We waved goodbye to the cold and wet winter, and rang in the first day of spring with a Bugs & Butterflies craft at Bookmans Phoenix this weekend. Kids got to make easy and inexpensive supplies such as coffee filter, markers, water, and chenille stems to make butterflies that were so bright and colorful, they were almost as beautiful as the real deal! If they weren’t interested in the butterflies, we provided a second craft option of a fun and cozy bug home creation! The easy to make bug homes came with everything to make your bug friend feel as though he never left the depths of the grass and leaves. Each child got to put a rubber bug in their home until they found the time to get real bugs to put inside (that is, if their parents permitted such bug fun of course!) The kids and parents put together their creative and crafty minds to make some really exciting projects that put everyone in a spring mood.

 

Right after we wrapped up the kids craft, we took time to get creative with adults and teamed up with Phoenix Comicon’s Comic Create Street Team that included Katie Charland and video blogger Clintus McGintus. Clintus broke down how Hollywood films fight scenes and makes it look so real and taught different tools and techniques for the audience to implement on their own. The workshop was very insightful and really got peoples creative juices flowing, especially if they are submitting their film to the Comicon Film Festival coming up soon! Special thanks to Katie and Clintus for volunteering their time and skills for the event and for giving the “average joe” some ideas for movie stardom! The filming class brought some of the Valley's best artists minds together with our customers and comic and film fiends for a very productive and fun workshop.

 

Also this weekend, we were “calling all monsters!” That’s right, Bookmans Phoenix called out to all the grown-up ghouls and gals of the Valley to join Daniel and Dawna Davis of Steamcrow in their book release party to promote their latest addition to their company, “Monster Commute” (Book 1). They even brought their Vending Machine Robot and as he walked the store learning new words like, “books” and “movies” as he came across them, he also engaged little ones and showed them the way to the party. He was one smart bot! The robot was made from everyday materials and put together by Daniel. We enjoyed some delicious Steamcrow cake that featured the colorful book cover, had multiple raffles with Steamcrow artwork and books as prizes, and let the community know what the company and Daniel's artwork is all about. Bookmans loves supporting local artists and writers so we were very excited to host the festivities in our community room and our customers seemed to really enjoy the Steamcrow items. Those who weren’t familiar with Steamcrow got to thumb through merchandise for sale and see its quality and personality that Daniel and Dawna add to their work and all their Steamcrow merchandise. Fans of Steamcrow went home with some new additions to their prints and product line and as always, love meeting with the creators themselves!