new year

I love resolutions. I do. I'm kinda lazy about enforcing them (like the year I vowed to cut back on swearing) but I enjoy making them. I think because I like making lists.

So this year I'm going to try:

*Get organized
*Keep going to the gym (because i joined and it turns out i actually like it. weird right?)
*dress better


My usual new years eve partner dropped out on me so i'm undecided if this is an excuse to a) Wander around this city solo and see what happens
b) Wander around NYC and see what happens
c) ring in the new year with my cat at my house
d) do something i would never do, but am actually kinda considering it, but i want to keep it to myself, cause a girl's gotta have some secrets, right?

back to work! (well, sorta)

After a bit of unscheduled (err... unplanned) stuff at work this morning, today is looking to be really slow, so I might take this opportunity to update the blogs I like to read and the policy stuff for my etsy shop.

Suggestions for blog-reading gladly accepted!

honeymoon over

and now it's time to go.
i miss my house and my mess and most of all, my fantastic cat. i'm going to be totally queer and put a picture of her here, cause i can, and cause i like falling into cliches such as 'blogging about cats'.

document the moment

right now i'm sitting in a rickety four-poster bed at my parents house, looking out the window at the sun rising, various animals outside,
warm laptop balanced on my leg.
it's christmas morning and everything feels right.

merry christmas!

finding inspiration everywhere

The haircut was successful! Unlike me linking to the picture.
I've been to Dino at Bang on U st. twice now, and I don't know how else to say it, but that man has great instincts about hair.
Plus, everyone *everyone* at Bang is hot and tattoo-ed. I remember last spring when I was there, one of the women had a Descendants/Milo tattoo, which is obviously a good sign.
I've been thinking a lot about clothes, and through etsy found this blog:
http://theblackapple.typepad.com/somegirlswander which is so totally inspirational on so many levels.
And through that blog i found this sweater:

Which might be an inspiration for altering some clothes i have around.

chop CHOP!

with my hard-earned craftin' money, i'm getting a haircut tonight. I think maybe something like this:

This is an article from the NY Times yesterday, it's mostly about Etsy, but it raises some good points about the indie craft community.

One of the subject breaks is titled: STEP 1: Weave Do-It-Yourself Spirit Into a Community. That's something I'd like to see my little craft-group do. For most intents and purposes, we tried to do that with the show we put on Saturday. And I think it showed. We raised almost $200 for the food pantry for the church we held the show in, and the turn out was great.
I wish more people believed in that philosophy. It is as simple as not littering in your neighborhood. If you think about your community and its space and its people, you're more likely to take care of it.
I think too, this is maybe part of the answer to a question posed by a friend of mine a few weeks ago. Why in certain neighborhoods public art projects tend to be "community involvement" instead of finding one, great artist that represents the neighborhood.
I couldn't answer it at the time, but I've been thinking about it, and I think perhaps it's that some neighborhoods have been neglected by their cities and their services so the residents feel a little neglected and they inturn neglect their own neighborhood with trash, letting abandoned cars sit, not reporting (or contributing to) graffitti-tags. Sometimes it takes a community effort to involve people and make them wake up to the place they live, and once residents feel like they've made (even a small piece of) change, attiudes begin to change and citizens can reclaim their neighborhood and effort and pride are exerted in their communities.
Anyway, read the article. Be inspired by something. Make stuff.

So much press!

The other ladies of the Craft Mutiny have been busy busting their humps to get a lot of press for the Holiday Booty Market. It's pretty incredible. We've had ads in the City Paper, DCist, the Post, etc...Now I'm afraid I'm going to be woefully unprepared for tomorrow...yikes!

I hope people come out...and don't haggle.

just added:

To my Etsy shop:

come out saturday!

This saturday is the Holiday Booty Market
5 Thomas Circle (the big circle at M &14th, near the farragut west metro)

It's in the ground floor of the City Church's free-trade gift shop. Entrance is on 14th street, north of the circle, on the west side of 14th.

