Living Letter Press Workshop

Living Letter Press Workshop

Summer Make-a-tion kicked off this year with a field trip to The Living Letter Press,  one of our favorite local maker friendly resources.  In this workshop we hand set original wood type and created two different one of a kind posters based on famous quotes that we picked out as a group.

Living Letter Press 2013

We all got to browse through their enormous cases of type to pick out the exact letters we wanted for every word. We searched through both their upper cases and their lower cases of type. Yes, that’s where those terms come from – how neat is that! In fact many of the terms used in modern word processing programs have their origins in the physical workings of letterpress shops. Visit the Living Letter Press and you’ll be sure to learn more examples.

Living Letter Press 2013 (18 of 44)Living Letter Press 2013 (24 of 44)

After the type was set we moved it to an an original Vandercook Proof Press.  We inked the press with red and blue ink so that they would merge together and print a red/purple/blue pattern. Then it was time to print!
Living Letter Press 2013 (37 of 44)Living Letter Press 2013 (28 of 44)
We all hand cranked out our own posters and ened up with some pretty beautiful results.
Living Letter Press 2013 (41 of 44)
Living Letter Press 2013 (35 of 44) (1)Living Letter Press 2013 (36 of 44)
Huge thanks to Molly for hosting us and being a wonderful instructor. Find out more about the The Living Letter Press at www.livingletterpress.com.
Full photo album here.
Check out our up coming Summer Make-a-tion workshops here!
Read More

Art at the Market!

Art at the Market!

365 (115 of 1)After last years successful “T-Shirt to Tote Bag” workshop at Urbana’s Market at the Square  we were lucky enough to be invited back to do it again. And it was a huge success, we started with a massive pile of shirts and actually ran out. That means their are now more reusable bags in the world and less old T-shirts. It’s really a win-win for everyone. And the extra T-shirt scraps were even donated to The Bike Project to be used as rags. Here is a brief description of the workshop be did:

 T-Shirt to Tote Bag
Expand your collection of re-usable shopping bags by converting an old t-shirt into a tote.  No sewing skills required, pick a shirt and we will show you how to make the adjustments. Then, fill it with a harvest of Market goodies!

 

And a huge thanks to the Urbana Public Arts Program for sponsoring this event.

upap-logo-color_0

Read More

Holiday Workshops – Unique Gifts to Keep&Share

Holiday Workshops – Unique Gifts to Keep&Share

Hey Ho Ho Ho Let's Sew (24 of 17)We are excited to have two exciting workshops happening for the holiday season. One focused on sewing and one focused on glass fusing:

Hey HO HO HO! Let’s Sew

Saturday, December 1, 2012   2:00pm until 5:00pm

With the Holidays right around the corner, forget about commercially produced junk and come make a keepsake ornament of your very own. In this workshop we’ll be focusing on sewn ornament design and construction and the sewing skills that go with it. All ages and skill levels are welcome. No need to bring anything but your love of making.

Ornament options from easy to advanced.

A- Sewn Paper Star
B- Sewn Felt Evergreen Tree with Decorative Hand Stitching
C- Sewn and Stuffed Candy Cane or Snowy Owl
$5 suggested donation.
Sign up online here or on facebook. Drop-ins welcome.
At Makerspace Urbana

Fused Glass Ornaments/Tchotchkes

Sunday, December 9, 2012  2:00pm until 5:00pm

We only have space for 8 in this workshop. SO YOU MUST SIGN UP ON THIS FORM: http://goo.gl/RTMA8
Just joining the facebook eventwon’t guarantee you a space.
In this workshop you will learn the basics of glass fusing and slumping and how to cut glass and piece it together. We’ll all create a blue fused glass ornament/tchotchke with snowflakes and then design our own unique creations. No need to bring anything but your love of making.$10 suggested donation.

This event will not be at the Makerspace, it will be held at 602 E High St Urbana, IL 61801

Read More

The Solidoodle is printing!

We got out new Solidoodle 3D printer up and printing. We hope to make a permanent place in the space for it and have it available for any members to use(after training). So come on by and play with it some time!

Read More

Sew-O-Ween!

Sew-O-Ween!

 

SewingSwitchcraft

 

Not done with your halloween costume? How unseamly! But don’t fret as Shared Threads and Makerspace Urbana have teamed up to help you. We’ll be holding a series of sewing-oriented open hours in the weeks leading up to Halloween. If you enjoy making your own costume, come work with others, get help, and share skills.

We provide: a room full of sewing machines and the expertise of an experienced tailor. Plus all the shiny LEDs you can get your hands on.
You provide: Your materials and a love of making.

 

And if you’re still thinking to yourself: To sew or not to sew? You don’t have a choice buddy because Halloween is 3 weeks away! So stop hemming and hawing and come by the Makerspace: Basement room #16 at the IMC.
All Workshop Dates:
Saturday, Oct. 13 2-5pm
Wednesday, Oct. 17 6:30-9pm
Thursday, Oct. 25 6:30-9pm

 

 

Read More

End of Summer Make-a-tion Party (and Movie Night)!

End of Summer Make-a-tion Party (and Movie Night)!

Kilmer

We met a lot of amazing people over the summer. Words cannot express our gratitude to everyone who came to support us, including all of our awesome instructors.

And where words fail, pizza saves the day! I hope all of you will join us in celebrating the close of another excellent make-a-tion with some food, drinks, and a merry good time.

When: Saturday, Aug. 18 @ 4pm
Where: The Makerspace, UC-IMC basement, Room #16

This will be followed by a movie night. The movie is TBD right now, but keep an eye out.

Facebook Event Link

See you there!

Read More