Welcome Olivia Ruth

A bit distracted this week with the arrival (in NH) of our brand new (reportedly REDHEADED) niece, Olivia Ruth Hanna.
I'm well aware that 99% of you don't care at all, and that all babies who aren't related to you look boring....
but this is my blog, and I get to be obsessed with whatever I want.
Lookit!!! She's totally blowing you a smooch. You love it.
I can't WAIT until May when we get to go meet her :)

Weekend Recap

This weekend was full of good things, as most weekends have been lately (have to love the pre-summer craft fair every weekend-weekends!) Including a visit to brand new Nudashank Gallery on Friday (the grand opening of which was BUMPIN friday night, despite this quieter shot before every hip somebody in Baltimore arrived). Great show, great gallery, will definitely go back for more. The weekend also included: Ethiopian food, a failed trip to the Lithuanian Hall, A successful trip to Trinacria, a sewing demo & meeting of Heather Ross, and my first "Hot Yoga" class (it really is hot.... they're not kidding. I've never sweat so much in my life.) at Charm City Yoga. An amazing class, super crowded, but well worth my six bucks and 90 minutes.

Happy Monday.

This Sunday - Heather Ross Book signing - Atomic Books

Charm City Craft Mafia reminds you to NOT FORGET: crafty peeps, this Sunday, March 29th, from 4-6, is the Heather Ross book signing/sewing demo extravagannnnnza at Atomic Books in Hampden. Get yourself all dolled up (wear the project you've made from Heather's book, if you've got one), and come say howdy!

Where the Wild Things Are

SHUT. UP. Did you know Spike Jonz is making "Where the Wild Things Are" into a movie? Has my head been in the sand?
I had no idea, but I was reading a Maurice Sendak book yesterday at the library, and got really excited to see this trailer this morning.

Wow. I've been on/off reading Design Sponge lately, but I LOVE these one-of-a-kind chairs Grace posted, re-upholstered by Eleanor Young of Fun Makes Good. Makes me want to re-attempt our couch!

Baker Artist Award WINNERS!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to all of the winners of this year's Baker Artist Awards and Baltimore's Choice awards!
Below are the 2009 winners, and links to their work on the Baker Artist Awards website. What a great new resource for our city's art community. I know that I for one have discovered dozens of new artists, and art enthusiasts in the city that I never knew existed. Free exposure, a place to check out other local artists, find inspiration, and share what you're up to? Check. Thanks to all who organized this site, and funded the awards. In these here hard economic times, it's sure nice to know that art has not been financially abandoned.

Mary Sawyers Baker Award Winners:
Carl Grubbs
Jon Ruppert
Hadieh Shafie

Baltimore's Choice Award Winners:
Milana Braslavsky
Becky Alprin
Rob Levit
Sarah House
Jim Lucio
Adam Hopkins
Vincent Thomas

from the Ten Tigers Blog
The Baker Artist Awards are being announced and awarded tonight, March 25, live on Maryland Public Television, and through a live video feed on www.bakerartistawards.org at 7:30 p.m.

The Awards consist of the Mary Sawyers Baker Prize, which will award three Baltimore area artists $25,000 each; and the Baltimore’s Choice Prize, voted on by the public, which will give seven artists $1,000 each.

The Baker Artist Awards is the first public art competition of its kind to incorporate public voting through an online forum. Over 600 Baltimore area artists were nominated, and more than 35,000 people from all 50 states and over 118 countries visited the website between November, 2008 and February, 2009, when voting closed.

More detailed information on tomorrow night’s broadcast is available on Maryland Public Television’s website, here: http://www.mpt.org/pressroom/pr/prdisplay.cfm?pruid=09032401

GOOD LUCK!!!

Nudashank Gallery!

Everyone loves a new art gallery! introducing Nudashank!
brought to you by Alex Epstein (of Ten Tigers fame) and Seth Adelsberger (of Seth Adelsberger fame) and located in the H&H Building.

