Our Blog

This past Saturday, Microcrafts co-authors Alicia Kachmar and Katie Hatz rocked the Megabus to New York City for a special Microcrafts event at Pins & Needles. They met crafting fans, and spent some time Microcrafting in the cozy NYC boutique.

Lauren Davis (of Pins & Needles), Sarah Goldschadt (she makes those delightful owlies) and Alicia took a bunch of photos at the event, and were kind enough to share them with me. Have a look at them on our Flickr page, or just scope them out in the gallery below. Enjoy!

Outside Wildcard in PIttsburgh, PA

Oh those crazy Microcrafters. They make the smallest of crafts, but throw the biggest of parties. This week, there are Microcrafts celebrations going down in New York City and Pittsburgh.

The first celebration of tiny crafts takes place this Thursday, October 20th, at Wildcard in Pittsburgh, PA. Alicia Kachmar isn't the only Microcrafter from the Pittsburgh area. Local artists Nadia Marks Wojcik and Tamara Barker are also featured in the book, and will be attending the release party. The folks at Wildcard are also going to be showing off Alicia's first Quirk title, Witch Craft.

Over the course of the party (which also doubles as Wildcard's Second Anniversary bash), Tamara and Co. will be selling tickets for their Steeltown Etsy raffle to help Alicia with some recent medical bills.

The first 25 families to show up will score a goodie bag, so get there on time! For more information, visit Wildcard's official website, or scope out the Facebook event page for the party. 

Wildcard 2nd Anniversary Spectacular: In 3D
Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Wildcard
4209 Butler Street,  Pittsburgh PA 15201
(412) 224-2651
www.wildcardpgh.com

Inside Pins & Needles in NYC.

The second mini craft party goes down at Pins & Needles in New York City, this Saturday, October 22nd. Co-authors Alicia Kachmar and Katie Hatz will be in attendance, as well as contributor Sarah Goldschadt, helping folks with their crafts. You can look forward to making Sarah's fabulous owls and bows, as well as super cute bunting.

Everything kicks off at 3pm and runs til 5. Come hungry, because there will be some micro drinks and snacks! For more information on the party, visit Pins & Needles' official website.

Microcrafts Party @ Pins & Needles
Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

Pins & Needles
1045 Lexington Avenue 74th & 75th, 2nd Fl.
New York, NY 10021
www.pinsandneedlesnyc.com

“Specializing in sweets and snacks, Mei Park has been crafting customizable food jewelry since 2006.” So reads Mei Pak's bio in the back of Microcrafts, which features tutorials on how to make her famous mini cupcakes, tiny lollipops, and itty-bitty chocolates, each of which are made using multicolored polymer clay.

If you swing by her store, Tiny Hands Online, you can browse through a number of her bestselling charms, rings, earrings and necklaces, many of which actually smell like the food they are inspired by. That maple syrup drizzled waffle necklace, pumpkin pie ring, and donut charm bracelet actually smell just as good as they look.

So go check out her website. Not only can browse by the kind of jewelry, but you can browse by the flavor. IE: Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla… even low sugar. Sweet.

Tiny Hands Online
www.tinyhandsonline.com

PS: Oh, and scope out this fabulous video of Mei via RAW: Natural Born Artists. I've pasted it after the break.

There’s a reason that Collageorama’s Etsy shop proudly proclaims that it’s the “exclusive home of Dandy Cat and Friends!” Because seriously, look at that cat. Top hat, mustache, monocle… that is one awesome kitten to be proud of.

Collageorama’s shop dishes out exquisite prints of properly dressed animals, illustrated on repurposed dictionary pages. Here at Quirk, we love cute animals (Cuteoverload links are exchanged via email on a regular basis) and anything that has to do with books. And this shop has owls, frogs, giraffes, deer, mice, rabbits… all kinds of critters, all fantastically dressed and drawn out on recycled book pages?

Sold.

Yes, you read that subject right.

Back in March, Margaret McGuire and Katie Hatz asked the Internet’s cat lovers to send them their cat hair for their Crafting with Cat Hair in-house projects. The entire Quirk office was shocked by the amount of fur that rolled in. We even featured three adorable donors, Buster, Shadow and Fuzz, here on the Quirk blog.

Well, Summer is wrapping up and our supplies of cat hair are running low. So we need you, Quirk fans, to once again brush your feline friends and send us your cat hair. We’re specifically looking for more white cat hair. See the sleepy kitten pictured above? Use him as a reference point. Or just look at him. Because he’s omgsocutesquee!

Ahem.

Note, that this batch of cat hair is for a TOP SECRET Crafting with Cat Hair project. The first three people to send us their cat hair will get a free advance copy of the craftbook, as well as a copy of The Meowmorphosis (for obvious reasons). Send your packets to…

Quirk Books
c/o Margaret & Katie
215 Church Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Questions? Email me at eric[at]quirkbooks.com. Thanks!

My office at the Quirk HQ tends to get rather dungeon-esque (not to be confused with dungeness, which are delicious), what with the fact that it is largely lit by the natural light pouring down from the ceiling. Alas, my current desk lamp is not nearly as cool as this custom lamp, crafted with care by Etsy seller Czechpub.

When the lamp is turned off during the day, there’s a lovely original black and white photograph printed on the front, a picture taken by Monica (Czechpub) in a little town outside of Oregon. But when the lamp is turned on, a secret message pops up on the typewriter’s paper… and you can customize the message! Awesome!