The Renegade Craft Fair, which started in Chicago in 2003, is holding its first ever event in Los Angeles this weekend, July 11th and 12th in downtown Los Angeles. Over 200 artists will be selling their handmade wares from the 13th penthouse floor of the California Market Center, surrounded by a 360-degree city view.

Local community crafts organizations will representing at the show. Silver Lake’s Reform School will be giving linoleum block printing workshops on both days and Santa Monica-based The Urban Craft Center will offer zine-making and needle-felting classes on Saturday. Swap-O-Rama-Rama will also participate on Saturday. Bring clothes you no longer want and transform them, or others’ discarded threads, into a recycled outfit.

A good majority of the vendors are also L.A.-based, so this is a great opportunity to support, and be inspired by, your neighbors. One I’d highly recommend checking out is my good friend’s shop justJENN Designs, for an assortment of customized stationary and notepads, as well as greeting cards, buttons, and other fun items. Her products are unique, affordable and make great gifts.

The Renegade Craft Fair runs from 11am-7pm on both Saturday and Sunday and is FREE to enter. The California Market Center is located at 110 E. Ninth St. Click here for directions and parking information.

I’m excited about the vast number of cool, cheap options for entertainment in Los Angeles this weekend, May 2nd and 3rd. A couple have been covered in more detail here on L.A. Metblogs already, but here is a quick guide, in case you can’t find anything fun and economical to do over the next couple of days.

• JPL Open House, Sat/Sun, 9am-5pm, FREE-Here’s your chance to see what the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory rocket scientists are currently up to.

• Unique L.A., Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 11am-5pm, $5-Click on the link to read Travis‘ post on this more-than-a-craft-fair event.

• BarCampLA 7, Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 10am-5pm, FREE-An un-conference where tech enthusiasts come together to share, teach, learn, and play.

• Santa Fe Art Colony Open Studios, Sat/Sun 12pm-7pm, FREE-Over 40 artists will open up their private studios and allow you to peek inside their worlds of creativity.

• L.A. Metblogs Classic Eats #5, Sat 5pm-?, you name the price, which will depend on how much you indulge in cocktails or if you stick with water. It’s more about the atmosphere and company anyway, right?

• Circuit Bending Lecture & Demo @ Machine Project, Sun 1pm, FREE-Yeah, I don’t really understand it either, but Machine events are usually pretty awesome, even if they go over your head.

• Learn to Build Your Own Arcade Game @ Machine Project, Sun 8pm, FREE-Learn how to turn your “e-waste to e-fun” and construct your very own stand-up video game machine!

Personally, I’m overwhelmed by all of the amazing possibilities combined with weekend responsibilities. Isn’t it fantastic to have all of these options though? Aside from the above list, I’m sure there are many, many other music, film, etc. events at your disposal if you want to spend some money.

Feel free to leave any info on other happenings in the comments.

Back in 1997 when artists Francois Bardol, Lucy Blake-Elahi, and Lori Escalera (together with Culver City Middle School students) painted the mural “Postcards from Ballona” just west of Overland Avenue along the entrance of the Ballona Creek Bikeway behind the Julian Dixon County Library branch, the wonderful work of art was intended as a beautification project that featured a film strip and postcards depicting images of Culver City’s landscape, film studio history, Ballona Creek wildlife, and local vegetation. An unintended consequence was the magnetic draw it had on taggers who defaced it practically to oblivion over the years.

Biking by this morning I was at first saddened to see the entire eyesore painted out, only to be pleasantly surprised to see the scene above: a start-from-scratch project undertaken by Escalera together with community volunteers working to return the magnificent mural back to its original pristine state.

Work, which began yesterday, is scheduled to be completed Wednesday, with one of the goals being to increase public awareness in hopes of better protecting the mural from future damage.

Wondering what you’re going to do with your Friday nights now that Battlestar Galactica is over? Tonight you can stop by Machine Project and check out The Forest that’s been under construction for the past couple of weeks. I’ve heard it’s quite a sight to see.

The Forest @ Machine Project

The Opening Reception for The Forest is tonight, March 27th, starting at 8pm. This is a last minute announcement, so if you can’t make it tonight, there will be ongoing events occurring in and about the forest, which will continually transform until April 24th.

Machine Project is located @ 1200 North Alvarado in Echo Park, 90026, right between the Downbeat Cafe and the Echo Park Film Center. Stop by to check out what is sure to be a unique and magical exhibit.

