Thursday March 29th 6-9pm
Closing Craft Night at DELiCiOUSLY HAPPY
Belmont University- Leu Gallery
1900 Belmont Ave. 
Suggested Donation
 

Awe, shucks- it's our last Craft Night at the Deliciously Happy exhibit at Belmont! 

To show our love, we're gonna put a ring on it and spring into spring with these lovely button rings and fabric flower accessories. And to do it up right for our last night- we will have a GIVEAWAY package of Deliciously Happy + Craftville goodies!! Come get your craft on and win stuff! Yay!

FREE parking in permit lots after 6pm! 

(Suggested donation of $5 to keep us craftin'.)

Thursday April 5th 5-8pm
Hillsboro Village Art Walk - Earth Day

 Suggested Donation

Hillsboro Village is hosting their 2nd Annual Earth Day Art Walk with the usual music, vendors, art and fun, and also hosting additional organizations and groups like The Land Trust for Tennessee, Good Food for Good People, and Tennessee Parks! 

Craftville will again be making Seed Bombs because THEY WERE SO FLIPPIN POPULAR LAST YEAR! We even found out later that one fine lady who made a bunch used them with an environmental activist group as the travelled across the country- spready Craftville seed bomb love along the way...how awesome!
(Suggested donation of $5 to keep us craftin'.) 

Saturday April 14th 1-4pm FREE
Community Education Open House
Watkins College of Art, Design & Film 

Yep, we're at it again with Watkin's Community Education Program! Craftville will be at their Open House and YART Sale with a hands on felting instructional and info about our 2 Summer Saturday workshops this June- Etsy 101 and Wearable Art! Felting. Stop in, make bunches of cool stuff for FREE, buy some art, and sign up for a workshop or class!

Tuesday April 17th 7-10pm
Wine+Beer+Craft Night at Brick Factory
$5 Cover Charge 

We're planning ahead and preparing for sultry summer nights...and mosquitos...with our DIY Wine Bottle Tiki Torches. We'll not only provide the wine bottles and materials...we'll provide the wine! And Brick Factory is bringing the beer! So put it on the calendar and bring yourself, your friends, your neighbors and chillax at the Craft Table! 

Last year my fiance Scott constructed a raised garden bed in which we planted a few basil, rosemary, tomato, squash and green bean plants.  Some we started from seed, while most we bought from the local nursery.  We had what I would call a moderately successful crop.  Over planting prevented it from being abundant.... truly a beginners mistake.  Taking our lessons learned from last year, we decided to try our hand this year with an herb garden... all grown from seeds.  I have decided to document and share with you the entire process including all of the information that I have collected.... (fingers crossed) ... in a couple of months I will have successfully posted a complete tutorial on "How to grow an herb garden from seeds" AND have a wonderful garden FULL of yummy herbs. I invite you to join us on our journey....

 Deciding what to grow and how to sow my seeds:

Below is a chart of all of the herbs we decided to sow in our garden along with the pertinent planting/growing information.  You can get a full size view of the herb chart by clicking here.

 **It is not recommended to grow cilantro from seed indoors.  The tap root system is too long and delicate for transplant. So I will start some from seed indoors (just to see for myself) and plant some seeds in the garden once the last frost of the season is over.**

**I will be transplanting my rosemary into a large pot instead of my garden**

 While the local nursery and home and improvement center sell great seed starting kits, I have decided to use paper egg cartons.  The reason for my decision... For starters, I have acquired an abundant amount of paper egg cartons (thanks to my catering job). Also, these wonderful egg cartons are biodegradable, so when it's time to transplant my herbs into the garden I can plant each cell directly into the ground.  Plus here in Craftville we are all about the reusing of items!

Getting Started:

Materials Needed:

paper egg cartons

seeds

seed starting mix

pencil

rubbermaid lid (drainage/watering tray)

black plastic bags

cling wrap

popsicle sticks

bowl

spoon

room temp water

paper towels

Prepping the Seeds:

There are a plethora of techniques on how to start/prep your seeds.  I have chosen to soak my seeds in wet paper towels for 4 hours.  This helps in the germination process by softening the seeds shell.  In order to keep them organized I have created labels, for each variety, out of popsicle sticks.  If you noticed, in the above chart, it is recommended that some of the seeds be placed in the freezer.  I have done this and won't be sowing those seeds till next week.

Prepping the egg carton:

In order to provide proper watering and drainage, for the plants, I poked holes in the bottom of each egg cell.  I used a bead file (because it's Craftville and we have bead files laying around). But an ink pen or pencil will do just fine.

Due to the nature of the egg carton material, it tends to absorb moisture away from the soil. To prevent this from happening, I soaked each carton in room temp water until it was wet.

Prepping the seed starting mix:

There are numerous seed starting mixture recipes that you can use.  What is important is that you DO NOT use potting soil to start your seeds.  Potting soil is way to dense for seeds to germinate.  I have chosen to use Miracle Grow Seed Starting Mix.  I have read mixed reviews regarding using this product.  In the end I had to choose one and decided on the Miracle Grow.

