Annie Mohaupt, founder and designer of Mohop shoes is up for a $10,000 prize from Ideal Bite.  Mohop makes the best eco-friendly handmade shoes right in Chicago.  This will give her the opportunity to buy new machines and tools… and to just grow her fabulous business!

Here’s a little info from the DIY folks:

Hopefully you’re just as excited for the DIY Trunk Show (Pulaski Park
Fieldhouse: 1419 W Blackhawk) as we are. The Chicago Craft Mafia has
worked incredibly hard this year to put together yet another amazing
show. This is the sixth DIY Trunk Show! Can you believe it? 6 years of
showing off the amazing hand-makers of fine and functional goods to
people who care about quality, like shopping locally, and love knowing
exactly who made the scarf that keeps them warm when the cold Chicago
wind blows.

It is isn’t already on your calendar, make sure that November 22nd is
free from any other events or plans. The doors open at 10am and stay
open to shoppers until 5pm. There are more than 100 (100!!!) fine,
fine local people selling the best they have at affordable rates so
bring your holiday shopping list (and some rolling luggage would help
hold your booty) and be prepared to make a lot of people in your life
very happy.

And lest you think that this is like those craft shows full of
needlepointed tissue cozies, rest assured that this show is far more
adventurous. Want some stones that have been turned into coaster?
glass bottles that have been turned into some swank drinking glasses?
a kick-ass sweater made from several other sweaters? baby gear that
will make you the belle of the next baby shower? oh, and don’t get us
started on the jewelry, accessories, t-shirts, posters, soaps, and so
much more! And the best part is that it is all handmade by the person
who hand it to you and that person isn’t too far from where you live.

And if all that shopping sound exhausting, you’d be right. Which is
why we’re delighted to be joined by Celestial Kitchens and Cafe
LeBaron who will be making up some tasty vittles to keep us all
powered up and sailing through the day. It’s a lot easier to find the
energy to shop after you eaten some delicious vegan sandwiches, some
chocolate chip bacon cookies, or sipped a delicious cup of coffee to
keep you awake.

And if you’re worried that you might run out of money, rest assured
that we’ll have an ATM truck parked directly out front. Which will
make it easy to also make a donation to one of our non-profit vendors
on the stage in the Auditorium. Handmade Nation will be joining us, as
will local nonprofits that sell crafts made by the people they serve:
WomanCraft and FriedmanPlace.org.

So if you’re even slightly excited, head on over to peruse our
Participants page (http://www.diytrunkshow.com/participants) and start
getting an idea about who you can’t wait to meet and whose work you’re
excited to see and touch.

See you on the 22nd!
Chicago Craft Mafia

Yeah, that’s right.   Guinness cupcakes with a simple buttercream frosting.  I love making beer bread, so why not add a bottle to some cupcakes?  I think I am defintely going to experiment with other beers, flavors, etc… maybe do something beer-y with the frosting…

oh, cupcake, you are my friend…

I had a great time at the Detroit Urban Craft Fair yesterday, but I’m glad to be back home.  Traveling for shows is fun, but tiring!  Anyways, the show was in a new venue this year (and in Nov. instead of Aug.), and it proved to be a wonderful – there was a steady stream of customers all day in the fabulous Fillmore Theater.  I had a nice vegan lunch, sold some stuff, won a raffle, chatted with some friendly mitten state folks and bought a couple more postcards to add to my Rar Par Press collection (love ‘em).

Fancy Fillmore Theater.

Some of my woven-bottom bags.

For a buck you can stick your hand in one of it’s holes (ok, that sounds weird) and get a prize.

Hope to be back again next year!

Woooooo Hoooooo!

Detroit Urban Craft Fair is less than 2 weeks away! I’m working on new items to take to the show, so if you live in the D or plan to visit, stop by DUCF and shop…

Visit www.detroiturbancraftfair.com for a list of vendors and other info.

I hope you all are having a lovely Halloween… and eating lots of treats!  I plan to go into a diabetic coma soon…

Here’s some homemade PB cups I made last night.  They were a bit of work (with the tempering and all), but I think they turned out.

So get over here and help me eat them.

OOooooooOOOOoooooOooooOOOOO! (that’s my scary ghost sound)

The election is about a week away, and I just wanted to remind all of you lovelies to vote!  (if you haven’t already)

And so you can remind others to vote, order yourself a free poster by artist Nikki McClure from buyolympia.com!

buyolympia.com explains it:

Why Are We Giving Away Posters?

We love working with Nikki McClure, and have always loved this image—people raising their hands, letting their voice be heard—and wanted to make a poster of it.

When we talked about doing it, we quickly realized this isn’t something we wanted to charge for. This isn’t about money. We want people to be heard, and thought this might be a good way to make that happen.

We included the blank space so people could add their own message. Where to register to vote. Where to vote. Who to vote for. It’s up to you. We want people to be involved.

So we’ve printed 20,000 posters and are giving and mailing them to anyone who asks. Use them as you like, but let your voice be heard.

Last night we hopped up to Milwaukee to meet friends for dinner then stopped by Cafe Lulu in Bayview.  Lulu was hosting a book release party for Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft and Design.  Co-author Faythe Levine is very active in the craft community – organizing Art vs. Craft, running her shop Paper Boat Boutique and finishing up her documentary (which the book is based on and due to be released next year).

The book discusses the ‘new wave of craft’ with interviews from artists and crafters across the country.  I haven’t read it from front to back yet, but I am very impressed so far.  Oh, you can purchase it here!

OK, I’m totally not trying to turn this into a baking blog….but I make no guarantees.

Anyways, this past weekend I made the cuuuuutest pies in the world.  Mini apple pies!  They’re baked in small half pint mason jars and make a decent sized single serving.

They just need a pat of butter on top and their lids…

Here they are right before I popped a couple in the oven…the rest went in the freezer.  I only have a couple left since I gave some away, so I should have made more :(  But they were so good!