<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' version='2.0'><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:12:23 +0000</lastBuildDate><title>Craftstravaganza</title><description></description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (Jenna)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>25</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-2796691042006745863</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:14:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-01T14:12:23.864-06:00</atom:updated><title>Toys in the Attic show interview</title><description>&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/tita-751665.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; height: 115px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/tita-751663.png" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kids of all ages can embrace the spirit of play at this year’s &lt;a href="http://www.toysintheatticshow.com/"&gt;TOYS IN THE ATTIC&lt;/a&gt; event on Friday, December 4, from 6 -9 p.m. at the Soo Visual Arts Center (2640 Lyndale Avenue, Minneapolis). The second annual event is a toy drive and art show – featuring limited-edition, toy-inspired poster prints and custom-created toys. 100% of the door donations and toys collected go to &lt;a href="http://www.toysfortots.org/"&gt;The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation&lt;/a&gt; – along with 25% of art print and custom toy sales. Attendees can also bid on unique custom toys during a silent auction and enjoy music from DJ Solid Gold.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We caught up with Steve Tennebrini, founder of Toys in the Attic, to get his thoughts on this year’s event and of course, toys.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/sean-714863.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; height: 204px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/sean-714819.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;center&gt;Sneak peek from &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/4113434662/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Sean Tubridy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What inspired you to start TITA last year?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First off, I like organizing group shows. I like to make art but rarely have the time or focus to make a whole show's worth of works by myself. I participated in some toys shows in the past where artists are each given the same blank shape to paint, decorate etc. They’re fun to be a part of. I wanted to do a toy show, but didn't want to limit people to a certain shape or medium as there were artists I wanted involved that weren't interested in custom painting a vinyl toy. So that was the first part. Since we weren't going to be focused on a unifying shape like a B.U.D. or a Dunny or Munny I needed a theme. When I was little, my dad had the Aerosmith album Toys in the Attic in his collection and I remember being creeped out by the illustration on the cover, yet I couldn't look away. That got me to thinking about things that are childlike but also a little on the twisted side – like Grimms Fairy Tales. Creepy stuff that is meant for kids. I gathered together a small handful of artists to make works based on their childhood memories, favorite toys etc., keeping in mind the darker, twisted spirit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The toy drive was a bit of an afterthought, really. I recalled seeing on the news the year before that they were low on donations at the Toys for Tots buckets and they were scrambling toward the end of the drive to make their quota, so I figured since it's a toy show, why not have a toy drive at the opening? The designer toy scene boggles my mind a bit. People spend a lot of money of these designer vinyl toys, collect them, horde them, covet them. It's weird. They'll spend hundreds of dollars on a toy and then it sits on a shelf. Meanwhile, some kid plays with a shoebox or gets a pile of nothing for Christmas. Not to lay a guilt trip and in all honesty, there are designer toys I'd like to buy, but I just can't bring myself to spend the money on them, so I totally understand the appeal of these art/toy/objects. It's strange the way the world works and sometimes one can do something to help out. Kids need toys.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/kit-715061.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; height: 232px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/kit-715057.png" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Sneak peek from &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/KitLane" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Kit Lane&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For those of us who didn’t attend TITA last year, what can we expect?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm pretty excited about how things are working out this year and this year's show is completely different from last year's in format. Last year was a straight up gallery show with a toy drive at the opening. Prices ranged from $15-$500 and all sales were for the artists. We had custom toys, art prints and paintings for sale, but the only charity tie was the toy drive. We collected a decent pile of toys, but sales were fairly low. So, earlier this year I participated in the Art Crank show and that got me thinking of a way to simplify, make it easier for people to buy and (hopefully) benefit the charity more. This year I've collected about 25 or so local print artists to each make a toy-themed art print. All prints will sell for the same low price ($30) and the diversity of artists involved should make it easy for someone to find something they like while also making it affordable. On top of that we've got some custom toy artists in the mix from around the country and again, in the spirit of affordability, we're having the toys available via silent auction with opening bids at $50. At the end of it, 25% of all sales and door donations (if you forget to bring a toy there is a suggested $1-$5 donation at the door) will go to the charity, Toys for Tots. So, more artists and lower pricing should help everyone involved while at the same time boosting the charity benefit. Our timing and location is a little bit better this year as well. Last year the show was in mid-September. This year we're landing right in the middle of the holiday season when people need to buy gifts and the Toys for Tots drive is in full swing everywhere and we're at the SooVAC. You can kill 2 birds with one stone at the opening. Donate a toy and buy some gifts for the art lover or parent with a nursery or playroom on your list.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why do you think adults are so intrigued by toys? Or, you could flip it, why SHOULD adults be intrigued by toys?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Toys are all about fun and we never stop having them in our lives be it a jet ski, iPod, X-Box 360, snowboard, whatever. As adults we all still have our toys. Also, EVERYONE can think of that one toy they absolutely loved as a kid. I still have a box of Star Wars figures and spaceships stashed in my attic and many fond memories of playing with them for hours on end. Now having kids of my own, I enjoy watching them interact with their toys, cherish their favorites, etc. Whatever toys you're into, toys = joy and who doesn't like that?