Charlie’s sister, Jacquie, asked me what Roxanne would like for Hanukkah this year. Roxanne has been asking for a new backpack, so we chose one from Land’s End and had it monogrammed. It was deeply discounted so we got to choose something else to go with it. Books are always a huge hit with Roxanne…
Project Upcycle: An Online Class on Craftsy Taught by Betz White
Betz White gave me the opportunity to try out and review her online class, Project Upcycle, offered through Craftsy. Craftsy offers online courses on all kinds of crafts. Once you sign up for a particular class you have access to it anytime and for as long as you want. The videos are in HD and…
patterns and books
I have two things to share today. First, I have had the most wonderful time choosing books for my new Amazon affiliate bookshop. The bookshop has several categories, each filled with books I love. When you click through from my links and purchase a book I get a very small percentage of the sale. It’s…
my work is on the cover
Over the winter I contributed a project to a book edited by Kathreen from Whip Up entitled Kid's Crafternoon Felting: 25 Projects for a Crafty Afternoon and today my copy arrived in the mail. My project is a set of five animal finger puppets and it is on the cover of the book. I really…
An interview with Ikea soft toy designer Annie Hulden
For a long while now I have been thinking about how commercially produced stuffed animals are made. More specifically, I have wondered how the sewing patterns for these toys are created. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not interested in having my own designs mass produced. I’m all about making each toy one at a time…
Book Review: Nancy Zieman’s Sewing A to Z
My mom doesn't sew. Neither did my grandmother. Growing up I never wore a handmade garment of any kind. There was no fabric stash in my house and nobody mended clothing or knit sweaters. My mom is artistic and certainly encouraged all of us to pursue our own projects, but she didn't know how to…
Book Review: Modern Soft Toy Making by Margaret Hutchings (1959)
A few weeks ago I was in bed reading one of my favorite books, The Techniques of Soft Toymaking by Enid Anderson. Although I’ve read this book many times over, I’d never noticed the dedication. Here is what Enid says, “I was motivated at the start of my craft career by many people, but possibly…
Book Review: Big Little Felt Universe by Jeanette Lim
I love house plants to death. I saw a beautiful jade plant at Trader Joe’s last year and brought it home to live on our kitchen table, under the window. I admired it every morning at breakfast, I watered it frequently. Too frequently. As its leaves began to drop off one by one I was…
CraftSanity Magazine is out!
Have you seen the second issue of CraftSanity Magazine? It's beautiful. Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood of CraftSanity podcast fame has put together a truly fabulous magazine filled from front to back with projects. Every page has something to create and Jennifer tests every project before the magazine goes to press so you can rest assured that the…
Book Review: Beasties by Diana Schoenbrun
I was recently sent a few copies of Beasties, a new book of plush sewing patterns by children's illustrator and artist Diana Schoenbrun to review on my blog. I had never seen Diana's work, but was charmed after perusing her website and seeing her original stuffed animal and puppet designs. Diana has another book out…