Stitch & Rivet

Makers, get those application photos ready! Patrons of craft, start a swear jar for stocking stuffer money!

Come Join 40+ amazing artists/makers for the 20th annual HOLIDAY HEAP Craft Fair presented by the Charm City Craft Mafia! Help us celebrate 20 years of Holiday Heaps!! Shop handmade and local for all your holiday needs on Saturday, December 12th from 10am-4pm at 2640 Space, 2640 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. FREE and family friendly!

Artist/Maker Vendor applications are now open!!!
Apply Here: https://tinyurl.com/HolidayHeap2026App

Applications must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Sunday, August 2nd. No late applications will be accepted. If you have questions about the application, reach out to [email protected] well before the application deadline. Accepted vendors will be notified by August 14.

**Please beware of scammers that like to post comments on social media and FB events. Never contact these people or send them $$$. You can only apply through our online application form, and we will only contact applicants through our official email [email protected]. If you have questions or concerns about your application, please email us directly.

**Early Bird Tickets will be available in November!!!

Join the Holiday Heap 2026 Facebook Event, follow us on Facebook And IG for more details to follow as we get closer to the event or visit http://charmcitycraftmafia.com for full up-to-date information

Here in the studio, I have been working to be ready for show applications, and getting ready to have yet another absolutely not life-threatening, but still needs to be handled, surgery. I am not totally sure what November Katie was thinking when I scheduled both of these for this winter, but I am confident that May Katie will be so happy it is all done and behind me. This time? I am having a throat surgery, and it is a throat surgery most commonly performed on kids under ten years old. Late bloomer, I guess. A duct that created my thyroid that should have closed as an embryo did not, and it has given me some trouble a few times, most recently last summer. The bummer? The only fix is removing it surgically.

So far, 2026 has been all about removing things that no longer serve. Normally, I would aim for that on a more metaphorical level, but this year we are going anatomical and practical, I guess.

I will be out of the studio for all of next week, and maybe part of the following week? Not entirely sure, and it will depend on how I feel.

If you have had a pediatric ENT surgery as an adult and have any advice, I am all ears. Most of the information I can find about the recovery is geared towards little kids, and while I do love a popsicle, I wouldn’t mind hearing what made other adults feel better.

If you are of the medically curious persuasion, I am having a surgery called a Sistrunk Procedure. If you are not of the medically curious persuasion, I suggest not googling it, because only the gnarliest version seems to exist online (mine is not that crazy, I promise).

New work, including these coasters, will hit the website in March. Until then, workshop tickets are available now.

Wish me luck and popsicles, and I promise not to post pictures. Hopefully this is going to be the last time I tell you about this kind of stuff, because this account was supposed to be about leather goods and my derpy cats.

Another year older, another year full of lessons. Thanks for joining me for year 22 of Stitch & Rivet. Year 23 will have more lessons, more challenges, more of everything good and everything not so good. I have made it this far; I don’t plan to quit now.

I hope you can look back and find at least one good moment or one good day in 2025. It sure was a year for the memory books, and I continue to be surprised by my lack of imagination about how things are going to go.

The cats say thanks, I say THANK YOU, and I am excited to see what we can push through this year.

Now is the time of year when I usually have a thoughtful post about the past year, and this year, dang y’all, it was hard. It was hard for me, it was hard for you, and it has been hard on the collective us. Do I have a kind and thoughtful way to tell a year to get in the rearview mirror? Not really. So far, the 20s have been a challenge, and not just for me.

All of that said, I am taking an extended break at the beginning of 2026, in part to do some serious redesigning, since a lot of the materials and supplies I have been using are either hard to get or no longer available, and in part to replace some equipment that after a lot of hears of trusty service, deserves a respectful farewell. . I am deciding to look at all of this as an opportunity to redesign, rather than just a massive pain in the well, you know.

I am also taking an extended-extended break to catch up on some life tasks. More about that later, but know it will be great to have it all finished.

With all of this said, there will be a January Sale with details in the next newsletter, so if you want first dibs, get on the list.

If you and yours are celebrating this week, I hope the time together is affirming and joyful. If you are just enjoying a day off before the end-of-year grind, I hope the coffee is strong, and the general public is behaving itself.

As always, thank you for being here, and Happy Holidays, y’all.

Xo
KS