come with me (or a map of indie north america).

hello folks,

in response to a growing number of requests for touring information and resources, i have started a streamlined project for sharing the network of indie shops, boutiques and galleries i have encountered in my years of touring - the indie map of north america!

this is by no means a comprehensive list of every boutique and gallery out there. instead, it is something of and organically-curated group of places that has mostly sprung from my own experiences. although there are a few places there that i have never visited (and i mean a very few), this map can also serve as a loose vouch from your friend, becky.

hopefully, this will tide y'all over into the full touring resource zine is done at the end of the year.

of course, i strongly welcome your suggestions. feel free to leave tips about your favourite indie haunts in the comments section here. i have painfully few in brooklyn and new york, for instance. and i know the places are out there.

and if you run a space that should be on there, go add yourself to google places. you have to be the business owner to do that, and i get distressed every time i go to look up a favourite shop or space and can not find it. i want to tell people about you!

safe travels, mama.

last night, on saturday july 16, 2011, my mother succumbed to the cancer she has been battling for just shy of a year and passed away. she fought hard and kept her head above water and was doing very well for most of this time. all of this changed about a week ago when she took a rapid down turn. it all happened very fast. her passing came swiftly and without pain. although it is a blinding shock to the family, there is great comfort to be found in these facts.

i could go on about my mother's influences on me but the basics amount to this - she taught me most of my craft skills, filled my life with making and always support even my most wild creative impulses and "career" choices.

my father took that picture above before i was born. they maintained a strange yet great relationship throughout their lives even though their marriage lasted only a couple of years into my life. i can only hope and imagine that they are now irritating one another in the great beyond.

me, i am off to the northwest to be with my family and say my goodbyes.

i am sure this comes as a shock to those of you who knew my mother and am sorry if this posting is bringing you the news. she seemed so full of life and tenacity that her disappearance from this mortal coil still seems impossible to me.

my mother had so very many friends, colleagues and acquaintances that i feel overwhelmed with the task of spreading word of her passing. please help if you can. my family is planning an informal wake/open house this thursday in vancouver. i will share more details as they emerge. i, for one, plan to laugh through tears, make terrible puns and share long stories - just as she would have wanted (and done).

anne theresa hershoran garber
1946 - 2011

you are loved, missed and not forgotten.
i will see you in my weird hairline, pointy face and huge teeth every day.

live in brooklyn and online (or a workshop on the business of indie craft).

photo by stacey bode

first, a big thank you to stacey for doing a brilliant and impromptu photo shoot with me in atlanta. i look like a hero through her lens and have already found a bunch of uses for them. it was time to admit that crafters can use promo pictures, too (read on).

secondly, i will be rolling through new york and brooklyn at the end of this week and have a packed schedule of awesome activity to share with you all.

a) i will be speaking at the etsy labs on a broad range of offline indie business topics. you can check out info on attending (it's only $5) here and here. if you are not in brooklyn, you can also watch live online here. isn't that crazy? watching online is free and can be done in your underpants, too. as for the workshop, i am going to start simple with a few basics and general insights about my years travelling the continent crafting then let audience questions guide the rest of the conversation. i have a big messy brain to pick. feel free!

b) i am also polishing up some details for a visit to the kickstarter offices (also in new york). as you may or may not know, kickstarter (and a large collection of friends and strangers) had a lot to do with making this year's tour happen. i am way overdue on a blog post about that process and am hoping that a visit to meet the crew gives me an excuse to share the piles of info i gleaned from the experience in some coherent manner.

to new york, and beyond!

but now, to make some buttons into the philadelphia night.

peachy.

photos by young blood gallery

big thanks to young blood gallery for being on the ball and taking pictures at this weekend's ice atlanta. it is so nice to see my booth from the outside. for this show, aitor and i opted to share a six foot table for the first time in years (our displays have grown so big and full of stuff since we started). it felt like a back-to-basics display and it was so easy to keep stocked and sorted!

thanks to all who came out, thanks to the ladies who put it all together and extra special thanks to our awesome neighbours for the weekend, faryn, missy and raoul!

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photo by the workroom

look over there! that way! look!

i know i am weeks behind on this blog. i will catch up. you will hear all the tales of junk in texas, craft in the midwest and the tantalizing treats of the deep south. but until i manage to catch my breath, might i encourage you to check out my now (nearly complete) list of summer tour supporters (that's what all those banners are to the right). a stroll through that link list is sure to delight your senses with the output of brilliant makers the world over. there is music, photography, comedy, pertinent reportage, paper goods, hand sewn sartorial delights, ceramics, independent retail and more! in my exhaustion and neglect, this is a worthy list of friends to immerse yourself in. enjoy! and feel free to report back on any shocking awesomeness you find.

a raum with a view.

photo by leah buckareff

my constant ambling has made me a little late to the table on this one but last friday saw the opening of berlin's wunderkabinet #3 - the reading raum. congratulations on getting her rolling, leah! the display looks absolutely lovely, as always. and i was totally tickled to see that my shelf mate (pictured above) is the incomparable robert dayton. if you have not checked out his impressive and varied body of work, you might want to change that. i am deeply pleased to have our zines canoodling together under those lacy rocks for the summer. in fact, there are so many favourite people and artists in this show that it is almost pointless to list them all. and if i know leah's selective abilities, i bet even more wonders are held in the works of those who i don't yet know. leah is working on a full artist list with links. until then, you might want to do as i am going to and put google to work on this list.

for those who don't know about the wunderkabinet, it is a now-travelling series of themed contemporary curiosity collections that sets in in instalments around berlin's art and craft sphere. it is all curated and maintained by leah buckareff. the current incarnation is housed at etsy's berlin/international headquarters in a modular construction called 'the turtle'. i hear there is an arm chair there and possible some floor cushions to support comfortable and easy literary perusal. if you are in berlin, you should go there, read some zines and take a few home with you if you like. i would.

laundry day.

it is memorial day and we are in a small town in arkansas. we had main street to ourselves as we got caught up on our clothes cleaning.