East Valley (Phoenix)

March 30, 2015January 9, 2018

Open to creativity

About a dozen people of all ages showed up for my workshop at Southwest Maker Fest Saturday.

I talked a little about making minimalist travel journals that you can start during your trip. Then I gave everyone an envelope with odds and ends to represent what you might pick up on your travels — attraction flyers, paper scraps, coffee sleeves, Travelcraft Journal stickers, etc. Then I set them loose to create something that told the story of their day.

Because the room I was assigned to was in a children’s museum, some of the parents assumed it was a “kid thing” and were surprised when I handed them an envelope to create one too. Also, the open-endedness of the project freaked a few people out a bit at first.

But, by the end, everyone — kids and adults — really got creative and made some fabulous things. They journaled, they drew, some of them went outside the booklet format and got architectural, building things with their materials.

I love seeing people open up to creativity.

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March 23, 2015May 23, 2023

The Return of Southwest Maker Fest

It’s almost time for the second annual Southwest Maker Fest, a free celebration of creativity and collaboration, hacking and tinkering. Once again, there will be lots of workshops, interactive maker booths, and music.

I’ll be presenting “Make Art Travel Journals Anywhere!” I’ve built on last year’s workshop to make it more hands-on.

Southwest Maker Fest will be held this Saturday, March 28 from noon to 8pm in downtown Mesa, Arizona. My workshop is at 12:30pm in the i.d.e.a. Museum HUB Classroom (150 W Pepper Place).

I’m also relaunching my newsletter with the next issue coming out this week! If you haven’t signed up previously, get on the list!

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February 27, 2015May 23, 2023

3 Phoenix Spots for Excellent Coffee Roasted On-site

We’re not Seattle, obviously. But Phoenix does have its hardcore coffee devotees. We also have an increasing number of independent shops run by people who care about where their coffee comes from, the way it’s brewed, and who even roast the beans themselves to make sure they meet their standards.

1. The original Cartel Coffee Lab is what my friend Anne affectionately refers to as “the hipster epicenter of Tempe.” That may be true, but hipsters usually know where to find good coffee. Roaster Paul Haworth II has started the Coffee Bureau site to help people make better coffee and is currently in Central America visiting farms and sourcing beans. Cartel has expanded to also serve beer at its Tempe location, as well as opening several other locations in Arizona, including in Tucson and Sky Harbor Airport (Terminal 4, past security checkpoint C).

2. Echo Coffee came to be after founder Steve Belt heard a talk at Ignite Phoenix and decided to make a career change. These roots may have something to do with the strong community vibe of the place. There are different areas within the shop for conversation or work and large windows filling the space with natural light. Steve only hires people passionate about coffee, but they also tend to be really friendly and great about answering questions without the pretentiousness you get from a lot of baristas who take coffee (too) seriously.

3. Newly-opened Peixoto Coffee in downtown Chandler imports their coffee directly from a 100+ year old family farm in Brazil. They tell me the family name is pronounced “pay-sho-to”. Even though it’s been open under a month, it feels established, like it’s been there a long time. There’s a salvaged-wood counter, coffee bag cushions, and chalkboard-painted tables with coffee puns on them like “Espresso Your SELF” [sic]. I didnt see food on their online menu, so I was surprised to see they also offer empanadas and really good Brazilian cheese biscuits.

December 30, 2014May 23, 2023

Scottsdale Walking Tour Has Chocolate Lovers Covered

I have two words for you, friends: chocolate. tour.

Yep. That is now a thing that is happening here in the Phoenix area. So I did you a huge favor and checked that out for you.

I know. Sacrifices.

Stephanie Haworth also sacrificed and came along, tasting chocolate and taking the photos for this post (except the one of her below).

The Chocolate Tour of Scottsdale winds through Old Town to Fashion Square. You taste chocolate in various forms – hot, cold, cake pops, candies, cupcakes – from 8 different merchants. Some share a little about what they do and what sets them apart, and they all offer discounts to tour-goers.

The tours are lead by owner/operator Ofelia Montelongo, whose passion for chocolate lead her to start the company just this fall, and it’s off to a great start! In fact, she’s already quit her day job to devote more time to her business.

She meets tour-goers at the outdoor patio of Gloria’s Cafe with bottled water, maps, and bags for your extra chocolate. (Really. “Extra chocolate” does exist. I have a pretty serious sweet tooth, and I still couldn’t keep up with all the cocoa confections). She sets a friendly tone, keeping everyone oriented, and sharing points of interest along the way.

