More Shows this weekend!

I can't believe I still have two more shows on my holiday calendar!

it's been a very busy season. Lucky for all of us, though, there's still plenty of good stuff to be found!

"Yes, there's another chance to shop handmade for the holidays in the Baltimore area. The Squidfire Art Mart moves from its original location at the Lyric Theater to a larger arena, the DuBurns Arena on Boston Street in Canton.This event is this Saturday, December 12 from 11 - 6. This new space not only has parking but guarantees more vendors that get to have a 10 ' X 10' space! Look for more mini- boutiques instead of just table top stores! Members from BEST that will be participating in this show include greenstarstudio, dandelion blu, thebrokenplate,sugar paperie, sweetpepita, jennyjen42, Yummy & Company,worndress, jenmenkhaus, Lana Bella, JerseyGirlDesign, CEK Custom Designs, & Tlane."

(thanks JennyJen42 for the post!)

And if that's still not enough-- your last chance to get greenstargoods (in person) is Sunday, December 13th at Last Minute Maul, at School 33! 10-5pm, 1427 Light Street. Phew!

Cloning & time travel...

So, this weekend I will splitting myself in thirds and spreading out all over the state. OUCH. Luckily, I have wonderful crafty friends in the BEST ladies and we'll all be pitching in to help each other out. So, while I may not be there, you'll be able to find my work at three different shows over two days.

On Saturday, you can find my work at the BEST table at the Charm City Craft Mafia's Holiday Heap-- at St. Johns church on St Paul Street. I wont be there, because I will be running the BEST booth over in Greenbelt, MD, at the Greenbelt Festival of Lights.

Join greenstarstudio, Jen Menkhaus, Sweet Pepita, TigerlillyShop, Jersey Girl Design, Yummy & Company, and DandelionBlu for two days of shopping and demonstrations, workshops and presentations, by dozens of artists.
The Festival takes place indoors at the Greenbelt Community Center, Saturday, December 5th from 10-5 and Sunday, December 6th from 11-4pm.

On Sunday, my work will still be for sale at Greenbelt, but I will have moseyed over to Out of Hand; Sunday Dec.6, 10am - 5 pm; Knights of Columbus Hall
201 Homeland Avenue (on the edge of the Notre Dame campus just off Charles Street)
Baltimore, 21212

Should be fun. And insane. Come out and help me not lose my flippin mind. Thanks.

Shop Handmade & help put food on some tables...

It has been a difficult year for many Marylanders because of the tough economy. Many are without jobs and without food. In an effort to help those in need this holiday season, several BEST members will be donating a percentage of money from the the sales of their handmade items from December 1-14. Buyers will have a unique opportunity to support handmade and help feed hungry Marylanders.

The Maryland Food Bank provides nearly 14 million pounds of food annually to 1,000 Network Partners - including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, low-income day care centers, after-school programs, senior centers, rehabilitation centers, and other feeding programs. They supply food for over 50,000 Marylanders each week who otherwise would go hungry or not eat enough, including families with children, the elderly, the homeless, the homebound, low-income workers, the recently unemployed, and people with AIDS and other health problems. For every $1 contributed to the Maryland Food Bank, they are able to provide 3 meals to Maryland’s needy families and individuals.

From December 1st through 14th, the following participating BEST members will be donating a percentage of their sales:

blockpartypress- 10% of Etsy sales
sweetpepita- 10% of all Etsy sales
jenmenkhaus- 10% of all Etsy sales
glowgirl - 10% of all Etsy sales
yummyandcompany- 10% of all Etsy sales
atelieradornments - 10% of all Etsy sales
lanabella - 10% of all Etsy sales
lolamiren - 10% of all Etsy sales
thebrokenplate - 10% of all Etsy sales
tigerlillyshop - 10% of all Etsy ring sales
greenstarstudio - 10% of all Etsy sales

Take some time to visit these Etsy shops, support handmade and know that when you make a purchase between Dec. 1 - 14, you will be helping to provide food and services to someone in need this holiday season. Here are some other ways to support the MD Food Bank:

* Make a direct monetary donation

* Purchase and donate food through the Food Bank's “Virtual Food Drive”

* Deliver the food directly to the Maryland Food Bank at 2200 Halethorpe Farms Road. Please call 410-737-8282 to arrange your delivery.

* Volunteer Opportunities

(Thanks Tamara, of BlockPartyPress, for organizing this drive & writing this lovely post).

Cyber Monday! Free Shipping all day!

Well, it's Cyber Monday... which is the new "Black Friday" and to celebrate, you can get a whole lot of stuff and save money on shipping...

Yes, all day long, anything you pick up in the shop will ship for FREE! Just load up your cart, checkout and pay, then I will refund your shipping costs. Its very easy. You don't even need a code!

