THIS WEEKEND: Indie Shopping Experience

Clear your schedule, grab your wallet & head out for a weekend of amazing indie shopping events this Friday, Saturday & Sunday!

Friday 12/5: "Stand By Your Man "A Tribute to Bonnie & Clyde

Art Meets Fashion in this original show inspired by Bonnie & Clyde

411 Tyler Street, Dallas 75208, 7pm

Check out the amazing hair accessories, hats & of course amazing artwork by this truly dynamic duo: designer Tara Tonini (our beloved Tara To the T)& Artist Joey Seeman. Find out more details on Tara's blog (check out the killer Observer article while you're there) http://taratothet.blogspot.com

Saturday 12/6: Urban Street Bazaar

11am-10pm Bishop Arts District, Dallas

http://urbanstreetbazaar.com

Come by & shop talented artists & designers selling their hand crafted wares! You'll find fashion-forward, modern designed jewelry, accessories, apparel, childrens items, toys, house goods, and more! Definitely a great place to pick up a one-of-a-kind gift for everyone on your list.  There will be music, entertainment & a silent auction. 

Get all the details, directions, etc at www.urbanstreetbazaar.com

Sunday 12/7: Deck the Halls

Southside on Lamar, Dallas

1409 South Lamar, Dallas, TX 75215

11 am- 6pm 

http://deckthehallsdallas.com

Find even MORE great shopping here-- in addition to indie designers & crafters, you'll find a few local businesses with great merchandise & unique, original style! 

Come by for a Santa photo opportunity, childrens craft table, cocktails & a raffle benefitting St. Phillip's School & Community Center. 

Get all of the details at http://deckthehallsdallas.com

Girlie Show 2008-this weekend

Girlie Show 2008-this weekend
Originally uploaded by muttsywonder

http://www.thegirlieshow.net

Come by and see a few of the Dallas Craft Mafia at The Girlie Show this weekend!

We are really excited to be headed up to OKC to see some of our favorite gals and be part of The Girlie Show! It is two days of fun-- shopping, music, eating & more!

Hope to see a few familiar faces there!

Urban Bazaar: This Saturday, October 11th

Come by and see the DCM at The Bazaar!

The weather will be gorgeous and it should make a great day to be spent shopping & getting to know other local artists!

We'll be in the Bishop Arts District from 10am to 8pm
There are fun restaurants in the area perfect for a day shopping and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather!

hope to see you there!!
http://www.urbanstreetbazaar.com

We are going to be Mentor Madres!!!

We are so excited about the Art Chicas Unidas program run by our pals over at La Reunion. The Dallas Craft Mafia will be sponsoring a girl for this upcoming art event. Check it out!!!

WHAT IS IT - ART CHICAS UNIDAS
Small teams of high school aged girls will work with professional women artists selected by jury and create one of a kind art works based on materials from our 35 acres site in Oak Cliff. The finished art works will be on display that same evening and all proceeds from sales go back into the Art Chicas Unidas program. What makes this program unique? This year we are working with Deaf Action Center, socio-economically challenged schools as well as girls that are getting the full art experience like at Booker T. We engage all walks of life and backgrounds and introduce new skills and interests, from photography to guitar to encaustic.

We will honor our Mentor Madres this year with your names across our invitational postcard to the reception. Even if you can't make the reception November 8, please support this program today. Download the form and mail or email back. Deadline Oct 18 to be on the card! Don't delay!

Want more info? Check out the la Reunion blog and watch the video http://www.lareuniontx.org/lareuniontx/blog/2008/10/mentor-madres-sponsor-girl-today.html

Our Night at the Museum

 

On September 19, 2008 the Dallas Craft Mafia had the privilege of being invited to demonstrate their wicked talents at the Dallas Museum of Arts Late Nights. If you haven't been to the once month event you are missing out. Open till midnight the museum was buzzing with music, family crafts from recycled items, an interactive art exhibit, movies and demonstrations by local artists.

The DCM showed their stuff with sewing, crochet and jewelry making. Julie, Judy and Whitney sewed some sweet treats for the fall with pumpkins and scarves. Jacky crocheted fall inspired wrist bands and Amber created her one of a kind earrings.

