Are you a woodworker looking to add a new skill to your repetoire?  How about a beginner, intersted in trying something new?  Consider Handcut Dovetails, a workshop being taught by talented funriture maker David Lunin. 

In this 1 day workshop, you will learn two types of dovetails, thru and half blind.  Experienced woodworkers can even bring their own tools to save on costs.  Sign up now!  This workshop is held on April 10.

Margaret Almon’s Glass Mosaic workshop is a must for those of you hoping to learn to mosaic.  In this two day beginner workshop, you will be taking a piece from start to finish, working with the design and placement as well as gluing, grouting and finishing a piece. 

This workshop will be held at the Goggleworks in Reading.  Sign up today!

Looking for something fun and interesting to do with a friend?  Try monoprinting!  This two day workshop will teach you make prints by applying colored clay slips to wet slabs of stoneware clay.  After rolling out wet clay, apply colored clay slips to the “leather hard” surface, one color on top of another, until the design is finished. Canvas/paper is placed over the slab, pressure is applied with a rolling pin to remove (print) a thin layer of the colored clay on to the substrate. 

Sign up now on PAcrafts.org for Mitch Lyons monoprinting workshop.

A lot of our new members are curious about this next questions:

What is a chapter and why should I join one?

A chapter brings the Guild into local communities. Guild members in similar areas have formed chapters to focus on specific aims in a more intimate setting.  Many of our chapters sponsor events, such as the Pocono State Craft Festival put on by the Pocono Chapter.  Chapters also work to provide opportunities within its community such as workshops and scholarships for highschool students.

The Bucks County Chapter website aptly states that one of their goals is to:

“assists members in marketing high quality crafts and provides a forum for exchange of ideas and information through its meetings and programs”

If you are looking for a setting in which you can get to know and share information with artists in your own community, join a chapter. Chapter membership is included in the new member rate, simply check the chapter that interests you the most or is closest to you geographically.

The Pennsylvania Guild has 17 chapters, a full listing can be found on our Chapters webpage.

Have you ever wanted to try something completely out of the ordinary? If so, the upcoming glassblowing workshop might be just the thing.  Joel Bless, from Glasslight Studio will be teaching a 1 day workshop on the basics of glassblowing on March 27th.  You will be learning how to gather, marver, blow, shape, color, and finish a punteed piece.By the end of the day, you will have completed three pieces!  Interested yet?  Sign up right now on the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsman website.

Ken Mueller, the instructor of our upcoming Social Media class on March 10, had a post yesterday called ‘6 Social Media Lessons from a Snowy Day‘ and it got me in the winter spirit. 

I know, I know, many of you everyone is ready for spring but I think we should all take the forced opportunity to relax, reflect and plan for the future.  Here we go:

1. Catch up with customers - First of all, Valentine’s day is coming up next weekend.  What a great time to send out an email discussing what’s new and what’s to come in 2010. The snow has given you the time to send it and your customers the time to read it. If you have your show schedule or a new list of projects, share them.  What you still don’t have an email list organized yet? Then that’s your snow day project. Mail Chimp is an awesome way (and free up to 500 addresses) to organize and connect with your customers (plus its fun to say you use Mail Chimp).
2. Get Organized – Its a dreaded word in the studio: organize! You’d rather be creating than cleaning. Trust me so would I. But its necessary. Putting everything in its place, lets you find it faster when you need it. Plus you know the need to clean up hangs over you every day you work in there. Crank some tunes and tidy things up. You’ll be glad you did afterwards.  Here’s some tips for Getting Organized from ArtBizCoach.com (Alyson teaches with the Guild on May 11-12.
3. Find classes – We all should take a workshop now and then. Sure, you’ve mastered what you do. But have you thought about learning a new craft to inspire your existing craft? Or have you been interested in expanding your business skills or knowledge of social media for promoting yourself?  Take a beginner class can just open your eyes to a new process. It can be a welcome break from always quilting or always throwing pots. Teachstreet is a great site for finding classes in your area. Or look over the online catalogs of some of the many art centers in the state: Goggleworks, Wayne Art Center or Main Line Art Center to name a few.
4. Develop new ideas - Where do you want to go with your craft?  Is there a new direction you’d like to take?  This is an ideal time to do it. Its the first part of a new year. Artists who stay static in what they make eventually diminish on their returns. Plus it’ll do two things: 1) you’ll get inspired by the new line of work and 2) your collectors will have a new object to collect. Want inspiration? Take the Super ‘Bowl’ challenge this weekend with Hammermarks.  It’ll be a fun diversion that might lead to new inspiration.

What are you waiting for?  Get ready for the snow!

I’m so pleased to announce Alyson Stanfield, author of ‘I’d Rather be in the Studio‘ is presenting a seminar with the Pennsylvania Guild on May 11 & 12 at Millersville University.

If you wish you reached more customers and sold more of your crafts, this two-day inspiration-heavy workshop is perfect for you.  Plus if you have a part or full-time job, this gives you the perfect reason to take two days off work.  Members pay $144, everyone else pays $157.  Here’s the details…

You’ll learn:

Join Ken Mueller for this three-hour seminar on social media on Wed, March 10 from 12:30 to 3:30 in Harrisburg.

Artists are by nature short on time.  Sometimes every waking moment needs to be spent in the studio to keep up with orders.  But time must be spent getting your name out to new customers or keeping in touch with longtime collectors.  Use of social media and social networking provides free and easy self-marketing of your craft business.

Social Media is opening up a whole new world for us as individuals and businesses. A host of “free” and inexpensive Social Media platforms give us new opportunities and avenues for marketing ourselves to larger, yet more focused audiences. In this class we explore the possibilities, particularly in relation to Facebook, Twitter, and blogging. Make your craft business visible and accessible without a huge strain on your time.

Linda Billet is teaching a Beginner Glass Fusing workshop (only $80) on March 13 in Hummelstown.  You won’t be making the below project, but it’s a really cool video of her process.  Enjoy.

Brian Cunfer, of Kirkwood, is the current President of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen.  He is also the instructor for our popular ‘Women-Only! Stool-making’ workshop.

We’ve officially scheduled our 2010 session for May 15 & 16.  It’s a very enjoyable two-day class for women to explore and discover the processes behind wood-working and furniture-making.  For details visit www.pacrafts.org/workshops.

That's my mom on the left.