Party Time with Beer Crafts

Beer Crafts bling www.beer-crafts.com

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.

a crafty tiara www.beer-crafts.com

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.

Shawn Bowman with book photographers Laura Sams and Rob Sams

Brandy's Tiara www.beer-crafts.com

kids craft too www.beer-crafts.com

www.beer-crafts.com

There were exotic snacks

My friends rocked the craft table

Make a Father's Day Beer Trophy

Beer Can Trophy www.beer-crafts.com

Three cheers for the guy who brought you into this world.  Raise a can to salute the man who taught you all about belching, belly scratching and the importance of keeping a couple frosty ones in the fridge.  Is there any better way to salute a guy than with an awesome trophy of his favorite brand? I think not! Beer can awards are ridiculously easy to make- you'll need an old trophy, get that at the thrift store, don't use one of his, that might not go over too well! You'll also need 2-3 empty cans or a six pack if you're making an epic tower and glue sticks and a glue gun. You might look too for extra parts to embellish the trophy.  A small urn turned upside-down makes a great pedestal and  tiny beer cans from doll house sets look good in trophy statue hands.  I like to combine parts from different trophies to get extra height and bling.

To Make:

Step One: Open a beer, Dad's favorite brand.  My pop drinks Heineken, so I decided to make him a trophy using Iron City instead because the can was pretty freakin cool. I washed out the can after I finished it off and set it upside down to dry, afterward I pried off the pull tab using my fingers.

Step Two: Deconstruct the trophy.  There is probably a small nut at the base which needs to be unscrewed.  The nut is most likely attached to a rod that goes through the entire trophy.  Pull this out and save it for another project then go ahead and take the other pieces apart.

Hipster Trophy details

Step Three:  Re-assemble trophy.  Another easy peasy thing, find the parts you like best and stack them up gluing each layer with a glue gun.  This is the fastest method for putting it together but not super durable so you'll want to be careful carrying it around.  You can try another glue for stronger bond, like Gorilla Glue, and you can fill your cans with sand to make them more stable BUT your trophy will get super heavy that way and can make a huge mess if it comes apart- Personally I stick just with the glue gun but there is lots of room for experimentation with this craft.

You can add caps to this too or go all out and have a fresh engraving made for the base letting dad know he's #1 in your book!

Pin One On

Magic Hat Pincushion www.beer-crafts.com

With Mother's Day just around the corner, I wanted to put up an easy and fun gift tutorial from my new book which is entirely practical and features Mom's favorite beer. If your mom is anything like me, there are probably a couple cool looking cans sitting in her recycling bin right now just waiting to be upcycled.  If not, you should go pick up her brand of choice and pour her a cold one.  You could drink this beer yourself, but remember, this is the woman who gave you life, carried you around for nine month, wiped your runny nose, made sure you were wearing sensible shoes and gave you your good looks.  Seriously, you should buy her a beer.

Once you've drained the can, it's time to get crafting. The following are a list of supplies you'll need to complete the craft:

Supplies:

Beer can

Can opener

1 cup small rocks

Small amount stuffing or fiberfill (enough to fill the can, plus a generous handful)

Scissors

8 x 8-inch piece of fabric

Hot glue gun

12 inches of any width grosgrain ribbon, for trim

Rickrack, buttons, or sequins for embellishing

How To:

Open up the can of beer and drain it quickly.

Pry off pull tab and save for another project

Use the can opener to remove the top from the can. Rinse and dry the can, being mindful of the cut edges.

Fill the can about halfway with small rocks.

Fill the remainder of the can with stuffing, leaving about 2 inches of stuffing coming out of the top of the can. Set aside an extra handful of stuffing for the last step.

Cut a 7-inch circle from the fabric.

Cut 1/2-inch slits in fabric every inch all the way around the fabric circle.

Hot glue the edge of the fabric to the outside of the can. The slits you cut will help ease the fabric tension, but you’ll also want to let the fabric fold onto itself in creases as you glue it down.

stuffing a beer can pincushion www.beer-crafts.com

When you get halfway around the can, insert the rest of the stuffing.

Finish gluing the fabric around the can.

Put a bead of hot glue around the seam where the fabric meets the can, then place the ribbon on top of the glue beads.

Embellish the pincushion ribbon with rickrack, buttons, or sequins

For 39 other cool crafts like this, check out my new book Beer Crafts available now for pre-order and on the shelves May 14th.

