CRAFTERNOON: A Guide to Getting All Artsy and Crafty with Your Friends All Year Long

Ah, the dog days of summer are upon us once again…

But while we were enjoying a minor reprieve from the heat earlier this week, I was lucky enough to get not one but two Martha Stewart Omnimedia shout outs! First my sweet friend Athena Preston posted this great article about Crafternoon on The Crafts Dept blog on Martha’s site. If you have never checked out that blog before, it’s well worth it. The authors are editors for the magazine, and they always post really fun how-to projects and crafting tips.

Then I got back on the air Friday morning on Whole Living with Terri Trespicio on Martha Stewart Radio! (Pictured above is Siobhan, the super nice engineer for the show.) We did a new installment of our ongoing segment, Crafting with Dudes, and it was another successful endeavor. The lovely producer Jennifer Sendrow choose our craft of the day, which was a simple stamping project using real apples.

The dudes did a great job diligently crafting away while Terri and I gabbed about back-to-school crafting ideas. You can see the original project instructions here on Martha’s site.

The end results were really cool little totes, just big enough to carry an apple for the teacher on the first day of school! Living Today engineer Chris Hauselt and Sirius XM web editor Scott Frampton were great sports and artists as always.

This week is going to be busy again for me, so I decided to pre-wrap a birthday present and craft a card for a friend whose day of honor is Thursday. She is from the Bronx, so I made her this pretty paper greeting celebrating her birth borough.

It’s hard to see, but the caption at the bottom of the card says “Bridge Over the Bronx River, New York.” I always buy cool old postcards whenever I run across them. They are usually just one or two dollars, even here in expensive NYC, and they make a great images for cards for any occasion. I love them even more when they have writing on the back of them, like this one does.

There is something magical about old correspondence. I adhere the postcards to whatever paper I’m using with photo corners. This allows the recipient to take the postcard out and read the original message. The old messages give the cards an air of warmth and mystery, and I like how the photo corners look.

Then I wrapped her present, an old book, in pretty paper and a ribbon bow.

I have an impressive stash of ribbon because I always keep ribbon from packages I receive. I think the above ribbon was the standard ribbon that came on a lot of our wedding gifts. Never throw out ribbon! It comes in handy for art projects all the time, and it really makes a present look classy as can be.

I tucked the card under the ribbon and now my gift is all ready for Thursday night’s festivities. I think it almost looks too good to open! I hope your week is filled with crafting, presents and fun for everyone.

Today I wore a sweater all day long. Summer is drawing to a close, and we’re getting awfully close to everyday sweater weather. I’m not thrilled about it, but least that drop in temperature gets me itching to get crafting.

The warm months were not without artistic endeavors. I stitched up this sweet little felt sailor earlier this season.

And though I definitely can’t claim I made these beauties below, since July I’ve been inspired by these necklaces from Africa. We dug them out of my mother-in-law’s barn in Maine and hung up right here in Brooklyn. The camera can’t begin to do the beadwork justice.

I made quite the charming personalized purses for my friend’s sweet daughter Lucy, if I do say so myself.

It’s not just a purse, it’s a finger puppet case, inspired by Kata Golda’s Hand Stitched Felt. Lucy got the prototype, but I intend to make them as gifts for many more little girls in the future.

And I just can’t wait ’til the next Handmade Crafternoon at the New York Public Library! Save the date of September 18th for an Exquisite Handmade Crafternoon led by the wonderful Julia Rothman. Julia worked with my fabulous co-host Jessica Pigza on the Design by the Book collaboration, and she has a cool new book coming out called The Exquisite Book Project.

The book is based on the surrealist artist’s game called “The Exquisite Corpse”. Julia will lead us in a round of the game and introduce us to the artists and designers who worked with her on her new book. Details on the first of our fall Handmade Crafternoons after the peony:

Exquisite Handmade Crafternoon at the NYPL with Julia Rothman

September 18th, 2010

2-4pm

New York Public Library

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

Hope to get crafty with you soon!

I started a new job, old computer died, summer came around, and suddenly I found myself not posting. Now I’ve got a new computer and the new job’s under my belt a few months, and the summer is hotter than I could have imagined, and I’m ready to return. But I’ve got some catching up to do.

Yep, if I’m finally getting around to Easter bunnies in in July, I’d say I’ve got some catching up to do. But those lovely rabbits are handmade by me based on a project from the wonderful Kata Golda book, Hand-Stitched Felt.