You ever have one of those days where you have a hard time getting started?

yeah, today is one of those.

great weekend

wow.

the craftacular was awesome. I was next to Diana and Liza from Make Workshop http://www.makeworkshop.com/ who could not have been sweeter.
the vendors were so nice, the crowds were plentiful and wonderful. And not once did someone try to haggle with prices.

it was fantastic.

and the rock and shop at the black cat last night was great too! one person tried to haggle over the price of the cards that i was selling on tina's behalf.

seriously, people of DC. what is that? it's not a flea market. We make stuff, we price it at what we think is fair. You buy it.
i don't understand why people think it's ok to undervalue artwork. i guess maybe because of chain stores and mass-production, but still.

whales!

DSC00209
Originally uploaded by tigersscareme

I've made two whales out of a blue argyle sweater. i have another sweater that's the same shade of blue, but it has a grey stripe- for this one i sewed a piece of a grey sweater to the bottom.
the back is plaid wool

friends' favorites

I have some seriously talented friends...look at the new stuff in my friends' etsy shops!



From Rania.
It's so cute, i think i need one!

Here's something from Sean's shop


From Art:


And Tina:

nerves!

I'm getting so nervous for the craftacular!

i didn't accomplish quite as much as i hoped i would over the thanksgiving weekend, and last night i went to the gym and came home and fell asleep! I can't sleep!!! i have WAY too much to do!
yikes.


If you're so inclined (or locally placed) I'll be in Baltimore (in the great Hampden neighborhood) showing folks some ideas on homemade christmas ornaments.
That's first holiday hurdle!

I've got some fun ideas that i think are going to work out! here's info on the :
store - Earth Alley
The ornament making begins at 2:30 pm. December 1st! COme on out

happy

Last night i went to the 9:30 club to see the 1990's, art brut, and the hold steady. I've seen art brut and the hold steady a few times before and I was a little afraid that a bigger venue would equal more lunchboxes yowling around me, but i have to say, it was pretty pretty great.
so thanks, crowd, for not being a total lunchbox.

Now, since i was tagged by the lovely allthose3's, here are some things about me:
It's supposed to be 5 'weird' things, but i'm dreadfully normal, so here are just 5 (maybe surprising?)things i do:

1) I always carry earplugs with me (always) because i never know when a rock show is going to break out. It's true. It's happened. And it's good to be safe.
2) I joined a gym at the end of august. i'm actually down one pants-size so far which is exciting. I never thought i'd be that person, but I'm actually really into those stupid elliptical machines. It turns out, if you stick a tv in front of me, i can go forever. the worse the tv the better. bring it on saved by the bell!
3) this kinda goes with #2, but back in the day (and by that i mean highschool) i use to play soccer and softball and fieldhockey and such and then i hurt my knee kinda badly so i stopped. i would really like to play soccer or fieldhockey again.
4) i use to keep track of all the bands i've seen. like, in a notebook. i stopped.
5) i moved to this city knowing one person and only having been here once in 1994 when some friends and i drove down from indiana pennsylvania to see one of the last dog faced hermans shows my senior year of college. it was a fucking fun night but i still wonder why i moved here sometimes.

new for Bust!

Yesterday I made a family of owls, today i made a turtle. I'm working on getting everything to a point where i can finish it over thanksgiving up in PA.

NYC Here I come! (again!)

I was put on the waitlist for the Bust Craftacular in NYC on the 8th, and today I got an email saying there was an open spot.

so HOLY CRAP!

i'm going to NYC again...

it's funny, because i turned down a fun show to do something not fun because i already committed to the not fun one thinking 'i can't cancel when i've already said i would do it. i'm sure that this will help my karma'.

BAM!

Meet DC artists!

At 12 p.m. on Wednesday November 28, the public is invited to the Wilson Building for a guided tour through the City Hall public collection of art on permanent display on floors 1-5 of the Wilson building. The tour will be lead by a local artist featured in the collection- Denee Barr.

