Visiting Etsy Lab in Brooklyn, NY!

I hope everyone had a very good New Year's Eve and that 2012 will be a healthy happy year for all! 

DUMBO -  "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass"

I wanted to show you a fun evening that a friend and I had before Christmas in the Etsy headquarters located at 55 Washington Street in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn.  The Etsy website is the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace for handmade articles made by independent sellers, as well as vintage article and craft supply sellers.

Etsy hosts free weekly craft nights in their Etsy Lab in Suite 712 (7th floor) in the same building as their headquarters.

A friend and I were here to attend a workshop being sponsored by Simplicity to show us how to make felted ornaments from roving, yarn and other scrap fabrics.

Michele Muska from Simplicity Creative Group was demonstrating one of the six deluxe 12 needle felting machines Simplicity was donating to Etsy Labs.  The machines can work with one to twelve barbed needles at once, enabling fabrics to mesh together to create new color and texture combinations . It requires no threading or sewing.  You can watch a video on how the machine works on the Simplicity web site here, or you can watch the video below of Michele as she demonstrated the machine in the Etsy lab:

Watch live streaming video from etsy at livestream.com

We admired Michele's beautiful felted examples, some of which you can see in the photo collage above, and then got to work to try out the machine and make our own.  My first attempt can be seen in the lower right corner of the photo collage. I combined different colors and shapes of felt and yarn to make a Christmas tree shape ornament. The machine was fun and easy to use and I saw some beautiful creations being made by the more talented artists around me.

I have to admit I also enjoyed watching the subway trains passing by on the Manhattan Bridge right outside the Lab's window, and my friend enjoyed perusing the large collection of craft books on the Etsy bookshelves. We also had a nice time chatting with the different workshop attendees and seeing examples of past craft night projects.

Thanks Etsy and Michelle -- we really enjoyed the class and made a vow that it would not be our last one.  Etsy Lab is closed for the month of January, but will be open afterward with a whole new program of fun classes and events. Etsy is always full of good craft ideas -- check out their blog's idea pages, and of course they have the most wonderful variety of handmade crafts made by independent artisans for sale on their website.

When we departed the workshop night had descended and the bridge was glowing in its spotlights.

Brooklyn's view of Manhattan at night is a beautiful one, especially on a misty night when the lights are soft and dreamy.

Make sure to come back for my next post where I'll show you a ethereal view of the Statue of Liberty I saw earlier that same day -- it was stunning!

I'm linking to the following blog events:

Mosaic Monday

Our World Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday

Many thanks to all the blog hosts!