Book Launch Party

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Wow- after over a year of hard work and lots and lots of beer the book is a done deal and ready to hit the shelves .  I couldn't be more stoked and can't wait to celebrate with the friends who helped make it happen.  Laura and Rob Sams did an amazing job with the photography and the folks at Andrews McMeel hit the ball out of the park with awesome design, layout, editing and the million other things it takes to make a book happen.  Matt Newell came up with the patterns and a great website. I think it's fair to say we've blazed a new trail in craft publications, a unique path that leads from the fridge to the craft room, along the way we sampled some kick ass beer.  So come join me in toasting the best in sustainable crafting the one that "involves you to open a beer" as my daughter might say.  We're partying down at The Beer Bunker on May 18th 2pm. 7918 Stark St. in Portland.  I'll be bringing some snacks and a whole lot of craft supplies and there will be a limited supply of tasting trays too.

A Stout Idea

Guinness cupcakes from beer-crafts.com

My first experience baking with beer was in 1996 when I was the pastry cook at Q's  restaurant  in Boulder Colorado.  This was early days in the craft beer revolution and folks were just beginning to experiment with beer styles and production, the idea of adding beer to food, beyond boiled beans and steamed clams, wasn't that common.  I made a German chocolate stout cake with porter cream cheese frosting and it was pretty darn good.  The cake was a little on the dense side but super, super moist and paired beautifully with the chocolate, as you might expect. For St. Patrick's Day this year I wanted to revisit the recipe, and made a few changes.  Rather than using a typical sour cream in the mix I used Mexican crema, it has a slightly sweeter flavor and whips lighter into the batter.

I also went with an Amaretto butter cream which was a sweet compliment to the warm barley taste of the cupcake.  There are a number of great recipes for this frosting, and I especially like this one on the blog Life Tastes Good.

Since I'm all about re-purposing my empties, I was eager to productively use the cans which went into making the desserts.  Easy peasy.  If you've never deconstructed a can before, it's pretty simple once you learn the tricks.  Some folks will use heavy gloves and tin snips, but I find that totally over the top, once you get the lid off, cans cut like butter.  I've got a pair of old scissors I use for all my can trimming and I always make sure to trash my scraps since the smaller bits might hurt if you stepped on them.

cupcake liners by beer-crafts.com

Step one:

Open a beer and find a good receptacle  for the contents.  This is usually my mouth, but this time you'll need the beer for the batter, so you should set it aside for baking time.

Rinse your can and let it dry upside down.

With a can opener on the OUTSIDE of your can, remove the top lid.  Save your pull tab for another fantastic craft project.

Step two:

With scissors make a vertical cut straight down your can to the very bottom.  Having this slit will help you get the cupcake back out out of the can when it's eatin time.

Step three:

Cut a horizontal line around the can just above the word Guinness and place a paper cupcake liner inside.  Make your batter and pour all the way to the top of the paper liners, put into oven and bake according to the recipe.  While the cupcakes are cooking you can make the frosting and toppers.  This step was pretty simple too, I trimmed the harp shape from the top part of the beer can and put a daub of hot glue on the back attaching it to a bamboo skewer.

Put on your favorite Pogues album and enjoy your treats- Happy St. Pats!

Guinness Stout Cupcakes

1 can Guiness

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs 3/4 mexican crema (can substitute with sour cream)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

2 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray paper liners with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the stout, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla.

3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until thoroughly incorporated. Add in the crema and mix until combined.

4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, and baking soda. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into beer mix. Your batter might look thin but the eggs will make it rise nicely, no worries!

5. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until risen and center is cooked.  Cool on wire rack completely before frosting

Colorado Reconnaissance Mission

Flight of Fab from Rengade

Last week was a big mile stone, my beloved step-dad, Bob turned 70 and I used the occasion to sneak off to Colorado for a family celebration AND to lay the groundwork for an awesome Beer Craft summer tour.

The beer scene in the west is mindbogglingly huge, in four days I was barely able to visit a fraction of the breweries on my "must see" list. Each of the places I manged to squeeze in was unique with own cool vibe and the beers were pretty kick ass.  The craft scene in Denver has exploded too and I manged to find a couple great spots to shop within walking distance of the breweries and at Fancy Tiger Crafts, a needle felted lamb kit I couldn't live without.  Damn if this city isn't Beer Crafter utopia.

Hutch and Spoon

Day one of my trip had me lunching at Breckenridge Brewery a Denver institution since 1992, I sampled a Christmas Ale which perfectly off set my lamb strip spinach salad.  For happy hour I met up with a friend at Renegade Brewing in the Santa Fe Arts District. Of all the beers we sampled the Sunday Morning coffee infused strong ale was my favorite, super crisp and light, the kind of flavors normally blended with a stout worked refreshingly well in this lighter bodied beer.  Tucked in between the galleries, around the corner from Renegade is the delightful sewing studio and knit lounge, Fabric Bliss where I stocked up on a couple skeins of chunky yarn. Further down Santa Fe is Stranahan's Whiskey Bar which along with being a killer distillery had an amazing selection of local beers.  I wound up the evening helping pour wine at Hutch and Spoon.  Usually open for breakfast and lunch, the cafe was hosting an evening art opening. Owner  Tracy Zimmer and I have been friends since grade school and it was a hoot to hang out with him behind the counter swapping stories during the reception.  If you find yourself on Larimer St.  it's definitely worth a stop with a decent wine and beer selection and arguably the best grilled cheese sandwiches in the Rockies.

