CRAFTNIGHT!

This Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 from 9pm – midnight at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!
Project: Globe-Shaped Paper Lanterns!
$2 processing fee, please

Note: Extra Items at the end of this Craft Bulletin, read on, or skim to the bottom!

Awhile ago, I brought in these other paper lanterns… and they were kind of a disappointment. I mean, you couldn’t even conceive of putting a lightbulb in them and illuminating anything, they were that ridiculous. They were more of a decorative ambition, anything but functional. I didn’t plan it that way… sometimes crafts, you make them, and the results don’t exactly adhere to one’s expectations. Silly, to think that a “lantern” would convey something that holds flame or bulb, but again: That’s how deep-seated it is over here at CraftNight, bending the rules, outfitting your urban life with
intricate and confusing zen koans disguised as easy and harmless art projects.

But honestly, this year, I found these little lovely-roundy lanterns, the globe kind that can be painted and decorated and YES! Illuminated! They’re no bigger than your head, smaller than a basketball, but holds much much more than a tennis ball (on a good day.)
You could make yours look like a big eyeball, or a ladybug, or an orange, or you could paint a comic strip on it about cats who are siblings, or you could scrawl a musical composition on it so that a piano player would have to get really perturbed trying to turn it clockwise and play while sight-reading. Or, you could play an extremely short game of soccer with it, you decide, it’s yours!

The identity of your new paper lantern awaits you at our neighborhood oasis, be enlightened (har de har) and make one this Wednesday!

See you at the Craft Table!
JP Craft Captain

www.crafthead.com

www.akbarsilverlake.com

GOTHTOBER!
Don’t get all bunged up trying to write some totally detailed whatchamacallit presentation for what you wanna make, just APPLY! NOW! I don’t care if you want to make us watch a dried bean all afternoon, sounds like a good idea, send your APP by August 8th!

And get your questions, like theme, how to do things and more RIGHT HERE!

And one more thing: CRAFTNIGHT WILL BE CLOSED NEXT WEEK!
WHY?!?
I’m having an ART OPENING! Come see real live art! I’m super arty, I want to prove it to you, believe me, if you wonder what I’m doing when I’m not being a Craft Captain, this might give you a pretty good idea. So please, come if you can, here’s everything you need to know for the TIME STAMP EXHIBITION.

Hey hey, want to know what the gothtober theme is this year? Find out by clicking HERE,
and find answers to lots of other questions on that very same page! Remember: you don’t have to be technologically advanced to make a Gothtober piece! We can help you and give you tips and tell you how to make your piece come to fruition!
So step right up and APPLY HERE!
You get a shirt, you get a party, and lots of other fun geegaws, and worldwide fame. Applications due August 8th

Now onto our regular program:
This Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 from 9pm to midnight at AKBAR it’s CraftNight!!!
Project: Beer Cozies
$2 processing fee, please

This seems to be one of America’s greatest products (made in China, of course) widely used by the populace to keep one’s alcoholic beverage at optimum temperature. It works on all kind of beverages from rootbeer to orange crush or something really froofy like Mike’s Hard Lemonade but ultimately: it’s used for the love and protection of beer.
In Southern California, we like to call them beer cozies, but over in Texas, they like to call them “koozies” and I hear that in other parts of the world they’re known as “can huggers” or “flagon graspers” and even the exotic “libation squeezer.”
Beer cozies have been made from neoprene, plastic and even stainless steel, but ours that we offer tonight are fashioned out of what we like to call “cell foam.” Unadorned cozies in every color of the rainbow (including pink) will be here for the taking, so bring your ideas and make someone you love a cozy today!

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

www.crafthead.com

www.akbarsilverlake.com

PS- I’m having an art opening August 7th, would love to see you there.

PPS- Omigod, one more thing: Resonate/Obliterate: a showcase of solo performances is happening July 24th at 8:30pm at Remy’s on Temple (2126 W. Temple St. near Alvarado) with Ron Athey, Julie Tolentino, Franko B and Juliana Snapper. $25 – 50 donation, all proceeds benefit Praxis Mohave Performance Art Bootcamp! RSVP 323 661-0322

PPPS- Shotgun turns FOUR YEARS OLD! Big “Fruits & Flowers” anniversary party! Take your handsome beer cozy over to the Eagle at 4219 Santa Monica Blvd. Silverlake, CA 90026 and tell them hello from Akbar and CraftNight!

