SweetShop Adventures; The Denver Crochet Guild, Yarn Shoppe Studio and Bags By CAB

Happy Monday SweetShoppers!!

So hopefully I've gotten you used to checking here on a Monday morning to find out about some of the excellent Crafters I Admire (otherwise known as the Sweetshop C.I.A--I'm going to keep saying that until it catches on, ok?). Since it's a new year and my pattern-writing experiment seems to be going horribly awry, I thought I'd try another new idea and start featuring some cool crafty places and gatherings here on the blog in addition to interviews.

My first stop was the Denver Crochet Guild, held at the lovely Yarn Shoppe Studio in downtown Denver.

The first thing you see when entering the Yarn Shoppe, 17th and Larimer, Denver,CO

Okay, first of all fellow yarn addictscrafters, feast your eyes on this lovely display. When I first visited The Yarn Shoppe Studio, my first thought was that it seemed very unassuming for such a splashy location (it's one block away from the 16th Street Mall in the heart of downtown Denver--very easy to find). The window displays are gorgeous, but the shop itself is in the corner of a larger building and didn't catch my eye the first time I walked past it. However, once I walked in, everything changed.

More cozy yarn space at 1777 Larimer Street

How did I miss this? I have spent a LOT of time in and out of specialty yarn shops, beautiful people, and I can honestly say that The Yarn Shoppe Studio is one of the coziest, most welcoming shops I've ever visited. It just has a very warm, friendly feel to it which I appreciate as a perpetually browsing, curious crafter. 

If you take a closer look at the second photo, you'll notice that the Yarn Shoppe is not only a specialty yarn store. It also has a very diverse selection of local handcrafted goods by local designers and  racks of vintage clothing and bags provided by Fafa's Genuine Designer and Vintage Handbags. For those who need help finding out how to use all that gorgeous yarn, the shop also provides classes, workshops, and one-on-one tutorial sessions for beginner to expert crafters. For those trying to make their crafting passion into a business, the shop owner provides all sorts of business workshops, marketing assistance, website design and business services for a fee. 

Aaaaand the shop also repairs knitwear(the first time I've ever seen that service offered by a yarn shop), hosts events, and is the meeting place for local craft gatherings like the Denver Crochet Guild(which I'll chat about in a moment...)

As you can see, the Yarn Shoppe provides a lot of really diverse services and serves a pretty diverse population. All of that is due to this lady right here...

Cassandra Allen-Brown, owner of the Yarn Shoppe and Bags By Cab, wearing one of her own scarves

This lovely lady is Cassandra Allen-Brown, who owns the Yarn Shoppe, is the owner and designer of handmade knitwear brand Bags By Cab, and the president of the local chapter of the Denver Crochet Guild as well. I strongly suggest you check out the website link to get an idea of the full scope of Cassandra's hard work and talent, but she's truly a force to be reckoned with in the Denver crafting scene. I met her a few months ago when I first began my brief Denver sojourn, and I really admire her work ethic and capability to multi-task. The fact that she offers so much and still manages to support other crafters and give something back to the community is truly impressive.  

Now to talk a bit about the Denver Crochet Guild. Essentially, the group is the local chapter of the Crochet Guild of America, a national organization that spearheads crochet groups, provides professional crochet certification, and publishes some pretty cool patterns and publications. I became aware of the national organization awhile ago when thinking of pursuing a professional crochet certificate. (I may write more about that experience on a later date) but due to my generally transient, intercontinental lifestyle, I never thought to look up a local chapter. I feel a bit sorry that it's taken me so long to do so.

The Denver guild is an assortment of lovely, friendly ladies who meet once a month and crochet. Some of them are professional crafters, some are hobby crafters and some are brand new beginners looking to brush up their skills. All of them are creative and encouraging, and if you're in the Denver area and are looking for a group of people to crochet with, I strongly suggest you give them a visit. (You can find out the next few dates and times by visiting their meetup page HERE.) There's a few large scale yearly events that the Guild (and by extension, the Yarn Shoppe) host, like Yarn Along The Rockies, but they also crochet baby blankets for  Denver Health's neonatal unit and have a good time chatting about whatever's on everyone's hooks that day.

Kim, working on an afghan from a vintage pattern

As you can see, I could write endlessly about the myriad projects and talents of the guild, but because you and I both know this blog is getting a bit long, I'm going to finish by telling you a bit about some of the people involved.

First of all, I had a big surprise waiting for me when I walked into the area of the shop where the guild was busy crafting...

