Watch out! Giant Pile of Craft Crossing!

Organized by Baltimore’s Charm City Craft Mafia, Pile of Craft is a juried indie craft fair on Saturday, June 16th from 10am-5pm. The whole homemade renaissance has resuscitated the image of crafting — gone is the cliché of your kooky aunt slaving away at a kiln behind the garage. In are bright colors, bold patterns, and inventive artwork of modern design. With over 45 vendors selling their own hand-made wares out of a beautiful restored church in the awesomely community minded neighborhood of Charles Village (Baltimore) – the Charm City Craft Mafia is pulling together one of the most exciting and unique shopping and arts events of the year. One of Baltimore’s beloved food trucks - Gypsy Queen Cafe - will be on hand to keep us fueled, as well as Kinderhook Snacks and coffee provided by Red Emma’s Coffeehouse.

Plan to shop local and handmade from these vendors this June in Baltimore. Buy a raffle ticket (or three or four) for a chance to win a "pile" of amazing craft donated by vendors. And definitely feel super because the money raised is going to Great Kids Farm – providing opportunities for Baltimore City students to understand and participate in every aspect of food preparation – from seed to fork.

Totally amazeballs!

Holiday Heap: A Not-to-miss Craft Show & Raffle!

The Charm City Craft Mafia's 5th Annual Holiday Heap Craft Show will take place Saturday, December 3rd at St. John's Church (2640 St. Paul Street) from 10am-5pm. This year's fair will have 65 of the best local and national crafters, as well as a yarn-spinning demonstration by Three Ravens. This year the Charm City Craft Mafia's raffle will support Arts Every Day, a Baltimore non-profit whose mission is to strengthen learning by making arts education and cultural experiences an integral part of the education of all City Schools students. The raffle will feature two baskets heaped full of goodies plus a third raffle to win illegible ink's "The Animal Alphabet" print (a 24x36" linocut with watercolor detail) perfect for an alphabet lover of any age or your favorite K-8 teacher!

Can't wait to see you there!

Only 14 hours, 56 minutes and 31 seconds left...

I don't think you can live within a 60-mile radius of Baltimore and not know about the huge deal that is coming to our city this weekend: The Inaugural 2011 Baltimore Grand Prix. And while I see on the website that many of the hospitality packages are sold out, I'm pretty sure the majority of us know about the race not because we're huge racing fans but because we can't get from Point A to Point B downtown.

While I think our favorite ink spot is too young to enjoy the race (even though he does look super adorable in his noise canceling headphones) and Mr. ink will clearly be too exhausted from driving throughout the countryside trying to get home to enjoy the race, I am trying to have a positive attitude. And these Knob Creek Metal Arts Welcome Signs for $16.99 each surely put me in a festive mood!

So grab a bushel of crabs, some drawn butter, a tin of Old Bay and a Natty Bo' and let's hope the Baltimore Grand Prix is such a huge success that we forget all about the hours spent in traffic gridlock! After all, we just survived the 2011 Quakicane!