Still wondering what this mysterious Machine Project you’ve heard people mention is all about? Not convinced that they do some really cool stuff there and that you might be missing out? Personally, I’ve been entertained, amused, educated, enlightened, and occasionally even bewildered by events at the little gallery in Echo Park. Outside of their ongoing variety of events, I’ve participated in competitions, taken classes, and donated money. I really can’t think of any other place where art, technology, pirate songs, craft, gatherings of dorks, and deep fried foods all come together so brilliantly.

For the month of April, Machine Project is undertaking what promises to be its most impressive installation yet. Artists Christy McCaffrey and Sara Newey will be turning Machine into a forest. The Magic Forest “will evolve, getting spookier and spookier as the weeks pass, until at the end of the month it is a totally scary haunted forest…A regular schedule of lectures, readings and performances will also continue to take place in Machine Project throughout the month, staged inside the forest.” How awesome does that sound?

Read on to find out how you can help build the forest

I must have browsed inside ReForm School in Silver Lake countless times before I noticed that the store is focused on sustainable design and green living. With unique and functional accessories for the home and impeccably designed masterpieces (and no sign of hemp or tie dye anywhere!) on every shelf in the store, it’s hard to believe that my shopping habit is also saving the world.

Succulent Terrarium Class at ReForm School

You’re welcome, world. I also didn’t know that ReForm School offers a slate of fun evening classes designed for for adults. What better way is there to recycle my money than by feeding it back into my brain? You’re welcome, brain.

This month’s ReForm School class roster includes “Embroidery 101,” “Needlefelting 101,” “Sewing 101,” and lots of other courses that will teach you how to make such things as your own succulent terrarium, papier-mache bracelet, or even vintage charm jewelry. The best part is, you get to take home whatever it is you learn how to make. ReForm School also offers kid-friendly courses, see their web site for details.

I signed up for the Succulent Terrarium class on March 16, which teaches you how to re-purpose glass containers and plastic toys to make a diorama-style habitat for your succulent (all materials provided). Space is limited, so if you want to join me you better go online and sign up now. You can enroll and pay for all classes via Paypal or credit card here: Read the rest of this entry →

Handmade flowers from Cathy of California

Local craft goddess Cathy of California is slated to appear on Martha Stewart on Wednesday, March 11th.

She’ll be extolling the virtues of none other than Lily Pulitzer, in honor of Lily’s 50th anniversary.

Cathy will be wearing vintage Lily, and making some vintage inspired flowers on a flower loom as well as talking about 60s – 70s crafts.

Check your local listings on Martha.com!

Sorry for the short notice, but I just got confirmation that tomorrow night is the kickoff party for ReForm School‘s new Home Ec. department.

Giveaways and other shenanigans are scheduled to go on all night long, along with great snacks and music.

Jenny Ryan will also be on hand, signing copies of her new book, Sew Darn Cute.

Home Ec Kickoff Party
Friday, February 20, 6-9pm
@ ReForm School
3902 Sunset Blvd.
LA CA 90029

Bob's happy, but he's not out of the woods yet -

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 – BOB BAKER’S MARIONETTE THEATER is up for
Cultural-Historic Monument landmark status, with a 10am hearing at City
Hall. As the blabbermouth who leaked the news of the unscrupulous
foreclosure threat facing this beloved site, I’ve been heartened by the
outpouring of love, press coverage and cash that’s helped keep Bob’s magical
theater running into 2009. The landmarking application is the work of Lauren
Everett, who we worked with on last year’s successful Charles Bukowski CHC
proposal. Come down (City Hall, 200 N Spring Street) and show your support
for Bob and his puppets, or email your support of the nomination to The
Cultural Heritage Commission before 5pm Wednesday, c/o
edgar.garcia@lacity.org

I know not everyone can attend the hearing, but it would be great if you could send a quick email!

You’ve heard the one about the ten-inch pianist? Well check out the twelve-inch alchemist!

Made by one of LA’s most mind-blowing artists, this is just the latest video of Thomas’s unbelievable work. Stay til the end to see Thomas operating the machine and marvel at how tiny it is to have such incredible detail.

I don’t know how to embed the video, so you’re going to have to dig around in his YouTube stuff because you won’t believe what you’re seeing.

