The Fridge: DC

A long, long time ago, we visited D.C. for the Crafty Bastards show. It rained hard. And it's an outdoor show. And it was my birthday. And I still had a fantastic time. (Crafty Bastards rules that much - for the record). 

While we were in town, we stumbled across a cool art gallery in an alley called The Fridge. I took a few pictures of the murals on the building - and on some boarded up buildings leading up to it. 

Enjoy: 

Shower Art - Holiday Craft Show Schedule 2011

Doug and I are frantically getting ready for the holiday craft show season that is about to hit. We start getting ready earlier and earlier every year -- and it STILL always takes us by surprise. Sigh.

We have two new products to introduce this year: 

T-Shirts! Oh yeah baby. We turned a popular Shower Art piece into a concept for a t-shirt with the help of Barry Blankenship.

Soap Dishes! We got tired of people always asking, "So this is Shower Art? But what do you DO with it?" Ummmmmm.... NOTHING. You just look at it. Like you do with other art. (I have a bad attitude - that's why Doug does most of the customer service). Now you can have Shower Art in the shape of a functional soap dish. Yes, yes you can.

This year we are participating in three shows: 

EtsyRAIN Handmade Holiday Show - Seattle, WA

Saturday, November 26th and Sunday, November 27th
11:00 - 5:00 both days

Location:
Intiman Theatre
201 Mercer Street
Seattle, WA 98109


Be one of the first 50 people in line each day and receive a swag bag filled with crafty goodness. 




Urban Craft Uprising - Seattle, WA

Saturday, December 3rd and Sunday December 4th
11:00 - 5:00 both days

Location:
Seattle Center Exhibition Hall
305 Harrison Street
Seattle,WA 98109
(the entrance is on Mercer Street)

Be one of the first 100 people in line each day and receive a swag bag filled with crafty goodness. If you want one, plan to get there between 9:00 and 10:00 to wait in line. There's always a line around the block to get these.







 
One of a Kind Show and Sale - Vancouver, Canada

Thursday, 12/8 - 10:00 - 9:00
Friday, 12/9 - 10:00 - 9:00
Saturday, 12/10 - 10:00 - 9:00
Sunday, 12/11 - 10:00 - 5:00

Location:
Vancouver Convention Centre West
1055 Canada Place
Vancouver, BC, V6C 0C3
  
Tickets:
Adults $12.00
Seniors (65+) $6.50
Students (13-17) $6.50
Children (12 and under) Free

If you are around for any of these shows, come on over and say, "Hey!" If you can't make it to any of our events but still want to buy some Shower Art for your friends and family, email me to arrange a private peek in our studio inventory. We'll drink coffee and dig through bins. It'll be awesome.

In closing: We love you.

Art I like: Jesse Link

I saw Jesse Link's art for the first time this year at Bumbershoot. I remember just stopping and staring. I stumbled across his work again in Cafe Vita on Capitol Hill. I took a few pictures because I really wanted to share the magic. Enjoy.

My photographs don't really do the work justice. If you want to see more, you can read Jesse's blog or visit his Picasa album.

Good evening.

The Goodest Stuff at Goodwill

Dear Other People of Earth, 

You can officially stop looking for the best stuff on the planet. I have it all. These two statues/book ends complete my collection. Yes, one is of a little boy playing the flute. And yes, the other one is of a really annoyed girl holding her hands over her ears. 

My husband and I share a desk so I put the boy one on his side and the girl one on my side. Now he has a visual reminder of what I think of his musical abilities. Perfect. 

He's playing beautiful music. In theory.

She hates it.

They are signed by E. Vilianis and stamped with ESCO Product. 


Jealous?
I thought so.

619 Western Documentary Funding Project

Seattle artists who rent studios in the 619 Western building were surprised when their move out date (required by the city for the viaduct replacement project) was moved UP from March 2012 to October 2011.  It seems a shabby ending for a building that has housed so much creativity and given the citizens of Seattle so much pleasure.

The building, once labeled for tear-down, will now be retro-fitted instead. Even if it goes well, I forsee crappy "improvements" that suck all the life out of 619. And - even if I'm wrong about that - I'm pretty sure those rents will be going up.

I, for one, am sad to see this part of Seattle history leave our fair city without even a proper, "So long." I stumbled across this fundraising campaign to raise money to film a documentary about the building so that the spirit can live on a bit. I'm donating. For sure. You should too.

Mad Homes - A Virtual Tour of Something Awesome

Last weekend we tried to get out of helping a friend move by going to an art show called Mad Homes. Little did we know that her old apartment was right next to the installation. We had to hide in some bushes while she finished loading up her truck and drove away. It was worth it. 

