Twenty Things: Anne Madison

Twenty things you didn't know about Anne of AMadison...

1. I spent much, but not all, of my adult life as a computer geek. I
specialized in network security and network management systems. I quit
doing it in 2001 to make rosaries.
2. For years I had an ego plate that read LANLADY. Other geeks used to
honk when they saw it. Everybody else thought it said LANDLADY.
3. I have been a UNIX system administrator. I have the scars to prove it.
4. My husband and I are currently owned by a recycled Beagle named
Spencer. He adopted us about five years ago. He’s rather elderly but
still full of fun.
5. Spencer was busted on Easter Sunday by Animal Control for undue
howling. He beat the rap because his dad was in the hospital.
6. There is a lovely, small Two Gray Hills Navajo rug in our home.
Spencer peed on it. Once.
7. I lease my own Webserver. Currently I’m honored to host Baltimore’s
own “Mutts” blog, ohmidog.com, owned and authored by former Sun
reporter John Woestendiek.
8. I like to keep the geek side of my brain alive by developing
shopping cart and blog Websites for clients.
9. I majored in French and Spanish. One of the most interesting jobs I
ever had was as a bilingual secretary at the Argentine Embassy in
Washington.
10. The combination of geekery and foreign languages has provided for
some interesting travel. About 15 years ago I led a team that worked
on Mexico’s voter identification system, a massive undertaking. Just
last year I had the great pleasure of doing some consulting and
training in Paris.
11. I also spent three months living in the Flamingo Hotel in Las
Vegas while I worked on a project to wire three Vegas properties for
the Internet. We spoke English. My key learning from that project was
that the only mathematically sound casino game is craps.
12. I have a large collection of trade beads and love using them in my
work. Current prizes include Russian Blues, Hebron beads, some Kiffa
beads from Mauretania, and an actual radioactive “Vaseline” bead.
13. My beloved Aged Mum, who died this past March at the age of 85,
was an artist and handweaver. I have been decorating our home with
some of her work.
14. At one point, I was an avid and fairly competent quilt maker. One
of my quilts, a School House, once won Honorable Mention at the
Maryland State Fair.
15. My first question when designing a piece of jewelry is “What would
Dotsie do?” That’s because I’m a great admirer of Beadazzled’s own
Dotsie Mack. Not to mention everybody else who works there. Look for
me there at least once a week, most weeks.
16. I am a Mac evangelist. I love my Mac so much I have declared it a
Microsoft Free Zone.
17. I love my new iPhone. I love it so much! I just love it.
18. My husband and I are still planning to finish hiking the
Appalachian Trail in sections.We've done a little less than half.
19. On a recent camping trip to Assateague Island, the local ponies
chewed a hole in our tent and strewed our dirty laundry up and down
the beach.
20. Our yard is very small. I make compost in black plastic garbage
bags, which I hide behind the shrubbery.

Would you like to be featured? Email your twenty things (keep it clean, please!) to baltimoreetsy (at) gmail (dot) com. Be sure to include your name and URL.

Best of Baltimore

According to the City Paper, the Best Mural in Baltimore is actually SIX murals, spanning the exterior walls of the Waverly Giant.

And among those walls, one painted by BEST's own Danamarie Hosler, of greenstarstudio.

Don't get us wrong: We love having a grocery store in Waverly. But the Giant has always been a bit too suburban for our tastes. The parking lot is too big and the three street-facing sides of the building are completely unused. Fortunately, the Baltimore Mural Program, part of the city's Office of Promotion and the Arts, commissioned five murals--painted by Gary Mullen, Michael Owen, Nelson Rivas, and Danamarie Hosler--to fill up the walls left blank by the store's owners. The murals by Rivas and Hosler are the best, picturing Waverylites past and present in the leafy setting for which the community was once known. Unlike murals that depict a mish-mash of local places and famous people, the Waverly murals are higher-minded, almost making up for the sterility of the Giant's building.

For more BOBs, visit the City Paper online.

Teresa B's Fall Trunk Show

Teresa B's Gift and Home is a popular boutique located just north of Baltimore in the Hunt Valley area. The shop is ecclectic and unique; offering crafty items, personalized selections, fine linens, and one of a kind treasures. They are having a Fall Festival coming up on September 18, 19, & 20. Along with a focus on seasonal inventory, Teresa B's will host a Trunk Show for local designers who are featured in the store. Trunks will include Baltimore Street Team's - Buttons for Babes, along with the popular Scout Bag label. Special savings throughout the store, drawings to win custom gift baskets, and a free gift with every $25 purchase. Don't miss this event and spread the word.

