Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Richmond Craft Mafia presents Handmade Holiday 2010

RICHMOND, VA - Skip the holiday shopping trip to the mall and join the Richmond Craft Mafia at Plant Zero on Sunday, December 12, from 11 to 5 for the Sixth Annual Handmade Holiday.

Moving this year’s event to a larger venue means even more handcrafted goodness than ever before. Additionally, the RCM have expanded the event to include not only local crafters, but some of the best independent crafts folk from across the country!

Want an idea of what you’ll see at this year’s show? Think modern takes on traditional crafts like pottery and knitting, as well super fresh styles of jewelry, t shirts and clothing, bath and body goods, toys, art, and way too much more to even think about listing!

Rubbing out the mass produced is a serious undertaking, but the RCM is dedicated to supporting the handmade movement, and making the Handmade Holiday event hugely different from run of the mill craft shows. By painstakingly jurying each show they produce (which means reluctantly nixing many, many worthy artists) the RCM brings Richmond the most amazing variety and quality of handmade designs, making sure visitors will never see the same show twice.

Check out which vendors will be showing this year, and get event details and directions by visiting the event website at www.richmondhandmadeholiday.com. You’ll also find a sneak peak at some of our vendors’ favorite items!

To learn more about the Richmond Craft Mafia, please visit http://www.richmondcraftmafia.com

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Craftaluma 2010: The Usual Suspects Holiday Show!!


Happy Holidays from the Petaluma Craft Mafia! Folks, we are not in the habit of taking candy from a baby, nor nicking the smiles from your bright and shiny faces. Life has us all busy and spread thin, and isn't always roses and red meat - some days it's green salad and scrambled eggs. But we have had so many requests about when our next show is, we could not let you down! No siree.
So, Craftaluma, the much anticipated craft show of the year here in fair Petaluma is ago with the choicest, freshest talent in Petaluma and beyond. We get so much supportive feed back on our shows, vendors and music talent, so you, my dear friends, could be clinically inspired and happily sated by the crafty Indie vibe you have become accustomed to at Craftaluma. (Not to mention getting your last minute shopping done). And if so inclined, pick up a little something wonderful for yourself for the holidays - hey, what happens at Craftaluma, stays at Craftaluma. We didn't see nothin'!

Our fifth annual show, Craftaluma's "Usual Suspects" Holiday Show is chock-full of crafty DIY wares so meaty in creativity, you'll need a machete to wend a swath through our talented vendors to help you with your shopping list and be creatively inspired.

This year the Petaluma Craft Mafia is teaming up with the amazing Petaluma Art Center for Craftaluma. The venue is centrally-located and beautiful. The team at PAC is having it's annual staff salon show for craft shoppers to oggle as well. We think Art and Craft, make a beautiful team.
So please join us for the best craft for miles around, fantastic music to groove to, cupcakes and friends.

Do you prefer your craft rare or well-done? Craftaluma has you covered. Pass the horseradish.

**Vendors: Please email me at cheryl@petalumacraftmafia.com for more info. Our website is being updated and we will have online applications shortly.

Please drop by and say "howdy" to our "Usual Suspects" the creative team in the Petaluma Craft Mafia. See you all there! ;)


CRAFTALUMA "The Usual Suspects" Show
December 12, 2010 from 11-5
The Petaluma Art Center
230 Lakeville Street
Petaluma, CA 94952

Friday, October 1, 2010

Richmond Craft Mafia's Handmade Holiday Application is Now Available!

Applications for The Richmond Craft Mafia's Handmade Holiday are available from September 20th to October 20th!


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

New Orleans Craft Mafia Celebrates Our 5th Birthday on Thursday, June 24!



Cinco de Craft Mafioso – New Orleans Craft Mafia’s 5th Birthday Party Fiesta!
Thursday, June 24, 6pm – 10pm
The Factory, 8314 Oak Street, New Orleans

The New Orleans Craft Mafia is celebrating its first 5 years of bringing crafty alternatives to the Crescent City with a birthday bash on Thursday, June 24. The event, dubbed “Cinco de Craft Mafioso”, will take place from 6pm – 10pm at The Factory, a new crafty workspace at 8314 Oak Street, which will begin teaching screen-printing classes on July 7.

Cinco de Craft Mafioso is a celebration of all things crafty. The event is free and open to all ages, and will feature free craft workshops, including t-shirt recycling and screen-printing. Bring your old t-shirts in and revamp them – we’ll show you how to breathe new life into your old tees!

The event will also feature a crafty marketplace with handmade goods by members of the New Orleans Craft Mafia, as well as music and snacks. Be sure to stop by for free beer (while it lasts!) and get there early because the first 20 guests will receive a free New Orleans Craft Mafia tote bag filled with handmade goodies!

