Teacher Nicole Stevenson taught everyone the easy and inexpensive art form of handmade paper making. The process is so fun & easy, she has even taught this class to kids. We used two sources for paper pulp: shreds of paper from the UCC office paper shredder + and soy milk cartons (after tearing off the thin layer of plastic that lines inside and out) The class got to throw in random threads, glitter, paper punch outs such as tiny hearts etc. and construction paper which made the pulp turn different colors. No glue needed, making it an earth friendly, recycling precious art form. I plan on sending my grandma a letter (written on my handmade paper of course) in the mail. It seems like not that many letters go in the mail these days since we have speedy email!

For those of you who need a little inspiration, or a deadline, to finish your projects, let me introduce you to what has taken over my life the last few weeks. Swap-bot. This on-line swap robot thingie allows you to create project specific trades with people all over the world. Want to collect vintage postcards? Create a vintage postcard swap and have people send them to each other. Or just join one already created by someone else equally enamored with them. There are hundreds of swaps being organized that trade everything from miniature handcrafted fairy houses to boxes of junk from your junk drawer. Stickers, matchboxes, journals, ATCs, rubber stamps and zines! Seriously, if you want to make and trade, this is where to go. I have made and filled a match box, sent a bag full of goodies from my craft room, and am working on a journal filled with 40 random things. And the fun thing is for everything I send out, I get something back, made by someone equally passionate and crafty.

So check it out and let us know if you start trading!

We have a brand new class this weekend with special guest teacher Nicole Stevenson from The Craft Kitchen! Nicole is an artist and crafter who makes and sells everything from record album purses, to clothing with handmade appliques.

This Saturday from 3-6pm Nicole will be teaching her Spa Goodies class in our studio. The class is $65 and you’ll leave with a full line of natural body care products and the resources to make them again and again. Personalize your goodies with creative packaging using fabulous papers and collage materials. You’ll leave this class with three full sets including salt and sugar scrubs, bath ‘cookies’ (exfoliating bath salt bars that look like cookies), soaps, bath salt sachets, moisturizing lip balms, and lip glosses perfect to keep or give as gifts. Give us a call or drop by to sign up!

Check out photos from the past weeks classes and studio projects! See more on our Flickr page.

We are very excited to welcome Jeannine Stein, author of the book Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials into our studio for a brand new bookbinding class! In her book, Jeannine demonstrates 16 step-by-step projects of bookmaking using recycled/repurposed materials, from potato chip bags and sweaters, to record albums or gift cards. The illustrations are beautifully done, including a 14 project section in the back that showcase artists’ handmade books.

On Sunday, February 7th Jeannine will be teaching the Bingo Book in our studio. This class is fit for a beginner and books will be created from scratch, using vintage papers and materials. Create your book cover out of Bingo cards, and the inside pages of your book using papers from vintage fashion magazines. Lastly, you will learn the beautiful Romanesque stitch to bind the pages of your book to the cover. Attach with a button closure and you’ll be set with a handmade, vintage, one-of-a kind journal!

The Bingo Book class is on Sunday February 7th from 11am-3pm. The cost of the class is $80 – members receive a 15% discount! Please drop by the studio or give us a call to reserve your spot – space is limited!