What a thrill to present our 2013 Makeries ~ the original Makerie and our brand new Makerie Sewing! We are incredibly excited about our sensational teachers for both events and the workshops they have so thoughtfully put together for you. Each of these weekends will be quite special and unique in their own right, with two totally different, retreat designs and focuses.
Our Makerie event is just filled to the brim with some very exciting new classes, along with bringing back a few of our most popular ones from last year. The amazing Aran Goyoaga (whose brand new gluten free cookbook is almost out on shelves!) will be teaching two different workshops this year, and onsite at an actual local farm. The Lyons Farmette, which happens to be one of our personal favorite farms, is a magical little spot and will be the perfect setting for what Aran has planned. Whole Foods Boulder is generously sponsoring her classes this year and boy, do we have some fun partnership ideas in the works that we can't wait to share! The adorable and talented Allison Bozeman will be back teaching the old fashioned art of Letterpress, but this year she will be bringing her workshop to Chautauqua. We received the sweetest notes on stationery made in her classes last April and what we know for sure is that the preciousness of a hand-written letter cannot be replaced.
Five new inspiring classes and teachers are being introduced at the 2013 Makerie. You can spend a day with Janine Vangool of Uppercase Magazine (yes, that fabulous publication we covet and adore!) crafting content and making handmade books. She'll be interweaving her classes into a larger, quite incredible project that will be shared with all Makerie participants ~ more on that later ~ but we will say that when Janine presented her idea to us, we were in awe of its brilliance and I'll admit, jumped up and down because we loved it so much. The marvelous Molly Hatch, who designs gorgeous kitchenware for Anthropologie, will be leading a brand new ceramics workshop and the first of it's kind at the Makerie. Her work is outstanding in every regard and we couldn't be more thrilled to bring her design expertise to Boulder to share with all of you! Jennifer Mercede, whose amazing, colorful, cheerful art can be found through the Land of Nod and Oopsy Daisy, is all about connecting to the moment and having fun. The inspiration she gathers through bright colors, graffiti, children's' artwork and a free-flowing spirit are infused into her work, and she will be sharing her awesome art-making process with her students through two unique classes. We have been a huge fan of Samantha Hirst, designer and founder of Inklore and Good Measure, for quite some time and were thrilled when she agreed to teach her magnificent, modern block printing techniques for us. Samantha's work is so approachable and lovely that it's no wonder why Terrain (swoon!) chose to carry her goods in their splendid shop. Our seventh and final teacher for 2013 is the darling Elke Bergeron. Elke, who was a Makerie participant both years, recently burst onto the scene with not only her incredible sense of design and creative aesthetic, but also her vision for turning recycled materials into perfectly crafted, modern handmade products. Those who have the chance to take her leather accessory class are in luck, as she will be teaching her special techniques so you can learn to make your own unique versions, since hers are in such high demand and fly off the shelves.
The Makerie Sewing has been in the works since last April, when Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S planted a little seed about doing a sewing retreat when she taught for us last year. We've been working all summer to put together a terrific team of teachers and a brand new event design that allows participants the chance to take classes from four different teachers. It's been a very special treat to work with Liesl on this one-time special event and we are really over the moon with excitement about the group of teachers who will be leading the amazing array of workshops.
Amy Butler, who couldn't be more kind and heart-centered, will be taking her students on a journey to find their own unique color story. It's really fun to imagine how this could affect not only your creative pursuits, but your life and home environments too! Amy rarely teaches classes and we feel so incredibly lucky she wanted to come to Boulder to teach you! The lovely Cal Patch, author of Design Your Own Clothes, will be teaching a fantastic workshop on how to create patterns to fit your own body. Won't that be amazing to learn this foundational skill that can then be used to create your own wardrobe? The possibilities are endless and we are thrilled to have the talented Cal on board. If you've ever been curious about the improv quilting process, we've got just the ticket for you. The wonderful Heather Jones ~ improvisational quilter extraordinaire ~ will be sharing her tricks of the trade to help you create a one of a kind quilt project, guided by your design intuition. Besides being a wonderful technique to learn, anything that can help strengthen your intuition on any level is a winner in our book! The fabulous Jenny Hart, known worldwide for her dazzling embroidery art and author of seven Chronicle Books, will be leading a special hand lettering workshop that will leave you with an inspiring, permanent take home treat. All you need to bring to this class is a message in your heart (we love that!). If you've been a long time fan of French General like we have, well then you know the dynamic dynamo Kaari Meng who's behind it all. She will be teaching natural plant dyeing, which is a very unique process and one that can take you in unexpected ways, maybe the very best part of it all. The lovely Liesl Gibson brings her world of sewing and teaching experience, as well as savvy style, into the classroom with a hand smocking necklace workshop. Liesl delivers a fresh, modern approach to all she does and these handmade necklaces will add a terrific touch to any outfit. And lastly, Tamar Mogendorff, whose work can be found in stores, galleries and publications around the world, will be teaching a soft sculpture class using an organic hand sewing process. She will share not only her insight on how to bring an object to life through your own unique personality and view of the world, but you'll learn how to create a magnificent sewn mobile to adorn a special place. And if that wasn't enough, we are so happy to announce that Fancy Tiger will be bringing their crafting boutique pop-up shop to Chautauqua once again, for the third year in a row for the Makerie Sewing weekend.
Creativity does magical things to the soul. It's true. We feel immensely grateful to create two weekends dedicated to that and to be able to provide a place for you to step away from it all and focus on play. So we invite you to grab your favorite cup of tea and spend a little time visiting our web site to see what we have in store for 2013. We can promise you this ~ whatever you find, it will be definitely be filled with love.
~xo
~xo
p.s. If you would like to read a bit about the two events we have held, you can find some very kind words here.