It was great to get to talk with people and answer questions and pass out a little advice on how anyone can create their own art. Having children get involved and get inspired was a big bonus for us all.

Interested in going to the next Late Nights at the Dallas Museum of Art? For more info go to: http://dallasmuseumofart.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/Experience/ID_012952

This Thursday! Halloween Sale At Make!!

Join us on October 2nd from 6-10pm at Make Studio in the Bishop Arts District for First Thursday & a sale on Dallas Craft Mafia member's merchandise of 15% off! We'll be hanging out, enjoying a few treats and hoping to see some friendly faces!

Make Studio

313 North Bishop Ave

Dallas, TX 75208

(214)256-3061

DCM Halloween Sale!

The Dallas Craft Mafia will be have a SALE at Make in the Bishop Arts District

Thursday October 2nd, 2008

Come visit us for drinks, snacks and a night full of shopping for unique handmade items. 15% off all DCM members merchandise!

DMA this Friday: Come Spend a Late Night With Us!

Come spend an evening with us and the Dallas Museum of Art! We'll be there from 9pm-11pm this Friday, Sept 19th on the concourse demonstrating some of the things we can make. We'd love to see some friendly faces and discuss crafting of course! 

There will be a ton of fun activities going on at the DMA--  its part of their late nights series.. for all the details, Check out the DMA website

http://dallasmuseumofart.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/Experience/ID_012952

 

Show Pony Show TOMORROW IN DALLAS!!!

Don't miss out on some of the best and unique shopping for quality, hand crafted gifts, apparel, accessories, childrens items, art, jewelry, glass work, and more! Tomorrow from 11am to 7pm!!

Its perfect for the whole family! It all happens tomorrow the Continental Lofts in Dallas! Its an inside show-- so you can be sure to be comfortable rain or shine!

3311 Elm Street
Dallas, TX
MAP HERE

Come for the shopping, entertainment and fun interactive craft! Support local Dallas artists and craftsmen.

• Shop Over 35 Talented Designers, Craftsmen, and Artists selling their carefully crafted wares
• A progressive craft project for you & the kids (FREE!) thanks to Etsy Dallas Street Team
• Show Pony Photos Noon - 2pm: Come get your photo with our REAL live Show Pony!
• Swing Dance Demonstrations by the fabulous Acme Swing Dance Group
  (shows at 11:30 am and 2:30pm and include Skippy's Charleston & Shim Sham)
• Incredible Raffle all benefiting La Reunion-- a local charity that supports artists (see more here)
• Donate your Old Electronics to LaReunion-- and support their cause
• Enjoy the tunes from our guest DJ
• Check out the artist installation at the Lofts!

We hope to see you there!

We have a PONY!

The Show Pony Show will have pictures with the pony from noon-2pm.

Come out for the best in show! Shop all our amazing booths with vendors ranging from pottery, art, jewelry, clothing, kids apparel, screen t-shirts, plush, hats and so much more!

Best of all it takes place in the well air conditioned Continental Lofts.

The Show Pony Show

Get ready to apply for this summers rock'en handmade shopping event!
We are looking for handmade artist's, designers, crafters and makers of all kinds.

Vendor applications are available now on our blog! http://showponyshow.blogspot.com

You can also keep on top of things though our myspace! http://www.myspace.com/showponyshow

For those who are looking for a great business opportunity, We have several levels of killer sponsorship packages for the event. Visit our blog for all the details.

Or-- checkout our google site here: http://sites.google.com/site/showponyshow/

YAY! DCM & USB in Funky Finds

Hooray! The Dallas Craft Mafia is mentioned in today's Funky Finds post recapping the Urban Street Bazaar. !! check it out: http://tinyurl.com/5mntj6

Do you Get All the News?

While it may at times be sporadic, we're getting better at offering more information, news, links and other interesting info in our newsletter! Be sure to sign up for the inside scoop on the Dallas Craft Mafia and all of our events, etc! Here's a sample of our last one--

This Weekend!

Come see the Dallas Craft Mafia at the Urban Street Bazaar this Saturday starting at 10am! There will be a ton of great items there-- check out more info, map, etc at www.urbanstreetbazaar.com



Hope to see you there!

