The thoughts, sewing projects, and fabric oglings of a dedicated sewist.

A Pride of Crafters

8/10/12
I had fun looking up the names for groups of animals.   Did you know that a group of salamanders is called a "congress" or a group of vultures a "venue"?  I considered using one of the names for many rhinos in my title - a "stubbornness" or a "crash" - but since the ladies who came were such a vibrant, interesting bunch (and not at all rhino-like), I decided to go with the name for a group of lions.

And pride is accurate in another sense.  I really enjoyed seeing people's modest pride in their own work and the warm pride the work was greeted with by the group as a whole.  We were all women last night (but men are welcome!!), and I was pleased that there wasn't a lot of that apologetic nonsense that women (including me) sometimes display when showing their work to others.  People asked for help with a problem they hadn't yet figured out, but not in a self-deprecating way.

So we haven't yet figured out what our name is or how exactly we'll structure our time together (mini-workshops on new skills or ways to sell?  open-mike time to show off new work?  support group for crafting obsessiveness?) but I think we're on to a good thing!




So this group came about because Kristine Roof Fachet and I met through the BCK (Berwyn Cool Kids) facebook page and thought we'd see if we could get a group of crafty people together.  Jessica Calek of Studio 22, a new gallery and shop in Berwyn, offered up her space for us for the gathering.  We had a great response - 37 people responded to our announcement - and a good turnout of 15 for our first meeting, especially considering the weather (rain, lightening, tornado watch).  We had screen printers, seamstresses, costume designers, knitters, home dec folks, weavers, glass painters, metal workers, jewellery makers, and even with that list I've still probably left some activities out!  Here's a list of links of those who attended so that you can check out their work for yourself:

Sur Le Feu shop and facebook page
Tiny Little Buttons blog
Daily Dose Nature blog
Creative Texture Tools
Formwork shop and blog and facebook page
Megan Lee Designs
and if you're at my blog, you probably know how to find my shop and facebook page!


And here's a list of our members who couldn't make it last night but were, I'm sure, there in spirit:

B-holistic blog and facebook page
Kistner Supply
Custom Cookies by Jill shop and facebook page
Pinwheel Anna shop, blog, and facebook page
Little Bits Workshop
Crank Heart Pony shop, blog, and facebook page
Sunshine Corner shop and facebook page
Dana Perea Bloede shop and website
Paula Knits


I came home bubbling with energy and ideas.  Ah, the glory of human contact!  And the cookies - let's not forget the glorious cookies that Jill from Custom Cookies by Jill donated for the devouring:



1 comment on "A Pride of Crafters"
  1. How fun! I'd love to find some local group like this in my town. Hmmm, where to look....

    ReplyDelete