Car Kulture and Hell on Wheels Craft Extravaganza

I love old cars! I don’t know a lot about cars, of any age, but there is something about old cars that’s just cool. When it comes to cars in general, all I really care about is reliability, gas efficiency, and safety. But when it comes to classic cars, it’s all about the style! Most of all, I love rounded corners and cute, small frames (like the cute blue one above parked outside of Crafty Goodness. The lovely lady in polka dots is none other than Chris Sorenson, the owner of Crafty Goodness). I love to see restored classic cars, but even the ones that own their oldness are fun too…

Wendy and I were in awe at this VW pop-up. Believe it or not, their were at least two of these (that I saw) at yesterday’s car show but I really liked the paint job and pop of yellow canvas on this one…

But enough about the cars.

To take advantage of the heavy foot traffic up and down Madison Ave, Crafty Goodness participated in the Hell On Wheels Craft Extravaganza along with several other local businesses (Spitfire Saloon, Goddess Blessed, Breakneck Gallery, and Keyhole Gallery). Chris invited several crafty businesses to set up table displays in front of and inside Crafty Goodness which included Artables and Buza Bags…

Beethings Studio (background) and pottery by Cindy (foreground)…

By the way, how cool is this shirt (and henna)?!

The lovely and talented Arooj was producing the most amazing and intricate henna designs and teaches henna classes at Crafty Goodness.

I had a table for zween set up indoors, but spent most of my time working on a new plarn owl purse outside to take advantage of the lovely weather.

The best thing to come out of this show was all the great contacts and connections made both between us makers and between Crafty Goodness and the general public. Because the shop is still fairly new, there are still many people in the Lakewood area discovering Crafty Goodness for the first time. I spoke with one local Lakewood gentleman who said that if it weren’t for the cars, he would have never known that Crafty Goodness was here, but how glad he is to know it exists now.

The truth is, this happens a lot. Most people, even if they really appreciate handmade and locally produced items, don’t actively seek out shops like CG or even craft shows (except maybe during the holidays). That’s why I think these types of events are so important and have the potential to be such a success. These people didn’t come out to shop for handmade items; they came to look a cool cars, listen to some live music, and maybe grab a bite to eat and a cold beer. But in addition to these things, they got to see some pretty cool handmade items and meet the people who make them. Now their experience of the event was that much fuller and hopefully a seed was planted so that they may return the next time they’re looking for that extra special gift or unique item for their home or wardrobe.

If you missed this event never fear. The car show is an annual event in Lakewood, and I’m sure that it only gets better each year, as more people with classic cars become aware of it. But remember that Crafty Goodness and the other brick and mortar shops on Madison Ave are their year round and always appreciate your support. So buy local; it’s good for you, your community, and your dog.

Gearing up for the Hell on Wheels Craft Extravaganza Tomorrow!

What do you get when you cross Mods vs. Rockers on W. 117th with the Car Kulture Show on Madison Ave? Hell On Wheels, obviously!

Mods vs. Rockers is the ultimate scooter/bike rally, and the Car Kulture Show is the place to check out 1972 and older vehicles (back in the day when cars were fun to drive and look it!).

August 20th be a busy day filled with classic cars, hot rods, mopeds, bikes and of course crafts.  Madison Ave. will be closed down from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. between Warren and Hilliard, and the bike rally will be going on from noon until at least 6 p.m.

The Cleveland Craft Coalition has come up with a brilliant plan to get people to check out both events by raffling off a gift basket!  In order to be entered, just stop and pick up a map at…

1) Spitfire Saloon (1539 W117th Street in Cleveland); or
2) Crafty Goodness (15621 Madison Avenue); or
3) Goddess Blessed (15729 Madison Avenue); or
4) Breakneck Gallery (17020 Madison Avenue); 0r
5) Keyhole Gallery (will be set up at a street booth on Madison)

…and then visit 3 of the stops.  How easy is that?

The prize basket is going to be amazing; Buckeye Beer Engine has donated a gift card to our cause, so have a beer and some Plum Sauce on them. Crafty Goodness will be including some handmade goodness, while Breakneck, Thirstees and Spitfire will include t-shirts and other swag. Please remember, by attending this event supporting local art, you will be helping the economy right here in Lakewood. And that is a great feeling! View the Facebook invite here.

Some Crafty Goodness in August

If you’re a regular zween reader than you’ve heard me talk about Crafty Goodness before.  But for those of you how haven’t heard, Crafty Goodness is a shop that sells all handmade items by local artists and crafters (local to the Cleveland area).

Each month Crafty Goodness hosts and participates in several events and has really become a hub for creativity and a place for both indie crafters and the craftily challenged alike to gather and learn from each other.

Here are some of the events planned for August:

Madison Avenue Art Walk

Crafty Goodness, Rockflower Studio and Goddess Blessed will be hosting an Art Walk on Saturday, August 13th from 12-6pm.  Come and check out all the great local art found on the Western end of Madison Avenue.  We invite all the attendees to decorate our sidewalk areas between our stores (chalk provided at each location).  Let’s bring Madison Avenue alive with art!

