learn something new!

the summer is a good time to try out new things.

like... say taking a picture every day (2001), pink hair (2002), biking everywhere (2003), writing letters instead of sending emails (2004), being a "tourist" in your own town (2005), making soup from scratch every thursday night (one month of thursdays in 2006...ok, that one wasn't as successful as it could've been), or applying for a home loan (2007... that one didn't get very far either).
For me, this summer will be about education. And i think it would be a good project for you too. Here's my proposal, start with a one day workshop; one where you'll come in open minded and walk out with 2 or 3 pieces of art.


i taught a painting course through the muse, in frederick, md, a few months back. the actual workshop was 4 hours long and students learned color theory, painting techniques in acrylic and watercolor and left with at least 3 paintings each. It was pretty amazing. I love watching people learn new things. Every time i teach, i find i learn something new too... and that's pretty cool.




this time around, i'll be teaching a workshop on Painted Paper Collage Quilts... Using a variety of dyeing, drawing, painting, and decorative techniques, we'll turn plain paper into strips and blocks of paper "fabric". Use these to piece together beautiful abstract and narrative collage quilts. Always wanted to quilt, but don't know how to sew? Why not trade that needle for glue and turn scraps of paper into art, with paper piece "quilting"?

this is a REALLY fun, REALLY easy way to make very attractive gifts and decorative pieces for your own home. I promise you, its VERY easy. You'll be surprised by how simple and relaxing this technique is!
the workshop will be Sunday, June 29th, from 12- 4pm, in Frederick, MD.
for more info & to sign up
spots are filling fast, so hurry up and sign up today!

**** If you're looking to learn how to draw, and want a little more intensive course, try a drawing class! I'll be teaching a beginners & intermediate drawing course through school 33 in july and august. to register & for more info click here!

****as an added bonus, all workshop participants are eligible for 10% off their next greenstarstudio etsy or festival purchase!***
xo, danamarie

The knitimals are coming! The knitimals are coming!

Yes friends, the summer is creeping up on us and that can only mean one thing: summer shows! If you haven't gone out of the house in a few weeks (it's SO hot out there!) this weekend would be a good time to try a change of pace. I will be at the Columbia Festival of the Arts on Sat and Sun, June 14 & 15 (Saturday, from 12 to 7 and Sunday, from 1 to 7pm). My booth is in the Art Park area (its a covered garage and its cool and protected from the elements).


Now is a great time to check out all the fabulous new additions to the greenstar family, including brand new never before seen KNITIMALS, new coloring books and games for those littlestars out there, new magnets, car magnets, decals, tshirts and more. Think ahead for all that holiday and birthday and new baby shopping and SAVE! That's right... Print this page (or just the picture above) and bring it with you to the show for $1 off all orders of $4 or more, $5 off all orders over $50 OR 10% off all orders of $100 or more.



Now don't be sad out-of-towners... Keep your eye on the blog for an online sale (serious sale) next week.



Hope to see you soon! Xoxo, danamarie!

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Butcher's Hill garden tour

what's more natural than a knitimal in a garden?

if you're looking for a new kind of urban adventure and have never tried it before, you should definitely come out this sunday for the butcher's hill garden tour

this Sunday, June 8 from Noon-5 p.m., home owners and garden enthusiasts all over Butcher's Hill,
will open up their gardens to the masses to show off the backyard beauty. Described by the city paper as "Urban gardens and "artists along the way"", this is a great way to spend time outdoors, meet new people, take in some gorgeous urban gardens and do a little art shopping along the way!

butcher's hill, which encompasses the area between Washington Street to Patterson Park, and East Pratt Street to East Fairmount Avenue, is one of Baltimore City's best preserved historic neighborhoods. In addition to a wide range of sizes and styles in classic two- and three-story brick row houses, the neighborhood includes some outstanding one-of-a-kind examples of Queen Anne architecture and other notable gems from the mid to late 19th Century. (source: chesapeakehome.com)


i will be in the Glassman garden-- 2002 e. Pratt St (on the corner of pratt & washington; the house has a mural of a garden painted around the stone wall on the side of the house) and i'll be bringing with me an assortment of the original Knitimals, as well as the new Recyclimals, prints & original art, books, cards, soap and more.

you can buy tickets in advance or on the day of... want more info direct from the source? no problem, butcher's hill newsletter

This just in!

For anyone who might be awake at 6:15am this coming Saturday, check out CBS's "best bets" segment and hear the plug for Vida's Market! And, since you're going to be up anyway, head over to the market and say HI!
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I can't work like this!

