Craft Conference 2009

So, the Stitches and Craft Show is arriving in Brisbane next Wednesday (runs from April 29th - May 3rd) - I'm calling it a Craft Conference - and frankly I've never been this excited about any science-related conference I've had to attend and present at over the years...yeah - totally in the wrong profession!

I spent a good deal of yesterday working out a timetable in Excel (nerd alert!) so that I could schedule in all of the workshops and demonstrations that I spent highlighting the day before - it's a complicated process and I had to make sure things didn't clash! I'm planning to do daily round-ups of what I see, who I meet and highlight general crafty-goodness (plus take agazillion photos), and more importantly, I am going to give you a rundown of each of the worshops/seminars I attend, here's a list so keep an eye out...funnily enough they are calling the workshops 'Craft Labs'...I better make some fast blog business cards for networking!

Wednesday April 29th

• Hand carved rubber stamps (workshop): Presented by Holly McGuire of Two Cheese Please, we will learn how to make our own hand carved rubber stamps.

• How to screen print your own designs (demo): Thea Samios of Thea and Sami will demo screen printing on fabric.

• Hand printing and design (workshop): Sam Messina and Ellie Beck of Red Seed Studio will teach a range of different hand printing techniques (look out Lotta Jansdotter!) and we will complete three projects to take home.

Thursday April 30th

• Apron in an hour (workshop): Louise Stuart of Made by Miffy teaches how to make an apron in an hour. We get to choose a kit from the range of Miffy fabric combos and make a very cute looking apron.

• Socks toe up on the Magic Loop (workshop): Jean Withers of Yarns Galore teaches in an hour how to figure 8 cast-on and begin knitting socks from the toe up on something intrigingly called the Magic Loop! This is for my friend Louise who wants to learn how to knit socks...I will teach you Lou when I visit Philadelphia in July!

• Textures, tucks and techniques (demo): new techniques and embellishment ideas in quilting. I've never quilted, but would love to learn - will have a look at this to see what's what.
  

Friday May 1st

• Sling Bag (workshop): Kylie Shepherd of Thread Den will teach how to construct a sling bag, all materials will be provided and it's supported by Brother so I guess that means using some nice sewing machines (sorry Contessa 120- I'll still love you).

• 5 easy steps to picture framing (demo): Trevor Penny of FrameCo will demo tricks of the trade and cost saving measures for framing. I have so many self developed black and white prints that need framing!
  

Saturday May 2nd

• Upholstering a bridge chair (demo): Adrian Padgham rebuilds the seat of a bridge chair with the traditional method of upholstery using jute webbing, coil springs and padding. I've always thought about using some of our gorgeous hand printed Australian made fabrics to upholster found furniture...put that on my wish list of things to experiment with.

• Home based craft business (seminar): Bianca Van Meeuwen of Ink&Spindle will cover tips and advice on starting a home based craft business - I can't wait for this! They will cover blogging, photography, marketing, online sales, pricing, wholesaling and approaching retailers.

• Photos on fabric (demo): Kathleen Stone of Australian Country Quilts demos fabric that you feed through any printer - I've known about this for a while but haven't seen it done.