journal

Destash Check in!

(this is now) (this is before) I’m happy to report that much progress has been made. First, I took the suggestion of many commenters and brought some organization to the pile. Whew, that’s better. Now I can actually get to the things I need to get to. I did toss […]

journal

Book Making and Photoshoots

I feel like a bona fide author this week! Storey Publishing flew me out to Massachusetts to be on hand for the photographing of all the books steps. It’s turned out to be really good for both of us. We have been able to tighten up wording, make things better, […]

fabric - howto - journal - patterns & tutorials

How to: Make a Replacement Pet Bed Filler


When we got Jak last month, I thought I was being oh so smart by getting a dog bed with a removable cover. The theory was that I could just take off the cover, give it a wash, and be good to go again. Well, that’s true except in the case of accidents where the whole thing gets soaked through. Next time I’ll make sure to get a cover that’s water proof as well as removable. Ah well. Hopefully we have dealt with the last of the pee issues.

Time to pull out the sewing machine and make my own. It was surprisingly easy, so I thought I would share this with you, just in case you have a pet with a bed that needs a new inside.

journal

Fixing Craft Leftovers Update

We found (and by that I mean Jason found) what went wrong. So it turns out that when the server went down (which was a hardware failure on their part) it corrupted one of our database tables. It started chewing through and dumping memory or something like that (this is […]

journal

Doggy, Post, and Book News

My book is cruising along at a good clip now and Sunday is the deadline for me to finish my final revisions of the manuscript. I think in light of this fact alone I really should have taken the week off posts to focus on that. Second, I have a […]

journal

Merry Christmas!

Hi all! I just wanted to pop in today and wish every one a very Merry Christmas! I’m sitting at my folks right now, snuggled up in a blanket, sipping coffee and listening to a chorus of sparrows chirping their heads off in my parent’s bushes. I actually thought my […]

journal - nosew - patterns & tutorials

Free Woven Coaster Tutorial: Just Pay with a Tweet!

I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of Pay With a Tweet before, but, read on and you will! This great service let’s you set up a tweet, a gift to download, and then generate the code for you (or in this case me). It allows us to swap nice and even steven. :) You tweet (or post on Facebook) about my holiday related eBook Card.Paper.Ribbon. and in exchange, I give you this sweet little tutorial for using greeting cards by making them into sturdy, woven coasters!

fabric - journal - patterns & tutorials

How to: Make an Ironing Mat


While the ironing board is a great craft room tool, it’s often a bit big and cumbersome. Sometimes I just need to press a little something while sewing–all nice and quick. I keep my cutting mat on my sewing table, so I wanted to make an ironing mat that would fit right over it and protect its rubbery surface.

journal

Migraine Meltdown

Hi ya folks. I just wanted to do a really quick post today explaining the lack of posting yesterday. It all started on Wednesday when I became overwhelmed with a severe migraine – yuck. Thursday and Friday I was pretty much useless to the world in some kind of strange […]

journal

October Craft Leftovers Swap! Sign up starts now!

Hey, can you believe it? It’s been a quarter of a year since the last swap! It’s now time for the October Craft Leftovers Swap! Are you tired of working with the same fabrics, papers, and yarn? Is your stash a little “blah?” Could your fabric use a fresh face […]

journal

Tips for Learning to Knit When You Already Crochet

Argyle Slipper Toes

I’ve been teaching beginning knitting for a couple of years now (crazy to think). One thing that I’ve found is that if a student already crochets, they take more readily to the continental style of knitting. If you are completely new to yarn craft, throwing the yarn is the way to go.

journal

My Longest WIP: Getting back into weaving

Part of stash busting is to finish all my WIPs. Instead of posting all my WIPs at once, I’ve opted to post about one at a time. Focusing on each one, finishing it, and moving on to the next. Each WIP has a story to tell. Some will end up […]