RSS

Category Archives: Scrapping/Coloring Craft

Mellow Valentines LOVE-IN • February 14th, 2018

This Wednesday, February 14th, 2018 from 9pm to midnight (or later) it’s CRAFTNIGHT! 
****Project: Crafts of Love 

*******$4 PABST/TECATE • $5 Drink Special for Lovers and Dreamers!  
*********$3 suggested donation, thank you for supporting the arts!  
********* Lucky winners of my obscure trivia questions will win:
Tickets to YACHT ROCK REVUE at the El Rey Feb 17th!!! (Make no mistake, this is the FINEST tribute to soft rock in the city: It’s comedic, talented musicians, but it’s also an actual tribute situation that will make for a really wonderful evening.)

Crafts are gonna be Valentine-oriented, because I have cute choo-choos, spinny wheels, and love caterpillars and that’s not all! It’s been 73 years since Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday have collided, which seems as good a reason as any to celebrate both. Let’s do it all, hayyyyy. Here’s whassup!

Every month is Black History Month OKAY? OKAY! But we’ll be playing kickass 90s soul on the Akbar HI-FI because it sounds really damn good, and because it’s crucial to educate, empower and sustain the achievements by African Americans and the central role of blacks in U.S. history. And I wanna dance with you to “Buffalo Stance” by Neneh Cherry.

Is Valentines Day: Invented by card companies, dumb if you’re single, dumb if you’re coupled, dumb anyways, too expensive, tacky, tawdry, materialistic, signified by stupid chalky heart-shaped candy, cursed with a dippy red and pink color palette, full of unreal expectations? YES!!! YES ALL OF IT!!! WHO CARES!!! 

It’s so cool to poo on Valentine’s Day, I implore you to just DO A LOVE THING because who wins if you do it? We need more love, just you know… make some. Do something good without getting caught, some kind of secret agent kindness no one can know. Forgive someone who pissed you off. Spend $10 on coffee for you and and a friend. Get your ass out and volunteer. Give your time. Give compliments. Listen to a long-winded family member. Notice someone who doesn’t think they’re noticable. Lift something heavy for somebody. Open doors. Call someone far away. CLIMB OUT OF YOUR BELLY BUTTON AND OPEN YOUR HEART. 

It’s Also Ash Wednesday, which is a catholic thang, but one can still celebrate it in a nonsecular way. Many use it as a New Year’s Resolution reboot. It’s said that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert thinking about stuff, so between now and Easter, you’ve got YOUR personal opportunity to go into DEEP THOUGHT about your life JUST like Jesus, wow! Give something up: fatty snacks, criticism, sour patch kids, swearing, snapchat, smoking, religion, the news, etc.

And like WHY do that? Why suffer? Why have a difficulty when shit’s already difficult? The conscious decision by YOU to deprive YOURSELF of something that may or may not be good for you is a way of forcing yourself to contemplate WHY you like that thing/action, WHY you do it, WHAT it does for you and how that effects the world, even in the most piddly way. What kind of space are you taking up on this earth? This holiday is specifically designed to make you get past any bullshit and self-denial you’ve been harboring. Flip the record and look at the B track. Who are you and what are your priorities, anyway? Find out!

If 40 days is too much for you, there’s always Passover coming up in March, which is 8 days not 40, but no less contemplative and jarring in its own freaky way. If you’d rather shake hands with the devil, come see me at Bingo on February 18th (details below) and win glorious sinful prizes! Be bad! Gamble and support the arts!

See you at the Craft Table,

JP Craft Captain


WINTER SESSION 

FEB 18th – Bet Yer Bottom BINGO!!! Gambling, Winning, Singing, Drinking, Dabbing, Dotting, Laughing! Details HERE!

FEB 21st, FEB 28th – YES THERE WILL  BE CRAFTS YAHHHHHH!!!! We’re relentless and forever, we’re CraftNight. 

 

Posted by on February 13, 2018 in Collage Craft, Scrapping/Coloring Craft

Comments Off on Mellow Valentines LOVE-IN • February 14th, 2018

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TONIGHT! Snow Beings! • November 29th, 2017

TONIGHT! Wednesday, November 27th, 2017 at Akbar
9pm – midnight (or later) HAND TURKEYS with JP Craft Captain!
****Project: Snow BEINGS! (bobblehead photo holders) Top Hat, Carrot Nose, all of it!   

