Etsy Craft Party 2012

Have you seen the latest event posting from the crafter's mecca that is Etsy? On Friday, August 24, Etsy is hosting a Craft Party: A Global Celebration of Meeting and Making.

Deets direct from Etsy:

Craft Party is a time to get to know your neighbors and exercise your creative spirit. Craft Parties take place around the world when communities come together to participate in art, craft, design and DIY in every form. Anyone can organize a Craft Party and anyone can participate — the power is literally in your hands!

This year's theme: Wish You Were Here

We encourage you to work together on projects that reflect your hometown. Think about local and regional crafts, music, style and food; ways to pay tribute to a notable landmark or place; an activity that tells local lore through handmade means; or any creative project that has local flavor. It's up to you to decide how you showcase the theme at your party — go wild!
Etsy and our special sponsor, Michaels, will provide every party that has at least 25 participants signed up with a free box of craft supplies. The deadline for RSVP sign ups is August 12. The more people signed up for your party, the more generous the box of supplies! (Of course, we encourage you to continue garnering RSVP and participation right up till the big day too! We set this deadline, so we can get the box of supplies to the party organizers in time.)
We will also provide every event organizer with a free, downloadable Craft Party Kit containing how-to project instructions and templates, party decor ideas, and other tips for hosting your own party, plus a few surprises.

Get involved

To organize or find a local event, visit the Etsy hub on Meetup Everywhere. Add your event — big or small, public or private — or find one nearby to join.

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There are a ton of groups already formed so check out the Meetup page for your local group. Or start your own Meetup if no one has already! For those residing in Washington, DC and the surrounding area, I would suggest joining this group (already over 25 strong!). This is such a great idea to bring likeminded people together and garner that sense of community. Hope to see you there!

Deal of the Day: Craftsy

One of today's nationwide LivingSocial deals really piqued my interest: $20 for an online crafting class of your choice at Craftsy. I hadn't heard of Craftsy before so I decided to check it out. I couldn't believe I hadn't stumbled on this site before! One hour later, and my mind was racing weighing my options:

Should I learn about sewing ruffles and embellishments?


Or perhaps how to make knit beads?


Or even a product photography primer?


I quickly purchased the deal. I'll report back on which class I ultimately pick and my review of how it goes. The tough part now is narrowing down my choices!

This Week DC: Handi-hour at the Renwick

Calling all DC crafters: If you're free this Wednesday evening, come check out the Handi-hour at the Renwick Gallery. For $20, you get two beers, live music, and all you can craft. The theme of this Handi-hour is all about mail art. For details, check out the Renwick Gallery's calendar page or see below:

 

When Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 5:30 – 8pm Categories After Five, Demonstrations, Performances, Workshops Location Renwick Gallery Event Location Grand Salon Cost Admission is $20 at the door, cash only, and includes two drink tickets, snacks, and all you can craft. Ages 21 and older. Note This summer, the Renwick Gallery’s Handi-hour goes “postal modern” with the National Postal Museum. Join us for craft projects themed around making and sending beautiful mail while sipping on craft beer from Churchkey/Birch and Barley and listening to live music by Brad Pugh of Practically Einstein. The Sit ‘n’ Knit corner is available for all skill levels if you want to work on a project or learn from the beginning. Attendees takes a scavenger hunt through the permanent collection galleries for fun and crafty prizes. Check out the American Art Museum's YouTube Channel for how-to videos on our featured crafts at here.

Craft Show Roundup

It's that time of year: flowers blooming, weather warming, and best of all...it's the time that craft shows start to pop up again.

If you're in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area this spring/summer, be sure to check these out. I've been to almost all of these in past years, and will likely be in attendance again. Can't wait!

Capital City Craft Company’s Sip and Shop

Saturday, April 28

12-6 pm

Larry’s Lounge, 1836 18^th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009

http://www.capitalcitycraftcompany.com/

Ballston Arts & Crafts Market

Second Saturdays from May to October (May 12, June 9, July 14, August 11, September 8, October 13)
10 am-4 pm
Welburn Square (the Ballston Circle) at the Ballston Metro, 901 North Taylor St between North Stuart and North 9^th Streets, Arlington, VA
http://ballstonarts-craftsmarket.blogspot.com/

Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival

Saturday, April 14

11-6 pm

The Sakura Matsuri – Japanese Street Festival stretches for six blocks through downtown DC on Pennsylvania Avenue from 9th to 14th Streets NW (Federal Triangle Metro station)

http://www.sakuramatsuri.org/index.html

DC Craft Mafia Spring Thing Craft Show

Saturday, May 19
11 am-5 pm
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church parking lot (near Whole Foods), 1514 15^th St. NW, corner of P St. and 15^th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036
http://www.craftmafiadc.com/?p=93

Baltimore Pile of Craft

Saturday, June 16
10 am-5 pm
2640 St. Paul St. (St. John’s Church), Baltimore, MD 21218
http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=eb5585732f0a672d6c72d2cda&id=bf5009e034

Artscape

Friday-Sunday, July 20-22
Covers 12 city blocks of downtown Baltimore, check website for directions
http://www.artscape.org/

craftgawker

You can expect new merch from me posted soon, but in the meantime I wanted to share a site that should satiate your crafting needs. As described on the site, "craftgawker is a photo gallery that allows you to visually search and discover handmade arts and crafts to inspire your own projects. We publish photography submitted by craft bloggers from around the world. Our editors review submissions daily and choose the highest quality, coolest images to showcase." Here's the link and some of the inspiring things I found on the site:

craftgawker | look to inspire

Belt Buckle Bracelet

DIY Heart Gloves

Brass Valentine

DIY Apothecary Bottles

Hello World!

It feels to me that an indie craft revival has taken hold in the past few years and is gaining fast momentum. No longer is crafting limited to this image of grandma's Christmas sweaters. After all, would you expect ol' granny knit this special tea cozy?

Just a few years ago, I remember seeing an ad for the Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts fair in Washington, DC and marking the date as a must-do on my calendar. That day, as I strolled the many booths, not wanting to miss a single item, I realized: I want to do this too. That very night, I drew out my first sketches of what would eventually become the characters of C-Squared Cupcake.

You can see some of my items from Etsy here:




Just the other day, I featured in my very first craft show (more on this later). Of all the people I met that day, I particularly remember two girls who expressed an interest in starting their own crafty businesses and were looking to find their start. Two girls after my own heart! I'm by no means an expert in this area, but through this blog, I'm hoping to be able to impart lessons learned from my personal experiences. And I'm sure there will be many more lessons to come, so hopefully this way be a way to track these items and remind myself what NOT to do again.

A few of the things I hope to share:

1. Lessons learned in starting a crafting business
2. DIY ideas and inspiration
3. Current craft obsessions

My tip #1: Above all else, LOVE what you do. Though I thrive on the challenges of starting a business and getting it off the ground, the greatest pleasure I derive is from taking an idea and, through craft, transforming it into something tangible.