It’s Heeeeere! Fabric Print ‘N’ Sip!

I am proud to announce my next event, Fabric Print ‘N’ Sip!

This is my take in the ever popular Paints & Cocktails concept. Here you can kick back, hang out with your friends, and create a custom piece of fabric for you!

There is no experience required, and I will provide all you need to print! I will have my premade stamps, and you will have an opportunity to make one, if you desire.

There will be fabric paint, wine, and lots of fabric!

If you would like to print a piece of fabric that you already own, bring it!

Oh, and there will be WINE! You are also welcome to bring your own.

Here are the deets:

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Workshop time (well, almost)

Can you believe it? Fall is here, and before you know it, so will the holidaze!

I am NOT ready for this. This is NOT ok! Wasn’t it just blazing hot 2 days ago?

Alas, ready or not, here it comes!

As an introvert, I tend to be in my head a lot. Lucky for me, I am, married to an extrovert. Left to me, I’d probably never get around to actually inviting folks over, even though I love company. I’m just much better at asking a friend to meet for coffee, or Pecha Kucha.

Around here, we’ve been doing a bit of entertaining after a long hiatus. The Mr. had a horrible work schedule for a while which didn’t allow for weekend entertaining. I am happy to report that his schedule changed, and we are back in the swing of things. I love having folks over just to hang, talk, chill, and, ahem, drink! In this day and age, as we develop more and more ways to be in touch, true connection just seems to be getting more and more difficult. It is still so desperately needed.

I am so happy that we have managed to create warm oasis of good food, good company, and good atmosphere in our little corner of the world. (Personally I think it’s all the printed fabrics, and the warm ambiance of my old-timey christmas lights that we keep up year ’round).

I am planning some very awesome workshops for the near future, so look out for the emails! I have pinned down some dates, just waiting to confirm a location, and we will be good to go!

In the meantime, be well, do good work, and keep in touch, my friends!

TV appearance

  I’m taking a quick break from the Screenprinting with latex paint series. I will be back with the conclusion of this series shortly. 

I want to share to share a short video from my recent tv appearance. I was there to help promote the kick off of Third on Third, our local outdoor eclectic market. I will be out there selling my wares, so if you are local to the dayton Ohio area, please stop by! 

Here is the video, enjoy!

Midwest Craft Con Recap

Last weekend I attended Midwest Craft-Con, the conference for crafters and makers in business. The conference was held in nearby Columbus Ohio. I was super-excited to find out that there would be a Crafter/Business conference only one hour from me…these things usually take place in bigger cities, far, far away. I registered pronto, and eagerly awaited the conference.

With fellow Dayton Crafty Business Women Shannon Rea (l) and PJ Golden (r)

What a fun, relaxing, and inspiring event it was! It was really nice to get away for one weekend to hang out with a community of makers. Not only did I get to hang out with some of my crafty friends from Dayton, I got to meet so many people, and learn so much!

The Highlights

I got to meet one of my illustration idols, Lisa Congdon, who gave a very inspiring keynote. One big takeaway I got from her speech was to ‘Sail your own ship’.

Image courtesy of lochnessmpls

I love this so much. In this age of instant access to literally EVERYTHING, it is so easy to get caught up in what your competition is doing. If you are busy focusing on your own journey, There’s no time to worry about what another ship is doing.

I also got to meet Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood of the Craftsanity podcast. I have been listening to this awesome posdcast for about a year, and have learned so much and discovered new aroosts, makers, and business resources. In fact, I first learned of the conference whole listening to an episode of the podcast.

With Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood of Craftsanity.

Jennifer is a fellow printmaker, so we clicked instantly. She recorded several interviews from the conference, one of which is mine. Stay tuned, you may just get to hear me in a future episode. Our conversation also spurred a project I am embarking on. You’ll hear more on this later.

If you are not familiar with this podcast, be sure to subscribe on iTunes, or anywhere else you listen to your podcasts.

 

I really enjoyed Mei Pak’s seminars. Mei Pak is the founder of Tiny Hands Jewelry, which is a line of scented food jewelry (I know, right?!) She is also the founder of Creative Hive Co, a craft business consulting firm. Her seminars were jam-packed with very useful practical information for social media and content marketing. And she’s just so cute!

Mei Pak, photo courtesy of creativehiveco.com

Last but definitely not the least, I got to attend a seminar with the great Abby Glassenberg of Whileshenaps. Her session was also jam-packed with useful and practical information. She continues to provide valuable information (as well as her cute sewing patterns) on her site.

Abby Glassenberg of whileshenaps.com

The Lowlight

There were so many different seminars I wanted to attend. One (tiny) pet-peeve I have about conferences is the format of simultaneously having 3 sessions going on at once. I understand the reasoning for this however, I wish that there was a way to have the different seminars offered more than once, so attendees could have a way to attend them all.

