Here are a few of our favorites from exhibitors showing at the National Stationery Show this month.

lasercut holiday card from Candyspotting (Crow and Canary booth 3024)

screen-printed metallic sketchbook from Little Lark (Crow and Canary booth 3024)

5-color letterpress printed card from Pie Bird Press (Crow and Canary booth 3024)

candy striped bird silhouette card from Man vs. George (booth 1767)

couple’s USA map from This Paper Ship (booth 1580)

Roseanne’s afghan card from Dear Hancock (booth 1952)

pinwheel thank you card from The Social Type (booth 1869)

compass card from Figs & Ginger (booth 2067)

same sex wedding card from The Nic Studio (booth 1969)

recipe book from Night Owl Paper Goods (booth 1951)

butterfly boxed note from Dingbat Press (booth 2063)

dictionary stationery from Wild Ink Press (booth 1971)

dear diet coke card from Sapling Press (booth 1964)

happy birthday skeleton card from Sugarcube Press (booth 1947)

perpetual mid-century modern calendar from Pistachio Press (booth 1965)

jumbo canister from VitrifiedStudio

nesting bowl set from Sara Paloma

stoneware tumblers from GlazedOver

vegetable bowl from Darshan Pottery

Bobcat

Today, we are on our way down to Greenville, SC for Artisphere. This year’s art festival runs Friday evening (4-8pm), Saturday (10am-8pm) through Sunday (11-6pm), and features 120 artists along with a Kidsphere, opening night gala, art cafe, and three performing arts stages all for FREE. Come visit us in Booth 32!

Pony Express

Next weekend, we’ll be heading to Reston, VA for the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival. This is our first year attending the art festival in Dolan’s home state, so we are extra excited. Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival runs from Friday May 18 (5-8pm), Saturday (10am-6pm) through Sunday (10am-4pm) and features over 200 artists, music, interactive performances and a Children’s Art Tent. Come visit us in Booth 820!

Red Fox No. 2

The artwork in this blog post is a preview of some of the items we will be bringing to our next two art fairs in May. If you are not around to scoop up the originals, both Bobcat and Red Fox No.2 will be available as prints on paper and BOX PRINT® reproductions wood in the near future. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for updates on artwork availability and more.

[Bridgeport is the neighborhood where we live and work on Chicago's South Side. In this column, we show it some love.]

Legacy Frameworks is bringing bicycle manufacturing back to Chicago. Their handbuilt bikes for city riders are designed, manufactured and assembled right here in Bridgeport. Like us, they are located in the Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center. Owner Levi Borreson’s goal is to provide “the city with a high quality, domestically produced and location appropriate mode of transportation.”

Legacy creates simple yet reliable bikes that are fun to ride and have a reasonable price. All readily available parts can be maintained or replaced by anyone. In addition, the company has an ongoing focus on sustainability (as you might have guessed from their base of operations). For example, they use color power coatings for their bikes which produce few emissions than wet painting. For information on ordering, go here.

Legacy Frameworks is currently participating in the SMALL showroom as part of the Version 12 festival here in Bridgeport. The showroom located at Co-Prosperity Sphere, 3219 S Morgan St., opened last Friday and lasts until May 27th. Festival organizers will be hosting events, supper clubs and tastings in the space each Friday. Go check it out and say hi to Levi!

Last week, we featured recycled fashion for women by E W McCall. Today, we would like to feature their Paul McCall line for men.

Silkscreens lined up for my largest project yet: 18 more screens to go..

This is the time of year that my brain starts to invent new languages to deal with the insanity of my work. I feel crazy and can’t seem to sleep. I work too late, eat too much pizza and sometimes eat the napkin. Stop staring at me and asking me questions. It’s not so weird. Just wait out there, with the sun and the sentences of the subway sandwich makers. And here’s my music mix for days, weeks, months like this. I’ll see you on the flip when the happy coma of summer dips me into its eclipse and the grey fake spring dissolves away.

Just listen to this……

We like to feature Southern purveyors of handmade goods here at the blog whenever possible. E W McCall is the Etsy shop of a creative family based out of Douglasville, Georgia (now with contributing members in Louisiana and St. Louis, MO). They create clothing and accessories by hand, mostly from repurposed and recycled materials, for men, women and kids. Today, we would like to feature some of their handmade fashion for women.

Check them out on their blog, Facebook and Twitter.

Our original mixed media dog art series, the Dog Walk (Mini), has been tremendously popular. We are so thankful! All pet dog breeds are available made-to-order for $250 each. For those interested in custom ordering a dog, here is how:

+Visit the Dog Art section of our online Etsy shop to review pet dog breeds completed to date. This section is updated with new breeds as they are created. All breeds are created in a profile silhouette view.

+If you don’t see your breed listed, use the Made to Order Dog Walk (Mini) listing to place an order with your custom dog breed. All orders are prepaid.

+In checkout notes, please specify your breed. If available, send a photo of your dog in profile view to info[at]dolangeiman[dot]com.

+The wood, paper, and metal materials used in the background are all unique and vary according to our current inventory of rescued supplies. If there is a color or two you’d like included in these materials, please note in the checkout notes and we’ll do our best to accommodate your preferences.

+Please allow 2-3 weeks for production of your work. If you will be gifting the item and need the work to arrive by a specific date, please note in the checkout notes.

River Weed

Tumbleweed Texstyles are the T-shirt designs of artist Jeb Matulich, also known as Junky Trinkets, brimming with Texas pride. Jeb has been very supportive of our artwork over the years and wrote about us in 2010. He was kind enough to gift us a shirt in Fort Worth last week, which we love and had to share here on the blog.

I've Been Everywhere

Origami Texas

Visit the Tumbleweed Texstyles Etsy shop and Jeb’s other shops: Junky Trinkets and Texowa Designs.

Drink Texas Beer

It was such a pleasure to get to know Brad & Sundie Ruppert of Vintage Sculpture better in Tent G at Marburger Farm. We remember seeing their work for the first time at our retailer Seagrass in Winnetka, IL years and years ago. Their wholesale-retail model was a huge inspiration for us as we grew our business and diversified.

Vintage Sculpture creates wall art and sculpture from cast-off and vintage materials. On the wholesale side, you can find their work via their showroom in the Denver Merchandise Mart. Follow them on Facebook for great photos from their travels across the US doing shows in their 1966 Vintage Airstream trailer.

Brad and Sundie also know how to let loose and have a great time! Check out their outfits at the infamous Junk Gypsy Prom at Marburger. (That’s Ali Marie Geiman at back left.)

Looking forward to seeing Vintage Sculpture again on the road!