This lovely lady is Kim. We went to the same small rural college a decade or so ago, and haven't seen each other since. It was a lovely surprise to see her there and catch up, and also to find out she was a fellow yarn crafter!( I guess that isn't the kind of information you really share in a college dorm...) In the picture, she's working on a lovely stripy afghan--the pattern for which she reverse-engineered by studying an old vintage afghan. How cool is that?  Kim also showed some pics of some really cool hats and flags she's made with the Colorado state symbol on them.

I didn't get to take a very good picture of Rita, but I want to shout her out briefly here. She was absolutely lovely and should get the title of Guild greeter! I noticed she went around speaking to everyone and encouraging them, and she was one of the main reasons I personally felt so welcome at the event. Thanks Rita!!

I did manage to get a picture of these two ladies,the lovely Pam and Dorothy. Dorothy(who made that flowery scarf she's wearing herself) is the designer of Crochet Chameleon, a very pretty line including a lot of babywear and some intricate adult pieces such as the one she's wearing. Her daughter, Erika(who I also didn't get a good picture of -sad face-) is in charge of The Colorful Crafter, which features all kinds of funky colors and textures. Erika is a riot and a proud "lupus warrior"--please check out her and her mother's craft sites.

 

Please, SweetShoppers, check out these ladies work either in person at the shop or via their websites. Hopefully, I'll be featuring a few of them in future Monday interviews as well. That said, if there is one person I met that day who I will gladly chase to the ends of the earth to get an interview if I have to, it's this lady here; 

Marie of Wild Woman Designs

This is the lovely Marie Nevels of Wild Woman Designs, holding one of her original metal-free crochet jewelry designs. Yes, you read that right, crochet jewelry. I love it. She also makes a variety of blankets, scarves, baby clothes and so on. Marie is one of those people who is so instantly welcoming and inspiring that you immediately want to know more about her and what she does--definitely expect to see a feature on her and her work in the future. (Marie, if you're reading this...pretty please?) 

There were quite a few other people at the guild meeting but I only got a chance to really talk to these few. I will be going back next month before I head back across the waters, so hopefully I'll get to meet some new people and perhaps shout them out as well. In any case, I hope that those of you in the Denver area will head to the Yarn Shoppe and get involved, either by buying products from the very talented group of crafters who display their work there, soliciting Cassandra's services as a business consultant, or grabbing a hook and some yarn and joining in with some of the Guild's efforts.

To visit the Yarn Shoppe Studio, Bags By CAB, and see other local handmade knitwear displayed, visit in person at;

1777 Larimer Street, St 102

Denver, CO 

(one block away from the 16th Street Mall) 

You can also visit the website for the shop and Cassandra's personal brand at http://www.bagsbycab.com, or add them on Facebook HERE.

To find out more about the Denver Crochet Guild, visit their blog at http://yarnshoppestudio.blogspot.com/ or search for them on http://www.meetup.com.

To visit any of the other crafters mentioned here, check out the following links;  

Marie - Wild Woman Designs

Erika - The Colorful Crafter

Dorothy - Crochet Chameleon

All of these ladies also have their wares on display at the Yarn Shoppe 

If any other members of the guild or exhibitors at the Yarn Shoppe come across this, I apologize for omitting you - feel free to add your links in the comment section and I'll put them in a future post. 

Whew! A lot of information today, beautiful people, but I hope you found it interesting! Hope some Denver Metro crafters find their way into the shop or to a guild meeting soon! 

Peace beautiful people!

Adrienne from Afro Triangle Designs: An Interview with one of the SweetShop C.I.A.(C.rafter I. A.dmire)

If you follow SweetShop Creations on Facebook, you’ll know that I often post about a select group of  awesome artists, crafters, and designers that I like to call the SweetShop C.I.A.(C.rafters I. A.dmire.) Usually my admiration extends to a reblog, a Facebook photo of an incredible piece of work that they've done, and sometimes a reciprocal “like” from the object of my obsession admiration, but that’s it.

So you can imagine how excited I was I got the chance to actually meet up with Adrienne Norris of Afro Triangle Designs and talk shop. I’ve known Adrienne for a few years—we swing through a few of the same social circles in Denver and have a few mutual friends--but we’ve never really gotten a chance to talk art and business in depth before.

I’m a firm believer in networking and promoting other people's brilliance, so I asked Adrienne if I could share an interview with her here at the SweetShop blog and she agreed. So, without further ado, SweetShoppers, I present to you...Adrienne Norris of Afro Triangle Designs!

Image courtesy of Adrienne Norris. Shirt available for purchase here

Welcome Adrienne! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from, where are you now, where are you going, that sort of thing?

