Make Stuff Together! (and a giveaway)

If ever there was a book that not only inspired me creatively, but also gave me hope for the future, this is it. Kathie Sever and Bernadette Noll's Make Stuff Together book explores crafting as a community effort though creating with family and friends. Simple projects with special meaning make this book a unique treasure.


I'd love to be able to claim objectivity here, but who am I kidding? Bern and Kathie are friends of mine from my days in Austin, and I love them dearly. These are the kind of folks who make your life richer and give you hope in humanity, but not in an annoying, pretentious way. They are genuine and funny and smart and loving and down-to-earth, and Make Stuff Together is a perfect manifestation of their personalities. The essays on crafting as a family, the projects that use upcycled materials - all of it is 100% true to these ladies and how they live their lives. To know them is to love them, and to love them is to cherish this book.


Last weekend, they had a raging book release party at the Stitch Lab in Austin. I was so bummed I couldn't be there. These folks and this community are one of the things I miss most about Austin. What is so wonderful about Make Stuff Together, though, is that I can feel that connection to community and the inspiration of making things through the book - no matter where I am.

Check out their Facebook page and the other stops on their Blog Tour for more information and to see why what these two rad moms from Austin are doing is so darn important.


Lucky You! I was gifted one copy of Make Stuff Together to review, and I have one copy to give away to an Average Jane Crafter reader. I just want to know a favorite crafting memory of yours, and if it involved working with someone else. Did you stitch with your grandmother? Make pine derby cars with you dad? How do you think crafting with someone changes the experience of making things for you? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to leave a way I can get in touch with you. Comments will close at 11AM CST on Sunday, July 3.