Banjo Billy

I took Saturday off from crazy adventures for a little family time and last minute birthday crafting, though we did managed to sneak off to Apple Jack Liquors for emergency beer supplies and wow, what a treat huge selection of local and imported beers, lots and lots to choose from.  If you like to preview the beers before you head over, check out their website, great catalog of what's in stock.

For Bob's birthday on Sunday we headed over to Pints Pub where we met up with his car club cronies for lunch before a tour around Denver on Banjo Billy's bus.  Looking like something straight out of the Beverly Hillbillies, the bus offers historical and beer trips around Denver and Boulder.  They've taken out many of the old seats and added couches arm chairs and even a saddle, lined with tapestries and Christmas lights, the bus feels like a comfy cabin hide-away on wheels and was the perfect way to travel around town with 25 of your favorite friends.

Small Selection of Single Malts at Pints Pub

Since we'd booked the bus for a private tour we were able to bring snacks and beer along too, which just added to the merriment.  We ended up back at Pints which has the largest single malt and whiskey selection outside the UK and lovely, lovely cask conditioned ales which they brew on the premises.

Barrel Aging at Avery

After sleeping in on Monday, I was back in research mode, though this time a bit north of Denver to see what trouble we could get into further up the range.  !st stop was Avery Brewing.  Making great beer since 1993, Avery is a must stop for any brew tourist, I highly recommend Ellie's Brown Ale and the 3 Point 7 Milk Stout.  Things are pretty exciting at Avery these days, they've just purchased 5.6 acres of land north of Boulder and will be opening  a new brewery in 2014.

For lunch we moseyed over to Boulder Beer Company this was a cool homecoming for me, this was the first craft beer I'd tried, way back in1991 when I waited tables at Walnut Brewery and we served the Buffalo Gold.

Solar Powered Electric Bikes

A couple things I love about this brewery, aside from the great beers and lentil soup, they've got a set of community tools to work on your bike right outside the front door and if you've left your bike behind completely, you can rent a solar powered electric one.  Super efficient and green friendly, plus the roomy basket in front has space for a growler and all your craft supplies.

The last two stops on our adventure were at Oskar Blues, both the original brewery up in Lyons and the much larger Tasty Weasel location in Longmont.  Wow, wow, wow, great beers, super nice folks, good vibes and so cool to see how craft beer can be made with care in a big facility.  Our tour guide Rudy was super friendly and knowledgeable giving us a great run down on how the different beers get made.  I was super impressed by the tower of cans waiting to go out to distribution, all that delicious craft potential, it staggers the mind.

My folks and I wound the evening down at Yak and Yeti in Arvada.  This   Indian Nepalese restaurant and brewpub is to die for, I absolutely love the food garlic cheese naan, chicken masala and this amazing carrot custard for dessert- but what makes this place stand out is the fabulous beers they are making on site to match the menu, unbelievable, Jalapeno Ale, Chai Cream Stout, Himalayan IPA, these guys know how to rock it, the staff is all super sweet.  If you get the chance catch them on the weekend for the all you can eat buffet, a gut bursting value.

Knitting Lounge at the Airport

After four days of royal and debaucherous treatment it was time to head home and Denver had one last surprise for me.  On the skyway bridge between the central terminal and "A" concourse, the Denver Handmade Alliance has on display featured craft pieces from artists around the city.  Along with the lovely exhibits was a knitting and crochet lounge where craft addicts can chill between flights and hook a few stitches.  Such a welcoming space, I couldn't help but add a couple rows and curse that fact that my plane was actually on time.  Oh Denver, you've been good to me!

Out of hibernation

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Baby its cold outside, and when we’re talking about chilled frosty ones- I’d like to be thinking about the beer in my glass and not the six inches of ice gluing the wipers to the windshield of my car.

Like any civilized mammal, I hunker down and hibernate when the days start getting shorter.  A few things will draw me out of the craft cave though like the need for food, toilet paper and the siren’s call of beefy holiday beers and winter stouts that roll out at my favorite bars this time of year.

