A “server” with a clipboard took two customers’ orders. A barista frothed a strawberry oat milk matcha. As the server brought the order to the “kitchen,” the customers dug into their “appetizers.”
But this was not an actual cafe.
It was a test run for a new series of events at Pitch Black Printing Co. called Craft Cafe, in which customers order from a menu of craft projects. The “kitchen” is a table in the corner where a helper loads up trays with craft supplies; the “place settings” are scissors and a glue stick in place of a fork and knife; and the “appetizer” is an assortment of pretty papers, so people can keep their hands busy making a few Valentine cards as they await their trays.
The matcha drink is real, though. Pitch Black has an espresso bar in the corner.
The entrepreneur behind this series is Amber Solorzano, who’s been had her finger on the pulse of art and style since at least 2004, when, just out of college, she opened Never Ender, a hip, friendly boutique and art gallery on Liberty Street. A few years later, she sold it to her mom, who ran it in a new location in Midtown until 2018.
Since then, Solorzano has worked as an e-commerce pro for yarn store, a freelance designer, and a manager at a screen-printing facility. She had a daughter, got an MBA and was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Best case scenario, thankfully,” she said. She’s in good health these days. “But it started putting a lot of things in perspective,” she added.
So did realizing that her daughter is suddenly about to be a teenager. Time seemed to be flying fast, and the management job was wearing on her, so she decided it was time for a change.
“Finally, in the spring of last year, I decided, ‘I think we can support our family doing these classes and making products and having the flexibility in life that everybody dreams of,’” Solorzano said. She quit her job and started crafting full-time. With production help from husband, Ray, she started selling her work at craft fairs and other gatherings on the weekends.
“And then it got to the point where it grew enough that we can support our family,” she said. Last year, she vended at 80 events in Reno and Northern California. She also taught classes and workshops under her company name, Hold Steady Designs, for teens, tweens and adults.
The crafts Solorzano teaches tend toward a pop-culture aesthetic of baubles, beads, trinkets and charms. “They’re all different themes that people are seeing on Instagram that they want to make, but they don’t want go and spend $100 in supplies,” she said.
“All of the classes I teach are very on-trend,” she added. “People are super into reading, and that’s a big trend.” When she announced a January book-themed class involving three crafts, book-themed drinks and a book swap, it sold out quickly.
(Also oh-so-of-the-moment: If you want to purchase a craft instead of learning to make your own, the F*ck the Patriarchy Taylor Swift-inspired Retro Motel Keychain in the Hold Steady web store is a pocket-sized paragon of glittery glitz.)
And yes, Solorzano knows that the trends she follows are moving targets.
“People might not be into this in two months from now, so I kind of have to jump on it, and it changes so quickly,” she said.
As fun and festive as book crafts and Swiftie accessories may be, there is also a more pressing motivation behind why Solorzano has made it her business to spread the gospel of crafting. Social connection strikes her as a necessity in what feels like a frenzied world. She likes to socialize with new people; a natural venue for that is bars, but she doesn’t always want to drink, and a lot of her customers feel the same way.
“It’s important to just not be glued to your phone and sucked into the news and all the doom and gloom in the world,” she said. “There’s still art out there. You just have to find it.”
Hold Steady Designs’ next all-ages Valentine-themed Craft Cafe events are on Fridays, Feb. 13 and 20, and Saturdays, Feb. 14 and 21, at Pitch Black Printing Co., 700 E. Fourth St., Suite A, in Reno. Tickets are $40 and can be reserved for start times between 5 and 7 p.m. Additional crafting events at Pitch Black include the Trinket Girls Craft Party and Spring Bulb Mini Gardens, both on Saturday, March 21, and Orchid Kokedamas on Saturday, March 28. For tickets and information, visit www.hold-steady.com/workshops.