The Paper Quilt Project

my paperquilt submission: A day in my life
Originally uploaded by muttsywonder

A few months ago I sent in a submission for an on-going project that I think is pretty amazing-- the Paper Quilt Project. Check out the website for more details:
http://www.freewebs.com/paperquilt
the gallery: http://www.freewebs.com/paperquilt/gallery.htm
or the blog here: http://paperquilt.blogspot.com

For 12 months artists of different backgrounds, countries, etc submitted a small paper collage made of samples sent out by the organizer. This happened from January 2007-December 2007. They had a few days to complete and send back their submission- and each month a different mini quilt was made. The theme was "a day in my life" to give a tiny glimpse of our day via a small paper collage-- I did have fun making it-- I used screenprint, gocco, and collage to complete my sample (shown).

Now that it is being completed, the quilt will be sewn together and auctioned off for charity. I can't wait to see the final quilt. With each submission there was a little interview/questionnaire we had to fill out-- asking a few simple questions but giving a much better look at who each artist was. Reading through them is as interesting and fun to me as it was to be part of the quilt.

I would definitely recommend checking out the site, gallery, and blog. It is a amazing how many different views, looks and ideas were generated from small scraps of paper, and one determined eco-conscious organizer (Dawbis).

Crafting A Success Plan

Like many other artistic/ crafty people I feel like my mind is going 1000 miles an hour and there are so many wonderful ideas and just not enough time to execute them. I was given this wonderful book by a dear friend and I thought this bit of direction would inspire others to create a success plan for themselves.

The Book:
Handmade for profit!

The Woman:
Barbara Brabec

The Goal:
Put your plans in writing to make them achievable
************************************************************************

**The following is quoted from the Book, Handmade for Profit by Barbara Brabec**

#1 My Dreams & Goals (immediate and long-term)

#2 Money talk (your reasons for working, your income goals, an estimate of how much money you'll need to get started and where you'll get this start-up money)

#3 Time (number of hours you plan to work each week, where you will find them and how you plan to fit everything into your daily schedule)

#4 Business Brainstorming (business names you like, ideas for products you might make, where you will set up a business management corner in your home, what office supplies and equipment you'll need to manage your moneymaking endeavor, how family and friends might help you achieve your goal, etc.)

#5 Production Plan (supplies and materials needed, supply sources you need to locate, how you and others will produce goods for sale, what outside help you might need)

#6 Marketing Plan (how and where you plan to sell everything you make)

********************************************************************

By creating the above template for my business I have found my mind more focused. So I hope that this helps you as well. I have also attached a photo of the book for all of us visual creatures. Go out and purchase the book, I found it worth every penny!

Lovesss!
Tara to the T

KICK-ASS GNOME KISSES

Hello everybody! So I think these little guys are a great little treat to give for kid's at school or if you are like me I handed them out at work as my Valentine's Day gift. They are perfect especially if you are on a budget. A bag of kisses comes with 54 and lots of the rest of materials most of us probably have lying around the house.
HAVE FUN!

KICK-ASS GNOME KISSES

Here is what you need:

• Package of Hershey kisses (I like the multi-colored Holiday packs. For today I used the Easter ones but for Valentine's Day I used the Red and Silver ones)
• Package of Garage Sale Labels-The circle kind
• Package of 7mm wiggly eyes
• Contrast color thread and needle (or elmer's glue)
• Hot Glue (or elmer's glue)
• Felt (I like a contrast color from the kiss)
• 8oz Can for circle template
• Scissors
• Marker for Tracing
• Pens

Step 1- Trace circle on felt using 8oz can as template.
Step 2- Cut out circle and cut in half.

Step 3- Cut in half again so you have 4 pieces.

Step 4- I use contrast embroidery thread (same color as kiss) to hand stitch the hat into cone shape. However you can use Elmer's Glue to glue the edges together and secure it with a paperclip while it dries. I just don't have patience for Elmer's Glue.

Step 5- Put Hot Glue (or Elmer's Glue) on inside rim of hat and adhere it to top of kiss. It should fit nice and snug on top.

Step 6- Glue on wiggly eyes.
Step 7- Write message on label and stick to bottom. Voila! Now you have a KICK-ASS GNOME.

Gnomes and Kisses!
-Whitney