Foraging for sustenance at my neighborhood bodega, I was rewarded with a huge selection of cool new winter cans.  I couldn’t resist picking up a Hopwork’s Abominable Winter Ale, weighing in at a bombastic 10.4% , this beer has a rich caramel flavor and crisp finish giving it an “exceptional” title from Beer Advocate and outstanding rating of 92.  I’d order it no matter what the packaging, but the darling yet ferocious yeti stole my crafter’s heart.

Faster than you can say “Jack Frost” I’d poked  holes in my cans, made them cute-as-a-button hats and stuffed them with bird seed for the little starlings who live in my back yard.  The yeti feeders were a true feast for the eyes and he birds were beyond delighted with their easy buffet.  I went to bed that night with a warm heart, knowing that once again our lives had been greatly improved by an awesome beer.

Steampunk Crafting on a Shoestring

Steampunk pin www.twobeerindustries.com

During the winter of 2013 I hosted a series of Steampunk inspired workshops for the Multnomah County Library system visiting several branches.  Youth and adult participants made metal "Admiral Pins" from recycled cans, paper elements and mechanical ephemera.

A second project was available as well, Steampunk Travel Journals- a small DIY zine which featured lists of Portland hot spots for shopping, kraken watching, maker spaces and places to get your gears lubed.

Along with the course materials, I developed a reading list of books within the genera from the Parasol Protectorate to HG Wells Time Machine.  Bringing further literacy discussion into the workshop I outlined the history of the movement and it's effects on art, film and pop culture.

Dia de los Muertos Makeup Tutorial

calavera hero

Counting the days until my favorite holiday Dia de los Muertos, and as a warm up to this year's celebration I've hosted a couple workshops in costume creation and sugar skull making.  I hate to leave my out of town friends and fans out of the fun- and at the compelling request of Crime Spree Carol, it seemed like I ought to post a quick tutorial on calavara creation.  I won't say that she threatened me into doing this, but now that the blog post is up, I'll assume she's destroyed all negatives of the incriminating 8' x 10' photos that arrived in last week's mail.

supplies

So Carol, and the rest of you, before we get to the disguise part, you'll want to  gather up supplies- The clown white grease paint was a purchase from Goodwill for $1.49, almost a steal!  I got the black and glitter liquid eyeliners, mascara and fake eyelashes from the drug store and black face paint and body art kit from the craft store.  In all the gear set me back about $30 but I'll be able to do a whole posse of folks with this so it was a good investment.  You might also want to get white face powder and tiny gems to add at the end for extra bling.

step1

My friend Laura was kind enough to pose for the photos, I think Crime Spree Carol may have something on her as well, after this we'll consider all debts paid in full.  In the 1st step I covered Laura's face in the grease paint with a small sponge.  I left large areas around her eyes and tip of nose free.  If you'd like the makeup to set you can brush on the white face powder next, it will also help the other colors go on smoothly on the top.

step2

Next, I applied face paint to the eye area, you could also use a dark eye shadow for this step but I liked having the ability to layer and add lots of color to the flower shapes.

step3

In dark blue face paint I created a flower shape around Laura's eyes

step4

I filled in the flower petals in a lighter blue and blended them into the green circles

step5

Using the black liquid eyeliner I filled in Laura's nose and made the outlines for her mouth

step6

I used the black eyeliner again to draw a spider web on her forehead and fill in her lips.  I also used it on her eyes in the waterline and outlined her upper eyelid

step7

To give the web definition, I added a second line in black grease pencil.  This is a great tool to use when doing skeletons for guys especially in the cheek areas and to add lip effects.

step10

For the last few steps, I traced around the flower eyes in black liquid liner and added glitter eyeliner highlights.  I also drew shapes on her cheeks and filled them in with face paint.  From here you could add false eyelashes and sequins or small gems as well

calavera flirts

Top the whole thing off with a saucy headdress of flowers and don't forget the little people!

kidaveras

a Litany of Crimes

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Oh man the Portland Mini Maker Faire at OMSI was so much fun, I'm only just beginning to recover, that and my bail money finally came through.  The number of cool things to see and do was astounding from indie computer games, 3-D printed toys, the 30 foot trebuchet, fractal designed copper furniture and chocolates you could shape yourself into exotic flowers. I spent a good portion of the weekend ducking arrows coming over the top of the Tracker's booth, thank goodness they'd replaced the steel tips with sponges!  Wire's Geek Dad blog has a great re-cap of the Faire  and Dale Dougherty founder of Make Magazine and Craft, and the brain child of Maker Faire gatherings was also in attendance, his blog post is here . Not to be left out of the making mayhem, I snuck into the OMSI parking lot and  and on the sly built my own stand,  offering "policing by proxy" inviting criminals and potential criminals the opportunity to confess their mis-deeds in a mock mug-shot-photo-booth.  I was shocked, shocked I tell you to see the number of young miscreants our city is manifesting, sure they may look cute now- but just wait until their feet can reach the gas pedal of the get-away car.