Moisten the seed soil mix by placing the soil in a bowl, add room temp water and mix.  You don't want to add so much water that it turns to mud.  Just enough so that the soil is moist.  By pre-moistening your soil it insures that the soil is evenly hydrated.  If you try watering the soil after you plant the seeds it will disturb the seeds planting.

Sowing your seeds:

Fill each cell of your pre-soaked egg carton with the moistened seed starting mix. Tamp down the soil lightly but firmly.

With a pencil, poke holes in the soil to the planting depth required. (refer to the chart at the beginning of this post)   Remove your seeds from the paper towel and place in the holes.  Cover with soil.  Then use the popsicle labels, created earlier, to label each variety.

I grouped the herb varieties by similar germination times. (refer to chart at the beginning of this post)  I did this because I wanted to be sure that all of the herbs that have similar germination times are all in the same carton. When it is time for them to be placed under the grow light I won't have to cut the cartons.

** For tiny seeds, use 5-8 seeds per cell.  Tiny seeds may be too small to break through a layer of soil, so they should NOT be covered with soil. **

** For medium sized seeds, place 3 seeds in each egg cell and cover with soil. **

Cover the egg carton in plastic wrap.  This helps lock in the moisture and maintain a constant temp (it's the greenhouse affect).  Some of the seeds require a "dark germination" (refer to the chart at the beginning of this post). For those seeds cover with a black garbage bag.

  The soil must be kept moist but not overly wet.  Place the carton on the drainage/watering tray.  I chose to use the top of a rubbermaid container.  Once a day, or as needed, fill the tray with luke warm water.  Do NOT keep the watering trays permanently filled with water as the pots will soak up too much water and promote mold growth.  You will also need to remove the saran wrap covering and mist with water when the tops get dry.  Keep the cartons out of direct sunlight until the seeds begin to sprout.

Fingers crossed that in a few week I will have tiny baby herb plants

:-)

Stay tuned for their progress and the next stage of the process.....

Happy Planting,

Robyn

Because Craftville will be hosting weekly Craft Nights every Thursday, 6-9pm, the rest of the month in this amazing space at Belmont University's Leu Gallery! Our activity calendar is included below. So come on out, get crafty and PLAY!

Located in historic Cummins Station, Brick Factory Nashville is a facility with creative, innovative, and technological resources for members of the community; it is for those who wish to teach and those who seek to learn. 

Click on ABOUT to watch an excellent video about Brick Factory.

Or click on CLASSES to see descriptions of all the classes Brick Factory is currently offering. Includes workshops on printmaking, woodworking, aerial dance, photography, drawing, 3d design, and more! They are also looking for qualified instructors on all sorts of creative topics, so if you've ever wanted to teach a class but didn't have the space to do it, now's your chance.

And don't forget, you can pop into Brick Factory for their totally bangin' Aftercrawl party on the first Saturday of each month after Nashville's Monthly Downtown Art Crawl. 

Yay! We're sure hoping they have their SUPERFUN photobooth set up next time, too: 

See you there, Crafters!

<3

*All photographs by the AMAZING Mr. Jonathon Kingsbury of Generation Domination, who do the SICKEST photo booths. 

Thursday Feb. 2^nd - Hillsboro Village Art Walk. 

This month we’ll be crafting with our new friends at Sweet Cece’s!

We’ll have everything you need to make PomPom Friends pins and magnets (and whatever else you might imagine with pompoms!) What a sweet way to celebrate Valentine’s with all your sweeties!  

courtesy of Harugurumi@flickr

Friday Feb. 17^th – ART You Chili? Come Warm Your HeARTS: Lockeland’s Night of Related Arts and Craftville 4^th Grade Craft Market  

That’s right! Our months of working with the 4^th grade Lockeland Design Art Club is almost at a close with their big event! Our youngest Craftvillians have been making and crafting once a week since October and will be selling their items- jewelry, accessories, imaginative creations beyond your wildest dreams!

Thursday Feb. 23^rd - A DELiCiOUS Craft Night: Weave with Wine

We are pleased as punch to announce our partnership with TWO great endeavors!

We are having an old fashion Finger Weaving Party at the new creative facility Brick Factory to kick off their opening AND our partnership with the Deliciously Happy project!

Okay, we’re not sure it’s “old fashion”- but it’s crafting and food and wine and a chance for you to have your work featured in a major public arts project in Nashville!

finger weaving by Lockeland 4th grade Art Club

Craftville will be participating as an interactive segment of the Deliciously Happy art installation at Belmont University in March coordinated by artist Lindsey Bailey. This project features the work of students from University School of Nashville, Bordeaux Elementary, and Lead Academy. In Lindsey’s effort to transform the entirety of the gallery space, she wants to cover EVERY inch with community creations- and this is where YOU come in!

We will teach you how to finger weave, provide tons and tons (and tons) of yarn! Your weaving will then be used as part of the Deliciously Happy art installation AND we will show you some other DELiSCiOUS ways to use your woven pieces (très chic scarf anyone?)! This is also a great chance to check out the Brick Factory space at Cummins Station and all they have to offer! 

