Barrel of Makers

Delaware Fun-A-Day

Jessi Taylor and I have been hard at work this month participating in the Delaware Fun-A-Day project. If you don’t know what that is, or even if you do, it is a really fun and exciting project where everyday, through the month of April, we made something. Not only us, but a lot of other talented artists of all ages from the area.

It is a collaborative project where makers of all ages and skill sets come together to create something every day for a month. We have all been hard at work and are now ready to present our art to the general public. Come out to 605 North Market Street to from 6pm-10pm tomorrow May 3rd to see a great free show that showcases 60+ talented artists from the area, included us and our own Ann Yoncha

-Brad J. Glassco

P.S. Here are a bunch a cool shots from the set up:

2 weeks ago -

1

An AMAZING 2 Days

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Strap yourselves in, cause I have some news for you!!

Barrel of Makers has never been more popular; it’s true! Ask Bert, he will tell you ALL about it! Seriously. I couldn’t pay for this kind of publicity, LITERALLY! We have very little money…

…but all that is going to change ;)

I (Brian Scatasti) was invited by the WRC to attend two, THAT’S RIGHT TWO events to bring together like minds to rejuvenate Wilmington Delaware.

The first: Alfred Lance, Maiza Hixson, Julie Van Blarcom, Diana Milburn, Jessica Jenkins, Ellen Priest, Michael Kalmbach, myself & the wonderful, the great Umberto Crenca of AS220 …

(just to name a few, and if I missed you, I really missed you)

came together last night at the Chris White Gallery to discuss our future plans.

Honestly, you probably could not have asked for a better, more intimate gathering of movers & shakers in Wilmington.

Ms. Van Blarcom could not have been a more pleasant person to talk to, and talk more we shall about having more of a makerspace presence in that playground they call a museum. (I’m all for the playground btw!)

Today: The Annual Big Thinkers Meeting hosted by the WRC and sponsored by MANY others, had me almost in tears on the ride home. No kidding. To know that what we are doing is the most right thing possible, for so many reasons and people, is a BEAUTIFUL thing.

They had food, coffee and juice. Talks by the Mayor, Carrie Grey of the WRC, (who I will also be meeting with) a VERY inspirational talk again by Bert, and a slew of people who all wanted to work with us.

IT WAS LIKE THE HIGHEST SCORE IN BARREL OF MAKERS WACH-A-MOLE!!!

Folks, big things are happenning. I would love to go into extraordinary detail, but you have emails to check, and birds to keep angry.

STAY TUNED…

3 weeks ago

UD Hen Hatch

Another exciting adventure in the world of networking your very own non-profit makerspace. While Barrel of Makers was not picked to present for University of Delaware’s Hen Hatch for future entrepreneurs, we were blessed with a table to lay out AAAALLLLLL our eclectic trinkets and makings.

Josh and I had everything from John Abellas 3D printings, to Josh Martins turned wood crafts, to our pop-up paper crafts from our Make-Alongs. Everyone who walked though Clayton Hall had an ear-full from one of us, talking about how enthused we were about putting empowerment back into the hands of our community. Everyone there had something they were passionate about doing and willing to take it to the next level.

While I don’t have all the names in front of me at the time, I invite you all to go to our facebook page to check out who will be mentioned.

Side note: every time I talk about this space my group and I are trying to make, I am always infused with new vigor, an excitement I can carry with me and a new way to describe what we do to the general public.

I would highly recommend speaking and networking as much as possible, especially if you don’t find yourself doing it all that much. It allows you to be open to new ideas and solutions to problems you may have thought impossible left to your own thoughts.

GO out there!

BE passionate!

MAKE yourself sane.

thank you,

Brian Scatasti

3 weeks ago

Delaware Libraries Makerspace Workshop

First things first:

Hello all makers and FutureMakers. With the help of Sarena Fletcher; the Dover Library welcomed it’s attendees with open arms and huge hopes for a collaborative relationship between themselves and makerspaces like Barrel of Makers.

This relationship is a no-brainer and a wonderful idea to give our community the boost it needs to make motivation palpable.

