Vendor Q&A with de*nada

What is your craft all about?
de*nada is an emerging accessories line, specializing in handmade knits for women and men. The word itself commonly means, “you’re welcome” in Spanish.



How did you get started in your craft?
When I created de*nada, it happened naturally that I started off designing handbags and t-shirts, which later led to designing knit accessories. Since I studied fiber art in college, the design process for knits came to me a lot more organically than designing handbags for example. This year, I’m focusing entirely on knit accessories and just launched my new
collection for autumn/winter 2009.



Where can folks find your craft outside the Handmade Mart?
de*nada products can be found at select retailers worldwide. To view a current list of retailers, please visit www.denadadesign.com.

Visit me at booth #26!

What is your craft all about?
We create the finest knit custom goods, with our main focus (especially this time of year) being Christmas Stockings. We focus on making heirloom quality products that can be passed down from generation to generation. We also produce beautiful stationery and sewn items, such as custom fabric flowers, and die cut notecard sets.


How did you get started in your craft?
Wow, we've been knitting since we can remember! My grandmother taught my mom, and my mom taught me. We come from a family of knitters, and we're happy to carry on the tradition as a mother and daughter business. We've had the business for 10 years.



What is your favorite piece/product you will have with you at the Handmade Mart?
I really love them all. I think the fabric flowers are my favorites, but maybe only because they are the newest!



Where has your craft taken you?
We sell products across the states and around the world, so it has made our stockings part of Christmas traditions all over the place. We pride oursleves on customer service and quality products, so it has been great over the years to receive so many heartfelt emails thanking us for doing what we love to do!

Visit me at booth #27!

Vendor Q&A with Dirtfarm

What is your craft all about?
Therapy.

How did you get started in your craft?
Needed therapy.



What inspires you to make what you make?
Probably boredom originally, but nowadays it's the deadlines. Stupid deadlines.

What techniques do you use?
Pulling my hair, banging my head, complaining a lot, threatening to quit... You name it!



What is your favorite piece/product you will have with you at the Handmade Mart?
Haha. How about my PEACE OF MIND?! Hahahahaha. ZING! See how I turned that around there?

Where has your craft taken you?
Some very strange places. And also to beautiful Silver Spring!



Where can folks find your craft outside the Handmade Mart?
Washington City Paper, the Express, Baltimore City Paper, Chicago Reader, & a few other places.
Also at bendependent.com.

Visit me at booth #49!

Vendor Q&A with Natty Paint

How did you get started in your craft?
Natty Paint is the product of years of painting and fine arts training, combined with my interests in fashion and the music world. I started painting on clothing with puffy paints and spray paints in high school, and continued throughout college. The first official Natty Paint shirt was created in December 2008 as a Christmas gift for my roommate. It was a sweatshirt handpainted with puffy paints, based off a collage I had pasted together from various magazines and design books, and then projected onto the back of the sweatshirt. During my free time in my spring semester senior year in college, I learned the process of silkscreening in order to be able to produce many shirts in the same amount of time it took for me to handpaint one.



What inspires you to make what you make?
I am inspired by electronic musicians, it seems bright colors and geometric forms are popular in with this music genre. I also look at art from the 70s and 80s for inspiration, as well as the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods.

What is your favorite piece/product you will have with you at the Handmade Mart?
I am very excited about the silkscreen vintage clothing I have recently started to sell. It's chic and sustainable at the same time!

Visit me at booth #4!

Vendor Q&A with b-kao

What is your craft all about?My one-of-a-kind clothing, handbags, and accessories are made using primarily reclaimed and vintage materials. Each piece is made with an original B-KAO pattern and is constructed with care and attention to detail.



How did you get started in your craft?
I taught myself how to sew at a very young age because I liked figuring out how to construct things. About ten years ago, I started sewing more seriously, which led to selling clothing and handbags in independently owned brick and mortar stores and online retail shops.



What inspires you to make what you make?Colors, textures and patterns all inspire me to create things. Once I see something interesting, I immediately know what I want to make with it.



Where can folks find your craft outside the Handmade Mart?

You can find my products online in my Etsy shop, bkao.etsy.com and website's shop, b-kao.com. My website also lists the boutiques that carry my clothing and handbags. But the best place to purchase things are at craft fairs because there's a wider selection and you can try them on! If you go to b-kao.com, you can find out where all the upcoming fairs are!

Visit me at booth #48!

Vendor Q&A with Chaya Tile Works & Pottery

How did you get started in your craft?
I took my first pottery class in 1996, where I learned primarily to throw on the wheel. Since then I have taken a tile-making class at the Corcoran School of Art. My current focus is hand-building and tile-making.



What inspires you to make what you make?
I am inspired by the arts and crafts tradition, my Jewish heritage, as well as patterns I find in nature.



What techniques do you use?
Some of my functional pottery is made by rolling out slabs of clay and pressing or adding texture to the clay before forming it into its final shape. I create other forms using the pinch pot technique.