I've posted some of the more outstanding offenders here as well as a more complete listing on my flickr site I would advise using caution when approaching any of these individuals, clearly they are armed with a wicked sense of humor and several are confessed cereal killers and cookie thieves...

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PDX Mini Maker Faire

the man

I barely have words to describe how incredibly cool day one was of the PDX Mini Maker Faire at OMSI.  I'll do a big fat link round up later, after I've had a little sleep and time to process all the great stuff I saw and new friends made.  The mug shot photo booth was a huge hit and I'll post pics up on flickr too as there were many, many amazing costume combinations and a wrap sheet of the world's greatest crimes-  Since I encouraged folks to come up with their own caption for the booking photos, there was a huge variety of crimes and misdemeanors, though I think today's favorite was "early morning toilet slammer" followed by the kid who's crime was being a hipster and yelled "that's so main-stream" when I took his photo.  There is one more day of amazing action if you can make it down here- remember code word is "you're the yarn bomb" for a free gift from me, and if you can't make it to my booth, there is lots of fun Criminal Craft handmade goodness in my Etsy shop.

Free Pussy Riot

pussyc

Occasionally I get swept up in the heat of the moment, especially a moving political moment and feel my crafter self needs to take a stand. I'm so in awe of the fantastically brave punk rock chicks who"ve dared to take on Vladimir Putin the topless cowboy dictator.

How much I adore that the voices demanding democracy, freedom of speech and the separation of church and state happen to be hot 20 year old feminists in robber masks and Go-Go boots.

So today was set aside for busting out  freezer paper, hot iron and a whole mess of ink and glitter.  It's uncanny that this particular event should happen since I've pretty much always wanted a shirt that said "Free Pussy Riot".

I'm guessing that some of my other Criminal Crafter friends might want to make one too, so I'm posting my template, run with it, make something awesome, post the pictures on line and everywhere.

Nadezhda, Yekaterina, and Maria, you guys are inspiring, so sorry you got the short end of the stick in a corrupt system.

pussytemplate

You're the Yarn Bomb

yarn blog post

Because you are so cool, because you brave the weather to come out to book signings and liquor infused craft nights, because you wouldn't let me leave the house with my slip showing, purse that didn't match my shoes or a good alibi- I've made you a gift, and one for you, and you and you.  Fans of the Criminal Crafts blog who stop by my booth (#34) at Portland's Mini Maker Faire on Sept. 15th and 16th at OMSI and say "You're the Yarn Bomb" get this super cute kit- a small ball of yarn (enough to learn how to finger knit), instructions on finger knitting and a brief history on the art of yarn bombing, an atomic fireball candy and a commemorative gift bag hand stamped by Parole Officer Honeyman and myself. I'll also be giving a few of these precious gifts away at my panel discussion and Iron Craft event at the Contemporary Arts Center  on Monday Sept. 10th . Yes, I'm off to Cincinnati, you heard that right, the city that gave us Bootsy Collins, Carmen Electra, Doris Day and the Isley Brothers is also home to one of the more visionary and inspiring contemporary arts museums in the country.  I'm doing a fab night of talking and judging craft smackdown with local artists Pam Kravetz and Chris Salley and like any good hosts, they've promised beer will be available.  I'm really hoping to sneak off and squeeze in some yarn bombing when I'm there, since I hear it's quite the scene in Cincinnati.  There's even a yarn bomb posse, the BombShells  and they even have their own manifesto, and there really isn't anything I like more than crafters with manifestos, except for maybe crafters with beer.

On the off chance that you happen to live somewhere other than the craft meccas of Portland and Cincinnati, I'm thinking you deserve a treat too.  So the 1st five readers who email me a good alibi along with their address also get a gift in the mail.  So hop too it, and I want good alibis, something creative, slightly funny and will stand up in court.

Yarn bomb supplies

So a bit more about these yarn bomb bags... they were generously donated by Stateline Bags and blanks in a number of sizes can be ordered from their website here.  They have a crafter's resource section on the website too which is pretty darn cool and it got me to thinking about some other projects I want to make later this fall.

For my bags I drew three designs on paper and made a rubbing transfer onto heavy linoleum stamp material.  I cut the shapes with carving tools but exacto knives work fine too.   From there it's as easy as stamping onto an ink pad and pressing onto the bag.  I did put a piece of cardboard in the bag so the image didn't seep all the way through.  I'm delighted with how the bags came out and am planning to screen print some others to using a darling print kit I got from Etsy seller SimpleKraft.

I've got a full stamp carving tutorial in the Criminal Crafts book and illustrations too, to make your own paper funeral.

