Tacos, Tinsel and Tequila - A Handmade Holiday Market & Fundraiser

Saturday December 4th, 6pm - 12am

Holiday Market featuring Alamo City Handmade Members

Live Music by local bands & DJ Cupcake

Food Plates for sale: Tacos, rice & beans w/ vegetarian options. Soup.

Dessert Table

Gift Wrapping station sponsored by Alamo City Handmade

Silk Screen Station

Free Goody Bags

Silent Auction

Dollar Raffles

Sew Deluxe is trying to raise money to move to a larger storefront, which would allow them to offer more diverse crafting classes (i.e. ceramics, silk screening, jewelry making, crochet, etc), as well as provide a permanent Handmade Boutique and retail section featuring hard to find fabrics, notions, craft supplies and indy patterns. All proceeds from the event will be used to implement the Sew Deluxe expansion plan.

Alamo City Handmade seeks to promote the work of our current members and become more involved with the community in an effort to build our membership and promote locally made arts and crafts.

Dia de los Craftos Application Deadline Pushed Back

Hey guys! Good news for people looking to vend at our 2nd Annual Dia de los Craftos Fall Show & Festival on October 30th. Applications can be turned in until October 3rd! If you're interested in vending please complete the application (link availible in the sidebar to the right) and turn it in right away!

Fall Kick Off Yarn Bombing hosted by Alamo City Knitting Society

Alamo City Knitting Society is hosting a Yarn Bombing event on September 24th. Come out and make a little mayhem with us! Meet us in front of the San Antonio Museum of Art at 7:30pm with swatches of yarn to zip tie or sew onto different things. You can also come out and help us to make some swatches on September 14th at Sew Deluxe at our Pre-Bombing Knitting Circle and Yarn Potluck.

New Classes by Alamo City Handmade

As part of phase II in our plot to take over the world (or South Texas, anyway) we are hosting some great classes! We will be hosting both a general crafting technique class and a handmade business class once a month. Materials and refreshments will be provided in exchange for a small donation. ACH Members will enjoy these classes for free. Check out what we have in store!

Pre-Bombing Knitting Circle and Yarn Potluck
Tuesday, September 14th @ 6 pm at Sew Deluxe
Come knit swatches for the Alamo City Knitting Society's Yarn Bombing event! Bring whatever extra yarn you have and a snack and hang out with us. No yarn or needles? Don't worry! Come out and we'll provide what you need!


Online Selling 101
Tuesday, September 28th @ 6 pm at Sew Deluxe
New to selling or thinking about starting a store online? Come out and learn where your goods might fit in, how fees work, the secret of a good shop name, how to tell where your online traffic is coming from, and much more!

DIY Bike Mechanics
Tuesday, October 12th @ 6 pm - Location To Be Announced
Learn simple bike mechanics and save time and money. Learn how to adjust chain tension, change out parts on your bike, put on a new chain or grease up your old one, patch up or change a tube and a whole lot more.

Pro Packaging and Fixtures Workshop
Tuesday, October 26th @ 6 pm at Sew Deluxe
Take your brand to the next level by learning how to make your own business cards, price tags, shelves, displays, etc. We will show you the tricks you need to make your store look polished and complete.

Holiday Gift Wrap & Card Making I
Tuesday, November 9th @ 6 pm at Sew Deluxe
Make your own completely unique greeting cards, tissue paper, envelopes, tags, gift wrap and bags on the cheap!

Handmade Photography and Light Boxes
Tuesday, November 30th @ 6 pm at Sew Deluxe
Pictures are the most important selling tool that there is for handmade artists selling online. Learn hot to stage your photos, what to use for backdrops, what kind of lighting you need and how to construct your own light box!

Holiday Gift Wrap & Card Making II
Tuesday, December 7th @ 6 pm at Sew Deluxe
Learn wrapping techniques, finishing tricks and how to use all of the goodies that you made in the first class.

All classes are $15 unless otherwise stated. Contact us at AlamoCityHandmade@gmail.com if you are interested in taking a class. Reserve your spot before they're all filled!

One Million Pillowcase Challenge

Calling all quilters, sewers and crafters! American Patchwork & Quilting is challenging you to join our efforts to Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference. Every pillowcase can make a difference in our community. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident.