*****$3 Donation Please 
******$4 Drink specials! Akbar: The Gateway to Silverlake, and Great Cocktails! 

There are so many COOL WORDS for snow, none of them in English, take a look:

Tuyết – Vietnamese
Schnee – German
Baraf – Somali
Hukarere – Maori
Nix – Latin
Elurra – Basque
Xuě – Chinese (traditional)

I mean, snow’s just snow, over here in the USA. We don’t have lots of superlatives or renditions of this beautiful cold substance but we do have a penchant for singing a song about bringing snow to LIFE. It gets sung a LOT around this time of year. Remember Frosty? I’m sure you’ve heard that little ditty blurping out of some tinny ol’ department store speakers or maybe you’ve heard it in a coffee show by now, as we’re on the cusp of the December month.

I have a bunch of miniature wooden photo holder parts-n-pieces snow beings. I’m calling them “beings” because they aren’t alive yet. The aliveness will be awakened between you and your craft when you build it, then and only then when you bring it to fruition will we know your snow being’s name!

The head of this thing goes on a spring and bobbles around, it’s CUTE! The fashion choices are somewhat lacking, however, so I’ll have extra gems and felt on hand so that you can really gussy up an ensemble, should you deem it necessary. Give it away or exercise self-gifting this solstice!

See you at the Craft Table,

JP Craft Captain


DECEMBER IS COMING!  

DECEMBER 13th: Ye Olde CrafteNighte Crafte Faire! Come to Akbar and get a hot cider with whiskey, then make a vulva ornament with the Audre Lorde Health Center, then shop for presents made by local vendors and THEN take a short walk to CRUISE at the Eagle and drink more and shop more!

It’s all part of our little two bars, one night, extravaganza! Ye Olde CrafteNighte Crafte Faire FB Info 

 

BET YER BOTTOM BINGO!!!! December 17th • Akbar • 7pm to 10pm >>> FB LINK

 

 

Posted by on November 29, 2017 in EZ Craft, Scrapping/Coloring Craft

Comments Off on TONIGHT! Snow Beings! • November 29th, 2017

Tags: , , ,

TONIGHT! Self Defense/Hand Turkeys! • November 15th, 2017

TONIGHT! Wednesday, November 15th, 2017 at Akbar
7:45 – 8:45pm QUEER SELF DEFENSE w/Instructor, Cory Klink!
9pm – midnight (or later) HAND TURKEYS with JP Craft Captain!
****Project: HAND TURKEYS (Annual CraftNight Tradition)  

*****$3 Donation Please 
******$4 Drink specials! Akbar: Friends, Fun, Beverages! 

Tonight you can use your hands as weapons, and then, in the same night, use them to make TURKEYS!

Chances are, if you grew up in the continental united states or something like that… someone grabbed your kindergarten paws and taught you how to make a hand turkey. If you have never made a hand turkey, it’s really high time you made one. It is a simple creation, or it is as complicated as you decide to make it, but it’s just one of those crafts that stands the test of time. It’s a classic.

You can make a colorful turkey, a goth turkey, a pastels turkey, a hand drawn turkey, a day or night turkey, and then you can send it to a friend, or present it to relatives next week as a testament of your love and adoration for them. We won’t be doing crafts next week, due to Akbar’s annual dance party and food drive. This means if you’re hankering to craft, do it this week, and we’ll be back on November 29th with very much fun seasonal cozy crafty fun for you!

See you at the Craft Table,

JP Craft Captain


NOVEMBER FUN!  

TONIGHT! 7:45pm – QUEER SELF DEFENSE – FB EVENT DETAILS HERE
9pm – CraftNight HAND TURKEYS!

NOVEMBER 19th: SUNDAY 7pm @Akbar • Bet Yer Bottom Bingo Facebook Event Details HERE

NOVEMBER 22nd: NO CRAFTS! Akbar’s Annual Dance Party: PIE!!! Facebook Event Details HERE

 

Posted by on November 15, 2017 in EZ Craft, Scrapping/Coloring Craft

Comments Off on TONIGHT! Self Defense/Hand Turkeys! • November 15th, 2017

Tags: , , ,

A Valentine Treat from CraftNight! February 2017

Yesterday’s CraftNight was a HUGE SUCCESS with everyone coming in and making Valentines for Politicians!

These are valentines of yesteryear that have been outfitted with messages from today’s current political climate in mind! Some of you were unable to make it to CraftNight, and I think it’s important to put these in the hands of as many people as possible so that we may send them to capitol hill and make our voices heard!

So hear you go, download and mail!