This is a unique chance to meet with local artists featured in the collection and have a discussion on being an artist in the Nation’s Capitol and to see a rich cross section of local artists (both established and emerging). This will be a bi-monthly occurrence.

The tour is free; however space is limited. Please RSVP to beth.baldwin@dc.gov with the number in your party. Meet at the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance — the building is located at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW. ID is required to enter the building.

birdhouse

birdhouse
Originally uploaded by tigersscareme

this is a little birdhouse i painted. i need to seal the exterior.

i'm not sure what i'm going to do with it...maybe sell it on etsy.

all i want for christmas

come one, come all....or hopefully at least a few...

What to do with the sweater

Aunt Hilda gave you last year?

free event

Baltimore, MD (Sept. 30, 2007)— Earth Alley, a new store in the heart of Hampden, is hosting this fun, holiday workshop on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007 from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Located at 3602 Elm Avenue, Earth Alley is one door up from the “Ave”.

Earth Alley is gearing up for holiday merriment. Come join Beth Baldwin to learn how to make colorful, felt ornaments for the holidays. Open to adults and children 10 and older. You will walk away with a one-of-kind creation that you can send back to Aunt Hilda.

Beth Baldwin is an artist living and working in DC. She has been a props artisan for the Shakespeare theatre for over 9 years and recently entered the world of Public Art. When not fitting art into government buildings, she is slowly building an army of felt dolls called "Baddies" to do her bidding.

You must bring your own felt, sewing needles and thread. This is a free event; however, space is limited - please rsvp by calling 410-366-2110.

September store hours are: Wednesday 5-8, Thursdays 4 – 7 p.m., Fridays & Saturdays 12:00 - 7:00 p.m., Sundays 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. More holiday hours to come!

31 hours in NYC

i'm taking a 2am bus to NYC's chinatown tonight...er, tomorrow morning...in 14 hours anyway.
i'm going with a friend because she wants to see some play that i think sounds kinda dreadful, but more importantly, i want to see this:
Richard Prince exhibit at the Guggenheim
i hope that this time, there isn't a chatty GW student on the bus chattering at 4:30 am.
i am rather fond of the wee hours of the night chinatown bus- you get on, go back to sleep, and wake up in NYC in time for breakfast. it's kind of delightful.

i'm wondering if in the serendipidious tradition of me traveling, they will be showing one of the ocean 11/12/13 movies. i am not kidding when i say one of those is playing whenever i travel, no matter the mode of transportation or the destination.

moustache coupon

moustache coupon
Originally uploaded by tigersscareme

Here's some incentive to see me saturday- Free Stuff!

print and clip this coupon and get a free moustache pin! or $2 off of something.

I dare you!

More places to find me

medium fungus
Originally uploaded by tigersscareme

On December 1, i'm going to show you some ideas with what to do with the ugly sweater your Aunt Hilda (or Barb, or Heloise) gave you last Christmas at Earth Alley in Baltimore. From 2-3. The workshop is free free free but if you want to bring materials, that's probably a good idea.

Also, I'll be at the Ballston Square Art market this Saturday [Thanks Tracy!!!] the 13th (oooooh spooky) in Ballston Virginia with two my my fellow Mutineers- Joy and Tina, so come on by. There might be a bloggy-incentive to come later in the week (like tomorrow) so we'll see if anyone actually reads this.

And finally- an update to my etsy shop. I kind of like the fact that no two Fun Gus' are alike. I mean, intentionally that is.

fun gus among us

fun gus among us
Originally uploaded by tigersscareme

this is part of the Fun Gus army at my house right now.

photo taken with my new camera!

new camera!

I'm happy to report i bought a new digital camera so today will be all about taking photos of things.
although i still must do laundry!

new gocco notebook

i just added this gocco notebook to my etsy shop.

forgotten paintings

i can't believe i forgot to bring these to crafty bastards.
Soon they'll be on my etsy shop...although i kind of want to keep the pink one

wiped out!

