In the hands of guerrilla street artists, yarn graffiti snakes around telephone posts, through barbed wire fences, and over abandoned cars. Originally created by a crew in Texas, knit graffiti has become an international movement embraced by crafters of all ages and nationalities. Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit Graffiti is a book about the history of yarn graffiti in urban spaces and future plans for world yarn domination, and will teach knitters how they can join the revolution.

Are you a knitter or crochetier? Do you design (or want to design) unusual pieces of street art out of yarn?

If so, you should design a pattern for Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit Graffiti, to be published by Arsenal Pulp Press in fall 2009.

A DIY guide to the art of yarn graffiti and a history of hand-crafted textile street art, Yarn-Bombing will feature patterns such as street-smart disguises, useful wearable tools like gloves and tool belts, street art such as knit car cozies, bike covers and headlight toques, and outdoor installations such as crochet shawls for leafy trees. The sky’s the limit as long as it’s knit or crocheted! Projects should be fun, colorful and a little bit wacky.

Designers are asked to submit a sketch and detailed description of their project, along with a brief bio, by the submission deadline of May 15, 2008.

There is no entry fee, and you are encouraged to submit multiple designs. Please include your complete contact information (email and mailing addresses) with your submission. Hard-copy submissions will not be returned unless an SASE or International Mailing Coupon is provided.

Digital sketches (under 2MB) can be emailed to mandy@yarnbombing.com, or hard copy sketches can be mailed to:

Leanne Prain
203-884 Bute Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6E 1Y5

You will be notified via email if your design has been selected for publication. Selected designs will need to be knit or crocheted by their designers over the months of June-August, and mailed to the publisher for photography and editing by August 30, 2008. Patterns and any accompanying diagrams must be mailed to mandy@yarnbombing.com by the same date. Designers who are chosen to participate will receive the yarn necessary to complete their project, an honorarium, a free copy of the book, and credit for taking part in the book.

For more information, please visit Arsenal Pulp Press (arsenalpulp.com) or the Yarn Bombing Blog (yarnbombing.com).

If you have any questions or concerns regarding submissions, please contact Leanne (leanne@yarnbombing.com) or Mandy (mandy@yarnbombing.com)

The Authors

A graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design, Mandy Moore now lives in Vancouver, BC with her small family of husband and cat. She is the technical editrix of popular online knitting magazine Knitty.com, and of various other knitting and crochet books and publications. She is a hardcore making-things evangelist, and will probably try to convince you that you should try (knitting, crocheting, sewing, painting) too! You can find her online at yarnageddon.com.

Upon learning to knit, Leanne Prain co-founded a stitch and bitch called Knitting and Beer in order to expand her skills while knitting at the pub. While the group has disbanded, she continues to be amazed at what can be created with two needles and a bit of yarn. A professional graphic designer, Leanne holds degrees in creative writing, art history and publishing. She lives and knits in Vancouver, BC.

I am just passing on a request for you to take this quick, anonymous survey in the name of Craft Con 2008 ! By completing 7 multiple choice questions, you can help give the organizers a clearer picture of how the indie craft community at large acquires it’s supplies. Results will be posted on craftcon.org shortly after the close of the event!

Click here to take the Craft Supply Survey for Craft Con 2008

In case you didn’t catch our earlier blog about this, Craft Con is a business development conference for the craft community. People who make things of all types, of all backgrounds, will come together to talk about the business side of crafting, how they market themselves, and the philosophies behind it all. The conference will be held April 4-6 in San Francisco, California.

We’d like to invite you to attend Craft Con 2008, a business
development conference for the craft community. This remarkable
gathering of leaders and organizers in the evolving craft and design
movement will be held in San Francisco April 4-6. Last year’s Craft
Congress was the first event of its kind, bringing together an amazing
group of craft promoters from all over the country and as far away as
England to network, share ideas, and discuss the future of the
resurging movement.

Craft Con 2008 heralds huge growth for the project, bringing together
event promoters, internet entrepreneurs, authors, store owners, craft
teachers, and businesspeople to network, talk about the future of
craft, and strengthen the community’s voice. With the explosive
popularity of countless craft-related business ventures, the crafting
world is poised to keep getting bigger and better - the question is,
where do we want to go from here? This is our chance to help shape the
future of the handmade movement and its place in society - we hope
you’ll join us!

