There is always a lot of buzz about Fresno's art scene, which is truly awesome, hence the buzz. However, I am not an artist- I'll leave that territory up to the folks who are able to draw a straight line and I'll just go and admire their talent at Art Hop. I'm a crafter, so I'd like to take a few moments to share about the awesome environment for crafty folk like myself here in town.For the longest time I would only think to go to specialty yarn shops while traveling out of town- it never hit me that there might be local yarn stores just as well stocked with unique yarns as those along the coast. Then I stepped into Janna's Needle Art at Fresno and Shaw. Gorgeous yarn wall to wall, people in the back working on projects and love for fiber arts through and through. Not much later, I was walking through the Tower District and realized that I'd walked by a yarn shop hundreds of times without knowing it was a yarn shop. Ancient Pathways is not just a yarn shop, though. You can learn how to spin your own yarn, buy yarn that is locally crafted and hand dyed, and become part of a real crafting community.
Recently Twee, a brick and mortar store of handmade goods, opened up in Tower. Only a few steps away from Ancient Pathways, Twee specializes in all things cute and local. They operate on a 60/40 consignment basis, 60 to the artist, and provide an alternative to Etsy and other internet sites for local crafters to peddle their wares.
Speaking of Etsy, this fall I found out about the Fresno Etsy Especial group, a band of Etsy sellers located here in the city who joined forces to make awesome things happen such as the Cirque Du Noel, a handmade bazaar that took place in December.
There are also tons of places you can go for beads, scrapbooking, stamps, and all kinds of DIY projects- I know I'm missing a lot in here. I'd love for you Fresno crafters who are in the know to leave those places and their locations in the comments so I can just go out and find more and more things to love about being a crafty lady in Fresno.
(Photograph taken by me of my bag of goodies I bought tonight at Twee. Yes, your vision is great- that IS a City of Fresno flag necklace, $10. They have magnets, too!)
You're right the crafting community in Fresno is pretty cool. In addition to local yarn shops, there is also locals dyeing and distributing that yarn. That includes my wife's business Anzula. You can find her online along with the shops that carry her product at http://www.anzula.etsy.com
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point here. However you sell yourself and others like you short. This is also art. I cherish all the lovely things passed down to me from ladies in my life.
ReplyDeleteFresno is a very crafty place. I try to do my part in making it even craftier. There is a third yarn shop, Swatches, by Gazebo Gardens. All three yarn shops are pretty great.
ReplyDeleteArcHop- Oh wow, the name sounded familiar- I've admired Anzula yarn before, it is beautiful. I should pick some up and make something special.
ReplyDeleteVincent- Thanks, and I do agree, the line does get blurred quite often between arts and crafts!
Sabrina- I didn't know there was one there, this is almost too exciting... I think that I'll be definitely making some yarn shopping trips this week...
Our yarnies are great! Swatches is a great little yarn shop too! We are lucky to have so many great yarn shops to support our habits!
ReplyDeleteAnd with so much local flavor like Pink J Handbags(shameless plug!) and Botanic Gifts- amazing terrariums (at The Market) and original greeting cards- availabe at Twee great a unique item from Fresno is the perfect gift!