Baltimore + Vida Simples Magazine + upcoming events!

I'm at my hotel in Baltimore. Just had a great screening at MICA that was full of really great folks. Tomorrow I head back to Milwaukee (fingers crossed the weather stays on my side) until next Thursday.



In international news I just received a pdf from Vida Simples Magazine who did an article on DIY featuring the picture of Knitta & Happy Owl Glassworks from Handmade Nation the book and also Sabrina's book Knit Knit. AND AND AND I got my tickets for my trip to Scotland this June where I will be doing screenings and workshops in Aberdeen and Dundee! I am SO excited, I've never been to Scotland and can not wait to soak it in.





Next Thursday I will be on a train to Chicago to the Cultural Studies Colloquium at Columbia College Chicago with my friend and colleague Betsy Greer . The programing starts at 3:30 with a screening of Handmade Nation and lecture by Betsy. It's free and open to the public.

I'm off to slumber land, the wind here in Baltimore is howling louder then hounds. Quite down wind, this lady is sleepy.

NEW MOVIE!! + Amazon.com download + Oakland trip!

Well, it was official before but now with a new blog, twitter, flickr and facebook fan page it's the real deal. I start shooting with my co-director Sam Macon the end of March for
the Sign Painter Movie.

For those of you who are interested you can now download Handmade Nation from Amazon.com I haven't tried it, but here it is:


I will be hitting the road again on Thursday jumping a flight West to San Francisco. I am staying with the lovely Lisa Congdon and will be screening in Oakland at Rock! Paper! Scissor! this Friday at 7pm. Do pass the word on and hope to see you soon!

The Poppies:: get inspired with my lists//picks

Part of my job is to stay on top of what's new and exciting going on within the creative world. I have found this to become more and more difficult as I struggle to keep up with Handmade Nation and the amazing opportunities that have come out of making the documentary, including the immense travel schedule that has become a part of my life. There is just so much out there, you know? So many of you are making exciting new things and documenting them in such beautiful ways. So my question is, where is the time in my day/week/month to read all of your blogs, ingest all your amazing lifestyles and inspiration? I mean, it's not like I'm out of touch at all, it's just that there is so much more than I can wrap my brain around.

With this said, a few weeks ago Jan from Poppytalk (one of my favorite reliable blogs) got in touch as asked me to be a juror along with some other amazing ladies for her new awards she set up called "The Poppies". Of course I said yes. The thing is, I often say yes to things I don't have time for but really want to do and per usual, I didn't think about the time involved with going through what ended up being 100's of links of those who were nominated for the categories.

As a juror we were asked to pick 3 out of each category. Each category had anywhere from 20-50 nominations. There were so many amazing things and people who I hadn't seen before, it was really difficult to stay focused while clicking through all the nominee's. I had to develop a system so I could narrow it down a bit, so I made lists for each category of my favorite picks to then pick 3 from.

The entire point of this post is to share with you my lists I made. I think there was so much talent showcased for the Poppies and if you want to see the jury choice winners go here. and the people's choice winners go here. Below are my "working" lists from when I was in the zone of going through 100's of blogs, shops and sites. I got really inspired & hope you do too.

Unfortunately I used my "stickies" to save my lists and they didn't save the hyperlinks, but I have linked each category to it's page so just scroll down once on each page and peep away!

Favourite Ceramics
Alyssa Ettinger.com
Amy Misle
Ayumi Horie
Bailey Doesn't Bark
Cam Fisher
Dahlhaus Ceramics
Diana Fayt
Julie Moon
kg & ab
Up in the Air Somewhere

Favourite Vintage Shop
bellalulu
Dear Golden Vintage
Every Eskimo
Hindsvik
Junk Culture
Little Byrd Vintage
Shaving Kit Suppplies
solsticehome
Spacejam's Vintage
Sweetshorn Vintage
The Bucket tree
The Sunday Times Market
Three Potato Four
Trampoline
Vintage Jane

Favourite Jewelry Part 1 (A - K)
Alisa Miller
Ash Hilton
Barbara Macleod
bettula
Cursive Design
Erica Weiner
Figs and Ginger
For Me, For You
happy owl glass
Hibou Caillou Chou

Favourite Jewelry Part 2 (L -Z)
Lauren Haupt Jewelry
LilaRubyKing
Maranon
Margaux Lange
My Sunset Road
Noemiah
Odette
Petit Plat
Rapt in Maille
Serena Kojimoto Design
Skylark Studio
Smashing
Yoola

Favourite Photographer
Abby Try Again
Cameron Wittig
Cassia Beck
city lights photography
dustin parr
Emma Bradshaw
Fine Little Day
Ian Willms
James Moes
Sarah Brown

Favourite Handmade Eco Artist
BananSaurus Rex
forest bound
My Favourite Dress
Periwinkle Bloom
Chakra Pennywhistle
sycamore street press

Affordable Art
betsy walton
Bonbi Forest
Brandi Strickland
Cornelia O'Donovan
fricdementol
Julia Pott
Leah Giberson
Linogril
Lizzie Stewart
Miss Crowland
Pearson Maron
roadside projects
Roll and Tumble Press
Samantha Hahn

Favourite Textiles
At Swim Two Birds
Byrd and Belle
FlowerPress
girls can tell
India Flint
Karen Barbe
Pippijoe
repeat

Favourite Handmade Crafter
Astulabee
Feltmates
Fringe
Maranon
Martice
maya*made
Miniature Rhino
Resurrection Fern
sandra juto
Wunderkammer
Yokoo

Favourite Handmade Housewares
Ashes & Milk
Bookhou
Chakrapennywhistle
decoylab
Jean Pelle
Miss Natalie
Sesideco

Favourite Handmade Papergoods
Foxy & Winston
Igloo Letterpress
La Familia Green
one canoe two
Pearl & Marmalade
Pie Bird Press
Rifle Paper Co
Sycmaore Street Press
UPPERCASE
Yee-Haw Letterpress Industries

Handmade Artist Blog
And Other Silly Things (Jennifer Murphy)
Ashes and Milk
Bookhou at Home (Bookhou)
Camilla Engman
Claire A. Baker
Dottie Angel
Enhabiten
Eva Foreva
Heather Smith Jones
Kindra is Here
Lena Corwin
Midge's Mind
Roxy Marj (Roma Winkel)
Sandra Juto
The Sweetie Pie Press

Typeface Documentary & Blanket Magazine

I totally have a love/hate relationship with twitter, but I do use it regularly for Handmade Nation as well as socially (follow me @faythelevine). The reasons I do love it is because I like finding out about things like "Typeface". This is a new documentary (I have yet to see) about a very special place that just so happens to be in Wisconsin only a few hours away from me. This trailer is a kick in the butt to make my way up there very very soon. Keep an eye out on their website for screenings near you.

Also, head on over to Blanket Magazine to download the new issue. It's not just any issue it's their 20th & also the 3rd Birthday of the Magazine! You can see this feature with your's truly as well as interviews and artwork by a ton of people. There is also an amazing spread on jumping photos, which I am always a huge fan of (see below).

A screen shot of my spread in Blanket Magazine

Here I am jumping on my bed in Melbourne last year