Arts, Crafts and Creativity Little Free Library at The Lunch Studio!

Flint Handmade, in partnership with Genesee County Little Free Libraries, is bringing an Arts, Crafts and Creativity Little Free Library to The Lunch Studio in Downtown Flint!

We were personally contacted by Todd Bol, Co-Founder of the national Little Free Library organization, who pledged to donate a Paint-Your-Own library to us!

Now, we need to raise funds to personalize the library, print informational materials, order logo merchandise and bring more LFLs to the Flint area.

Please consider donating to this very worthy cause through our Downtown Flint Little Free Library Indiegogo Campaign!

P.S. There are some great perks for contributions of $10 to $500!  Check out the campaign page for more information!

July crafLAB: Basic Beading!

Join us for a FREE Basic Beading Workshop at craftLAB on Sunday, July 1, 2012 from noon-3pm at The Lunch Studio! 

Learn basic beading techniques from craftLAB Coordinator Jenni Snyder!

Create your choice of bracelet, ring, earring set or charm pin.

All tools and materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own supplies if you have something special you would like to use!

Flint Handmade hosts FREE craftLABs on the first Sunday of every month at The Lunch Studio in Downtown Flint!  Come explore and express your creativity!

Quilling craftLAB Recap

We had a great time learning the coiled papercraft known as quilling during our May 2012 craftLAB!

Jenni (left) is our new craftLAB Coordinator!  She will be leading the majority of our craftLABs from now on! She is pictured here with her daughter Mallory.

Sarah is as colorful as the quilling paper!

Maureen (left) and Jeanette start quilling!

Jenni was so prepared with a demo board!

Lovely quilled tags to match a lovely smile!

Hayley's son really took to quilling!

Mallory (left) and her friends show off their handiwork.

Jeanette's quills!

Jenni and her awesome demo board!

Check our more photos from our Quilling craftLAB HERE!

P.S. Jenni is leading our Decoupage craftLAB this Sunday at The Lunch Studio.  Hope to see you there!

May 2012 Volunteer Work Party: Prepping for Craft City at Buckham Alley Fest!

Join us at Flint Crepe Company in Downtown Flint on Saturday, May 26, 2012 from 11am to 2pm for a Volunteer Work Party!


Maureen (l) and Sarah tied ribbons on cards

at our March 2012 Volunteer Work Party.


We need help preparing for our upcoming event Craft City at Buckham Alley Fest.

Volunteer tasks may include making guitar pick keychains, stuffing Flint Handmade cards in business card holders, etc.

New and returning volunteers are all welcome!

Flint Crepe Company will be open for business (their crepes are DELICIOUS!) and each volunteer will receive one free beverage courtesy of Flint Handmade.

We hope to see you there! :)

P.S. If you can, please RSVP on our Facebook Event Invite. Thank you!

June craftLAB: Decoupage!

Join us for a FREE Decoupage Workshop at craftLAB on Sunday, June 3, 2012 from noon-3pm at The Lunch Studio!

Learn the basics of decoupage from Flint Handmade Founding Member Jenni Snyder!

Bring your own item for decoupaging, such as a photo frame, trinket box, wood plaque, vase, etc. 

All other supplies will be provided, but feel free to bring your own paper (e.g. vintage magazines, sheet music, photos, etc.) if you have something you specifically want to use for decoupaging. 

Flint Handmade hosts FREE craftLABs on the first Sunday of every month at The Lunch Studio in Downtown Flint! Come explore and express your creativity!

IMAGE CREDIT: Mod Podge drawing by Yasmin Ladha!

New Display Heads in the Flint Handmade Shop!

We are getting so excited for the 5th Annual Spring Craft Market NEXT Saturday, May 5th from 10am-4pm at The Masonic Temple in Downtown Flint!

But, if you just can't wait to get your fix of handmade goods by local crafters, then check out our Flint Handmade Shop at The Lunch Studio!

We have a large variety of handcrafted items ranging from record album cover notebooks to wonderfully aromatic soaps to notecards featuring original illustrations to felt jewelry and more!

We especially love the new display heads we got for the crocheted hats by Misty of CrazeCrafts!

