Craftastic Event: Glam, Glitter & Gore, Oct. 23

We're teaming up with local artist Jennifer Cunningham to present a super-fun, seasonal art, fashion & shopping extravaganza! It will be on Saturday, Oct. 23, with a variety of activities going on throughout the day and night. However, you can see the Glam, Glitter & Gore art installation by Jennifer & a slew of other awesome resident artists at Starving Art Studios/EAT during the whole month of October.

Starting at noon, the indoor artist market, food trailers and outdoor art & craft vendors will all be open to the public. There will be family-friendly craft projects, face painting, and various other fall festival activities going on.

From 6-10pm we'll have evening programming for the adults, including a closing reception for the in-house artist exhibition, drinks, live music by Auroravore, Tai Collins & others TBD, a costume contest, photo booths & more! The main attraction will be a fabulous fashion show featuring collaborative collections by Jennifer Cunningham, Anslee Connell & Megan Summerville.

Wearable and visual art will be available for sale in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and price ranges, so come on out & support a fantastic array of local artists all in one spot! We'll also be celebrating the birthdays of Beth H. (that's me!), Beth A. and Sue Zola (Austin's acclaimed glitter art diva) with fun and fabulous surprises!

For more info, check out Jennifer's Austin Wearable Art Examiner article and the Facebook event page. Hope to see you all there!

Craftrepreneurs: Yarn Harvest

Have you heard of Yarn Harvest? It's Austin's own recycled yarn company, making beautiful yarn from second-hand sweaters! What a creative & eco-friendly manufacturing model. Here's what Yarn Harvest has to say about its nontraditional method:

"By finding a new use for a second-hand, locally-abundant resource, we are able to keep our costs low and our manufacturing local. By not having to make new wool, we are able to reduce the carbon footprint and negative impacts on the environment that making new wool causes. And by getting involved in the wonderful world of knitting, crocheting, and crafting in general, we know that what we make is both quality and a good value."


We love what Yarn Harvest is up to, and we're partnering with them to bring you Eastside Knit Night this November during the East Austin Studio Tour! On Tuesday, 11/16 from 5:30-9pm, you'll be able to hang out with creative knitters & crocheters, learn something new & share your skills at this fantabulous knitty party we're hosting at Starving Art Studios. There will be knit-tastic giveaways, the debut of Yarn Harvest's latest & greatest products & more! Mark your calendars & stay tuned for more details about this fun event.

Knitters & crocheters: Would you like to teach others your technique? We're looking for a few talented folks who want to share their mad skillz at this event. You'd be able to sell your handmade yarn-y creations as well. If interested, please drop us a line at getcrafty[at]thewondercraft[dot]com!

Greg, the friendly guy behind Yarn Harvest, shows off his goods.

Renegade or Bust! Only 3 more days!!!

Tissue paper, pipe cleaners & faux jewels, oh my! What are we doing with all of these craftastic materials, you ask? Getting ready for the Renegade Craft Fair, of course!

Beth A & our awesome intern, Caitlin, made dozens of pretty tissue flowers to decorate our booth. I made a sign for our crafty make & take: Trick Out Some Timber! And we made some other super-cool decorations, but you'll have to come out to the show to see those! We have to save some surprises to wow you, right?

By now you've probably heard all about it, but if not, hop over to the Renegade page to get all the deets! It's happening THIS WEEKEND, and believe me, you don't want to miss it. We'll be there with Stella's Boutique (that's right: we're bringing our Airstream right into the events center!) & crafty DIY fun for you guys. There will be over 200 indie-crafters, interactive awesomeness from our friends at The Stitch Lab, Austin Craft Mafia & sooo much more! Too much handmade goodness to list here, so come on out & see for yourself!

Wood You Like To Try This?

Jen here. The girls at The WonderCraft have been hard at work getting our crafty fun project ready for The Renegade Craft Fair that is coming up just around the corner (May 15th & 16th). I think you guys will have a blast with our project.

I will share a few of the things I did for the sample I made here. One of the things we will be showing everyone at Renegade is a simple image transfer technique. It's super-easy, fun and versatile.

Now, I don't want to spoil the fun on that project so I went with a different technique for this blog post, but the results are similar. I decided to use graphite paper and transfer an image. Not as easy as it sounds. But after drawing in the missing pieces with a marker, I was pretty happy. I embellished it with some pieces I cut out of a doily, then decided to Mod Podge the whole image. Well, it smeared a bit so after fussing with it, I just went with the results and played them up. The result is a much softer look than I had originally planned, but I like it.

