How did I miss this!?

I don't normally like receiving other people's mail, but since they don't forward Catalogues at USPS, I've been secretly delighted to receive someone else's Anthropologie Catalogue in the mail this month.
So apparently Anthropologie collaborated with Hatch Showprint on their June 09 catalogue?
It's beautiful! Their catalogue is always beautiful. Even when I don't want the clothes. But this is particularly exciting.

We had a lovely weekend here in Baltimore. Went to see Inglorious Basterds on Friday night, which I thought was fantastic (though for very different reasons than my love of Julie & Julia - mind you). Farmer's market on Saturday and found this cool bug sitting on our porch when we got back. Sometimes Dining Saturday night - which was spectacular as usual, and fun in the rainstorm, because the geniouses behind the event thought ahead and bought an enormous tarp to cover the tables. Not a single person was soaked. (Except maybe the servers).
Sunday was a picnic in the park, bocce ball and a barbeque later on. If you suspect from this blog that our life evolves around food... well... you're nothing but observant.

This morning the windows are wide open, the air is cool and breathable for the first time in weeks, the car is in the shop, Phil is back to school at Towson, and I officially have no distractions to blame for my work not getting done.
Projects this week are:

-Illustrations for recrafting some ceramic plates for a secret book I'm helping work on
-An art print for the Hexagon Printmaking Portfolio Exchange
-New designs for the new apparel arriving today
-wholesale orders mania
-Large format prints, as mentioned a few weeks ago, of The Entrepreneurs (more difficult than I thought)
-Art show opening in NYC on Thursday night!
-trying to remember all of my other deadlines........

Julia

When your husband is a film professor, you get to see a lot of movies, whether you like it or not. But they aren't always easy watching ones, and generally the chick flicks are avoided.
BUT. After a little bribery by way of ice cream last night, I convinced Phil to go with me to Julie & Julia - the new movie with Meryl Streep as Julia Child learning to cook & write a cookbook and Amy Adams as a woman named Julie Powell, who has a dead end job and decides to cook her way through Julia Childs cookbook in 365 days. The whole Amy Adams part of the story was a bit of a yawn (or at least, it certified the movie as chick flick), but Wow. Is there ANYONE in the world funnier than Meryl Streep playing Julia Child? We both agreed we found ourselves cheering inside each time the movie switched back to post-WWII Paris, and the Child household again. I've never seen anyone looking like they were having so much fun, and she had both Phil and I hooting out loud laughing. I mean, tears in my eyes funny. I think I'm in love. I'm not sure if it's with Meryl Streep or Julia Childs or both. I left the theater totally inspired, dreaming of butter and (as a 12 year veteran of vegetarianism) slightly confused at my hankering for Boeuf à la Bourguignonne.

new buddies in old favorites

It's always nice to get photos from customers modeling their new shirts & scarves. An email yesterday in particular made me smile though, because it's someone extra special. One of my longtime family friends from NH is now the proud momma of two, living in Connecticut. So fun to watch her kids grow through photos (though of course I'd rather it was in person) and extra cool to see them wearing Red Prairie Press shirts!
In my head, we are all still under 10 years old, and paddling around a flooded hayfield in a blowup paddle boat, or quarantined together with the chicken pox, making string mazes through the kitchen, drinking soda for breakfast (I mean, aren't we?). Suddenly, here we are as adults, and I'm running a business selling tshirts, and that same friend has kids, and they're wearing those shirts.

New for Fall...

a sneak peak at what's been ordered for our fall line...
prepare your favorite leggings, and your snazziest pair of boots.
dresses with POCKETS, new colors of tunic, old favorites, and of course...
fresh designs in the works.

2-woman show in Chelsea!

Wanted to throw out a reminder that I'll be showing in a two-woman gallery show at Hendershot Gallery in Chelsea next week.

Wrinkles in Time
works by Rachel Bone & Rita MacDonald
September 3 — October 3
opening reception: September 3 — 6 - 8 PM
Hendershot Gallery
547 West 27th Street
Suite 632
New York, NY 10001
Tel: 212 / 239 / 3085
C: 917 / 476 / 2696

France France

In Baltimore, I'm having a battle with a dehumidifier. (The debate is, I think it should turn on and dehumidify. It thinks it should nap and take up space instead.) In philadelphia though, my friend Gretchen just started an etsy shop selling her hand sewn apparel. Check it out and heart her at francefrance.etsy.com
hooray for new blood on etsy and to the less moist months ahead.