Cut these out, paste them and send them to politicians you love, or politicians who are on the fence about issues you care about, or politicians you can’t stand, these are four pages of sassy scraps that tell it like it is!

Share this link with everyone, and tell your friends about CraftNight, we are a Los Angeles-based non-profit arts organization powered by YOU!


[maxbutton id=”2″]


NEW! 2-Page Downloadable PDF of where to send your valentines, CA politician info, National Politician info, and even more info after that! 


[maxbutton id=”3″]


 

 

Posted by on February 10, 2017 in Scrapping/Coloring Craft, Uncategorized

Comments Off on A Valentine Treat from CraftNight! February 2017

Tags: , , ,

Valentines for Politicians • February 8th, 2017

This Wednesday, February 8th, 2017 from 9pm until midnight (or later) it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Valentines for Politicians! 
$3 Donation Please 
$4 Drink specials! Akbar: The Spirit of Silverlake Style!  

Usually we have the “CraftNight Love-In” and believe me, there will be LOTS Of love, but it’s a little different this year. Come in and make a valentine for someone you love… but also, if you want to, I’ve made a series of valentines for our elected officials. Because while some of them are doing their best to give Lady Liberty black eye after black eye in the name of greed and avarice, some of our politicians are doing their best to keep Ms. Freedom in the ring.

I’ll have addresses/info and valentine sample scripts for:

1.) Elected officials who have made a public and principled stand against the current administration’s dangerous and hateful policies – let’s tell ’em thank you.

2.) Politicians who can be wishy washy and need some reminders from us of what’s at stake – they need to wake up and fight for us.

3.) Those in power who have been proven to be overtly racist, homophobic, misogynist, rapacious, eugenicist, contemptible people – they must be called out, they must be taken to task.

ALL of these valentines are cute as the dickens… they just have um… different words attached to them, as seen here in this example I’ve posted. Some of the valentines are mean, but… you know, making sweeping general unconstitutional bans that strand desperate people at airports for over 20 hours without food, and then maybe later down the line cause them to lose their lives… well, that’s not just mean, that’s absence of human decency.

So, in between writing checks, making all the phone calls, getting into local politics, and stockpiling green beans in the basement and preparing crops for your apocalypse garden… come in and make a valentine. It’s your first amendment right to say what you want to say, exercise that free speech muscle!

Because this is Craftivism. We’re fighting for America with glue sticks, paper scraps, and sparkles, come in and make your voice heard, I’ve got stamps.

See you at the Craft Table,

JP Craft Captain


Upcoming CraftNights:

Feb 15th – Snowflake Necklace – Are people calling you a sensitive snowflake? Let’s wear our winter jewelry, be snowflakes, and make an AVALANCHE to crush the alt-right menace!  

Feb 22nd – Winter Wishes Keepsake Box – Who loves the sun? Not us, it’s still winter! Keep small treasures in this gorgeous lil’ box!

March 1st – Snow Person Action Figure – Sliding down the mountainside on a S’more, no less!

CRAFTIVISM APRIL: Protest Poster Painting Party #2 where we prepare for the TAX DAY DEMONSTRATION.


MORE Things: 

FEBRUARY 8th: CRUISE at The Eagle – Just down the street from Akbar and CraftNight is another watering hole you’ll want to visit! There’ll be lip-syncing contest hosted by Tony Soto • Spankings and play from Backroom Mistresses, Bootblackers, DJ tunes, maybe take a friend a homemade political craftivism valentine made at CraftNight!  >>>Facebook Link

FEBRUARY 10th: QUEER PROM at the Sweat Spot! – We could all use a little more LOVE right about now given the current political climate and walking into an unknown future. Join us at Queer Prom to raise spirits, glasses & money for a local charity we will choose as a community. $15 Tickets
Tickets available at: http://queerpromla.brownpapertickets.com/

FEBRUARY 23rd: sSISTERSs: An Experimental Musical – A new punk musical about three sisters who may or may not be witches. Trapped in the drawing room of an old Victorian house, they take on famous triads in a psychedelic, stream-of-consciousness trip through time that explores shifting ideas of sisterhood. Who gets to be seen as a sister, and why? With a live band, haunting three-part harmonies, and throwbacks to the secret rituals of girlhood, sSISTERSs explores memory, family, mortality, queer feminist identity, and the struggles of being a woman artist.
Written and Directed by Gina YoungFacebook Link! 

 

Posted by on February 7, 2017 in Scrapping/Coloring Craft

Comments Off on Valentines for Politicians • February 8th, 2017

Tags: , , , , ,