And, since we are in the midst of crazy show season, if you attended a show and are looking to pick up something you saw there or if you're searching for something you just don't see listed in my shop, just email me and ask--- if I have it, it's yours and the shipping will STILL be free!

Plus, keep an eye on the shop all day for updates and new listings... recycled plastic ornaments, greeting cards, masks, wallets and a whole lot more.

xoxo, danamarie

BAZAART preview party tonight (and free shipping thru Monday!)

Why spend Black Friday battling at the Mall?
Why not try a GREEN Friday? Free Shipping in my shop all weekend. Just fill your cart and check out. I'll send you a revised invoice within a day, then you pay. Much easier than driving all over town, right?

Local? Why not come out to Bazaart at the American Visionary Art Museum? Friday is a special preview party- for a nominal ticket price, you'll get first dibs on all the good stuff AND free open bar and lite fare.

Or, come on out on Saturday (10 to 5) for free!

Wanna know what's in store for ya?
I've got *brand new color your own holiday card sets* recycled plastic ornaments* slim profile felt wallets* coffee cozies* Color your own OoAkie kits* organic cotton onesies* baby hats* bibs* coloring books* Recyclimals* gift tags* postcards* keychains* soap* tshirts* brooches* magnets* stickers and more... And of course, brand new Knitimals!

So, why not save yourself the running around today, eh?

See you soon!
xo, danamarie
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Black Friday & "Something" Saturday at Bazaart!

I'm not sure what you call the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but I know where I'll be when it rolls around... For the past 5 years I have been fortunate enough to juried into the MOST amazing show of the Holiday Season, and this year I'll be introducing some BRAND NEW GOODIES too! So, if you're looking for a great Mall-ternative for Black Friday, this year? You can find me and 2 of my good buddies from BEST; (your's truly- Greenstarstudio, my very talented bird loving friend- JennyJen42 & and maker of a million cool things- Tigerlillyshop) at Bazaart at the American Visionary Art Museum!

Friday Evening • November 27 • 5:30–8:00PM:BAZAART Preview Party & Sale Beat the crowds! An opportunity to get the first shot at the original creations by 50 regional artists and craftspeople prior to the Saturday Bazaart extravaganza (see 11/28 listing). Spend a relaxing evening strolling among Bazaart artisans and their wares while nibbling light fare and enjoying a special beverage. Location: American Visionary Art Museum, Jim Rouse Visionary Center, 3rd Floor. Admission to Preview Party & Sale: $20 at the door.

Saturday • November 28 • 10AM-5PM • FREE ENTRY: BAZAART: Artful Holiday ShoppingAmerican Visionary Art Museum's Annual Holiday Marketplace of original creations by 50 regional artists and craftspeople. Painting, sculpture, papercrafts, metalwork, jewelry, textiles, mixed media, and other work that simply defies categorization! FREE ENTRY. Location: American Visionary Art Museum, Jim Rouse Visionary Center 3rd Floor. Note: Bazaart shoppers are welcome to tour the entire Jim Rouse Visionary Center for Free! Ongoing exhibitions include the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre automata, Baltimore Screen Painters, Emily Duffy's Bra Ball and more.
***********I'll be posting some "sneak peeks" at what you can expect to find in the Greenstarstudio booth, over the course of the week. Mark your calendars now; crack open that piggy bank; and get ready for the best darn show around!

the most awesome things ever...

you know what the BEST possible gift would be for a gal who loves plush (almost) as much as she loves her dog, whom she loves (almost) as much as she loves her husband, on their first wedding anniversary?

you dont?

i do. this....
that's us... as Plush.

HOLY CRINKLE CUT FRIES!

this beautiful awesomeness is the work of my dear internet friend, Leeanna (only recently did she become my dear "in real life" friend too, when we were able to hang at PlushYou in Seattle). What seems like a million years ago, I started emailing with dear Leeanna (whose shop name is Plush Goodness... and boy is it ever); i honestly don't remember what precipitated the emails, or who did the writing first. What i DO remember is that right away i felt a kindred spirit thing going on on the other end of the wireless waves. I felt like I'd known her for years, and i really liked her work, to boot! Not too long after, Leeanna commissioned me to make a Knitimal version of their dog, Waffle (whose photo is below because i just love her to pieces and she's Mason's internet-girlfriend, and we're pretty sure Waffle is part wirehaired dachshund).


But i digress..
Anyway, I feel like it was somewhere around there that she told me she'd made a plush version of her husband and herself for her niece, and when i saw the pictures of them, i was totally sold (i was pretty sold before the pictures anyway). I asked Leeanna if she'd consider doing Plush-Catures (has her hubby coined them... oh, shout out to Ben; "hi ben!"... he's pretty cool himself) of AJ & i. She said yes. I did a back flip. I said, what about Mason? of course. Double back flip. For our anniversary? You got it. Triple Backflip.

