Ahhhh ... Maker Faire. My Happy Place

Here's (most of) the CRAFT team at the Maker Happy Hour on the Friday night before Maker Faire opened. Such a happy place and time. Cool air, cold beer, giant rockets and some of the most amazingly creative and innovative people in one place? Yes. Please.

Since summer is so nutty, I find myself blissing out in my mind and going to my Happy Place: Maker Faire. I just realized that I never reported back after the big event - mostly 'cause from Maker Faire it was a quick downhill slope to summer.

As usual, Maker Faire was amazing. More than amazing, really. I walk around Maker Faire and have that "Where have you people been all my life!?" feeling. I want to look at Maker Faire in the face and say, "YOU COMPLETE ME."

Not really. That's the heat talking. I think I need to have one of Jote's Blackberry Smashes ... STAT.

Anyway - here are some of my favorite pictures from Maker Faire. Enjoy! I'll look at them, wishing I was back in the 60-degree temps of the Bay Area with all my rad CRAFT pals, surrounded by (as the most awesome Lish says) Robots and Glitter. (most of these pictures were taken by the lovely Natalie Zee Drieu and are linked to her Flickr accordingly.)

Look, Ma! It's me with Han Solo in Carbonite! Natalie took me to meet the seriously awesome Bonnie Burton over at Lucasfilm, and it. was. awesome. I was just sad my son couldn't be there, though I think his little brain might have exploded at the awesomeness.

Here's me and Nat with the Burda Style gang! Love these folks! They put together a fantastic booth, were crazy kinds of organized and were all around awesome, stylish, nice and fun. And how rad is Alden's shirt?

This is me with artist and designer, Laura Cesari. I wrote a profile on Laura over on CRAFT, and fell in love with her solar system necklaces. I not-so-gently hinted that I wanted one for Mother's Day, and thankfully my husband took the bait. I have to say, the necklace was ten times more gorgeous in person. It's weighty and tactile - I love it! Laura did a demo on making a solar system necklace in the CRAFT booth and it was awesome to see how she works. She was so nice, and it was great fun to meet the person who made one of my very favorite pieces of jewelry.

Here's Bonnie Burton - Star Wars Craft Woman Extraordinaire! Bonnie does all the crafts for StarWars.com, has a few Star Wars books under her belt already and has a Star Wars Crafts book coming out this fall that I can't wait to get my paws on. She and Terri Hodges made Star Wars Sack puppets with kids in the CRAFT booth on Saturday, and the kids had such a blast, I decided we're making them at my son's birthday party this weekend.

Here's me and Lish, swapping glasses. Lish's Ray Bans are her Trademark, so I'm pretty sure I freaked her out by suggesting we swap, and I seriously can not rock the Ray Bans like she does .. but it was fun! I love Lish and wish we could hang out, craft and eat cupcakes every day.

Hey look! It's Becky and Collin! Two of my favorite people on the planet! Becky and Collin were roving video reporters all weekend long, and have produced some fantastic videos that help you feel like you were at the Faire. I particularly enjoyed their Raygun Gothic Rocketship video. Nice work, guys! (Also be sure to check out Collin's nutty sci-fi videos that instantly endeared me to him and his rad wife)


One of my very favorite things about Maker Faire is getting to meet so many of my "Internet/Blog" friends in person. I was thrilled to meet Cathe Holden of Just Something I Made. She had her whole family with her, and they were awesome. Cathe was about a million times nicer and more wonderful than I could have imagined. (which reminds me that the only downside to Maker Faire is leaving and wishing I could hang out with these people all the time!)

Me 'n Moxie! Y'all. This woman is really a gem of a human being. The first time I met her in person (at last year's Maker Faire) I came around a corner and almost bumped in to her. When I realized who I was looking at, I balled up my fists, squeezed my eyes shut and squealed like a 4-year-old. This is the effect she has on me. She's one of the most patient teachers I've ever seen, and gives like nobody's business. I. Adore. Her.

Ahhhh yes, conjuring up memories of Maker Faire always makes things better.

Two Weeks 'Til Maker Faire!!!!

I can't believe that two weeks from Thursday I'll be heading out to San Francisco for Maker Faire Bay Area! How is it already here? I am crazy kinds of excited, though. I'll be hanging at the CRAFT area and will be doing an Embroidery 101 demo at the CRAFT demo booth. I'll also be helping out with the kid craft area one morning - which should be crazy and fun.

I can't wait to see all the cool crafty offerings at the Faire. During Maker Faire Austin back in October, I met so many cool people and learned so many cool things. I learned about lace making, felting and pysanky. I watched guys hand carve giant wood blocks and then print with them. I watch as folks felted in plastic zip bags while they walked around the faire. And I caught several of the CRAFT demos from all kinds of interesting people, which was a blast.

The thing I'm most looking forward too, though, is seeing people I love - some of whom I haven't even met in person yet! I love my job more than you can imagine, and working virtually means I have incredible flexibility that is hugely appreciated. The downside, though, is that I rarely get to see the people with whom I work in person! We are spread - literally - across the country. We email constantly, instant message, share pics of our families and talk on the phone once a week. But none of that compares to getting to hang out in person.

At Maker Faire Austin, I got to hang out with Becky and Tina and Arwen (and more!) a bit, which was a total blast. At the time, I was still very new to the team and was suffering from a bad case of "I'm not worthy!" I was insanely shy. Fortunately, some of that shyness has rubbed off as our friendships have grown - albeit online - over the last six months. And now, I absolutely cannot wait to get to hang out with the rest of the gang in person and just soak up every minute of it. Since Natalie was days from delivering her first baby back in October, she wasn't able to come out to Maker Faire Austin. It's hard to believe I've never met her in person - it feels like I've known her for ages. Finally! We get to meet!

This online community is fascinating and fun, and one million times better when we can all get together in person. Can. Not. Wait.

If you are anywhere near San Mateo, you simply must come to Maker Faire. Heck, even if you aren't - it's a great vacation option. I haven't checked flights recently, but I landed super cheap airfare a while back. It's worth exploring.

Any of you coming to Maker Faire? You can keep up with our countdown to Maker Faire over on Craftzine, and I'll be blogging from the Faire there and some here (depending on how much time I have :) Come out and join all the fun!