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/davis-dog-748971.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; height: 279px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/davis-dog-748915.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt; &lt;center&gt;Sneak peek from &lt;a href="http://www.jenniferdavisart.com/info.html"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Jennifer Davis&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lunabee is in the show - she’s one of our favorite custom toy artists - how did you get her participation?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;I basically sat down for a few days and started scouring the internet for a diversity of custom toy artists, stumbled across her and extended the invitation. I wanted to make sure there was a good representation of female artists for both toys and prints. She does amazing work. I'm excited to see her piece.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What can we expect to see from Adam Turman, Lonny Unitus or Nate Nolting (Craftstravaganza vendors)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;I've seen Adam's - it's pretty cool. Standard for his bag of tricks, although at the risk of disappointing a lot of dudes, no boobs on this one. Lon did the show poster; his re-imagined Toys in the Attic cover with modern-day toys. Pretty kick ass. (Bring a toy, get one free.) I'm not sure what he's cooking up for his gallery piece. My money is on something having to do with Star Wars, but I'm sure it will be cool. Nate's is inspired by his boy's favorite toys and is also very cool. All three of those guys have been involved in Squad19 at some point over the years and I love having them on board when I do group shows. They always deliver something cool.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there a certain artist (or toy) you’re particularly excited about?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Not really. I'm always surprised by something. At some point something will make me say "HOLY SHIT, LOOK AT THAT!!!" and it will make me feel like I suck a little. Make me try harder next time. But really, I get excited about seeing the whole show collected and hung and about watching people look at the work and having a good time at the opening more than anything. Being able to sit back and watch people enjoy themselves is very fulfilling. Hopefully this year we'll be able to help out the charity more when all is said and done.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there anything else you would like to add?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Just to remind people to bring a toy and they'll get a free event poster (while they last).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;-Interview by Kylee Breems&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-2796691042006745863?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/11/toys-in-attic-show-interview.html</link><author>andykrueger@gmail.com (Andy Krueger)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-6722865150644365755</guid><pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:17:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-20T12:26:53.935-06:00</atom:updated><title>Sooo Sweet Craft Fair &amp; Bake Sale</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/Craft_illo_web-708637.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 243px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/Craft_illo_web-708634.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Come for the unique craft gifts, stay for the homemade gourmet treats... or the other way around! This is a great event run by one of our "sweetest" vendors.  30 crafters will be assembled for the sale and it's only one day, so don't miss it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sooosweet.com/SoooSweet.com/craft%20show.html"&gt;Sooo Sweet Craft Fair &amp;amp; Bake Sale&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Saturday, November 21&lt;br /&gt;10 am to 6 pm&lt;br /&gt;Cream of Wheat Loft Building&lt;br /&gt;730 Stinson Boulevard, Minneapolis&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-6722865150644365755?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/11/sooo-sweet-craft-fair-bake-sale.html</link><author>andykrueger@gmail.com (Andy Krueger)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-7098353966701156623</guid><pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:42:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-16T10:42:54.770-06:00</atom:updated><title>Vendor applications are open for Craftstravaganza 2010</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/13181047@N00/3528252238/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3350/3528252238_f6a8732c07_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/13181047@N00/3528252238/"&gt;Shoppers&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/13181047@N00/"&gt;craftstravaganza&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;We are now accepting applications for the fifth annual St. Paul Craftstravaganza, which will be held on May 1, 2010.  Application forms and instructions are available at our &lt;a href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/apply"&gt;"apply" page&lt;/a&gt;.  Complete applications are due January 11, 2010.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We look forward to reviewing everyone's submissions.  With your participation, our fifth year will be the best event yet.  Thank you for your interest in the Craftstravaganza!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-7098353966701156623?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/11/vendor-applications-are-open-for.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-5104314698980784733</guid><pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:59:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-05T20:59:00.245-06:00</atom:updated><title>Art Attack</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/art-attack-2009-banner-large-790907.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 119px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/art-attack-2009-banner-large-790906.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Art Attack is an annual open studio and gallery crawl at the Northrup King Building, in the heart of the &lt;a href="http://www.northeastminneapolisartsdistrict.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Northeast Minneapolis Arts District&lt;/a&gt;. The weekend-long event features over &lt;a href="http://www.northrupkingbuilding.com/directory.html" target="_blank"&gt;200 artists&lt;/a&gt; working in basically every media imaginable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Art Attack is a chance to invade the private studio space of local artists and buy original art directly from the creators. Many artists are hosting special events for the weekend!  You can find the listings on the &lt;a href="http://www.northrupkingbuilding.com/"&gt;Northrup King website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Northrup King Building&lt;br /&gt;1500 Jackson St. NE&lt;br /&gt;Mpls, MN 55413&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-5104314698980784733?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/11/art-attack.html</link><author>andykrueger@gmail.com (Andy Krueger)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-5537840189012433642</guid><pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:30:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-02T08:30:01.315-06:00</atom:updated><title>Maiden Minnesota</title><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/MaidenMN_logo2009.1-719739.