Handmade Chirstmas Shopping: Blue Genie & Armadillo

On Thursday night Beth H and I went Christmas shopping & loaded up on gifts & artsy inspiration. We started off at the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar, now held at the Palmer Events Center. We didn't know what to expect since neither of us had ever been before! (a travesty, I know!)

We had heard that it can be a little more of the old fashioned type of craft show, but we what we were surprised by was the amazing fine art & more expensive gifts available. While it was definitely different from the "indie" craft shows we participate in, we both found some great gifts and stuff we loved for ourselves.

Of course the first thing I bought wasn't a gift really... its for the baby! This awesome boston terrier onesie was made by Animated Closet, from a booth shared with our friend Chantell Champlain of Kalei Doscope Aromacare.

These felt flowers were made from old sweaters that had been felted & formed, they really caught our eye & Beth bought some for a gift.

Right next door there was a candle vendor called Lights Out and I loved all the scents! I bought some for gifts & some to keep. My favorite was Chocolate Martini, mmmm.
We both LOVED the letterpress block vendor, The Olde Press Prints of London, who had these amazing letter collages & stamps. You could buy a drawer and fill it with letters & pictures, so awesome. Beth bought a vintage looking elephant stamp.
At one end of the asile was Flim Flam, a guy making these amazing little metal animal sculptures that when you roll them they move all their limbs. This crab's legs moved and pinchers opened & closed, it was really cool.
After The Armadillo, we were on to Blue Genie. Their entrance sign was spectacular! We were impressed with how they really transformed the whole Marchesa into a store, the entry had several displays & central check out.
We loved our pal Brandy Davis' anatomy collages for her shop Pigsey Art.
One lucky person on my list is getting one of these awesome laser cut lanterns, by Curious Customs.

I was absolutely in love with this amazing wall sculpture from Articulture & I bought a smaller item from them for another lucky person on my list.
I absolutely loved this trunk display from Darla Teagarden Photography, not to mention her amazing work!
It was a very successful shopping night, I think I got everyone on my list covered. I'll have to post more later because I didn't want those on my list who read this to see their gifts before I give them!

Event Recap: Mustache Mania

Mustache Mania, our Movember fund-raising party, was a hit! Big thanks to all of you who came out to get crafty & show your support for men's health awareness! We took some fun photos that I wanted to share.

Look closely to see the freshly etched 'stache on the frosty mug above.

Beth A showed guests how to etch their own glassware. It's fun & easy! Guests paid $5 per glass, which turned out to be a great way for us to raise money for the Movember campaign.

In fact, the etching was such a success that we did a similar craft a few weeks later at The Austin Bleet-Up. We etched glass ornaments at that event & people were loving it!











We also did our ever-popular mustaches-on-a-stick craft. We provide the templates, fabric, glitter & other supplies, and the crafters go wild!

"Double mustache! Oh my gosh! What does it mean???? It's almost a triple..."

Lookin' good, ladies!


Our new friends, Austin Personal Bartenders, were there serving up tasty bevvies. Having' a party? Give them a call - they're awesome!




























Beth A with our Miss Movember, who arrived at the event with a penciled-on 'stache she had been wearing out & about all evening. Such dedication!

What a fun evening. See more pics in our Mustache Mania Flickr set.

Hope you'll join us this weekend at Cherrywood Art Fair for more crafty good times!

P.s. That "Marvellous" tee Beth is wearing is from Paired Hearts, her own handmade line, available in our boutique!  : )

E.A.S.T is here!

This weekend kicks off the amazing 9th annual East Austin Studio Tour! We're super excited to be listed as an exhibition space and on the map under E8. We'll be open this weekend and next with our button maker out for all you button fanatics!

We also are hosting two awesome events during the week that are listed under "furthermore" in the catalog.
The first is on Tuesday from 5:30-10pm called Eastside Knit Night & is going to be a gathering of all types of craft lovers! You'll be able to learn knitting or crochet, get FREE drinks (beer & liquor!) and see "Handmade Nation" documentary. Hosted with Yarn Harvest and goodie bags from Gauge Knits! Here is the blog post about it with more details.

