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

Shayne and Kelly's Big SF Adventure

Dear Readers,

Although we have been remiss in posting about it, the whole Transcraftinental team (that would be both Shayne and Kelly) were together on one coast (the west one) just a few short weeks ago. Crafty good times were had -- want to know what we did? Of course you do!

One day, we took a Crafty Tour of San Francisco. Read on to see where we went...

While not technically craft-related, we just have to put in a good word for our breakfast location: Kate's Kitchen in Lower Haight. Delicious! Mmm-mmmm!

After Kate's, we headed up Haight to Mendel's for crafty supply goodness. For such a small shop, they really do have a lot of good stuff. Their stock of glitter vinyl and widely various oilcloth is truly amazing (way more in the shop than they even have there on the site). They also have a lot of other supplies that one doesn't tend to see in other stores.

After Mendel's, we went over to Flax. The Paper Room was actually too overwhelming for Shayne, but if you're in SF and you have a love for paper, you must go there. They have an astounding array of paper, plus many other fantastic art supplies. There is plenty of parking in the rear of the building, which is where we took this does-not-do-it-justice photo:


From Flax, we headed over to Rare Device. Wow! This is an incredibly well-curated shop, just jam-packed with fantastic and beautiful items. We spent a lot of time wandering around this store, touching things and saying, "Look at this!" If you are looking for a gift, go to Rare Device. You will certainly find something there. Shayne got an adorable new shirt that fit her perfectly -- Yay!


Then we stopped in at The Curiosity Shoppe, which has similar wares to those found at Rare Device. While they do have very nice things here (it's where Kelly bought her squirrel tray a couple of years ago), we did note that there's less to see here than Rare Device -- fewer items to ogle over. However, the little library card drawers full of .05-$1 items is lots of fun, as you never know what you're going to find in there. Also, love their signs:


A few doors down from The Curiosity Shoppe is Little Otsu Publishing, a lovely little shop featuring great prints, books, cards, and all sorts of other paper goods. It's nice to hit two sweet little stores with one parking place!

Next stop: Fantastico; a party supply/decor/craft-ish supply warehouse. The place is kind of nuts and huge -- waaaay too many silk flowers, but lots of other really good stuff to browse, including a terrific selection of well-priced ribbons. We love Paper Mart for satin ribbon, but it's nice to be able to get the stuff in a brick and mortar store. Shayne found a miniature sombrero there that she had been searching for for years. When she held it up excitedly, she exclaimed: "Fantastico!"

Exactly.

Since we are both big fans of Chronicle Books, we opted to check out a CB store. Kelly had been to the one at the Metreon, but the one on Union Street seemed promising, so we headed over there. It's super cute:

However, if you've got the choice, go to the one at the Metreon. Far more books. Also, there's a parking garage nearby (5th and Mission), which eases the search for parking. We bought some $1 calendars to make into envelopes -- we'll post about that in a bit.

Whew! Are you tired reading this post? We were certainly tired after racing around San Francisco all day. We didn't even hit all of the crafty options available to us in SF, but we certainly did our fair share. Next time you're out, be sure to check out the craftiness!

Love,
Shayne and Kelly

Address labels

Dear Kelly,

I guess there hasn't been much crafting on either coast, but today I did do something a little bit creative.

My sister just moved and needs new address labels, so I modified this piece of clip art:



And changed it to this:

My three nephews - and yes, they all do have different colored hair and eyes.

Love,
Shayne