We’re starting a Craft Club

Calling all Crafters….

Many months ago, we began planning something very special, and very close to my heart. I’m so excited to announce the launch of The Craft Club by Veronica Beard. It started, as some of our best ideas do, as buzz around VB HQ. There’s something in the air, from our office-favorite bedazzled Scrabble board to the basket weaving kits everyone is obsessed with right now to my personal favorite watercolor books—crafting is having a moment.

It’s easy to understand why. The opportunity to create something with your hands, to master a new skill, to actually go offline—it’s such a pleasure to lock in and lose a whole afternoon to something that doesn’t involve a screen. It’s a simple concept, but it’s also so personal, which is a potent combo. Everyone has a connection to crafting: a crochet project they’re in the middle of, a needlepoint belt hand-stitched by their mom, a memory of making friendship bracelets as a kid.

For me, crafting has been a lifelong passion. I feel lucky to have grown up surrounded by creativity. There were so many female role models in my life who fostered creative hobbies: painting, needlepointing, you name it. Chief among them is my mother, who is an avid watercolorer. We would always paint together when I was young, and now she paints with my kids—what a gift to pass down to them. But beyond that, she also taught me to find creative expressions in the day to day, from arranging flowers to setting a table. There is such a special power in working with your hands to bring a little more beauty into the world.

And of course, crafting and summer go hand-in-hand. I spend my summers on Nantucket with my family and I’ve learned so much about the vibrant history and culture of crafting on the island. The Nantucket Historical Association is an incredible resource. They host heritage craft workshops at The 1800 House, where women of all ages come together to keep crafts that are native to Nantucket alive. Walking inside, you’re immediately overcome by the calm energy of these covens of women sitting together weaving baskets, making sailor’s valentines, scrimshaw and other things (to name a few).

This brings us back to The Craft Club. We want to bring our community together around the shared purpose of slowing down, creating, learning and bonding. Our store on Nantucket is the first home of The Club, where we’ll be hosting events in partnership with the Nantucket Historical Association throughout the summer and selling at-home craft kits. Plus, we’ve got big plans to expand from coast to coast, highlight some of our favorite crafters here on Substack and on our Instagram—and so much more.

It’s officially the Summer of Crafting at VB, and we’re just getting started…

XO, VSB