The Megaplex Cinema at Craftland

I've spent the past few days packing up sales (i keep thinking it's a dream that I've had so many in January of all months, but no complaints!!) and cutting enormous amounts of fabric so that I can work on projects without having to go back to the beginning right in the middle of creating!

But let me rewind a bit back to Friday night when we drove down to Providence for the evening to see a screening of Faythe Levine's Handmade Nation. The film was shown at a little shop called Craftland in a very neat part of downtown Providence (think old looking store fronts and coffee shops and steam rising from the streets and all kinds of shiny baubles in the windows). Craftland is part handmade goods shop/part gallery space/and part school of craft where they hold tutorials and host speakers on matters of all sorts from how to start your handmade business to how to package and price your creations for sale in brick and mortar shops. I was all a flutter pointing out to my fiance all of the goods i recognized from people on etsy and how i'd once gotten a blog comment from this person or a heart shop from that person...you know, my imaginary co-workers ;)

Well their "multiplex cinema" was so cute! In proper diy fashion, they strung up a white sheet in their gallery space with a projector, set up folding chairs, and served freshly made popcorn from one of those antique street vendor machines, as well as wine and pop. They'd even printed up the coolest little ticket stubs for the occasion:

The film was inspiring for me, it was great to see so many successful handmade artisans talking about why and how they got into their craft but also what made them take it to the next level where it has joined with art and business. At times I felt like someone had interviewed me because they were saying such similar things about having been creative as kids and wanting NEEDING to find a way to let that creative spark live on in their adult lives while still recognizing the need to make a living and be a part of such a close-knit community of people who care about the goods they bring into their home and how those goods affect the world that we and our future generations live in. It was pretty much straight documentary..that is to say, the director didn't really come into it with an opinion or an over-arching lesson to teach. The movie really did just show what is going on with the handmade movement in a fun, interesting, and inspiring way.

As I mentioned previously, the director herself, Faythe Levine, was there and gave a nice little talk at the end about working on the project, answering audience questions and whatnot. She's got all kinds of creative projects going on and I have to say she seemed very happy to be there but also really tired...i suppose we all would...have you seen that screening schedule she has?! She was so nice to meet in person and I'm thankful that the handmade movement is getting such great recognition thanks to her beautiful film!

p.s. i got a little souvenir, an embroidery pattern by Jenny Hart that is a limited edition made especially for the film. I think I'm going to use it to embroider a pillow for my craft/guest room. Here is where you can get it on etsy!