If you want to make your own cute wall hanging or pendant then come on down and visit us at Renegade! We'll have a ton of supplies and some great techniques to share.

Have you tasted the goodness of Blue Note Bakery?

We here at The WonderCraft love supporting our fellow local businesses, especially when they are this tasty! Blue Note's desserts are simply marvelous! Blue Note Bakery got its start in a small, shared catering kitchen back in 2004, and has grown steadily ever since. They now have their own shop located on South Congress. They can create a unique dessert or custom cake for any occasion. Check out the photos of their one-of-a-kind works of "edible art!"


If you come out to our Mix & Make Crafty Hour tonight you can taste Blue Note Bakery's delicious treats for yourself! You can also kick back with a glass of wine, make some fabulous wine glass charms to take home, mingle and shop our boutique of handmade items from local artists. In honor of the East Austin Studio Tour, our Crafty Hour is free tonight! Come on out & get crafty with us! Stella is parked outside of Creative Side Jewelry Academy for the duration of E.A.S.T. at 628 Allen Street, stop #45.

Get crafty with us during E.A.S.T.!

We will be out on the East Austin Studio Tour with our Airstream trailer, Stella, parked at 628 Allen St. as guests of Creative Side Jewelry Academy (stop #45 on the E.A.S.T. map). Of course we'll be doing many crafty projects you can take part in throughout the week!

We'll have a huge rocketship sculpture outside, with a variety of materials so you can make something unique to add to it. We look forward to watching it develop into something awesome over the course of the tour! We'll also be doing some of our most popular make & take projects, like upcycled cardboard wallets & mustaches-on-a-stick (as modeled above by 2 party-goers at the Beard Folks event at Austin Handmade). Fun, fun stuff! Aside from joining in our crafty fun, it will be a great chance for you to see the talented artists of Creative Side at work, too!

Additionally, we'll have a lovely little boutique set up inside the trailer featuring the work of all 4 WonderCraft founders, as well as that of several of our EtsyAustin team members, chock full of fabulous handmade items such as:

* jewelry from Merritt Gade, Lucy Blue Studio & Broken Ear Productions
* unique purses & wallets from Fayded Creation
* fun greeting cards & screenprinted apparel from Paired Hearts
* awesome art for your walls from Leah Duncan, Nessa Dee & The Flashbulb
* appliqued clothing & gifts for kids from The Snuggle Herd
* felted goodies & felting kits from Gypsy Harte
* DIY screen-printing kits and stamp sets from Craft Chi
and more!

And don't miss our Third Thursday Mix & Make crafty hour at the trailer on 11/19 from 5-9pm. There will be free wine & nibbles & lots of crafting fun, so we hope you'll stop by!

Robots & Mustaches & Beards, Oh my!

It's been a crazy-fun week getting ready for 2 awesome events.

First, I hope you'll join us tonight for The Robot Challenge at Imperia! Starting at 5:00, you can show off your robot-building skillz & compete for fabulous prizes! Ticket price includes all supplies for the challenge, 2 California rolls & a drink. Get your advance tix thru Google Checkout for only $18! $20 at the door.




Then, tomorrow night, continue the fun with the Beard Folks Art Show at Austin Handmade. We'll be there to help you make your very own beard or goatee to wear (like mine above)! There will also be great food, bevvies, music, giveaways & a "bearded" photo booth - fun times, for sure!

Free First Thursday Fun!

We'll be out at Wooldridge Park today from 4-7 pm for the kick-off party of the month-long Get Your Art On celebration. Come by and make some art with us! Just look for Stella, our 32-foot Airstream trailer!

Other event highlights include: Greater Tuna’s Aunt Pearl (Joe Sears) making Halloween cards and crafts with kids; The Biscuit Brothers of PBS as strolling minstrels; theatrical excerpts from Austin Bike Zoo’s “Wheels of Wonderland,” an imaginative treatment of Alice in Wonderland; improv comedy courtesy of The Hideout; and musical performances by The Austin School for the Performing and Visual Arts, featuring YouthCast Choice Award winners, “AfterMath.” So much to see! And did I mention it's all FREE?!

Be sure to check nowplayingAustin.com for a complete list of all the Get Your Art On events going on this month.

Get Your Art On - free kick-off festival First Thursday!

The Greater Austin Creative Alliance (formerly Austin Circle of Theaters) kicks off its month-long Get Your Art On celebration with an afternoon of free family fun at Wooldridge Park! In a festival atmosphere, participants of all ages will have ample entertainment throughout the event, and KLBJ AM will be on the scene. Of course we'll be there to join in the fun, too! Come by & make some art with us! Thursday, October 1, 4pm–7pm.

