Inside the Studio, Outside the Box

We're moving and you are going to love the new Studios!

 

As so many of you know, we have been struggling with making the space of our small Studio work for quite some time. Finally, we have found a place to really spread our wings and be able to cater to even more of your needs and desires!

Our new location will have not one, but TWO dedicated classrooms/studios! We will have a Sewing Studio with machines and cutting tables ready for use all the time and lots of space to spread out! We will also have a Fiber Studio where we will be able to hold our knitting/crochet classes, handwork classes and other future fiber art classes. In addition to the 2 classrooms/studios, we have plenty of space for you to come and relax or meet a group of friends to sit and stitch together! And yes, we will be bringing in couches again!

There are so many exciting things that are going to happen now that we have the space, my head is spinning!! There is so much work that we have to get done in the next couple weeks that I have to keep this brief....I can't wait for you to see the new space! Stay tuned for more information. Meanwhile....HAPPY MOTHER"S DAY to all the Moms out there!

 

 

Thank you Cascade Yarns!

Look at the great prizes that Cascade sent to support our raffle for Yarn Crawl L.A! And check out who won. Maybe it was you!

 

Tracey Lichter        Beverly Pitts

Diana Williams        Yvonne Jongeling

Kai Ellis        LaJuan Smith

Kami Sunde         Karen May

Jared Baker        Michelle Maxfield 

Ruth Seid        Wendy Soldano

We have emailed/called the winners, but if you know any of the lucky ones be a friend and let them know that they won (just in case they don't read their email).

~A 

We have been hard at work

Well, Leslie has. Look at the cute project bags she made!

"What?", you ask are they for...Let me tell you:

These will be used for kits specially designed just for Yarn Crawl L.A.! Check back this weekend to see what will be inside...you won't want to miss these; there are a very limited amount!

Before I forget, we've updated our Yarn Crawl Page to include our special hours you can check it out here.

See you soon,

~A

Remember me?...

...I haven't forgotten you, although it probably seems like it! I wish I could give some fabulous story as to why I haven't faithfully updated you on all the news here, but I just can't. So all I can do is hope you forgive me and we can all pretend that I haven't ignored the blog for oh, six months. I won't do it again. I promise. (Now I sound like my kids!)

Whew! Now that that's out of the way. I have LOTS to share! (so as not to make this post too long I will do it pieces)

First off, we're not moving. Many of you are keenly aware that we are growing and were in need of more space. After an earnest search I wasn't able to find another location that would work for us at this time. Consequently,  we've made some big changes in the Studio to make the space better suited for our growing business. We hope that you like the new space as much as we do!

Second, the Yarn Crawl is only a week away! Haven't heard of the first ever L.A. County Yarn Crawl?? Well, let me get you caught up on the newest local coolness!

 

Thursday, April 12 - Sunday, April 15, 2012

Imagine the perfect Southern California weekend.... Beautiful spring weather, great friends, your needles, hooks & yarns. Add to that a special invitation from dozens of LA County LYSs to visit & browse, enter to win great prizes, learn a skill, and pick up some great yarns, patterns and supplies.  Hang out with yarn-lovers, meet-up with your internet friends and discover local yarn shops you've always wanted to visit.

Pile your friends in the car, and visit as many participating shops as you can. At each store, have your passport stamped to win great prizes from your favorite yarn companies.  Check store pages for individual shop hours.

From Santa Monica to Santa Clarita, from Claremont to Long Beachand every square mile in between, your LA County LYS's are putting on a yarn party just for you.

You can find more information and a full list of participating stores as well as a link to download your Passport for the crawl here.

We are putting the finishing touches on all the fun things we are planning for the Crawl. Make sure you check back here or here to get up to the date info on all the cool happenings!

Meet you back here soon!

~A

We have winners!

I Love Yarn Day was a lot of fun! We had customers celebrating with us throughout the day. It was great to see so many get together in the name of yarn. I'm sorry there aren't more pictures, I wasn't feeling so hot and had to bow out early. But we did hold our drawing and here are the prizes the lucky winners are receiving.

Congratulations to Eileen, Gloria and Pat A. Your gifts are waiting for you at the Studio!

~A

Today is

The Craft Yarn Council has declared today as "I love Yarn Day" so we thought we'd celebrate accordingly.

