My top 10 picks for embroidery hoop art from sellers on Etsy.

Girls in Aprons by Mary’s Granddaughter

BART Map by Acts of Craftiness

Shrub by Fric de Mentol

The Humble Bee by The Humble Carnival

Soft Blue Chevron by Georgica Designs

Leaf by Nell’s Embroidery

Star by Smiling Cat Studio

For Mum by Colette Color

Agave Plant by What. No Mints?

Fox by Harp and Thistle

Sunburst Sideboard

Infusion Furniture is the work of Quentin Kelly, who creates modern furniture pieces with traditional woodworking methods in this Boston-area studio. His functional wood furniture often features visible joinery details and subtle touches of complementary materials like leather, metal and glass. All furniture is made-to-order and customizable.

Transformer Table

Slab Coffee Table

Tapered Bed

Shelby Healey is an artist from the UK now living in the Canary Islands, where she also teaches. Healey is inspired by the natural patterns and unexpected color combinations of her sunny home. Some of her colorful artwork is intended for children or nursery decor, but is not overly cute or sentimental. Hers is artwork that any age can enjoy.

Visit her Etsy shop for original artwork and prints.

Reclaimed Pine 60" Open Shelf

Vermont Farm Table creates warm and approachable furniture from reclaimed and historic New England materials. Owner Dustin Glasscoe believes in balanced proportions and non-toxic finishes. Furniture is made one piece at a time in their Burlington, Vermont studio and customized in size, shape and color, generally within 4-6 weeks of customer order.

Reclaimed Pine and Walnut Farmhouse Dining Table

Their dining tables are built to last with mortise and tenon joinery and pegging, rather than bolts and screws, and the option of different reclaimed woods. At their fantastic website, you can pick a table style, wood, top thickness and size (with explanation of seating capacity), and immediately get a quote. We like the Farmhouse style with reclaimed Pine personally.

Reclaimed Pine and Walnut Farmhouse Bench

Vermont Farm Table also has an Etsy shop where they sell furniture and smaller wood items like cutting boards and rolling pins. These are great for gift-giving.

French Style Rolling Pin in Tiger Maple

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……