Showing posts with label craftcation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label craftcation. Show all posts

Create Every Day // Craftcation :: Part 2

If you missed Part 1 you can find it here!

Craftcation // Part 2
the crafts.

In today's part of this series I am going to tell you all about the wonderful crafts you can find at Craftcation. Well, the name kind of says it all...right? You can basically find any craft here, but it is still fun to learn a little bit about each one.

Book Binding
Scrapbooking
Sewing - like a 3 hour skirt and a fun clutch
Reverse applique and Embroidery
Knitting
Paper projects
Macrame
Preserves
Needle Felting
Soap and Candle making
Fermentation
Rosettes
Letterpress
Printmaking
Pickling
Homemade Carmel Sauce and Ice Cream

Do you want to go yet? I want to go back! Those are just most of the craft classes offered at Craftcation...they also have business classes - anything and everything you could think when owning your own craft biz (Part 3...coming soon!).

So which classes did I go to? 

Well, I don't really do sewing...so maybe I should have taken the crash course they offered, but I tend to steer clear of the sewing machines. I love food, so should have gotten in on some of that caramel sauce and ice cream, but I didn't. Maybe these are good things for next year...

Bookbinding - a fun little book made with cereal boxes
Needle Felting - poking wool with a needle - a sure good release
Traveler's Daybook - A scrapbook on the go
Candle Making - what to do with all those old candles you have laying around...

Bookbinding
In this class we learned how to do a 7 hole pamphlet stitch.
The materials we used were:
Cereal boxes - cover
Paper - pamphlet
waxed linen - stitch
we also used a bone fold (oh so fun) and a punch
With all of this we made these great little pamphlets for taking notes and storing cards. So many ways you can elaborate on this project...especially if you like a good notebook...like I do.

c/o Craftcation and Neon Sprinkles Studio
Needle Felting
What is there not to love about continually stabbing wool with a needle??? Anyone...yeah did not think so. I fell in love with needle felting at Cal State Long Beach while taking a fibers class. I have no memory of what I made, but I know I loved the feeling of it. So when I say this on the schedule I was all over it. Angharad was showing us how to make cute little owls so I decided to follow suit because I have always thought it would be fun to needle felt animals...especially woodland creatures...don't ask me why, but I just think the medium lends itself nicely to those animals. Anyway here is my little owl. We used wool, a needle felting needle, and foam for this project.


Traveler's Daybook
With the one and only Amy Tan! This class was so fun...her classes always are. Her mama comes to help her out and it just all about having fun with it! This class was for a traveler's daybook...so a quick and easy on the go type of scrapbook, so you still have those great memories when you get back from the trip. I love scrapbooking, but have not had time for it in quite a few years...I keep a lot of things though, so this is perfect for me! I made one for all of our camp trips in the next year or so. We go to use a lot of her supplies from her American Crafts collection. Check out her website Amy Tangerine! Here is how my book turned out.

View from our hotel room in the background!
Soy Candles 101
In this class we got to do a few different things with candles. We got to melt down wax, scent it and then pour it, after decorating it a bit. We also got roll beeswax into candles and learn how to make fire starters (awesome!). Here is my soy candle...it smells like cherry...yum!


My mom took some of the same classes but she also did some fun sew classes, block printing and paper projects - like this card! I mean really? :)

c/o Linsi Brownson via Craftcation Instagram

 What craft classes would you like to take? What are you making this week? This week I have been focusing on making, or more specifically, the word maker. This word was a big deal at Craftcation, because we are all makers.



xo,

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Falling for Friday // 3-29-13

Happy Friday y'all!

Last weekend I was in lovely Ventura, Ca and I shared all my fave things to do in Ventura, check it out here! This week I am going to share my fave things from Craftcation! There are so many things I love about Craftcation, so I will be making this a series of posts through out the next couple of weeks, so I can share all of the goodness with you!



Craftcation :: Part 1
1. The location::
We were are the Crowne Plaza hotel right at the end of Ventura Pier where (1) you had a view of the ocean from any room, (2) you were able to head out for a walk along the boardwalk, which was as at our front door, and (3) it was in walking distance to everything: the beach, downtown, city hall and more. Ventura is all about the arts and was so welcoming to all of us makers...it is a real treat.

2. The community::
Markers was the word of the weekend and that is what we came away with, a community of makers. You can take a look at #makers2013 and #craftcation on Twitter or Instagram to see all the wonderful makers and creations that this community offers. This year I was much more prepared to network and make new friends because I have been longing to find my creative community close to me. Thankfully I have found them and I will be sharing most of them in my Craftcation series posts.

3. The workshops::
So many great workshops and so many ideas for new workshops next year that it is impossible to pick just one you want to go to! There were about 6-12 classes going on at the same time for four days straight! That is a lot of love and knowledge to be had and shared. So I will also be highlighting some of my favorite workshops and the craft classes I enjoyed while at Craftcation in this series.

4. Our fearless leaders::
Let me to introduce, Delilah and Nicole! There are no words to describe how awesome these two women are. They are so inspiring and without them Craftaction would not have been born and that is a sad thing to think about. Their own stories are amazing, as well as their story as a partnership in business with Craftcation and Patchwork. For sure check out their crafty businesses!