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 110px;" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/MaidenMN_logo2009.1-719737.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="https://secure3.convio.net/fam/site/Donation2?df_id=1280&amp;amp;1280.donation=form1"&gt;Maiden MN&lt;/a&gt; is a shopping showcase of women-owned companies based in Minnesota. The evening includes cocktails, exclusive sales, and a silent auction. This charitable event will feature "beauty, fashion, accessories, food, décor and more from some of the most dynamic women-owned companies in Minnesota," including our very own &lt;a href="http://www.sheppardgirls.com/"&gt;Sheppard Girls&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tickets are $20 in advance; $30 at the door.  Ticket price includes a drink ticket, and swag bag for the first 200 tickets.  A portion of sales benefit F&lt;a href="http://www.freeartsminnesota.org/"&gt;ree Arts Minnesota&lt;/a&gt;, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing the healing powers of artistic expression into the lives of abused, neglected and at-risk children and their families.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2009 5 PM - 9 PM&lt;br /&gt;THE GRAVES 601 HOTEL - Minneapolis&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-5537840189012433642?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/11/maiden-minnesota.html</link><author>andykrueger@gmail.com (Andy Krueger)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-1039447647976477542</guid><pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:05:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-27T09:59:05.842-05:00</atom:updated><title>PUNY Halloween Party and Gallery Show</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/puny_halloween_show-727768.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/puny_halloween_show-727765.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;PUNY is throwing a party for Halloween! There will be a costume contest and Monster print/poster show with artists such as: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.thanuka.com/"&gt;Tomer Hanuka&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.lifterbaron.com/"&gt;Lifterbaron&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://theworksteady.com/highres.html"&gt;Colin Strandberg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.evanpalmercomics.com/"&gt;Evan Palmer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jenniferdavisart.com/"&gt;Jennifer Davis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.kingmini.com/"&gt;King Mini&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;and Craftstravaganza artist &lt;a href="http://missamyjo.com/"&gt;Amy Jo&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Complete artist info and invite on &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=75792612868"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;. At Pink Hobo - Geek Art Gallery on Saturday October 31st at 8pm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-1039447647976477542?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/10/puny-halloween-party-and-gallery-show.html</link><author>andykrueger@gmail.com (Andy Krueger)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-7777903027386412009</guid><pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-12T09:00:04.592-05:00</atom:updated><title>Megabass fishing lures</title><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/GATTA-X-762127.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 147px;" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/GATTA-X-762104.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pink Tentacle posted a feature on this year's &lt;a href="http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/08/photos-good-design-2009/"&gt;Good Design Expo&lt;/a&gt; highlighting several amazing products.  There's a special ink for meat labels that changes color with the freshness of the meat inside, cute "kissing octopus" flash drives that double as magnets, and rice spoons that stand on end.  It's worth a quick look.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What really caught our attention were the &lt;a href="http://www.megabass.co.jp/"&gt;Megabass&lt;/a&gt; fishing lures.  The lures are "built using cutting-edge technology and natural materials."  We don't do much fishing, but we know what we like, and these lures are beautifully designed.  Practical use aside, each one is an &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;objet d'art&lt;/span&gt; on its own.  They would not look out of place in a gallery exhibit. Or remove the hooks, stick them in blind boxes, and you've got a new line of collectible toys. They've already got fanciful names like "Gatta-X" and "Anthrax Wakey" that are a perfect match for the vinyl market.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you like these, also check out Coop's Flickr collection of &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/coop666/sets/72157600169351325/"&gt;vintage fishing lures &lt;/a&gt;and this selection of limited-edition &lt;a href="http://surfacebaitlibertaria.com/brandnew/brand-new-1.html"&gt;"punk rock" lures&lt;/a&gt; (also from Japan).&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-7777903027386412009?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/10/megabass-fishing-lures.html</link><author>andykrueger@gmail.com (Andy Krueger)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-6627143509908154300</guid><pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:38:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-06T18:22:35.404-05:00</atom:updated><title>St. Paul Fall Art Crawl</title><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/RuckerAutumn-778621.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 171px;" src="http://www.craftstravaganza.com/uploaded_images/RuckerAutumn-778617.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:0.8em;"&gt;"Autumn" oil painting by Matthew Rucker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another &lt;a href="http://www.stpaulartcrawl.org/"&gt;art crawl&lt;/a&gt; is upon us! The fall event always seems to sneak up, but don't let foul weather keep you from coming out to the capital city. It's going to be a big ol' art party, snow or shine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Aside from all the local artists, here's what to look for this weekend.  The art vending machine will be returning to Northern Warehouse lobby, outside of the     Black Dog Cafe. Our favorite theatre company &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.uprightegg.com/"&gt;Upright Egg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; is performing in the Tilsner Building.  And we'll definitely be taking part in this "living mural" public art project:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Paint Along with Tacoumba&lt;/strong&gt;: Well known Lowertown     artist Tacoumba Aitken will be setting up in the PASPider, an innovative     trailer/tent created out of recycled materials. Paints     and canvas available for all Art Crawl visitors.