I think between my incredibly long sunday and having a guest for the last 4 days, I'm wiped out.

This weekend I'm going to update my etsy shop with the stuff that didn't sell at crafty bastards, so if you're looking for a stuffed peice of fungus or a robot notebook, you're in luck,

Crafty bastards

Crafty bastards
Originally uploaded by Cameron Nordholm

part of my booth at crafty bastards- someone else's photo.
also- two of my best helpers- duncan and kc

re-do! with links!

ok, so here here is the link to my interview about Crafty Bastards

ok, crossing fingers....

i've tried to do this before and it just ended up going back to my blog

interview

I filled out my Q&A for the crafty bastards blog.
you can read it here:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/craftybastards/index.php/2007/09/27/crafty-bastards-vendor-qa-with-magpie-dc/

mummsy

Meet (kind of) Mummsy.
The first girl Baddie.

Kind of like smurfette.

Here's her tag, i don't have any photos yet. I'm too busy trying to make at least ten of her for crafty

i finally made a tag for fun gus. my friend colleen is printing them out because she's awesome.

the semi-triumphant return of the photo

I busted my camera beyond repair the first week of july hence the lack of photos here. i'm uh....borrowing one. i'll leave it at that. hopefully i can replace my sony after i, you know, get paid. wow that's going to be nice.
anyhow, i've been working like a fiend for crafty bastards so here's a sneak peak...

a new painting called "put up your dukes". the line is from a shadow from a window mullion.



This purse was something I've had for a while. it's a bunch of wooden beads strung together (i bought it at a thrift store) but I taped out a skull design and spray stenciled it on.



another thing i'm doing is trying to make a bunch of small "paintings" with a magnet on the back so you can put them on your refridgerator or filing cabinet or whatever.



and lastly, here's one of my bucket 'o dolls.


I have a little cold, but this cold medicine has made me strangely focused. I also made butternut squash soup this afternoon. i've been productive!

tomorrow!

Art romp is big and great. you should go check it out if you can.
tomorrow is adams morgan day.i'm nervous and excited. i'm happily sharing a tent with colleen and we're renting a zip car since my car decided to get sick last week and i haven't had a chance to take it into the shop. i'm shooting for monday am (super ridiculously early) so everyone, think non-transmission thoughts if you would.

oh please let it be a fuel problem....please please please.

If you want me, you can find me:

I'll have a painting in ArtRomp 20 (the final one!) At the Warehouse 1019 7th st. NW DC
Opening is September 7th.

Sunday September 9 is Adams Morgan day I'll be on Belmont Ave. with a bunch of other phenomenal folk selling stuff and then the biggie:

Sunday September 30- CRAFTY BASTARDS.

Yikes, i gotta get sewing...

alternative etsy options?

Does anyone recommend alternatives to Etsy?
Not that I don't enjoy the site, because I mostly do.

I've just found 2 people copying my stuff which bummed me out because their stuff is actually selling.

I think i'm pretty done with etsy in general. I'll leave it up through crafty bastards and after that it's going away.

The Big News

Ok, so the big news is that I have a new job!
Starting the 27th, of August, I will be the new coordinator for the Art Bank program with the DC commissison on the arts and humanities.

My boss is completely freaking out.
But with the state of the theatre and how they're choosing to ignore working conditions and storage/space issues there's no way I can stay.

So, good bye Shakespeare Theatre. It's been fun. Sometimes.

I will miss having good stories about what idiots actors are to tell my friends.

I have big exciting news that i technically can't talk about here until probably this afternoon.

although if you're a friend, you already know.

but wow, this is killing me.

also killing me: so much driving in the past week....baltimore and back, philly and back, west virginia and back. this is the final week for fort reno which is good. i've been too tired (and busy) doing other stuff that i'm barely ready for adams morgan day which is now less than a month away!

YIKES

Hello Baltimore!