Craft Con 2008 | April 4-6 2008, San Francisco CA

http://craftcon.org

March 2008 is National Women’s History Month

Each year, March is designated as National Women’s History Month to ensure that the history of American women will be recognized and celebrated in schools, workplaces, and communities throughout the country. The stories of women’s historic achievements present an expanded view of the complexity and contradiction of living a full and purposeful life.

The knowledge of women’s history provides a more expansive vision of what a woman can do. This perspective can encourage girls and women to think larger and bolder and can give boys and men a fuller understanding of the female experience.
Women’s Art: Women’s Vision Theme

To honor the originality, beauty, imagination, and multiple dimensions of women’s lives, the National Women’s History Project has chosen Women’s Art: Women’s Vision as the 2008 theme for National Women’s History Month.

The history of women and art is quintessential women’s history. It is the story of amazing women’s accomplishments acclaimed at the time but written out of history. Join us in ensuring that their accomplishments are never forgotten.

This year’s theme provides a special opportunity to discover and celebrate women’s visual arts in a variety of forms and mediums that help expand our perceptions of ourselves and each other.

This month, CraftRevolution.com will feature each of the women celebrated through this program in a special Blog Post, allowing our readers to learn about each of them and to pull inspiration from their achievements.

To ensure that a diversity of art and artists are represented, the 2008 Honorees were selected based on their art, their vision, their art form, their cultural background, the region in which they live and the quality and passion of the nomination submitted. Stay tuned for more information on the honorees.

Judy Chicago - 1939
Painter/Printmaker/Tapestry/Needlework

Harmony Hammond -1944
Painter

Edna Hibel – 1917
Colorist, Painter, Stone Lithographer, Serigrapher, Etcher, Sculptress, and Filmmaker

Lihua Lei – 1966
Multimedia Installation

Violet Oakley –1874-1961
Muralist, Stained Glass Artist

Rose Cecil O’Neill – 1874-1944
Painter, Illustrator, Sculptress

Faith Ringgold – 1930
Painter/Quilter

Miriam Schapiro – 1923
Print/ Painter

Lorna Simpson – 1960
Artist

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith –1940
Painter/Printmaker

Nancy Spero – 1926
Painter

June Claire Wayne – 1918
Painter/Lithographer

Thanksgiving is this Thursday, and you know what that means! Holiday season will soon be in high gear.

This year, my husband and I are putting in a real effort to make and buy as many handmade gifts as possible. Judging from all of the handmade holiday action on the web, it seems that we’re not alone.

The ladies at Sew Mama Sew are running a fantastic series on their blog- Handmade Holidays, 30 days of gifts to sew.

Each day features links to projects (all available for free at various blogs and craft sites) with a different theme. I haven’t started actually *making* anything yet, but I have found the perfect gift for almost everyone on my list through this series. Thanks gals!

Buy Handmade: Take the handmade pledge!

From their website: “The ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left people all dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. The connection between producer and consumer has been lost. Buying handmade helps them reconnect. We created the pledge as a call to action for consumers to be conscious of how they spend their money this holiday season. We want people, whenever possible, to support independent creators and shop outside the big boxes.”

At first, I thought that it would be difficult to go all handmade with two little boys in the house who have visions of toy trains and yu-gi-oh cards dancing in their heads. But as we’ve gone over their lists, we’ve found that nearly everything (with the exception of the aforementioned yu-gi-oh cards) can be handmade with a little creativity and effort!

So, I think, since I didn’t see any Chris Cringle on the pledge list, we’ll ask him to bring the yu-gi-oh cards, and the rest will be handmade from mom and dad. Our boys may not appreciate it much now, but I think they will some day.

Need an excuse to play dress up and party all night long? We never do! The fun never stops at the New York Couture Official Fashion Week Show & Party!!! This season’s show is a cannot miss event…with THE BEST gift bags ever!!!

FREE Gift Bags to the first 100 guests filled with goodies from:

Makeup Forever, Bust Magazine, Peta2, Venus Magazine, Shiny Mama, UTZ Snacks, Chocolove, Skin Milk Smoothies, Splash Cool, The Fashion Journal, We Love Colors tights, BlueQ, and more.

