025 Peace-in-your-Mind Keeper: Rose Frezza

All of life is like a gigantic improv scene, right? You never know what the person next to you is going to say next, all you can do is approach it with a positive attitude and do your best to be a supportive person in their sphere. Overall I feel like it’s made me a more competent communicator and I think there are very few people in this world who would not benefit from taking at least one improv class.

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That’s Rose. Actor, improvisor, and instructor at the Hideout Theatre, communications professional, and beacon of positivity. Rose joined us to talk about her full, happy life, telenovelas, and nurturing participation in everyone she meets.

Links for Rose’s work:

Rose’s improve troupe’s (Physics Curse) website: physicscurse.squarespace.com

Ticket link to Don’t Interrupt Me, Rose’s troupe’s monthly show at the Hideout Theatre: www.hideouttheatre.com/shows/DontInterruptMe

Link to the Hideout’s Spanish classes (none on the docket yet for 2019, but soon): www.hideouttheatre.com/austin-improv-classes/clase-gratis-de-improv

Beautiful video for La Vida de los Muertos show: www.facebook.com/hideouttheatre/videos/2200792046870176/

Guaranteed murder mystery dinner, The Dinner Detective: www.thedinnerdetective.com/austin/

She’s also the producer and publicist for The Out of Bounds Comedy Festival: oobfest.com

Rose’s favorite novellas:

Velvet on Netflix: www.netflix.com/title/80018046

El Grand Hotel on Netflix: www.netflix.com/title/70308105

Rose Frezza in La Vida de los Muertos

022 Culinary Peacemaker: Jan Norton

It’s something I might see on a cooking show, it’s something I might read about and I save it. It’s a thought of ooh, I’d love to figure out how you make that.

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That’s Jan, Angelica’s mother-in-law, Matt’s mom, cook, baker, party planner, space maker and daughter to Laverne, a dedicated follower of fashion, decorum and coordinated colors. You’ll hear a little from her as well. Matt and his mom have such a sweet rapport we had to have him on too, so, if no one minds, here’s 3 generations of craftiness to get you thinking about gratitude for wherever your creative lineage has its roots.

We’re still waiting for your handmade Halloween photos, tag us on twitter, instagram or facebook with #chattycraftiescostume or send them along to chattycrafties@gmail.com.

Puppy cupcakes by Jan

Vietnamese pork ribs after the podcast

Homemade dress by either Bomba or her mother

Painting by Laverne Ivey

021 Holiday Warm Up

This week on Chatty Crafties we’re whettin your whistle for the holidays. You’ll remember Genevieve Saenz from way back in episode one. She and Amber have been offering holiday arts workshops to the public for years: crafting sessions that exercise the creative and emotional muscles often left untouched throughout the holiday hustle. So, before you start thinking about what to bring down from the attic and how many presents you’re planning to crochet, consider taking a different approach to the most wonderful time of the year.

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Email genevieve@passagewayarts.com to inquire about Ghosts: An Evening with What Haunts You on October 28th in a to-be-determined park location in Austin.

Please start sending in your handmade Halloween costumes of your childhood or that you made for your own kiddos. Send them to chattycrafties@gmail.com.

Check out Fortlandia, the exhibit at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center open Sept. 29 to Feb 28. Angelica and Matt’s fort is called Blanket Fort; photos below. Please tag either @chattycrafties or @openenvelopestudio so that we can share it on the Open Envelope Studio Insta stories.

Open Envelope Studio’s Blanket Fort

019 Geographic Inquirer: A.C.

You can’t go into you know, into an interview and say, here I drew some pictures to show you what I can do for your company but nevertheless, it’s creativity and it’s showing me as a teacher that they get it.

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That’s A.C. Teacher, dad, and musical influence to the stars. A.C. phoned it in to share his scholastic-grade sarcasm, classroom techniques, and what it’s like to look through his eye for design.