Here is a little story: I moved to Santa Ana almost three years ago and literally right around the corner from my house was this cute little store called The Road Less Traveled, this is Delilah's store. One day I had a little time to finally pop in and check it out...I was in love at the first step in. One side of the store had all these handmade goods made by local artists, and they other half was a classroom with a giant calender of workshops on the wall. Oh yeah, I liked this place. I signed up for the newsletter and low an be hold a few months later there was Craftcation in that newsletter and the rest is history. :)

5. The wealth of knowledge::
The wealth of knowledge at Craftcation about crafts, business, web, food and motivation is out of this world. With all the classes available and all of our favorite "craftelebrities" (as Nicole calls them...love it!) in one place - there is nothing you can't learn. They want to help and are so willing to share their expertise that you feel so welcomed into learning new things to make your business work. Then when you are ready to take a break from all the business classes you can pop into a craft class to just have some fun or learn a technique you have always wanted to learn! I am still processing everything I learned.

Follow along with this series under my craftcation tag in the side bar under Labels. It is going to be fun and I promise to share some of the good knowledge I learned from my fave craftelebrites!

Enjoy!
xo,

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Falling for Friday // 3-22-13


(1) Pete's // (2) Busy Bee Cafe // (3) Betty Belts // (4) The Pier // (5) City Hall


Today I am featuring my favorite things to do while I am here in Ventura, Ca.
Right now I am in Ventura at the Craftcation Conference! You can find out more here.

Ventura, California
Ventura is located about an hour north of Los Angeles, Ca and about 40 minutes south of Santa Barbara, Ca. It is a beach town known for its great surf and their wonderful downtown area with great food and shops.

Here are my favorite things to do in Ventura!

1. Pete's Breakfast House
We always leave so early to go to Ventura, so the first thing on the list is always breakfast.
And it is always Pete's!

2. Main Street - Downtown Ventura
Shopping and Dining
Antique Stores
A good lunch - Busy Bee Cafe, Nature's Grill
Craft shops - Betty Belts, Superbuzzy
Fun retail stores

3. The Pier
Paddle
Watch the surfers
Enjoy the beach

4. The Architecture
Gorgeous buildings all around town that are so hard to miss.
The Mission San Buenaventura
Ventura City Hall building

If you ever get the chance to go or enjoy it as much as I do, you will find it is a great place for some R&R. Who doesn't love some of that?

Falling For Friday


Happy Friday!
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Craftcation 2013...Here I Come

I am so excited to be off to Craftcation this morning for a weekend in Ventura with a ton of other bloggers and crafters alike !

Ventura, California

 Here is the low down...

Craftcation
Indie business and DIY Conference in Ventura, Ca
March 21st - 24th, 2013
Put on my Nicole Stevenson and Santa Ana's own Delilah Snell :)
A retreat to inspire, network and build a craft business community

Here is a little video recap from last year...


Craftcation 2012 from Letter Box Films on Vimeo.


So this weekend I will be posting all over twitter, facebook and instagram when I can! Come follow along with all the fun @maddiedierkes on twitter and instagram. You can also follow @Craftcation for more conference fun and to learn more about it all.

Tomorrow, I will be featuring Ventura, Ca on Falling for Friday featuring all the best and fun things to do while you are there. It is a great California coast town, and I have loved it ever since I was a little kid, when we would go as a family.

What will I be focusing on at Craftcation?
There are so many classes to choose from that is hard to pick one sometimes, but here are few of the workshops and classes I will be for checking out. Over the next couple of weeks I will share some of the things I have learned at Craftcation, the outfits I wore, the friends I made and so much more! I am excited to share with you all!!!

Check out the full schedule here!

Classes:
Bookkeeping for an indie business
Getting to know your digital SLR camera - I just got a Canon EOS Rebel T3 over the weekend!!
Blog Perspectives
When to hire a professional
Those who can do, Teach!

DIY Workshops:
Soy Candles 101
Needle Felting !!! Love to needle felt, so I am excited to do it again.
Traveler's Daybook with the lovely Amy Tan :)
Networking + Notebooks - networking while making a notebook for the weekend =
perfect way to start off this conference!

Stay Tuned!

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Shop. Goals. Craftcation.

I had fun in my shop two weekends ago....organizing.  I love to organize and I love knowing everything has a home...that makes sense.  My shop was in major need of organization and it is so nice to go in there now.



Now that I have all the tools, materials, design ideas, website, etsy shop, marketing materials and the shop pretty much done, I can actually start concentrating on the not so fun stuff.  My goal for the next month is to get my business license (that entails a lot of things I have come to find out)!  Once that is done I can then start concentrating my limited time to actually building up inventory and getting it up on the shop.  My goal is to have it all up and running by Craftcation 2013!  Here's to 2013 goals already starting to come to life!

This goal maybe a bit ambitious, but I am really looking forward to it (maybe not the paperwork part), and this is what I am really passionate about it, so why not make it ambitious?

Having everything setup by the time I get to Craftcation will make it all the more fun! I will actually get to show the work I do and get my name out there, and be able to represent myself properly.

Here is a little video about Craftcation! Really will be in need of this conference come March! 





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Craftcation was Amazing!



I just got back from Ventura, Ca where I was at Craftcation! It was great to be around other women that share for my love of art and crafting. I went with my Mom, and it completely exceed our expectations. I feel like I have such a wealth of knowledge at my finger tips now and there is so much to do. So I am going to go get started!

Check out Craftcation at
http://www.craftcationconference.com/

Looking forward to next year!
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