great PR advice on design*sponge

in addition to curating one of the must-read design blogs, grace bonney of design*sponge has done a lot to support young designers and women in business.

today's 'biz ladies '09' feature on d*s is all about PR, with this great overview by alisa carrol, and more detailed advice about putting together a media kit from the smart ladies of BAKERY. really great concise and insightful advice for anyone with their own crafty business.

good business sense

i finally got around to buying and reading craft inc. by meg mateo ilasco. it's gotten a lot of rave reviews in the blogosphere, and rightly so. this book is an indispensable guide for any crafter thinking about running a business and valuable for whatever stage your business is at. i read it pretty much straight through, and plan to keep it nearby.

BAKERY is also a great new resource for today's crafty business owner. the women behind this new site have a wealth of experience in publishing and marketing, and their blog regularly offers concise tips that are smart and easy.

of course, the switchboards, founded in 2004 to support women in business, is the classic go-to resource for any question you might be having about running a small business.

vote TODAY on change.org to save handmade!

have you been following the news about the c.p.s.i.a.? it stands for 'consumer products safety improvement act,' new legislation slated to go into effect on february 10th.

the idea behind the new law is to protect children from toxic products. but the way the law is currently written, even small and home based business who make all natural items in small batches for children would be forced to pay exorbitant testing fees to say in business legally.

the image above is from cool mom picks.

there is a lot of information available at http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org

most importantly, today is the last day to vote at www.change.org!!

i took the pledge, did you?

have you taken the handmade pledge yet?

i've always loved to make handmade presents, since i was a kid. i remember when i realized what a great feeling it was a give presents (and of course to get them in return). my first memories of that feeling are tied to making those presents myself. not that i remember what i made for my family when i was 8 or 9, but i remember sewing and standing at the ironing board. and probably cross stitch was involved more than not, since that was an early favorite craft.

when i got a little older, i remember the thrill of shopping for perfect presents (always a surprise) at the mall. this was years before i ever used the internet. today, with sites like etsy and all the amazing craftspeople that you can find online or in local stores (depending where you live), it's so much easier to buy hand made gifts, even if you don't have the time or desire to make them yourself.

i still love to make and give handmade presents. i also love that there is such a strong movement to support independent craftspeople. yay!!

trunkt

well, i was accepted into trunkt, but i have just the basic portfolio for now. and it seems a little cumbersome that you can only have a portfolio in a single category...

i'd love to hear from people who use trunkt, are on it, love it, hate it, etc.


through design sponge, i discovered the work of inklore who created the lovely table runner above. i love the hydrangeas. for more pretty prints, visit inklore on etsy.

shop update

my etsy shop now has hand felted merino naturally dyed baby booties in various colors (above, indigo)
and hand felted naturally dyed iphone sleeves too!

chicago

last week i was in chicago...
for the renegade craft fair (as seen advertised on this blue line train!)
felt cafe shared a booth with my dear friend angela of les glaneuses, gleaner and repurposer of jewels.
my handfelted merino, naturally dyed baby booties were the hit of the weekend. this one is dyed with indigo.

i love visiting chicago, and i love the renegade craft fair. unfortunately, we had the worst weather over the weekend. seriously, like the most rain the city has ever seen. which makes for a less-than-ideal outdoor market, as you might imagine. however, i have to say that all things considered, it was great. the folks that came out to shop were an excellent bunch–obviously very dedicated and super supportive. and on sunday it even stopped raining for the last few hours!

because of the rain, i didn't spend as much time checking out all the other venders as i would have liked, but i got a chance to chat with a lot of wonderful and supportive creative people, and it was great to see that even as renegade continues to grow, it still feels like an amazing community of independent crafters. i hope to share more info here about other crafty folks this week, after i unpack and sort through the cards i collected.
but i cant wait to post this mug (above) from circa ceramics. as i am busy today making lists of the million things i want to do and and drinking coffee (of course!!) i am loving this new mug more and more (and not just because it's filled with coffee). i've known about circa ceramics for quite a while, as they are a popular etsy seller, and use cool print gocco technology to print decals that go onto their ceramics. i love their bold retro designs and colors, and after meeting them in person i also have to say they are THE NICEST. you can get your own circa ceramics piece in their etsy store.

renegade in the nytimes

being in japan, i can't get to the renegrade craft fair in new york or chicago this year.

i had a great time in chicago last year, and in brooklyn the year before. renegade has had a huge impact on the d.i.y. craft movement, and keeps getting bigger. and today i saw an article in the nytimes about it!

sue from the cool store giant dwarf was the feature photo, and the nifty felter penfelt showed up too. etsy got a mention as well. yay for crafts!

andrea zittel

ever since i posted about the bueys bunnies, i've been thinking about my other felt hero, andrea zittel. she is a very cool young contemporary artist, and her work is very broad, often related to ideas of inhabitation.

she's done some lovely work with felt, as a very direct way to form clothing. to see more, you can go to her website, click on 'works' on the top, and A-Z Fiber Form Uniforms will take you to felt objects like the one above.

also, i learned about her new project, smockshop
from the site:

The a-z smockshop generates income for artists who’s work is either non-commercial, or not yet self sustaining. The smocks are designed by Andrea Zittel and produced by a group of smockers who reinterpret the design based on their own individual skill sets, tastes and interests. And of course as we craft the smocks we are also working on a "guide for better working".

neato.

no sweat apparel

since i finally got around to using my print gocco to print on fabric and felt, i sort of want to print on everything! back in college when i studied printmaking for a year, i loved everything about the process. i love the gocco too, of course, but the process is so different, it feels like its own media. anyway, now that i am always thinking about what i can print on, i started to look into what kind of blank clothing is available. american apparel has been very successful with their rhetoric of made-in-the-usa...but their founder is widely known to be a huge skeeze-ball, misogynist, union-breaker, and basically a big jerk.

a better option is no sweat apparel, who uses unionized labor to make all of their products. they have organic tees made in bethlehem, which also provides a rare source of labor for local residents. no organic onesies yet, but i received two (!) prompt and person responses to my web-based inquiry. they are an awesome company, support them if you have a chance!