I dropped off a few dolls at a soon-to-open store called Earth Alley in the Hampden section of Baltimore yesterday.
Eva is the owner and is about as nice as can be.
There's a blog here: http://earthalley.blogspot.com/
The store opens on September 1. And i think i'll get to do a workshop with kids where they can design a monster and articulate it into a 3-d monster.

I am so thrilled that I have some dolls in Hampden. And I think Earth Alley is going to be a *really* great store!

I've been trying to work on some color tags for the shippment up to Boston. I don't think it's going to work.
i might make these images into pins.
we'll see.

Back from Chicago

Wow i'm exhausted. 3 days of rock at pitchfork (saw: Slint (astounding), Gza, Sonic Youth, Grizzly Bear (meh), Battles (killed), Mastadon (super killed), Of Montreal, Steven Malkmus (adorable and engaging), Sea and Cake (awesome new stuff), New Pornographers (less-awesome new stuff), Jamie Liddel (annoying), Clipse (really great), iron and wine (meh).
Part of me regrets not seeing De La Soul, but my feets are tired. they still are.
My favorite moment might have been seeing Brian McMahan all but swallow the mic at the end of "Good morning captain"
I wish tina and aaron had been there.

Now i need to switch gears and start making stuff!
Also, look for a small-ish interview with me in the Washington Times on Friday about the X in DC event. I'm everywhere!!!

meet me in person! or not....

three exiting things for Magpie DC-
1) if you're in Boston, there's a store called MAGPIE (no relation) who will have a small amount of Baddie dolls.

2)On September 30, I will be taking part in the Crafty Bastards craft fair in Washington DC
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/craftybastards

3) can't wait that long? I'll be at the Adams Morgan Day Art on Belmont festival too.


I'd better get sewing!!!

new art!

today I made one new small painting:


and i listed it as well as three other works in my etsy shop:



hopefully something will sell before i leave for Chicago.

someone outside is setting off firecrackers.
i hate this time of year.

Pro Photos

Allow me to pimp my friend Pete Duvall of http://www.anythingphoto.net

He took super pro photos of my dolls. I think they look lovely

baby batty

baby batty
Originally uploaded by tigersscareme

This is a baby proof version of the Batty for my friend eric's kid's first birthday.

I hope it doesn't scare him.

Make new friends!

Be friends with the Baddies!

Join Astro-NOT! and Zee Handsome Devil
While they await their friends Fun Gus and Batty and Bruised Ghost.

Thank You!!!

Thanks to all the incredibly nice people at X in DC tonight.
WOW!
I thought i was going to be an old indie rocker in a sea of young hip electronica kids, but I genuinely loved everyone i met.

Everyone was so kind and encouraging. It was really great and really fun, and holy crap, how 'bout those Pop Rock martinis?
yum!!

pictures sometime soon!
if you took some, please send 'em my way!!!

today is the 88/X thing.

I am incredibly nervous. As I always am before a new event. I'm just wondering, should I bring a book?

Ikea has an ingenious new-ish thing- it's a little metal rolling dolly that you can stack individual drawers on.
I bought the trolley and one drawer yesterday on an ikea trip with my boss.

I can't find pictures of it on the website, so i'll have to assemble it and take pictures and post it here, because if you do craft shows and carry 4 boxes of stuff, this might be for you...

ok, i have to water my garden, feed the cat, make a few more things and shower..
oh! and get ready for this thing too..
yipes!

this is how it goes

when i get tired, i lose things.

Friday was the epic losing of the keys (12 hour search)
Sunday night/monday/tuesday/now I have lost my cell phone.

i am due for an upgrade anyway i think...i've had that phone for a little over 2 years. i love that phone 'tho.

Have you seen me?

Astro-NOT on myspace

My brother's girlfriend brilliantly said "you should make a myspace page for each baddie!"
So I totally am.
here's astro-NOT
http://www.myspace.com/astronot9

be his friend, won't you?

on deck

I'll be at
here on June 19th. It looks pretty slick and I'm afraid I'm going to be out of place with my messy little felt dolls. But who knows...