This baby blanket looks way hot to me right now, but it was the perfect gift for a new babe getting introduced to the cold San Francisco nights. You need a warm blanket in that chilly, hilly town. And I whipped up the card in front by cutting up an old baby magazine from the early 1900s. It’s hard to see, but they had some good baby graphics back then – lots of baby collages, this one featuring babies and pinecones.

I cut a felt version of the famous Carrie Bradshaw necklace, but this one says Crafternoon. Too bad it’s too hot to wear until fall.

We traveled to our favorite spot in Upstate New York, The Mountain Brook Inn. I love this remote little inn, nestled in the hills of the Catskills. It’s quite a drive from New York City, but how can you resist when that up there is the view, and this is the breakfast left at your doorstep:

We wrapped up the spring session of Handmade Crafternoon at the New York Public Library with the tremendously inspiring Natalie Chanin.

(My kingdom for a good picture from this event! Every shot I took was blurry or dark or both.) But Natalie was an absolute delight, donating tons of supplies and leading our group with a storytelling style of instruction that was a true pleasure to experience. My wonderful co-host Jessica Pigza has the great list of books pulled for that event on her blog.

Skip ahead to June and my wonderful neighborhood of Greenpoint got a great dose of public art by Amanda Browder. So many more things have happened along the way, but it’s time for me to walk my dog before it’s 95 degrees outside. And besides, I think we’re just about up-to-speed.

It may be cold and blustery out, but we’re almost ready to take our summer break for Handmade Crafternoon at the New York Public Library. I made the above necklace for the last Crafternoon we had. I got a photo of me rocking my felt necklace and my mom proudly wearing her embroidered jean shirt from the late ’70s. Crafting is passed from generation to generation, and that photo is proof, baby!

This Saturday, May 15th, from 2-4pm, we will be welcoming the world renowned crafter Natalie Chanin, owner and designer of Alabama Chanin. Natalie show us her circle-spiral applique technique using jersey cotton – aka tee shirt material.  We will have some supplies available, but if you want to be 100% sure you’ll be able to go home with a sweet new customized tee, you should bring along:

• t-shirt (or other cotton jersey fabric item to embellish)
• scraps of cotton jersey to cut into spirals (this might be an old t-shirt you want to cut up and repurpose)
• Coats & Clark Button Craft Thread
• garment scissors and embroidery scissors
• hand-sewing needle
• straight pins
• sharpie marker

We’ll also be joined by David Morgan from BurdaStyle! Check out my co-host Jessica Pigza’s blog for more info. 

Handmade Crafternoon with Natalie Chanin at the New York Public Library

5/15/10

2-4pm

New York Public Library

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

Come on out and get crafty!

Handmade Crafternoon at the New York Public Library is throwing one more amazing Crafternoon before we take our summer hiatus. On May 15th, we will be welcoming the world renowned crafter Natalie Chanin, owner and designer of Alabama Chanin, as she shares some of her famous Southern sewing and sustainable fashion techniques with our New York crafters.

Saturday, May 15, 2:00 – 4:00pm

She’ll be sharing a project from her new book, Alabama Studio Style, and I’m sure she’ll touch on some of the cool projects featured in her old book, Alabama Stitch Book, as well. We are thrilled to have her.

I’ll post the supply list within the week, so check back here or at my co-host Jessica Pigza’s blog for more info. Jessica has been posting fabulous lists of the books she pulls for our events, and you can find the inspiring list from our most recent Crafternoon right here.

Location for All Events:

New York Public Library

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

Hope to see you at the library!

I’ve learned some cool things from Lena Corwin’s book, Printing By Hand. I already made one printing block following her directions.

From that block, I’ve printed a bunch of Crafternoon flyers!

But then again, I had so much fun learning from Kata Golda and her wonderful book Hand-Stitched Felt, I might just bring some felt and start working on my next felt stuffed animal.All I need to get started is a pile of felt and her charming templates.

When it’s all stitched up, you’ve got a precious hand-stitched toy. Yep, I made this one myself, and I’m darn proud of it.

Between craft projects? Fear not! We’ll have some supplies on hand from prior Crafternoons for quick pick-up crafts.

This event is FREE and held at the main branch of the New York Public Library.

Handmade: Crafternoon at The New York Public Library

Saturday, April 17th, from 2-4pm

Margaret Liebman Berger Forum (Room #227, located in the northeast corner of the second floor)

My delightful librarian co-host Jessica Pigza will pull a wonderful selection of books, including some of my favorites, for your inspiration. And I will both be available to sign books at the event, which are for sale at The Library Shop.  We hope to see you there!