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Times: &lt;/span&gt;Saturday 12:30-4:30 pm., Sunday 12:30-4:30 pm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Location:&lt;/span&gt; Union Depot     Lawn&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check out the website for more information on the &lt;a href="http://www.stpaulartcrawl.org/"&gt;St. Paul Art Crawl&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-6627143509908154300?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/10/st-paul-fall-art-crawl.html</link><author>andykrueger@gmail.com (Andy Krueger)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-6263328471092515616</guid><pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:35:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-09-28T09:35:02.975-05:00</atom:updated><title>Risky Trumps Boring</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/plesser/3841239529/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2567/3841239529_8746c3619d_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/plesser/3841239529/"&gt;Project Runway Heaven&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/plesser/"&gt;plesserchick&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;On the last episode of Project Runway, Ra'mon Lawrence (coincidentally, one of two Minnesota designers on this season) was on the chopping block.  He made a science fiction-themed alien dress that didn't quite come together in time.  The judges seemed to appreciate that at least he had a unique perspective. Yet Ra'mon was sent home, while another designer whose dress was described as a "snoozefest" remained in the competition.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some people on the show seem to imply that risk-taking will be rewarded and failure to stand out will result in elimination.  That didn't happen this time.  Of course, both of the designs had problems, and it could have gone either way.  Here's the thing though: if all else is equal, &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;risky should beat boring, every time.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This rule applies to our jury process for the craft fair as well.  In fact we'll always take imperfectly-executed work that follows a &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;unique, creative vision&lt;/span&gt; over something flawless that is uninspired. Artistic risk takers, we salute you!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-6263328471092515616?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/09/risky-trumps-boring.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-8575440581733110004</guid><pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:31:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-09-23T08:31:50.011-05:00</atom:updated><title>Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27594459@N04/3740801509/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2610/3740801509_96dd2b7e5d_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27594459@N04/3740801509/"&gt;Otakon 2009 Preview&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/27594459@N04/"&gt;Anna Fischer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mcad.edu/showPage.php?pageID=1135"&gt;Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits&lt;/a&gt; is a 3-day event hosted this weekend, September 25 through 27.  The full name is &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits: Culture and Creation in Manga and Anime &lt;/span&gt;.   It is presented as a course at MCAD and costs $100 to attend.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://schoolgirlsandmobilesuits.com/"&gt;The blog&lt;/a&gt; describes it as "not a convention, not a conference; but a sweet hybrid of both — and a bit of carnival as well" that includes fashion shows, movie screenings, and art workshops.  The full schedule can be found &lt;a href="http://schoolgirlsandmobilesuits.com/?p=122"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  Sounds like a fun weekend for fans of Japanese pop culture!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-8575440581733110004?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/09/schoolgirls-and-mobilesuits.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-1981908814432272981</guid><pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:14:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-09-17T15:14:58.926-05:00</atom:updated><title>Pine Wood Derby Art Car Show at Pink Hobo</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonerosoy/2678737207/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/2678737207_beb11d81cd_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonerosoy/2678737207/"&gt;_JAI1426.jpg&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/sonerosoy/"&gt;jaime22&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Remember in the Cub Scouts, when it was pinewood derby time, and your dad totally took over the project and built your car for you? And then you felt kind of guilty about not doing any work until you found out that everyone's dad did the same thing? It's time for a race down memory lane. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pink Hobo Gallery is hosting a show of artist-customized &lt;a href="http://pinkhobo.com/?p=95"&gt;pine wood derby cars&lt;/a&gt; this weekend.  It opens on Saturday from 7pm-10pm. The cars will be on display during the show and then put on the track for head-to-head racing at the end of the night!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-1981908814432272981?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/09/pine-wood-derby-art-car-show-at-pink.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-4295552882080167283</guid><pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:41:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-09-23T07:48:38.818-05:00</atom:updated><title>Clapperclaw Music &amp; Arts Festival</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kateellenburgau/3655857858/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3400/3655857858_6f41c82416_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;" &gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kateellenburgau/3655857858/"&gt;Animal Book 028&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/kateellenburgau/"&gt;kateellenburgau&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p&gt;Music, film, fashion, theatre, and beer: &lt;a href="http://www.clapperclawfestival.com/"&gt;Clapperclaw&lt;/a&gt; does it all! 2009 is the third year of this local independent festival and hopefully you've got September 5th marked on your calendar.  There will be something for everyone at Intermedia Arts during the fest, but you know how we roll... we're all about the artists.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First off they've got live screen printing by &lt;a href="http://www.anthemheart.com/"&gt;Anthem Heart&lt;/a&gt;.  We've done this at their studio and it's a lot of fun.  You get to pick the colors and screens and a minute later you've got a pretty new one-of-a-kind shirt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More things we're excited to see: The detailed animals of &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kateellenburgau/"&gt;Kate Burgau&lt;/a&gt; (that's her art above), &lt;a href="http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?rid=215030"&gt;Shawn Dalsen&lt;/a&gt;'s bright stencil work, and soft digital prints of wide-eyed girls by &lt;a href="http://jennifertrotter.etsy.com"&gt;Jennifer Trotter&lt;/a&gt;.  