Since our opening in October 2010, Paper Crane has grown and evolved into a great source for art and handmade goods. We’ve hosted many amazing events and helped emerging artists show and sell their work in our gallery and store. We opened a print shop, now the Bloomington Print Collective, which has fully taken over the space with great success. We have been a collective and volunteer-run organization, which has proved to be a struggle, but big changes are underway!
The Paper Crane handmade shop will be merging with Anatomy Vintage gradually over the next month. Located at 116 S. Grant (the little building behind Soma,) Anatomy has quickly become one of Bloomington’s best places to shop for vintage. Paper Crane’s modern handmade goods are a great compliment to the attire Anatomy offers, and we think this move will lead to more success for the handmade wares that we have to offer. While we will be dropping the Paper Crane name, we will continue to sell many of the wares that we were selling in our previous shop, with an aim to always keep a fresh rotation of art and craft that fit our vision. Gallery shows will cease until we are one day able to move to a bigger space.
Anatomy will be open 6 days a week, all day, so you will have more opportunities to shop, and in a much easier location to find!
We hope to have a “grand opening” of sorts soon, so please stay tuned to find out more info.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement,
Sally Harless
Paper Crane co-founder and handmade shop coordinator
Anatomy Handmade Manager

Paper Crane is having a $10 Art Show!

Saturday, February 18, 8pm-10pm

This is a fundraiser to help us re-open in a new space this spring. We’re looking for donated artwork or handmade items to be featured in our show. Donations can be sketches, misprints, framed pieces, unframed pieces, jewelry, plush, knitted things, sewn things, ANYTHING HANDMADE! The sky is the limit!

All pieces will be for sale for $10 and all proceeds will go towards helping us re-open and keep the handmade movement alive in Bloomington! Send an email to papercranegalleryATgmail.com if you want to donate something.

DJ Eric Harvey will be presiding.

Admission is FREE. 18+.

Happy Holidays!

As part of my new job at Paper Crane and in preparing for the holiday season, I will be highlighting an artist whose work is represented at Paper Crane each week throughout the season.

This week I’m honored to introduce you to Michele Warble, aka Busty, of Busty’s Fun Bags out of Indianapolis, IN.

Busty Sanchez. The name sound familiar? It might if you’re familiar with one of the founding members of the Naptown Roller Girls, Michelle Warble. I’m sure we can all imagine why Michelle’s chosen Derby name was Busty Sanchez, but we’ll leave that for another article, in the meantime, we’re going to focus on what came after Busty Sanzhez, her second incarnation if you will; Busty’s Fun Bags.

Growing up close to her grandparents in Shelby County and taking part in the annual Pioneer Craft Fair that her family would help to put on, Michelle has always been a natural creative. From stained glass projects to jewelry and weaving, Michelle has tried her hand at (almost) it all.  But it wasn’t until she retired from the Naptown Roller Girls that Michelle busted out the borrowed sewing machine to try and fashion herself a bag. Armed with her 7th grade home ec skills and a pattern she set to work. A bag was made. And then many more, for friends, for family, for roller girls I’m sure. And then, Busty’s Fun Bags was born.

Busty’s bags are a colorful mix of hipster meets Rainbow Brite. Her bags are super modern and versatile- crafted from mostly cotton, vinyl, and felt – and feel amazing. Geometric patterns and lines of varying angles grace the fronts of her bags creating depth and interest, as well as giving the bag not only that one of a kind feel, but also that splash of color we all want to have with our accessories. And if bags aren’t your style, Busty has wallets for you that are soft to the touch, versatile, stylish, modern and easy on the . . . wallet.

By day Michelle toils away at a consumer products company on their Paper Crafting (scrapbooking) line, but by night Busty is busy in her home studio, Lovingly dubbed ‘the sweatshop’, where she designs and creates her masterpieces. When she’s not being held captive by her sewing machine you can find her speaking Spanish while riding her Vespa. Ok, well, not really. But, she does speak fluent Spanish and is a card carrying member of a Scooter Club!