Visit the shop Monday-Friday from 8am-4pm and on Saturday from 11am-3pm at The Lunch Studio and stay for the delicious soups and sandwiches while you are there!

P.S. We hope to see you at the Spring Craft Market, too!

May craftLAB: Quilling!

Join us for a FREE Quilling Workshop at craftLAB on Sunday, May 6, 2012 from noon-3pm at The Lunch Studio!

Learn the basics of the coiled papercraft known as quilling from Flint Handmade Founding Member Jenni Snyder!

PHOTO CREDIT: http://cynchronicity.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/paper-quilling

VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE BRING A QUILLING TOOL.

You can make one yourself with a wine cork and large hand needle or you can buy one from a craft supply store. 

We will have some corks and needles on hand for those who want to make their quilling tools at craftLAB, but it might take a while for the glue to dry and we want to make sure we have lots of time to quill!

All other supplies will be provided, but feel free to bring any of your own papercrafting or quilling supplies (including scissors, scrapbook paper, etc.) if you would like to use them!

Flint Handmade hosts FREE craftLABs on the first Sunday of every month at The Lunch Studio in Downtown Flint! Come explore and express your creativity!

St. Patrick's Day Volunteer Work Party Recap!

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

Thank you so much to the Flint Handmade volunteers who attended our work party at The Lunch Studio on Saturday, March 17, 2012! 

The weather was beautiful and we got to see a lot of colorful St. Patrick's Day revelry on Saginaw Street.  :)

Maureen arrived first, so she got to choose her task...stamping the Knuckles logo on to our new small merchandise bags!

Sarah pitched in to work on birthday cards for our members.

Juanita (l) and Jodi took hundreds of our Knuckles tape measures out of their individual plastic bags.  The tape measures are on sale for only $2 in our Flint Handmade Shop inside The Lunch Studio!

Amber drove over an hour just to help us out!  She cut cards for our vendor table signs.

We wrapped up the day with Maureen and Sarah tying bows on the birthday cards.

Special thanks to Amy and Danielle who also volunteered but managed to escape getting their pictures taken! ;)

Everyone had a great time chatting with fellow crafters while helping out Flint Handmade with some fun projects.

We will host another Flint Handmade Volunteer Work Party at The Lunch Studio in Downtown Flint in couple months, so keep an eye on the blog for the announcement!  

2012 Cool City Art Auction Recap

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who attended, volunteered at or donated handmade items to the 9th Annual Financial Plus Cool City Art Auction!

Flint Handmade raised over $1,000 to support our efforts to encourage creative expression and commerce through handcrafting in Downtown Flint!

We packed the front of The Lunch Studio with dozens of handmade goods for the auction!

It was great to see so many people enjoying our auction.

Bidding started at half the retail value, so there were some great bargains to be had.

We also offered "Buy It Now!" pricing to purchase items at the full retail price before any bids were placed.  Just like on eBay!

One of our first "Buy It Now!" purchasers was this lovely gal who was excited to "eBay it" to buy her notebook!

Another great score at the auction!

As usual, we had fantastic catering from The Lunch Studio.  Everyone was raving about the cream cheese dip!

People loved the music provided by DJ Pale Ale as well, who returned for his second Cool City Art Auction with Flint Handmade.

Robert (l) and Karasten were two of our awesome volunteers who got to enjoy the auction after their volunteer shift ended.  Special thanks to our other volunteers: Heidi, Ali, Toe, Danielle, Rudy, Angela and Russ!

We also want to specifically thank Sara from Heaven Sent Crafts and Amber from Handleber, who donated Scrabble crafts for our theme table this year.  :)

Finally, very special thanks to our location sponsors:

The Lunch Studio

d'Vine Wines

Flint Downtown Small Business Association

Handleber

We hope to see you all again next year!

Interested in becoming a Flint Handmade location sponsor for the 2013 Cool City Art Auction?  

Click HERE for more information!

Care to read more about the 2012 Cool City Art Auction?

Visit The Flint Journal website from their article on the event.

Want to know more about past Cool City Art Auctions?

Check out our posts from 2011 and 2010!

St. Patrick's Day Volunteer Work Party

Join us at The Lunch Studio THIS SATURDAY (March 17th, 2012) from 11:30am to 2:30pm for a St. Patrick's Day Volunteer Work Party!