This Saturday’s Handmade Crafternoon at the New York Public Library was a total joy. On the warmest, sunniest day of the year, I was thrilled that we had a turnout of nearly 50 people to learn felt crafting from the lovely and talented Kata Golda.

We made adorable finger puppets like these samples that Kata brought with her.

We had a lovely pile of gorgeous felt donated by Kata and the woman who hand dyes all of Kata’s felt, Sorcha of OhMa Felt. We have lots of leftovers, so we’ll be able to do many felty crafts in their future thanks to their generosity. I like this shot of one of the felt piles, drenched by the sun on a big library windowsill.

The finger puppets are very simple to make, and Kata was a very clear and warm instructor, making sure that everyone felt comfortable doing the craft, no matter what their skill set. She’s precisely the sort of teacher I adore! Here she is showing us how to split threads for embroidery floss. Turns out you should split from the middle to avoid tangles. You learn a new thing at every Crafternoon.

These are just three of the puppets made by our gifted attendees.

Kata also brought a lovely selection of her other felt work, like this incredibly sweet group of creatures.

Everything she makes has a magical charm to it.

Every finger puppet family needs a bed, and Kata made sure that hers have a very cozy one.

Kata’s darling daughter Odette and their dear friend Amy are along for Kata’s trip and were wonderful assistant teachers. Here are the three Pacific Northwesterners with my kind co-host, Jessica Pigza, and the finger puppets they crafted.

And I managed to get a picture with the Golda girls and Jessica. I’m holding the felt toy that I just finished making for a baby shower. It was easy to make because I followed the clear and fun instructions and templates from Kata’s book, Hand-Stitched Felt. I’m thrilled with how it turned out, which is a testament to Kata’s great writing and illustrations.

I’m so thankful that Kata was able to make the long journey cross country to share her time with us. Even on a perfect sunny day, I always have an amazing time crafting at the library. I even had time to whip up a little bunny puppet.

Our great guests and lovely space make Handmade Crafternoon the perfect place to spend the day. If I do say so myself.

The next afternoon of craftiness is nearly upon us, and I can hardly wait. Last Crafternoon we had the talented Esther K. Smith on hand to share her collection of letterpress art and to show us some of paper works from her latest book, The Paper Bride.

Esther taught us how to make a garland guest book.

Using the basic folds she taught us, you could also get creative and make other shapes and objects, like the gorgeous crown my brother’s lovely girlfriend Emmy made, pictured below.

As always, we had a tremendous turnout and it was a great day.

This Saturday, March 20th, Kata Golda, author of Hand-Stitched Felt, is coming all the way from Washington state to share her process of making some of the sweetest felt creations to ever roam the earth. So get out your sewing kit and plan to whip up some stitches with us. She’ll be teaching us how to make these darling little mouse finger puppets.

We’ll have some supplies, but if you want to bring your own, Kata suggests that you “bring any scissors that will cut felt and needle with an eye big enough for 6 strands of embroidery floss” (and a sharp point). You could also bring some felt and embroidery floss if you like.

This event is FREE and held from 2-4pm at the main branch of the New York Public Library:

Margaret Liebman Berger Forum (Room #227, located in the northeast corner of the second floor)

My delightful librarian co-host Jessica Pigza will pull a wonderful selection of books from the library’s vaults for added inspiration. Kata and I will both be available to sign books at the event, which are for sale at The Library Shop.  We hope to see you there!

Our Handmade Crafternoon at the New York Public Library last Saturday was a fantastic event. Almost 80 people turned out to learn some new paper-folding skills from the talented Esther K. Smith and browse the wonderful selection of library books pulled by Jessica Pigza. Jessica was kind enough to make a list of the books she pulled for the event, and it’s a fantastic resource for all of your future book arts projects. Thanks to the NYPL, Jessica, Esther and all of the eager crafters who came out and created.

On March 20th, we are thrilled to welcome the wonderful Kata Golda, who will be joining us all the way from Washington state.  Kata is the author of Hand Stitched Felt, a charming book full of sweet patterns and ideas for all sorts of lovely felt projects, as well as wonderful advice on crafting. She was kind enough to answer some of my questions about her life and her craft, and take some delightful photos to illustrate.

What is a day in the life of Kata Golda like?

i try hard to make sure that each day holds a very quiet early morning. this is when i 1. organize my sewing basket with the days projects, even if these projects are not priorities they are usually easy things to pick up and work on when i am interrupted all day long.

2. make a list of what i have to do (return phone calls) and what i want to do (work on an illustration for a project).