New York Couture Official Fashion Week Show & Party

Date: September 12th, 2007

Location: Element @ 225 E. Houston Street (at Essex Street & Avenue A)
Time: doors open at 9pm, fashion show starts at 11pm
Cost: FREE
Website: www.newyorkcouture.net
Open bar 10-11pm sponsored by Stella Atrois. Live performance at Midnight by Innerpartysystem. FREE gift bags to the first 100 guests.
RSVP: nycoutureguestlist@yahoo.com

Pre-party September 12th, 2007 @
The Dressing Room- 75a Orchard Street (between Broom & Grand)
Time: 5-9pm
Cost: FREE

The 2007 Handmade Arcade will be held Saturday, November 10 (11am-7pm) and Sunday, November 11 (11am-5pm) at Construction Junction, 214 N. Lexington Street, in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Applications are now available on the Handmade Arcade website, so be sure to reserve your booth!
For those who don’t know, Handmade Arcade is Pittsburgh premiere indie craft show. The event won the 2006 People’s Choice Award for favorite art experience and is an excellent venue for independent artists of all kinds. Having had the pleasure of meeting Gloria Forouzan and many of the members of the Pittsburgh indie scene while attending Craft Congress, I can tell you that you won’t find better hosts- especially if you are traveling to the area just for the show!

For even more information, be sure to check out keywords “Handmade Arcade” on Flickr!

Craft Congress, Pittsburgh 2007

Originally uploaded by lunafate ? natural magic.

As promised here is more information on Craft Congress. I thought it would be easiest to send out the information in small bites, as there is so much that occurred that it could be overwhelming. So, here we go!

One of the first questions people have asked is, “What was Craft Congress”. Well, we have an article up on the main site that explains it, but I thought it might help if you saw what the sessions were and who was presenting them.

Here you are:

Session Name | Facilitator

Who Are We? | Everyone

What Are We? | Marie Kare/ Home of the Sampler & Sherry Huss/CRAFT magazine, Maker Faire, O’Reilly Media

What We Do | Cinnamon Cooper/DIY Trunk Show

Helping Crafters To Sell |Kpoene’Kofi-Bruce/Ladies Independent Design League

Fund Raising | Jessica Manack/Handmade Arcade

Corporate Sponsorship | Sara Dick/Crafty Bastards

Guerilla Marketing | Lish Dorset/Handmade Detroit

Expanding Online Markets |Matthew Stinchcomb/Etsy

Business & Taxes 101 | Richard Difrischia / Williams Coulson

DIY & Political Change |Tamara Dourney/Craft Revolution

Building A DIY Network | Faythe Levine/Art vs. Craft/Indie Craft Documentary

Where Do We Go From Here? | Jen Anisef/Toronto Craft Alert & Becky Johnson/Good Catch Craft Fair & Sweetie Pie Press

Now that you’ve seen what we were ‘attending’, tune in next time to learn a little bit more about what was said!

I recently attended Craft Congress (as a representative of CraftRevolution.com & the FPCM) and had such a great time meeting everyone in the ‘industry’ and Mafia members from all over the country!

Before we left, the Mafiosos snapped a group picture.

More on the event soon!

The indie business community is a diverse one, filled with men and women who use their talents to create handcrafted goods that reflect their own distinctive personal styles and creative interests.

Many indie businesses find their home on the internet, where window shopping is as easy as surfing from one site to the next with a click of the mouse. With so many businesses finding their niche on the net, we thought it would be interesting to ask some of the owners of our favorite businesses just how they decided to start their business ventures.

We found that their reasons are just as diverse as the types of goods they make.

For some, the inspiration to open a business comes from a combination of desires - a desire to create, and a desire to earn an income from their creations.

Lindsay Landis of Lindsay Designs, said it best when she told us that “I opened my business as a way to express myself, pursue my passions, and make a little extra cash on the side. I’ve always had a thing for creating and selling things, since I was in elementary school. So I guess it was logical that I’d end up with my own indie business one day. I enjoy every minute of what I do, as it allows me to do everything I love all at once: sewing, graphic design, photography, and making money.”

Rachael Maddux, who owns Madeye Designs, stumbled happily into a role as a business owner.

“I started Madeye Designs because I finally realized that I could only keep giving away all of my finished projects to friends and family for so long. I’d never sold a thing for actual money when I started– just love and free yarn! Not the most well-planned or inspired endeavor in the beginning, but it has somehow worked out.”

Erika Rier from Mellifluous Couture is another happy stumbler.

“I was laid off right after 9/11 and found myself at a crossroads, and my husband (then boyfriend) encouraged me to try making money from my skills rather than finding a new day job.

I actually thought I would end up as a writer/painter and started Mellifluous to supplement those pursuits. When I started Mellifluous it was also as a handweaver, not as a fashion designer! I made a few skirts to bring along to shops with my purses and textiles and the clothing started selling like crazy! Now all I do is the clothing and some purses.”