%*#$ is About to Get Real

Alpine mock up

Oh man, I thought with summer winding down the Criminal Crafts hi-jinks would be coming to an end, not so my friends, not so.  The calendar is getting stuffed with devious fun workshops, cool give-aways, dangerous craft offs and Portland's very first Mini Maker Faire.  I'm so excited I could spit, but it isn't very lady like so I'll hold off. All the good stuff is getting added to my events page, check back when you can, as I keep adding to it and this awesomeness shouldn't be missed! First up, if you're cool enough to live near Cincinnati, you'll have to hot foot it over to the Contemporary Arts Center on Sept. 10th,  where I'll be in on a panel discussion about the resurgence of hand made arts, there's going to be an Iron Craft competition AND a bar.  Drinking, crafting and being competitive, Cincinnati gets me on a deep and fundamental level.  Will try to squeeze in some yarn bombing while I'm there, I hear it's the thing to do and if you get caught it's a much lighter sentence than what you'd serve than if was an actual bomb.

The following weekend, Sept. 15th and 16th is Portland's 1st ever Mini Maker Faire at OMSI.  A huge fun event for geeks, makers, Lego freaks, people who like giant trebuchets, 3-D printers and things that go boom. I'm in the process of building my space right now- aiming for mug shot photo booth and paper funerals to make and take, along with cool crafts  for sale, copies of the book and a special treat for people who read this blog.  More on this soon, but Stateline Bags has donated some of their very cool, small drawstring bags for an upcoming blog post and I'll be doing  give-aways based on that project.

As we sneak closer to fall, there's a whole slew of cool upcoming classes.  I'll be presenting a series of workshops to get ready for my favorite holiday Dia de los Muertos.  On Sept. 30th we'll be making sugar skulls a.k.a calaveras the next Sunday, October 7th, we'll be working on costumes, masks and skull make-up and a final workshop on altar or ofrenda building .  The classes are sponsored by SCRAP and will be held in their workshop space, for more info- check out my listings on Skilshare .

Speaking of SCRAP, the Rebel Craft Rumble is coming up and I'm itching for a good fight, they are taking applications now until August 31st and oh man, do I hope I make the cut, I've been training P90X training (not really)  since getting axed in the 1st round last year.  My ego is glue gunning for a re-match! Fight night is October 18th at the Hollywood Theater.

But wait, there's MORE can you BELIEVE IT??? Voodoo doll pincushions, two FREE  workshops October 24th at the St. Johns Library and October 30th at the Holgate Library . So friends and frenemies, I expect to see you soon.  And if you've made anything cool from the Criminal Crafts book, send me a photo, would love to add you to the gallery of rogues up on Facebook.

Vegas Baby-Part Two

CC Skyline

As promised, I couldn't "do" Vegas in one post, there was just too much to see and really, The Mob Museum was so awesome, it deserved it's own post.

It might not sound true to character, but I'm not a huge fan of the strip so I made the requisite trek pretty short.  Everything there is a little too new for my taste, plastic and disposable like the giant day glow cocktail mugs shaped like the Eiffel Tower I saw a drunk lady throwing up into.  Just not my scene.

That said, I won't turn my nose up at the buffet at the Winn, it is divine and in one of the never ending malls I did managed to find one of those material goods I was willing to forgo my kids' college education on... If you guessed the Ferrari Museum, you'd be close, but actually it was a gorgeous print of the poetry of Dante Gabriel Rossetti at Bauman's Rare books and a $30,000 copy of Ian Flemming's Live and Let Die in it's original dust jacket.  For that kind of cash, I'd hope to get some of Sean Connery's preserved sweat thrown in too.

While I yearned for Vegas' old noir vibe, my husband did manage to chat with Wayne Newton at the check in desk for Southwest Airlines, but that hardly compares to my visions of the old casino days of vixen card counters and Elvis at the pool of the Flamingo.

CC Frida

Wandering off the Strip though, and into the downtown and arts district we were rewarded with cool thrift stores, friendly locals and some kick ass Mexican food.

Casa Don Juan on Main St. does a great chili relleno and had a super impressive wall of  Frida Kahlo on one side of the restaurant and Emilliano Zapata on the other.  Across the road I found some lovely vintage and modern decor at Corner Store.  Wasn't sure how to get the velvet couch back home with us and still kicking myself for passing up this lovely Remington typewriter.  Thinking it would make a nice change from the cut ransom notes I've been slaving over.

Also on Main St. was Medusa's Antiques, which had some decent stuff in the front of the shop and an amazing room of tiki collectibles in the back. Next trip its where I'll be spending all my allowance money.