To participate, come on out to Sew Deluxe and join us at our One Million Pillowcase Challenge event. Don't know how to sew? That's okay - this is the perfect opportunity to learn some of the basics! Once your pillowcases are complete and donated we will log them into the All People Quilt site to be counted. All pillows will be donated to local charities and will benefit San Antonio residents.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2010
6:30PM - 9:30PM

It's BYOM&F!!

What does that mean? Bring your own machine & fabric! Sew-Deluxe has a few machines but definitely not enough for a whole group. Plus it's so much easier sewing on your own machine. We're also asking that everyone who attends to bring a yard, or more, of 100% cotton woven fabric. If you're unsure of what to get, ask for cotton wovens or "quilting fabrics" at the fabric store.


This event is sponsored by Alamo City Handmade, Sew-Deluxe, and Etsy. The kind people at AllPeopleQuilt.com will be sending us a box of free materials to make our party a success.

Feel free to bring light snacks, a potluck dish or drinks.
Please RSVP for this event at Meetup for a chance to win a special goody-bag provided by Alamo City Handmade & Sew-Deluxe!

Pillow Fight!!

Calling all quilters, sewers and crafters! American Patchwork & Quilting is challenging you to join our efforts to Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference. Every pillowcase can make a difference in our community. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident.

To participate, come on out to Sew Deluxe and join us at our One Million Pillowcase Challenge event. Once your pillowcases are complete and donated we will log them into the All People Quilt site to be counted. All pillows will be donated to local charities and will benefit San Antonio residents.

RSVP to our party on August 20th now and enter to win a free goody bag from Alamo City Handmade and Sew Deluxe!

So you want to join Alamo City Handmade?

After some reformulation we are now accepting membership applications. Alamo City Handmade has put together some benefits that any crafter—be it casual or commercial—can definitely take advantage of. By becoming a member you are supporting San Antonio’s growing handmade scene and helping us to provide resources for artisans who have turned their passion into a business. Our introductory package keeps you covered through the rest of the year.

Snap it up now, as this is a limited time offer. Support handmade by joining today!

$35 until January 2011

Free Business, Crafting Technique and Kinderkraft Classes
Free weekly lounge hours at Sew Deluxe
Paper subscription to our quarterly newsletter
Discounts on Alamo City Handmade merchandise
25% off classes at Sew Deluxe
Feature on ACH Member’s page on our blog
Vendor Priority at ACH events
Consideration for a feature in our new Member of the Month blog column
Access to our members only calendar of local events, craft shows, deadlines and more

Come to our next meeting at Sew Deluxe on August 1st to join! See you there!

Not Your Grandma's Yard Sale

Alamo city crafter, Enidina Hernandez is putting a DIY spin to your average yard sale. Instead of just featuring the same ol', same ol' of used kitchenware and outdated clothes, Enidina and her mini craft collective, aka Viva La Crafts, have decided to to a Craft Sale.

This Craft sale will feature Mexican Folk Art, jewelery, accessories and more!

Details on where and when to check out the loot from Viva La Crafts:

CRAFT SALE
By: VIVA LA CRAFTS!!!
Saturday & Sunday
July 24th & 25th,
8 a.m.- 4 p.m.
...351 Taft St
(Off Nogalitos)

Call for Designers/Artists

There are only about 2 weeks left to apply for Urban Street Bazaar, have you submitted your application yet?

The Vendor Application for Urban Bazaar 11 is up!
Application Deadline is August 4, 2010 The event planners do not anticipate having spots for late vendors as this is their last show and estimate that it will be their largest event ever! So, be sure to get your application in before the deadline!

Date of Event: October 2 & 3
Location: Bishop Arts District, Dallas, TX
Spaces starting at $120.00

APPLICATION DEADLINE: AUGUST 4th, 2010 @ 11:59pm

BAZAAR TIMES: Sat 12-8pm & Sun 12-4pm

Early Applicants are encouraged in order to receive your first choice space.
Acceptances will begin going out between August 8 - 12th via email.

