{NewNew} Antics

The artists, designers, and crafters of the {NewNew} will be out in full force again this year as they line both sides of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn at the annual Atlantic Antic on Sunday October 2nd from 12 to 6 p.m.  To help you find your favorite artisans use this interactive map. You can also print out a version to stuff in your back pocket here.


View The {NewNew} at the Atlantic Antic 10/2/11 in a larger map

Hope to see you this Sunday!

Simone
groundsel.etsy.com

On Being a Saver

As I've mentioned before, I'm a saver of things that might rightfully be considered trash and thrown away --- felt scraps, for example. But, per the felt scraps example, I save these things because of their potential to become something not-trash. I see their possibility for transformation. I know I'm not alone in this among crafty types.

Let's learn something!

Here at the {NewNew} we're a pretty big group. At nearly 200 members, we also carry a pretty diverse skill set. To better tap into the collective wealth of knowledge, we've started a monthly workshop that will

Anticipating "Hello Etsy"

Readers, I am bummed that this post comes days before “Hello Etsy”- the global conference on Sustainability and Small Business coordinated by Etsy Berlin.  I have been following the development of this conference since the initial announcement last year and am extremely excited!  

Who is the NewNew?

 
Our group tag line says "hand crafted in the NY Metro area." And if you've ever been to a team meeting, you know there are quite a few of us. But really...who are we? Who makes up the NewNew? 

I decided to find out with a little help from Survey Monkey & their free 10 question survey. So, let me introduce you to the NewNew...survey-style

Crafting with Kids: Making Turtles with Egg Cartons

Egg cartons are a great crafty material. We love using them to mix paints, and a couple of months ago we decided to make one of our favorite animals: turtles. This is a super easy, super cute little craft made from egg cartons, tissue paper, googly eyes, feathers, and paint. We cut up the egg carton so each cup was an individual piece, then decorated the outside with tissue paper, paints, and feathers. Then I took scraps of cardboard that I had saved from a shipping box, traced around the lid of the egg carton, added a head and tail, and then cut out the cardboard and stapled it to the corners of the cup. Then we painted the cardboard and glued on some googly eyes. 

A great book to pair this activity with is Turtles in My Sandbox by Jennifer Keats Curtis. It's a sweet story about a pregnant turtle that mistakenly lays her eggs in a little girl's sandbox instead of on the beach. The little girl and her mother end up helping the turtles as they grow to full size and then release them into the wild. After reading the book, my girls ended up putting the turtles they made into a "tank" (empty shoebox) and fed them tiny pieces of newspaper and paperclips.

Karina
Windows of Agate

First Fridays Giveaway - September Edition

Hi everyone! I hope everyone got through the hurricane OK. For those of you who were glued to the TV as I was (until 4:30 in the morning!), have you now heard your lifetime quota of the phrase "hunkered down"? Many of us also experienced an earthquake, just days before. Thanks to that, I can confidently report that my adrenaline is working just fine.

But on to nicer things, namely the giveaway! This month, in honor of a new season, I have chosen some wonderful items generously donated by our {NewNew} talented artists and crafters that connect to the theme of new beginnings.

Our first offering is Kookla Makeup's KoKoGloss Squeeze all natural lipgloss. I love trying out new shades and the beginning of a new season practically mandates it! I can't get over the yummy flavors, including strawberry and citrus punch. Kookla Makeup is a socially responsible company and donates 10% of all profits to charity. Only all natural vegan ingredients go into all their products.
I am super-excited about this next item: a one-hour knitting lesson for beginners in person if you are local (Manhattan or Brooklyn) or a printed tutorial if you are not. The Underground Crafter is a certified crochet instructor and teacher and has been creating things with yarn for over 25 years. I know many of you are dying to learn how to knit and here is your chance!
This photo by AstrOdub challenges us to see something with new eyes. What IS this? To me, it looks like a combination of a tree and something that lives in the ocean. The blue plays so beautifully off of the ocher. And is that a face in there? This is actually a picture of a rusty decayed poster! AstrOdub has a Rust and Decay series that are amazingly beautiful.I really enjoyed putting this collection together for you.

Rules 'n' stuff:

The winner of this giveaway will be announced on Friday October 7 and our new October giveaway will be posted! To enter:

1. Make sure you are a follower of this blog.

2. Your comment is your entry. Only comments received by September 23 will be eligible. Please include your email address!

