Author: Betsy

Help The Papered Parlour!

| Betsy

Right about now you are probably wondering what is The Papered Parlour?

About a year ago, I got a lovely email from Claire Heafford, a fellow Goldsmiths alum, telling me about a new space she was opening up in London. From her email:

The space is called The Papered Parlour and it’s now home to artists, designers, musicians and theatre practitioners. The venue comprises a cafe, an artist’s studio and a gallery space where we will be running craft classes, hosting performances and putting on exhibitions. It’s all based on a cooperative sharing model of artistic practice, and it’s deliberately located away from East London in attempt to dialogue with a non arts audience.

A few days ago, I got an email from Claire saying how The Papered Parlour currently has a 1 in 3 chance of winning £50,000 via The Barclay’s Business ‘Take One Small Step’ Competition! And how do they win this money!? Through votes, of course! Through one little clicky click over here in fact.



Not up for voting?* I have some links for you here:
–“The Brazilian Etsy”
-Knitting in public hits Charlotte, North Carolina (my hometown!)
–Kentucky yoga center moonlights as art studio for the disabled community
-Tsia quite rightly recommended this Reggie Watts video over at Supernaturale
–Photos from Australia, knitting for the war (Thank you, State Library of S Wales!
–The Papered Parlour video for the competition (last attempt to get your vote)



*Really?

Feeling the Beat…

| Betsy

I know what you’re thinking. ANOTHER video?

Well, I sought this out yesterday after a few bad days in a row. It is pretty much the best mood lifter I know. In the whole world. Not only does it make me laugh like nobody’s business, it also reminds me that we really do all have a different beat. We just gotta find it, embrace it, and rock it.



For those of you having a bad day (or days) out there, here’s a little gift from me to you. I’m also giving you a hug, but that doesn’t translate so well over the interwebs.

And to keep things (marginally) topical, a few craft links:
*Sweet list of embroidery patterns over at Indie Fixx
*Assam’s women weavers walk out of vulnerability with ex-supermodel
*“Shedding light on India’s invisible workforce:” Tales of SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association of India)
*Cooking up 5,000 pounds of mudbugs for charity (Ok, not technically craft, but his last name is Crochet!)

Transformer Gallery This Weekend!

| Betsy

Part of moving to a new city is discovering new places and people that make the move easier, more exciting and feel more sane. Many thanks to the awesome Kelly Rand for inviting me along and going with me amidst all the Hello Craft Summit of Awesome scheduling chaos! And, by the way, the schedule is, indeed, awesome.

Last night, I went to an event put on by DC’s Transformer Gallery, a panel on sustainability with Nancy Bannon, Bruce Dwyer, Ian MacKaye, Eve Mosher, Abigail Satinsky with moderator Jeff Hnilicka.

While the gallery has nothing to do with the cartoon pic above, I just wanted to reiterate the possibilities and growth that are embedded to the very word “transform.” And how it’s important to keep transforming in your work, because as we all know thanks to a giant toy company that shall not be named, there’s always “more than meets the eye.”*

This weekend Transformer has scheduled a lovely list of events that I wish I was able to go to! Just in case you’re able, I’ve copied and pasted the schedule (text directly from the Transformer site, I added individual links to provide more information) below.

Sustainability Lab back in action!

June 2 – 12, 2010

On June 2, Brooklyn-based cultural worker Jeff Hnilicka returns to DC to continue Sustainability Lab at Transformer. Having just participated in Empire Builder – an epic train voyage to Portland, OR during which over 30 participants created guerilla public programs for fellow travelers while en route to Open Engagement, an initiative of Portland State University’s Art and Social Practice MFA concentration – Jeff & Transformer invite DC audiences to participate in several new, interactive programs that continue to investigate emerging models of cultural production, the sustainability of these models, and their impact within communities.

Upcoming events include:
*Friday, June 4, 5 – 7pm: “Seeding the City” with Brooklyn-based artist Eve Mosher at Fathom Creative
*Saturday, June 5, 1 – 7pm: “A Day of Dischord,” featuring performances by Andalusians and the Aquarium
*Friday, June 11, 1, 3, & 5pm: “10 Dance Moves for Washington, DC – a dance lesson and travelogue”, and
*Saturday, June 12, 1 – 6pm: “Home Grown” – an afternoon of conversation, local foods, music, and art with Jeff Hnilicka and DC-based photographer Cynthia Connolly
Please click here to download a full schedule of Sustainability Lab activities in June.

All events are free, some require advance registration.

EXHIBITION HOURS: Wednesday – Saturday, 1 – 7pm & by appointment

So excited to see such great work being done in my new hometown! Now off to find work so I can stay here… the not sane part about moving to a big city. My grandmother still thinks I should join the Army. For real.

*Sorry I couldn’t help it. It had to be done.