I had a second interview yesterday with a store that sells paper and Gocco supplies. And it's lovely. And the people who work there are lovely. But the pay is incredibly bad.

I would start at what I made 9 years ago basically, and lose 1/3 of my income which is scary.
It might be too scary to make the leap.

Here are some +/- of the situation.

+ cute store
+nice area (probably wouldn't find dead hookers, used condomns and human feces-smeared socks outside of the store. All of which have been found outside of the prop shop. Hey, both places have the initials "PS".)
+learn skills like letter press and book binding
+there would be opportunities to grow and take on to earn more money.
+hours are from 10-7
+they have air conditioning (the work room at the prop shop can get up to 103 degrees in the summer, and this winter with one heater down, it wouldn't get above 54 degrees)
+probably wouldn't be as tired when i got home.

-if i chose to bus, then metro, then bus it would take about an hour and 20 minutes. which means if i work until 7, i won't be home until 8:30 and having dinner at 9
-i would absolutely have to take on at least one more part time job, and i wanted to get out of the job i have now so i can work more on my own art stuff. and i'm not going to sew on the bus. i'm sorry, but i'm just not.
- no sick days. limited health insurance (no vision...which i don't need, but i do enjoy a good sick day every now and again)
-i am by myself. i have no one to fall back on if i get behind in bills which i am barely making right now i would be completely screwed.

which i think maybe sums up what i need to do.
there's no way i can cut $10,000 out of my yearly pay and still live. there's just no way.
I would never see my friends, I'd be constantly worried about money that I would do nothing but work 24-7. Is that the kind of life I want?

But do I want to work in a 100 degree work room in the summer....

oh lord, help?

ceiling ian

am i the only person that when i see this:
thinks of this:

in!

I've been invited to join this motley group of crafters:

http://www.craftmutiny.com

bye bye artomatic!

here are some photos from my installation.
I'm going back tomorrow to finish taking it down. i am really going to miss it.
I would definitely say that this has been my most favorite artomatic yet. i got an email from an online webzine about showing my stuff on their site. it looks like a cool site too, so i'm excited. i hope it really happens.

man, i have to get to work. i have a lot to do before monday...i don't know when i'm going to get everything done.

I'm about the business

In case you haven't, I really urge you to go to itunes or the mp3 purchasing site of your choice and download at *least" "chuck baby" by Chuck Brown.
At least do that. It will be the summer jam for sure.

Do it. Do it now.
I'm not lying.

prop pod

also, in a show i'm working on, there are 3 ipods. hamlet gives ophelia a big pink one.

that they throw on the floor every night.
i'm not giving those asses a real one when they can't even keep their hands on a 10 foot length of rope.
so i made this.

(it's a chunk of plywood that inset a piece of plexi glass, and then photoshopped a screen and copied it onto acetate and laminated it to the "pod" and then coat the whole thing with "triple thick" varnish.

I have to say, it looks really good.

the song choice? "you're my miss washington DC" by nation of ulysses....naturally...

new painting

i made this little guy saturday.
i'm pretty in love with him

great sunday

I would have liked to have spent today with my mom, but i got to spend it with rania and sean and colleen at art o matic.
i also got to see the most awesomest kid that ever awesomed:
that's him with my collection of monsters. i hope his mom brings him to fort reno this summer. as you can see, he's the coolest and most adorable 6 year old ever.
he told me all about the monsters that he's going to create- i can't wait to see them at the next artomatic.

it made me think, this time around, artomatic wanted people to do little workshops with them....maybe i'll do a monster one next time...

oh my god, what's happening? i like kids???!?!???!?


also, here's my table


and lastly- look at the size of this fucking poisonivy plant!!!!



i am beat but i need to unpack the car

but i just heard 3 gun shots, so i'll wait to go outside....they vertainly didn't sound like they were outside. but still....kinda close.