Mad Homes is an art installation by Mad Art. They have taken over several houses in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and allowed artists to create installations. The houses are being torn down for condos anyway - so why not, right? It's a magical idea.

Artists include: Troy Gua, Julia Haack, Meg Hartwig, Luke Haynes, Amanda Manitach, Ryan Molenkamp, Allan Packer, Jason Puccinelli in collaboration with Elizabeth Potter, Sutton Beres Culler, Laura Ward, & Allyce Wood.

Mad Homes is located on 711 Bellevue Avenue East, Seattle, WA 98102

July 16 - August 7, 2011

Open 12 - 7 P.M. Daily

Below are some images from my visit: 

This Weekend: The Second Best Weekend of the Year

This weekend is the Urban Craft Uprising summer show. It is second in wonderfulness only to the Urban Craft Uprising winter show. Literally: my two favorite weekends of the entire year.

If you're looking for awesome, crafty and innovative gifts for yourself or those you love - you need to go to Urban Craft Uprising.

Am I overselling it? Have I mentioned how much I love Urban Craft Uprising?

No?

Really?
Are you sure?

Because I pretty much think that I did.

Get there early - FREE SWAG BAGS FOR EARLY BIRDS! 

Hot Tip: Get in line about an hour before it opens in order to get a chance at one.

We'll be there selling Shower Arts. Mmmmmmm... waterproof art for your shower.

Two Trips to the Sculpture Park, Ahhhhhhh

I made two trips to the Olympic Sculpture Park in the course of a single week. It was lovely. The first visit, with my awesome husband and our jam makin' second wife focused on the stunning water view.

Yes, those are mountains.


And this is Betsy. She makes jam and is one of the nicest people I have ever met. She recently ran her first 1/2 marathon.


Here she is staring at the lovely view.

My second trip to the sculpture park was with my lovely friend and ex-stand up comedian, Stacia. 


She spent the last six weeks in Peru and stopped in to our place for a visit before she moved to Oregon. I haven't seen her for about three years and it was so much fun. I forgot just how much I missed her company. Sniff.

Stacia and I walked around some of the actual sculptures in the park instead of just taking in the view (it was a bit cloudy while we were out and about). I like these big, rusted things. It's cool to walk inbetween these big structures. And I like the fact that their natural reaction to being outside - rusting - is an integral part of the art.

Here's some mini peoples walking around amidst the giant rust things.

And finally. I'm not sure where I saw this scrawled into the sidewalk - but I thought it was a good reminder so I stopped to take a picture.

And if you DO lose your soul - be sure you get something good in exchange like: ice cream, pizza, cheese, 1000 kittens and/or a vat of mashed potatoes.


Do you think it says something about me that 4 out of five items in that list are food. 


Yes, I think it does. Snicker. 

Garage Sale Find: Fake Rhinestone Fruit

Recently I found out that the Greenwood neighborhood was having a huge garage sale day with over 100 sales taking place from 9am to 3pm. I convinced my husband and three other hilarious men that it would be fun to spend the day walking around and looking at other people's garbage. It didn't take nearly as much convincing as I thought it would.

My purchase was made at the first sale we visited. A bowl of fake fruit caught my eye. Each piece was painstakingly covered with rhinestones. I just glanced at it longingly - assuming it would be way out of my price range - but it turned out to just be $6.50 for the whole set of at least 10-12 different pieces. 

EtsyRAIN - Saturday, May 7th - Seattle, WA

This coming Saturday is the next installment of the EtsyRAIN craft shows. We'll be at INTIMAN Theatre in the Seattle Center from 11am-5pm on Saturday (your last chance to buy a Mother's Day present!).


The first 50 people in line will get a bag stuffed with free samples of the awesome craftey-ness that you'll find inside.


Check out a photo of the Swag Bag line-up. Oh yeah!

And if that's not enough to grab you -- Doug and I will be selling Shower Arts. YAY! 


The perfect gift for hella cool moms.

Renegade Handmade in Chicago

My pretties,

I took a trip to Chicago, IL earlier this year and paid a visit to Renegade Handmade thanks to the help of the very kind Sarah Moore from Craft Critique who dragged me around the city (and bought me a cupcake!). She rules!

I've been wanting to see Renegade since it opened so I was quite excited. Thought you all might be interested in seeing some pictures of the fabulous handmade goods you can find inside.

Commence drooling!

A whole wall of handmade clothes and screen printed t-shirts:

Some cuddly plushies:

A seeming staple in Chicago shops: Art by Laura Berger:

And my favorite-est things of call: Greeting Cards:

A basket of headbands I was drooling over:

Another view of said headbands (why didn't I get one???):

Supah cool: Skulls that are also chalkboards. Yes. Oh yes. I am home.

Hope you enjoyed this crafty tour of Renegade Handmade in Chicago, IL. Hot damn!