One prestigious Phoenix chocolatier, Julia Baker, has her own Cooking Channel show. Since her shop isn’t in walking distance, Ofelia brings Julia Baker chocolates to the tour. So you’re sampling even before the first step.

Then you head to the Paula Jacqueline bakery, which stays open late to greet the tour and hand out delicious fudgy cake pops.

Next, from behind a counter stocked with chocolate in all kinds of inventive shapes (squirrels, anyone? what about mushrooms? corn?) and flavors, a man in a Chocolade Van Brugge apron explained how their chocolate is imported from Belgium. He also claimed we were about to taste “the best hot chocolate [we’d] ever had.”

I was skeptical about that. But he may have been right.

The hot is followed by cold with a stop at Petersen’s Old-Fashioned Ice Cream, where you can sample your choice(s) of their wide variety of favors.

We continued through the 5th Ave Art Festival, which happened to be that weekend, pausing at the Bronze Horse Fountain for a group photo.

Our next stop was Classic Cakes and Confections, a bakery with such elaborate creations that some require signs explaining “this is a cake,” because otherwise you’d never guess. In addition to cakes, they had lots of amazing-looking desserts, teas in tins, and quirky coffee and tea accessories.

In Fashion Square, we stopped at Godiva for truffles and at the locally-owned Caketini for cannoli.

Across the street at Sprinkles, we snacked on mini cupcakes.

It was also the opening week of their cupcake ATM – one of only 8 in the world. It’s located outside, so, if you get a sudden after-hours craving, you just select the flavor you want and swipe your card. The machine gently delivers a boxed cupcake to a compartment with a small door that dramatically raises up to reveal your treat.

Our final stop of the day was actually an alternate, but it was one of my faves. If a merchant isn’t able to accommodate the tour on a certain day (due to an event, etc.), Ofelia has a whole list of pre-vetted backups.

The Chocolate Tour was a lot of fun, and I’d definitely recommend it to both local and visiting chocolate lovers.

– More info –

Chocolate tours run fall to spring. Ofelia will be offering other indoor events over the summer.
Book in advance, especially for weekend tours. As of now, Valentine’s Day is already full, but there are openings the day before.
Get $10 off with promo code CHOCOLATE!
Dress for the weather and wear comfy shoes.
You will probably end up with more chocolate than you can eat. You’ll have a goodie bag – don’t be afraid to use it! Take some chocolate home to enjoy later on.

Thank you to Chocolate Tours of Scottsdale for providing press passes!

November 12, 2014May 23, 2023

Minimum Daily Requirements at the post office

While I love art museums and galleries, there’s something really delightful when art pops up in unexpected places like libraries or alleyways or under bridges.

What about the post office? Art isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think of post office buildings. However, the downtown Tempe post office has rotating installations just inside its large windows, so you can see works both from inside and from the street.

I didn’t realize this until artist (and fellow CraftHack-er) Crystal Daigle told me about the exhibition she was curating.

It’s called “Minimum Daily Requirements,” and will be on display in the Mill Avenue post office until December 10. Each of the windows displays mixed media work by a different Phoenix-area artist, exploring their own daily requirements.

Crystal’s piece was truly a community effort, funded by a Kickstarter campaign and partially pieced together by volunteers at maker spaces under her direction. It’s called “Push Down & Tango” and, in Crystal’s words, is “designed to celebrate the resiliency of survivors, thrivers and caretakers.” The centerpiece is a large circle of fabric roses. At the base are leaves formed from prescription bottles covered with images of people dancing tango, since learning tango was a turning point for Crystal. The 3 leaves are surrounded by hand-lettered names to pay tribute to resilient people.

Phillip and I stopped by the exhibition during its opening celebration in September, just as a dust storm was rolling in. We took shelter inside the post office during the worst of it and it blew over quickly, leaving a dramatic sky as a backdrop for the gathering.

– More info –

“Minimum Daily Requirements” (PDF) dates: 8/15-12/10/14
United States Post Office windows at 500 S. Mill Ave. (5th Street and Mill Avenue)
Parking: on-street meters or nearby garages
Transit: Light rail (Mill Ave/3rd Street stop) or Orbit Mercury
There is no admission, but feel free to bring along any packages or cards you need to mail.
Just found the exhibition schedule for all Tempe Community Galleries! This includes the post office and Tempe Public Library’s Connections Cafe. (Remember when I was lamenting they didn’t list the Tempe Library exhibitions anywhere? Turns out they do. Just not anywhere obvious.)