Worthless Monday

Why is family more fun than anyone else?
We have had the best week with my relatives in Cape Cod, and I'm so sorry to be back to work this week! (okay, actually I'm excited and have lots to do...but really, family vacations are the best).
Croquet, gambling with dice & monopoly money, cocktail parties with distant relatives, countless bags of cape cod chips and bottles of cranberry juice. Watermelon, Ping Pong, swimming in the seaweed, digging holes in the sand, pretending to get a suntan (and really getting a sun rash), long walks on the beach, trips to the candy shop, jogging by the river, straw sunhats in the hallway closet, riding bikes up the driveway where we learned to ride them... bare feet, the sound of familiar voices and clinking coffee cups early in the morning and the feeling of an outdoor shower after a splash in the ocean. Ahhhh.
My husband got the rare awesome chance to spend more quality time with my brother (and so did I). My mouth got to eat Belgian Chocolates. My family remains super wonderful, and I remain intent on winning the megabucks and buying a house in the dunes.

See You Next Week!

My work week is over early this week.
We're off to do this, here, with these people. Hopefully while wearing less clothes and more sunscreen.
That's right. It's Cape Cod time. Bone Family Reunion. And I'm pretty sure at this point, Chatham Stop & Shop knows to stock extra Klondike bars and Cape Cod potato chips around this time. Simpsons puzzles, Belgians, New Englanders, New Jerseyers, New Yorkers (weird trend.... now that I think about that.), food, bloody marys, kayaks, clamming, kites, bikes, dune jumping, outdoor showers, boogie boards... a bunch of pasty redheads on a beach.

Heaven.

Portfolio Exchange for Printmakers!

Below is a call for Printmakers for a portfolio exchange I'm taking part in.
I believe they still need people, and for only $10 and some of your art, you get FIFTY prints (Including one of mine, if that's a bonus?)

DO IT!!!!! See below:
_______________
CALL FOR PRINTMAKERS:

The Hexagon Gallery is pleased to announce Hexchange, a Baltimore-themed portfolio exchange for emerging printmakers. Hexchange will be on exhibit during the month of October, in conjunction with Second Saturdays, a new initiative from the Station North Arts & Entertainment District to bring community arts and music awareness to the area. Following the exhibition, Hexchange will become a part of the permanent collections at the Hexagon Gallery and Goya Contemporary in Baltimore, as well as the International Printing Museum in Southern California (and possibly more). Hexchange is also receiving promotional support from the Bmore Art Blog, the Contemporary Museum and the Station North Arts & Entertainment District.

There are 50 spots in this portfolio. Register now--spots are filling up! All artists participating in the exchange will receive a portfolio of 50 different prints.

To register for the exchange:

1) send the following information to Hexagon Gallery coordinator Phuong Pham at art@hexagonspace.com:
Name
Email Address
Mailing Address

2) send payment:

Checks can be made payable to Phuong Pham, or payment can be sent via Paypal (please inquire for paypal invoice)

The Hexagon
attn: Phuong Pham, Gallery
PO BOX 50015
BALTIMORE MD 21211


Fee: $10 for artists in East and Central time zones, $15 for artists in Mountain and Pacific time zones. Artists outside the continental US will be given a payment estimate upon inquiry. This modest fee will cover constructing portfolio mailers, return postage, and exhibition postcards (also to be sent to each artist prior to the show). Your registration will not be complete until we have received your payment.

3) Start printing! Print requirements:
-edition of 55
-11x15 inches
-paper choice and bleed are up to you
-Baltimore-themed
-sign and number prints


***Important*** All editions must be received, with your own interleaving, (address above) by September 18th, 2009. No extensions, as this will give us just enough time to collate, construct cases, and hang the exhibition.

Questions? Contact Phuong at art@hexagonspace.com

Apply Now - HOLIDAY HEAP 09!