The second is on Thursday from 5:30-9 called Mustache Mania. We'll be making mustaches on a stick, stenciling mustaches onto glassware & generally celebrating everyone's mustaches!! Most importantly its a "Movember" event where we're raising money for men's health issues, specifically benefiting LIVESTRONG and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Both are FREE events too! Hope to see you out during EAST!

The EAST website is really amazing this year, you gotta check it out!

Photo Essay: Scenes from a Make Day

Today all of us WonderCraft gals got together at Kim's for a crafty Make Day! We each worked on our own projects while catching up on what's going on in each other's lives... oh yeah, and watched some old episodes of "21 Jump Street." Good times, for sure!


Kim had a pretty plate full of Mexican pastries for us. So delicious.


I stuffed toys until my hands were tired.


Jen worked on some vinyl jewelry made from old records.


Beth A screen-printed tees to prep for a crafty bachelorette party we're throwing tomorrow night.


And Kim created some new looks with her stash of colorful beads & gold chain.

It's so much fun to get together to craft, and we all had a super-productive day! We're all working on some great new stuff for our upcoming events, so be sure to check the calendar on our website or follow us on facebook to find out what we're up to. Hope to see you soon!

Inspired at Disneyland

On my recent trip to California I visited "The happiest place on earth", Disneyland! I've always loved it. In high school I even had a season pass. The artists and "imagineers" that make Disneyland's magic have always been an inspiration for me. On this trip I visited with my friend Jesyka Mares and her baby Laelia, it was fun & we spent a lot of the day eating!

While waiting for a table at the new Cafe Orleans we discovered some awesome stuff the New Orleans Square.

First we spotted the caricature artists who can also do really nice regular portraits, too. We even spotted them practicing on each other.
They were also selling these nice watercolors of the haunted mansion, there were many different artist interpretations of the same drawing. I wanted to buy just the blank one and paint it myself!



One of my other favorite shops was a vintage jewelry store, right there in Disneyland! To my dismay it was gone! In its place was a new jewelry/handbag shop with branded merchandise. I snapped this pic because I thought the jewelry really reminded me of our good friend Camille Jackson's work, check out her etsy, Diamonds & Guns.
Next door to that was a glass etching shop where this guy was etching some awesome stuff! You could get your name with your favorite character etched onto all kinds of glassware.


Amazingly we spotted a very cool window display that some hipsters were sitting in. I had to take pics because it was so similar to the theme I devised for our recent Stella makeover. You'll have to stop in and see how she looks & stay tuned for the new pics!


And lastly isn't this bat light amazing?! So Austin!!

Mustache Mania: November 18th

Join us November 18th for Mustache Mania!

Mustache Mania is a celebration of the mustache! Make mustaches on a stick while enjoying cold beverages from glassware you've stenciled with your favorite mustache style.

The fun starts at 5:30 and we'll be screening Art School Confidential at 7pm.

This event is also a "Movember" party, we'll be fund raising for cancer research highlighting mens health issues. Livestrong and The Prostate Cancer Foundation will be benefiting.

Its also an official E.A.S.T. Happening and will be listed in the programs!

Check it out on Facebook & invite your friends!

My very crafty Baby Shower!

A couple weeks ago I had a baby shower out in California at my parents house in Thousand Oaks. It was hosted by my mom & her best friend Patric Dodson & my best friend and crafty pal Jesyka D'Itri Mares. Who also made me the cutest invites ever! Check out her blog and etsy.


We'd planned a few crafty projects which were loads of fun, so I thought I'd share some pics of everyone getting into it. We decorated onesies with flocking, markers, iron-on applique & embroidery. They all turned out totally cute and unique! My little guy will have tons of stuff to wear.








We also had guests write messages to baby on a fitted crib sheet, which turned out so sweet and sentimental, something I'll keep forever!

My sister-in-law took all these amazing pics and crocheted the baby this awesome blanket! Check out her etsy shop: Crazystars