If you're into the downtown Vegas scene, there's a documentary being made by William Swaney that is worth checking out, Beyond Neon based on the coolness I saw in the hood and the super nice folks, it sounds like a great film going down.

Next up: Seattle Squirrel Madness

CC Remmington

Visit to The Mob Museum-Criminal Crafts Does Vegas- Part One

CC Mob Museum

The best mobster stories take at least two volumes to tell, three if you include flashbacks, cooking advice and a couple generations of offspring added to the family drama.  My Vegas tale isn't quite as epic, but needs at least two posts to do it any justice.  And when we're talking about justice, The Mob Museum delivered it in spades.

Sitting pretty in the heart of downtown Las Vegas, The Mob Museum resides in a gorgeous old building once a US post office and Federal Courthouse.  In 1950 it was one of 14 locations around the United States to participate in the Kefauver Committee hearings on organized crime.  Broadcast live on TV, these hearings put 600 witnesses, mafia kingpins and henchmen on the hot seat, nose to nose with US senators, facing allegations of interstate commerce violations and the uncovering the overwhelming influence of organized crime all around America.

Spanning three floors, with fun, and informative interactive exhibits and films, the museum delivers the goods on federal crime history, showing both sides of the loaded coin, profiling the thugs who did the deeds and the cops and legislators who uncovered the corruption and introduced legal oversights and justice to the chaos.

CC mob collage

I'm a geek for crime history, so it was a delight to spend an afternoon exploring the exhibits and an even bigger treat to be doing a book signing of Criminal Crafts at the gift shop.  To really see the museum you'll want to set aside two or three hours, longer if you've seen Goodfellas, Casino or Donny Brasco more than once, because all those cats, and their homeboys are here.  I really could have spent a full day, as the exhibits were completely fascinating, and gorgeous, high tech and inviting all at once and the bad side of being a gangster never felt glamorized.

CC mob collage 2

Of course I kept an eagle eye out for genuine criminal crafting memorabilia and insights into the minds mobsters, and was rewarded by this "interestingly" executed pen and ink sketch which I think was done by  John Gotti.  Serving 10 years time prior to his death, one can only hope Teflon Don spent a little more time refining his skills and this was only and early attempt.  I pity the poor guy who had to stand for hours posing for this one.

Around the museum were numerous quotes from famous mobsters and officers as well as clever presentations of background information.  I especially liked the chalkboard drawing of criminal traits- perusing through the criteria, I seem to hit most of the deviant tendencies for an older miscreant.

CC mob collage 4

Seeing the mob connection to Vegas history was especially compelling, lots of great memorabilia and back story from the city's seedy past.  The book on card sharking was behind glass so I couldn't get any tips but there were a few slot machines tricked out for fake wins and other cons of the day.  A room next door was plastered with stacks of fake money illustrating how much revenue the government lost to skimming scams, astronomical sums.

cc gift shop

Luckily for me the tour winds up in the gift shop where I had a table for the afternoon.  The gals who work the shop were good sports, indulging my corny jokes and trying on the spy glasses that I made. Special shout out to the super troopers who came in on their day off to get signed copies of my book.  Can't wait to see what they make, will be posting photos here!

I couldn't leave empty handed and aside from getting souvenirs for myself, belated father's day gifts I decided to start my Christmas shopping. The museum had some really unique stuff, biographies of famous cops and mobsters, movies, crime scene tape, loaded dice. shot glasses shaped like pistols and costumes for kids and adults.  Since I couldn't fit everything in my carry-on I'm glad the gift shop's collection is on-line too.

CC Dolls

Had to share pics of the treats I got for myself- an awesome book of mobster paper dolls.  I'll be making the Goodfellas set 1st.  Skinny Ray Liotta, looks absolutely scorching here and I'm putting him on my desk to oversee all the hard work I'm doing.  Sad though that there isn't a version of him in his underwear, and it's pretty telling that the Joe Pesci doll is missing a head.

cc tape gun

And I could not pass up on the tape gun, nothing, nothing quite says Criminal Crafts like this bad boy.  With any luck (or a good bribe) I'll have a chance to do the SCRAP Rebel Craft Rumble again this year and can use it as my secret weapon.

Facinators, you wear them on your head

50 Shades of Grey Facinator

Well summer is in full swing, it's wedding and horse racing season which means two things, classy ladies are going on Champagne benders and sticking silly things on their heads while running willy nilly to the finish line. With these parameters, I of course refuse to be left out, and had to put my own twist on the chapeau phenomenon by making a series of themed facinators to wear at events I've got coming up.

Some of my men friends have never heard of facinators, so I'll take a moment to explain- They are fancy bits of lace, ribbon and do-dads that you wear on your head, similar to a hat, but smaller.  Their geographical placement, above the belt line, might make them a bit more disappointing than they sound at first, but bear with me, with the right theme in mind, we can spice them right back up to being interesting.

