Halfway to Frederick Douglass

Here she is- the finished walking tour map of the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. It was a lot of work, not just for me, but for the employees of the site who were integral in gathering public opinion and the information they wanted on the map. Unfortunately, the big hoopla event for the re-opening of the House after restoration with all the furniture returned was cancelled due to inclement weather. Now, I'm just waiting for what they want out of the historic map, and then I'll be getting to work on that.

Happy Golden Pig to the Girls of Golden Hen

For the longest time, there was a mystery in my apartment building; the “K. Egbert” mystery. My downstairs neighbor would always get the coolest magazines and deliveries. Her mailing list was so similar to Kathy’s that I jokingly remarked to Dillon that she must be just like her. My suspicions were confirmed when he ran into K. [ for Kim ] in the hall one morning and she was on her way to exhibit at Renegade Craft Fair in Wicker Park last September.

I still hadn’t met her, but I employed a little detective work. I’d seen mail come to “Golden Hen Press;” so I checked for it online without luck. The trail was cold until the Renegade Holiday Show when I was running around trying to look at everything and there was a sign. It said “Golden Hen Press.” Eureka!

There were two lovely young women behind the table and I suavely asked, “Is one of you Kim Egbert?” Thus the mystery was solved and I finally met my downstairs neighbor. Turns out that she and her business partner Elaine are producing paper products, including gorgeous fine papers. This is a boring story, I know, but I like it because she lives right below me and does things that I do and I love that about Wicker Park. I keep meaning to have a proper business meeting with her and maybe set up some special papers of my own through Golden Hen.

They are still working on the website, but it promises to be a thing of beauty. If I find out before you do that it’s up, I’ll be sure to tag it here.

Sneak a Peek

There are some new cards up at 16 Sparrows which I've done illustrations for. There's also a new addtion to the Effin' Collection. Our version of a "get well soon" card which reads "Suck it up, Crybaby." I think it's hilarious.

Here's a peek at how the coloring is going on the Frederick Douglass map.I'll post the final here when it's done. I'm so excited to be done with this!

It's not threatening; it's a LiteBrite

Renegade Craft Fair was a really great show. I'm glad I got DIY in as my first sans-Kathy show. I would not have been prepared for the onslaught of customers or the myriad preparational activities before hand. Kathy really did blaze this 16 Sparrows trail. I'm lucky to have her as my guide even if she does wander around in deserts at nighttime.

Renegade took place, just like DIY, in the Pulaski Park Auditorium. I do like the indoor shows. I don't think they get as much serendipitous traffic as outdoor fairs, but I like not having to set up a tent and not being reliant upon the weather. Kathy and I roasted at the Lot and nearly lost a whole day of sales to rain at the last Renegade we did. I set everything up similar to how it was done for DIY, but with a couple refinements. Again, the best sellers were small journals and To-Do Lists.

I had great block mates- Emily Kirchner, Recycling Artist was on my left and Kevin with SquidFire was to my right. I wrote about Emily's lovely works last post. My cats are still playing with the catnip mouse. SquidFire is a silk-screening company from Baltimore. Right away I feel in love with an adorable thermal that I bought about halfway through the first day. The second day I broke down yet again and got a shirt for my brother for Christmas and another shirt for myself.

Speaking of shirts, also for Christmas I bought each of my best friends a shirt from Dyslexic Press out of Boston. They each got one of the Amorous Octopus shirts. It's weird and random and completely fun. It's also really well designed. There is a white highlight on the glass of the octopus' tank, which is what makes the shirt really great. It also has the added bonus of having a bagpiper making it the perfect shirt for the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games of 07.