3. i like to do my written correspondence in the early morning and all of my writing…..no interruptions. as the darkness becomes light getting outdoors is essential….a run, a walk in the woods, the garden. it has taken me years to recognize that this time spent lessens the stress and makes me see the joy in what i do. i am reminded that i love what i do but because i make a list for the day that i could not possibly finish in a week i will always feel unsuccessful….so i rethink my priorities with thorough completion of one or a few things being the goal. i am a homeschooling parent, a gardener, a lover of the sunshine and the outdoors and a cook. as i shift gears from project to project i always put things back in their place, otherwise i become overwhelmed by the chaos. at the end of the day it is essential to leave enough time to clean up so i can start the next day with every tool back where it belongs and freshly sharpened pencils.

You work with a group of women in your town to make the creations you sell all around the world. Does everyone work on their own projects at home, or do you all gather in one place to work, more like a quilting bee or a Crafternoon?

i work solitary and so do the few people that i work with. we all have different and specific things we do. we also live in oregon, washington and california.

You talk about the fact that your grandmother was a crafter and your mother is one as well. Does your daughter love crafting as much as you do? If so, how are your crafting styles different from one another?

i come from a crafty background..grandmother to mother (joy, to whom my book is dedicated). my daughter although good with fine motor skills, understanding and explaining, at this stage in her life, would rather be roller skating, playing basketball or exploring on her bicycle. that said she will be my enthusiastic and skilled helper at crafternoon.

(Per Kata, pictured above is the darling project we’ll be making at the March Crafternoon!)

In the introduction to Hand Stitched Felt you describe how your stitching style underwent a dramatic change as you started working with felt, transforming from perfect stitches used for quilting to “larger, more irregular stitches”. You say, “I fancied the way the ‘imperfections’ in my stitches showed the presence of my hand in the work.” I am also a firm believer in wabi-sabi, which is the Japanese concept of the beauty in imperfection. Do you ever revisit those “perfect” stitches of your past, or have you found that once you embraced imperfection, perfection lost its appeal?

i don’t really think about perfect and imperfect stitches. i just stitch the way i do. writing the book made me consider this and that was part of the great joy in working on Hand -Stitched Felt…to think about what i do and the way i do things…life just moves so quickly forward, i am grateful for this experience to reflect.

I’m a huge fan of your felt maker, Oh Ma Felt. How did you meet Sorcha and how did the partnership come to be?

my felt is made by OhMa Felt. Sorcha, my dear friend, started dying felt for me when i was having trouble with color consistency and safety issues with the plant dyed felt (i make things for children and need to pass safety tests). she came up with formulas for fabulous colors and child safe and consistent color! she dyes all of the felt that i use.

What is it like to be a small craft business owner? What is the biggest headache and what is the greatest reward?

i absolutely love what i do although it does present its set of challenges. i often feel overwhelmed and have a difficult time stopping working…that said i am so lucky to spend my days doing what i love to do. there are of course logistics of running a business that i don’t enjoy…dealing with past due invoices, worrying that i will run out of ideas and worrying that i will fail as it is all up to me to keep it rolling….sometimes at these moments i see the real appeal of a job that you leave at 5pm.

What is your next big project?

Next big project…i’ve got quite a few things brewing….they include working on another craft book and constructing large, movable characters (similar to the stuffed animal family in my book) for a stop motion and still photography project.

This Saturday from 2-4pm, we kick off our 2010 Handmade Crafternoons at the New York Public Library with the delightful, super-talented Esther K. Smith. Esther will demo a few projects from her books and share her paper folding and book making wisdom with our group. Esther is the author of  How to Make Books, Magic Books and Paper Toys and The Paper Bride. She and her husband, Dikko Faust run Purgatory Pie Press, a fine letterpress company.

We will have lots of supplies on hand, but if you want to play it super safe you can bring your own glue stick, scissors, favorite rubber stamps, paper and bone folder. Have glue stick, will travel – that’s my motto.

As always, my wonderful co-host Jessica Pigza will have a wonderful selection of amazing books from the library’s collection to delight and amaze you.

And speaking of books, if you’re feeling Facebookish, RSVP for the event here. And The Library Shop now carries Crafternoon,  as well as all of Esther’s books, so you can pick up copies for your own craft libraries and we’ll be happy to sign them on the spot!

The fun times will take place at the New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building , 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, Margaret Liebman Berger Forum (Room #227). Follow me on Twitter for updates on these events and general microblogging good times. Hope to see you Saturday at the library!