We need help preparing for upcoming events and initiatives like the Cool City Art Auction, Craft CSA, Spring Craft Market and Craft City at Buckham Alley Fest.

Volunteer tasks may include folding brochures, stamping our Knuckles logo on bags, making small goodie bag items, cutting flyers, etc.

We are specifically inviting people who have volunteered with us since 2011, but all are welcome!

The Lunch Studio will be open for business and each volunteer will receive one free beverage courtesy of Flint Handmade.
 
We hope to see you there! :)
 
P.S. If you can, please RSVP on our Facebook Event Invite.  Thank you!

Yudu Screenprinting Demo Recap!

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

We had a fantastic turnout for our Yudu Screenprinting Demo for National Craft Month!

The floors were being refinished in the front room of The Lunch Studio, so we all had to squeeze in the back room, but we made it work.  :)

Yummy red velvet and banana cupcakes from The Lunch Studio to celebrate March as National Craft Month!

We had TWO Yudus this time!  Mary B. (r) ran the Yudu with the Craft CSA screen.  Mary W. (l) brought two blue shirts for screenprinting.

I (not pictured) ran the Yudu with the Knuckles logo.  Jodi B. smiles with the shirt she made for her youngest daughter.

Jodi B. and her oldest daughter love the purple ink on the "safety green" shirt! 

Don't the girls look great in the Knuckles?!

Nicole is getting ready for spring with a Knuckles tank top. 

Mary ironed all of the shirts to set the ink and shows off an adorable lavender onesie with the Knuckles running longways up the front.

Susanna also wanted her Knuckles to run longways up the side of her hoodie.  Such a cute idea!

Jodi H.'s daughter chose a blue ink for her raspberry shirt.  Too cute!

Lorraine shows off her Craft CSA bag with multiple logos.  How creative!

Matt liked Lorraine's bag so much, he did the same design on his shirt!

At the end of the demo, Sarah got really creative and tried two ink colors in an alternating blue and purple on a scrap piece of fabric.  We think it turned out well and Sarah says she is going to make a pillow out of the fabric.  :)

Join us again on the first Sunday of March 2013 for our 3rd Annual Yudu Screenprinting Demo for National Craft Month!

Seeking Donations of Scrabble Crafts!

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

At the 2010 Cool City Art Auction, we had a Marilyn Monroe themed table.

At the 2011 Cool City Art Auction, we had a Wizard of Oz themed table.

At the 2012 Cool City Art Auction, we will have a Scrabble themed table!

If you make crafts out of Scrabble boards, boxes or game pieces, please consider donating an item or two to Flint Handmade! 

Your donation will help us raise funds in support of our efforts to promote creative expression and commerce in Downtown Flint!

Donations can be mailed to:

Flint Handmade
PO Box 13743
Flint, MI 48501

Please be sure to include your name, email address and the retail value of the item with your donation.

If you have questions, please email us at flinthandmade@hotmail.com.

The 2012 Cool City Art Auction will be held on Friday, March 23 from 5-10pm in Downtown Flint.

Stay tuned for more information!

Special thanks to Sara and Abby of Heaven Sent Crafts for the donation of Scrabble board mini-notebooks like the one pictured above!

NOTE: We are still seeking location sponsors for the 2012 Cool City Art Auction! Email us at flinthandmade@hotmail.com if you are interested!

FREE Yudu Screenprinting Demo for National Craft Month in March!

Join us at craftLAB on Sunday, March 4, 2012 for a

FREE Yudu Screenprinting Demonstration

from noon-3pm at The Lunch Studio!

Bring shirts, tote bags, hoodies, aprons, tea towels...

anything you want screenprinted

with the Flint Handmade knuckles logo!

Check out the photos from our

October 2010 and March 2011 Yudu Demos

to get ideas of what to bring.

ONE item screenprinted for FREE per person.

Additional items are just $3 per screenprint for members

and $5 per screenprint for non-members.

NEW MEMBERS ALWAYS WELCOME! 

Download the membership brochure HERE.

We will also have FREE cupcakes and punch for all

to celebrate March as National Craft Month!