Wow, so we actually managed to find a new place to live, move to that place, clean up our flooded studio, prepare for our first out-of-state show, drive to LA, do said show, drive home again, get on a flight to New York and see brother Saul get married. All in one month. Kablam!

LA was great, we met some new, amazing people, and also got to hang out with friends we made at the Austin Renegade show, like Two Rabbit Studios and Adrienne of Arcane Arts. I also got inpsired by the wonky cacti of southern USA, and depressed by the El Paso/Juarez border. Blech!

Now things are starting to normalize, Brian has QUIT HIS JOB at a gruesome, terrible corporate not-to-be-mentioned screen printing company and has lots more time to make weird bunny paintings and work on new shirt designs, huzzah! We might possibly be showing up at the Spiderhouse THIS weekend with some things to sell, otherwise we will most definitely be having an opening at our studio at the ArtPost, and the following weekend trekking out with Cheyne of Cut Out and Collect to Chicago for our third Renegade!

This Thursday, May 6th, Team EtsyAustin will rock South Congress. From 4pm until dark, over a dozen team members will be set up on the east side of the 1600 block of South Congress next to Hey Cupcake! and the many other great trailer vendors. Please stop by and say hello to these folks…

SweetWolf
Squid Ink Kollective
Ebits
Carol Bradley Designs
Merritt Gade Fine Handmades
April Wright Design
Vintage Rehab
DemiDuval
GemJunkie
Nepenthe’s Bathtime
AJ the Purple
Bag Lady Secrets
The Jasmine Gallery
Retrodition
Soy In Love
Wild Moon Design

In less than three weeks during the second weekend in May, majorly awesome names in the crafting world will be making it down to Austin for Renegade Craft‘s first fair down south. About 200 local, regional and national vendors will be selling, including Etsy itself. Even Austin’s Wondercraft will have its airstream trailer Stella inside. Squid Ink Kollective will be vending in full force, with new shirt designs and styles. Hope to see you there!

Thanks everyone for your patience while we get the new site up and running.

Thanks to Brian’s excellent art skills and my new found love/hate relationship with HTML/CSS, this baby is entirely handmade using a relatively new and unheard of web designing program, Flux. Anyone who’s been looking for an affordable alternative to Dreamweaver may want to check it out. There’s a fully capable demo version and an active forum for assistance, plus video tutorials to get one started.

Come tie one on with The WonderCraft as it celebrates its landing at The Art Pad, a walk-in mosaic studio offering art supplies, gifts, parties & classes (www.theartpadstudio.com), and now home to Lapis Lane, a Bead Boutique (www.lapislanebeads.com). The WonderCraft has joined The Art Pad and Lapis Lane Beads to become the latest crafting destination in Austin. The theme of the party is neckties, bring one or wear one, they’ll be crafting with them all night. The party will also feature locally handmade goods, food, and other Austin favorites. The ever-popular button maker will also be a fun activity. Photo booth by Lucinda Lewis.

The first 25 guests will receive gift bags chock full of handmade items, samples and other goodies!

Vendors include: annemarie, Austin Art Metals, Baby Bolt, Craft Chi, DeLisa Designs, Frou Frou Skincare, Gypsy Harte, Merritt Gade, Nepenthe’s Bathtime, Pigsey Art, pommes frites, SoCo Divka Designs, Squid Ink Kollective & Sweet Wolf

Our 2010 designs and shirt colors for spring are slowly entering the store. Global Cooling, Happy Campers for women and new colors for the Narwhal Named GOB are some of them.

Mixed Plate Blog’s 2009 Holiday Gift Guide has now arrived, and Squid Ink Kollective is in two categories, Men’s and Under $20. Check us and other quality indie sellers in this fabulous gift guide, and you might also stumble upon special discount codes found only here!

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It’s just a few days left before Labor Day weekend and the screening of Handmade Nation, with director Faythe Levine present and ready to answer questions.

During the screenings, the best of Austin’s handmade artisans will have a free craft fair going on just outside, complete with demos, raffles, and food. Flanked by a book signing at Domy Books Saturday night and an after party at Austin Handmade Sunday evening, this weekend is going to be one to remember for the handmade scene of Austin.

For the complete schedule, head over to Sublime Stitching’s site, who are the hosts for this event. Screenings, followed by Q&A, are at 1:30PM and 4:10PM, Sunday September 7th at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. Tickets can be purchase on their website. For a thorough review of Handmade Nation, check this out.

A full list of vendors (including us!) can be found here.

Austin has been our new home for about two months now, and Squid Ink fits perfectly here! Here are some links to some of our new favorite places and people.

Etsy Austin is of course #1 – we couldn’t be happier about joining a city team, now that we live in a city with one. It’s great being in a network of like-minded, talented artists.

We are happy to be in a city with seemingly endless veggie-friendly eating options. Amazing veggie, hand-battered corn dogs at Dog Almighty, delicious East Side Pies and of course Kerbey Lane which is practically across the street from us, are on our top list.

To cool off from the summer heat, Barton Springs is the perfect place to be.  Swimming here is great (perfect temperature, not near freezing like the Norwegian fjords), always a delicious fresh from the aquifer temperature, big enough for all of Austin.

Once a week, going to the Side Bar and watching Project Runway with all the other fashion aficionados is a real treat too.

And for local handmade shopping, Austin Handmade and Parts & Labour are just 5 minutes away.

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If anyone else has suggestions for places to eat, shop, or generally hang out, feel free to post them in the comment section