CAFAM - Etsy Craft Night - Punched & Stitched Paper

Hola Amigos!

Last Thursday night I had the privilege of leading CAFAM's Etsy Craft Night. The project I hosted was based off our pierced and stitched paper craft.  It was a really exciting opportunity for me and I am just so honored to have the chance to be the featured crafter!

Last week the L.A. Skin & Ink Show opened at CAFAM and we wanted to highlight this extraordinary show within the imagery included for the project. The funky imagery included vintage California references, handmade items, and tattoos inspired by the show.

We shared a variation of this tutorial here with everyone showing how to pierce the image which is very similar to the tattooing techniques described in the exhibit.  The Black and Gray style tattoos that Los Angeles is famous for is created with a single needle just like this paper craft!  We also highlighted the second step where you can embellish the project further with colorful stitching.

I got to wear a microphone to shoot a video for a project shot for a USC student (shown top left) - More details on project use to come about the video/project.  Also, I had some great members from the Pretty Pink Ponies Etsy Team - Christina Cabral and Samantha Galletly (shown bottom left) helped assist and demo the project with the attendees and were a big help!

Everybody was hard at work all night on their projects - it was really inspiring and beautiful to see what everyone was coming up with.  It was interesting to see what images were used out of the images included as templates as well as how many people came up with their own subject matter for their projects.

There was a tattoo inspired rose that was quite popular.  It was a bit more in-depth then some of the other images but it came out so wonderful with the addition of the stitched elements.  Of course the California image was quite popular and I think most people tried their hand at the CA shape as their tester.

I got great feedback from the attendees on the project - I hope that the next time I share the project with a group I can have a wider range of needle shapes and awls so we can vary the piercings.  This will also help in adding some of the stitched details because the holes will be more manageable.  Overall, having just hat pins and embroidery needles as the tools was plenty - Its just good to note potential options and variations.

The craft night was streamed live on Stickam and at one point we had over 300 people watching our crafting online! The Stickam site is really slick for broadcasting and all you need is an iPAD which captures the videos as well as the sound simply and effortlessly.

We hope to see you at the next CAFAM Etsy Craft Night in November.  They are always held on the 1st Thursday of the month and have a different project each time.  I will make sure to share the info on the project as soon as I know more info :)

Hope y'all have a fantastic & productive week!!!

XOXO, KC