish this ceramicist had a website, but alas I only found an art center profile on Tabitha Trolli, the girl who crafted these gorgeous vases. I seriously went back to her booth four times before I decided on what I wanted to purchase:

Sarah Lee Parker Textiles’ booth was near mine last year and I adored her designs just as much as I do this year. How fun are these tea towels?

It was such a pleasure to meet Becki and Chris, the creative duo behind Everyday Balloons. The pair from Pittsburgh are also silkscreen printers who do everything by hand – very admirable and very time consuming. I fell for their suite of owl prints and am so happy that I got to bring them home with me! I already have the hooties framed and ready to rock for a print/photo salon style wall I’m planning to hang soon. Not only are their prints awesome, but how cute are these business cards? I kind of want to frame these too:

Anyhow, the Craft Bazaar was a great success and I’m so lucky to have been able to participate again this year. A big THANK YOU goes out to Megan and Erin of Art Star, to my faithful helpers, my mamadukes, and to everyone who stopped in! Including the doggies who came for a drink:

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(etsy) treasury tuesday: art star craft bazaar 2012 edition.

this weekend is the annual Art Star Craft Bazaar at Penn’s Landing! i am SO excited to be back as a vendor again this year. i’m also really pumped to see the work of the following talented artists and crafters- check out my preview etsy treasury below to get pumped too!

Art Star Craft Bazaar is Saturday and Sunday, May 12th & 13th from 11-6pm.

‘art star craft bazaar 2012!’ by exit343design

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

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spring/early summer updates and upcoming events!

it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks! i vended for the first time at Go West! craft fest, had a print show with Bryan Sculthorpe at Nice Things . . . Handmade in South Philly (that is still up until next week if you missed it!), drove to Tennessee solo to participate in Chattanooga’s Chatty Crafty, sold my wares at the annual Crafty Balboa: April Showers fair, started a new “etsy treasury tuesday” feature on this blog, and have spent many hours in the studio. however- this spring/early summer season is NOT over yet- i still have new work to debut, new shows to vend at, and even a solo gallery show across the country! here’s the deal:

THIS SUNDAY, May 6th- I will be a first time vendor at Ardmore’s Clover Market! you may remember some past posts about it, as I have been to a couple of their past markets as a customer. This show is really well curated and features a wider range of goodies than your typical craft show. The weather is supposed to be beaut so it’s a perfect way to spend a Sunday! 10 – 4pm at 12 E. Lancaster Ave- my booth will be tucked away in a back parking lot off of Cricket Terrace, so please make sure to come find me and say hello! Also of note- there is free parking everywhere in Ardmore on Sundays! BOOYA.

NEXT WEEKEND, May 12 & 13, I will be at Penn’s Landing for another edition of the biggest craft show in Philly- Art Star Craft Bazaar! I am super excited- this show is just great, no two ways about it. It is both Saturday & Sunday, from 11-6pm. My booth is number #102- you can check out the map here and see that I’m right off of Walnut, next to the Seaport Museum. Another fun fact? Rowan alumni are dominating this year, accounting for four vendor booths! So be sure to stop in and see Yardsale Press, Wider Awake, and Brainstorm, as well as me- we were all born out of the same messy print studio in South Jersey. BOOM.

On May 14th, my solo gallery show Memoria will be opening in Reno, Nevada at their city’s McKinley Arts Gallery East location.  The month long show features work from my thesis exhibition at Penn State in 2010. The body of work featured is definitely a departure from my standard colorful, illustrated silkscreen prints; rather, it’s focused on my family’s history of mental deterioration through imagery and process. The above piece will be shown, alongside 11 other works. I unfortunately will not be able to make it to Reno to see it, so I’m hoping they will send me some images I’ll be able to post!

FRIDAY, MAY 18 FROM 6-9PM I will be participating in Main Line Art Center’s One Night Stand, an event for members and artists ages 21-35 to sell their work to people of any age I will be manning my table for the evening selling framed prints and framed original Polaroids. I’m excited to participate and see some new faces! Main Line Art Center is located at 746 Panmure Rd. in Haverford, PA.

 I just got word that I will be a returning vendor to InLiquid’s Art for the Cash Poor 13! This year, in addition to the Saturday and Sunday dates, they’ve added a special Friday night preview from 5:30-8:30 that I will also be participating in Anyhow, the show is on June 9 and 10th from 12-6. I feel like I say this about every event, but this is seriously one of my favorites of all year- there is an abundance of talent, great raffles, sometimes a photobooth, yummy food trucks, live music, and OH YEAH- it’s sponsored by Philly Brewing Company and they usually run “an all day, all you can drink” wristband special which is my jam! Art for the Cash Poor is at the Crane Arts Building at 1400 American Street in Fishtown. Click here to read my post about last year’s event.

Finally, I’ve been releasing new prints quietly at shows and on etsy, so here are a couple of pics:

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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!

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