Shayne and Kelly go to Maker Faire

Dear Readers,

As part of Shayne and Kelly's big adventure on the west coast last month, we went to Maker Faire. Oh, what a wonder it is -- if there is one anywhere close to you, you should make the effort to get to it. It's totally worth it.

Here are some highlights of our Maker Faire adventure:

We made button pins at the Craftster booth:


We used a Yudu (we've chattered about this here before) to make bags at the Provo Craft booth:

We enjoyed the Yudu, but we answered the question: Does it replace the Gocco? Not really. It's easier than traditional screen-printing, but nowhere as easy to use as the Gocco. Of course, we'll be more interested in it when all of the Gocco supplies have gone the way of the dinosaur, but for now, we're sticking with Gocco.

Meanwhile, we fell head over heels for the Cricut -- the amazing personal die-cutting machine. It's wonderful! Does anyone reading this have one? Tell us all about it -- we're drooling. Both of us kept saying, "You buy it!" "No, you buy it!" so that we would be able to see it in person without having to fork over the big bucks. One of us is going to cave soon, we're sure. Maybe both. Heh. Any bets on who has less self control of the two of us? We shall see.

While at the Provo Craft booth, we met crafty goddess Sister Diane. She makes the awesome podcast CraftyPod (terrific to listen to while crafting) and she interviewed us both as part of a series of interviews that she did about making stuff. The first in the series is here.

There was much free stuff to be had. More than we can even list here, really. We loved this cool journal from Craftside, made from the discarded "makeready" (paper used in the press set-up process before the printing run starts) from two of their very cool looking books, Re-bound and The Crafters' Devotional. Neat!


Within Maker Faire could be found Bazaar Bizarre -- a place to buy crafty stuff. (Danger! Danger!)

We both bought this great print from Hamburgerpanda:


Shayne also bought this poster from Seattle Show Posters, maker of many great prints. Kelly was tempted by this one, but resisted. The online photo does not do it justice -- the depth of color on that print in person is incredible.

Kelly did cave and buy this lovely little print from the immensely talented Britney Lee. Just love her work -- so sweet.

(If you want one for your very own, you can find it in her Etsy shop right here.)

Kelly also bought this intricately cut paper skull from Xylocopa:

Shayne got one of their incredible blocks -- these people have some mad cutting skills. Jaw-droppingly beautiful, every piece. Kelly wanted a block, but got overwhelmed and could not pick one... now that she has seen that they have all of their blocks for sale as a set, she may have to break down and buy the set. They're stunning.

Of course, there were a million other things to do and see at Maker Faire. It's truly astounding and this post doesn't even begin to cover it. One of Sister Diane's questions was something to the effect of: "How would you describe Maker Faire?" Words fail.

Love,
Shayne and Kelly