Announcing: The Two June Howard Street Handmade Events!

Lets start at the beginning.
On June 6th, from 8am to 7pm, Short Street Cakes Presents the newest incarnation of Howard Street Handmade: The Crafty Supply Sale and Swap Bonanza! Here's the rundown from one of our organizers (and resident HSH logo artists, ass-kicker, and all around awesome mama), Katie Elkins of Scrumdidlyump fame!
One June 6th Howard Street Handmade will host a fabulous day of low-cost
workshops and a Crafty Supply Swap + Sale Bonanza. Howard Street Handmade
takes place at 227 Haywood Road in East West Asheville, next to our lovely
sponsor, Short Street Cakes.

The day will progress in three acts, (eat your heart out Ira Glass):

*Part I - *8 am -10:30 am

- *A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - But you Need a Few of Those Too*

Low-Cost Photography and Writing Workshop
Bring your work and we will do a hands on photo shoot! Learn how to take great
photos of your work with minimal equipment. We will play with props, lighting and help each other write great descriptions of our work, and gain skills to sell more of your work! Great for Etsy or for building a portfolio to approach galleries and shops!
cost - *$5 *
brought to you by scrumdidlyump
*All proceeds from this class will go to the Howard Street Handmade marketing fund!*

*Part II - *11:00 am - 1:30 pm
- *That Felt GOOD!*
Felting basics workshop
Learn how to make your own felted soaps with needle felted designs!
cost -* $10 *+ supplies
brought to you by MellowKnee

- *Yo Mam**a Likes Prints*
Low-tech Printing basics workshop
Make your own stamps and learn how to print on paper and fabric.
cost - *$10* plus supplies
scrumdidlyump + special surprise guest

*All classes are first come, first serve. Reserve your spot today by emailing howardstreethandmade@gmail.com.

*Part III - 3:00 pm - 7 pm

The Crafty Supply Swap + Sale Bonanza*

- *The Sale - Downstairs*
Vendor Table fee - *$10*
3 ft tables available to sell all those crafty supplies you've been making/hoarding.

- *The Swap - Upstairs*
Bonanza ticket -*$3*
Buy a ticket, bring some crafty stuff you don't want, take away some stuff you do.
BYOB. (Bring Your Own Basket)

Sign up quick, because spaces are going to fill quickly!

Now, the second event, is the monthly tradition we have all come to know and love: The Howard Street Handmade Craft Market! This month's HSH will take place on June 20th, and will feature the usual awesomeness from returning and new vendors, as well as Music! Outdoor Vendors! A Cake Walk! and maybe BEER!

For more info, visit the Howard Street Handmade Blog!

we love you.
xo
jodi and short street cakes and the Howard Street Handmade organizing team.

12 Reasons to Shop Local Indie Markets

12. You like to buy clothes, art, jewelry, handmade books, things to make your home pretty, quilts, pottery, and other such goodness.

11. You like to own things that are one of a kind - that way no one else will ever have one just like yours.

10. You like being able to custom order things directly from the person who will make them, so not not only do you enjoy Reason Number 11, but you get that special feeling that it was made just for you.

9. You like to shop local because it keeps money in the local economy! Yay!

8. You also like to shop local because it means being able to walk, ride your bike, take the bus, or drive a short distance to shopping fantastico.

7. Your friends sell at local markets.

6. Buying handmade items at local indie craft fairs means quite often you get a bargain... because booth fees are often less expensive for the artist than selling in a gallery or doing wholesale, you get the savings! Woot Woot!

5. You get to meet the people who make the things you love.

4. You like free music and raffles.

3. Sometimes there are cupcakes and accordions.

2. If you get in a big room full of creative people, the creativity can be infectious. the good kind of infectious, not like swine flu, uh-oh call the CDC infectious.

1.To quote Carly Simon, "Nobody does it better
Though sometimes I wish someone could
Nobody does it quite the way you do
Why'd you have to be so good?"
Bet you didn't know that song was about indie craft markets, didya?
See you at Howard Street! Chek out the post about June sixth Crafty Supply Sale and Swap Bonanza... we will be doing low cost workshops in the morning and crafty sale and swap in teh afternoon! Sign up to vend or take a class by emailing howardstreethandmade@gmail.com

Power to the People! - Rosetta's Rockin People's Market

I love Rosetta and her restaurant.
Now she is organizing a market right across from the restaurant on Lexington The People's Market. The People's Market will feature, "arts, crafts and personal yard sale items, including performance art."
Yay! I know I am going to check it out, how about you?

Sunday, June 7, 2009 - 12:00pm - 6:00pm

check out Rosetta's blog, too.

Lovely, Lively Hazel Anne

Anne Gettee is a smart lady. I just finished checking out her blog, and I am impressed. She has come up with a very clever (and free) way to make cutting patterns easier.

I won't spoil it for you, you should just go check it out yourself.

Anne makes and sells handmade clothing for adults and children with a surprising combination of high end fabrics.

I love the vibrant colors and graphic patterns... her designs remind me a lot of kimono I saw in Japan.

She has great mother and daughter outfits and Portland Capes too!

Check her website and her shop on Etsy.
Then, this Saturday, head on down to Howard Street to check her out in person!

Journal Junky - Addicted to Paper

I knew a guy in college who was addicted to paper. He slept in a nest of it, on a bare mattress. After meeting him, and then avoiding him for the remainder of his college career, I somewhat over analyzed my own love for that crinkly crisp goodness that is paper. After all, it was kind of like having three cats, going on four and then meeting the crazy cat lady.

Thankfully after some self-reflection, I realized I wasn't nuts (after all, my own bed, if unmade, sported clean linens, a fact I had always before taken for granted) I just like paper.