Thursday Feb. 23rd @ The Brick Factory, Cummins Station

7-8pm is our Free and Family Friendly hour, because we know some serious elementary school age finger weavers that will want in on the action!

8-11pm After Bedtime Craft Party For Grown Ups- wine, horderves, and DELiCiOUS sweets provided by Alexander’s Catering.  (suggested donation of $5)

So come mix, mingle and weave your way to a fantastic night supporting Craftville, Deliciously Happy, the Brick Factory and the arts & craft community in Nashville!

What a sweet and delicious month!

One of the reasons we are super stoked about this opportunity is that it will allow us to bring in additional instructors and have the facilities and supplies to help you delve into projects with more craft meat! We will offer three different projects areas- decoupage, resin and felting.  

Craftville co-founder Robyn will show you different ways to work with resin and all the cool things you can do with it. Shannon…(me)… will share her passion for paper and decoupage. 

We are very pleased to enlist the expertise of Craftvillian member, Laura McWhorter, and her Foundations in Felt skills to help you make some GORGEOUS items!

Registration is open and you can register online! If you’ve had the hankerin’ for some more involved crafting- this is it! We will send you home not only with cool craft handmade items, but the skills and knowledge to create more!

ROCKET BABY!

Congrats to Emily and her crafty use of a recycled windshield shade and a cute baby! She will receive a Craftville goody bag. Thanks to all of our crafty contestants!

Remember to like us on Facebook and get even more Craftville goodness!!

Has your love of crafting left your studio jam packed full of items and you don't know how to sell them? Have you thought about opening an ETSY store but find yourself overwhelmed with the whole process? Have you opened an ETSY Store but haven't gotten any further than picking your shop name? Do you have questions or need help? 

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then our workshop is for you! We will be teaching you the basic how to's to get you Etsy suave! We will post the class schedule Tuesday November 7 on our blog and facebook page. 

WHEN: Nov. 19, 2011

1pm till 4pm

WHERE: Watkins College of Art Design and Film

Room 804

COST: $10 or donation of a handmade item from your ESTY store.

We will use the donatated items for silent auctions and/or to sell in our team Etsy store with proceeds going to support Craftville. 

For more information and to register for the workshop please email us at teamcraftville@gmail.com

This is the first of several ETSY workshops that we have planned over the next couple of months. The next one being a photography workshop where we will teach you how to photograph your store items with an iphone and/or point and shoot camera. Stay tuned for further details :-)

   I just love Autumn. The fresh crisp smells that fill the air. The bold beautiful pops of color that decorate the landscapes.  The chill in the air that leads you to throwing on your favorite comfy knitted sweater. Cold nights that keep me inside to get creative. Hot coco, nights fireside, smores.... the list goes on. Out of all the things that I love about Fall the most, it's the treasure trove of free craft supplies that litter the ground.   ...... pine cones, acorns, vibrant leaves, twigs and branches, holly berries, pine needles, magnolia pods...... ALL free for the taking and perfect for assembling wreaths and centerpieces. 

   So in celebration of Fall we will be hosting a Craft Night inspired by the beautiful gifts of the season. 

Join us:

Saturday November 12, 2011  

in our pop-up shop at Porter Crossing

2pm - 8pm

Craftville will show you how to make festive wreaths, centerpieces and other decor from all those Fall treaures found just outside your door and a few extra items that you have laying around your house. Come join us! We will supply the materials, space and good company to facilitate your creations. A mininium donation of $5 is being requested to cover operational and extra material costs. After all, it is your donations that keeps us crafting with you :-)

Stay Crafty My Friends,

Robyn

We also agree that Camilla Spadafino is an art teacher we would have LOVED when we were kids! Not only is she super crafty and creative and is an awesome teacher- she believes in giving her K-4th students not only the opportunity to create, but the opportunity to showcase their work in the community. They are artists and deserve a platform to be so just as much as the grown ups.

For a few years running, she has oragnized a whimsical student art show at Riverside Village in Inglewood, showcasing student art work in each of the local businesses and through out the courtyard (a place we love and thank for being the site of many meetings). This great project caught our eye, along with all those creative kids! We really wanted to buy some of the fabulous pieces from these young artists. But, alas, the kids' pieces weren't for sale. Which gave us an idea. We wanted a craft market for kids. No, wait...we wanted a craft market BY kids. Made by kids, marketed by kids, staffed by kids. So we went to Camilla and she gave us some kids!

More specifically, she gave us the Lockeland 4th grade Art Club. We have met with them several times to develop product ideas and discuss the project. Today...oh, today...we got to the crafty stuff! Over the next 2 months they will be making their items. In January we will have some guests coming in to help them with developing a business brand. After that, we will be planning their February martket event! Each business will have items for sale, staff their own vendor booths and keep their own profits!  There are some mighty things that are going to happen with this group! A fantastic group of crafty entrepreneurs! Stay tuned for more about this partnership!