I was thrilled to share the floor with such great, enthusiastic people like Matt Barinholtz and Michael Smith-Welch from FutureMakers. Aside from having a logo that was exactly what I was trying to come up with for our makerspace, they were an absolute pleasure to be around and a huge conduit for generating excitement!

Our own John Abella was featured showing off his 3D printers…naturally. Jessi and I had so much fun talking with everyone there and spreading the notion of DIY and abolishing the fear that comes along with learning something new that may shake up life with good intentions and the people willing to follow it through.

We are talking right now with directors and the movers & shakers in the DE library system (thank you already Amy Abella) to have maker programs and classes instituted throughout our community.

WE’RE DOING IT!!!!!

Thank you to everyone that made that Dover gathering possible and to the ones who were brave enough to try something new there and excited enough to want to coordinate a program with crazy people like us.

3 weeks ago

Foam Weapons Make-Along

—WOW!!!—

Everyone who came out to the Foam Weapons Make-Along should be proud of themselves!!

Even being the Co-President-Helper for this make along was a great, fun experience. I helped so many people learn and practice a skill that was new to even me.

You were all responsible, productive members of your community. Feel proud to know that you have hand-crafted your neighbor’s demise…BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Eat Foam Xavier!!!!

Not only have you invested in learned a skill, you have shared a bond with friends [some of which you never knew had existed until the event]. All the end products couldn’t have looked better. All of the weapons (thanks to Dan Spinosa and Josh Martin) will hold up for years to come, no matter how many foes you vanquish!!

Kudos to you fine, fine individuals for being extra responsible ADULTS and participating in a GREAT community building experience!!!

If you liked our Foam Weapons Make-Along or if you would like to participate in ROUND 2 of our Foam Weapons Make-Along, stay tuned. We will be hosting it in the very near future.

…aaaaawwwww ;)

1 month ago

“What does Brian Scatasti want to do for Maker Faire?” Contest

Originally I had intended to be more direct…

but what’s the fun in that?

If you know anything about your Co-President, it’s that he is the king of big, crazy-fun, nostalgic, Death-Star Proportional ideas.

Here’s the game: There will be a FACEBOOK EVENT created with the same title as this blog posts. If I have explained to you my amazing idea for MAKER FAIRE, there has to be at least 15 posts before the real idea is posted. Since I’ve discussed more than one, NO ONE MAY POST THE SAME IDEA TWICE, but you are encouraged to post more than one idea. Getting friends to post on your behalf will get you extra credit…you are playing for a prize

No one will know which post will be the real idea, because there is a mandatory 1st sentence you must paste into your response:

“BRIAN’S REAL MAKER FAIRE IDEA IS…”

Have fun with it, make something up, put in your idea, try to figure me out, or do all of the above. The point is to be you and see if we can generate some mobilization from our fans, for whom we are building a database. .

I can’t tell you what it is yet because I’m not 100% that it will work, but the back-up plan is an entire blog post on here and facebook, dedicated to you [ and/or your business ]. Free Press on whatever you want to plug.

I will be announcing the real idea THIS COMING SUNDAY, MARCH 24th along with the winner. The winner may not necessarily have my idea.

I can’t wait to see what crazy things people post on facebook…

~BS

2 months ago

Make-Along #4-Cider and Soda!

Hooray for stuff
growing in your beverage!

We got together at a great space,
World Class Products, in Newark,
for our Second Sunday Make Along.

Kids (and adults, too) made their own Root Beer,

with Root Beer Extract, Sugar, and Shaking! Our workshop leaders said
homemade Root Beer is a little healthier–no corn syrup and no caffeine:

..And the grown-ups made Hard Apple Cider!

We didn’t have to add sugar, because the yeast had plenty to eat in the Apple Juice.

In three weeks, we’ll put our jugs in the fridge over night, to put the yeast “to sleep.”

By pouring the Hard Cider into another container, we can save the yeast, to use again!

Josh and Dan did a great job leading the workshop, and

want to thank everyone for coming out and making the
atmosphere so enjoyable.