Since weirdness is L.A.’s chief export, it should surprise no one that some guy makes hundreds of dollars an hour as a t-shirt mohel – “artistically” cutting up t-shirts for overhyped fashion factory Ed Hardy.

I swear, I’ll never understand haute couture.

(via the Jewish Journal. )

American Apparel is too goddamn expensive.

I remember when American Apparel first started up and they were all up in that “fair wages, fair day’s work” thang. Then the whole thing transitioned into cracked-out seemingly-underage models posing with that pouty, poufy “I just got hit in the face by a brick” look, and seems like people forgot a lot of the labor issues. I hear a lot about how AA is no longer such an industry leader in terms of fair labor practices, and now that I’m looking for reasonably priced tees, I’m quite stymied.

You see, inspired by recent crafty things like Felt Club & Unique LA, I decided to get back to handpainting tees like I did a long-ass time ago. But I need shirts. Shirts I can AFFORD. American Apparel is not affordable–not in any volume, at least. There are these shirts from No Sweat, but they’re still too pricy for me, unless I plan on selling these shirts for a fricken’ mint.

Now, I used to hear about there being one day a week when you could go down to the AA plant on Alameda and root through their slightly-wonky seconds: you know, the color was a little off, or a seam wasn’t perfectly straight. And these were discounted. Dear lazyweb, does that day still exist?

Or are there, somewhere out there, low-cost sweat-free shirts, just waiting for me to discover them?

Halp, Los Angeles! Halp! I ask here because I know there are a lot of other crafty ladies out there who’ve asked the same question, and also because I want sweat-free operations to have a chance to sound off in a public forum if they can offer me a good solution.

Today I got some very sad news in my email box from heathervescent. Machine Project was supposed to get a $35k grant this month – but it’s been canceled. For an organization of their size this is a great loss, as they were planning to use the funds for rent and for their their one full time operations manager (who kicks major ass!).

They reached out to their LACMA show volunteers (that’s how Heathervescent found out) to help raise the needed money by donating $50 today. So I am personally asking you – fellow lovers of technology and fans of awesome art–to donate at least $50-100 to Machine Project. They are in my mind, one of the most innovative, unique, awesome, interesting and cool wellsprings of creativity this city has ever seen.

Machine Project hosted the geek dinner last year. They’ve created amazing workshops and hosted wonderful, magical art and creative endeavors. They’re a home for music, robotics, and fractal knitting. They host dorkbot. And they recently took over LACMA doing to the museum what I have always wanted to seen done to a museum.

Please help Machine raise the $35k they need to continue. It’s easy and they have an ASCII Unicorn.

==> Donate now: http://machineproject.com/lacmafriend/
==> Become a Member (ascii unicorn and a lot more):
http://machineproject.com/membership/
==> Give a class gift certificate: http://machineproject.com/store/

In case you’re not aware – the FRY-B-Q is today from 8-11pm, and now features pie! Machine will also be screening videos from the LACMA show all night, next door at the Echo Park Film Center.

Please give what you can. Spend the $50+ you would usually spend on coffee and drinks in LA for January and give it to Machine. I promise you’ll achieve enlightenment and all your dreams will come true if you help. I just donated $50. If you can’t afford that much, donate what you can, and help spread the word.

Looking for reasonably-priced-yet-socially-responsible gifts this season? Check out all the lovely fair-trade, handmade goods at the Garment Workers’ Center pop-up store!

The Garment Worker Center‘s Fair Trade Pop-Up Store offers beautiful items from Fair Trade cooperatives and local artisans, guaranteeing fair wages and healthy working environments to the workers who produce them as well as guilt-free gifts for socially conscious consumers. You’re socially conscious, aren’t you? Of course you are!

It’s located at 1254 South Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015.

You better hurry, though, ‘cos the shop closes tomorrow at 9pm!

As if Saturday wasn’t going to be batshit crazy already (sorry, Santacon‘s sleigh passes are sold out), the Old Bank District is partnering with Little Radio for their annual holiday event, which’ll have a beer garden & cocktail bar, a holiday light installation, an art and gift bazaar, tasty specials at the local restaurants and live indie bands curated by the geniuses behind Little Radio, plus a live jazz band in Harlem Place Alley next to Lost Souls Cafe.

Blogdowntown scooped this info first thing but I thought I’d republish it here in case anyone doesn’t check BDT regularly (you should).