Greetings everyone

I hope all Aussie craftster crew are safe and well.

There's been a bit of local response to the tragedy that is continuing to unfold.  Please join in on one of the initiatives and do your bit to help today.

MOST IMPORTANT - please book to donate blood.  It probably won't happen this week but the need is always ongoing 13 14 95 or http://donateblood.com.au

If you are an etsy seller please consider donating some or all profits towards the relief fund.  If you tag your items 'bushfire' they will appear on this page http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=tag_title&search_query=bushfire

Alternatively (especially if you don't have your own etsy store) you can donate items to this store http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6902734

Some crafters are beginning to make toys for the children check out the Meet Me At Mikes blog for updates on that project http://meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/2009/02/handmade-help-victorian-bushfires.html

Any other ways crafters can help?  Please add anything you know.

Love to everyone

I got asked to participate in a festival about street art and performance and made a 1mx1m cross stitched QR Code.  The stitching was done with finger knitted wool and it's stitched on some animal hutch type fence stuff I got from my local hardware store.

At this size the QR Code doesn't really work but it was still a ton of fun to make and I love the outcome!







More pictures and explanation here http://radicalcrossstitch.com/2009/01/12/qracks-in-the-land/

Thanks for looking!!

Hi all

We'd love to see some craftster peeps come join in on this craft action we're doing in the city to help raise awareness about the economic and environmental advantages of buying handmade and buying local.  We'll have copies of the handmade pledge to sign and a card making table so people can have a go at making something.

Let me know if you're keen to help organise or promote this event
xox


Craft In!

Melbourne Craft Cartel helps patch up economic woes - Call to action!

Craft-in demonstration to be held in Bourke St Mall, Melbourne CBD, Monday December 8th

On Monday December the 8th the Rudd Government is giving big cash bonuses to pensioners, parents, low income families and first home buyers. The objective of this handout is to boost peoples spending in order to keep the economy pumping. What the Government isn’t talking about is the most effective way to spend this handout to truly support the economy.

As crafters we understand the importance of buying handmade. We know that buying a handmade present means supporting your local community as well as giving a big finger to mass produced sweat shop crap. We know that buying handmade is infinitely better for our environment too.

As crafters we also understand that in times of economic pressure, people are less likely to spend a few more dollars for the handmade option.

We want to give the community the message that if they really want to contribute positively to the Australian economy, they should forget the plasma tv and Buy Handmade and Buy Local this festive season.

Did you know?

- For every $100 spent at a locally owned business $45 goes back into the community and our tax base. For every $100 spent at a chain store only $14 comes back.

- Small local businesses are the largest employer in Australia. Every $1million spent locally equals 14 jobs!

- Non-profit organisations receive 250% more support from small local businesses than from large businesses. So if you support local business you support local causes too!

- Local business are more likely to purchase goods and services from other local businesses which dramatically reduces transport costs, one of the biggest causes of climate change.

- Handmade goods are more likely to include recycled materials which reduces the need for landfills

- Handmade goods are unique, high quality and set trends rather than following them!

The Craft Cartel will be supplying craft materials at the Craft In and encouraging passers-by to make a crafty gift or card themselves. The Craft Cartel will also be handing out an alternative gift buying guide, with plenty of ideas for christmas gifts that don’t cost the planet or our communities.

We are looking for more crafters, designers, makers and handmade retailers to join us on the street to spread the message of buying handmade. We encourage people to bring examples of your work and promotional material to spread to people on the streets. We want people to come talk to passers-by about the pressures they face trying to earn a living making and selling handmade goods.

So come join us on the street and spread the word amongst your communities about buying handmade!

RSVP on Facebook and spread the word http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=50241196632

http://craftcartel.com

Greetings all

The Craft Cartel has a shiny new website! http://craftcartel.com

And we've got a ton of events coming up.  Get on our mailing list if you want to be kept in the loop.  And check the markets page on our website for details on our upcoming events.

We're always looking for new members so if you're up for some handmade market action and the odd bit of radical craft action, get in touch.

Hope to meet some of you wonderful craftster peeps at the Bike Love market!!

xox

Hi all

I wrote this thing on my blog which I thought people here might be interested in.  I'm not going to hyperlink it all 'cause it took long enough to do it for the blog post!  If you want to know more about any of them check the post http://radicalcrossstitch.com/2008/09/22/a-crafty-fringe/ for direct links or search on the fringe website http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/

There's heaps of free things which is cool for those of us crafters struggling to make ends meet!  And there's a bunch of craftsters in some things, Totem in particular, hope to see some of you at the launch on Thursday (5.30, atrium, fed sq).

xox

Woah have you seen the Fringe guide? It makes the bible look like a freakin leaflet.

And the good news is there’s tons of crafty stuff (also a ton of zombie stuff I might add). And to save you dear reader, the effort, I’ve compiled all the crafty ones into one convenient wee post. This is just the crafty stuff, mind. There is a bajillion other events and you should absolutely go see them. Especially if you have an income. The first people to feel the pinch of an economic slowdown are usually artists. And this one is gonna hurt. On that note you should also be registering your good fine self to the much-anticipated Economics 4 Activists 2008.

Now on to the craft!

A Working Life in Arts: For Love & Money FREE
Ok so this first one isn’t exactly about crafts but I reckon this still might be interesting to those who have their own craft business.

Fringe Furniture 2008 - Make Your Mark
I don’t think I know anyone in this in 08 but I did last year and they were Crafty with a capital C, so I’m thinking this year will be too.