Busty’s Fun Bags of all shapes and sizes, including wallets for your fella, are available at Paper Crane Handmade Store. Paper Crane is open Fri. 2-8, Sat. 10-4, and Sun 12-5.

As part of my new job at Paper Crane and in preparing for the holiday season, I will be highlighting an artist whose work is represented at Paper Crane each week throughout the season.

This week I’m honored to introduce you to Martha Latta; the woman, the brawns, the brain behind Sunday Afternoon Housewife.

Six degrees of separation are too many degrees when you’re talking about the craft world and craft mafioso Martha Latta: founding foremother of Sunday Afternoon Housewife. The woman knows everyone, and everyone knows her, and if you don’t, you’re missing out- that’s all I have to say. Why should you know Martha? Well, for starters, she’s been running Sunday Afternoon Housewife in some incarnation or another since late 2004. Secondly, she’s also the brains behind the Indy craft shows aptly named “Handmade Promenade” that set up shop next to other big and local happenings in the area and bring art to the masses. Thirdly, she writes an awesomely cool blog with loads of great information for crafter, artist, and business-person. And last, but certainly not least, she’s just a super cool gal.

While Sunday Afternoon Housewife started as a “kitschy, home-printed zine that focused on local music, gross old gelatin recipes, crafting, and housekeeping” the business has grown into something of a household name. SAH creates Scrabble Tile Pendants for just about every holiday, event, theme, animal, literary device, or saying. You want it on a Scrabble Tile, I’m betting Martha can make it for you!

But, that’s not all. SAH is growing every day. Most recently Martha created “Indie Loves Indy” – a line of t-shirts (and now hoodies) featuring zip codes of favorite Indianapolis zip codes, showcasing Indiana Love in the best way we know how; right on our chests! I bet you’re thinking, “Well, I’m in Bloomington shopping at Paper Crane, I don’t need an Indy zip code to represent,” and you’re right. And so, Martha created for us our very own zip code to flaunt and fashion with the best of em. Don’t live in Indy OR Bloomington? Well, how about some general IN Love?

Really, if you think about it, Martha is anything but a Sunday afternoon housewife these days. What, with the busy-ness of running a home business, creating pendants and screen-printing her own t-shirt line, not to mention hosting Handmade Promenade events all over Indy and recently opening up a Pop-Up Shop for the month of December at the Art Bank on Mass Ave. About the only thing house-wifey about Martha is her Love of vodka drinks, her five cats and two dogs, and the bees she keeps with her husband with the help of fellow artists Lori and Nich.  But we won’t hold it against her, now will we?

Sunday Afternoon Housewife wares are available at Paper Crane Handmade Store on shelves and hangers in the form of scrabble tile pendant necklaces and her Indie Loves Indy line specially made for Bloomington area code 812.

Paper Crane is open Fri. 2-8, Sat. 10-4, and Sun 12-5.

As part of my new job at Paper Crane and in preparing for the holiday season, I will be highlighting an artist whose work is represented at Paper Crane each week throughout the season.

This week I’m honored to introduce you to Melissa Carter, graphic designer by day, woodworker by night of CASEmethod.

When one happens upon Melissa Carter’s CASEmethod booth at an art fair you kind of just stop, look around to see where you are, and then bask in the simplicity and modernity of her wooden jewelry displayed on copper piping. Well, I know I did. I came upon CASEmethod’s table for the first time two years ago at an INDIEana Handicraft Exchange winter event held where the Indy Winter Farmer’s Market calls home. CASEmethod was unlike any jewelry I’d ever set eyes on before, it was jewelry I would personally not only buy, but wear myself.  Why? Well, the answer is simple. Melissa’s wooden jewelry blurs the line between male and female, modern and traditional, simple and elegant because it’s all of these things at once. And it;s crafted from wood.

Growing up Melissa remembers watching her father in his workshop often working with wood and dreaming of doing so herself. After not being able to find jewelry that fit her own aesthetic out and about, she started crafting her own style of wooden rings, and once she had too many for even one person to handle, she created CASEmethod.