Listen for tips on how to engage jr. high and high school kids who might not be able to communicate all that they’re learning by using art! And find A.C. on Twitter and Instagram at @bigfabAC.

Question of the week: What are your barriers to being creative? What keeps you from being creative if you used to be or what keeps you from being creative if you never were? Give us your thoughts in comments, on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook so we can feature your answer!

AC’s bedroom (photo by Casey Kopecky)

Atomic clock ((photo by Casey Kopecky)

Shelves in the office (photo by Casey Kopecky)

Guest room pre-Michael (photo by Casey Kopecky)

Stretched vintage fabric by AC (Guest room pre-Michael (photo by Casey Kopecky)

Stretched vintage fabric for Eloise by AC

018 Metaphorical Magician: Billy Moreno

Everything we do with language and communication is all metaphors. It’s all somewhat ambiguous and it’s all alive in the moment, after that it’s a different thing; before that it’s a different thing.

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That’s Billy, a.k.a. _Bill_Nice_. Rapper, Game Designer, imperfectionist, incorrigible wordsmith, and long time husband of our producer. Billy chatted about the wondrous opportunity of personal vocabularies, meditation, his methods for world class deck building and stage fright.

Billy’s music is open for interpretation at https://soundcloud.com/billy-moreno.

Find an open mic night near you and go stretch your legs.

Billy’s workspace

Billy Moreno

Billy and Noble

Billy and Amber

017 Hacksaw Poet: Mitchell Crooks

I totally believe that I have, and everybody who’s creative has, the right to write songs from a totally different perspective. So I have songs that come from nothing that I’ve personally experienced, and that’s kind of a cool exercise to try and write something from somebody else’s perspective.

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That’s Mitchell, singer, song writer, Applications Engineer, and handy dad. Mitchell stopped by and shared some of his signature Americana with us and waxed a little poetic about collaborating.

Mitchell’s first album, Forces of Nature, Follies of Man, comes out in late 2018. Find out more on his Instagram and his Facebook, and soon, at http://www.mitchellcrooksmusic.com. He recorded his album in Austin at King Electric Recording with Justin Douglas, the sound engineer. His upcoming show is at Brentwood Social House on Friday, August 31st at 7pm. Bring your kids!

His wife, Sarah, and their kids, Lily and Oliver, have had their own Chatty Crafties episodes as well. We love hearing about families that inspire each other to make art, perform, and explore their creative instincts.

Musicians on Forces of Nature, Follies of Man

Lily, Mitch’s daughter playing music

Mitch and Angelica in 2010, introducing their babies

Mitch at Brentwood Social House

QOTW: How do you introduce more diversity into your subject matter? Tag #chattycrafties on social media to let us know and share your work!

014 Pattern Fanatic: Sarah

“…so you haven’t started driving yet, but there’s two things with sewing that are kinda like driving; there’s the gas pedal and there’s the steering wheel. The steering wheel’s your hands, and they’re guiding and steering the fabric the direction you want them to go underneath the needle, so it sews where you want it to.”

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That’s Sarah.

Teacher, mom, fabric freak, and seemly seemstress. A modest pro at sewing with kids, she joined us in an attempt to capture the chaos of a back to school project with four kids under 10 and one sewing machine. The perfect exercise in knowing when to walk away and when to take a breath, rip the stitches and run that seam again. Stay tuned for some tips, tricks and some spots around Austin to tune up your stitching skills.

Sarah’s selfies in clothes she made

Pants for a little guy, by Sarah

Sarah’s selfies in clothes she made

Pouches by Sarah

Beauty and the Beast outfits, all made by Sarah

Links mentioned in the episode, as promised –

Local Austin spots for classes and help:

https://theclothpocket.myshopify.com/

http://austintinkeringschool.com/

And for patterns/instructional videos:

https://noodle-head.com/

https://blankslatepatterns.com/

https://mellysews.com/

http://www.madeeveryday.com/

Last week we asked our listeners how they express themselves in their everyday life, here’s a post by Genevieve (episode 001) of PassageWay Arts on that topic.