Then came the waiting.
How would I wait for our anniversary to come around? I was excited enough already, plus the promise of awesome new plush? i didnt think i could make it. OR, keep it a secret from AJ!

Luckily... that time finally came, and well, I think the surprise went well...

I sent along photos, and invited her to check out our private wedding blog (for pics dating back over a decade); Leeanna asked some very good questions, designed to get the most out of her subjects. I provided her with nuggets of info and color preferences and little things that would make the pieces REALLY ring true.

Like for example, the extra careful attention paid to Mason's double coat. You can't really see it here, but the legs have two layers of fleece "fur" that actually move and wisp like Mason's hair. She captured his two tone ears and really got his majestic tail. And there's gorgeous stitching on the body to accent his blond highlights and dark brown lowlights. (he's not a diva... i just diva-fy him).

AJ's wearing his favorite colors & cool stripy socks (a must have in my boy's collection!). She totally captured his giant, wonderful smile. We both love his ears. Again, you cant see the detail here, but the jeans look SO real. The gold stitching on the pockets and fly front are impeccable. And, i'm told, Leeanna used reclaimed denim & other materials because she knew we'd want it that way. That's how we roll.

me? well, i'm easy. All i need is a t-shirt with the neck cut out (check), a comfy pair of jeans (check) and a pair of crocs (double check.. how flippin cute are they!?). She got my two tone hair & my favorite colors... and notice my smile is more of a smirk than a big full on smile?

yep. that's good detail.

So, know that we were the first ones to set this trend, but if you're interested in being Plushed, visit her shop and drop her a line. We've already decided she's going to make a new set of Us's for our anniversary every, oh, 10 years or so.

****Leeanna, we love ya. These are AMAZING****

Come & get em! Knitimal ornaments at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation today! 9:30 - 5pm

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

year one: a lot like day one, but with different colored scarves

I'm not one for tradition. I mean, traditions I believe in, maybe, but anything else is just silly. I've heard of brides saving the top of their wedding cake to eat on their anniversary--- we had donuts and bagels, and while their ARE things in our freezer that are over a year old, a Dunkin Donuts double chocolate and an Einstein Brothers potato bagel would never have lasted that long. Not in this carb-loving house.

I know some brides save their bouquet to make potpourri with--- my bouquet was a stack of lovingly cut tracings of my favorite people's hands. And it has lived in a vase in our living room for a year.

I know some brides rush to the cleaners to get their dresses out of storage, to see if they still fit in them--- I didn't have a dress. I dont really "do" dresses. I wore a grey sweater... in fact, we both wore grey sweaters. With matching orange scarves. Our wedding was sweet and simple, and afterward, we went for a long stroll around Annapolis... in November. We were thinking practicality.

*********

our one year anniversary was this past tuesday.

I teach Tuesday nights, and while i flirted with the idea of canceling class so that we could go out on our actual anniversary, it didn't feel right... i really like my students.

So, we decided we'd celebrate on Wednesday night instead, which was fine with me... it'd give me the whole day to "primp" (which, I'm sure you realize, i didnt do. I spent the day making Knitimal Ornaments). We knew we were going Pazo for our dinner (thanks to AJ's placing in the City Paper Comics Contest... fat ol' gift certificate to the amazing Pazo tapas restaurant in Fells Point... if you haven't gone, go); AJ made the reservation and told them it was our anniversary, because it was and because they asked. We semi-secretly wondered if it would amount to anything. We're both artists. Free stuff is always good stuff.

We'd only been to Pazo once before, and it was on someone else's very generous dime. I remembered it being super swanky, and with a dress code.

Anyway, I lamented the "dress" code, because honestly, it takes a lot to get me in a dress. And if you follow me on Twitter, you know I also spent the day lamenting about having to put on a dress. I'm not really a dress person, but it was our anniversary and you know, you have to look nice if you're gonna go out and be all fancy (especially if you only do it once a year!).

I had just showered and pulled the dress in question out of a ball of previously rejected and not ever hung back up clothes in the corner of my closet (Ugh. Now i have iron too), when AJ got home and said "Is there a dress code for tonight?". I said "i was going to wear the black dress" and he said "oh, i was thinking we could wear our sweaters".

o. m. g.

the sweaters!

YES, of COURSE we'd wear our sweaters.

THIS is why I married this man.