The website lists 20 artists total, plus local design darling &lt;a href="http://www.laurafulk.com/"&gt;Laura Fulk&lt;/a&gt; will be working the fashion side of the visual arts spectrum.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tickets are $15 presale, $20 at the door.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;object height="344" width="425"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fG-l4EB0KCU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fG-l4EB0KCU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;a class="xnssjihzidtakzmalfxd" href="http://www.youtube.com/v/fG-l4EB0KCU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-4295552882080167283?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/08/clapperclaw-music-arts-festival.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-5850783172424436014</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:03:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-08-21T07:43:42.740-05:00</atom:updated><title>2009 Parade of Community Gardens</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanshapiro/3657589680/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3380/3657589680_98a18dae33_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;" &gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanshapiro/3657589680/"&gt;Summer Cottages for Bees&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alanshapiro/"&gt;ashapiro515 (away for awhile. back eventually.)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span&gt;This Saturday is the 4th Annual &lt;a href="http://www.gardeningmatters.org/"&gt;Parade of Community Gardens&lt;/a&gt;.  From 10am-2pm, you can "observe, learn, and celebrate community gardening" in the Twin Cities.  There's food to be eaten, goats to be petted, and more importantly, hands-on projects to be done.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here are the highlights for crafty growers and beekeepers:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Minnehaha Avenue Community Garden&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3128 Minnehaha Ave S&lt;br /&gt;Learn how to&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt; make bee houses&lt;/span&gt;, and enjoy FRESH food!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Midway Greenspirit Community Garden &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;SW Corner of Pierce Butler &amp;amp; Hamline Ave N.&lt;br /&gt;Cool beverage, garden treats, friendly conversation, fun &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;kid art&lt;/span&gt;, and Q&amp;amp;A with the beekeeper.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Bee hive demo&lt;/span&gt; at 1pm.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Mulberry Junction &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2301 California St NE&lt;br /&gt;Art of the Garden, outdooor sculpture &amp;amp; &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;interactive projects&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Artstop Garden &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3201 Chicago Ave&lt;br /&gt;Stop by for a family oriented, children's take-home-with-you&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt; art project&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check out the &lt;a href="http://www.gardeningmatters.org/Events/2009Parade/brochure.pdf"&gt;brochure&lt;/a&gt; for a list of all 40 gardens and scheduled activities.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-5850783172424436014?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/08/2009-parade-of-community-gardens.html</link><author>andykrueger@gmail.com (Andy Krueger)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-7194192757591527189</guid><pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:39:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-08-20T07:11:42.341-05:00</atom:updated><title>Project Runway Party</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/homorazzi/3706270602/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/3706270602_b8b3374b20_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;" &gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/homorazzi/3706270602/"&gt;Project Runway Season 6 - Christopher Straub&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/homorazzi/"&gt;homorazzi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p&gt;If you enjoy fashion or watching TV, or both, you should come to the Landmark Plaza this Thursday.  The premiere episode of Project Runway will be shown.  One of the contestants this year is our longtime vendor &lt;a href="http://cricketsyndicate.com/about.php"&gt;Christopher Straub&lt;/a&gt;, who will be attending.  Cheer on the local boy and enjoy cocktails provided by the St. Paul Hotel.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://letoilemagazine.blogspot.com/2009/08/weekend-whats-what-820-825.html"&gt;Update&lt;/a&gt;: event has been moved inside to avoid rain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Screening and plaza party&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Landmark Plaza&lt;br /&gt;Thursday, August 20th&lt;br /&gt;7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. / Free&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Click &lt;a href="http://letoilemagazine.blogspot.com/2009/08/project-runway-premiere-party-with.html"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for more details at &lt;a href="http://letoilemagazine.blogspot.com/2009/08/project-runway-premiere-party-with.html"&gt;L'Etoile Magazine&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-7194192757591527189?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/08/project-runway-party.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-596300555168973796</guid><pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:57:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-08-14T13:49:47.038-05:00</atom:updated><title>Lowbrow High Octane at Artswirl</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fenodesign/2927373795/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2927373795_aa1048c39a_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fenodesign/2927373795/"&gt;EL VON by FENO&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/fenodesign/"&gt;FENO vintage rod graphics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Northfield's annual festival &lt;a href="http://www.artswirl.org/"&gt;Artswirl&lt;/a&gt; is this weekend.  We're planning a day trip on Saturday for the &lt;a href="http://artoffuel.com/"&gt;Lowbrow High Octane 4&lt;/a&gt; event. Cars, motorcycles, and hot rod art... what's not to love?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you plan on making the drive, check out the full Artswirl &lt;a href="http://www.artswirl.org/2009/07/artswirl-2009-schedule-of-events.html"&gt;calendar of events&lt;/a&gt;.  For our money, Saturday is the one to hit.  There's a bicyle tour of public artwork in the morning, "Shop 4-Art" market all day, and Lowbrow High Octane in the evening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-596300555168973796?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/08/lowbrow-high-octane-at-artswirl.