How do I make these guys my best friends? Top three reasons why I'd love to be BFF with the Mast Brothers:
1. They make delicious chocolate bars.

2. Their chocolate is wrapped in some of the prettiest papers I've ever seen.



3. They are super beardy fellas.

If any of my Brooklyn readers happen to see these guys roaming around Williamsburg, tell them to open an online shop, already! West coasters want a taste!

The nice guys over at GT Magazine (careful! may not be safe for work...) sent me a scan of the blurb about the beards in their most recent issue! It was on the same page with small photos of a trampolining underwear model (WOW), so that is a first! Exciting to see the diversity of sources who dig the beards. Thanks GT!

Did I show you this already? It's the beard for lumberjacks who can't get enough flannel in their lives:

Here's a beyond awful photo of it... it was the only one I managed to take before I sent it off to it's new home. Hope it's new owner manages to take a flattering photo of it.

In other news, I had a great weekend. Did everyone else have a good time? I hope so.

Beardy Birthday

Could this be the best birthday gift ever? I recieved a copy of Computer Arts in the mail this week, only to find my beards featured in the article "Designed for Life." Check out the hilarious expressions on the models' faces! They're all staff members at magazine.


It's been quite a month for me, and the Computer Arts mention is icing on the cake... While I'm probably the least computer literate artist featured in the magazine this month, I am still over the moon that digital folks appreciate my handmade work!

Check out that cover! Pretty cool, right? Inspiration to finally work on my computer design skills (or lack thereof, as the case may be).

Mossy beard

I love this color. It's not exactly an obvious choice for a beard, but I fell in love with the yarn when I saw it in the store, so why not! It reminds me of these great terrariums made by Mavis:


How fun would it be to have a beard made from real moss?

Hilarious beard t-shirts from Hide and Seek Clothing on Etsy! Love their bird t-shirts as well.

Vote for me!

Have a couple seconds? Do you dig my beardy projects? If so, vote for Jane, one of the bearded family portraits, in Etsy's Best April Fools Pranks and Gags Poll! I could be featured in the Etsy Gift Guides, as well as the blog. Thanks for the support!

The first of many springtime beards

To help promote happy springtime feelings, I have been working on lots of fun brightly colored beards. Here are some photos of a couple I finished recently:

This is too cool!

I was surprised to receive an email today from Jenny, another Etsy member, who made a painting that looks very much like someone I know...

I love it! I'm completely blown away by the creativity and talent in her work, which you can see more of on her flickr page. Thanks to Jenny for thinking of me as a worthy person to paint a portrait of! :)

I love making custom beards.

I made this brown and silver beard earlier this week as a custom order. I love trying to match people's photos, trying to get the beard to look like it might be real... this one was the first time I've tried to blend in grey hairs, which is a lot more challenging than you would think! I hope it looks fabulous when the proud owner tries it on!

I forgot to show you the Saint Patrick's Day beard I made!

So green! So lucky!

Are your tastes a bit more sophisticated than ElleGirl? Well, I've got some good news. I was also mentioned in The New Yorker last week. In the Style Issue. With Michelle Obama on the cover. All of these facts nearly made me pass out with excitement. Does this mean I can connect to the first lady in less than six degrees of separation?? That completely blows my mind.

Anyway... here's the blurb, it's from an article called "Made in the USA?" by Patricia Marx. You can read it online if you're a subscriber. It's mostly about how difficult it can be to find American-made goods, and Etsy has a good sized mention in there.


Oh, and if you're not really into beards, but curious about those bronze ears Marx mentioned, you can find them here. So intriguing.

Took me a while to find this!

So, I hinted at this a while back, but it took me a while to find a hard copy (no one seemed to carry the magazine in Portland, but I tracked down a copy while I was in LA this week!). I was featured in Elle Girl Korea this month! The article also features Anne from Bean Town Handmade, who makes the best puppy accessories I have ever seen. Plus, she's a lovely crafter I know from Etsy! I know seeing this article made both of our days. I've included photos of the first couple pages of the article, plus a close up of my blurb, in case any of you loyal readers know Korean...




Do I look happy? Because I am!

the beardly is a new website started by Dustin, a follower of my beard blog. Check it out, it's kind of a beard version of lolcats...

Isn't this bearded fellow great? This is Betsy Walton's contribution to Grass Hut's Sasquatchtennial show, a play on the 150 year anniversary of Oregon's statehood celebrations that have been going on recently. It's a painting of Rev. Holman, an Oregon pioneer.

For those of you that might have met me at Crafty Wonderland in December, I have some great news! My good friend Misha Capecchi, who I shared the Crafty Wonderland booth with, has opened her own Etsy store! She is an incredibly talented artist, so go check out her stuff at mishacapecchi.etsy.com!


Here's one of her fake taxidermy projects, made entirely from found fabrics and materials. He's a Emperor Tamarin Monkey, and he looks a little beardy to me, eh?

A daily doodle from Brian Harto's blog... maybe inspired by a certain bearded lady I know? Love it.

Another great find from the Behance Network, this time an astonishing papercut made by the seriously talented Jared Schorr. Check out the other work in his portfolio, it put a smile on my face.

beard alphabet

From Tim Yarzhombek's portfolio on the Behance Network! Too good not to post. Thanks to Nick for alerting me to this amazing typographical find.