Ten Question Tuesday - Cutesy but not Cutesy

Hello! Who are you? Give us the 411 about yourself.
My name is Diane Koss and I am the founder, designer, creator behind the one (wo)man monster army that is Cutesy but not Cutesy based out of the Philadelphia metro area. I have a fine arts degree in photography and mixed media, but have always been much more of a 3D artist.

When/how did you start your business?
I have been stitching my way along since the discovery, or rediscovery, of my childhood obsession with stuffed creatures and all things soft to the touch. I started hand-stitching creatures from old clothing I had been hoarding around my tiny shared apartment and began selling them on Etsy in 2007. I have since refined my designs and my materials (still hand-stitching everything) and have been selling on Etsy and at various craft shows along the east coast.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I have very little life outside of creating things. Since this is my full time job, I seem to always be working on something or planning the next big project. I guess when your hobby becomes your full time job and you love what you do, it's pretty natural to feel the need to work all the time. When I do find the time to get away, I love a good long hike or other outdoor adventure. I also have a massively overgrown organic vegetable garden that takes up a lot of my time, and when the harvest season comes around I love to cook up delicious meals with my bounty!

What first made you want to become an artist?
I don't know exactly what made me first want to become an artist. I think the creative urge has always been inherently running through my bones, I just finally found a way that works for me to get it out in the open. I've always known I never really wanted to work a 9-5 job and I knew I'd probably never have a "normal" career, so starting my own business, making money from my art, and doing what I love just seemed to fit.

What inspires you?
I'm mostly inspired by people who are doing what they love. People who have started from the ground up and who aren't afraid to put themselves out there and work as hard as they possibly can to continue to get their creative voices heard whether it be through art, music, writing, etc. The internet makes finding constant inspiration rather easy (and sometimes distracting). I am always following a new blog and discovering a new site for inspiration. I have always loved the work of Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane. Her blog is a constant source of inspiration in both plush and non-plush related things. KitLane is another huge inspiration. She's incredibly productive and her work is so quirky and adorable which is right up my alley! I also have a not-so-secret obsession with vinyl toys and my collection is ever growing. Non-plush/toy related, I recently discovered the work of Nava Lubelski which nearly brought tears to my eyes. I learned of her on this amazing blog... talk about inspiring! I'll stop there because my list of inspirations could go on forever!

What's your favorite thing about your craft?
My favorite thing about my craft is the sense of the community that I have felt because of it. Not only have I met so many wonderful crafty people through the internet and at shows, but I have also met so many people who may not be artists themselves but who are in full support of the handmade movement. I'm a member of the Etsy Plush Street Team and can't express enough what an amazing group of artists and people they are and have been. It's so wonderful to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who help support and promote one another. I also love to see people's faces when they see my monsters. They seem to bring out the inner child in almost everyone and before I know it they've named them, given them personalities, and voices and made them dance around with one another. It's entertaining (and heartwarming) to say the least.

Where would we most likely find you working?
I work from home in my two bedroom apartment with my single black cat, Baby Wonderful. Although one bedroom is designated as the studio, I find myself stitching in the living room on the floor. And if I'm not there, I'm probably stitching on a train somewhere or huddled behind my monsters at a craft show.

What's your favorite music to listen to while you work?
I find myself listening to a lot of the Avett Brothers, they're the perfect combination of city and country for my heart and my mind these days. I'll mix in a little Iron and Wine, Andrew Bird, and Feist every now and again but the Avett Brothers station on Pandora is pretty consistently streaming into the monster workspace.

What's your favorite thing right now?
My favorite thing right now is planning my possible relocation, eating fresh tomato-basil-mozzarella sandwiches from the garden, strawberry rhubarb pie, and hunting for new cold weather faux furs at the fabric stores. Ok, so that's more than one thing but if I could do that all at once or all in one day... it'd be a "thing".

If you could have one wish granted for the craft community, what would it be?
If I could have one wish granted for the craft community it would be that more and more people would understand the importance and value of handmade and the love and energy that goes into creating each product. I'd also love for there to be a giant convention where we can all meet, hang out, and talk craft... maybe even a Craft Island.

See more of Diane's super-cute work in her etsy shop, or see her in person at Crafty Bastards!

Three Things

Anyone who lived in the D.C. area during the '80s and '90s remembers the great old radio station WHFS and Weasel the DJ. Weasel had a daily feature called "My Three Songs"; in this game, he would present three songs that had a common thread, theme, or leitmotif, and the object was for the listeners to guess what it was.

