community creating
First Friday was our ~ Opening Night Celebration at our NEW art studio location at 449 Main Street in downtown Carbondale | CO! With a wide array of ages and not knowing exactly how many guests we’d have joining in, we kept it celebratory + simple + full of dazzle, painting and embellishing ~ Celebration Crowns! Main Street was blocked so everyone could enjoy an evening strolling the streets of historic downtown! The night was festive and full of flavor, with everyone back-in-town from summer adventures. The community was alive, vibrant, and actively adventuring around this artistic town!
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We hope you’re enjoying the last days of summer! Have you heard the news!?! HANDMAKERY just moved to Main Street! We’ve been working all summer to get our new studio up, running, and ready for HANDMAKERY’S Opening Night Celebration ~ First Friday, September! We’re so excited to be located in downtown Carbondale | CO! We’ll now be located in the heart of historic downtown at 449 Main Street, in between flowers, yoga, coffee and across from piping hot pizza, sounds tempting, right!?! Yes, we definately have the BEST neighbors! We’re incredibly excited to be part of the community and the Carbondale Creative District!
Summer involved planning, designing, constructing, ordering, organizing, and decorating our new studio which we LOVED! Highlights of our new space include: being nestled in the heart of the community, 14′ ceilings, timeless wood floors, historic charm, a crisp + clean + modern flair, natural lighting + big windows, all our favorite art supplies, and maybe our favorite element… a teeny-tiny restroom!
PLEASE PENCIL IN + JOIN US:
September 1st | First Friday 4 – 8 PM
HANDMAKERY’S Opening Night Celebration + First Friday ~ FREE Art Making + Suprise Giveaways + Studio Tour!
STUDIO SNEAK PEEK EVENT:
We hosted a ~ Studio Sneak Peek + Free Kids Art Making last Thursday from 4-6 PM! Several families + creatives came to tour the NEW studio and out-on-the-town to create ~ a wondrous wearable~ to shine + showcase + sport + spotlight around town on ~ First Friday, September 1st! We had 100+ people attend this spectacular evening event! A HUGE thank you to everyone that attended our first event! The support for mini makers on Main (…and coming soon BIG maker events….including adults, ladies, couples, family + friends) was incredible! See additional photos of the sneak peek in this week’s Sopris Sun newspaper on page 8!
Take a peek at our video-clip gone-wild over on Instagram, highlighting all the artful activity of our ~ Studio Sneak Peek!
At the ~ Studio Sneak Peek, artists created {hands on + mixed media} Owl Feathered Necklaces using cardboard, beads, jumbo pipe cleaners, markers, glue, stickers, string, sparkles and more! Everyone had a great time in the studio! Over the last several years over on Instagram, I’ve admired Wendee Wingfield, a local + Roaring Fork Valley photographer. Wendee RSVPed to our event, I couldn’t even believe it! We had never met before but when she walked in with her five children, I was beyond thrilled to finally meet Wendee and her children in person! Wendee Wingfield generously sent me a gorgeous collection of photos she took of the ~ Owl Feathered Necklaces her children created in our NEW art studio on Main Street. If you’re not on IG yet, it’s a fantastic place to meet new friends with similar interests! Find us on IG @handmakery!
Take a glimpse at Wendee’s Wingfield’s photos below and discover her amazing talent + beautiful collection over on IG @wendeewingfield! You’ll be amazed at what she sees through her lens and the life she creates!
Photo credit (below): Wendee Wingfield Photography
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On First Friday, we celebrated our fourth year making and creating at the annual Family Block Party in downtown Carbondale, Colorado! This year we were inspired to paint and embellish ice cream cones, as we’re heading into an ice cream theme for our upcoming workshop: BEEP BEEP! SWEET TREATS! This workshop will be focusing on retro ice cream truck sculptures, sweet treats, and more! There are just a few spaces if you’d like to join in! Here’s a peek at our upcoming summer + school year {hands on + mixed media} art workshops for Modish Mini Makers! My magical + mama + maker-friend, Bar over at Art Bar Blog, created an amazing DIY~ Cardboard Ice Cream Cones, which inspired our paper ice creams for this downtown event! Can you believe in just four hours, young artists created over 115 of these lovely ice cream cones as take-home treasures! The evening was like running our own ice cream parlor as it buzzed with sweetness! Join us over on our Instagram for more daily inspiration!
As the ice cream cones were drying, each unique piece created such a colorful + eye-catching + delicious backdrop!
You can take a peek below at our stations and setup within our outdoor art studio, but head on over to Art Bar Blog for the supplies and process on making your own Cardboard Ice Cream Cone, it’s truly a happy place! The possibilities are endless! Art Bar is a must-follow + favorite + colorful-creative on Instagram, stop by her collection and say H-E-L-L-O! You’ll find so much clever-colorful-crafty-creativeness!
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You may have seen on our Instagram, we partnered with 5Point Film Festival while they were on tour in Carbondale, Colorado! The festival ran Thursday-Sunday with an exciting array of inspiring films and community events. 5Point stands for balance, commitment, humility, purpose, and respect. They lineup 4-days of inspiring programming, and gather special guests, athletes, filmmakers, and our community together in one – 800 seat venue! On Saturday, following the Youth Adventure Films (free for 12 and under), we squeezed in some adventurous art making with hundreds of local children! Between the arts + crafts, the much-loved annual ice cream social + community picnic, and all the overflowing inspiration from the outdoor adventure films, you’ll see many beaming smiles! Thank you to all the local families that came out for this festive afternoon! We were honored to be back at 5Point making + creating with young artists! Thank you for inviting us to create LUMMI STICKS with children in our outdoor studio 5Point Film, so great to be back for another year. Take a peek at how we crafted these simple sticks with just three simple steps!