Gothtober 2008 sends out it’s Annual CALL FOR WORK!
Recipes, crafts, videos, stories, games, whatever you can think of, we’re looking for YOU! This is our 6th Gothtober, we’re looking for people who may or may not consider themselves artists, who have something spooky to share with the world this Autumnal equinox.

What is Gothtober? FIND OUT HERE!

How do I Apply for Gothtober? GO HERE! Applications are due by August 8th!

Now then.
This Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 from 9pm to midnight at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!
Project: Flower Pots REDUX
$2 Donation fee, please

For the first time in history, CraftNight is doing the SAME CRAFT two weeks in a row! Last week, we had a ball painting flower pots, and this wonderful crafter brought in a bunch of her own flower pots and shared them with us! This means I still have a LOT of flower pots! So why not keep painting them? I have seed starter soil, and seeds! Pumpkin seeds, radish seeds, moonflower and nestertium seeds, this is a very fun craft, it’s a 2-parter: paint something, grow something!

Oh, and I updated the CraftNight Website, it has lots of new future crafts posted, as well as a link to my upcoming show, so go see it when you have a moment.

See you at the Craft Table!
JP Craft Captain/Head Candycorn of Gothtober.com

www.crafthead.com

www.akbarsilverlake.com

This Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 from 9pm to midnight at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!
Project: Paint yer own flowerpot!
$2 processing fee, please

Do you like to watch things grow?
We’re going to engage in flower talk tonight, to give CraftNight an opportunity to be a little more organic and natural. So I have these little flower pots, they’re not too big, not too small, perfect for painting, and I’ll give you a little bit of soil, and you can decide whether you’re going to grow ONE tomato in that little pot, or ONE flower, or ONE basil leaf.
So when you come in, just, you know, get natural, let it all hang out. Wear a flowy airy garment, put ribbons in your hair and think about clouds.
Let all that far out uptight stuff just fade away, and engross yourself in a project that practically lines up your chakras and releases endorphins all by itself.
See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain
www.crafthead.com

www.akbarsilverlake.com

PS- Having an art opening soon, check this out, it’s called TIME STAMP

This Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 from 9pm to midnight at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Statue of Liberty Paper Dolls
$2 processing fee, please

Far be it from CraftNight to scorn summer, we’re shifting into solstice with a cut and color craft, in honor of our nation’s most famous pointy-headed copper-patina maiden. No, I’m not talking about the 12-foot Sacajawea in North Dakota, nor am I referencing the bronze Sojourner Truth in Florence, Massachusetts.
I’m talkin’ about 151 feet of pure feminine energy, the foxiest hard-headed, torch-carrying tablet-wielding national monument superstar the Atlantic’s ever seen. I’m talkin’ about Lovely Lady Liberty, with her book of recipes, and the finest one she’s got is the great american melting pot. (If you get this reference, you get a treat from your Craft Captain at CraftNight…)
Only someone with an eight-foot index finger can beckon to the ever-growing volumes of tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to breathe free. And as for breathing free, here’s how it works: You get to give the Colossus Missus a makeover. I mean how long has our girl been wearing that over sized bathrobe?!?
She’s Libertas personified, the symbol of freedom from slavery, oppression and tyranny… and the poor woman’s last makeover was in 1981!
So let’s help her out, give her some new outfits for her closet, it’s an election year after all, she’s got to get out there and wave her tablet around, poke people with her torch and go “Hey wake up! This is a democracy! Remember democracy?!? COME ON! SHEESH!”

I’ll give you a paper version of her… uh, wearing a little less than you remember, but you can fix that verily. You will be her personal stylist for the night. Gonna give her some pink ugg boots? I know that gladiator sandals are all the rage in NY, she’s always been a trendsetter. Still, a little Los Angeles couture is good for those serious east coast types, maybe something crumpled but classic, or a baby blue neckerchief, you decide.
See you at the Craft Table!
JP Craft Captain
www.crafthead.com
ps- Don’t miss Akbar’s Ice Cream Social on the 4th from 2pm – 8!
Bands, dancers, gelato, bouncy house, water balloon toss, hot dogs ad booze!
www.akbarsilverlake.com