Nicole of Journal Junky loves paper too, although I suspect in a good way, not in a nesting schizo way.

At this point, I may need to mention that I took some DayQuil this morning, and my thoughts appear to be running a little more rampant than per usual. Forgiveness is divine. Nicole, I hope you have a sense of humor and tolerance for weird introductions.

Back to Nicole and her gorgeous work, and away, away from the crazy.... Proof positive of Nicole's love for her "creative urban paper fun," are her many original journal designs. She uses lots of bright colors and fun patterns.

I especially love the skunk journal, and the wordy birdies.

Bonus points for Journal Junky because all of the journals are made with recycled materials!
And - there is no way you can beat her prices.

It just keeps getting better, folks, because Journal Junky can also make custom journals!

For an amazing, earthfriendly handmade journal, I know just where to go. Thanks Nicole, for making awesome stuff and see you at Howard Street!

canoo - tippy and tyler eat your hearts out

Now, I would like to introduce one of my favorite people.

The above statement is one I have a hard time with logically, mainly because I have only hung out with Krista a few times, but I tend to think that logic only works in sterile environments and that most of the time when things don't make sense like we think they should, we should just go with it. And Krista is awesome, just one of those people who glows, and manages to make creations that glow too.

What does she create? Check out her shop on Etsy for a good sampling of knitted goodness and of course, upcycled sweater monsters.

Milo got one of them for Christmas.... he has a pocket on his rear which I envisioned leaving teeth for the tooth fairy in, but alas, Milo has decided to hold onto his teeth until they increase in value after I explained the concept of inflation to him. But the monster still has a spot of honor next to Milo's pillow, which is more thabn Hello Kitty or Piers the Fox can claim.

canoo is also now home to other,more mundane animals such as a pig and a cat. There are some killer diller magnets, and pincushions too. All in all, you should definitely check it out.

Krista describes her Etsy persona as " a worrisome monster who, at the age of 35, still can't figure out how to put on deodorant without getting it all over her shirt."

I feel your pain, canoo.
Come to Howard Street Handmade this Saturday and feel some squishy monsters.

Sparrow is migrating to Howard Street this Saturday!

I must admit, I get excited about accordions.

I also get excited about rad people I meet.

When I meet a rad person with an accordion - whew!
Needless to say, I am very happy to announce that the infamous Sparrow and her accordion will be joining us at Howard Street Handmade this Saturday. So put on your dancing shoes and see you at Howard Street!

Simplify - Patty Bilbro

One Thursday afternoon, about a month or so ago, Milo and I headed over to the Clingman Cafe to have a snack before heading on to the dog park. It has become a ritual, since I started taking Thursday afternoons off in January, I have been going to Milo's kindergarten class to help with "Writer's Workshop," and then come 2:30, off to the cafe. It's great. Milo loves it because the nice lady behind the counter talks inventions with him, and they have really old Nintendo Power magazines, which review the games that will actually play on his old-school pawnshop GameBoy. I love it because they have Hellboy comics, play the Ramones as background music, make a mean bagel with cream cheese and lox, and have killer art.

Case in point - Patty Bilbro's ceramics. On this particular Thursday, Patty's work, which I had never before seen was being featured in a ceramics exhibit put together by a fellow Howard Street Handmaiden, Courtney Murphy. The entire exhibit was magnificent, and soon I was eyeing a few pieces in particular.

I always touch ceramics in exhibits, unless there is an explicit sign asking me not to. I encourage you to do the same. Why? As someone who works with clay, it is almost like a siren song, irresistable and automatic. My hands start imagining what a piece might feel like before I even touch it, and I love being surprised. I would say about half of experiencing a piece of ceramic work is in the tactile realm. Textures, weight, shape, and dynamics are much more experience of the hands than the eyes. If you're not touching things, you're missing out.

So, I started picking up pots. There were two artists whose pieces fascinated me in particular: Patty Bilbro and Julie Covington.

One covered dish in particular fascinated me.... you know the story about Pandora's box? Well, I sympathize with good old Pandy. I have a serious problem not opening things that have lids.
Imagine my delight when I discovered... A GIRAFFE!

After that I had to look inside each and every one of Patty's pieces, to make sure I had found every member of the hidden menagerie.

During this safari of sorts I found out something wonderful. Patty's pots are not only beautiful and playful visually, they feel GOOD. Kudos, Patty! I am looking forward to seeing and holding more of her work at Howard Street this Saturday. See you there!

FishyFishyQuilts -Green Dream Machine

OK, I had to share this upcycled coffee bag wall hanging I found on fishyfishyquilts Etsy shop!

Ellen mentioned that she was collecting coffee bags at the last Howard Street Handmade and I was curious to see what she was doing with them.

Now I just have to figure out how to get one of my very own!

I love it when people take everyday objects and re-purpose them into beautiful things, and I don't know if you have ever noticed, but coffee bags are often pretty complicated little showpieces of graphic art.
I have one hanging on my wall right now that I couldn't bear to part with after the caffienney goodness was gone. Now I know just who to give it to.

sweet and dirty's emporium - good stuff

Once again we have a new role call of folks who will be at the next Howard Street and at the top of my list is Sweet and Dirty's Emporium of Good Stuff.

Good Stuff, indeed!

Logan and Dave, the creators behind the name, offer a lovely selection of handmade bags, knit items and jewelry in their Etsy store. You can also check out their website here,
and don't forget their blog.

I am particularly impressed by the fact that they have sixteen furry legs in their house - dogs? cats? hippies? And a new baby!

I think this might be the secret behind their beautiful creations - it sounds like they have a house full of mammalian love!

I am super excited to check out their work in person. See you at Howard Street!