A little more about our CRAFT Release Party venue - The Work*Shop

Just over three years ago, I started hearing about The Work*Shop - a walk-in craft shop here in Austin. At the time, I had a newborn baby, and was kind of new to Austin, so it took me a while to get over there. But when I did ... ooooohhh lordy. I fell deeply in love. Not just with the place - with wall-to-wall crafty opportunities - but with the owners, Cindy and Lisa. I attended classes, did some paint-your-own-pottery, and even got to see Leah Kramer of Craftster.org there once. It's also the place where I first met Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching and took an embroidery class from her.

So when I first got word that I'd be hosting the first-ever Austin CRAFT Magazine Release Party, I knew there was no where else in town we could hold the event. Late last year, The Work*Shop moved locations from 6th Street to Anderson Lane, just next to one of Austin's most awesome toy stores, Terra Toys. The space is amazing. It's huge, open and inviting. There are loads of tables, great separation of craft areas, a great party area, and a fantastic consignment boutique of Austin handmade goods.

It's dreamy.

The Work*Shop is a great place to get your craft on - especially if you are with a group of friends who each want to do something different. You can paint your own pottery, do mosaics, make jewelry, decoupage, make bath products and more. They offer fun classes and workshops, and several craft groups meet there on a regular basis. The folks who work there are loads of fun, too.


On Sunday, we'll be using the party area for our main craft project set up. We'll have a special table full of Sublime Stitching goodies (including Jenny Hart!) up in the boutique area, and we'll have some snacks at the back of the shop. We'll even have one table set up with some random crafty bits that the kiddos can play with. And even with all that, there will still be plenty of tables and space for folks to partake in any of the crafts The Work*Shop has to offer.

In fact, Lisa has generously offered a 15% discount on any of the crafts in the Work*Shop for folks who are coming to the Release Party. So you can do our project from the magazine, mingle with some crafty celebs, munch on some treats, entertain the kids, and make some additional awesome crafts at a discount.

Seriously, all this goodness is making me a bit giddy.

And if you can't make it to the Work*Shop on Sunday, be sure to check out their web site for projects you can do any time, and to read about their summer camps for kids.


In other news, super-fun-most-fabulous jewlery designer, Jennifer Perkins, of Naughty Secretary Club gave the Release Party a shout out on her blog today. Thanks, Jen! We're sorry that she won't be able to come to the party ('cause she'll be out in L.A. pimping her soon-to-be-released-and-sure-to-be-awesome book: The Working Girl's Guide to Handmade Jewelry), but she's been kind enough to donate some of her goodies for door prizes. Woot!

Reminder on the details!
When: Sunday, June 1, 2008 from 1PM to 4PM
Where: The Work*Shop Austin - 2438 West Anderson Lane, Suite C5* Austin, Texas 78757 (next to Terra Toys and Zinger Hardware)
Who: Hosted by me (Average Jane Crafter a.k.a. Rachel Hobson) and Leslie Bonnell of the Stitch Lab sewing studio. Special guests include Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching, and special yummy goodies from Anna Ginsberg of Cookie Madness, and maybe a few other surprises ....
RSVP to averagejanecrafter at gmail dot com or on Facebook (friend me while you're at it!)