Hell on Wheels Craft Extravaganza

What do you get when you have Mods vs. Rockers at the Spitfire Saloon and the Car Kulture Show on Madison Ave? Hell On Wheels, obviously! Join us August 20th between 12p.m. and 6p.m.-ish for a day of mopeds, bikes, cars and crafts!  The Cleveland Craft Coalition will be set up in two key locations: the Spitfire Saloon (1539 W. 117th CLE) and Crafty Goodness (15621 Madison Ave LKWD) with many great stops in between!

Drop In & Craft

In addition to these awesome events, you can also Drop In & Craft every Thursday at Crafty Goodness.  The crafting menu offers something for everyone, from children to adults.  Let the kids come and make a mess at Crafty Goodness while you create something too; painting, jewelry, sewing and more!  Tons of projects that take 30 minutes or less and cost a mere $5.  (Click here to view the pendent I made during one of the first Drop In & Craft sessions).

I hope that lots of you come out to support Crafty Goodness this August!

 

Lakewood Street Sale

I’m proud to announce that one of our favorite local businesses, Crafty Goodness, is participating in the second annual Lakewood Street Sale!

The sale kicked off today, but don’t worry if you missed it because it will be going on tomorrow and Saturday from 10-5 as well.

Today we started off with the best of intentions with tables just outside of the Crafty Goodness threshold, but the weather soon turned and chased us indoors.  Despite the less than ideal weather conditions several people came in to shop, browse, and craft.

That’s right, in addition to the street sale today, Crafty Goodness also had Drop In And Craft, as they do every Thursday.  The sign is a little worse for wear.  Evidently it has rained every Thursday since Chris made the sign (go figure), but that isn’t stopping lots of people from coming in to participate.

Starting tomorrow and continuing on Saturday, Lolly the Trolley will be offering free rides between several Lakewood businesses, plus a scavenger hunt! The trolly will run from 12-5 on both Friday and Saturday and you can read more info about it here.

Give a Pair, Take a Pair

This afternoon Crafty Goodness teamed up with Ears to You for a Give a Pair, Take a Pair Earring benefit.  Ears To You was developed by Ruth Crane, a breast cancer survivor, to help other women undergoing chemotherapy felt good about themselves as they deal with their loss of hair.  Ruth feels like the idea was divinely inspired since she really wanted to do something to help other cancer patients in a way that was easy and affordable.  Ruth started the program at the Cleveland Clinic in June of 2008 and has been providing earrings to female cancer patients ever since.  The Ears To You slogan says it all; “putting smiles on the faces of female cancer patient on pair of earrings at a time.”

This event was so much fun.  Several of the participants (including myself) had never made earrings like this before, but where quickly taught useful techniques by the veteran jewelry makers.  At first I was almost overwhelmed with all the fabulous bead choices and spent a long time just marveling at the beautiful beads.  Despite this minor detail, some of the earrings that came out of this event were very intricate, while others were simple and sophisticated, but all were lovely.  A huge success as far as I’m concerned!  But really, how can you go wrong when you mix crafting, good company, food, and wine?  Exactly.

LEAF Night, week two

Today was our second week participating in the CSA program City Fresh here in Lakewood, Ohio. Above is a picture of the single share that we picked up this afternoon. It was a beautiful day so we rode to the library on our bikes where we picked up our produce. Our single share fits perfectly in my new bike basket which consisted of one bunch each of mint, radishes, garlic scapes, bokchoy, and green onions plus a pint of strawberries (my favorite) and 8 oz of maple syrup. Since we have a TON of mint growing in our back yard we traded it at the barter table for an extra bunch of garlic scapes. Apparently, a lot of other people are growing mint too, as 99% of the barter table had little baggies of mint on it. For more information on CSA programs, City Fresh and LEAF, check out this post.

As a reminder, there’s a lot of great stuff going on the next few days at Crafty Goodness including Drop In And Craft tomorrow (Thursday), Craftapalooza on Friday, and the Ears to You Earring Benefit on Saturday. Click on the links for more details.

Shop Crafty Goodness Online!

For those of you who don’t live in the Cleveland area but are still itching for some unique, well-made, hand-crafted items, then you can now check out the Crafty Goodness Online Shop!  The online shop offers a variety of products for many occasions such as wedding showers, baby showers, house warming, birthdays… the list goes on and on!  Just check out the shop and browse the different categories and items from a variety of artists!

Here are some of the zween products offered on the Crafty Goodness Online Shop;

Owl Fabric Collage $30

Flamingo Fabric Collage $30

Rainy Day Bird Collage $30

Also available is a set of four child/parent inspired bird cards for $7

Stop in and Craft @ Crafty Goodness!