If you came by on Sunday, you got a 3D–printed bottle opener.

John Abella printed those for us, because he’s awesome like that.

If you curious about how 3D Printers work, he’d love to explain,

and he’s having a demo tomorrow at 4PM at Woodlawn Library:

We hope to see you there,

~Barrel of Makers~

PS: Speaking of waiting for things to hatch, Dan Spinosa’s
going to be a Dad! ”May your first child be a masculine child.”

Congratulations.

2 months ago

~Our First Critique Night~

Barrel of Makers’ first monthly critique night was a great success—we had works completed and works in progress, visual and written, collage, paint, graphic design, comics, short stories, and clementines (though those were for eating, not critiquing). Each artist had about fifteen minutes to explain his/her work and listen to others’ reactions. New insights helped each of us get more out of our artwork, and constructive feedback gave us ideas for how to push our work to the next level, or even how to update our artists’ statements. We came away with ideas for a writers workshop, a concept of a database for all our makers’ personal websites, and lots and lots of inspiration to create more awesome stuff over the next month!

~Anne Yoncha

RSVP on BarrelofMakers.org

2 months ago -

1

Planning Session Update (6)!

Many of us were unable to attend, so Dan Spinosa lead the meeting. Thank you Dan!

We, ourselves, are the best marketing vehicles for Barrel of Makers. We are passionate, and we are curious about the passions of others.

________________________________________________________________

Here’s Dan’s recap of what to remember, when having a conversation about Barrel of Makers, and sharing your enthusiasm:

1. Language is important–no closed questions, no questions that make people feel inferior for being amateurs.

2. Dig down in conversation, to find what people are excited about. It doesn’t even need to be “making” per se.

Example: Dan was speaking to a coworker, about his hobbies, the man had already said he wasn’t a maker, but mentioned fishing. ”Oh,” said Dan, “have you ever considered making your own lures?” “Actually, I have.” There you go.

3. Remind people we are all ages and all skill levels

4. Gauge people’s level of involvement in the community already.

5. Its about them, not us. Also the organization is ultimately about empowerment of newbies not about us building a clubhouse.

_________________________________________________________

Interesting suggestions that came out of the day:

Brian Givens mentioned that we should create a database of community members, where we could list our skills. That would help members connect with one another (rather they have something in common with you, or know something you’d like to learn)

So, we’ve started the ball rolling on this new database.

Brian also suggested getting the idea of “Barrel of Makers” as a whole, across to those attending a Make-Along for the first time. We’ll be trying this on Sunday, March 10th.

Thanks for checking in with us,

~Jessi

2 months ago

March Make-Along Update.

Hello Community Builders!

I want to explain what’s going on with our next Make-Along.

We are unable to do any kind of “beverage chemistry,” at the coIN Loft right now, though we will be partnering with them in a variety of ways in the future, and it will be awesome.

We had to change our plans, and then we had to change our plans again. It’s been a learning experience, and our community has risen to the challenge. We are now having the event at Reid’s shop. You’ve met Reid Rowlands, if you’ve been to any of our early Planning Sessions.

Here’s the updated info:

This is our first Brewing Make-Along!

As an intro to brewing more complex things in the future-like beer,
we’ll be starting out with Hard Cider!

All you have to bring, is a gallon of Apple Juice from the grocery store.
It isn’t alcohol until it’s fermented, so making it is kid friendly. Plus….

We’ll all make Soda, too!

All you need for that one is an empty 2-liter bottle, filled with water,
or two, if you want to make Root Beer and Ginger Ale.

Come by at 1PM, 2, or 3, so you can be in a group,
and won’t have to play catch-up.

We’re Meeting in a New Location for us:

World Class Products
175 South Main Street
Newark Delaware 19711

Let’s make stuff together, that we can all enjoy!

See you on the 10th!

~Barrel of Makers~

Please RSVP with Eventbrite –to make sure we have enough sugar and yeast for you to get your fermentation on!

Thank you for all your help and support,

Jessi

—-
Jessi S. Taylor
Barrel of Makers
Organizer & Co-President

2 months ago