My tile making process begins with a single pattern, which I carve into plaster. I press clay into the carved design to create a prototype. This is then used to make a second mold. Once this mold is dry, I press clay in to make the finished tiles. I usually glaze my pieces in a single color to emphasize the beauty of the design.



Where can folks find your craft outside the Handmade Mart?
My pottery is available at Art Spring in downtown Silver Spring.

Visit me at booth #15!

Vendor Q&A with Oh Ginger

What is your craft all about?
My craft extends far beyond Oh Ginger and includes my desire to make the things I need above and beyond mainstream consuming. The crafts I design for Oh Ginger use interesting textures, vintage ephemera, bold and exciting colors and affordable materials. The crafts I create in my day to day life run the gamut from curtains to cookies. Both facets of my crafting life are full of fun, simplicity, and whimsy.



How did you get started in your craft?
Though my my mother and grandmother are the root of my crafting abilities, two years ago I sprained my ankle and was sidelined on the sofa for the 4th of July weekend. A few weeks prior, I learned about Etsy through a coworker and was amazed at the abundant creativity and craftiness. I pulled out some old supplies that I hadn't touched in years and began making. I haven't stopped since.



Where has your craft taken you?
Far, far beyond anything I ever imagined, to be honest. It's brought me closer to my peers in ways I never dreamed possible. It has made the relationship between my mom and I even closer. Crafting is magical. Through it I've been able to make a ton of new friends, I started my blog (http://www.queeringdomesticity.com) and I also helped start the nation's only queer craft group, the Queer Crafter Collective (http://www.queercraftercollective.com). Perhaps the most significant lesson I've learned from craft is that, like most things, it intersects with so many other facets of the human experience - crafting is political, personal and all about community.



Where can folks find your craft outside the Handmade Mart?
Most everything I create is available at www.ohginger.com!

Visit me at booth #20!

Vendor Q&A with El Jefe Design

Get a sneak peak at our Holiday Shop-n-Stroll crafters and artists, as we showcase their vendor interviews on our blog throughout November.

First up, we're excited to present our Q&A with local designer, Jeffrey Everett, of El Jefe Design:



What is your craft all about?
We create hand made screen prints for local and national touring bands. They are all limited edition on archival paper. We also do clothing and art prints.



How did you get started in your craft?
I started four years ago and got started by taking a class on screen printing while in NYC. I need something to print so I started hitting up bands - posters for free tickets. It snowballed from there.



What inspires you to make what you make?
I get inspired by all my great friends and family and want to help out bands that I respect.

What techniques do you use?
Screen printing is the number one when it comes to finished products but we start out doing pencil sketches before moving to the computer to finish everything for print.



What is your favorite piece/product you will have with you at the Handmade Mart?
I am really excited about our Gaslight Anthem posters as well prints for DEVO, M. Ward, Soulsavers, and series for The Raveonettes.

Where has your craft taken you?
I have been able to get into galleries and exhibits, see my work in magazines, lecture at schools and awesome summits, and get to hang out with bands I like. I am very lucky to be doing what I am doing.



Where can folks find your craft outside the Handmade Mart?
The best place is to check out my site at www.eljefedesign.com.

Visit me at booth #37!

Applications are Closed

We are no longer accepting vendor applications the the Holiday Shop-n-Stroll, as the deadline has passed.

Please check back soon for vendor information on our blog!

Sign up for our email list on the bottom of this page, to stay up-to-date with information about both the holiday show and the spring fair.

Now Accepting Holiday Show Applications!

Handmade Mart at the Holiday Shop -n- Stroll
Saturday, December 5, 2009, 10am-3pm
Ellsworth Drive (Between Fenton Ave. and Georgia Ave.)
Downtown Silver Spring

Calling All Crafters!
The Handmade Mart is super excited to be teaming up with Downtown Silver Spring and the FRESHFARM Market for the first annual Holiday Shop-n-Stroll!

This one-day, outdoor, holiday extravaganza will feature 50+ independent crafters, local farmers selling fresh seasonal produce, workshops, carolers, a tree lighting, and much more to get everyone into the holiday swing of things.

We are now accepting vendor applications for crafters to participate in this unique shopping experience along the bustling Ellsworth Drive in Downtown Silver Spring.

Apply Now!
The Handmade Mart is a juried craft show. If you’d like to be a vendor, please download the application, and send it to us along with three photos of your craft. The deadline to apply is October 19th. Vendors will be selected based on quality and uniqueness of their craft.

There is no fee to apply, but all accepted vendors will need to pay a $65 booth fee + an additional fee if electricity is needed. More information can be found on our FAQ page.

Download the application here.

More information will be posted online soon, and the official vendor gallery will go up on November 1st.

Questions? Email us at handmademart@gmail.com.

Happy Crafting!
XOXO – Debbie and Kim