Craft Magazine Loves ME!!!

So, I almost missed it due to my well-documented issues with organization and time-management... but I got my photos posted in the Craft Magazine and Singer Sewing Company "Sewing with nature" contest last month. There were a ton of really cool projects posted in the flickr group, and I did not envy the judges.
The article advertising the contest said that they would pick one winner who would win a sewing machine and a heaping helping of sewing books, and three runners-up who would receive dress forms and subscriptions to Craft Magazine. I actually kind of hoped I'd be a runner up - I would DIG a subscription to Craft!!

The deadline for posting a project was last week and I've been checking every day to see if any news had been put up about the winners. Finally, yesterday I received an email informing me of the decision. I didn't win, nor was I chosen as a runner up, but the judges decided to create "honorable mention" category due to the number of great projects entered. Lucky me, I got mentioned honorably!

The bag is one I gave away at Christmas. The recognition has really satisfied a part of me that was struggling with the idea that my crafting is "just a hobby". Kudos to my hubby who has not dismissed my sewing as a silly girl thing I do, but he doesn't really see it as an income-generating operation either. Not hard to see why, when you tally up what I have sold over the last couple of years... but in the last few weeks I've had a number of sales in my two shops, and now this bag I designed my very own self gets some love. I have to say I'm feeling pretty good.

Place your custom orders now!! :)

Anti-Valentine's Contest on Dabbled.org

When my hubby and I first met, and soon after fell in crazy impetuous love with each other, he admitted to me that for years previously he had cut the 14th of February out of calendars. He didn't just X it out. Or ignore it. He actually took the initiative to find a pair of scissors and make sure that day was just not included in the year he was living in. I thought at the time that his attitude was unusual, but I have discovered that he was not alone.

Dabbled.org is holding a Black Heart Anti-Valentine contest - the 2nd annual. The rules of engagement (pun intended) are pretty loose. The deadline is the 12th, but materials and point of view and such are open to interpretation.

So, if you don't have anyone to spend the next few days creating something special for (or even if you do but are highly competitive), why not create something special for your SELF and go enter their contest! Good luck!

Etsy Trashion Loves Me!!

How do you beat a nagging case of No-Creative-Juices syndrome? You get blogged about! Check it out!


Thanks Etsy Trashion for noticing (and appreciating) my little revamped wool vest! I would be wearing it my own self if I were a couple of sizes smaller, but maybe someone else will snag it instead.


I feel some inspiration coming on...

a slow start

I know, I know... you're reading a blog about crafting, so you probably don't want to hear about my inability to get fired up to make anything for the entire first month of 2009. Sad, aren't I?

It's not that I'm boasting. I certainly haven't been reveling in my idleness. No complacent arrogance here. Every evening that I've spent doing anything but craft I have felt guilty about not crafting. I walk by my kitchen counter where I put my bright shiny new journal in early January and can feel it staring at me. "Write! Draw! Blot your lipstick! Just USE ME already!" it says... but I avert my eyes and go pick up the dryer sheets that have accumulated on the couch where the clean clothes wait for dispersal.

Part of the problem might be the weather. It should be a perfect way to spend dark wintry evenings - perched in front of my sewing machine making things that remind one of coming warmer days, like my repurposed bed linen market bags. (Oh how I look forward to farmer's market!!) But unfortunately my craft room is actually a window lined sun porch that is heated separately than the rest of the house and stays VERY chilly in winter.

I could say that I haven't had any inspiration lately, but that would be a lie. I have sketches, I have had ideas, I have seen finished projects in my head... I just haven't wanted to go out and start making them. My craft area is a bit messy too. There's a good excuse. You can all sympathize with me there, right? SAY YES!!!

Mostly though, I think I've been lazy. What kind of true artist or crafter lets themselves get bogged down with the details of daily life so much that they don't get their crafty groove going at least a FEW times in a month??

SNAP OUT OF IT!! *smacking myself around*