Photo by Tasha McKelvy

Charm City Craft Mafia is thrilled to announce our 3rd annual Holiday Heap - an indie craft fair in Baltimore!
Holiday Heap 2009 will take place at St. John's Church - 2640 St. Paul St., Baltimore, MD 21218 - on Saturday, December 5th, 2009. The fair will run 10am-5pm.

We are now accepting applications through midnight, OCTOBER 5th.
You can find our form HERE.
There is a $10 non-refundable fee to apply, and a $65 vendor fee if accepted by our 15 person jury.
your application will not be complete until you pay the $10 fee

also...recycled eye candy

I love tricky clever things. Especially when they are so simple, you really ought to have thought of them yourself.
check out this screenprinted recycled newspaper used as wrapping. Found via All The Mountains. Made by Dentsu.

Hot Weekends

A weekend HOME, in BALTIMORE, without a craft fair, a houseguest, or a plan? Unheard of!!!!!
Phil and I decided the best thing to do was be lazy. Friday night we went w/ buddies to District 9 (which was downright bad, but fun nonetheless, and a really interesting idea) Saturday we walked to the farmer's market, which is now a heavenly 2 blocks from our house.
(I'll pause here to let that brag sink in).
TWO. BLOCKS!!!!
Jen and I tried to go to federal hill saturday afternoon on a tip that there was a shop getting rid of old dresses for cheap. But alas, after a hot sticky drive and paying for parking, the place was closed, and we ended up having gone to federal hill for Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. On the way back to the car, I laughed out loud at the "Cross St. Ma_ket" sign, as it reads exactly how someone from NH would read the corrected sign. I momentarily missed home, for more than that reason. (All these people, cars & buildings get to me sometimes, and having family here from out of town last week made it a bit worse, as they tend to notice we live in a crowded city neighborhood, and remind us how nice the country is, with no traffic or congestion).
I've been starting to think that it's time to answer "Baltimore" when people ask where I'm from, instead of "NH" since I haven't lived there in 9 years... but the fact that I'm still uncomfortable going out in the backyard because I know that 12+ people could be watching me from their yards... well, I think that means I must still be from the country. (also, even when I'm my most dressed up, people tell me I look "So Vermont!")
WHICH is probably the reason why I find reasons to still miss home, and why I shrieked with joy on Saturday when I found a manual lawnmower for $10 at a yardsale.
We country folk like being outside, mowing our lawns, tending our tomatoes. Even if the "lawn" is only a 10'x10' square, and the tomatoes are in plastic pots.
As I learned from D-9 friday night, it's all about adapting, and embracing the little things:
We have a farmer's ma_ket in our neighborhood, and we can WALK to it.

HOLIDAY HEAP - DATE CONFIRMED

ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!
Charm City Craft Mafia is pleased to announce that the 3rd annual HOLIDAY HEAP craft fair will be held
DECEMBER 5th, 2009. 10am-5pm at St. John's Church in Baltimore.

Applications will be up by the end of August and will be announced on the Charm City Craft Mafia blog.

This date is a CHANGE from what we've been telling people inquiring through email.
Please pass this information on to any of your crafty friends/family that might be interested in participating in this years show!!

New Shops on the List!!

We have a handful of new shops/services to tell you about that now carry Red Prairie Press apparel, and I'm way behind in announcing them!
Paxla - which is located in Pasadena, CA is an online resource for retailers which now stocks Red Prairie scarves
People's Light - in Malvern, PA is a theater company with a cool gift shop that sells local/handmade crafts and gifts
Sotto Voce - in Missoula, MT is a cool shop run (randomly) by a woman named Flannery who went to high school with me in NH, and who by chance found Red Prairie Press unrelated to that!

Hooray for new retailers, and Hooray for old ones, and hooray for you!
Keep spreading the word!

We just had a great week with Phil's parents in town and now are trying to catch up a little bit over the weekend & next week before we are whisked away AGAIN, this time to Cape Cod for the ever-feisty spectacle that is the Bone Family Reunion. (you think I'm being sarcastic, but really, my family knows how to party. I look forward to this all year).
I'm still working on the art prints and finding the best pricing/sizing combination with a woman run print shop in town (naturally).

Gallery Show Coming Up!

Pretty psyched to be in an upcoming show at Hendershot Galleryon 27th st in NY (Chelsea?) in a couple months.
It's a two-person show with the awesome Rita MacDonald, whose work I'll see in person for the first time at this show, but whose fabric renderings I'm pretty into after finding out we'd share the gallery together! More on this show as we get closer.