Wise Guise opens March 27th
Reception 7 - 9 pm
After-party in the adjacent Whole Gallery
with performances by Talk Normal , U.S. Girls, and Jana Hunter

Nudashank
405 West Franklin Street 3rd Floor (H&H)
Baltimore, MD 21201
On View - March 27 - April 25
Hours: Saturday - Sunday 11am - 5pm and by appointment

Red Prairie In Our Nation's Capital!

So happy to say that as of this week, you can find Red Prairie Press at Nana - a really cool little indie/vintage boutique on U Street in DC! Check it out ONLINE or In person!

This week was especially productive, and thus, the weekend was much appreciated. I've been in a cooking mood, and here are some photos (with our NEW camera! A Canon Powershot - the teeniest little gem I've ever seen. It's smaller than your iphone) of the Parsnip Ginger soup I made Sunday, and the Indian food we made on Saturday, (thanks to the beautiful and intimidating spices at Punjab Market) before going to The Point (see below). If you didn't make it this weekend to the H&H building to see this production, you really missed out. About 30 people were involved, and reproduced the Nilsson album - live with a puppet show/live action play! It was one of my favorite things I've seen in Baltimore this year, and the team that put it on (I wish I knew names, I'd surely put them right here) deserve a lot of credit for putting it together so well. Awesome puppets, clever props, and beautiful renditions of very familiar songs. One only hopes they do more performances, and/or go on the road with their show.

I also managed to turn over the garden this weekend, visit the farmer's market, plant some pansies in the pot outside our front door, run 10 miles (just kidding... Phil did that. I just went for a bike ride), go for a long walk and visit the botanical garden in Druid Hill Park, watch old batman cartoons, and eat a Drew Special at Golden West. Now I'm off to the library to return books I've barely picked up, and then outside to enjoy the last few hours of weekend sunshine.
Hope everyone had a nice weekend. IT'S SPRING!!

Win a Free Book

Check out HVM Design's interview with Heather Ross today on the Charm City Craft Mafia blog. Leave a comment (about either your next sewing project, or part of the interview) and you have a chance to win a copy of Heather's awesome book!! check it out HERE.

A Friday Self Portrait

for annie.
(photo taken a while back during a photoshoot for an upcoming book... I was told to keep a straight face, and Mr Sammy was supposed to be staring at the camera like the tough guy he is, but neither of us could do what we were told. We're a big old mess.)

Nearing the end of what has been an epic project...
here's ALMOST everything we sell.

Want wholesale info? contact me!

New Ladies Folk Garden Tunics

Well, it's March 19th, and although I meant to get the new spring designs ALL up by mid february, I'm still happy I'm done with them! Check out the last of the new duds HERE and HERE. Woohoo!!

The Point

I have been subjected to so many listens of Harry Nilsson's "The Point" over the last couple years, that I almost dread the coming of this show.... But at least two of my closest friends (not naming. You know who you are) seem to have lives that evolve around listening to the album, and creative minds that are ultimately mainly inspired by it. I have love for it, and it's SUCH a great story. In the past year, Phil has managed to purchase the cassette tape, CD and vinyl version of this thing and learn every one of the songs by heart (and thus, so have I). We quote it even when we don't mean to on a regular basis, and it seems like it's eternally in the car stereo every time I turn the car on... So... in our family... I can safely say we'll be attending.

Some people in the H&H have come up with a puppet show/live action version of the story, and will be performing it for 2 days only, this weekend. Live music is involved, naturally.

March 20th and 21st
8pm
$5
5th floor of the H&H

Heroic Deed? ...Check... No Big Deal.