I've made a few of these literary inspired accessories now so putting together the "50 Shades of Grey Facinator" was so easy, I could have done it with one hand tied behind my my back.  (While rolling my eyes and chewing on my bottom lip).  Seriously, handcuffs on your head is hot, and not hard to do.  I opted to use the toy version of the shackles both for safety's sake and they are a hell of a lot lighter and easier to attach with a glue gun.  I actually got all the supplies to make the facinators from the Dollar Store, with the exception of the paint chips which I stealthily pocketed while at the paint shop.  I think they actually give them away, but I like to feel sneaky even when I'm not doing anything wrong (except for not wearing underwear).

Supplies:

Plastic headband

Plastic netting or fancy tuile

50 paint chips

Plastic handcuffs

So to make: Cut a produce bag into a 8x 12"  strip, scrunch one end of your "veil" together and attach to a plastic headband with hot glue.  Do this over a newspaper because it's going to make a drippy mess and since your veil is made of plastic, it's going to melt a little bit.  One trick is to put a bead of glue onto the headband and let it cool for about 20 seconds before pressing the netting down into it, and of course be careful, as it's going to be hot.

Fan your chips and glue one on top of the other, glue pain chip rosette onto headband and cuffs on top of that

Open a bottle of expensive Chablis and pick up the phone, maybe Christian is free for a booty call

Vegas Facinators

 If he's not around you can always treat yourself to more crafting, it's almost as much fun as kinky sex with a neurotic billionaire.  I had a hoot making a whole horde of facinators for my upcoming trip to Las Vegas.  For some I went for the straight up gambeling theme, but I wanted to do something for my book signing at The Mob Museum of Las Vegas on the 30th.  I am super stoked to check the museum out, the exhibits sound spectacular, looking at both sides of the crime history, the criminal element and the law enforcement officers who fought to bring them to justice.  This duality inspired me to make two special facinators, one for the gangsters with a bottle of bootleg gin and one for Johnny Law with iconic shades and a fancy pants badge, that is probably fooling no-one.

Vegas Facinator collage2

Now you might be looking at these hats and think to yourself that Ms. Demeanor has finally taken crafting too far, no one would wear something so ridiculous on their heads, but friend, you'd be wrong and I'd like to point you to the most excellent blog post on Go Fug Yourself  highlighting the haberdashery hijinks at the Royal Ascot this weekend, where society dames wore two teared bird houses and gargantuan flowers on their noggins.  The outfits for Lady's Day have gotten so out of hand that the Ascot officials have laid down the law this year, all together banning facinators in the royal box (no innuendo there!) but they still allow big ass hats.  I remain amused and inspired.

Big in Japan

Hanacollage

As a well known master criminal, and international woman of mystery, you may assume I get lots of subversive and odd mail, NOT TRUE! On most days my post box is as quiet as the grave, except for the occasional past due notice or latest edition of Crime Spree Magazine .

And while some writers might shy away from the Cathy Bates "I'm your biggest fan" person, I say "you're my kind of crazy, let's get a little nutty off some Modge Podge fumes and go yarn bombing later".

So you can imagine my excitement when I got this delightful note from code name "Hana"...

"Hi, Demeanor. I'm Hana, from Tokyo JAPAN! I looked at your report by the "Craftzine.com blog".

I got the chills! It totally blew me away! Your "Criminal crafts" are sooooo coooool and intense!

I can really relete to them.

I get a your AWESOME BOOK! Definitely! You are fucking Awesome!

Please make me want to be friends.

Keep it Brutal !!! <333

From Hana."

Clearly, she is my new BFF forever. And I was so stoked, I nominated and approved her to be "Head of the Tokyo Criminal Crafts Fan Club" If you live within the city limits or outlying areas of Chiba, Kawasaki, Saitama or Yokohama, you'll be reporting directly to Hana, she's in charge. What Hana will make of this position is entirely up to her, I'd like to think she'll be staying up late making Voodoo doll pincushions and baking cakes with files inside, but really it's at her devious discretion, I only inspire subversive behavior, never cross it.

To commemorate Hana's new position, I've made her a very special fan club badge, which I hope she uses all the time, to gain entry into places she shouldn't.  Similar honorariums are going out to my global craft syndicate with a special shout out going to our Madison WI branch for their nefarious crafting efforts.

You too could be inducted into the Criminal Crafts fan club and get a special badge, it's pretty easy, no blood oaths or wacking off an enemy needed. Just send me one photo of you, with a project from the book and a sassy fan letter I can post on this blog and blammo, you're in the club.  Sounds like fun, right- OK, with my blessing, go make some mayhem!