The Urban Craft Center » Misc Crafts http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com The Urban Craft Center is communal creative space, a gathering spot for crafty types of all sorts, with the tools and the space to facilitate your creative process. Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:21:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Jam Session http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/jam-session/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/jam-session/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 02:08:25 +0000 Victoria http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=2352 This weekend at the UCC special guest teacher Delilah Snell, Master Food Preserver, lead our first canning class, aptly named Jam Session. We learned the process of steam canning, something that has long intrigued and confounded me. Delilah demystified it throughout the session as we made apricot jam, red wine jelly, and sweet onion marmalade, all three equally delicious. We talked about everything from how and where to acquire ingredients, the best places for buying canning supplies, to altering recipes by adding your own personal flair. Delilah imparted the knowledge for each of us to set up our own home kitchens with a canning station. Thanks to Delilah for making the trip from Orange County up to The Urban Craft Center we look forward to the next Jam Session! :)

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/jam-session/feed/ 0 Zine Club http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/zine-club/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/zine-club/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:59:09 +0000 rhea http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=2163 Third Wednesday of every month. First meet-up: Wednesday July 21st, 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.

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/zine-club/feed/ 0 Glitter Me Up http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/glitter-me-up/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/glitter-me-up/#comments Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:41:02 +0000 angharad http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=2130 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

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/glitter-me-up/feed/ 0 Silverlake Art Craft And Vintage http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/silverlake-art-craft-and-vintage/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/silverlake-art-craft-and-vintage/#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2010 01:20:05 +0000 rhea http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=2087 We will have a booth at the upcoming Silverlake Art Craft and Vintage on Sunday, April 25th from 10am-4pm. We will be doing free craft workshops throughout the day, so drop by and say hello! This is a monthly fundraiser on the last Saturday & Sunday of each month, created by the community to support the student program development. They have raised over $30,000 for the Micheltorena Street Elementary School and LAUSD, plus they support local makers, which is why we are so excited they asked us to take part! If you are interested in becoming a vendor, visit their website at http://www.silverlakeartcraftvintage.com/index.html

Come visit us and lots of other wonderful handmade vendors at:
MICHELTORENA STREET ELEMENTARY STREET SCHOOL
1511 MICHELTORENA STREET (CROSS ST. SUNSET BLVD.)
LA CA 90026

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/silverlake-art-craft-and-vintage/feed/ 0 Cochineal, Indigo and Fustic! http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/cochineal-indigo-and-fustic/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/cochineal-indigo-and-fustic/#comments Sun, 04 Apr 2010 23:29:49 +0000 rhea http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=2053 Jakki Fink taught her first Natural Dye Workshop at The U.C.C this past weekend. The class was just about sold out and everyone got to experiment dipping fabric, yarn and other fibers into buckets of earthy materials, revealing a wide array of gorgeous colors. This was our messiest class yet, but most crafters would agree that means it was a total success! As you can see, the indigo plant delivers brilliant variations of blue and Jakki (center) demonstrated how fiber first dyed in Cochineal reacts when dipped into Iron. The class will be offered again this summer so make sure to check back with us if you missed out!

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/cochineal-indigo-and-fustic/feed/ 0 Handmade Paper Class http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/handmade-paper-class/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/handmade-paper-class/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:49:00 +0000 the ucc team http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=1889 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!

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/handmade-paper-class/feed/ 0 Swap it to me http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/misc-crafts/swap-it-to-me/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/misc-crafts/swap-it-to-me/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:14:45 +0000 angharad http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=1845

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!

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/misc-crafts/swap-it-to-me/feed/ 0 Spa Goodies This Weekend! http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/spa-goodies-this-weekend/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/spa-goodies-this-weekend/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:53:53 +0000 the ucc team http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=1665

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!

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/spa-goodies-this-weekend/feed/ 0 Made This Week http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/made-this-week/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/made-this-week/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:49:42 +0000 rhea http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=1659 Check out photos from the past weeks classes and studio projects! See more on our Flickr page.

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/made-this-week/feed/ 0 New Bookbinding Class This Weekend http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/new-bookbinding-class-this-weekend/ http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/new-bookbinding-class-this-weekend/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:56:09 +0000 rhea http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/?p=1636 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!

]]> http://www.theurbancraftcenter.com/blog/new-bookbinding-class-this-weekend/feed/ 0