Stop by the Studio today for raffles, stitching, fun, extended hours and a chance to be the first to check out our newest luxury yarns - can you say 100% Cashmere?

The festivities start at 11:00 and go throughout the day until 9:00. So grab your yarn (or use today as an excuse to get your hands on some yummy new yarn), needles or hooks and even a friend and come on in. We'll revel in our love of yarn together!

~A

Guess what came in today

 

 

Manos del Uraguay

Oh man are the colors beautiful...and the yarn, SO soft! We have brought in many of their lines:

Serena (baby alpaca & cotton)

Maxima (soft & squishy merino wool)

Silk Blend (merino wool & silk)

Lace (baby alpaca, silk, & cashmere)

All are hand-dyed, with the artisan's signature on the tag. For those of you that don't know the story of Manos, here's a quick explanation from their website.

Manos’s mission is to eradicate poverty through sustainable economic development, pioneering social and environmental policy and practice, and continual reinvestment in marginalized artisans, farmers and producer communities.

I am really happy to finally get this yarn in, not only is the yarn itself wonderful, but what they stand for is inspiring and I want to be a part of that too.

All for now,

~A

They say the only constant is change.

I think some of you think that's my personal motto....you maybe right. I don't mean for things to change as often as they do, but it does simply because I am bent on making the Studio THE place for you all to enjoy. To me the Studio is like a second home that I am always having guest over to - I want it to be just right for all my guests. I think we are very close! I only see a couple of tiny changes left that have to be made.

I am excited by the way the Studio has come together. I appreciate all the patience and good wishes you've all given me as we transitioned from the original multi-craft studio to primarily a LYS. I think we have struck a good balance between classes (for both kids & adults), events, retail space, studio space and needle arts & sewing.  If you think there is something that we can improve on, please let me know. I do welcome any feedback.

The journey over the last year and a half has been wonderful and exciting and I can only hope that the years to come are going to be just as wonderful! I have the opportunity to meet new people each and every day and am lucky enough to get to share my passions with them and honored that they want to spend their time with us and share their passions too. Knitting and Sewing are such communal hobbies and as corny as it may sound; in today's world I am so very happy that there are so many of you that want to share the sense of community that both arts inspire.

All for now. See you soon,

~A

It's Official

We're a KNIT SHOP!

Well, is it ever that simple with me?? Our primary focus is on yarn, knitting & crochet classes as well as the ever growing sense of community that we're developing (think Cheers). Our secondary focus is on sewing & quilting classes. We will continue to bring in more fabric to support our sewers.

Here's a peek at how Studio looks now that we've been able to clear out the papercrafting inventory.

 

 

 

 

Make sure you stop by often as we still have several shipments due from Plymouth Yarns & Interweave. We will also be bringing in some favorite brands of our customers, like Rowan, Blue Sky Alpaca & Schaffer to name a few. In addition to even more yarn, we've more than doubled our book & pattern inventory AND are in the process of ordering buttons and shawl pins and other accessories that you'll be sure to drool over!

Something else that is very near and dear to my heart is being able to pass on the tradition of these arts to young crafters. We have developed several classes for children that allow them the chance to learn many of our favorite hand-work activities. You can check out all of our classes and events coming up here.

See you soon!

~A

 

Spring is full of happy changes

Nature is busy going through beautiful changes and so are we!

We all know that change happens and it seems that the most anticipated change happens in the spring. So it seems only fitting to announce this now… Creative U Studios will be focusing on our growing Fiber Arts community along with Sewing classes as well as our popular kids’ classes.

This decision didn't come lightly and although my first love is papercrafting I believe this is the right path for the Studio. Lucky for papercrafters in this valley we have plenty of shopping destinations. We are looking forward to really being able to focus on what has very quickly become my favorite craft - Knitting. (Well, we'll be bringing in even more yarn, which can be used for all kinds of Fiber Arts.)

Keep your eye on us as we perfect our vision and your experience at the Studio. We'll be adding more classes, products, patterns & books.

Some people avoid change, for me personally I have always embraced and looked forward to it. I hope that you all see the changes in the Studio in the same light as I do – exciting and fresh!

See you soon,

Amanda