Screen Printing Workshop

This week has been a long but extremely fulfilling week. For over a month, I have been planning a screen printing workshop at the Gowanus Studio Space. Last month, I knew nothing about screen printing. Now, I feel like I could just start printing on everything and anything. There was a lot of preparation involved with setting up the space at the Gowanus for this event but all the hard work paid off in the end. Our Sunday workshop was fantastic! We got a very comprehensive learning experience with Julia and the results were amazing. The best part about the workshop, was the print swap in the very end. I went home with 9 gorgeous prints to adore my walls with. I encourage everybody to try this workshop even if they have no experience with screen printing at all. I will be posting photos from this event very soon because I know you are all very curious....

Kyoto: Japan's little crafty haven

When planning a trip to Japan a few months ago, I thought about which cities I would most want to visit. I definitely had to see Tokyo, for obvious reasons. And my brother lived in Nagasaki, so I would spend some time there. But after talking to my friend, Keiko, I decided I'd like to spend a few days in Kyoto. It turned out to be my favorite place to visit. A crafter's delight. Kyoto is a city drenched in history, culture and art. I had to check out the Kyoto Handicraft Center. I found myself an antique kimono, made from shibori dyed fabric. A lovely number indeed. We saw some artist making Japanese block prints, Ukiyo-E, and bought one for ourselves. Couldn't resist. After that, we visited the Nishinjin Textile Center and were delighted to see a fashion show of all the fabrics woven at the textile center in Kyoto. What luck! Then we took a tour upstairs and watched some women weaving on these enormous looms. On our long walks through the streets, we found some hand-made ceramic goods, cute little animal statues and cups. The woman in the store made them all herself. Heading back the hotel, we thought about where we might find some Geisha or Maiko, Geisha in training. We spotted two Maiko in the 7-11 buying snacks! Of all places...

Felt Doll Workshop

Ahh the felt doll workshop. Felt, felt and more felt.
Esther and I were inspired to create these little felt dolls after we went to a felt monster workshop at Make. It was such a fun and easy project to do. We thought to ourselves, why not have a Meetup and teach members how to make cute felt animals? I made some patterns for members to choose from, a moose, a cat and a pig. The moose,Chocolat, seemed to be a popular guy. Suet decided to make a Yeti with the long white faux fur we bought at Michael's. Eventhough she did everything step out of order, this doll was the cutest! Gotta love the headband, nice touch. I can't wait to see how all the dolls look when they are finished! We will definitely post them up when they are done...

Yay it's Spring, Open Kraft Haus!

We had another great Meetup at Brooklyn Lyceum today and thankfully it didn't rain. It was a cornicopia of crafting projects. There was scrapbooking, quilting, knitting, crocheting, doll making, and peanut making. Nathasha's doll making techniques were quite impressive. I love the gypsy doll she made. Very fancy indeed!! And good luck to Sarah and her nuts.

Last craft of the day, but certainly not the least, was DIY-custom-dressform-making- funtimes brought you by Esther, Alaina, and your's truly. Yes, that's right kids; we brought rolls and rolls of duct tape and made our own custom made dressforms with an old tee and some duct tape. Our first victim was Alaina. She did quite well considering the lack of oxygen in her lungs after we wrapped her up. I however, felt a little PANICKED! Ahhhhhhh. But I'm excited to get it stuffed and finished. Despite some funny looks from other cafe dwellers, we didn't miss a beat. We, Krafters, wear our duct tape proudly! Tune in next time for some more fantastical Kraft Haus Meetup madness!!!

Cupcake Exchange

A delicious Sunday it was. I'm totally overdosed on sugar. I never thought it could be true...that I could eat too many cupcakes. Ugh. Yum though. We had a cupcake exchange. Everybody that we invited to the party baked a dozen cupcakes, of which they baked themselves and decorated in hopes of winning a prize. I spent all Saturday night baking and ended up with 4 dozen. What why so many.. I couldn't stop! Then I ran out of time to make frosting. I was determined to make boobs. But I didn't get to frosting them until today at 1:30pm. I was running around trying to find a proper nipple for my boob. Found it. Finally. White chocolate morsels. I used pink sugar sprinkles for areolas and white chocolate morsels for nipples, which I dyed pink with food dye. Finally, the contest began at 2pm when the bakers started trickling in. There were some really great ideas and very delicious cuppies but there could only be four winners. The categories for the winners were best tasting, best looking, most creative, and don't quit your day job. The winner for best tasting went to April for a chocolate coconut concoction which didn't look like much but tasted delicious. The best looking went to Esther for her Pina Colada cupcake with coconut topping and a cute paper umbrella stuck in each one. The most creative went to Alaina for her everything but the kitchen sink cupcake. Literally it had everything stuck on it. Have you ever seen Fraggle Rock. Yeah it looked like the Trash Heap! And last but not least, the Don't Quit your Day Job award went to Brian for his bacon and feta cheese frosted cupcake. Yeach! Congratulations to everybody that participated in the bake off. It was a tough call for the judges but the winners left home with some lovely parting gifts. Till next time....