Here are three items by Etsy artists. What do they have in common? Give your answer in the comments below!


First of all is this remarkable Mason Bee Home from Andrew’s Reclaimed. This shop features beautiful, practical items for home and garden, all made from recycled wood. Mason Bees are great pollinators but do not build hives—hence their appreciation for human-built residences.


If you should be so fortunate as to live in the suburbs or country, you might try attracting some purple martins, who will love this Victorian gem from Bee Gracious. Martins are into communal living in apartment houses, and this house reminds me of the Patterson Park Pagoda.


And finally, though not for the faint of heart, are the bats. Though scary, each bat can eat up to six times its weight each day in insects and garden pests. Why not give them a nice home of their own like this one in natural cedar from Little Birdhouse Store. That will keep them out of your house, where they’d really prefer not to be.

So, not to put too fine a point on it, what’s my theme?

Written by: Anne of AMadison

Random Baltimore Photo

For more information, please click on the image.

Pigtown Festival Today!

Today, Saturday, September 12 from 11am to 7pm at the 700 & 800 Blocks of Washington Blvd. in Baltimore’s Pigtown

Where else can you see pigs running wild through the streets, Roller Girls on skates and local arts, crafts and entertainment? The Pigtown Festival, that's where! Visit one of Baltimore's most interesting neighborhoods this Saturday and join in on all the fun! With 6 local bands performing, delicious foods, and the parade of dogs dressed like pigs, this is an event that is not to be missed.

Come and see what everybody is squealing about!

For more info visit their website. See you there!

Post written by Lauren of JerseyGirlDesign.

Tutorial: Flouncy Flower Headband

While shopping in thrift stores fabric, not clothing style, is what usually catches my eye. Months ago I purchased a see through light blue shirt for 98 cents, brought it home, washed it and have restlessly moved it from room to room wondering why I purchased a translucent shirt that would fit in Molly Ringwald’s Pretty in Pink wardrobe. Not that I don’t like Pretty in Pink but at 37, I don’t think I can pull off the look. So after much thought and some inspiration from Anthropology I came up with an idea for a repurposed flower headband.

What you will need:

1/8 yard of Flouncy Fabric (such as chiffon)

Sharp Scissors

Straight Pins

Sewing Needle

Thread

Medium to large sized button

Headband

Square of felt

Glue Gun

1.) Download the Flouncy Flower pattern by clicking here. Print pattern out at 100%.

2.) Cut 12 flower petals using the flower petal pattern from the fabric. HINT: Since the fabric is thin you can cut out several at a time by layering the fabric.
3.) Thread the needle using at least a foot of thread. Place needle close at hand for next step.
4.) Take a flower petal and fold it in half lengthwise (fig. 4A). Take the folded petal and fold it in half a second time (fig. 4B).
5.) Pick up the needle and thread and put a holding stitch at the bottom point of the folded petal (fig. 5).

6.) Repeat step four with a second flower petal.
7.) Stitch the second petal base to the first petal. HINT: I often run a second stitch through the petals to keep them in place, making it easier to attach the others (fig. 7).
8.) Repeat steps six and seven. When stitching the remaining petals to the base attach them in a circular pattern around the original petal (fig. 8).
9.) After the last petal is attached knot off the thread to secure the petals in place and cut off the excess thread tale. The flower should look like fig. 9.

10.) Flatten out the flower and sew a button to the center of the flower (fig. 10).
11.) Cut out the a piece of felt using the backer pattern (fig. 11).

12.) Determine where you would like to place the flower on the headband. You can lightly mark this area with a wax pencil or sharpie if needed. Hot glue the flower to the backer MAKING SURE TO SANDWICH THE HEADBAND between the two.

written by: Kolleen of DesignsByNight

Happy Birthday Erica!

aka CEKcustomdesigns.

Metals Guild of Maryland at The Howard County Arts Council

Metals Guild of Maryland will be featured in Gallery II of the Howards County Arts Council from September 4- October 16, 2009. This exhibit features artwork created by seventeen members of this accomplished sculptural group. Pieces explore different themes while demonstrating fine artistry of metal smithing. This exhibit was juried by Susan Sanders and Gretchen Raber of The Torpedo Factory Art Center. The opening reception is on September 11th from 6-8 and coincides with Arts Councils Annual Meeting and FY10 Grant Award ceremony with County Executive Ken Ulman.