CRAFT:09 Is out! Woooo!

Yay! CRAFT: 09 is out on the newsstands. Can you believe, I still don't have a hard copy!? I'm starting to fear that I let my subscription lapse, but that's beside the point. I've *seen* a copy (at Maker Faire) and friends have started getting their issues, so I feel like it's time to go ahead and get excited about it. I actually had this fear for ages that it wouldn't happen.

(and, on a side note, everyone who has their copy already says it's one of the best CRAFTs they've read, so I highly recommend snagging a copy, or - better yet - subscribing right now)


I wrote this article with one of my crafty BFFs, Diane of Crafty Pod. Diane has been an incredible source of support, inspiration and is just darn fun. She's, without a doubt, one of the most generous people I've ever met. Diane, I adore you.


I'm emailed Diane on New Year's Day this year with a version of the story idea that we ended up writing. I toyed with pitching it on my own, but when we realized that we'd both been thinking abou the subject (we've learned that we pretty much share a brain over the last year and a half or so) we decided to pitch it together.

It was the most fun project I've ever worked on, and by far the most effortless collaboration in which I have ever participated. I'd write pages and pages and pages and pages with this gal. (hmmm .... note to Diane and self ... a book someday? ;)


I also loved working on this story because I got to interview to women I love. First up, Opal Cocke whom I met through the Creative Mom Podcast group. I've been drooling over Opal's journal quilts for more than a year, and it makes me so happy to see her featured on the pages of CRAFT:. I'm also excited because Opal and Creative Mom Podcast creator, Amy, have started a new joint effort called Here2There. Their work is *amazing* - you must check it out.

I also got to interview Fredda Perkins, mom to the coolest crafty gal around: Jennifer Perkins! I was so excited to interview her. I've always felt a fondness for Jen and her mom (and family) because they seem to have a similar family dynamic that my family has. She was as fun and warm as I imagined she'd be. And darn cute to boot.

So there ya go. Yeah, it's just one article, but ya know, I've been itchin' to get back in to writing for a decade now, and it feels nice. And getting to do it with one of my best crafty friends makes it even better. Thanks, Diane and Opal and Fredda and Tina and everyone for making it such a fun experience. Hopefully this is just the beginning!

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!

Stitching the evening away

I'm in the middle of a whirlwind week - I've got loads of work to do, a birthday party for my son in ... oh .. less than an hour, and my Google Reader has more than 940 unread items. Yikes! But I did want to pop in and remind you to read my Sidebar post and enter the contest, 'cause I'll be closing comments in the morning. If you've subscribed to the blog, be sure to leave a comment, too, so I know you want to be entered in the contest. And do the Flickr scavenger hunt! I am having waaaay too much fun seeing the pictures people are coming up with. It's awesome.


Until later, here are some pictures from my hand embroidery class last night. It was so fun and such a nice way to spend the evening. The students were great, I got to see a friend I hadn't seen in more than a year (and was surprised by her, so that was a treat!) and I got to spread the embroidery love to more folks. That's just about as good as it gets. Here are some pictures of the students rockin' a French Knot. Enjoy!

Spaceboy, stockings and other things to get the creativity flowing

So I'm still in a bit of a rut, just 'cause I've got so many things floating around in my head at the moment, but I'm happy to report I've still squeezed in a little time for crafting here and there. My stinkin' camera is still out of commission, and there's no chance of remedying that until Christmas (at least). So for now, all I've got is my laptop camera. Apologies for the crap-a-liscious pictures.

I started a Spaceboy this weekend. I got the pattern last month at Maker Faire (my first Wee Wonderfuls pattern!) and have been itching to make one for my friend's son. I got the pieces cut out and embroidered the face, but he's still in pieces. Hopefully I'll be able to stitch him over the holiday break.

And in the "I actually get *paid* to do this!?" category, I made a stocking last week as a sample for Leslie's Stockings class. No picture for now (see first paragraph) but Leslie let me raid her stash of amazing wool felt and vintage sequins, and I came up with an owl design based on an Enid Collins purse. Gah! Why am I doing an owl ... again!? I don't know. I get sick of seeing them around, but still find some strange desire to craft with them. Who knows why.

And, again in the "I actually get *paid* to do this!?" category, I've just started on as a contributor at BurdaStyle. I'll be supplying random sewing news feeds just about every day. Victory! I have a "valid" reason to justify my blog addiction! And I'm already feeling the crazy urge to sew an entire wardrobe. Between new Project Runway and spending loads of time on the BurdaStyle Web site, I suddenly feel like I need to buy/make a dress form! (On a side note, if you have an favorite fashion/sewing/pattern blogs or web sites you want to share with me, please drop me a line at averagejanecrafter at gmail dot com. I'm subscribed to a million,and have loads of Goole alerts set, but don't want to miss anything. Send! Send! Send!)

And, finally, as though the creative opportunities weren't flowing fast enough (one of the manymanymany things I'm thankful for this holiday) my friend Kari asked me to help her launch a new zine called Aprön for the spring. Leaping Lizards! Finally! My high school dream of working on a zine is coming true! Fifteen years later ... but still. Best of all, Kari makes me laugh like crazy, and understands (nay, *encourages*) my random spewing of Annie quotes. I'm going to make a separate post with all the details and call for submissions. I'll be working on the production end of things, and contributing a craft column called, "Toast is the New Squid." Funfunfun. Serious. Fun.