Other event highlights include: Greater Tuna’s Aunt Pearl (Joe Sears) making Halloween cards and crafts with kids; The Biscuit Brothers of PBS as strolling minstrels; theatrical excerpts from Austin Bike Zoo’s “Wheels of Wonderland,” an imaginative treatment of Alice in Wonderland; improv comedy courtesy of The Hideout; visual arts from Art Alliance Austin, featuring The WonderCraft [that's us!]; and musical performances by The Austin School for the Performing and Visual Arts, featuring YouthCast Choice Award winners, “AfterMath.” Whew! That's a ton of entertainment!

Kick-off festival participants are encouraged to dress as their favorite artistic character and to bring their own chairs &/or blankets for seating. The event has no rain date.

Get Your Art On events will happen around Austin from October 1–31, in theaters, galleries, museums, parks, schools, cinemas, studios, streets and more! This month-long celebration is in honor of National Arts and Humanities Month and is presented by The Greater Austin Creative Alliance (formerly Austin Circle of Theaters) together with CreateAustin and the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division. For more information on Get Your Art On, please visit NowPlayingAustin.com.

We Make Stuff like Wacky Pinback Buttons and Cardboard Wallets

Strange, but true: button-making is really addictive! We just bought a button-maker for The WonderCraft & I am in love! It arrived a few days ago, just in time for the We Make Stuff event on Saturday night. We decided to offer Design-Your-Own buttons to patrons, and boy was it ever a hit!





Here are a couple of cutie pies with their buttons. They were a fun & sweet pair (unfortunately I did not get their names). There's just something really satisfying about framing a pretty patterned paper or a random magazine pic in a 1-inch button.











My fave of the night was the Drew Barrymore eye that I cut from a makeup advertisement. Bonus: the resulting eye-less photo was pretty cool in itself! although a bit creepy. It got even creepier later when I made a second button with her other eye for someone else.

I loved my Drew Barrymore Eye, but alas, she is already gone. I think I lost her at Magnolia Cafe, where the WonderCrafters & their menfolk were enjoying a late night (early morning) post-event dinner. When I arrived home and was getting ready for bed, I realized she was no longer pinned to my shirt. So if anyone sees Drew Barrymore's eye peeking up at them somewhere along S Congress, please let me know. I miss her.

We had a sweet DIY Upcycled Cardboard Wallets make & take station that was a huge hit, too. People were making the most amazing stuff!


Also, Trevor Ray Thompson was there with his fantastic photo booth setup. Fun stuff! Congrats & thanks to Candace of Electric Promotions (shown here with the awesome giant scissors she made) for throwing another smashing par-tay celebrating our local art & craftsters! See more pics from We Make Stuff in The WonderCraft's Flickr stream.

Make a Recycled Creature with Us 9/26 at Jerry's!

On Saturday, Sept. 26th, from 12-3pm, we'll be out at Jerry's Artarama with Stella, our fabulous mobile crafting unit Airstream trailer, for a day filled with DIY fun! We'll be doing a Recycled Creatures demo where you can join in and make your own unique, earth-friendly work of art to take home, free of charge! How about an owl? Or perhaps a robot?

There will also be in-store watercolor demos by Kathleen McElwaine, tasty refreshments by NadaMoo, and student band The Rotators, led by instructor Ross Carnes of the Sri Atmananda Memorial School. This is a day of fun for the whole family, so be sure to bring out the kiddos! Best of all, admission is free. Don't miss out!

This Month's Special Offer!

Enroll this month in ANY class and get this necklace featuring our beautiful girl, stella for free!  This super cool necklace is made using a technique you can learn in our resin class!  Click here for details and to enroll.

Simply enter "augnecklace" in the coupon section at checkout when you enroll before August 31st and we'll send you one!  

Curious about what classes we offer?  Take a look at a full listing of our class offerings and search by topic, age group, difficulty, and even location here:

http://www.thewondercraft.com/classes/

Featured Class:  Scrap Fabric Pomanders - for Adults - 12/16/09

Turn those fabric scraps you've been saving into a pretty little hanging flower bunch. You'll have the option to make yours scented by including dried herbs or potpourri in the center, or leave it unscented. 

Schedule:

Wednesday, 12/16/2009, 5:30 - 8:30 PM

Location:

Austin Handmade
2009 South First St, Austin TX, 78704
512.383.9333
http://austinhandmade.com/

Click here to sign up for this class http://www.thewondercraft.com/classes/viewclass.aspx?Id=93