Central highlands Kon Tum province has been allocated with VND115 million (US $7,200 ) to provide traditional craft training for ethnic people under the Industry Ministry’s plan to promote industries in 2006.

From now to the year’s end, the Kon Tum Centre for Industry Promotion will coordinate with the Central Highlands Brocade Weaving Cooperative to organise two courses on brocade weaving for about 100 young ethnic people in Kon Tum town and Sa Thay district. Read more…

SEVERAL patrons visiting the Grand Market at CARIFESTA IX have expressed their pleasure with the display of the Barbados stall, which features textiles, condiments, handicraft, hand-painted ceramic figurines, basketry and jewellery, among other items. Chief Cultural Officer with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), Andrea Wells, said the booth had been ably co-ordinated by Cultural Officer, Special Projects, Ashanti Trotman, ably assisted by Ms. Undine Rouse of the Barbados Crafts Council (BCC). According to her, there was a very stringent process of selection of the items which are on display in the boot at CARIFESTA IX. For several years, the things we have done for the development of the craft sector have been done in collaboration with the BCC. What we did was send out letters to the general craft community, and once work was submitted which reached the required standard, we agreed to take it to represent craft in Barbados, she said. Miss Wells opined that CARIFESTA was not only about promoting the arts of Barbados in an effort to create a greater demand for them. She said, It is also exposing our artists to a wider community of artists and getting them to share experiences, exchange Read more…

US video game powerhouse Electronic Arts (EA) announced deals to craft updatable advertising into software for games made for personal computers and Xbox 360 consoles.

Microsoft subsidiary Massive Incorporated will build “dynamic ads” into EA titles, beginning with a car racing game titled “Need for Speed Carbon,” the companies said in a release.

Independent in-game advertising network IGA Worldwide will design similar ads into the yet-to-be-released futuristic war game Battlefield 2142 and other titles, according to EA. Read more…

Craft Show at Marlborough Senior Center
MARLBOROUGH - The Friends of the Marlborough Senior Center plan a Craft Show at the Marlborough Senior Center on Saturday, Nov. 18.
Spaces are available for $15 and the first 15 spaces will get free tables. Call Judy at 508-485-0785 for more information or for an application.
Horatio Alger Street Fair
MARLBOROUGH - Horatio Alger Street Fair is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 1, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with continuous family entertainment, Chowder Fest, pre-fair road race, Farmer’s Market, food court, truck fair and other activities. Main Street will be closed to vehicular traffic from Florence Street to Bolton Street during the fair. Read more…

New facilities, a craft fair and fall foliage all make this a good time of year to pay a visit to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate.

The craft fair, which features a recreation of an 18th-century marketplace with costumed re-enactors, will be held at Mount Vernon on Sept. 16-17. Activities include craft demonstrations, family entertainment and sightseeing cruises on the Potomac River.

Two new visitor facilities, the Ford Orientation Center and the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, open Oct. 27. The Ford center offers an action-adventure movie on Washington’s life, and “Mount Vernon in Miniature,” a 1/12 scale exact replica of Washington’s home, which gives visitors a bird’s-eye view of the mansion. Read more…

At first glance, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards looked like any other glitzy Hollywood awards show.

The Shrine Auditorium swarmed with guests in tuxedos and fancy gowns. There was a parade of limousines and the red carpet was flanked with photographers.

But there was hardly a star in sight.

Saturday night’s Creative Arts Emmys honored television’s behind-the-scenes workers — the makeup artists, casting directors, sound editors, set designers and others who bring TV shows to life. Read more…

The Seton Society is holding a midsummer craft fair and flea market on Saturday, August 19, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Fryeburg.
People can come and browse through the indoor fair or the outdoor market, discovering great deals and some surprising finds. Anyone with items to sell can also take part in the outdoor flea market.
The regular fair is held in the church hall, offering crafts, craft supplies, books, baked goods, jewelry, attic treasures and a new addition, Lorie’s Second Chance Boutique.
Coffee and doughnuts, hot dogs and soft drinks are also available.
Rental for an outdoor space of 10-by-10 is $15 and can be used to display arts, crafts or yard sale items. Call Claire at (207) 452-2187 for details. Space is alloted in the order in which reservations are received.

Fall is just around the corner and organizers are gearing up for the 3rd Annual Autumn Harvest Craft Show slated Sept. 29-30 at Tri County Technology Center.

Applications are being accepted for vendors of arts, crafts, antiques and quilts for the two-day inside juried show. A portion of the vendor fees will benefit the Tri County Technology Center Endowment Fund to help students better their futures. Applications are available on-line at www.tctc.org/about/AutumnHarvest.php, by calling 918-331-3256 or at 6101 S.E. Nowata Rd., Bartlesville.

In ways our foremothers never envisioned, the definition of “quilt” is being stretched to the limits of artistic imagination.

Quilting can encompass a bowl, a bag or a jacket — something to hang on the wall or drape on a bed. It can be computer-designed, festooned with beads and stitched, without shame, by machine.

But no matter how you cut it, a quilt still needs a cohesive vision to hang together.

That’s where Lorraine Torrence comes in. Read more…

The competition for local jobs is about to get a little more stiff now that 550 people are out of work.

Cambridge greeting card maker Image Craft Inc. closed its doors on Friday after owner Paramount Cards Holding Corp. declared it could not continue to meet operating costs.

Four-month employee Brenda Hagey went to work on Friday afternoon, only to find the doors to Image Craft locked.

“All employees are out of a job,” she said. “I had a bit of warning though.” Read more…