Fabulous GO Vendors: Baby Bolt & Craft Chi

More vendor awesomeness! Baby Bolt & Craft Chi are two more local faves who'll have lovely handmade gift items on display at our Grand Opening tonight.

First up is Becka Spellman of Baby Bolt. In addition to the brand spankin' new & awesome trailer bibs she'll have at our Grand Opening, Becka also makes crazy-cute clothes & plenty of functional items to make life easier for parents and kiddos. Pacifier Bibs keep drool in check and the pacifier nearby. Crayon Rolls keep your little artist's tools on hand whether inspiration strikes at a restaurant, car trip, or the doctor's office.

New-Baby Gift Sets, available in custom combinations like this cute little cowboy, are the perfect, stress-free gifts that will stand out at any baby shower. What a great idea!

At BabyBolt you will find designs that combine new, upcycled/reclaimed, vintage, and imported fabrics - resulting in unique, one-of-a-kind or limited-run clothing and accessories.

Becka says, "Through my life I have attempted to find a home in all sorts of arts and crafts. From oil painting to photography to knitting to collage, I never really felt I had found my "thing." Shortly after my son was born I pulled out my mom's old Kenmore and started working on small projects and took a few sewing classes. As I gained skills and confidence, I turned our spare bedroom into my studio."

Come out & say hello to Becka tonight; she is super-sweet & also quite a funny lady. You'll enjoy meeting her and you will love her ah-DOR-able kids' stuff!

Next I'd like to tell you about the multi-talented Amy of Craft Chi, "the universalizing life force of craft." Love that! Amy makes all kinds of things, all handprinted with her original artwork. Her beautiful handmade wares include bags, pillow shams, tees and pretty linen tea towels.

I love the fluid patterns Amy creates & her screen-printing technique is impeccable. Amy also keeps a wonderful blog about her craft process that is full of great tips & interesting behind-the-scenes pics.




















In addition to her printed items, Amy sells cute rubber stamps made from her own drawings and screen-printing screens that can be custom-made with your own image on them. She also offers a wide assortment of screens for sale with all kinds of cool images that are ready to use. We carry these in Stella's boutique & they are awesome!



Tonight at the GO we'll be using some totally cool screens on loan from Craft Chi for screen-printing on neckties. It's gonna be super-fun! Join us, won't you?

Artist Spotlight - SquidInkKollective

Last night I met the lovely and super crafty Lynnea 1/2 of SquidInkKollective at our monthly EtsyAustin team meeting. So naturally I had to check out her goods this morning especially since she'll be joining us for the upcoming Grand Opening of our WonderCraft boutique location February 25th 2010! Come check out her beautiful and unique screenprinted shirts, linens, and accessories.

The Squid Ink Kollective was founded in the fall of 2007 by Brian Maclaskey, who has been studying printmaking since his early teens. Brian was drawing his own cartoons from the age of 5 and grew up on a healthy diet of Robert Crumb, Propaghandi and anti-circus protests. When he's not screen printing, he's working on his own art (see http://conybologna.etsy.com), playing the drums, or making food with Lynnea.

Lynnea Edwards, the other half of the Kollective, was groomed to be a professional musician but decided to learn a more important skill than composing for whenever the apocalypse occurs. She is an entirely self-taught seamster and loves nerding out about fabric weight and different types of interfacing.

Squid Ink Kollective consists of a great team, Brian and Lynnea along with their simple set up of 1 six color manual print press, 1 exposure unit, 3 sewing machines, a whole ton of ink, screens, squeegees, thread, fabric, rulers, scissors, some trusty computers and a printer.

The mediums they have chosen to pursue our artistic creativity in allow them to share their passion with the general public as an accessible alternative to mass production. This company represents the hard work and commitment of artists dedicated to a creative-based living.

To learn even more visit their website at http://www.spiralloop.com

Awesome.