... Seriously, how am I supposed to get any work done when THIS is happening just two feet away?
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vida's market & a sneak peek...

hello friends! first, let me thank you all for your diligent emailing, even in the face of my diligent "not-checking-my-email"; as will soon become apparent, i have holed myself away and have given myself strict "no interaction with the cyber-people" limits the last few weeks. partially because i can't get online at home at all and am tired of schlepping to any number of random wi-fi locations (ps, my grocery store has wi-fi... w(hy)i? ) and the posts from the phone, while convenient, are never as pretty and my thumb gets tired of typing. the main reason, however, is the show i have coming up this weekend (... and the one the following weekend, and the one the following weekend... yep, three back to back weekends of greenstar-markets!). so, i've been stock piling merchandise, making new wholesale order sheets, painting, sewing, cutting, laminating... you name it. if it ends in "ing" i've probably been doing it. but this is all good news because the shows on the horizon are amazing ones and i am very excited to be participating again or for the first time, and even more excited to be able to show up with brand new items. and those items will making their debut this saturday, may 31st at vida's market. for those of you in the New York City area, you have GOT to come check this show out.

look how happy those kids are with their handmade clothing and sweet knitimal friend!

(photo credit: christine trotta)

"Vida’s Market is the first market in New York City
dedicated to selling handcrafted, original items for children,
babies and expecting moms. We provide a place where
up-and-coming designers can show their work to the public".

i'm really excited about the prospects of a show in NYC and am really impressed by the vendors who will be making appearances at the market. SO, get on a train, or in your car or on your bike and come check us out!

now, i suppose i can't just tell you to come to a show and say there will be all new items without at least giving you some idea of what you might expect... ok, i can do that.



if you loved the first 2 coloring books, maybe you'll love the next two. that's right! expect TWO brand new greenstarstudio coloring/activity books, designed to help your little one (or not so little one... i seem to sell about half of these to adults who keep them in their desk drawers at the office and color when the work load gets a little too intense) tackle new concepts like counting and spelling! here's a sneak peek at the new counting book...



if playing games is a little more your kids' speed, perhaps "knitimatch™", a brand new matching memory game will fit the bill. the illustrations are mine all mine, and each set of 36 cards (18 pairs) is hand cut and corner rounded (by hand) to keep those little eye balls poke-free, and packaged in an easy to tote plastic bag.



i know for a fact that it's quite popular with the 2 year olds!



and while Knitimals are typically STRICTLY one-of-a-kind, who wouldn't want to find TWO of these cuties?

also packed up and ready for new york: brand new magnets, car/ home window decals, knitimal magnet decoration/game boards, hand painted t-shirts, all new journals, lunch boxes (yep), recyclimal™ re-loved knitimals, and brand new organic Knitimals.

On that note... i am off to the studio. i'll try to check in with you in the next few weeks, but probably won't update the etsy shop until after these shows are over, SO, if you want something, come to a show! (check the side bar for more info).
until then, xoxo, danamarie

Procrastination 101

... When you have 3 weekends of back to back shows to get ready for, why not watch "Indiana Jones and the raiders of the lost ark" (first time I've seen it) and tie-dye some tshirts instead?
While craft store shopping today (for last minute items and loose ends... Fabric paint, poly fil, magnets etc), I found a tie dye kit and decided AJ and I needed to make tshirts tonight.
Would I recommend this? Yes. Eat a burrito, watch Indy, put on a jazz remix compilation and dye your heart out. That's what I did. Xo, danamarie
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Good to go!

Wow! Thanks for all the emails today... You guys are really nice. Yes, I'm doing just fine. When I got to the doctor they found I had 6 baby teeth that were being stubborn (like puppy, liky teeth, I suppose) and we're crowding my big boy teeth, so Dr. Lee took them out while I was asleep too. I'm a *little* nervous about going to sleep tonight (what else might get taken?) but I'm happy to be home and in mommy's lap. Xo, mason
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Big day!

Hello 2-legged friends! I'm getting (gulp) nuetered today... I'm not nervous though; I'm almost 6 months old! I know it's the right thing to do and I'm very brave. And I'm very grown up; I graduated puppy kindergarten last night (ask me to sit, i'll do it!). I'll be at the doctor's office all day today so please think happy thoughts (and help my mom not to worry about me much... She has a lot of shows to get ready for... But i'll let her tell you all about those another day) xo, mason
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i can teach you to draw

like this? sure. why not... but baby steps, first ok? if you've always wanted to learn how to draw (but were afraid to start or didn't know where to begin) OR if you've been drawing but feel a little rusty, why not sign up for a Beginning & Continuing Drawing class? And heck, if you're gonna do that, why not let me be the one to teach you!?

I'm going to be teaching 2 sessions of drawing courses at School 33, from June 17 to July 15 and from july 22 to august 12th. classes will be held on tuesday evenings (partay!) from 6:30 to 8:30pm (so you can unwind after work!).

check out the education page for more info and to register.

hope to see you in class!
xoxo, danamarie