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-5994473989310342667</guid><pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:31:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-08-02T19:30:18.427-05:00</atom:updated><title>Andy is speaking at Pecha Kucha</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alwaysreadthesmallprint/3727598157/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2593/3727598157_690d702ce7_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=" margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alwaysreadthesmallprint/3727598157/"&gt;Pehca Kucha 1 Dublin - Goddess Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alwaysreadthesmallprint/"&gt;alwaysreadthesmallprint&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pecha-kucha.org/what"&gt;Pecha Kucha&lt;/a&gt;* is creative people talking about creative things in a creative way.  Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each, and that's it.  Basically it's a minimalist method of sharing ideas that forces you to get right to the point (and then &lt;a href="http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-09/st_pechakucha"&gt;sit the hell down&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The second &lt;a href="http://www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/minneapolis-stpaul"&gt;local Pecha Kucha night&lt;/a&gt; is coming soon, and we are going to be speaking at it.  Andy will be giving a talk called "How to run an indie craft fair in your spare time."  He will share lessons learned from organizing four years of the Craftstravaganza, and offer advice for building a creative career on top of a full-time job.&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;at &lt;a href="http://www.thelabtheater.org/"&gt;The Lab Theater&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;12 August 2009&lt;br /&gt;START 7:00 PM&lt;br /&gt;DOOR $5&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;*pronounced "peh-chak'cha."&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-5994473989310342667?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/07/andy-is-speaking-at-pecha-kucha-night.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-1404596886745794170</guid><pubDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:46:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-08-02T06:32:53.270-05:00</atom:updated><title>Handmade Nation screening in Minneapolis</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiecraftdocumentary/3778595096/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3495/3778595096_a58433b174_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=" margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiecraftdocumentary/3778595096/"&gt;Minneapolis: Handmade Nation premiere!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/indiecraftdocumentary/"&gt;Handmade Nation!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://indiecraftdocumentary.blogspot.com/"&gt;Faythe Levine&lt;/a&gt; has announced that there will be a screening of her documentary film about the DIY movement, &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2HWPfwpOw"&gt;Handmade Nation&lt;/a&gt;, in Minneapolis.   It is scheduled for August 8 at &lt;a href="http://www.soapfactory.org/"&gt;Soap Factory&lt;/a&gt;. That's next week!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tickets are $12 at Crafty Planet.  There will be 100 seats for a showing at noon and a second showing at 7 PM, plus a free mini craft fair in between.  Don't miss the Minnesota premiere of this fantastic-looking movie!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiecraftdocumentary/3778598354/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2607/3778598354_18262c93af_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=" margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiecraftdocumentary/3778598354/"&gt;Minneapolis: Handmade Nation premiere!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/indiecraftdocumentary/"&gt;Handmade Nation!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-1404596886745794170?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/08/handmade-nation-screening-in.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-7000578071679292093</guid><pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:30:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-06T18:33:47.795-05:00</atom:updated><title>Underwear</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheshodesigns/2383511589/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2008/2383511589_2359fa9a7f_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheshodesigns/2383511589/"&gt;rockin the hot pants&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/sheshodesigns/"&gt;shesho designs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;Let's talk about underwear.  We're don't mean lingerie, corsets, or other fancy unmentionables; just your basic functional drawers. &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;We love underwear&lt;/span&gt;.    I wear underpants almost every day, so I figure it's worth spending a little extra money to get something comfy, cool, and handmade.  Here are some options if you're in the market for a new pair of knickers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25784062"&gt;shesho designs&lt;/a&gt; sells boy cut, boxer briefs, and hot pants (modeled above). Each pair looks to be totally unique, made by matching several different fabrics.  She also has styles for men and unisex designs.&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5859440"&gt;Recession&lt;/a&gt; says their undies are "cute, sexy and the best panties in your drawer."  The lace detail at the waist is a nice touch, and they guarantee comfort and coverage in all the right places.  They also offer "massively sexy" men's trunks.  &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26591501"&gt;You be the judge!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last, but certainly not least, is local company &lt;a href="http://cricketsyndicate.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Cricket Syndicate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Every pair is unisex, and speaking as a man, I can recommend them from personal experience.  The "originals" line sport front panels with images from recycled t-shirts. Cricket Clones feature screen prints made by designer Christopher Straub.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/13181047@N00/3527420335/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3323/3527420335_4923b7ccde_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/13181047@N00/3527420335/"&gt;Cricket Syndicate booth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/13181047@N00/"&gt;craftstravaganza&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;By the way, Christopher was picked to be a designer on season 6 of Project Runway!  He's been in the Craftstravaganza for the past three years and we will be cheering him on.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-7000578071679292093?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/07/underwear.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-2232627583884814239</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:10:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-07-15T13:50:32.463-05:00</atom:updated><title>Uptown Market</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/uptownmarket/3635875221/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/3635875221_039db46626_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;" &gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/uptownmarket/3635875221/"&gt;UMposter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/uptownmarket/"&gt;Uptown Market&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://uptownmarket.org/index.html"&gt;Uptown Market&lt;/a&gt; is a new show that brings together arts, crafts, and fresh produce from local vendors.  