This guy saved a man who'd fallen in the subway tracks and knocked himself out. And then before telling anyone who he was, he jumped on a train and continued on his way. (his friends later outed him as the hero, after NY times ran a short piece on the mysterious guy) Kinda makes you want to be a better person, huh? He's like... an urban underground cowboy, huh? Also, he's an aspiring actor, and it kinda makes you want him to succeed, huh?
That's all...

black is the new black

and now...
you too could be this hip.
Hi, I'm the new pebble scarf
in metro black.
Love me HERE and HERE
Pleased to meet you.

1,000 Garment Graphics

I'm so pleased to tell you that I'm in a new super cool book!
1,000 Garment Graphics
A Comprehensive Collection of Wearable Designs
Jeffrey Everett
Finally there is a one-stop source with all the coolest
graphics on T-shirts, handbags, scarves, pants, onesies—
you name it. If it can be worn, it can have a cool graphic
element.
1,000 Garment Graphics features the best wearable art
and designs, providing fresh ideas for any design project.
Featuring a wide array of design styles from funky to
conservative, hokey to demure, and sarcastic to serious, this
is a no-holds-barred collection of stuff you’ll want to see.

You can purchase the book from Amazon HERE
OR you can come to the booksigning at Borders (White Flint Mall, Rockville) 6PM, April 2, 2009
and get a signed copy!

Thanks to Jeff Everett (of eljefedesign) and Rockport Publishing for both making this book, and including us in it.

NEW - Folkloric Flowers Tunic

Introducing the new Folkloric Flowers Tunic! Inspired by folk art, vintage quilts and wallpaper patterns, and the coming of spring! Available on Etsy starting......NOW.

FRONT PAGE!

It was only for about 5 minutes, and then the scarf sold, and we disappeared, but I managed to get alerted by a fellow etsian, and get a screen grab of our very first FRONT PAGE APPEARANCE on etsy today! woo!!! and look - we're joined by fellow baltimorian Jen Menkhaus!

Weekend Recap

What a great weekend we've had in Baltimore. I spent it eating strange fake meat and losing at trivial pursuit to some of my favorite people on Friday. Then up early for a quilt viewing date with my favorite co-enthusiast of all things generally associated with old ladies. The show was full of beautiful and inspiring things (with a side dish of some delightfully tacky quilts of course) but the most exciting attraction by far was Jenny's mom Stephanie Strunge's quilt - made for Jenny over the last few years and finally finished for the show. (NOT the one pictured. See it HERE) it was one of the few (if not the only?) we saw that was hand quilted, and it was ENORMOUS and really beautiful.
Saturday night, we celebrated a talented friend's recent liberation from her teaching job (to pursue said talent) and upcoming birthday at the beautiful and delicious Hamilton Tavern, and today, Sunday, I finally dubbed my now three week old cough officially gone, and waddled back to the gym to pump iron and train (for what, you ask? I'll tell you soon). Upon our return, I was delighted to find that we reached 500 sales on Etsy today!!!! Wahoo!!!!
This means that we are indeed surviving the recession, and that although poor Phil (who managed to run THIRTEEN MILES on saturday in his marathon training, while Jen and I looked at quilts) has spring break this week, I'm going to be hard at work and may just have to recruit him in between his spring break activities.

About Friday the 13th...

What? too cryptic? It got your attention, didn't it? today, Friday the 13th, is the absolute last day of our sale!
I'm still battling my hand/fake pen coordination with our new tablet, and so far, the tablet is winning. My handwriting is pretty unacceptable, but it makes me chuckle, nonetheless. So does the fact that there's only ONE MORE DAY of our super birthday 30% off sale, and I might just get a break from packing and shipping and accidentally tape-gunning myself soon! Get your order in before midnight tonight and be sure to enter the code: BIRTHDAY3 at checkout to receive the 30% discount!!! That's right: The sale ends tonight at midnight!

