Southwest Maker Fest 2017

I did an envelope journal workshop again this year at Southwest Maker Fest.

Once again, the attendees were super creative, coming up with their own clever modifications to the project, including one multifunctional journal that doubled as a wallet and a paper airplane!

This year, my assigned room was in a different area within the i.d.e.a. Museum that seemed less hectic.

Also, I had help! Several friends showed up and pitched in with explaining the project to latecomers and helping answer questions, etc. A big thank you to Anne, Katie, Trish (who also brought extra art supplies), and the ever-patient Phillip!

It was a lot of fun, and it always gets me thinking about how to make it better the next year!

P.S. You can make this too!

March 14, 2016

Southwest Maker Fest 2016

Southwest Maker Fest on Saturday had interactive booths, workshops, stilt walkers, craft projects, artists at work, and all kinds of fun stuff.

Since lunchtime was pretty hectic at downtown Mesa restaurants last year, a couple of food trucks were standing by: Burgers Amore (which I was introduced to at Fan Fest) and Queso Good (which I tried at Phoenix Comicon).

I wish I had gotten a shot of the inside of the IDEA Museum, where my workshop was (I had my hands full of craft supplies at the time), so you could see all the delightful creative chaos of the projects going on in there.

Upcycled Travel Journal Workshop

For my workshop, I made the project a little less open-ended this time, because too many possibilities can stress some people out.

I showed how to make travel journals out of 2 envelopes folded and bound together.

Some people chose to keep the books blank for their next trip. One attendee covered his pages with red tape; another wove plastic bags together using a plastic-yarn technique they were teaching at another booth and threaded that into her journal.

Both adults and kids got to have fun making stuff, and that was really the point.

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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, 2015December 9, 2025

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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April 8, 2014December 9, 2025

Southwest Maker Fest wrap up

So Southwest Maker Fest turned out to be eclectic and awesome. They had a street (or maybe it was two) in downtown Mesa blocked off for a live music stage and a whole variety of booths. In a matter of minutes, you could stroll by an open-source car, handmade flutes, geeks with 3D printers running, and an overalled man showing people how to weld.

There were presentations and demonstrations going on throughout the day at nearby venues. I gave my travel journal talk at an art gallery/event space.

Afterwards, I went to help out at the Gangplank booth for a bit. (Yep, I was one of the geeks at one of the 3D-printer-equipped booths.) I did my best to answer people’s questions about the collaborative workspace – but there’s really more going on there than I can keep up with.

By the time I was done there, I was so tired and hungry. Phillip and I took a quick tour of the booths on our way out, but we weren’t able to engage as much as we would’ve liked.

I’ll have to learn to weld another day.

All in all, it was a good start for Southwest Maker Fest and great to see a sampling of Phoenix’s diverse maker community come out of the woodwork and get together. I’m looking forward to the next event.

If you weren’t able to be there this year, you can get on the list to be notified about next year’s event. I’ll also be presenting about travel journals again at Craft Hack in May (watch the Facebook page or sign up for the Travelcraft Journal newsletter for details).

Photo of my talk by Trish Gillam.