Happy Tuesday

We're back in action.
do I say that a lot? I sort of mean it this time.... kinda?
Internet is due to arrive at the house tomorrow, after 5 weeks of running a business without it.
Sitting here at the library with the man next to me involved in some sort of jimmy-leg competition, and the 13 year olds on the other side chortling over facebook, I can't say I'll be sorry to have it in the office again...but it hasn't been that bad, really.
My press is set up and plugged in and has been steaming up the basement all day. Wholesale orders have all been shipped, floors have been swept. Boxes are...well...not unpacked. But that's because of all of the excitement.
My bff left last night after a wonderful 4 days of having him on our couch and my mom-and-dad-in-law are flying in tonight from NH to see the house and say hello for a few days. Dinner guests last night. Soup night on the comeback... The excitement is neverending at this place.
Coming up this week, I want to share with you THREE new shops we're working with wholesale. But for now, I'll leave you with this photo of the following:
-Birthday Cake for Ben (you can't tell, but it's pink inside from the strawberries)
-Delicious pie made by Angie
-and, off in the distance, one of those awesome bottle openers I'm obsessed with from Fluffy & Co.
AND I'll leave you with this information:
-The Hampden post office (or is this ALL post offices?) has decided to start closing from 1-3pm every day. It annoyed me so much, that I went to FedEx instead, and they lost a customer today. I found out FedEx was cheaper to ship my wholesale orders from, and more convenient to our new studio.
I wonder if this was what USPS was trying to do with their money-pinching scheme of closing at random hours of the day.
Nice work, team. No really. You thought that one through pretty good.

Sneaky Peak

We're gaining on the box-unpacking front. Mainly because we have a visitor coming this weekend, and more coming next week... and we needed to locate the living room under the chaos, so that they might have a place to sleep.
Here's a sneak peak of our progess in that room. (please note all the cotton monsters that you'll be happy to know have also safely relocated to their new home).
Also putting a shot of the awesomely pepto-bismol-pink bathroom with western curtains... which we can't take credit for decorating, but is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the house. So goofy!

Mr. Sammy has been prowling the house up and down at all hours, and making his likes & dislikes known with respective gurgles and MAH-WOWs. His favorite nook is in the middle of the stairs, a little window overlooking the living room. He sits there pouting when we're in the living room, because he can't seem to figure out that if he comes all the way down the stairs, he'll get to the living room. Instead, he insists on crying until i reach up and catch him and airlift him down. A little pathetic, but we all have character flaws, right?

Can't wait for friends and family to visit us soon!!

Big Move. Big Dig. Big Year. 2009

I'm constantly reminded that I'd be nothing if not for my friends.

1). We've done it - we've moved to Charles Village (or the Abell Community, depending on who you ask).
With the help of our lovely awesome amazing strong energetic friends, we have moved into our new house, and as soon as we actually get the paperwork over with, I'm going to really consider breathing. (yes, I'm aware most people settle on a house before they move into it... but that's apparently not how it rolls with us. Thanks, Bank of America. Thanks.)

2). Luckily, we got to escape all this "adult" nonsense, and the piles of cardboard boxes forming castle walls in every room of our new house, and drive to PA this weekend for the umpteenth annual big dig, in a place called Eatonia... which probably isn't on the roadmap in your glovebox.
The big dig is a college reunion of sorts, in which friends drive from hours away to dig a big old hole, for the purpose of getting sweaty together and perhaps just to prove the ground is still solid matter which can be moved, and that friends are still in touch and available to each other and aren't in the business of becoming too serious about themselves... and for the purpose of reminding ourselves that not everything has to have a purpose. Also for the purpose of eating and drinking and singing and swimming and hugging each other a few extra times for all the rest of the year when we don't get to see each other because we live far apart. It's so good to see your friends and be outdoors and forget about everything else for a couple days... good with the slightly odd feeling one develops the first full day home alone & working, semi-back-to-normal. This particular explosion of happiness only comes once a year, and sometimes I think that there just might not be anyone more wonderful than all of these good people we've already found. How did we get so lucky? I wonder this more often than I'll care to admit on a blog.