Question Of The Week: Is there a place that brings out your creativity?

Let us know on Twitter and Instagram using #chattycrafties or reply on the FB QOTW post! We’d like to incorporate your answers in our interview. Thanks for keeping in touch♥

011 Intentional Improviser: Caitlin Sweetlamb

Improv is letting go of control, and collaborating with other people making their ideas look good and being generous with their offers as opposed to single-mindedly advancing your own.

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That’s Caitlin. Improviser, teacher, mom, and paper crafter. It’s a waste of face just to feature her voice, because this girl has expressions for days. She joined us to chat about harnessing spontaneous energy in the classroom, the freedom of improvising without male persuasion and the many virtues of listening.

Girls Girls Girls is Austin, Texas’s original all-female improvisation troupe. Their specialty is creating long-form improvised musicals from a single audience suggestion. The Girls and their live musicians make up the songs, dances, characters, and stories all on the spot. They have a show at the Hideout Theater on July 27th called Don’t Interrupt Me.

Upcoming shows: July 27 at 7:30pm at the Hideout (as part of Don’t Interrupt Me). Link for tickets here. They will also be performing in the 2018 Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in August. Date/time not yet confirmed.

Girls Girls Girls

Caitlin Sweetlamb GGG Anniversary Show (pic by Steve Rogers Photography)

Girls Girls Girls in Broad Ambition

Caitlin Sweetlamb

Caitlin’s save the date

Girls Girls Girls

Question of the week: What have you done creatively that you don’t do anymore? Give us a shout on Instagram and Twitter by answering the QOTW post or by tagging #chattycrafties.

Some of Caitlin’s press includes:

Girls Girls Girl’s Broad Ambition – 2018

Marathoner Profile: Caitlin Sweetlamb – 2016

Austin Improv Wiki

Broad Ambition with Girls Girls Girls

I’m Not from Austin but I Got Here as Fast as I Could – 2012

010 Privately Prolific: Ian Ragsdale

I think of my notebooks as a cognitive prosthetic. I don’t always have time to think about everything in the depth that I want to, so I put it on paper and it helps me kind of work through it later.

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That’s Ian. Dad, drummer, writer, and half-baked boy scout. A Mortified performer and former teacher’s pet, Ian stopped by to chat about his proprietary blend of absurdism and anonymity.

Check out his band, Ain’t Nothins album, “No Regerts,” on Instagram, iTunes, and Spotify. He also develops products like scented powders and lip gloss for his wife and mother-in-law’s sex doll company, Real Love Sex Dolls (as discussed in Episode 6). They also work for humans!

Ian’s music tips: If your song isn’t long enough, just say more words! Don’t wait to learn an instrument as an adult like he did (but it’s possible!). Play a metronome in the car and practice one-handed exercises while you drive. Are you fidgety? Drums might be for you!

Question of the Week: Is there a craft, performance, or activity that you have been waiting to try or always wanted to try? Tell us on Instagram and Twitter using #chattycrafties or answer our query posts. We’d love to discuss it on next week’s episode!

Ian on stage at Mortified

Ian’s many notebooks for writing

Superstar in writing and spelling

Ian playing drums during Ain’t Nothins practice

008 After-hours Creator: Jon Chambers

You have the part of yourself that goes to work and is a parent and is functioning in the world and then you have something else that is much more intelligent than that and is bigger than that and it can help you piece things together.

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That’s Jon. Drummer, dad, distresser of doors, and assembler of beats. Musically, he goes by Flameburger Jonesies, but if you want to dabble in real estate with the man behind the mix, look up Jon Chambers at Realty Austin. Jon joined us to chat about parenting, inspiration, collaborating, his art process of choice, and your word of the day, “palimpsest.” Definitions and more coming right up in this week’s episode.

Do you make art out of everyday objects in your house? Are there repetitive themes in your art? Chat us up on Instagram or Twitter via the hashtag #chattycrafties