What's New with I Heart Art: SF - CRAFT PARTY!!

Exciting event happening in a town near you - SAN FRANCISCO!

Ever feel like you'd like to craft with more company than your cat? I know I do! Well, try 15,000 more people! Julie from Etsy says:

"Last year, over 5,000 people participated in over 500 meetups from Dallas to Romania, and this year our goal is for over 15,000 people to share in the spirit of Craft Party. Since we can't do this without you, we're calling on your help to mobilize in your local community."

Come and join Etsy in their 2011 version of Craft Party - and make it extra special because it's the I Heart Art: San Francisco KICK-OFF EVENT!

You heard right! We here at I Heart Art: San Francisco have been in cahoots with Vanessa at Etsy for a while now, talking about what a wonderful opportunity this is to get the Bay Area together for some good ol' crafty fun.

While right now Tammy & I are working on scouting an event big enough for our Craft Party, we'd love to extend an invitation to ALL of the SF Etsy Team & their friends to sign up to come & craft with us on June 10th!

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Send us love notes (comments / questions) via email. 

and 

Keep Up with I Heart Art: San Francisco via our Newsletter

What's New with I Heart Art: SF - Leadership Council Call!

There's a whole lot of action going on behind the scenes here at I Heart Art: San Francisco & we're letting you in on it! Here's the second installment of our group of three "What's New?" posts:

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I Heart Art: SF wants YOU!

We'd LOVE to have you!
[Image from SF Etsy Member ChristinaWilliams]

That's right, folks! We all know that Rome wasn't built in a day! We need lots of help to get I Heart Art: San Francisco up & running like we'd all like to see it run. That's where YOU come in!

In the other incarnations of I Heart Art, there have been Leadership Councils to give direction to how the initiative was going to impact their cities. We'd like to form a Leadership Council of our very own in San Francisco. But first we'd like to know a little more about you!

If you're interested in being part of the I Heart Art: San Francisco Leadership Council, please fill out this form by Monday, May 1st, 2011. Tammy & I will be taking a week to review the applications & will get back to you all with our newly-formed Leadership Council by the following Monday, May 8th!

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Would you like to help out & support I Heart Art: SF in another way? We're always looking for volunteers! We'd love to hear from you. You can email us with your ideas &/or sign up for our newsletter to get started!

What's New with I Heart Art: SF - Co-Chairs

There's a whole lot of action going on behind the scenes here at I Heart Art: San Francisco! And by that I mean, I'm going to start letting you all in on that action. In a series of three posts, of course! :) Here's the first of the group:

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WAY TO CO-CHAIR!

Meet Tammy George
I Heart Art: San Francisco's new Co-Chair!

Tammy George has been an artist for as long as she can remember & that passion drives her to want to help people in the Bay Area to connect with one another over something meaningful: ART!

With experience in fields ranging from general merchandise buyer for retail boutiques, managing teams of 80+ employees, attending FIDM for both fashion and interior design , workshop leader and Color (un)Therory enthusiast, I feel that Tammy is just what this initiative needs to get going in the right direction.

Looks for more posts by Tammy about our coordinated efforts for getting I Heart Art: San Francisco events happening in the Bay Area!

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AND...

Steph Cortés
Co-Chair of I Heart Art: San Francisco

Tammy was sweet enough to bring up that you all need to meet the OTHER Co-Chair! hehe

Aside from constantly giving into the geekiest of impulses, Steph Cortés has been enjoying being in leadership positions from the age of 14. With experiences as a Team Leader in Jumpstart with Americorps, Sales Manager for a flagship retail establishment & even a "Sandwich Artist" Assistant Manager, she loves to help other people get to where they want to be.

Upon entering the craft show circuit in June 2010, Steph instantly loved all the people she met in the SF artist scene & hungered for more! She helped out with recruiting for Market SF & went on to help organize SF Etsy's last show, Winter Wonderland Craft Bazaar at Urban Bazaar.

Recently accepting a position in the SF Etsy Leadership Team, Steph volunteered to lead up the I Heart Art: San Francisco initiative because of her enthusiasm for all things surrounding the local craft community. When the opportunity to connect tons of local crafters, artists, institutions & organizations presented itself, it's no wonder she was stoked!

Feel free to chat her up about I Heart ART: SF or general nerdity in an email.

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Got questions, comments & ideas? Contact the I Heart Art: SF Co-Chairs here! Or stay connected with what's going on by signing up for our newsletter.

Come Talk Etsy & I Heart Art: SF -- Etsy Meet Up April 2nd

Have you heard about Etsy's I Heart Art? They started in Portland and have since expanded the program to Baltimore. We're excited to announce I Heart Art: San Francisco might be next!

That's right -- Etsy has asked the SF Etsy Street Team if we are interested in exploring what I Heart Art: San Francisco might look like. And of course we said YES. With San Francisco's strong Etsy team presence, rich cultural resources, and enormously talented population of crafters and artists, it seems a natural fit.

We're delighted to share that team leader Steph (of nerd JERK fame) will be working closely with team captain Jen (the Mama in Mama's Magic Studio) to lead up the program as we think about how we might turn possibilities into realities. We also have a strong planning committee in the works and with a big project like this we look forward to involving as many SF Etsians and local folks as we can.

I Heart Art is the kind of program that morphs to suit the needs of each community, but at the heart of I Heart Art is finding ways to connect and support artists, crafters, and DIY folks. It's all about creating opportunities and supporting creativity within the local context. Exciting, huh?

To give you a taste of what I Heart Art has looked like in other cities, check out this awesome video from one of  I Heart Art: Portland's Mixer Match - where speed-dating & networking collide by connecting crafters/artists with local businesses/wholesalers:

Mixer Match: Round One from I Heart Art: Portland on Vimeo.

Want to learn more? Come join us on April 2nd from 5-7 pm at MOCFA for an Etsy and SF Etsy Meet Up to talk about I Heart Art and other topics of interest to the Etsy community. We'd like an accurate head count for planning purposes, so please RSVP here if you can join us.

Questions? Leave us a comment and we'll do our best to get you an answer.

Hope to see you there!