ENROLLING SUMMER + 2016/17 SCHOOL YEAR ART WORKSHOPS:
Excited to announce HANDMAKERY’S online registration for (hands on + mixed media) SUMMER + SCHOOL YEAR 2016/17 ART WORKSHOPS! Early enrollment is encouraged as space is limited! Take a peek into our adventurous + artful workshops for children and upcoming art-filled community happenings! May’s First Friday and Family Block Party are just around the corner, hope you’ll be joining us: Creating In Our Outdoor Art Studio: Summer Lovin’ Style!
Be sure to stay in touch and connect on our Facebook + Instagram + Pinterest!
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Happy Fall!!! Isn’t the weather gorgeous?!? What a beautiful time of year, maybe our favorite! The last few years we’ve celebrated Oktoberfest in historic Downtown Carbondale | Colorado, creating Autumn Art in the Outdoors! This year we will NOT be at Oktoberfest, but wanted to spread the word on this event as we’re excited to announce that the Town of Carbondale Recreation will be continuing the tradition of pumpkin carving and making art with children! Please come out to support this local event and know we’ll be there in spirit! Here is a peek at our booth, last year and in Fall of 2013, creating festive HARVEST CROWNS + WANDS! Happy Oktoberfest! Hope you are following us on Instagram + Facebook!
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We’re excited to showcase + share a few favorite photos of May’s First Friday + Family Block Party! Can’t believe this was our third First Friday + Family Block Party in our downtown + outdoor art studio! It was absolutely a beautiful night to be out-on-the-town among all the festivities in the open air! Here’s to springing forward as we leap into time spent creating in the warm outdoors and to long summery days handcrafting with children!
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Join us for our 2015 SUMMER + 2015/16 SCHOOL YEAR ART WORKSHOPS + COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS!
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FROM THE HEART ART KITS were created in HANDMAKERY FROM THE HEART: making + creating to give with 6 – 9 year olds as a project to learn about making to give. They were then gifted to local children in need, through our local Angel Tree Program over the holiday season! Each artist designed a box and shopped for a collection of art supplies with their families, to create their very own + personalized, FROM THE HEART ART KIT! You could create your kit to gift a loved-one this Valentine’s Day to show your love + appreciation. It’s a gift from the heart that inspires daily + yearlong C-R-E-A-T-I-V-I-T-Y and M-A-K-I-N-G!
Supplies to create a FROM THE HEART ART KIT {BOX}:
- Duct tape or Duck Brand Tape in various colors + patterns. Learn more here about duct vs duck tape!
- Chromebook or laptop boxes with built-in handles
- Sharp scissors
- Measuring system (simple handmade paper guide or ruler or yard stick)
- Partner or an extra set of hands
Our Process:
First decide on your color scheme and overall design plan. Move into cutting duct tape strips using a lot of muscle power to stretch the tape. Cut using the inner part of the scissors, as this surface is the sharpest. Remember to hold your tape tight before cutting and be sure it doesn’t twist. We used a simple handmade paper guide to measure our length for strips, as there were two lengths and this method was much easier for this age group than measuring with a ruler. Each artist teamed with a partner for the entire duct tape process, which made the cutting + lining up + taping manageable and much more fun!
There was lots of excitement over tape selection as we discovered lots of solid + patterned duct tapes in our duct tape quest! Creating their own color schemes + patterns was such an expressive piece to this process! A each artist became a product designer and loved every minute of it! I definitely got the feeling there would be much more experimentation with duct tape in the future with these individuals- they LOVED working with duct tape, especially because it’s so vibrant and beautiful!
General Materials + Supplies to Include {INSIDE}:
- a pair of child scissors (round tip)
- a glue stick + bottle of white glue
- a simple set of watercolors + brush
- a simple set of markers + crayons + colored pencils
- a simple sketchbook + pencil
- any additional art supply you and your child might want to add!
Additional Materials + Supplies You Might Consider Adding:
- glitter glue + glitter + sequins
- yarn + fabric
- pom poms
- stickers
- pipe cleaners + wooden sticks
- clay
- pencil sharpener
- pencil pouch
- washi + assorted tapes
- art books + more!
Each artist in our workshop had our general art supply list and went shopping with their families to fill their box to create a very personalized FROM THE HEART ART KIT!
Two+Two bags are always a lovely + local addition! two+two designs chic reusable bags and bowl covers that are food-safe + eco-friendly. Based outside of Aspen, Colorado this young company is run by two creative Moms with a passion for style, sewing, Mother Earth, and doing what’s best (and cutest) for their little ones. two+two products keep goods + food fresh and uncontaminated with a proprietary lining that is free of lead, BPA and phthalates. The various sizes of eco-friendly reusable bags accommodate any and all packing, organizing and traveling needs. We love having the two+two families “two children” part of HANDMAKERY!
A proud + beaming artist just after she had filled her FROM THE HEART ART KIT and it was ready to travel to a child wishing for new art supplies! Each box was taken to our local Angel Tree Program, where boxes were added into gift bags and gifted! Thank you to the seventeen HANDMAKERY Families that donated art supplies to gift and a BIG thank you to each artist that gave from the heart, something special that they had created on their own! Also a huge thank you to Cresta Stewart and the Carbondale Rotary Club for heading-up + organizing + dedicating tons of time and energy to this fabulous project, that benefited so many local children!
If you are looking for another fabulous idea and an all hands-on art making blog! My art friend, Meri Cherry, has a fabulous post on Art Gift Baskets and What to Put In Them for another take on gifting art supplies which I absolutely LOVE! Let us know if you decide to create one of your very own for a special Valentine! xo
Excited to share a peek into our mural making process, creating with 118 youth, start to finish!
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