My New Favorite DIY Find

And I do mean DIY. It's so simple that it's genius, really. I happen to love the idea of organization. With The PocketMod, you can have it on the fly with materials from your recycle bin.

From their website you can make a calendar/notebook/puzzle book from just 1 piece of paper! Print a functional pocket-sized journal that you customize yourself, fold, and you're off! Easy.

Hmmmm.... What to do this weekend...

Join BEST members JenyGwen, JenMenkhaus, Miscelena and SweetPepita at the EcoFestival in Druid Hill Park! We'll be celebrating Baltimore Green Week and selling eco-friendly goodies for you and your family. Prepare yourself to fall in love with our park on a guided hiking or biking tour, discover how delicious and extraordinary vegan meals can be with fare from Yabba Pot, and just relax! Listen to music, enjoy art displayed in green space and maybe even learn a little something about how to take better care of your world.


And if that's not enough, this Sunday, April 27th, Bowerbox Press will be at the Day of the Book Festival in Kensington, MD. The fair is from 12 to 5, rain or shine. There will be authors, publishers, book artists, craftspeople, musicians and more!

Information is available at dayofthebook.com

Crafty Casting Call (How to Get on TV)

Crafters get your 5 mins of fame! The producers of HGTV's "Creative Juice" are casting for a new show all about crafting! It will be guest based and I am suspecting you would be demonstrating your craft. But wouldn't it be great if it was challenge oriented like "Project Runway?" That would really pique my interest.

Imagine me, furiously firing my enamels in my kiln, down to the wire, my pieces keep melting because I am so distracted by the other contestants bickering, sawing, hammering, and constant whir of their sewing machines- cut to my confessional, where I break down sobbing pleading that "it's not my turn to go home."

And then the runway- or maybe it will be a booth display, it's between me and one other crafter. There is a guest craft buyer weighted down by her bags of purchases. Her gaze sweeps over my work, then she hesitantly touches one of my pendants, almost, almost she lays it back down and moves to the next booth.

Heidi Klum appears, and the familiar line is delivered, 2 kisses, and it's back to Charm City for me.

Sigh, but this is not for me, or for anyone over the ripe old age of 28- yep, that's right! That is the one outstanding pre-requisite. So all you young whippersnapper crafters "get your craft on" and apply, I am positively ancient and have "aged out." Now where's my cane, I've got to get back to work!

For more info on the casting call go to:
www.cathieandsteve.com

Post written by dandelionblu

Spring Bags

Our very own JennyJen 42 in this month's issue of Baltimore Magazine! That's her super-cute Mr. Owl Bag on the left.

Yes, But is it Craft?

Photographers, jewelers and ceramicists are no strangers to the art vs. craft debate. For years and years, artists and makers in these fields and more have either defended the validity of their work, or ignored the crafty insult and just got on with what they do.

I remember when I studied jewelry at MICA, waiting for the 27 with my toolbox sitting on the ground at my feet. I had to get to class straight from work later that night. An older gentleman took note of my box and asked if I was an artist. He was curious and chatty.

"Yes," I told him.
"Oh, well, what medium?"
"Jewelry," I said.

See, and this is where things changed. This man who was, just a minute ago, so interested and cheerful now seemed kind of offended.

"That's not art. That's craft. You're not an artist."
At the time, I was really hurt. I felt I worked too hard not to be taken seriously, and from his mouth, the term "craft" might have meant unskilled or leisure activity.

I think things are different now. There is validity in craft and there are phenomenal advocates for it in the greater community. Which is why I was so sad to read about certain ideas and opinions that were presented at the last SNAG conference.

I wasn't there, but I think Annie from Imogene, a talented local jeweler, captured the details and the mood in her blog. Please take some time to read this piece. There is a movement amongst crafters at this very moment. We are young and old, trained and winging it, full-time, part-time, all-the-time makers.

We are here.


Editorial post by Sweet Pepita

images gathered by jen menkhaus in support of this editorial. found on etsy, and all likely to jury into some of the most prestigious fine craft shows in the country. from jenmaestre, kjoo, tijusai, cherilewis, misslo, and rhondagushee

toys toys toys!

I love the idea of giving artists the same (or very similar) blank canvas and asking them to make something out of it. I've seen it done very successfully many times, but have never seen it done in a way that just plain made me smile. I walked into Atomic Pop last night, and was happily greeted by their incarnation of the blank canvas project - although in this case it's plastic bunnies, bears, dogs, and more.

The show is called "Vinylmore," and it features over 50 different artists, many of whom call Baltimore home. It's the first DIY Art Toy Show happening here, it opened last night, and you need check it out. If you can't, you can see many of the pieces on Atomic Pop's blog or Flickr set. Work shown is "Horizon, Have A Nice Day, Southern Champion Set" by Sara Tomko, a graphic designer from Baltimore. Link to City Paper article.

Sweet Pepita!

So, hi! I’m Shannon from Sweet Pepita. I sew kids’ t-shirts and hats from organic cotton and recycled fabrics. Pepita is one of my baby girl’s many names. For real. My husband and I couldn’t choose just one. And if it weren’t for the birth of my daughter, I’d probably still have a jewelry studio in my house instead of a sewing machine parked in the dining room. So it was only fitting, I think, to name my business after her.

















I think my Sir Isaac Newton realization of the importance of art came in the kitchen as a child. Unable (or unwilling) to control my impulses, I grabbed my mama’s carved wooden bunny from off the windowsill. It was 6 or 7” tall, maybe 3” thick, and deceivingly light. Its color was a nearly perfect match to our cupboards, a kind of sickly yellow-brown. With a healthy pink eraser, I removed bunny’s penciled-in eyes, and held bunny, now a smooth, monochromatic woodland creature in my hands.

My mom was crazy mad.
“No, No, No. No. You do not do that. Why did you do that?” She grabbed the pencil and scribbled bunny’s eyes right on back. “That’s how the artist wanted it.”

Except now it is so obviously Mom’s scribble.

Nearly twenty years later, I graduated college with a degree in Spanish. While working towards that degree, I studied jewelry fabrication and design at MICA and began working for Barbie Levy, a jeweler based in Owings Mills, MD. From Barbie I learned so much about jewelry production and the craft world.

A friend taught me how to knit. I baked vegan cakes. A lot of vegan cakes. I did a little bit of everything. And then came Pepita. After the colic subsided I drew design after design for a line of infant clothing I just couldn’t get out of my brain. I knew I wanted to create a green product. And it had to be super-cool and unique. Finally, in late August of last year, my ideas were realized in fabric.

I sew because my mom taught me how to when I was still small. And I think it’s in my blood. Working with my hands has always been the most satisfying way to make a living. I can feel that I’m doing something and I can see my style and my touch in what I do. I know that with love and skill and care, our craft and our art is our history. And that’s how I want it.