When asked where her namesake (CASEmethod) derives from, Melissa answers “CASEmethod comes from a graphic design mentor in my college days. He told me it’s the secret to good design – copy and steal everything, or “C.A.S.E. method.” However, clearly Melissa simply uses this as her namesake and instead looks for inspiration in everything around her as her line of wooden jewelry is truly one of a kind.

“Sugar, spice and sawdust – that’s what this girl is made of.” But she’s more than just that. Melissa also finds comfort in her vegetarian lifestyle, crossword puzzles, and her lime green 1978 Honda Express moped that she rides when the weather is warm.

CASEmethod wares are available at Paper Crane Handmade Store in the form of awesome wooden belt buckles and cuff links and beautiful wooden hoop earrings. Paper Crane is open Fri. 2-8, Sat. 10-4, and Sun 12-5.

“Fade to Black” is an homage to the dark palette and beautiful gray tones created in black and gray tattoo work and black ink lithography. The two media, when done at a high level give deep, rich, and silky transitions between the tonal variations within the gray-scale. With this body of work I attempt to achieve similar tonal variations through different media and applications while still holding true to these sources.

By removing the color from my usually color full work I also create a darker visual mood. This mood for me is inspired by the onset of another Midwest winter. With it comes shorter colder days and deeper darker human emotions. As a boy growing up in Southern California, I rarely was stung by the bitter cold of a long winter.  Over the last few years I have been learning to embrace what comes with this season. This year I chose to draw inspiration from this darkness and attempt to create something rich and beautiful. I hope you enjoy “Fade to Black”

- Jeremy Sweet

To view more of Jeremy’s work, visit www.jeremysweet.com

Opening Reception: Friday, December 2, 7pm-11pm

Exhibition Dates: December 2-January 1

As part of my new job at Paper Crane and in preparing for the holiday season, I will be highlighting an artist whose work is represented at Paper Crane each week throughout the season.

This week I’m honored to introduce you to Sandy Baker of Mythdemeanor; steampunk clothing for every day life.

Sandy Baker. What can I say? Really, what is there to say? The girl makes me laugh, the girl makes me cry, the girl snuggles with the best of them with her little 5′ something” frame and is a burlesque dancer to boot. Seriously, what is there not to Love about Sandy Baker? Well, I’ll tell you what their is to Love, and that’s her awesome clothing line that she shares with her partner in crime Taryn; Mythdemeanor. And luckily, she shares that clothing line with us at Paper Crane too!

Coming from a family of reenactors Sandy spent the days of her youth dressed in historical garb and getting lost in the fantasy and history of it all. Clearly that history has influenced her design aesthetic in more than one way; from her bustles to her corsets, it’s clear that Sandy Baker marches to the beat of a different kind of drummer . . . err, maybe a different kind of instrument altogether!

In college Sandy studied costume design, but felt stifled by the rules and regulations of creating historical costume garb. She wanted to make things outside of the box, she wanted to go all willy nilly with the crazy and create fun and wacky clothing that hearkened back to the good old days of her reenactment times, but also had a flare for the modern, the colorful, and the silly. Thus, Mythdemeanor was born.  Now Sandy specializes in all kinds of creative endeavors from screen-printing original designs onto ties and t-shirts to piecing together one of a kind custom costume designs (like my favorite: Leeloo from the movie Fifth Element).

When Sandy isn’t crafting for Mythdemeanor and traveling around the midwestern states peddling her outrageous wares to the unknowing populace, you can find her still knee deep in needles and pins, working as a seamstress for a local alterations shop. If she’s not there, she’s likely coloring her hair another wacky color (it hasn’t been its natural color since junior high!) or gearing up for a Burlesque show with the Bloomington Burlesque Brigade as the one, the only, Rose Hips.

Mythdemeanor wares are available at Paper Crane Handmade Store in the form of Sandy’s famous Oppenheimer t’s and her steampunk inspired silk-screneed ties in variations of gears. Paper Crane is open Fri. 2-8, Sat. 10-4, and Sun 12-5.