We love street markets and we are excited to check this one out.  Their first event was in June and the next three will be on the 3rd Sundays of each month: July 19th, August 16th, September 20th.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Artists take note!  They are still looking for vendors, so now is the time to &lt;a href="http://uptownmarket.org/vendor.html"&gt;register&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="480" height="295"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WwrBlAKwl_w&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;rel=0&amp;amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;amp;color2=0x999999"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WwrBlAKwl_w&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;rel=0&amp;amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;amp;color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="360" height="221"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-2232627583884814239?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/07/uptown-market.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-2002054927516627518</guid><pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:45:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-09-15T12:13:02.567-05:00</atom:updated><title>Father's Day handmade gift guide</title><description>Still shopping for a gift to give your dad or husband on June 21?  Why not buy handmade for Father's Day this year?  Real men appreciate the personal attention and craftsmanship that go into making a unique item.  Here are a few ideas to get you started.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=voter_cat_52&amp;amp;listing_id=25258692"&gt;Upright freehand pipe&lt;/a&gt; (sold out) This one is no longer available, and is it any wonder?  What a gorgeous piece of work.  I've never smoked once in my life, but I'm tempted to pick it up just looking at this pipe.  A good gift whether your man already smokes, or if you want him to start.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25643667"&gt;Bloke soap&lt;/a&gt; ($5.50) Is your father a dirty old man? Clean him up with the gift of a bar of soap! There are many different manly soaps available, although we love the fact this this one is made with real beer.  Mmmmm... soap.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25293017"&gt;Recycled Bottle Cap Fishing Lures&lt;/a&gt; ($3) For the angler in the family. What could be better than sitting in a boat with your friends, drinking a can of beer, and fishing with one too? Several styles available, so you can pick out his favorite brand.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sc_fathers_day_33&amp;amp;listing_id=25630575"&gt;Beer Bottle Drinking Glasses&lt;/a&gt; ($60) Are you detecting a trend? Actual beer bottles turned into glasses are a gift anyone can use.  Not all dads are into beer, so this Etsy seller will turn any bottle with a painted label into a drinking glass. So much cooler than faux-retro pint glasses from Target.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; Dad needs a place to hold his cash?  A &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_3&amp;amp;listing_id=18610591"&gt;classic money clip&lt;/a&gt; would do the job in style. If he's into leather, you could get a wallet for $20 pretty much anywhere.  Or you can buy the&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_6&amp;amp;listing_id=22080640"&gt; '1Life2Live' hand tooled leather wallet&lt;/a&gt; ($399) for a gift he'll always remember and treasure.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;We hope you're inspired to find something truly special for the man in your life.  If you need even more ideas, check the &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/showcase.php?showcase_id=fathers_day&amp;amp;ref=fp_sc_fathers_day_060109"&gt;Etsy showcase&lt;/a&gt; for new Father's Day gift suggestions every day.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-2002054927516627518?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/06/fathers-day-handmade-gift-guide.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-6086072207885948981</guid><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:56:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-06-01T08:16:35.934-05:00</atom:updated><title>Los Vesparados - Art of the Scooter</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/3511534944/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3314/3511534944_b0418623e0_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.7em;" &gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/3511534944/"&gt;Los Vesparados Poster&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/seantubridy/"&gt;Tubes.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;We here at Craftstravaganza headquarters support all forms of two-wheeled transportation. Whether bicycle, motorcycle, or in this case scooter, there's an inherent beauty in the design of these machines that is often lacking in larger vehicles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Celebrate the art of the scooter at &lt;a href="http://www.losvesparados.com/" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Los Vesparados&lt;/a&gt;. The show features nearly 30 artists including &lt;a href="http://www.adamturman.com/"&gt;Adam Turman&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://keikosprints.com/"&gt;Keiko Yagishita&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://seantubridy.com/"&gt;Sean Tubridy&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.stevetenebrini.com/"&gt;Steve Tenebrini&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.luredesign.net/"&gt;Scott Shore&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.jorde.com/"&gt;Sara Jorde&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.angelbomb.com/"&gt;Angel Bomb Design&lt;/a&gt;. Watch movies and check out everyone's rides in the parking lot. Opening Saturday, June 13, 7 p.m.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bonus, check out this video of the posters being screen printed:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="226"&gt; &lt;param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&amp;amp;photo_secret=caa81e6a95&amp;amp;photo_id=3511464988&amp;amp;flickr_show_info_box=true"&gt; &lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"&gt; &lt;param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"&gt; &lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&amp;amp;photo_secret=caa81e6a95&amp;amp;photo_id=3511464988&amp;amp;flickr_show_info_box=true" width="400" height="226"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-6086072207885948981?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/05/los-vesparados-art-of-scooter.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-985365510176665501</guid><pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2009 00:43:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-05-16T18:15:22.425-05:00</atom:updated><title>Our picks for Art-A-Whirl weekend</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/150968826/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/46/150968826_84a5f8c508_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.7em;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/150968826/"&gt;Art-A-Whirl 5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/seantubridy/"&gt;Tubes.