Confessions of a Craft Addict

A couple of months ago, I dropped some hints about what was (is) big news for me. With the arrival of today’s mail, I’m finally comfortable eough to share it.

Two of my photographs appear in the Summer 2008 issue of Life Images magazine.

I am still stunned. Floored. Alternately proud and shocked. I have enjoyed the previous issues immensely, amazed at the talent and am just delighted to be among that company. Especially with two, two-page spreads. (Pages 50-51 and 90-91, if you want to take a peek the next time you’re in the bookstore.)

I think I’ll go pet my magazine some more …

It took a few days but I’ve finally answered the questions you all so kindly submitted on my 300th post. Some were a little easier than others. Y’all really made me think! Right now, I’ve only included one picture but I hope to add some more in the next few weeks. I have some pictures of me wearing “mama made” from the ’70s but they are in photo albums I can’t get to until after our big yard sale.

One of the things I love about my sister-in-law is that she lets me design and order her merch. Stickers, buttons, T-shirts, show posters.

Of course, as an indie artist her budget is somewhere between zero and none, so there’s sometimes a bit of DIY element to these projects.

Today I had the brilliant idea to try making some jewelry charms with her logo and inkjet-printable Shrinky Dink plastic. I have not worked with this stuff since the 1980s, and my attempts then were pretty much what you’d expect from a ‘tween. These weren’t much better but I got the biggest kick out of making them. It’s not every day I get to stick plastic in the oven and sit there, watching it shrink up. While these really aren’t usable, they did give me an idea of what to do differently — and for other projects where I could use Shrinky Dinks. (As well as a fit of giggles about using the words “Shrinky Dink” in a blog post.)

For the past month, I’ve been taking part in a fitness boot camp. Three mornings a week, I force myself out of bed at 5:30 so I can be pushed to the very limits of my physical being. An hour later, I return home, completely worthless for the rest of the day. Seriously. The first day? I took a two-hour nap, then conked out at 9 p.m.

It’s been tough. I’m not a huge fan of exercise — or really anything that involves sweating — and the fact that I’m paying someone to make me exercise is even more painful.

While I’m a little disappointed in the weight loss (or lack thereof — and I’m sure it has nothing to do with the donuts I ate this week), I have no complaints about the improvements in my fitness. In four weeks, I:

• Improved my cardiovascular fitness. I now can jog a mile without stopping to walk, and can do it in about 10 minutes.
• Increased my abdominal strength. I went from doing 60 crunches in a minute to 84.
• Strengthened my upper body. My first day, I did 17 push ups in a minute. Today, I did 30.

And just maybe that had something to do with my decision to sign up for another month of torture.

Where are you going to find time to answer all these questions?! Or better yet, did you have any idea when you started that you’d have 54 comments and counting on one post?! Isn’t blogging great? — Amy

Well, Amy, I’ve spent the better part of today trying to compile all those questions into a single post so I can start working on answering them. With any luck, I’ll be able to answer the other 60-some questions before the end of July. LOL! I honestly am surprised at all the questions — so many of them really thought provoking — and I have to agree that blogging is great.

Thanks so much to everyone for playing along! At some point I fell behind on replying to all your comments but please know that I read every single one and enjoyed them all.

Of course, I know the real reason you’re all back — and that’s to see if you won anything (and, really, I can’t blame you).

I wrote down each name and prize on a slip of paper and divided them into three piles. I then had my handy assistant help with the drawing of names …

• The ICE Atlanta swag bag goes to …. Stephanie!
• Winner of the Ottobre and embroidery patterns is … Michelle (who asked “What non-crafty hobbies do you enjoy?”)!
• Guess who’s getting a new skirt? It’s … Krista!

Congratulations to all three of you. Please email me at mac (at) flourishes dot com with your mailing address so I can get your goodies on their way.

I wish I could give everyone a prize … so I’m working on two tutorials for next week. Hopefully at least one of them will make you oh-so-happy!

It’s June 25th and you know what that means: only six months left until Christmas!

Hey, I heard that! Don’t move on to the next blog before giving me a chance to explain.

Like so many others, I have grand plans when it comes to the holidays. I always intend to make X number of gifts. Of course, this impulse typically hits around Thanksgiving and the fact of the matter is that there’s just not enough time to make something for everyone in those last few weeks leading up to Dec. 25.

This year, however, I’m starting earlier — and I’m dragging you, dear reader, along with me. Welcome to the Crafty Christmas Countdown! It’s the six-month (more or less) plan to make the 2008 holidays filled with a few more handmade things and a few less manufactured gifts. I’ll be posting regularly not only my progress but also tons of gift ideas for everyone on your list with links to patterns, free tutorials and even ready-made gifts by other crafters.

Feel free to grab the graphic to post on your own blog or site. I’m also looking for gift ideas to feature, so zip an email to me at mac (at) flourishes dot com with your great idea. Now, on with the crafty gifting!

Everyone has someone on her list who could use a little pampering. (Heck, most of us probably could!) Start with a spa towel wrap, courtesy of this tutorial at CraftStylish. Think how great this would be with a towel that matches the recipient’s decor, or even her favorite color. You can even make a matching hair-wrap towel with the tute here. Add a great bath bomb or salts (like the all-natural Bergamot-Rose Bath Bomb from Dustpan Alley). One of my favorite stress relievers is a scented eye pillow and Amy Butler makes it easy to make one for gifting with a free pattern. (Click on the link, then the Free Pattern link on the site.) While you’re at it, make a few extras to stick in stockings or to have on hand when you need a little something to give that’s more personal than a gift card to the coffee shop.