Well, I was born on the island of Barbados (which is in the Caribbean, for those who don’t know) and came to the US when I was 5. I lived in New York with my mom, grandmother and brothers until I was about 12, when we moved to New Mexico to live on the international school campus my dad taught at, the Armand Hammer United World College. So I’m Bajan by birth, but American by culture.

When I was 17, I had the opportunity to attend the United World College of the Adriatic in Italy, which is part of the family of international schools I grew up in. What should have been a two year experience turned into only one, though. I mean, it was Italy and I was 17. Studying just wasn't a priority. So I had a chance to start over at the school in New Mexico where I graduated with my International Baccalaureate degree.

After that, I joined the Marines to be an Arabic linguist and spent 5 years doing what people told me (sort of) and translating “things” from Arabic to English. Sorry, if I gave you more details, I’d have to kill you. ;)

These days, I’m working as a freelance artist here in Denver, designing t-shirts, business cards, logos, as well as drawing and painting portraits when I can. I would love for portrait painting to be my primary source of income.

Can you tell us a little bit about how your life inspires your art?

People fascinate me. I think that’s why I love drawing faces so much. We all have the same five features – two eyes, a nose, a mouth – but they can be configured in so many different ways to make each face we see so incredibly unique that even twins who share almost identical genes, can look different from one another.

I am also amazed by what the human body is capable of whether it’s pull-ups, hand stands, or flips. That we can use our muscles to create enough momentum to launch ourselves into the air is astounding to me.
(Blogger's note; Adrienne hasn't mentioned this, but she's also a very capable capoeira  practioner!)

And tell us about the art, too. What are you working on now? What is your artistic background? What's your medium?

I would say that a lot of what I love creating most, the portraits, is self-taught. I remember sitting for hours on guard duty sketching faces from magazines, photographs, even military ID cards in an effort to master capturing a likeness. That doesn't mean I didn't have formal training, though.

I took a number of art classes during my early school years, and after leaving the Service, I attended the Art Institute of Colorado for my degree in Media Arts and Animation. This opened the doors of the digital art world and has allowed me to earn money as a graphic designer.

As far as medium goes, I love pen and ink, watercolor, and acrylic paint, each for different reasons. I call ink drawing the strategic placement of lines. I love the challenge of creating depth in an image using lines alone, though there is no such thing as a line in nature.

I love the delicacy of watercolor, a medium that has a mind of its own, that lends a certain brightness to your subject when you’re done.

And I love the traditional look I can achieve with acrylic. The thicker medium calls to mind most peoples’ idea of what a painting “should” look like. 

An Afro-Triangle original watercolor portrait. Find out more here.

Do you feel your art connects the different cultural and social influences in your life? Can you tell us more about how if it does?

I think it does. My tendency is to draw or paint realistically, so most of my work is based on photographs. Most of these have been photos I have taken myself, of friends or of people in a place I happened to be.

I think I also capture the universality of what it is to be human. I love painting expression and no matter where you are in the world, what your cultural background, our expressions hold the same meanings. A frown means you’re unhappy about something, a smile expresses joy. We are all working with the same five features.

What's your favorite work of art(either by yourself or someone else)?

It’s so hard to pin down one specific piece… Yeah, I’m gonna have to pass.

Can you tell us a little about your etsy shop? What kinds of items are available there?(Quick note, SweetShoppers...etsy is an online craft and design bazaar. If you don't know about it, you should!)

I am very new to Etsy, so my shop is still growing. Portraits are the main listing right now. I offer custom portraits in a variety of media, as well as a series of what I call Geek-tastic celebrity portraits in which I have drawn characters from my favorite sci-fi/fantasy television shows and movies. There are also a few of the t-shirts I have designed and printed so far.

Any Supernatural fans in the house? Purchase this one and more like it here

Have you got any live exhibitions coming up soon? Can you tell us anything about that?

Glad you asked! I have a show starting on January 1st at  Love Sick Ink, a tattoo parlor off Broadway and Iliff.  It runs until January 31st and it would be great to see new people there. Keep an eye on the Afro Triangle Facebook page and website for more information.

So there you have it, SweetShoppers--hope you enjoyed being introduced to Adrienne as much as I enjoyed doing the interview. If you want to know more, check out the official Afro Triangle Designs website HERE and like and follow on Facebook HERE. If you want to purchase your very own Afro Triangle Designs shirt or portrait, check out the etsy shop HERE. There's also some very cool shirts available to purchase only on the official site. Many thanks to Adrienne for your time and best of luck with your future art and business!