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;There's a lot to see at Art-a-Whirl this weekend; in fact, maybe too much.  With over 500 artists participating in dozens of locations, it could be easy to get lost.  We've heard tales of people who walk into the Northrup King building... and &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;never come out again&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Don't panic.  We're here to help.  Here's a quick list of handpicked events that are officially Craftstravaganza-approved:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"&gt;Art/garage sale at "&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;The Stinging Nettle&lt;/span&gt;" (344 23rd Ave NE).  Certain to be a more low-key gathering if you need a break from the chaos.  &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5510449"&gt;Art by Kendra&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6070946"&gt;Tart Design&lt;/a&gt; plus six other local artists. 10-5 on Saturday only.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.artminion.com/"&gt;Art Minion&lt;/a&gt; is, in their words, "the world's largest display of gig posters, kustom kulture, original art and everything kool." We've been meaning to get out here for a while, and Art-a-Whirl is a good excuse. Opening Friday, 7-10 p.m. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.craftyplanet.com/mtarchives/other_news/000271.html"&gt;7th Annual Johnstock&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: normal;"&gt;. Outdoor indie market across the street from Crafty Planet. We didn't think this was officially affiliated with Art-a-Whirl, but it totally is.  Starts this Saturday at 10 a.m.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: normal;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Hands-on Activities&lt;/span&gt;. Because shopping is fun but getting involved is even better.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.redstagsupperclub.com/events/05/2009/paint-number-artcar-workshop"&gt;Paint by Number Workshop&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;: "be a part of creating an ArtCar" at Red Stag Supperclub on Saturday, 1-3 p.m.  &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://blog.anthemheart.com/?p=493"&gt;Interactive Printing at Anthem Heart&lt;/a&gt;: bring a blank t-shirt and pick your stencils for a custom screen-printed Minneapolis skyline, only five dollars!  Q.arma Building Studio 225, all weekend.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;Add your recommendations in the comments!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-985365510176665501?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/05/art-whirl.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-487156444799478129</guid><pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2009 19:07:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-05-13T14:08:02.755-05:00</atom:updated><title>New Flickr photo set</title><description>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/13181047@N00/3528219592/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3656/3528219592_bf2c074009_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Photos from the show are up on Flickr!  Here is one of my favorites of the day.  This little girl was clutching her new Fantastic Toys plush while her mom shopped for soap at the Clean Bee booth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are over one hundred photos from throughout the day.  We also took photos of vendors setting up booths before the show opened, for an "inside look" at craft fair organization.  Let us know what you think!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Go straight to the &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/13181047@N00/sets/72157617997064267/"&gt;2009 set&lt;/a&gt;, or check out &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/13181047@N00/"&gt;our entire photostream&lt;/a&gt;.   If you were a vendor or shopper at any of our events, we also encourage you to add your Flickr photos to our new &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1140510@N22/"&gt;group&lt;/a&gt;.  Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-487156444799478129?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/05/new-flickr-photo-set.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-8764018945935814547</guid><pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2009 13:22:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-05-12T08:46:47.501-05:00</atom:updated><title>Welcome!</title><description>Thanks for visiting Craftstravaganza.  We hope you enjoy the new site redesign.  With our fourth annual show behind us, we're facing another long stretch between hosting our event and planning the next one. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While we take a break from organizing shows, there are plenty of great ones to attend!  It's the best time of year for getting out and celebrating art.  That's why we started this blog, to help spread the word about local events and share our love for all things handmade.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See you at the fairs!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-8764018945935814547?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/05/welcome.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Sui Generis)</author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink='false'>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8444401078228477541.post-2310540780636195056</guid><pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2009 11:03:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-08-25T14:46:05.526-05:00</atom:updated><title>How to be a Craftstravaganza vendor</title><description>&lt;p&gt;Would you like to be a vendor in the Craftstravaganza?  We hope that you consider applying for our show!  Our next event is tentatively scheduled for spring 2010. &lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;We are not accepting applications at this time.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Subscribe to our &lt;b&gt;mailing list&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;form action="http://groups.google.com/group/craftstravaganza/boxsubscribe"&gt; Email: &lt;input name="email" type="text"&gt; &lt;input name="sub" value="Subscribe" type="submit"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/form&gt;&lt;p&gt;Enter your email in the box above and hit "Subscribe" to sign up for our mailing list. This list has only one purpose, and that is to notify you when applications are open for the next show.  Dates, fees, and other details will be announced at that time. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are you wondering if you qualify to be a vendor?  Our primary criteria for selecting vendors is that all items must be handmade, by you.  This means no mass-produced goods, no imports, and no consignment sales.  We cannot accept food vendors at our current location. Vendor selection is juried.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thank you for your interest in the Craftstravaganza!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8444401078228477541-2310540780636195056?l=www.craftstravaganza.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://www.craftstravaganza.com/2009/05/how-to-be-craftstravaganza-vendor.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Jenna)</author></item></channel></rss>