I know, I know,  I’m being greedy, but….conference organizers, if you’re listening, this would be a great way to improve your conference.

All in all…

The Midwest Craft Con was well organized and informative. I left feeling like I’d received an enormous amount of information, and needed to brain-dump. I met cool new people and found a renewed sense of purpose. I look forward to the next one!

Hostess Gifts Studio 2014

This past Sunday I held a Block Printing Studio workshop in partnership with Peace on Fifth, our local Fair Trade Shop. The focus was making Hostess gifts for all those holiday parties that you’re sure to be attending. We printed up napkins and coasters… How fun!

What I love most about teaching the printing classes is seeing what my students come up with. Sure I love printing for myself, but I can get kind of caught up in my own designs. It’s great to see what others with a different design aesthetic come up with. It is also so gratifying to see people who previously thought they weren’t artistic, suddenly discover that they are!

Here is the ever-meticulous Wendy planning her fabulous Mid-Mod design

And Celeste in the background…

There was paint, coffee and divine Fair Trade chocolates provided by Peace on Fifth!

Did you miss this one? There will be another on 11/24/14. We will be printingTote Bags! Sign up here.

This holiday season, don’t forget to buy handmade!

Third On Third Market

I’ve been up to my eyeballs in production! I will be exhibiting at Third On Third Market this Sunday 08/17/14 from 11am-4pm. If you are local to the Miami Valley area of Ohio, please stop by and say hi! I’d sure love to see you. The food trucks will be out, and there’ll be lots of awesome vendors with unique wares.

Giveaway Time! Pillow Cover and Zippered Pouch

Yes, Yes, it is long past do for me to offer the loyal fans and readers of AfroMartha some goodies! Well, wait no more. Announcing the AfroMartha Block Printed Accessories giveaway!

I’m giving away, at once, not 1 but 2 prizes! More chance to win something, yay! You can enter either contest or both.

 

Giveaway 1:

AfroMartha BlockPrinted Accessories Giveaway – 20 x 20 Pillow
https://js.gleam.io/e.jsGiveway 2:

AfroMartha BlockPrinted Accessories Giveaway – Block Printed Pouchhttps://js.gleam.io/e.js

Chalk It Up! Workshop

Yes, that’s right! The next AfroMartha Studio Workshop is official!

Transform upcycled items in your home with amazing magical CHALK PAINT that you mixed yourself! Take your decor from Drab to Fab with just a few simple items! It’s fun, It’s Creative, It’s Green!

In this workshop we will learn all about chalk paint, we’ll make our own, and we get to turn something we might have thrown away into a statement decorative piece for our homes! All materials will be provided for the cost of the ticket, along with a light snack.

Date: Friday, August 1st

Time: 6:00pm -9:00pm

Place: Hope Arts Center
inside Hope Lutheran Church
500 Hickory St,
Dayton OH 45410
Cost: $35 per person, all materials included

Tickets:

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Fabric Block Printing Workshop Recap

I am so happy to report that the inaugural AfroMartha Studio Workshop was a smashing success!  Each participant learned how simple and easy it is to create something so totally custom and unique, from your imagination, using very simple and easy to find materials.

The group represented different skill levels, from ‘terrified-of-sharp-knives’ to ‘art teacher.’ Yet each was able to create something beautiful all their own! That’s the beauty of art and design…no matter what your skill level, if you’re having fun, you will end up with something beautiful.

I was more than a little impressed by the level of talent displayed at the workshop. It is humbling to see what my little instructions brought out in everyone.

 

And have fun we did! There was food, drink, conversation and laughter.  Enjoy the pictures!

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Bloom!

So it looks like spring may have finally sprung in the midwest, though I remain cautiously optimistic. As of monday (was it?) we had a dusting of snow on the ground. This was just days after we had almost 80 degree weather. Welcome to Ohio, where you can have all 4 seasons in 1 week!

That said, I am excited to be exhibiting at the annual Bloom, a handmade shopping party, hosted by one of my favorite people in the world, Julie Crusenberry of Steph’s Jewels.

 

This is a fun show for me as it gives me a chance to see my fellow handmade Dayton members that I don’t see often. There is food, drink, fun and lots of cool handmade items!

I have been up to my eyeballs in making stuff, both to prepare for the show, as well as to ramp up production for the shop side of AfroMartha.  I have been printing, printing, printing! I’ve been mostly doing test prints, trying out different color combos, sourcing material and all the fun parts of creating. I’ve also been honing my pillow-cover skills!

The theme (as you might notice) is C O L O R ! Lots and Lots of colors! I’ve been dyeing fabrics, testing out color combos and diffent patterns!

I’m also in love with shimmer, lots and lots of shimmer!

And, oh look! Earrings, and necklaces, Oh my! Color, color everywhere! I blame it on spring fever!

So now I have all this stuff!

I think it might be time for a

GIVEAWAY!

Check back on monday for details…

Happy Easter weekend!