This May we are offering, for the first time, 2 for 1 memberships to our studio! This means you and a friend can split the cost of a $45 Worsted Weight Membership and craft all month long. This offer lasts for one week only – between April 24th and April 30th. Memberships are valid during the month of May and cannot be transfered to a later date.

Not only do you get unlimited access to our workspace and equipment with a membership, you also get studio friend passes, discounts on classes, free admission to Movie Night and this month, an invitation to Member Appreciation Night – a special potluck event for members and teachers with goody bags, raffle drawings and a special craft demo (to be announced).
For a complete list of studio and membership info click here.

Here’s Michael de Meng talking about everyone’s projects from the Island of Demented Toys workshop.

Last weekend we hosted a workshop by one of our favorite teachers, Montana based assemblage artist Michael de Meng. de Meng’s teaching style truly embarks a fearless sense of “you can make anything work, as long as you play around with it enough” sentiment that makes you feel empowered and inspired. He backs it up with his tried and true, trial and error know how that comes from years of experimenting with what works and what doesn’t, guiding & positively encouraging students to make any kind of creation they can dream up.

While observing his class last weekend, I picked up on something that really hit home with me. Seeing how easy it was for him to cut metal with the Dremel (a multi-functional power tool here at the studio) and seeing the endless possibilities of assembling together found objects you would never think go together are ALL possible with imagination, gumption, and de Meng know-how.

We also had the pleasure of hosting a book signing for Michael’s latest book “Dusty Diablos” as well as displaying an exhibit of his artwork. Michael spoke on his experiences from the book, like visiting Island of the Dolls in Mexico and bringing his students to a peculiar shop of religious icongraphy where for instance, you could find 20 replacement heads of Lady Guadalupe. Since we love raffles here at the U.C.C, we had one that night giving away a signed copy of his book, a monthly membership, and a needle felt kit, if you weren’t there you missed out!

This Saturday, April 24th at 7pm
We are screening Annie Hall this month and in honor of Diane Keaton’s signature “Annie Hall look”, we will be making headbands and pins out of, what else? Vintage ties! Bring in your own or use one of ours. We’ll show you how to reinvent old ties by using our simple snap and button machines. Bring friends and a lap friendly craft project if you’d like. We’ll provide snacks and refreshments too!
$6 admission/FREE for members

Third Wednesday of every month. Next meet-up: Wednesday September 15th, 6-8pm. FREE

Zines are small, low budget, self-published and self-distributed publications, written by authors outside the mainstream who are motivated to share thoughts or skills with a community rather than to make money or get famous. In a word, zines are awesome. We’ll be working on our own zines are well as collaborative projects, have zine swaps and lots of examples to peruse through.

Join us Mother’s Day weekend and treat mom to one (or all!) or these specially priced classes. Spa Goodies, Scrapbook 101 or Needlefelting. We will have refreshments and snacks to help celebrate.
JUST ADDED – Due to popular demand, we’ve added a second session of Spa Goodies on Saturday May 8th from 4-7pm

We had a great Club Etsy night last week with guest host Polly Danger. Polly gave valuable advice to everyone about making the most of craft fairs, involving yourself in the community, and maintaining a successful Etsy store. Everyone shared their own experiences and left energized and totally inspired! Thank you to everyone who came out – keep an eye on our Club Etsy page for announcements about next months meeting!

If you are like me at all, and I know you are, you collect things. Lots of things. For me, that’s often where it ends, and the things pile up, get in the way, and cause family strife. I often think, “oh I should do something with that”, like the collection of rhinestone xmas tree pins I had intended to weld into a wreath, but never did. Or the vintage playmobil cars “I bought for my son” and was going to display on shelves, but never did. Or the handmade dolls, the illustrated copies of Alice in Wonderland, the vintage crown canning jars from Canada, or the owls-all those owls. Seriously, I have a lot of stuff.

Well, I would like to you to meet Molly.

Molly collects things, awesome things, sparkly shiny things that make me want to collect more sparkly shiny things myself. But better yet, she displays them! Behold her glitter collection.

Molly reminds me that collections, when displayed lovingly, can be a work of art in their own right. That a pile of junk, when organized and treated with respect, can become a reflection of the collector and a celebration of the little things that make us happy. Molly’s collection makes me happy. So I am going to organize, starting with my dolls, and I will show you what I’ve done. Hopefully, it will make you happy too, and make you look a little differently at your collection of, say, dryer lint?

Angharad

Join the Urban Craft Center this Thursday in welcoming artist Michael de Meng as he presents and signs copies of his new book, “Dusty Diablos.”  De Meng will discuss the philosophy of transforming landfill-bound junk into rustic and mysterious works of art.  Secrets will be revealed about deMeng’s unique process of reinvention, as well as the inspiration behind his strange and demented artwork.  This up-close look at the intricate details of de Meng’s art happens at the Urban Craft Center’s open house on Thursday, April 15th from 7-9pm. 

Michael de Meng will be teaching a one day only workshop called “Island of Demented Toys” on Friday, April 16th from 10am-5pm.  Participants put their own personal touch on de Meng’s peculiar art form and will take away their own demented toy or shrine.  de Meng asks workshop participants to bring in rusty old junk, favorite thing-a-ma-bobs, and useless trinkets to turn into your own personal form of self-expression. (There are only a couple spots still open so sign up now to reserve your space!)

Pictured below are 2 of the 30+ pieces of deMeng’s artwork currently up at The Urban Craft Center.