K2TOG (knit two together - but you knew that already) FREE
Think Knitta in Melbourne. I’m holding out to see if they make any of it political…

The Craft Exchange Salon FREE
A postal craft project. Think feminist craft postal projects of the 80s but not. Brought to you by the Safari Team. You can still get involved in this one.

The Happy Project
Have some happy people at your house. Maybe even do crafts with them.

Totem - Dolls With Souls FREE
A big bunch of people make dolls of themselves, including me! See you at the launch.

(Page 19 of the program has a crochet doily on it, craft is so hip!)

The Playroom
The description is a materials list, so a good start. Although not all craft rooms would stock this stuff. Sounds crafty to me.

The VnV Boudoir
The warning reads “Nudity, Sexual Reference, Comedy, Gunfights and Blue Steel” gosh!

Deception - Anna Taylor FREE
Suspended, knitted wire arty goodness

Prohibition - Pamela See FREE
I know some paper crafters who are already wetting themselves over this one.

Textures in Landscape FREE
Yeah I like blurry stuff too. Anyone seen all my Uluru trip pics? This one makes even the shiny stuff fluffy.

Woven Fields FREE
Weaving and drawing collide in a beautiful way.

Seamstress
Conceptual dance at Thread Den, yay ace people! I like crafters supporting other artists. Nice work people.

Other stuff ’cause I know people in it or it’s just so freaking weird, you should have a peek.
Digital Fringe FREE
Fringe Garden!
Op Shop Tour of Melbourne
Al-Kinda FREE
Deceased Estate
Hitlerhoff
New World Order (bonus points for giving discounts to Iraq and Afghanistan vets)
The Talking Vagina
Under a Neon Globe
Get Real Estate
The Bad-arts Mofo Rap Party
Beaconsfield: A Musical in A-flat Minor
The ‘G’ in Goth, the C@#t in Homewares
Who is Abdul Smith
Dance-a-thon 6000

Whew! And that’s me using a pretty strict definition of crafty. There’s tons of other stuff that has a crafty feel to it or I know crafters would like. But I didn’t see the point of duplicating the whole program. So consider this my selective curation of a wonderful looking 19 days.

Now YOU get your ass on over to the Fringe website, check out the rest of it and fill your diary!

Hey all

The Melbourne Craft Cartel is organising a market to go alongside the bicycle film festival street party at the end of the year.  So we're on the lookout for crafters with bike themed items.

So if you make stuff with bikes on it or want to make stuff with bikes on it, we'd love to hear from you!

We're looking for people to run their own stalls and you'll need at least one bike themed item on it.

If you're interested, drop us an email with a bit about who you are and what you make, and we'll send you more details.  We're happy to group people up too so if you only have a handful of items we can buddy you up with someone else and make a bigger stall.  So don't think you need to be a major pro with a giant inventory.  We're about the fun as much as the selling.  The Craft Cartel is a great way to get into markets if you've never done it before as our stall fees are stupidly cheap (usually $5 or $10) and you don't need to commit to a bunch of markets, we book one at a time.

We're also planning more random markets so even if you don't do the bike thing, but wanna do the market thing, get in touch.

Our email is craftcartel (at) radicalcrosssticth (dot) com

Look forward to hearing from you crafty cats!

xox

Hey all

We have a visiting academic in radical craft coming to Melbourne so we're having a public talk. It would be ace to see some craftster peeps there!

Here's the poster:

More details here http://radicalcrossstitch.com/2008/08/16/the-revolution-is-handmade/

Hi all

A bunch of us went out on Sunday night and partook in some public craft, in a protest against land speculation during a housing affordability crisis.

I'm posting a couple of pics here and there's a huge amount plus a lot more detail about why we did the action on the blog post.

The main action was a big fence cross stitch, it took about 3 hours to do.

Night shot:


Day shot:


We made a bunch of mini banners on old curtain fabric samples which we tied on to the fences of a bunch of vacant sites with pretty ribbons:


For more info, check the blog post http://radicalcrossstitch.com/2008/08/06/melbourne-revolutionary-craft-circle-action/
We've also got a ton of audio for the next Craft Cartel podcast which I'm editing up now.  In fact, this post is a procrastination post...  I'll let y'all know when that's online too.

Thanks for looking, and those of you in the Western Suburbs, keep your eyes peeled

I made this for the Free Tibet XStitch Competition we ran on the radical cross stitch site http://radicalcrossstitch.com/2008/04/11/free-tibet-xstitch-competition/.



I've had this jacket for ages and always wanted to stitch something on it. And I reckon it looks ace! 

Here's a close up



There's a free pattern for this and photo tutorial on how to cross stitch on fabric using aida fabric on the site if anyone's interested.
http://radicalcrossstitch.com/2008/07/06/free-tibet-denim-jacket/

I didn't do this one but here's an entry from Angela in Mexico which I thought was pretty awesome and deserves sharing!



Thanks for looking!

Hi everyone

I made this for my little girls room.  I never got to do the whole decorate the nursery thing as we bought the house after she was born.  So her room is a bit bland but I've been doing a bit to cheer it up recently.

I made this.  I still need to find a frame for it 'cause none of the ones I have fit properly.



detail



I like it a lot I think the colours work really nicely together and it's nice and warm.  And for once I designed a pattern that wasn't too complicated and time intensive.  So it only took me about a week to finish it (with aforementioned wee girl helping way too much!)

Thanks for looking!