NEW Ginkgo Leaf, Copper Necklace

New piece! I love it and hope it finds a home soon!

AVAM Bridal Happy Hour

Please join BEST members at the 8th annual American Visionary Art Museum's Bridal Happy Hour!

Thursday April 2nd, 5:30-7:30. Enjoy food and cocktails and view work by some of Baltimore's best wedding vendors. And best of all, it's free!

Why go handmade for your wedding?? There are many reasons!
-Have custom jewelry, paper goods and spa gifts created that are as a special as your wedding.
-Support local and woman owned businesses.
-Many BEST artists use sustainable and green materials in their work.
-Give your wedding a handmade touch that is unique.
-Show your bridal party and family your appreciation with gifts that are created just for them!

Participating BEST artists:
Block Party Press
Dandelion Blu Jewelry
Elisa Shere Jewelry
Jill Popowich Designs
The Broken Plate
TigerLilly Shop
Spa Therapy Works
Yummy & Co.

Hope to see you there!

Preserving Cherry Blossoms

Collected these delicate flowers the other day, dried them out in silica. I am going to attempt electroforming these little Japanese beauties. Hopefully it won't be a crafty disaster. Stay tuned!

Spring Kimono Bracelets

New colors for this spring! I have some more textiles on the way from Japan, I can't wait to get my hands on them! More interesting patterns soon;)

Growing Seelings for Spring!

Today is the fist day of spring! HOORAYYYY!

We have already been digging in our garden plots that we rent through the Baltimore City Farms program. The ground is workable, fertile and ready to go. We had a great bounty last year and are looking forward to this growing season. We've even started some seeds in our basement using the 'ol flats w/ fluorescent lights set up. So far so good. We haven't had any dampening off or legginess as of yet... YAY!

Woodturning Classes with Mark Supik

Mark Supik is offering wood turning workshops for beginners and has advanced classes for more experienced woodworkers. Limited to 5 students, these all day classes run at a cost of $150. Take a day, and do something new!

Learn how to create your own crochet hooks or knitting needles in their Fiber Craft Tools workshop. In other sessions, try your hand at bowl turning, spindle making, or have a parent and child session to learn together. There are dates throughout the spring and into the summer. The studio is offering open shop hours for people with basic skills $30 for 3 hours, more info see their site.

Mark was a demo artist at the ACC show this year. He transformed a chunk of wood into a natural edged vessel right there on stage with his lathe. And I thought trowing clay on the wheel was magical!

Mark Supik and Company is family owned and operated. They are located in an industrial section of Highlandtown in an old manufacturing building. Their shop has some cool vintage tools that sit beside modern equipment. It is a really interesting space to visit and learn from a seasoned craftsman!

Thomas Mann Design, ACC seller feature

Thomas Mann is well known the jewelry world. People know his work when they hear his name, conjuring up images of whimsy-mechanical art jewelry. His self described wearables are a "Techno.Romantic style that combines industrial aesthetics and materials with evocative romantic themes and imagery". His studio is in New Orleans where he designs and oversees a production.

Although Mann has been successful with his varied lines of jewelry, sculpture is where his true heart lies. His booth at the ACC show had a smattering of interesting pieces on display.

My sister worked in his busy New Orleans production studio filling the orders that came in weekly. Once, I was lucky enough to get a quick behind the scenes tour of the shop and browsed the gallery while visiting home one Christmas. I remember leaving his studio with true inspiration! I was happy to have talked with Thomas Mann at the ACC show the other week. So exciting to meet such interesting and successful artists throughout the show!

Thomas Mann has worked tirelessly over the years exhibiting his jewelry and sculpture and currently shows in more than 250 galleries and stores across the nation. Currently you can find him showing and teaching at various venues across the country. Mann supports local artists in his I/O gallery at 812 Magazine St.

St. Patrick's Day Parade, Baltimore

Happy St. Patty's Day!
We celebrated at the parade on Sunday. Here are some highlights:


We saw almost everyone finish the 5k run that precedes the parade -who are all of these crazy people? So fun to watch! It was a rainy cold gray day, but the annual St. Patrick's Parade never disappoints!

'Tis the Season!

my -weakness, my -love, my -stuff them down before anyone else knows i am eating these b/c i don't want to share. so happy to see these in stores, i mean in my hands now! lol.

BEST Giveaway!!!

My awesome friends on the Baltimore Esty Street Team are so very fun and generous! Our members put together this mega-giveaway of springtime goods just for you. all you need to do is be on the BEST mailing list and leave a comment on the original post about a favorite work from one of the many talented BEST artists.good luck!!!

Baltimore Style Examiner featured me today!

Baltimore Style Examiner: Try on the great outdoors with Baltimore’s Tigerlilly

Thank you, Carrie!

Beads by Bijoux Jardin

Here are some more beautiful creations by talented Sharon Palac!

In her etsy shop, Sharon showcases her handmade polymer clay beads and interesting jewelry creations. I love her shop announcement where she encourages the shopper to browse what is "blossoming in my Jewelry Garden".

Thanks for sharing Sharon!

**If any of you out there make things w/ my rubber stamps, please send a pic and I'll feature you on this blog!

Featured ACC Sellers, Dovetail!

These people we so friendly, our neighbors at the Baltimore ACC show! Traveling in form Lexington, KY, Margaret and Josh were literally selling at their first official show. Now, if you START at the ACC, I think you might be doing something right. They looked really professional at their booth and had a great line of products. Using high fired porcelain, they design, hand build each piece, screen print illustrative imagery, and fire a total of 3 times to achieve their results. These talented artists at Dovetail make art that fits into your everyday life.
Check out their blog, or their etsy shop. Their site for more awesomeness!

Horse Mummies, My Child's Art

Don't ask me why my girl loves tape. She makes spider webs with it. She makes sure all 4 corners of whatever new creation we hang on the walls is securely fastened, then proceeds to tape all around the perimeter. Lately the new thing is to make mummies of whatever figurines she might be interested in that week. She posed these on a pedestal for the picture herself.

Last week she painted blue polka dots all over a friend's wall while we were visiting -not to mention actually painting my friend's son in the process... we have a compulsive mark maker on our hands here...

Before and After Upholstery, Green Victorian Chairs

These we a set for a customer, built up from scratch. New webbing, springs, hand sewn faux horsehair seat, horeshair back and arm pads. Gorgeous green lush velvet just made these pieces stunning. Wow, these were a lot of work!

Victorian Ebony Chair, Before and After Upholstery

So, before the ACC show, my time was taken up with this project and another pair of chairs that I will share with you tomorrow. Hand sewn seat with synthetic horsehair and cotton.

OMG! Another Craft Council Feature!

Ah yes, here is a link for a much better read! Anne Chau, Shannon Delanoy, Ali Dryer, and Ronni Aronin among a few other national artists in 3/1/09 issue of the free mag B! (My scanner wasn't large enough to do a complete scan, please excuse the terrible splice)