Summer Craft Camp Time!

I'm actually looking forward to summer this year. My kids are getting older (they are 8 and just-about-5) and we've been having a lot of fun just hanging out together. It's also the first summer in a long time where I don't have a job that requires me to be somewhere at a certain time or is hugely stressful. I've started to see the possibility of doing some really fun stuff with my kids this summer, and that has me getting as excited about summer as I did when I was a kid.

Like most people, we are on a super tight budget right now. A summer full of camps and expensive activities just isn't going to happen. I'm pulling together loads of resources for fun, inexpensive things to do and - of course - crafting fits that bill perfectly.

That's why I'm so excited about the Summer Craft Camp we are doing over at Craftzine.com. All summer long, we'll have kid-friendly projects that will be perfect for filling the hot summer afternoons. One thing I'm most excited about for Summer Craft Camp is the participation of Kathie and Bernadette of Future Craft Collective. They'll have a special project each week that will not only get the kids making, but will get everyone thinking, too. Kathie and Bernadette are very special crafters. They focus on using repurposed materials and better yet, they focus on using craft as a vehicle to get kids talking and thinking about ideas like family relationships and consumerism. (Be sure to listen to Diane's Crafty Pod interview with Kathie and Bern!)


Their first project just went up over on Craftzine, and it's a goody. It's a beautiful way to plan out and keep up with summer activities. I'm looking forward to making one for our family. How about you?

Be sure to sign up for the Craftzine newsletter or Craft Daily so you can keep up with all the great Summer Craft Camp projects!

Two Weeks 'Til Maker Faire!!!!

I can't believe that two weeks from Thursday I'll be heading out to San Francisco for Maker Faire Bay Area! How is it already here? I am crazy kinds of excited, though. I'll be hanging at the CRAFT area and will be doing an Embroidery 101 demo at the CRAFT demo booth. I'll also be helping out with the kid craft area one morning - which should be crazy and fun.

I can't wait to see all the cool crafty offerings at the Faire. During Maker Faire Austin back in October, I met so many cool people and learned so many cool things. I learned about lace making, felting and pysanky. I watched guys hand carve giant wood blocks and then print with them. I watch as folks felted in plastic zip bags while they walked around the faire. And I caught several of the CRAFT demos from all kinds of interesting people, which was a blast.

The thing I'm most looking forward too, though, is seeing people I love - some of whom I haven't even met in person yet! I love my job more than you can imagine, and working virtually means I have incredible flexibility that is hugely appreciated. The downside, though, is that I rarely get to see the people with whom I work in person! We are spread - literally - across the country. We email constantly, instant message, share pics of our families and talk on the phone once a week. But none of that compares to getting to hang out in person.

At Maker Faire Austin, I got to hang out with Becky and Tina and Arwen (and more!) a bit, which was a total blast. At the time, I was still very new to the team and was suffering from a bad case of "I'm not worthy!" I was insanely shy. Fortunately, some of that shyness has rubbed off as our friendships have grown - albeit online - over the last six months. And now, I absolutely cannot wait to get to hang out with the rest of the gang in person and just soak up every minute of it. Since Natalie was days from delivering her first baby back in October, she wasn't able to come out to Maker Faire Austin. It's hard to believe I've never met her in person - it feels like I've known her for ages. Finally! We get to meet!

This online community is fascinating and fun, and one million times better when we can all get together in person. Can. Not. Wait.

If you are anywhere near San Mateo, you simply must come to Maker Faire. Heck, even if you aren't - it's a great vacation option. I haven't checked flights recently, but I landed super cheap airfare a while back. It's worth exploring.

Any of you coming to Maker Faire? You can keep up with our countdown to Maker Faire over on Craftzine, and I'll be blogging from the Faire there and some here (depending on how much time I have :) Come out and join all the fun!

CRAFTERNOON book review/profile/giveaway

Hey guys! I just posted a review and profile of CRAFTERNOON over on Craftzine. This is one of my all-time favorite craft books. Go read why, and read some fun questions and answers from author, Maura Madden. And then - Enter to Win your own copy of CRAFTERNOON on the Craftzine blog (not here - there!). You have until 9PM PST on Friday, October 31 to enter. Go do it! And tell your friends about it! This is a craft book you *want* in your collection. Trust me.

Enjoy! :)

Tomorrow: My almost-late-but-not-too-late Halloween sick/twisted embroidery for this year. Until then, take a sec to remember our dear pal, Zombie Jitterbug Girl.

Eeeps! Look at that!

Weee! I'm happy to announce that I'm now a regular contributor over at Craftzine.com! My Maker Faire stint went really well, and I've been asked to stay on as a contributor. I'll be posting up crafty fun stuff every day over there. This is, quite frankly, a dream job for me. My favorite thing to do is find cool stuff on the internet and send it to friends (just ask friends on my regular email list ... or even random email list ... I'm queen of sending the "holy smokes! check this out!" emails) so I could not ask for a more perfectly fitting job. Not to mention, the folks on the Craftzine team are about the most fun, kind, smart, cool people you could ever hope to be around (read: I'm totally intimidated, but I'll get over that ... maybe). I just feel incredibly lucky.

And if you find something you think might be of interest to the Craftzine.com readers, send an email to me at rachel at craftzine dot com.

I'll also mention that my first article for CRAFT magazine (co-written with one of my crafty BFFs, Diane!) is coming out in Volume 09, which will be out soon. I got to see a sneak peek at Maker Faire and almost peed my pants. For a gal who had high aspirations of writing for magazines in high school and college, but then got married and had kids (which is great, you know, but ...) it felt pretty dern good to see my name - especially alongside the name of one of my favorite people on the planet - in print. Whew boy!

So if you don't already have a subscription to CRAFT magazine, what on Earth are you waiting for!? Seriously! Subscribe now, and your first issue you receive will have the article Diane and I wrote in it!

It's the happiest day when I open my mailbox and see my CRAFT in there. You can read all about why I love CRAFT magazine over here on a post I wrote back in May. And then you can go subscribe.

Look who's blogging for CRAFT!

Gulp.

Pardon me while I go run around the house screamin' willy nilly for a minute.

Whew.

Very very very excited. Over the moon thrilled. Just so pumped for some fun bringing Crafty Maker Faire Austin news to you. It's a real privilege to be able to showcase and highlight the vibrant Austin crafting community for such a wide audience. And, of course, being the huge Craft magazine/blog fan that I am, I still sitting here in a total state of would-someone-just-go-ahead-and-pinch-me?

My first post will go up shortly. Be sure to check it out!