a series of adventures: 2013

Craft Lake City Workshop Recap: Fabric Gift Bows

The final Craft Lake City DIY workshop of 2013 was sponsored by and hosted at West Elm City Creek. Shantel Nielson of The Pink Raffy taught participants how to make gift wrapping bows from fabric, ribbon, and felt. Perfect timing for the holiday season!

DIY Workshop Fabric Gift Bows from CraftLakeCity

Click through the slideshow above and learn how to make your own gift wrapping bows. This is a gift on top of a gift, that can be used over and over. Here's a sneak peek of the DIY goodness in the slideshow...

View all of my DIY workshop recaps.

View this post on the Craft Lake City website.

Follow my adventures in real time on Instagram @fourthirtyam.

Love,
me

Completing My Craft Lake City Collaboration (sort of)

As my time working with Craft Lake City comes to a close, I've spent some time sprucing up the collaboration landing page. Originally, I only posted the introductory paragraph of the artist profiles and I included only a few photos from the workshop recaps. I did this to help drive traffic to the Craft Lake website. Now that the big push is over, I want everything to be properly posted and archived on my own site.

On the revamped page you can access an artist's profile or a workshop by selecting their cover photo. The full article and the full slideshow are now included on my site. Take a minute to look around, will you?

It's been a creative four months and I've loved the experience. Long-time readers will remember that I started 2013 with the power word ABUNDANCE. That intention took many forms over these past 12 months, one of which being CREATIVITY. I needed it back in my life and I expressed that need repeatedly. Well kids, my experience of this Universe is that you tend to get what you ask for. Eventually. Be specific and be ready. Intentions, focus, hard work...and saying yes. Keep saying yes.

I'll always look back on my time with Craft Lake as a period of rich creative renewal. I was able to flex my atrophied creative writing muscles, hone my rusty journalism skills, and dust off my camera. I got back in a groove and I needed that. I met amazing artists, many of whom live mere blocks from me, and am now thoroughly convinced that Salt Lake City is one of the craftiest cities ever. I gained the experience of working with a professional publishing team (Craft Lake was started and is still managed by the masterminds behind SLUG Magazine). I also now understand what freelancing feels like on top of my 40-60 hours-a-week j.o.b. (whew). On top of it all, I think I created a strong portfolio of work, if I do say so myself. And I do say so. I totally just said it. Bam.

Check out the new landing page. Read the profiles. Support the artists. Buy locally and buy handcrafted. Enjoy the workshop slideshows and how-to recaps. Get your hands dirty and get crafty with your friends. Read SLUG.

I'll retain the title of Contributing Blogger and they'll continue to contact me about future assignments. Stay tuned. Who knows...there may be another profile or two coming your way.

Love and abundant creativity,
me

Vacaciones en Mexico

Having been back at work for a few weeks now, my time in Mexico feels like a dream. Then again, my time while there felt like a dream, so that's appropriate. I traveled to the same all-inclusive resort I stayed in last August. Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach is built into a terraced cliff on the Pacific side of Baja del Sur, northwest of Cabo San Lucas. Since the ocean is so deep and so rough where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez (no swimming beaches at the resort), the crashing waves just steps from our suite rolled like thunder and lulled us to sleep instantly. I remember this about my last trip as well. Last time we were one terrace up from the Presidential Suite we stayed in on this trip, and we still left our patio door open and fell asleep to those powerful waves.

Facing the Pacific Ocean, the sun rose to our left and set to our right. We began and ended each day in a warm glow of breathtaking beauty. I came home with 57 sun rise/set photos and three videos. Whoopsie.

Lots and lots and lots of this in my camera roll. It didn't suck.

It was everything a resort vacation should be; namely that our biggest decision was by which pool we should set up camp for our daily naps and which restaurant should we eat in next. We packed watercolors, acrylics, and canvas, painting the sunsets caught on our iPhones and creatively relaxing to the max. We ventured into town one day to partake of the requisite flea market haggling, Spanglish practice, and purchase of pottery and linens. We also did something very unique and memorable. We hired a local outfitter to take us to Cabo Pulmo for an all-day snorkeling and kayaking adventure. Cabo Pulmo is a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Rental cars are not allowed on the miles of dirt road that wind through the mountains and out to the crystal clear turquoise of Mermaid Beach (only then accessible by ocean kayak). This location is home to the only hard coral reef in North America and since the water is so clear in this protected marine park, we swam far far far from the shore in the hours that we snorkeled. Amazing.

