"Theeeere's aaaa place for us..."

Right now my husband and I are looking for an apartment in LA. On occasion, one of us will spontaneously burst into that song from West Side Story ("...Somewhere a place for us..."), just to irritate each other. It can be deliciously annoying, with just the right volume and timbre!

As we are seeing first-hand, city living tends to equal cramped quarters. And crafters need space. After spending days on end doing nothing but look for an apartment with a good studio space (neglecting Eleventy and pretty much everything else!) ... I discovered The Urban Craft Center. This genius place is the answer to every creative city-dweller's wish for a space to work. Well, at least every Santa-Monica-and-surrounding-area-dweller.

They just opened in November, and already they seem to be generating some buzz. My friend Megan was the first person to tell me about it. She gave me a flyer last weekend, and I put it on my list of things to check out. Then another friend sent me a link this morning from Daily Candy LA, and I thought, alright I gotta get down there!

I just stopped by for a visit, and now I can see why people are talking. It's ideal. Big tables, lots of supplies you can borrow, and a whole wall of books to inspire you. They also have a little shop with materials for sale. Very handy if you're in the middle of something and you realize you need an extra yard of fabric or something. They also have classes on all sorts of crafts. I plan to take several (and maybe teach a few if they'll let me!). They have different membership levels, or you can just try it out on an hourly basis.

I think that this place has the potential to fill a big need for local crafters. Not just by offering studio space, but by being a physical location for crafters to call "home base." It's funny how in such a physical medium, so much of the network that connects folks only exists online, through blogs and websites like Etsy. Those things are fantastic, but we all know how a JPEG can only say so much. I'm so excited to see what happens with the Urban Craft Center, and I hope to be involved however I can. If you live somewhere else with a comparable outfit, please post it in the comments section and get the word out! And if not ... start one!

Here's some more pictures of The Urban Craft Center , located on Main Street in Santa Monica. (Very cool website, by the way...funny how we use similar lines in our design!)