Please RSVP on Facebook and share the link with your friends!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

The Renegade Craft Fair



Come on down to the 1st Ever Renegade Craft Fair in Austin on May 15 + 16, held indoors at the Palmer Events Center!

This FREE TO ATTEND craft, art, design and DIY spectacular will run from 11am – 7pm each day + feature over 200 of today’s finest indie-craft talents from all over the nation!!

You can expect to find all sorts of incredible handmade goods at the Fair! Get a sneak-peek of who will be setting up shop at this year’s Austin event on our Artist Page!

We hope you’ll join us by biking or taking public transportation to the Fair! If you’re driving, the Palmer offers low-cost parking in their garage just adjacent to the building!

Please see our FAQ for details, directions + lots more info!

Everyone can get to crafting by participating in many Workshops + Demonstrations!

Join the pioneering ladies of The Austin Craft Mafia in their craft-making adventures!

Screenprint your own tee with Susann Keohane at the ACM booth, and then transform it into a one of a kind creation with the help of Stitch Lab!

Mafia members Leslie Bonnell, Jenny Hart and more will be leading a variety of textile and fashion-related classes at the Stitch Lab booth!

The fellas from Public School will be in attendance sharing their design and photography skills. Make sure to stop by and have your “school portrait” taken and check out limited edition prints, tote and other work from this incredible, Austin-based design collective!

Part boutique, part classroom – The WonderCraft will have their shiny, new 32-foot airline streamer (a.k.a.Stella!) on site, leading a slew of workshops in jewelry + accessory making!

Be sure to join the fantastic folks from ETSY.com at their hands-on booth! Stamping, sewing, printing – you name it! Etsy will guide you through many quick + simple, make + take projects!

Boisterous pandemonium is sure to erupt when Austin’s Minor Mishap Marching Band makes their way through the Fair + only the best in independent music will be on blast with DJs from KVRX on hand! Also be sure to catch a set by Americana folkster’s Shotgun Party!


Swing by the Renegade Craft Welcome Station to pick up a free issue of Juxtapoz Magazine while they last + sign up for one of our free raffles, provided by Uppercase Journal, BurdaStyle.com, Beautiful/Decay and Jenny Hart’s Sublime Stitching!

And don’t forget to get your photo snapped in a free-to-use photobooth provided by The Magnolia Photobooth Co.

Friday, April 16, 2010

A Different Kind of Show

We came up with the idea last spring.  For some reason, the Chicago Craft Mafia has had limited success with a spring show.  We've tried different locations, and our spring events were poorly attended.  When the economy hit the skids, we had a discussion about "downsizing", letting go of craft supplies that we were not going to use, so someone else could try out a craft without a huge expense.  Our very successful fall show is called the DIY Trunk Show, and while we were brainstorming, Richelle of Girl Metro, said that people could do it their own damn selves.  No finished items, just supplies.  The show was born!  We came up with the idea about a month before we wanted the event, so it was low budget.  The time was limited to four hours, the spaces were first come, first served, and vendors had to bring their own damn tables and chairs.  Promotion was done mostly using social networking.  It was a big hit, and a lot of fun for all.  Because of the success, the Chicago Craft Mafia is going to make this one of our annual events.  Our second Do It Your Own D*mn Self Show is this Saturday, 4/17.  We've all been tweeting about it and posting to our Facebook pages, and inviting all our friends.  We think it will be even more fun than last year!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

New Orleans Craft Mafia needs your swag!



The New Orleans Craft Mafia is proud to once again sponsor the Alternative Media Expo, presented by Antigravity Magazine. The Alternative Media Expo ‘10 is scheduled for Saturday, April 17th from noon-6pm at the warehouse in the Contemporary Arts Center (900 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA), and will feature tons of exhibitors with comics, ‘zines, fashion, crafts, music, film, design, community activism and much more!

Admission is $5, and the first 100 paid attendees through the doors will receive swag bags courtesy of the New Orleans Craft Mafia: a reusable shopping bag filled with freebies and product samples from various indie businesses. These bags present a great opportunity to get the word out about your business, band, or organization. Vendors exhibiting at the Expo are also highly encouraged to participate in the swag bags and leave a lasting impression on visitors.

Get the word out to this diverse group of customers who seek to support independent businesses by including your product samples in these swag bags. Product samples may include, but are not limited to: CD/DVD samplers, comics and magazines, small jewelry or accessory samples, t-shirts, blank notecards or stationery, sample size soaps or cosmetics, gift cards, or other small samples of your products. If you choose to send in samples, we ask that you send a minimum of 25 samples.

