photo by the delightful TextileFetish

FOFC (Friend O' Felt Club...and our XL Summer host with the most!), retro-histotainer Charles Phoenix, will be kicking off Labor Day weekend with a four-night cavalcade of crafty fun at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater downtown! Bob Baker has been doing the puppet thing since childhood, and his amazingly crafty handmade marionettes are a sight to behold! The show happens four nights only, so get your tickets NOW.

CHARLES PHOENIX PRESENTS...BOB BAKER: THIS IS YOUR LIFE! A colorful tribute to the world's greatest puppeteer...and puppet show extravaganza.

Your host, Charles Phoenix, tells the story of Bob's life and career with vintage slides and film clips.

Cake and ice cream will be served in the festive party room after the finale: a performance by the master himself.

Bob Baker Marionette Theatre
1345 W. 1st St., downtown Los Angeles
(under the bridge where Beverly becomes 1st St.)

FOUR PERFORMANCES ONLY:
Thurs-Fri-Sat August 30, 31 & Sept 1 @ 8pm
& Sunday Sept 2, @2pm

Click here for info and tickets.

Heads up, Felt Clubbers! Three of us will be on TV this Tuesday, August 28: Jenny, Teresa, and Wendy. HGTV is finally airing our long-awaited (to us, anyway!) second episode of Uncommon Threads, which we taped last summer. This episode's theme is "Baby Bonanza" and the projects are seriously cute: a felt storybook, a birdie mobile, and a crocheted rug made from soft teeshirts in Neopolitan ice cream colors. If you're able to tune in, please do, it should be a really good time. Be sure to check your local listings for times and all that. You can also check out the project directions online here, and Teresa's selling kits for her birdie mobile project here. Hope you enjoy!

New Yorkers, show some love to Felt Club veteran Susie Ghahremani this weekend, as her solo show Teacher's Pets debuts at Giant Robot NY! Her work is unmistakably sweet, deceptively simple and gorgeously crafted. There will be nearly 200 paintings, soft sculptures, line drawings, miniatures and more on display, and Susie will be in attendance at the reception on Saturday night. (FYI, I'm incredibly jealous I can't be out East to fist-fight the crowds for one of her originals!)

Mr. Funky is the brainchild of Narumi Ogawa, amigurumi artist extraordinaire. She's been a vendor at countless Felt Club events, and her booth is always a popular destination for fans of cute handmade creatures and accessories. Lucky for us, Narumi has written a book!


Mr. Funky's Super Crochet Wonderful is a colorful grab-bag of adorable crochet patterns—you can learn to make elephants, hamsters, bunny rabbits and more! There's even an accessories section with instructions on whipping up stylish flower-strewn scarves, snowball fight mittens, and other fun odds and ends. Narumi's style is simple yet sweet, and I love that she utilizes afforable and easy-to-find craft store yarns in her projects. These patterns are incredibly fun yet accessible and non-intimidating. I can't recommend it enough!

If you're in Los Angeles on Monday night, be sure to come by The Standard in Hollywood for a book release party, hosted by Narumi herself! Just be sure to RSVP. Here's the scoop:

Monday, AUGUST 13, 9pm-2am
@ The Standard Hotel Lounge
8300 Sunset Blvd
Hollywood, CA 90069

Featuring DJs KingWo, Future-P + WreckTangle
FREE DRINKS from 9-10pm

RSVP to no1mrfunky@gmail.com
FREE ENTRY with RSVP, invite only

In 2006, Micaela O'Herlihy and Faythe Levine traveled over 19,000 miles to document the New Wave of Craft across the country. As you might imagine, the bills have really been adding up as a result of all this! The film is being edited as we speak (check out a preview trailer on YouTube here), but in the meantime the gals could use your help. Their new Handmade Nation teeshirts are on super sale, and their Etsy shop is stocked with fun donated goods as well as Handmade Nation pocket mirrors, totebags (designed by Little Friends of Printmaking and printed by Etsy Labs), etc. Please check them out today!

More Felt Club news is coming very soon, including our full class schedule for the LA County Fair in September. Stay tuned...