Join Us for Our Creative Minds Summit!

“So much creativity and inspiration hosted in an incredible shop so full of wonderful fabrics, thread and mixed media products! I took three unique classes filled with techniques, fun classmates and awesome instructors! It was so great to meet new kindred spirits, meet FB friends IRL and reconnect with friends! Thank you to Judy Gula and the wonderful staff who made you feel like family the second you walked through the door! I will most definitely visit again!” Rhonda R., 2025 attendee

Our most recent Monday ‘spotlight’ newsletter encouraged our subscribers to plan a Spring Break that fills you with creative education and inspiration with our April 17-19 Creative Minds Summit, and I wanted reinforce the message here! Attend to learn hands-on from our faculty of talented fiber & mixed media artists — Julie Booth, Kecia Deveney, Jaime Echt of The Crafter’s Workshop are joining me this year!

Pictured above are the class project examples from our Summit faculty, now on display in our shop! I shared close-up looks at these wonderful mixed media artworks during my weekly Facebook Live presentation on March 7 — if you weren’t able to join me live, watch our archived presentation on our YouTube channel.

March is National Craft Month, in addition to National Quilting Month, so now is a perfect time to sign up for this immersive mixed media experience!  Build on your current skills or to experience new ones... beginners are always welcome! Look for the blue SUMMIT flag when viewing our Workshops & Events page to register. Class sizes are capped at 20 students to ensure that all Summit attendees are able to enjoy personal time with their instructor. “My greatest joy is watching students get excited, jump in fully and produce works that speak to them and others.” Julie B. Booth

Most (or all) materials are provided for each Summit class, with a kit fee payable to your instructor that day. Each class description details what is included in your kit, as well as your student supply list (most student supplies are very minimal — you can pack light). In addition, lunch is provided each day, attendees receive a swag bag as they check in, and receive 15% off all in-store purchases during the event! Plus, students who register for more than one Summit class receive a $25 shopping credit to use in-store that weekend — that’s in addition to your Summit discount!

This year gifted textile artist Julie B. Booth will be repeating her 2-day Storyteller Bag class from 2025, which resulted in stunning student work! Above, Suzanne Meader’s completed project from attending last year’s class — Suzanne recently shared that she had “found out that I received an Honorable Mention at the 2026 Woodlawn Needlework Show in Alexandria, VA for my ‘My Favorite Things Bag’ that I did during the Creative Summit at Artistic Artifacts last year! It's my first time entering this show... I am humbled and excited!” (Note: the Needlework Show is open every day except Tuesdays during the month of March — if you are in the area, don’t miss it! I have two pieces in the show as well as several other staff member and customers.)

On her Facebook page, Julie has been showing additional finished Storyteller Bags sure to inspire you! Julie also posted a thank you message she feels sums up the process students go through as they work on their bags — student Kim W. notes that the Storyteller class was “more than just a stitching workshop, it was a meditative retreat. Maybe it was an alignment of the planets — I was away from home taking a class at a bucket list destination (Artistic Artifacts) with a much loved teacher who I was finally able to meet in person. It was truly the most enjoyable class I've ever taken.” Read Kim’s complete post » From our first Summit in 2023 we have promoted it as an event worth traveling for — there’s more info below on our location and accommodations.

Above left, Julie beginning to assemble last year's Storyteller Bag kits. This year she was inspired to add a color palette option she calls Icy — full of “whites, silver, pale pastels… think a traditional wedding or cake icing,” she writes. Students have nine gorgeous color options to choose from for their extensive kits!

Above left, Kecia Deveney photographed during her Tender Totems class at last year’s Summit and center, one of Kecia’s examples for this year’s Poppy StitchKind — a Gentle Introduction to Hand-Stitched Folk Doll. Kecia channels her life experiences into whimsical mixed media works. She incorporates fabric, textiles, jewelry design, sculpture, and painting into a colorful eclectic practice that seeks to inspire others to acknowledge their inherent creative spirit. Learn more about Kecia’s three classes for this year’s Summit!

We are excited to welcome Jaime Echt to our shop to teach in this year’s Summit! “As artists, we don’t just see with our eyes — we also see with our hands,” shares Jaime, the Founder & CEO at The Crafter's Workshop (TCW), about her approach to art and teaching. “I love it when people new to a product feel successful and feel encouraged to make more art and build on that success.” Above, a view of the Color Wheel Fold-Out Booklet, ideal for those who want to learn color theory while exploring various stenciling techniques and markmaking using every color of the rainbow!

Above left, detail from Color Mapping Abstract Art; right, each of Jaime’s Summit classes will use the luscious TCW Stencil Butters and explore their many properties, paired with and without TCW Stencils.

Above left, a 2025 student in my class last year is working on her Birds Gone Wild project — this class is being repeated due to demand. Above right is one of mine — these are so much fun to make! It's wonderful to see how students personalizes their whimsical fiber art with fabrics, trims, stitching and more.

And I’ve developed a new class for this year’s Summit, Mixed Media Cabinet Cards, where I’ll share my favorite collage and alteration techniques as you alter cardstock copies of vintage cabinet cards from my collection and from copyright free archives. I’ve really enjoyed experimenting with these techniques and making examples — adding color with paint and markers, gluing on book text and more collage, even stitching ‘frees’ the portraits to inhabit a new vibrant, artsy world!

Are you already registered? Join our Creative Minds Summit Facebook Group — visit our private group page and request to join. This group (see our website for more info) is an opportunity for attendees to collaborate and share info & requests. For those booking local accommodations, you can share where you are staying and meet up with other attendees also staying there for ride sharing, planning dinner or outings together, etc.

Traveling to attend the Summit? Check out Visit Alexandria and plan to spend a few days in the area — April is a beautiful time in this area, with lots happening! Our shop is located less than five miles from historic Old Town Alexandria full of shopping and restaurants, and the Torpedo Factory Art Center.  Voted a Travel + Leisure Top 5 Best City in the U.S 2025 and a Condé Nast Traveler Top 3 Best Small City in the U.S. 2025, Alexandria is also just outside Washington DC, with its renowned museums, monuments & more.) Make our Summit a 'girls trip" excursion or travel with family and friends — there’s so much for them to do while you’re making art! In addition to VisitAlexandria.com’s hotel listings, our About the Summit page also includes three choices located very near our store as well as other frequently asked questions.