Trees with Liz Storey! Recap of the December South Bay Etsy Meet & Make

On Friday, SF Etsy's own Liz Storey of ionyka and threads by ionyka led the final South Bay Etsy Meet & Make of 2013.

Liz takes a quick break from setting up to show off her sample ornament.

 Liz put together a perfect holiday-themed craft for the evening: little felt tree ornaments! Such a sweet little elf-hat cone shape, with adorable stitching and decorations.

Felt, paper, buttons, and thread -- just too cute!

 It's been fun to see several folks become "regulars" at these meet ups, and they were pleased to finish out the year with this fun-filled event, hosted as always by our friends at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. Liz's tree ornaments were definitely a hit! She posted about the event at her own blog, including many great pictures of the samples made by participants. Here's mine!

Tree ornament by yours truly, photo by Liz Storey

As always, these workshops couldn't happen without the volunteer support of the SF Etsy community. Big thanks to all the volunteers who have come out during 2013 to help make the South Bay Etsy Meet & Makes a success!

From left to right, our SF Etsy folks for Liz's workshop: Armani of Retablos, Liz of ionyka, and yours truly, Jen of Mama's Magic Studio

We'll be taking a break for the month of January, since the First Friday art walk will be on holiday hiatus -- so here's saying Happy Holidays to everybody from the South Bay Meet & Make team! Hope to see you in 2014!

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Our Team Captain about joining SFEtsy!

South Bay Etsy Meet & Make: Catrina Ornaments with Armani Mondragon

We had such a great time last week at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles! SF Etsy member Armani Mondragon of Retablos led the Etsy Meet & Make Fiber Salon, teaching us how to make adorable Catrina Ornaments.

Liz of Ionyka and Armani of Retablos setting out materials for the workshop.

SF Etsy volunteers Liz of Ionyka and Vicki of Oh Abby Day get a chance to make their own Catrinas.

 The workshop was well attended, and the participants really enjoyed making their felt creations. As always, Armani was an inspiring and encouraging workshop leader!

It's been fun to see some of the same folks making it a tradition to join us on the first Friday of the month for the South Bay Meet and Make. We are definitely seeing familiar faces! And this time around, people were pretty independent and didn't need a whole lot of help with their own work, so the volunteers were able to have a little crafty fun of their own!

Catrina ornaments made by SF Etsy members: Armani, Liz, Vickie, and yours truly, Jen of Mama's Magic Studio.

Thanks again to the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles for hosting another great Etsy Meet & Make event!

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Our Team Captain about joining SFEtsy!

South Bay Etsy Meet & Make Fiber Salon: Felted Note Cards with Armani

Yet another successful Etsy Meet & Make at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles! On Friday, there was a crowd of crafty folks who came out to the Fiber Salon to make Felted Note Cards with SF Etsy's own Armani Mondragón of Retablos.

Two charming sample note cards by Armani -- the one in yellow was inspired by the current exhibit of New York Beauty Quilts at the museum.

 As with the other Fiber Salon events, all the materials were provided and the event was free! Check out the inspirational array of materials for participants to select from and use in their own cards. Felt, embroidery floss, beautiful papers...

Sparkly papers! Yay!

Volunteers Rossella and workshop leader Armani organize the materials while participants make their selections. Spotted there on the end: SF Etsy member Liz of Ionyka! She blogged about her beautiful cards here.

A variety of folks, young and old, male and female, came by to participate in the workshop. Several times during the evening, a hush fell over the room as everybody focused intently on their creative process. It was a magical moment, so many folks collected together to make something beautiful! I especially liked this card by Cindy:

 Here's the one that I made -- of course it has purple in it!

Felted note card by yours truly. And some of Armani's fabulous fiber art from Retablos in the background!

 Armani was an inspirational workshop leader, full of encouragement and smiles for everyone.  Here she is, making sure everything is in order!

Many thanks to Armani and to SF Etsy volunteer Rossella of Ross Lab for all their help in putting on another successful event in the Meet & Make series!

From left to right, the SF Etsy crew: Rossella of Ross Lab, workshop leader Armani of Retablos, and yours truly, Jen of Mama's Magic Studio

  Stay tuned for details about the September South Bay Etsy Meet & Make, which will once again be part of the South First Friday Art Walk -- a little bird told me that we'd be making a fun and eco-friendly back-to-school craft!

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Our Team Captain about joining SFEtsy!

We Met & We Made at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles

Last night, more than 100 crafty folks got together at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles for a fascinating workshop led by SF Etsy team co-captain Even Howard. Even taught us a little textile history and showed us how to use embroidery floss to make weavings and bows inspired by Victorian Hairwork. 

Even Howard of Nadene reviews workshop instructions

Part of the SoFA First Friday Art Walk, the evening was the kick-off event for the South Bay Etsy Meet & Make program. The SF Etsy team is proud to be working with the museum to support more crafty events in the South Bay -- stay tuned for more exciting announcements about upcoming events! The event was very well organized, and all supplies were included. I love this workshop format!

 

Even had two options for folks to explore: an infinity bow and a floss weaving.

Sample projects inspired by Victorian Hairwork by Even Howard of Nadene

I really enjoyed seeing the various interpretations to the workshop guidelines. This infinity bow card was gorgeous!

The room was packed with eager participants -- we kept having to add more and more tables as more and more people wanted to be part of the crafty action!

Museum director Christine looks on as folks dive into the project.

You could practically see the creativity in the air! (Or perhaps that was a side effect of the warm room -- we've been assured that the A/C will be all fixed by our event next month! Many thanks for everyone's patience regarding climate control.)
 

SF Etsy volunteer Kashmira helps some other SF Etsy members: Liz of ionyka chooses her colors while SF Etsy co-captain Katy looks on.

Our lovely team co-captains Even and Katy took a moment to smile for the camera!

 Many thanks to the team volunteers who came out to help make the evening such a success!

From left to right: SF Etsy co-captain Even of Nadene, Kashmira of Sadafulee, Vickie of Oh Abby Day, Armani of Retablos, and yours truly -- Jen, SF Etsy team leader and the Mama in Mama's Magic Studio.

 A big thank you to Etsy for sponsoring this great event -- and many, many thanks to our wonderful hosts and all the folks at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles! We're so glad to be partnering with you. Already looking forward to the June Meet & Make which will be taught by the amazing Rebecca of OodleBaDoodle! More details on that coming soon!

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Our Team Captain about joining SFEtsy!