So, there we were in our sweaters & green scarves, this year. Semi recreating this photo, which we took before we left the house on our Wedding Day:

And for those wondering (because i totally would be): Dinner was amazing. So amazing that my hubby, who loathes (hunny, can i say "loathes"? how bout "is really not a fan of") fish, said the BEST part of dinner was the medium rare Tuna & the scallops. (the Tuna with Avocado Salsa Verde is AMAZING. go to Pazo and get it). Our server, Tara, was a sweetheart. There was a very loud table of some sort of business type people with a guy leading cheers right behind us (i should also note that we had the entire top section of the restaurant to ourselves, save for them), and everyone in the restaurant seemed annoyed and intrigued by him, to the point that the hostess, upon our leaving, asked us if we had done any cheering with him. It didn't really bother us much... it was more interesting than anything, but Tara came over at one point and apologized for them and said they'd be buying us dessert. She came back over a while later with two glasses of champagne and told us that she'd decided that since the loud guy had agreed to get us something, she thought it better to get him to give us champagne since it was worth more and that SHE would buy us dessert.

ah, free stuff.

happy anniversary, mr. greenstar!

*******
note: i couldn't decide on which picture i liked best... our "album cover", our "demure love" or our "holiday card", so i used em all. This is the combined result of a camera on self timer and a squirmy dachshund that insists on licking your mouth or nose whenever cameras are pointed his way.

Felt Frog & Pig: Love Story for the Decades

today is our one year wedding anniversary. of course, its hard for either of us to look at our relationship as only "one year old", especially because i know we both feel like we've known each other and loved one another our entire lives.

when i was younger (and even not so young) i was in love with Kermit the Frog.
No, really.
Seriously, truly in love with him.
Like, I wanted to marry him, in love.

I never understood why Kermit & Miss Piggy were an item. I didn't see how she could make him happy; she seemed really overbearing and loud; she was bossy and bold; she had tons of thick blonde hair and always seemed to storm off in a huff if she didn't get her way.

Kermit--- i would love you in a way Piggy couldn't.

Now, of course, i never married Kermit (though i think about it still...), but i also never stopped loving him. As I got older, i started to understand their relationship more. Piggy WAS bold, but she was a perfect catalyst for meek Kermit-- she pushed him to do things and take risks. She was loud, but it was only because Kermie was so quiet. She wanted things her way... but I saw her compromise too. Maybe they were made for each other, afterall.

***********

A year and some months ago, AJ & i took a trip to DC to see the Jim Henson exhibit at the Smithsonian. It was beautiful. I wept. I felt inspired. We both marveled at his genius--- at the love & passion and integrity Henson poured into everything he made. We were in awe of the work we knew had made us "different" and had helped to sculpt us as young artists and impassioned people.

At some point in the day I decided I didn't want to wait anymore for "the perfect moment", or until we had "enough money" or "enough time"; we'd been talking about getting married for years and we both knew we were supposed to be together; why wait any longer? We were walking in through mall, after the show, on our way to the DC Zoo, when I just said "will you marry me? Let's get married. Let's just do it". I knew I'd taken some of the "boy power" out of the whole proposal thing... but that's just how I am; i don't believe in convention--- i see something I want, and i get it. Call me overbearing or bossy, but I was tired of waiting, and I knew AJ was waiting for "the right time". I wanted him to know it WAS the right time... in fact, we'd waited too long already. Kermit & Piggy never worried about other people. Hell, they got married despite my belief that they belonged together!

***********

We put together this wedding blog as a way of sharing our adventure with our family & friends and picked November 10th as the day we'd have the ceremony performed, mostly because it was a day I already had off and AJ was able to get the day off. We wanted to have a night away, and the 10th was the most viable day for it. I liked the idea of sharing November with Thanksgiving and my parent's anniversary... but honestly, November is a very busy month for me and getting it done sooner than later just worked.

I sang "Somebody's Getting Married" (from the Muppets Take Manhattan) and used that as our wedding day post on the blog. I couldn't help feel like the Muppets were responsible in a few different ways... I mean, Kermit & Piggy taught me about love, right? And I guess, if I'm being totally honest... AJ & I do kinda have a Kermit & Piggy thing going on.

************

A year has passed and I am reflecting on the day we said "I do". Remembering too, how much i loved the sentiment expressed in the song from Kermit & Piggy's wedding... "he makes her happy... she makes him happy... she makes me happy... he makes me happy, that's all I need to know". And he does. And it is.

I sat down to write this post and got a message from a friend; a tweet, actually, wishing us and Sesame Street a happy anniversary. I assumed it was a generalization, until I read this article. Turns out, 40 years ago today, Sesame Street premiered. Jim Henson's brilliance was launched into the mainstream, and 10 years later I would start watching it, learning from it. I would meet the Muppets too. And 16 years after that, I'd meet AJ. And at an exhibit celebrating his life and work, we'd decide to get married, for real, on November 10th, just because it fit in our schedules.

And a year later, to the day, we'd be sharing our anniversary with Sesame Street.

How cool is that?
About as cool as we are, that's how.