Some swag suggestions include, but are not limited to: coupons, stickers, buttons, magnets, pens, etc. We ask that you do send actual swag items and not just promotional materials such as business cards or flyers. You may attach business cards, etc., to any donated swag, of course. (If we receive ONLY business cards or fliers from you, they will NOT be included in the swag bags.) If you are interested in sending in swag material, we ask that you send in the full amount of 100 items.

The deadline for sending in swag & samples is Wednesday, April 7, 2009. Items may be sent to:

New Orleans Craft Mafia swag bags
c/o Kerry Fitts
P.O. Box 791922
New Orleans, Louisiana 70179-1922

Those interested in dropping off samples and swag locally in New Orleans may bring them by UP/ Unique Products at 2038 Magazine Street during regular business hours (Monday-Saturday 11am-6pm, Sunday noon-5pm). Please make sure your items are marked as being for the New Orleans Craft Mafia / Alternative Media expo swag bags.

For more information on contributing to the swag bags, please email mallory [!AT] neworleanscraftmafia.com

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Petaluma Craft Mafia's Spring Fling NLP!


Happy (belated) New Year! It's the last day of the first month of the tenth year in 2010. Confused? Us too! The last of the Christmas tree needles are falling off , and the stores are already lined with Valentines, and heck, even Easter candy. I've got the peeps to prove it. Whatever sort of holiday candy is currently lining the shelves is how this crafty lady keeps track of the months. While January is giving us the slip, you can beat the Petaluma Craft Mafia is busy planning a super crafty year.

We're gearing up for a wonderful 2010. We've got some swell new members to add to an already motley crafty assortment of creative bon-bons. Everyone in our famiglia creates such diverse work, we have a knotty knitter, (Judy, this hysterical image above is for you), a vintage jewelry maker, a re-purposed clothing designer, a lady who just sews the cutest vintage pillows and plushies, and a woman who saves vintage items and consigns them, makes cooool t-shirts. I mean, if life is like a box of chocolates, your Petaluma Craft Mafia is the ultimate assortment of sweets without the tooth-ache.

Petaluma's crafty first famiglia is hatching a whole host of fun things to do this year, and we'll be sure to keep you posted.
One fun event, is our Naked Lady Party we are holding at crafty Mafia sister Alison's vintage consignment shop on Kentucky Street. Sorry, folks, this is a private party in March, and a great way to dust off winter and welcome spring. Our crafty famiglia and a few assorted friends who we adore, as NLP parties can get pretty chaotic fast if you get too many women in one room trying on clothes and sipping cocktails. So if you here lot's of hootin' n hollerin' it's just us, the normal noises!

But, even if you don't get an invite to this event, don't fret folks, you too can host your own NLP, add some new clothes to your wardrobe, and clean out your own closet, and help your wallet stay fatter in the process. I mean, how can you beat that?

Some simple guidelines for hosting your own NLP. Most importantly, have fun and don't invite too many folks, or it can get quickly overwhelming, especially if space is at a premium. Remember, the goal is to find clothes, get feedback from your fellow naked ladies, and leave with some gems, and give some gems. I'd recommend inviting peeps whom you know you admire their taste in threads, vintage or current, or swapping is not going to be nearly as fun.

Music, get the mood going with some music that will keep you grooving as you dig through piles, and pull jumpers over your head. Food, snacks or a MUST. Trying on clothes with your gal pals works up an appetite and can get fatiguing, as any woman knows. A few libations both alcoholic and non-alcoholic for tee-totaler friends to switch it up.

Last but not least, privacy. Yes, you want to be sure to schedule time for when it's men's poker night, and the kiddy's are at a sitters so as not to distract you. Hey! Trying on other's cast-off is not only green, and a great way to get a new wardrobe, but it requires focus.
It's also a great time to think about others. Have some separates or suits that would work well in a more professional setting? Put together an outfit that would benefit a woman of modest means trying to re-enter the work force. There are numerous agencies you can donate the back-to- work items to, who would greatly appreciate it.

Stay tuned here, We'll be reporting back on our Craft Mafia Naked Lady Party.

Ciao, Ciao!

Your Petaluma Craft Mafia

Monday, January 18, 2010

New Orleans Craft Mafia unleashes our new website!

The New Orleans Craft Mafia has just unleashed our fresh new website design -- check out our new look!



We've had the same design pretty much since we started our group back in 2005. Five years later, and we thought it was about time for a change! We've gone through a lot in these five years... forming just before Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent levee failures ravaged our city, and we've had members come and go since then. We've maintained a group e-commerce shop, which has since closed and we've sponsored many craft events around town. We've remained strong and we're poised for even bigger and better things. We're dedicated to keeping the spirit of indie craft alive in the Crescent City!