Holy smokes the Beer Crafts summer tour is just about to happen, the family and I are packing up the vintage 1963 Shasta travel trailer, lots of craft supplies and a few special beers to share with friends. Our route will have us following the Oregon Trail, but backward and making lots of stops at breweries and pubs along the way, checking out the local flavor. Once we hit Colorado there will be some major crafting getting thrown down with the first stop being an epic progressive pub crawl and night of making with the Denver Craft Ninjas. These good time gals get together once a month and make fab projects like seed bombs, tea towels, and my forever favorite- sugar skulls .Yes, these are my kind of people especially since they do their meet ups in bars!
While crafting in pubs sounds ideal, combining our two favorite things- there are a couple things I try keep in mind... can the project be completed in a short period of time? I'm a notorious starter, nothing is more fun than jumping into a new thing, but I also relish the sweet victory of completion, for a night out crafting, I look for easy things to make which craft up quick like tiaras and bracelets.
Is it KISS? K eep I t S imple S tupid ? For me, bar crafting involves not too many tools and accessories, Crafting for and with a crowd is easiest if there isn't too much equipment involved, that said, I really do travel with a dozen glue guns and multiple sets of scissors, even to the bank. I also check ahead with my bar friends about glitter, some folks have a bizarre aversion to it, personally I'm down with extra sparkle any time but there is a weird stigma there so I try to show some respect.
Another thing I like to think about with group craft projects is the fun factor, is there room for self expression, are friends going to learn a new skill that they'll share and do other things with, is it going to be cool for novice crafters and old pros? Finding a balance can be tricky but my favorite nights are the ones where I'm getting schooled by my friends, they've taken a whole new approach to the supplies and made something I'd never even envisioned. There is also something fab about making things as a group, either a larger piece to share or a craft to gift or trade. These evenings and afternoons aren't always about the end result, but really the process- hanging out with friends, making new awesome people and enjoying ourselves. I'm so, SO looking forward to this journey and of course all the great beers we'll be sampling along the way.
For a complete list of Colorado events in July, check out the link here or my events page and this great article written by Denver Post blogger Josie Klemaier . And to give you just a taster of what a Beer Crafts event feels like- I've enclosed some of my favorite pics from the book launch party.