In no particular order, memories...

Venus. Just barely.

Resetting my circadian rhythm and waking up with the sun.

Courtyard at the resort, with a Catholic chapel at the far end.

Not a single cloudy day.

Paint. Ocean breeze. Not a single appointment on my calendar. Bliss.

I could spend all day in this courtyard.

Infinity pool on the tippy top of the mountain, overlooking the Pacific and daily sunsets. It happened.

Pool. Ocean. Done.

Taffy skies.

Silhouettes of paradise.

En route to our adventurous day at sea.

Pristine Cabo Pulmo.

Proof!

I mean, if you're going to eat fish tacos, you may as well wait for the chef's boat to pull up to your table.

Simple. Perfect.

Mermaid Beach in Cabo Pulmo.

Postcard perfect palapas.

The pool closest to our suite.

My version of a selfie.

A rising sun peeks through the curtains. Roll over. Grab iPhone off nightstand. Snap photos. Nap in the sun for a couple more hours. Face the day's big decision: Which pool?

Hydromassage, as the sign indicates.

Painting pottery poolside. It's possible this was intended only for children, but we didn't care.

In progress...to hold cotton balls and such.

Spa day. Amazing.

I mean, seriously.

Lobby of Pueblo Bonito Pacifica, an adults-only resort next door.

If you say so.

Shopping in the flea market.

I regret not buying one of these little angels.

#architecture

Motif spotted in an artist's gallery, water color on paper.

Smells like heaven.

Complete with multiple cabana boys. Yes.

Fish tacos. Never enough fish tacos.

A WiFi patio at the resort. I love that it's 99% tech free in this sanctuary of a resort.

If you simply must check email, you may as well do it here.

Dinner on the beach.

Bailamos!

Dancers entertained us while we ate. Essentially like the luaus at the resorts in Hawai'i.

If this handcrafted rocker would fit in my suitcase...

Siesta ready.

Hasta Luego!

Follow my adventures in real time on Instagram @fourthirtyam.

Love and sunshine,
me

Craft Lake City Artist Profile: The Workspace of Ink Run Press

In the basement of an old church, tucked away in the brick and ivy Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Ink Run Press prefers to do things the old fashioned way. Scattered throughout the studio are antique and vintage letterpresses ranging from a 1910 Chandler & Price Planten press, to a Vandercook from 1950, to “The Beast” Frontext Automatic from 1940s Germany. As far as owner Shannon Petty can tell from her research, Ink Run Press and The Mandate Press (also based in Salt Lake City) are the only two printers in the country operating a Frontex. The instructive settings on the panels of this unique machine inspired the name of the company: Ink. Run. Press.

Shannon trained as a visual artist and studied printmaking at Brigham Young University. She also completed letterpress courses in the University of Utah Book Arts program. She is fascinated by the dichotomy of an old machine creating new designs. As she puts it, “We are able to make original designs that come to life on vintage presses. We love both old and new, which is why letterpress is something we love to do.” Illustrating this perfectly is their Chandler & Price press, purchased from the widow of a master printer who once lived and worked in the Avenues. He painstakingly set his metal type, letter by letter, design by design. Shannon gets excited as she relays the story: “To think that this is handset type created by a man who is no longer alive, but I can carry on the tradition and print his work, it’s amazing.” Shannon is not only carrying on the artisanal traditions of strangers, she is carrying on a family legacy. Her great grandparents were printers. She is right now working to restore an antique Chandler & Price press found in their home.

The freedom of childhood imagination and creativity also inspires Shannon. Even in her professional work with other artists, it is the play inherent in collaboration that motivates her. She says that as a brand, “Ink Run Press is always open to trying new things, projects, and ideas.” Along those lines, she encourages aspiring creative to “push yourself to look at things in new ways.” This past summer the Ink Run Press studio was open to the public for a series of workshops ranging across mediums and disciplines. This is one of the reasons Shannon appreciates the diverse community created by Craft Lake City and promoted at their summer DIY festival. In her view, “many people, especially in Utah, have many talents that go unseen. Craft Lake City gives artists and creators a chance to have their creations appreciated and hopefully sold.”

Ink Run Press primarily sells their products at the summertime Downtown Farmer’s Market, craft fairs across the state throughout the year, and of course at the annual Craft Lake festival. However, they are working on an etsy shop for online retail. We will update this post with the etsy link as soon as it’s live. You can also visit their blog or follow them on Instagram @inkrunpress.