Germany bound!

Super tired in the airport waiting for my first of 3 flights to Hamburg where I will be screening the feature length cut of Handmade Nation!! Cris (the editor) and I watched a final cut this morning before she dropped me off at the airport (I was just here less than 12 hours ago!) It looks so good and we are so excited to begin to screen the final version......

In Germany Handmade Nation will be a part of programing at "Viva La Craft" on Thursday at the Kampnagel Theatre.

The programing on Thursday is as following:
9:00pm introduction+workshop
9:20 artist talk faythe+alex
9:30 screening "handmade nation" by faythe levine
10:50 lecture rosie wolfenden of TATTY DEVINE
11:30 koko von napoo, Paris France
then dj-set from melissa, alex+nadine of Chicks on Speed

Next post from Hamburg!

Back from the 68th Annual Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) trade show in Anaheim, CA. I was there to help introduce "indie" to the larger craft market. I've never been to an industry show on that scale and it was very overwhelming and quite the experience.


The looming convention center


Thank goodness there were familiar faces: Cathy of California & Christine Haynes


The event I was a speaker at.

Sooooooo this happened:

Paris Hilton introducing her new line of scrapbooking goods. Wow.


And much more importantly Christine Haynes got to see her new book Chic & Simple Sewing for the very first time in print. It looks amazing!!!


And Jenny Ryan producer of Felt Club also got to see her book Sew Darn Cute for the first time in print!!

Congrats ladies!
View the rest of the show pictures HERE.

UPDATE: Featured Handmade Nation artist Mandy Greer has an opening at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland.

WATCH this beautiful clip of the installation courtesy of Ian Lucero

January 22 – May 31, 2009

/description from museum website/
Translated from Italian, “dare alla luce” is an idiomatic expression for giving birth: “to give to the light.” Drawing upon late Renaissance artist Jacopo Tintoretto’s painting The Origin of the Milky Way for inspiration, Greer recounts her own version of the Roman myth in which the milk of Juno’s breast rose to the sky to create the galaxy. Through countless small gestures of her craft, Greer employs humble handicraft processes and materials, executing her work through crochet, braiding, sewing and beading processes that use yarn, beads, shells, feathers and more. Merging the mythical and the mundane, Greer collapses the language and materials of the ordinary with the spectacular and the epic. The resulting work intertwines objects and space, resulting in an exuberant, sensual and visceral installation.

Organized and commissioned by Bellevue Arts Museum and curated by Stefano Catalani, Mandy Greer: Dare alla Luce is accompanied by an exhibition catalogue produced by Bellevue Arts Museum. The catalog will be available for purchase in The Gallery January 2009.

Museum of Contemporary Craft
724 Northwest Davis Street
tel 503.223.2654

Hours | Tuesday–Sunday 11 AM to 6 PM, Thursday 11 AM to 8 PM

more info: museumofcontemporarycraft.org/exhibitions/index.php?f=2009_01_greer

Handmade Nation featured makers Knitta on Nylon TV

Some recent press....



I did an interview with Patty on her blog The Little Red Suitecase



Kate passed link this along to me

This is the 200th post, I suppose that is some sort of milestone or something.....

Back from the West coast to below zero weather here in Milwaukee. It is BRUTAL. But I will say that it stayed light out all the way until 5pm today and that is a good sign!

I had a fantastic time in Seattle, Olympia and Portland and got to see so many old friends both crafty and from my pre-Handmade Nation life (Seattle is my hometown!). I am home for a week then it's off to Anaheim, CA for the Craft and Hobby Association trade show and then to Hamburg, Germany for a screening of Handmade Nation!


I posted a ton of photos from my trip but here are a few quick highlights:



Seattle: The Anne Bonney where my reading/screening was last week.



Olympia: Artist Sarah Utter was my hostess in Oly and took me to her studio, Room 30 (below) where I got a new dress, a pizza spot for a terrific slice AND to her DJ night at Quality Burrito where you can get liquor mixed with home made Kombucha. I also squeezed in a signing at Orca Books that was great!

More Olympia....


Top: Jenny Rose the lovely owner of Room 30 a fantastic little boutique to check out if you are in the hood.




Portland: My book signing event at Powell's pretty much ruled. Susan Beal and Kate Bingaman-Burt did a gocco demo printing save the date cards for my screening in April. And Namita Wiggers, the curator from the Portland Contemporary Craft Museum, gave the most eloquent introduction to my talk. I had a fantastic time and could not believe that over 50+ people came (thanks to those of you who sat on the floor!)

More soon.......

Today in the Seattle P.I. cover of the Arts section, article HERE.


Yesterday Jan over at one of my all time favorite blogs posted tour info HERE.


See you at the Anne Bonny tonight at 5:30

WEST COAST!
Please come say hello to me at the following events this week!

I had to cancel my Vancouver, WA event today because of the insane RAIN. I am hoping I will not have to cancel any other events but if I do I will post the cancellation here as soon as I find out.