Have you ever finished a project and just let out this huge sigh of relief? That’s basically what I did when I finished this dress.

It’s another Favorite Things pattern, the Little Prairie Dress. Not a particularly complex pattern and it sewed up pretty quickly.

My relief at completing it had more to do with its recipient than the challenge of sewing it. You see, the owner of the quilt shop where I teach asked me to sew this dress for her daughter. I was happy to do it but inwardly terrified. What if I messed up? What if it didn’t fit? What if — gasp! — they both hated it? I could just see my career as a teacher coming to a complete halt before it even had a chance to take off.

Yes, I get worked up over things sometimes. And, really, it was for nothing because they both loved the dress. And it fits quite nicely, despite the way it looks on my dress form. (That’s what happens when you put a size 11/12 dress on a size 4/5 dress form — LOL!)

She had given me two fabrics for the dickie part of the dress (that’s the little insert in the bodice) and told me she couldn’t decide between them. I opted to use both and stitched in snaps so they could be swapped out on a whim. There was so much fabric left over, I ended up making three headbands: One to match each dickie and one of the main dress fabric, in case she wanted to wear it over a cami instead.

I actually have this pattern myself, and had been planning to make something for both me and the little missy. Now that I’ve sewn up this one, I’ve got no excuse not to make it again.

Don’t forget — you’ve only got a couple of days left to enter my big 300th post giveaway. I’m enjoying all the questions everyone has posted and can’t wait to update my “About Me” page with them (and the responses, of course).

I’ve been taking a sort of mini vacation from sewing. It’s not that I’m growing weary of it, not by a long shot. More like I needed some time to recharge the batteries before I get a bad case of the burnouts.

Plus, with all three kids home for big chunks of the day during the summer, it’s hard to find the place in my head I need to be when I sit down in front of the sewing machine. Someone always needs my attention, whether it’s to locate running shoes or note that we’re out of milk or to complain about a sibling. Or sometimes to tell me how unfair I am for expecting beds to be made every morning.

Today, the youngest one was off at VBS, the middle one at summer school and the oldest at work. Approximately two hours of peace and quiet where I could do anything I wanted. After doing a little Internet surfing, I headed downstairs to sew.

I made it about halfway through my project, the Little Prairie Dress by Favorite Things. With any luck, I’ll finish up tomorrow and snap a picture to share. But right now, I’m just enjoying the process and the peace of mind that comes with creating.

And the peace that comes with having the house to myself, at least for a little while every day.

Does someone really consider this a positive selling point?

The third weekend of every month in these parts is the Lakewood 400 Antiques Market. I’ve only been to Lakewood once in the nearly eight years of living in Atlanta, and that was at its previous location near the Lakewood Amphitheater. The market is cool; it’s just kind of a haul from my house. Today, I didn’t care. Honey and I hopped in ye olde momme mobile with Miss L in tow and headed out for some treasure hunting.

Yes, that’s really what I call it. It seems to keep L a great deal happier than telling her we’re going shopping. And, honestly, it’s not that far removed from the truth. My trusty 30D captured some of the cool finds we found. Our first stop was this outdoor yard filled with metal bits and pieces. Archways and plant stands and gossip benches. And a goodly amount of yard art. Who wouldn’t want a flying pig for the garden? (See the ginormous turtle behind it?) I thought the roosters were pretty cool, too, but my favorite was this dress form. I think Honey would have let me bring it home, but I didn’t ask.

I wish I could have captured the grandeur that was this post office counter and boxes. Instead, you’re stuck with just this little bit of it. “Magnificent” really is an understatement. It was like three wooden walls, with one of them all these old mail boxes. The others were the clerk counters, with windows and bars. The whole kit and caboodle. I really was trying to figure out how to justify buying such an eccentric piece. L had a blast on the opposite side, where she played postmaster for a good while.

Honey tells me there were names labeled to each of the boxes on the clerk side. He wasn’t sure if they were original to the piece but suspects they were. No idea how much the thing cost but I’m sure it was more than I could pay — not that I have any place to install a post office.

I had a wonderful chat with Patricia DiBona of Dibona Designs Studio. Her booth just drew me in with all of it’s beautiful collage pieces and ephemera and supplies for sale. I was so busy running my mouth that I never asked if I could take pictures, so you’ll just have to visit her site to see her offerings. If you don’t, you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say they were absolutely lovely, very inspiring and just totally rocking the collage thing I’m into right now. I’m actually thinking that I need to drive up and attend one of her workshops. They just look like so much fun! And I could do with a dose of in-person artsy every now and then. (Couldn’t we all?)

One of my favorite finds at the Market today was a big bowl of old photos. On the front was a sign: “Instant Ancestors $1.50.” That just tickled me to no end.

Actually, I came home with very little today. Restraint can be a challenge for me but I’ve finally learned how to curb the impulse to buy every shiny object that catches my eye, instead buying just the ones that fit with whatever I’m working on right now. That’s why I brought home one of those cute paper dress forms with ribbon and buttons. Love! Mine is not in the photo but it’s just as darling. It was hard not to buy more ribbon there (“there” being Grosgrain Annie’s). Just a wonderland of ribbon. And old thread spools. And fabric. And more. I chatted with Jo Ann Rogers a bit; she’s the one to thank for the pictures because she saw my camera and told me I could take some. (Thank you, Jo Ann!) Really, it’s a shame I couldn’t stay in there long because I’d spot something new to check out every time I turned around.