As in Erika’s case, many indie businesses are launched when their owners find themselves at a crossroads. A job is lost, a child is born, or another life changing event occurs. Sometimes when priorites are re-evaluated, the opportunity to start something new presents itself.

This is true for Leila of Eliza Bean Apparel. She says, “I started [Eliza Bean] because I [wanted to] stay home with my 4.5 month old daughter, but still wanted to contribute something financially to the household.

Having a parent home with Eliza at all times is the most important thing for us. The thought of someone else raising her just makes my stomach hurt. I think the job of a mother is severely underrated, but no matter what, it’s my full-time job. Anything else is just icing. Being able to work for myself lets me stay home to do my main job and still do something for myself and our bank account!

Mallory of Dismantled Designs also was inspired to start her business after a life changing event, but of a different kind. She found the motivation to start selling her reconstructed clothing in local boutiqes after traveling to England.

“Last summer I spent a month in London. I fell absolutely in love with Portobello Market; there was a huge section where people were selling used clothing and some independent designers were fitting people and working on their garments right there in their booths. It was so inspiring! I decided while I was still there that I wanted to get serious about selling what I make and about turning my passion into a business.”{mospagebreak}

Jennifer Aaron of The Pretty Things explains that crafting and creating often can help to soothe troubles and make life seem easier when life gets tough.

“I’ve always had the urge to create things. Last summer I was going through some rough times, so I picked up beading as a way to maintain focus and feed the creative urge. Shortly after, I decided to try my hand at soapcrafting, and in order to make a few extra dollars while doing something I loved, I set up a web shop.

I started my indie business because it seemed to be a therapeutic way to express myself, and hopefully one day lead to the means to be my own business-lady and retire from the 9-5 grind.”

For Jenn of Midnight Sky Fibers, the motivation to open a business came from a desire to fill a void in the market that was being overlooked and that she felt was important.

“I opened my business because I couldn’t find the type of yarn and fibers I wanted, and neither could other people. Being able to provide people with yarns, fibers, and kits that are environmentally friendly and vegetarian takes more time and money, but it is worth it for me since I know how hard it is to find craft suppplies to fit ethics.

It is very important to me that I keep my business very small since I am not a fan of big business, and that I keep my environmental and vegetarian goals in place.”

Jenn’s comment explains a common feeling among indie business owners. Many create their small businesses as a way to provide an alternative to mass consumerism and corporate culture.

Having worked 9-5 jobs and set up offices in cramped cubicles, many welcome the chance to personalize their work experience by interacting one-on-one with their customers, and are thrilled with the idea of being solely responsible for their products and creations.

Says Kyle Ruth of Button Arcade, “When you work for yourself, you get to directly see your hard work paying off. When you work for someone else, they give you a 10 cent raise, and double the responsibility for your hard work! I also loooove hearing feedback from my customers, knowing I am competely responsible for the joy my products bring them.”

Starting a business also can be a fun way to make friends and to join in the thriving indie business community, a close knit group artists, designers, and crafters, most of whom are women.

Forums such as Craftster, Get Crafty, and The Switchboards foster a strong community feeling where sharing resources and ideas is encouraged, and members of the community are quick to lend support and encouragement.

Sophie from Knitting Panda tells us, “I have so much fun crafting and running my website–it’s cool to make some extra money from it too. I do it because I love being part of a community that is very women-oriented and super supportive of each other…”

For others like Simone Alpen, who is one of the co-owners of Magpie in Boston, opening a store is the result of a chain of events that unfolded naturally over time.

“My friends and I had been working on the Bazaar Bizarre. Each year it was getting bigger and bigger with more demand from shoppers wanting to buy DIY and more vendors wanting to show off their wares.

We took the leap last fall and started Magpie, a brick and mortar store that carries consigned handcrafted goods and vintage collectables. It was (and still is, at times!) scary, but little by little we’re realizing how much people appreciate what we’re trying to do.

There are so many people out there that don’t know much about the DIY/indie crafting movement that’s sweeping the world, but get excited the minute they realize they’re in a store where most of the goods are handmade.

For me, I’ve always been excited to work on projects where I really valued the larger purpose, and working on Magpie and Bazaar Bizarre etc. is all so rewarding because it feels good to be able to contribute to the creativity and [innovation] of fellow crafters.”