3. One entry per person, but if you tweet, blog or facebook about this giveaway it gets you additional entries. Post a LINK back to your personal post right here in the comments section.

4. Winner picked at random. Winner must ship to USA address only (sorry!).

5. Items will be shipped individually.

Good luck!

LuCrafts

The NewNew and Hello Etsy

For the past year Etsy Berlin has been working on a global conference on Sustainability and Small Business. The summit is loosely organized around the process of "coming up with an idea, turning it into a product, taking it to market, and building a business that is mindful and sustainable." While Berlin is the hub of this event, there are conferences around the globe including a location near you such as:

• Berlin, Germany; 
• Brooklyn, New York; 
• Los Angeles, California; 
• Portland, Oregon;  
• San Francisco, California, and 
• Washington, DC.

Among the offerings in Brooklyn are a presentation by Matthew Crawford author of Shop Class as Soulcraft discussing the case for working with your hands, a workshop on small business finance, another workshop on workplace sustainability, a panel discussion on "The Challenges of Sustainable Design in a Local Ecosystem," and a presentation by Sara Horowitz of the Freelancer's Union on how in the age of interconnectedness, mutualism will help us maintain and create our social services.

The {NewNew} will be at the conference to represent our Etsy street team and to greet attendants with a small special project.

If you can't physically attend one of these events, you can join us virtually by watching the presentations via Livestream in the Etsy Online Labs on September 17 and 18.

See you at the labs!

Simone
groundsel.etsy.com

Get Caffeinated with the {NewNew}!

I am not a morning person. I cannot stress that enough. Left to my own devices, I would go to bed at 2:00am and wake up at 11:00am. Yes, I need 9 hours of sleep. Sue me.

What to Do with Scraps of Felt, Part VI: Make a Cuff Bracelet

This use for scraps of felt was inspired by a post I originally saw on Craftzine on how to make a felt friendship bracelet. I saw potential in the general idea presented there of a wide band of felt embellished with embroidery. One fun direction that I thought it could go, and that would help me use some of my very large quantity of felt scraps, was to embellish it not just with embroidery, but also with additional felt, possibly among other things.

Materials

• A strip of felt that is at least 3/4" wide and as long as needed to encircle the wrist of the wearer-to-be with a little gap between the ends, and a minimum 1" allowance on each end (sorry if that's confusing; illustrative pictures to follow!)
• Smaller pieces of felt
• Embroidery floss
• Thread (optional, as long as you have floss)
• Sewing/embroidery needles
• Buttons, beads, or the like (sequins?); maybe even fabric paint
• Fabric glue (optional)

Steps

Fold each end of the felt strip over at least 1" and pin in place (you'll note that I folded mine over much more; this was because I measured the length of the strip only approximately and used the fold-overs to adjust it).

Using three 18" lengths of embroidery floss, sew the sides of one end of the felt together. Pull the floss through to the middle so that you have the equal lengths of all three strands on either side.

Two down, one to go

Braid the strands on either side of the felt and finish with a knot.

Using a matching color of thread or embroidery floss, sew the sides of the other end of the felt strip together leaving enough of a loop for the braided floss on the other end to be laced through it.

Embellish the felt strip with additional pieces of felt and whatever else.

Lace the braided floss through the loop on the other end of the strip and tie together.

Done!

Until next time --

Linda/Purty Bird

First Mondays Giveaway is now First Fridays Giveaway!

Hello esteemed blog followers! Beginning this month, our monthly giveaway will now be posted on Fridays. So watch this space on September 9 (yes, technically the 2nd Friday)!

Thank you for your patience and cooperation :)

LuCrafts

The {NewNew} gets a new look!

Wow, that's a mouthful! This summer, the {NewNew} has gotten a face lift. We asked the most talented people we know - our members - to interpret what the team means and to design a logo that reflects those sentiments for us to use in all of our promotional materials, website and social networks. After weeks of anticipation, I couldn't of been more pleased with the submissions that showed up in my inbox! Thank you all who participated! Take a look at what our members came up with:

Submissions by Kerry from K Batty Design and Stationary, Ami from Ami Nyitray Designs, and Jacqueline from ChealseaRainbow. Click the logos to see who designed it!

And, our Winner! Designed by the very talented Courtney Webb of webbedware. We're so proud at how the {NewNew} is represented!

Which one is your favorite?

Kelley//Kelley Gudahl Photography