Holy smokes, the Criminal Crafts book launch is less two weeks away, how is this possible? To say that I'm stoked to share fabulous projects with my friends, is the understatement of the year. My partners in crime and I are lining up a number of unique and maniacal events each a special trip into the dark abyss of the craft world. I've just added a handy event page on this blog along with a calendar which has more detailed info on all these crazy shenanigans... First and foremost we're going to celebrate with a 21+ event to toast with flaming cocktails, come Get Lit With Criminal Crafts at the Someday Lounge. We'll be getting our berserker freak on with featured drinks from the book- Atomic Cherry Bombs, Mug Shots and my favorite Flaming Amy which has a whole mess of rum and charred effigy of my nemesis flailing on top for a garnish. The amazing Miss Karen from the Someday is whipping up some snacks for us, I've got a book excerpts to read and as a special treat, resident historian Doug Kenck Crispin of Kick Ass Oregon History will be giving us the lowdown on Portland's criminal past.
Friday the 13th is the Official Criminal Crafts Book Launch and Signing at Bridge City Comics . While some folks might consider this date as a most auspicious harbinger of bad things to come, I think it compliments the malicious intent of the book and is the perfect time to get out and tempt fate. I'll be demonstrating a couple evil crafts from the book and giving out prizes for hard luck stories. In order to compete, you'll need to bring along a written tale of bad luck, while these antidotes should be based in fact, I'm a big fan of embellishments, so if you've got to lie to win, I'm not going to hold it against you, we're friends for a reason, right? This is an all ages event, which is just the excuse my kiddos need to stock up on back issues of Tiny Titans- Aw man!
At the end of the month I'm doubly delighted to be doing a signing and event with the amazingly talented craft writer, Susan Beal at one of my favorite haunts, Murder By the Book. The afternoon's theme is Depraved Writing, which seems perfect for a mystery book store- we'll have craft demonstrations of invisible ink and ransom note kits and Susan is bringing her Coraline Mystery Sewing Box from her super awesome book World of Geekcraft .
Though it's not one of the conditions of my parole, I am trying to work off some of my extraordinarily large over-due fees and have signed up to do four workshops with the Multnomah County Library on how to How to Hide Things in a Book. I've been lucky enough to do a presentation with them in the past and they are lots of fun, free and you get to take something cool home with you in the end. You'll need to pre-register for these as space is limited. Along with your hand made literary treasure chest, I'll also have a reading list of some of my favorite books to accompany the craft... Shawshank Redemption of course being at the top. Workshop dates are May 9th, 13th, 23rd and June 9th.
Also in May I'll be doing a signing and craft demo at Powells Cedar Hills Crossing. This is a great chance for my friends who live on the other side of the mountain to have some quality time at making mischief. They have a fantastic craft book section and true crime stories too so I'm guessing I'll be leaving with an armload of books, a happy beast of burden!
And because I'm a party glutton, there's a whole mess of other fun stuff coming up including a Noir Night, crafting after dark with SCRAP and sampling Upright Brewing's Criminal Crafts beer around town. More info on this fun coming soon.