Thank you, to everyone who participated in our 2020 Virtual Maker Fest. In total, we sent out over 250 packets to ACU students, faculty, staff, prospective students, and alumni. It was so much fun to connect with you all in this way and see your unique leather journals shared across social media. If you’d like to browse through our collection of photos from the event, go to: https://acumakerlab.smugmug.com/Virtual-Maker-Fest.

Maker Fest Welcome!

Because of all the closings this spring due to COVID-19, we’ve had to cancel our annual Maker Fest celebration. Maker Fest has been a showcase event for us for the past five years, bringing together our entire maker community for an evening of discussions, activities and inspiration. Since we’re all staying home this year, however, we thought we might need to get creative.

We’re pleased to invite you to participate in our 2020 Virtual Maker Fest. This year, we’ll be sending out packets of supplies (Maker Mail) for you to make your own hand-stitched leather journal at home. This is a project we were already planning on doing with you in the lab for Maker Fest, but we think you can do it at home. We’ll send you all the materials you need to make it, and provide online support and opportunities for sharing.

Registration is open to all ACU students (including prospective students), faculty and staff. This project will be FREE (which includes postage to your house) for the first 100 people who register. Keep in mind that we can only mail Maker Fest packets to addresses in the US. We’ll start sending out packets on April 15th, so keep reading to find out how you can participate.

Adobe Illustrator

We are providing an option for you to personalize your journal cover before we mail you the packet of materials. You can use our template to add initials, text or images that we’ll laser engrave on your leather journal cover before we drop it in the mail to you. Just download the template, add your text and graphics using Abobe Illustrator and return the file to us via email. All of the instructions are included in the template file. CLICK HERE for help downloading and installing Adobe Illustrator.

Help When You Need It

We’re standing ready to help when you need it. The Maker Lab team is prepared to support you during the entire Virtual Maker Fest event. We can provide assistance via email, phone/text, live chat or Zoom video conferencing. We’ll also be sharing opportunities for daily Zoom meet-ups exclusively for Virtual Maker Fest participants. While you may not be IN the Maker Lab for this event, we’ll be here for you.  

Register for Maker Fest

Participation in the Virtual Maker Fest is FREE for all ACU students (including prospective students), faculty and staff. Everyone who participates must agree to share photos (or video) of their project on social media using the hashtag #acumakerlab during the virtual event from April 16 to April 30. While we will mail all of the materials you’ll need for this project, you’ll need to provide your own hammer, ruler, pencil and a pair of scissors. We’re looking forward to having you participate in the Virtual Maker Fest.