Thanks to all for the amazing reaction to the sale. Every order counts, and it's great to feel like we're making it through this recession happily and easily. Thanks also to all the anniversary congrats I've been getting through email this week. I promise I read all of them, even if I haven't written back just yet...Your support is heroic, and I can't wait to show you what we've got up our sleeves this spring!

xoxo
-rachel

Info for Baltimore Artists & Crafters

(pictured: Ikea "Gunghult" - just THINK of the possibilities!)
Some info that might concern you, brought to you by way of one of Baltimore's finest artist/organizer/get-done-ers, Kristen Grey. I hadn't heard about the last one, and got particularly excited. Just the names of ikea items alone could allow you to come up with ridiculous fashion. Not sure if I'll participate, but any excuse for a trip to ikea is a valid one, in my opinion. It's so ridiculous and exciting and even though I'm usually far too overwhelmed to remember what it was I wanted when I started driving there, I can't help but feel like it's a fun game of sneaking peeks into other people's very very clean houses. Have you read David Byrne's ramblings on Ikea, actually? Read them HERE.

Lotta Art
School 33s annual fundraisor - a lottery style art “auction” where donated artworks are given to people who purchase tickets. Submissions are juried w/ best in show awards (winners get solo shows). Plus it's at silo point this year! Fancy. Pants.

DIY@Artscape
A DIY craft section at artscape. The spaces are affordable, the crowd is insatiable, and the weather is always dire. Application cost $10. Educate the public about buying handmade, and build a greater craft community. If you have an etsy account this event is for you! Stop making excuses- start making money. Dolla dolla bills yall.

Sew me what you got! Partnership with IKEA whereby participants compete, project runway style, creating garments with fabric/things purchased at IKEA. Winner gets $1000, there are fashion shows, and cool events surrounding the competition.

New scarf - available in our etsy shop now!
(these will also be available on the red prairie press site next week - with additional new apparel!!! Get ready!)

New Tee for Men AND Women

New Unisex "Seeds & pebbles t-shirt! Perfect for any spring occasion. Available in Men's AND women's sizes now in the RED PRAIRIE PRESS shop.

Remember that our BIRTHDAY SALE is on through Friday, March 13th. Just enter coupon code: BIRTHDAY3 at checkout (in the space marked "discount code").

Harvest For the Hungry

Now that you are saving all sorts of money with the RED PRAIRIE PRESS BIRTHDAY 30% OFF SALE, you can use it to buy groceries for those less fortunate.
From March 7-March 14th, the MD Food Bank is running a campaign called "Harvest for the Hungry." All you have to do is purchase a bag of non-perishable groceries (or, if you get a little too excited, like Phil and I did at 10pm last night in Superfresh you can buy FIVE bags of groceries for the homeless, and one delicious box of popsicles for your proud charitable self). You can then leave that bag of groceries at your mailbox and volunteers from the Girlscouts, Boyscouts or your postal carrier will come pick it up for you. If this sounds strange to you, and you'd rather see that it gets to the right hands, you can drop it off at any Baltimore post office or Safeway store. To read about the program, and see the list of most needed items, visit HERE.

Did you donate yet? Did it feel great? Tell us about it!

Famous Friends

(image from the Baltimore Sun)
Do you ever just get so proud of your friends that you want to go up to strangers and demand that they salute them? I got that feeling just now, when one of my absolute favorite people in Baltimore (and consequently, one of my dearest friends), the talented Angie Elliot was written up in the Baltimore Sun for her objects conservator expertise. Angie just started working at the BMA after a couple years at the Walter's Art Museum (also here in Baltimore) and countless summers at archeological digs in Turkey. She is my go-to for all art materials questions and art history questions, and my inspiration for travel, adventure and recently, even exercise. You can read all about Angie's awesomeness and learn about her job as an objects conservator at the BMA HERE. Good for the Baltimore Sun for going behind the scenes and reminding us that museums don't just find art and throw it up on display. It's nice to know someone responsible is taking care of it (and extra nice, to have that person as a pal).

We're THREE!!!!!

I don't usually write posts on Saturdays, but today is a special day. It's our THIRD ANNIVERSARY of starting Red Prairie Press!