Every Thursday in June you can stop inside Crafty Goodness any time from 12-8 and make a quick and awesome project to take home for just $5 and there’s no need to register! You get to choose from a whole list of fun projects. When I stopped by today there was a young girl making a glass tile pendent, which I thought was pretty cool, so I decided to make one too! We had a wide variety of great papers to embellish the tiles with; scrap booking paper, vintage children’s books, and a gigantic, illustrated dictionary. I found the image for my pendent in the dictionary. LOVE IT!  IF you want to check out next weeks Stop in and Craft Thursday click here for directions to Crafty Goodness.

And, while I was there, Chris showed me this very nicely written article she wrote about Crafty Goodness that was recently printed in the Lakewood Observer.  She even mentions me in the article!

Next week, in addition to Stop in and Craft Thursday, Crafty Goodness is hosting its first ever Craftapalooza on Friday, June 17th from 7-9pm!  Come out and listen to Taylor Lynch perform an acoustic set, a blend of bluesy folk with a touch of ska!  You’ll also be able to make for $5 crafts, this time with a rock and roll theme all day long, starting at 12.  Or, just pick up a music themed item, 100% handmade by a local artist!

TOMORROW make sure you come out to the Etsy Craft Party over at Keyhole Gallery.  It will be a recycled paper theme and making things such as paper beads, origami pendents, gift bows and boxes, etc.  It’s FREE to attend, but please do bring some old magazines (or even junk mail) to donate if you have them.  Click here for more details.

Hope to see you at these events!

If you are in the Cleveland/Lakewood area make sure you like zween on facebook for future updates on events like these!

June Events At Cratfy Goodness

Crafty Goodness, our favorite shop for unique handmade items made by local artists, is hosting a slew of fun events this June!

Have you been to Crafty Goodness on Madison Ave in Lakewood yet?  If not, what are you waiting for?!  If you have been to Crafty Goodness, remember that Chris (the owner) is receiving new inventory all the time, so you will be sure to see new items each time you walk through the door.  I was just there for my felt bead making class yesterday and noticed oodles of new stuff since the last time I stopped in just a couple weeks ago.  Chris even added a cute little seating area.  So go ahead, bring your hooks, needles, and reusable shopping bags!  And, as if these weren’t reasons enough for coming out to Crafty Goodness, here’s a list of the fun events coming up…

Drop In and Craft!  Every Thursday from noon-8 pm.  Lots of quick and easy projects that will take no longer than 30 minutes, priced at only $5! Projects include:  Mini Collages, Glass Tile Pendants, Domino Pendants, Button Rings, Button Bracelets, Glass Etching, and more!  Full class schedule here!  Order form here!

Buy Local, Buy Lakewood!  Between now and June 30th, Crafty Goodness is collaborating with 2 other female owned businesses for a shopping event.  Print out your passport here.  No rules, just stop by each store and have your passport stamped.  You will be entered into a drawing for a fabulous gift basket with products from all three shops.  No purchase necessary, but it will be hard not to buy at each shop!

Live music on June 17th!  Local musician Taylor Lynch will be performing an acoustic set between 7-9 pm.

Ears to You benefit, Saturday, June 18th!  Make 1 pair of earrings for $5, 2 for $9 or 3 for $12 and then donate them to Ears to You!  Ears To You was developed by Ruth Crane, a breast cancer survivor, to help other women undergoing chemotherapy fell good about themselves as they deal with their loss of hair.  Ruth feels like the idea was divinely inspired since she really wanted to do something to help other cancer patients in a way that was easy and affordable.  Ruth started the program at the Cleveland Clinic in June of 2008 and has been providing earrings to female cancer patients ever since.

Lakewood Street Sale!  Make sure to get over to Lakewood between Thursday, June 23rd and Saturday, June 25th for Lakewood’s annual street sale.  We will be participating, as will many businesses all over Lakewood, tons of surprises in store!  10am to 5 pm each day.

Cleveland Craft Coalition Trunk show!  This month the Cleveland Craft Coalition is taking our monthly show on the road!  We will be having a “Junk in the Trunk Show” at Crafty Goodness on Saturday, June 25th from noon to 5 pm.  Full vendor list coming soon, but for sure you can count on awesomeness from your favorite CCC ladies:  Chris, Kristen, Nicki and Rhiannon.  If you haven’t fanned The Cleveland Craft Coalition on facebook yet, click here and like us!

Although an official date has not been set, Crafty Goodness will host an “Ears to You” event sometime in late June.  For more info on this great charity click here.

Follow Crafty Goodness on Facebook for more information and updates about the events mentioned above plus much more.

Announcements

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my Skull Giveaway this week!  I got a lot of fabulous suggestions and I really appreciate it!

Though I had many awesome entries for this contest, the winner of the giveaway was Kelly P with her entry of “tiny garden gnome.”

My next announcement is that zween now has it’s very own e-mail address that you can write to if you would like to contact me directly without writing a comment here or posting on the facebook wall.  You can find it on the new page at the top called “contact,” which replaced the page called “facebook.”  You can still find the link to zween’s facebook page on the contact page.

Finally, if you really liked the skull pin and live in the Cleveland area, I will be teaching a class in needle felting at Crafty Goodness on June 5th at 2pm.  The cost of the class is $20 and you can find all the details about it on my “events” page.