The Art of Handmade Summit 2026: Your Guide to 3 Free Days of Handmade Workshops
There's a particular kind of tired that comes from a day spent entirely on screens, and there's a particular kind of rested that comes from an afternoon spent making something with your hands. If you've been feeling more of the first than the second lately, this is your sign to set aside a few days in September and get back to making.
The Art of Handmade Summit is HobbyScool's free three-day online event for people who love working with their hands, and it runs September 15 through 17, 2026. Thirty-one makers, artists, and creative teachers are each teaching one workshop, released fresh every morning, and every session is free to watch for 24 hours. You register once, you get all three days, and there's no credit card involved anywhere in the process.
At HobbyScool we've hosted free creative summits since 2022, and more than 56,000 makers have attended one, so we've had a lot of practice at making these events easy to fit into a real life. This guide walks through how the summit works, what's being taught each day, who's teaching it, and how to get your free spot.
How the Art of Handmade Summit Works
Every workshop is a pre-recorded video, so you don't have to be anywhere at a set time. Each morning of the summit, that day's eleven or so workshops go live at 9:00 a.m. Eastern and you get an email with the links. From that moment you have 24 hours to watch them for free, and you can pause, rewind, and come back as many times as you like inside that window.
That 24-hour rhythm is the whole design. It gives you a full day to fit the workshops around work, kids, dinner, and everything else, and it keeps the event feeling like an event instead of a pile of videos you mean to get to eventually. If you know you'll want more time than that, or you want to keep the workshops for good, there's a VIP Pass that gives you lifetime access to all 31 sessions, and you'll see it right after you register.
Every registrant gets a free attendee supply list before the summit starts. It lists what each workshop uses, broken out by category and by session, with shopping tips, so you can watch first and decide what you actually want to buy. Nobody needs a cart full of supplies on day one.
What's Being Taught: The Three-Day Schedule
Each day is built around a family of handmade techniques, so you can go deep on the one that pulls you or sample across all three. Here's the full lineup with every workshop leader and what they're teaching.
Day One: Paper & Mixed Media
11 workshops · Free for 24 hours
- Victoria Martinez Azaro · Master Botanical Printing on Paper (Start to Finish)
- Terri Johnson · Paper Blooms for Spring
- Tricia Morris · Wiper Card Magic: 4 Interactive Cards + the Paper Crafting Science Behind Every Fold
- Dawn Lewis · From Screen to Scrapbook: A Beginner's Guide to Resizing Photos
- Einat Kessler · Infinity Mini Album
- Julia McNeill · Build a Journal That's Perfect for Your Creativity
- Sara Lihz Staroska · A Little Nuts: Fall in Love with Interactive Cardmaking
- Aja Fillmore · Floral Layout Techniques for Card Makers
- Michelle Price · Junk Journal Mini Album From Envelopes
- Louise Gale · Draw a Botanical Mandala Inspired by the Hydrangea Flower
- Demeka Tigner · The First Page: How to Start Art Journaling When You're Afraid to Mess It Up
Day Two: Fiber & Fabric Arts
11 workshops · Free for 24 hours
- Philomène Cauchois · Stitch a Little Magic: Make a Felt Mushroom to Bring Nature Indoors
- Jane Harbison · Hand Sew Him a Pocket Square with the Finish of a $700 Luxury Accessory
- Salwa Diqs · One Portrait, Three Creative Styles
- Nicola Brown · One Sweater, Many Possibilities: Eco Printed Wearable Art
- Meredith Woolnough · Thread Bowls: An Introduction to Sculptural Embroidery
- Sarah Ward · Smocking (And Pleating) For Beginners!
- Lisa Toppin · Three Decisions that Make or Break a Pocket
- Carol Ann Webster · Stitch a Blooming Vase: Create a Beautiful Fabric Journal Page
- Jan Appleton · Still Handmade, Just Faster: Why Machine Knitting Belongs in Every Maker's World
- Melissa Steiner · From Yarn to Finished Project: Building Confidence with Crochet
- Tuija Mäntylä · Make a Macrame Flower Keychain: A Sweet Little Macrame Project for Beginners
Day Three: Clay, Decor & Beyond
9 workshops · Free for 24 hours
- Shawn Mosch · Projects that POP
- Melissa Power · Make Your First Modern Terrazzo Polymer Clay Earrings In Just One Afternoon
- Anika Gandhi · Never Used a Power Tool? Build This Toolbox With Me
- Chas Greener · Boutique Decor on a Budget: Easy High-End Handmade Upcycles
- Kisma Reidling · Handmade By the Hands That Are Becoming You
- Aimee Combs · Layer-by-Layer Creativity: Using Watercolor, Collage & Journaling to Create Meaningful Art
- Rebecca J Saylor · Which Flowers Actually Work? A Forager's Guide to Painting on Fabric
- Jackie Brown · Finish Your Quilts at Home: Master the Whimsical Swirls Edge-to-Edge Design
- Sam Hill · Knit Your Way to Calm: How to Slow Down, Stress Less & Recharge Through Creativity
Ready to make something with your hands?
