Nary a photo or word written in weeks. As rewarding as teaching is, I have yet to master the balance between work-work and personal work. The holiday season drew me into a handmade mood, though. Thoughts of a holiday greeting had me scouting the internet for a mac- and pocketbook-friendly alternative to Photoshop or Illustrator,…
Category: Blogroll
Domino Effect
This past week I completed an item that’s been hanging around my to-do list for a year: write a query letter for my memoir manuscript. After twelve months of procrastination I even surprised myself at how quickly the first draft came together. With feedback and suggestions from a circle of writerly friends incorporated, the final…
Excited Contestant Needs *Your* Vote!
My submission qualified (hip-hip-hooray!) and now the voting has begun over on Stumbles and Stitches for the fan favorite Spring Zig Zag Table Runner. The sew-along was inspired by the table runner in Rashida Coleman-Hale‘s book I Love Patchwork. It would be very cool to rack up a few votes, even if I don’t win (a copy…
The beauty of a deadline
I am tickled pink — I managed to complete my ZigZag Table Runner within the allotted timeframe for the sew-along over at StumblesandStitches. Several mornings over the past week, with the deadline looming near, I fit in a few minutes at the cutting table before the demands of the day could take hold, just like…
How I found my way to slow crafting
It was Sunday night and I was itching to make something. I’d reached the point in the sweater when I will have to put the whole thing on a temporary thread and try the yoke of the sweater on, but that was more of a task and not appealing. The thought of sitting at the sewing machine didn’t interest me…
From paper to fabric – it works!
Since the package arrived on my doorstep last Friday afternoon, I’ve been fawning over my first Spoonflower fabric fat quarters like they’re my new babies and I just can’t get enough of them! The process from drawings, to digital scans (thank you, HP all-in-one), to real fabric, was remarkably easy and oh-so-gratifying. As I held these two pieces in my hand…
Joyful mess
Some of the ‘mess’ that led to the mini journal pages in my previous post. Isn’t that picnic basket filled with supplies just the greatest? That’s my friend Trudie for you. She has the best bounty of colored markers, ribbons, glitter, glue, fancy papers, etc.
A busy night in the kitchen
Assignment: prettify the ceiling in the children’s area of a local retail establishment. Problem: white and pale yellow were the only paper lanterns available. The walls in the room are pale yellow, so some bright color was necessary. Solution: paint them myself! The big open house event is on Saturday. I’ll be sure to document the…
Seeing the Patterns in Coincidence
A recent blog post by my guru of all things entrepreneurial, Barbara Winter, caught my attention. She writes about “intentioned serendipity,” which may sound like an oxymoron, but it all depends on how you look at it. Some people may take objection to the concept of serendipity, relegating it to the New Age world of woo-woo….
Sewing My Way Home
How was I to find my way back after the intensity of the past two years of writing and last weekend’s graduation? The answer was sewing. Mimi Kirchner’s Purl Girl pattern has been tempting me for months. So I abandoned all sense of reason and grown-up responsibility and unplugged from the world for a few…