To celebrate, we're having a sale from now until Friday. Just enter coupon code BIRTHDAY3 in the Discount code section at checkout, and save 30% off everything in the shop!!

Thanks to all for sticking with us- whether you've been here from the beginning, or just found us now - we appreciate you!
Now please, go out and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL day. it's 70 degrees in Baltimore. Birthday cake weather, indeed.

Dead Air

City Paper's annual Dining Guide is out, and before we could pick up a paper yesterday, we were pleasantly surprised to hear from friends that "Dead Air" the group show Phil is in at Metro Gallery was (positively)reviewed this week! You can read the review RIGHT HERE, and visit the show at Metro Gallery (1700 N Charles St, across from the Charles Theatre) through March 22.

Geninne

There's a featured seller interview up today on Etsy today that inspired me. Geninne is a mom of 2, who manages to homeschool her kids, be a stay-at-home cook, cleaning lady & domestic and still have time to paint and run her etsy shop. Wow.
Phil and I are in no way ready for kids just yet, but when if & when we are, it will be nice to have so many inspiring multi-tasking moms in the field to prove that running a business full time, and being a mom full time is humanly possible.

Plus, how can you not love her bird paintings?

wholesale catalogue

Not much to report today. I had a nice walk in the aftermath of the storm with Jen this morning and have been staring at this spreadsheet of red prairie pretties ever since. I don't have a reason for showing you, except that I want you all to know how hard I work (not very) and what long hours (no seriously...) and also, I really like the authentic camera shutter click noise that grabbing a screen-grab makes. Kuh-ching-kahhhh! Like you've just accomplished something really really special and important.
"Here is my work for the day. I have completed it!" Kuh-Ching-kAAH.
"I believe I deserve hot chocolate." Kuh-Ching-kAAAH.
"My, what a good hair day I'm probably having..." Kuh-Ching-kAAAH.
"hey, that sports team won their sportsmatch!! Go Team!!!" Kuh-Ching-kAHHH!
this noise makes me very optimistic.

Like I said.... Not much to report today.....

March Madness

March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.
Today, the lion was full of snow, and it exploded on Baltimore.

I waited unsuccessfully for the light rail southbound for 48 minutes this morning, before sneezing and coughing my way home to complain to Phil and guilt him into driving me. As a self-proclaimed southerner, I refuse to drive in snow, and he was home sick and (sort of) available.
When we got outside for the second time, the young girls of our neighborhood (for some reason, the girl to boy ratio on our block is about 10-1) were all off of school, and for lack of sleds to entertain them, they had shoveled the entire block, and were still at it. A beautiful thing. Good kids. Always said so.

Now we're home again and wrapped in blankets, drinking tea and hard at work on the wholesale catalogue and getting better, respectively. Whew. Not sure I'm still equipped with thick enough skin to endure cold weather like this.
Here's the view from the office today. Ye olde salt box has seen a lot of action today, and apparently, the stop sign saw some action last night.

Slingshot.

36" x 48" on wood! That's right.... I've decided to start painting on wooden box panels, and I'm so happy with the results. I've switched paints as well - from regular watercolor gouache to "acrylic gouache" which, before going into Artists & Craftsmen (the new art supply shop on North Ave.) I had no idea existed. It's just a tiny bit more opaque & seems to stay wet a little longer, and is still the matt finish I like. I guess it pays to do your research, huh? Has anyone else used this? Am I committing a paint sin here? Possibly. But, well, it looks really nice on wood.

Other things accomplished this weekend:
- Watched an entire season of The Wire
- Watched Labrynth for the first time ever (yeah, i don't know. I just never did, okay?)
- Visited the library. Got new books out AND saw the Golden Books original artwork show. Don't Miss it!!!
- baked
- snoozed in bed for exceptionally long periods of time. Spectacular.

Happy Monday to All,
and Happy Birthday, to Al. (assuming you all read this monday)