Three days, 31 makers, all free. Register once and every day's workshops come straight to your inbox.
Reserve My Free SpotA Few Workshops Worth Circling on Your Calendar
Every one of the 31 sessions is worth your time, and the lineup was built so there's something for a complete beginner and something for a maker who's been at it for decades. If you're trying to decide where to start, here are a few that show the range of what's on offer.
Botanical printing, start to finish
Victoria Martinez Azaro opens Day One with a full walkthrough of printing with real leaves and flowers on paper. If you've seen eco printing on Pinterest and wondered how it's actually done, this is the session that shows you the whole process from gathering to finished print.
Day One · Paper & Mixed Media
Thread bowls and sculptural embroidery
Meredith Woolnough makes embroidery that stands up on its own, and her Day Two workshop introduces the technique behind her thread bowls. It's one of those sessions where you see a familiar craft used in a way you didn't know was possible.
Day Two · Fiber & Fabric Arts
Your first power tool project
Anika Gandhi's Day Three workshop is built for people who've never picked up a power tool, and it ends with a toolbox you made yourself. It's a good example of how the third day stretches "handmade" past paper and fabric into the workshop and the home.
Day Three · Clay, Decor & Beyond
Starting an art journal when you're afraid of the blank page
Demeka Tigner's session is for anyone who has bought a beautiful journal and then never written in it because the first page felt too important to mess up. She teaches how to get past that first page, which is most of the battle.
Day One · Paper & Mixed Media
Why Makers Come Back to This Summit Every Year
The Art of Handmade Summit is one of twelve free online summits HobbyScool runs each year, and it's the one that's squarely about working with your hands. Paper, thread, yarn, fabric, clay, wood, and paint. No software to learn, no screens to design on, just techniques you can do at the kitchen table.
A few things make it easy to say yes to. The workshops are pre-recorded, so nothing depends on you being free at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday. Every session is designed to work for all ages and every skill level, from your very first project to your fiftieth. And the instructors are makers who use these techniques every day in their own studios, which means you're getting the real way they do it rather than a simplified version.
There's also a community side if you want it. Attendees share what they're making and cheer each other on during the three days, and there's a summit bingo game to play along with. If you'd rather attend quietly and just focus on your own projects, that's completely fine too. Both are welcome here.
How to Register (It Takes About 30 Seconds)
Registration is one form with your first name and email address at go.hobbyscool.com/2026-art-of-handmade. You'll get a confirmation email right away, your free attendee supply list before the event, and then a daily email each morning of September 15, 16, and 17 with that day's workshop links.
If you'd like to invite a friend, please do. Every registration is individual, so send them the same link and they can grab their own free spot. Making things is more fun when someone you know is making alongside you.
If you'd like to know what else is coming this year, the full HobbyScool event schedule is at go.hobbyscool.com/event, and you can sign up there to hear about every free summit as registration opens.
Join us September 15-17, 2026
Three days. 31 expert makers. The handmade spark you've been missing, all in one free online summit.
Reserve My Free Spot See All 2026 EventsFrequently Asked Questions
Is the HobbyScool Art of Handmade Summit really free to attend?
Yes. Registration for the Art of Handmade Summit is free, there's no credit card required, and every one of the 31 workshops is free to watch for 24 hours after it's released. You register once and get all three days.
What happens if I can't watch the Art of Handmade Summit workshops on the day they're released?
Each day's workshops go live at 9:00 a.m. Eastern and stay free for 24 hours, so you have a full day to watch, pause, and come back. If you want to keep the workshops past the 24-hour window, the VIP Pass gives you lifetime access to all 31 sessions so you can go at your own pace.
How do I get access to the Art of Handmade Summit sessions after I register?
Everything comes to your inbox. After you register at go.hobbyscool.com/2026-art-of-handmade you'll get an instant confirmation email, and then each morning of the summit you'll get an email with links to that day's workshops.
Do I need to buy supplies before the Art of Handmade Summit starts?
No. Most of the 31 workshops are designed so you can watch first and gather supplies later, and every registrant gets a free attendee supply list that breaks out what each workshop uses, organized by category and by session, so you can decide what to try before you buy anything.
Who are the workshop leaders at the 2026 Art of Handmade Summit?
31 makers are teaching across three days: paper and mixed media on September 15 with instructors like Victoria Martinez Azaro, Einat Kessler, and Louise Gale; fiber and fabric arts on September 16 with Meredith Woolnough, Sarah Ward, Melissa Steiner and others; and clay, decor, and beyond on September 17 with Melissa Power, Anika Gandhi, Jackie Brown and more. The full list is in this guide.