All selections must be handmade: HANDMADE IN THE USA by the APPLICANT ONLY, VINTAGE GOODS, OR SUPPLIES (Fabric, beads,etc)

All Applications must be submitted online
Checks made payable to Urban Street Bazaar and mailed to Make 313 N. Bishop Ave Dallas, TX 75208. Applications are not considered complete until payment is received. Applications will be deleted if payment is not received within 10 days of application being filed.

~*~*~*~*

Local Events and Vendor Opps

Local Artist Cassandra Guerra will be hosting an art show entitled, "Breath of Life." The event will be held next Saturday, July 24 at PediCab Bar. Space is still available for additional artists and vendors that want to showcase their work at the show, and spots are only $10!!! You can't beat that! For those of you guys that have never been to PediCab, they are right behind La Tuna and have a GREAT assortment of bottle beers and a few items they put on the grill for you to snack on. Here is a recap on the event:

Breath of Life Art Show

Saturday July 24, 2010

PediCab Bar

415 E. Cevallos

San Antonio, TX 78210

Contact Cassandra for more info: cassiad3@yahoo.com / 210.630.7753

We've also got the 7th Annual Amps & Easels Festival coming up next month in August which will be at Backstage Live (across from Spaghetti Warehouse). Arts & Crafts booths are only $50 and the deadline to reserve your spot is July 31. $10 off for all those with the Alamo City Handmade Team that also provide at least 25 promotional sample items (contact Brandy about dropping off your items at b.linksouthtown@gmail.com).

The Alamo City Handmade team will be on hand with goodie bags to distribute and info on the team, while Sew Deluxe will have a screen printing station at the festival. Plenty of live music and art will be showcased at this event!

Amps & Easels Festival 2010

Saturday August 21, 2010

Backstage Live

1305 E. Houston St.

San Antonio, TX 78205

Contact Tomas for more info: gtomasvphoto@yahoo.com / 210.683.5356

July Meeting

The ACH Team meeting for this month was very productive to say the least. New changes will be seen on this blog by the end of this summer and here is a bit of what you missed.

Tara (of StellaSola), Missy and Laura (of Sew Deluxe) listening in on a few of Amy's (of AmyJosCreations) suggestions

Cassandra preoccupied while hitting the snack table.

And even a few new faces at the meetings. Don (of CBT'sCloset) also brought a huge assortment of destash that Brandy (of BLinkDesign) started to horde.

At the meeting, we also discussed the overall status of our blog and how in the past week views have been way up! While this was great news, a few of us were baffled as to why. Well we have finally found out...

Turns out, the San Antonio Etsy Craft Party we thew last month was featured in this weekend's edition of the Storque, which is Etsy's blog. How cool is that!!!

Below is the fabulous picture that summarized the San Antonio Party. It's a photo taken by Brandy featuring Tara silk screening on Geminita's backpocket.

Check out the article HERE!

In the Studio...

We've all got our vice. For some it's a crazy addiction to beads, for others it's hording bolts and bolts of fabric. As the crafting urge in you grows stronger and stronger, you may be faced with the difficult reality that your space isn't so accommodating to your need to knit, and before you know it, you've finally outgrown your living room coffee table.

For the casual crafter, the space provided in the comfort of your own home will suffice, but for those that need a larger space or simply want to get away and have some one on one crafting time, studio space may be the answer.

While in most cases renting out a personal studio may be costly and not within your current budget, we here at ACH may have found the solution! Every first Sunday of the month, we hold our meetings at Sew Deluxe. In addition to being our monthly home, Sew Deluxe offers a wide variety of classes, workshops, and more importantly, STUDIO SPACE! Guests are allowed to bring their crafts and projects to Sew Deluxe and have use of their sewing machines and tools for an average of only $10 an hour (the price goes down when more hours are reserved).

Days and times for use of their space is flexible so feel free to give Sew Deluxe a call, 210.326.4945, or visit their website for more info. Sew Deluxe is centrally located near Downtown San Antonio, in the shadow of the Alamodome.

Sew Deluxe Sewing Lounge

www.sew-deluxe.com

1132 S. Hackberry St., #1

San Antonio,TX 78210

(on the corner of Hackberry & Florida)

(210)326-4945

sewdeluxe@gmail.com