January 9th 5:30pm: Anne Bonny 1355 East Olive Way, Seattle WA

January 10th 7:00pm: Orca Books 509 E. 4th Ave, Olympia WA

January 11th 7:30pm: Powell’s Burnside store, 1005 W Burnside, Portland OR

January 13th 7:00pm: Barnes & Noble, 626 106th Ave NE, Bellevue WA

This week:

#1 Happy New Year!
#2 First trip of the new year to Knoxville, TN!
Friday January 2, 2009:

50 Books/50 Covers Exhibition
UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay Street
Opening: Friday, January 2nd from 5 - 9pm
with a presentation at 7pm by author/director Faythe Levine
(show running through January 24th)
Admission is free. It will be awesome. Links:
Info on the 50 Books/ 50 Covers Exhibition
More event information
This exhibition showcases selections from the "AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers" competition, which aims to identify the 50 best-designed books and book covers of the year.

At the exhibit, Faythe Levine, author of Handmade Nation, will be promoting her book and upcoming documentary about the DIY movement in the United States.

Saturday January 3, 2009:
Knoxville Museum of Art
2:00 talk with Faythe Levine and screening of the 20 minute work in progress of Handmade Nation. Signed copies of the book will be available for purchase.

#3 Check out this article in the NY Times from Sunday about my Great Grandpa Harry Levine who was a woodcarver. A quote by yours truly ends the article.

Happy Hanukkah. Some Handmade Nation press in the Jewish Chronicle

Today, one of my favorite blogs interviews one of my favorite people....

My Love For You Q&A with Kate Bingaman-Burt (illustrator & typographist for Handmade Nation) HERE

I think that a garden on the white house lawn is a fantastic idea. Read more about the project and how you can help HERE

Book Giveaway & NPR!

Featured Handmade Nation maker Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club did an interview with me and is doing a book giveaway on her blog. You have until the 18th to enter HERE.


This weekend Cortney and I were on To The Best Of Our Knowledge which is a national show syndicated on 160 public radio stations around the country. The segment was called Reconsidering Crafts, we are in segment 1 along with Handmade Nation essayist Besty Greer! Listen HERE.

Interview with Cortney & I up on the Urban Outfitter blog HERE

Home again home again. My trip to Providence and Boston was quick and fun!

Craftland is a magical space in downtown Providence filled with some rare crafty finds that I haven't seen anywhere else, ever. I was there from 2pm til 7pm on Saturday, the day after their grand opening, there was a line to buy stuff the entire time! It was nice since I had time to just poke around so I got a bunch of photos. Jen Corace took me to lunch for a delicious taco at AS220 where I got to meet the maker of the bloody man dolls, Cory Thompson (pictured below). Deb Dormody and Alec Thibodeau were my hosts with the mosts for the night, such an amazing pair!



Window displays by Jen Corace




This is something that I found of particular interest. I love these felt bloody men made by Cory Thompson (I bought 3). These xmas stockings are also by Cody Thomson. Amazing.




And at Craftland you will always find a smattering of insane prints, well, since it is Providence and Providence is a mecca of genius printmakers.


I couldn't resist one of Ray Fenwick's paintings on a vintage book cover either, it took me about an hour to pick one out.


The next morning was blanketed with snow and I packed up ye' ol' rental car and headed back to Boston for Bazaar Bizarre. Have you ever navigated in Boston? It sucks. Once when Micaela and I were there shooting a few years back we got sooooo lost. This time, I only got a little lost thanks to my trusty iphone. The space the show was in is called the Castle, an old armory. I was at my table myself all day so I only got a handful of pictures. The show was a hit, great turn-out, super space and I got to be next to Tracy and Justin of Happy Owl Glass!



Now it's all about being home in Milwaukee for three entire weeks until the madness of January travel starts!

This weekend!

Friday & Saturday Cortney is at No Coast Craft-o-Rama in Minneapolis!
Saturday Faythe will be at Craftland from 4-6 in Providence, RI

Sunday Faythe will be at Bazaar Bizarre from 12-7 in Boston, MA

Come say HI!

A quick shout out for a show I am having at my gallery in Milwaukee that opens tomorrow night 7-10pm .

Lisa Congdon: life in wondermountain
December 5- January 11, 2009

Here are a photos from the install and more are HERE...

Today we signed a case of books for Keith at fredflare.com. They are selling signed books for the holiday season on their site- we also took some snowy portraits for them per request.

Guess what? Handmade Nation is traveling to Australia in early 2009! Details soon to come!

Art vs. Craft was a huge success!
November 29th, 2008
65 vendors
3500 visitors

How about this little something from photographer Darren Hauck (who took my photo for the NY Times in September) that was forwarded to me today in the middle of getting ready for Art vs. Craft happening tomorrow.

Black Friday, Buy Nothing or Make SomethingNot only is there a picture of my shop Paper Boat (same photo that ran with the HOME section story in September) but there is a link to this very blog, a nice Black Friday surprise.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. I'll be back Monday with photos from my show here in Milwaukee!

Join us in Milwaukee at Art vs. Craft this Saturday!
www.artvscraft.com

Friend, colleague and designer Kate Bingaman-Burt was featured in the same issue of Readymade as me this month. She illustrated the gift guide for the entire issue. She posted a photo set here of her work. Kate was the hand behind our typography in our book and she designed our Craftifesto poster too. Basically, I love Kate.

Readymade Magazine
Issue 38
The Holidaze Issue
December/January 2008