Tree Pendant

My blog-friend Tanya sent me this beautiful tree pendant as a "Thank You" for my last tutorial.  Bare trees are one of my favorite things.  The design is actually the logo for her jewelry business More Than Blue.  Isn't it beautiful?  Thank you so much, Tanya!




Did you get that thing I sent you?

Dana of Velourian was the winner of my blogaversary giveaway which was a big box of crafty stuff.  As a surprise, she sent me this WONDERFUL HIPPO.  She plans on designing a whole line of animals and selling their patterns.  I can't wait to see what other cuteness she creates.  Thank you so much, Dana!


I was a little worried when the front desk handed me the box, because the post office crunched it mercilessly.  Luckily, everything was A-OK inside. :)  There are more pictures of the Hippo and the box on my Flickr.

If you're in the mood for some giggles ... "Did you get that thing I sent you?" is about the only thing the Hippo on Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law says.  You can see it in this video in scene 2 (click the scene two icon below the movie) from 3:13 - 2:23 (it is counting down, strangely).  But if you've got the time, watch the whole darn show.  It's hilarious!

Addition To Book Review

Mark Montano emailed me after he saw my review of his book (which he liked!), and let me know  that they photographed all the projects from start to finish, but they just couldn't fit all the projects and all the step-by-step photos into the book and keep it reasonably priced.

I never thought of that. I'm sure when you're publishing a book you have to make all sorts of decisions like that. Personally, I'm glad he opted to put in more projects than more instructions. I'd also like to say, Mark is a super nice guy!

My Crafting Life Rocks

Sometimes I suspect that as my craft life gets better and better it's having the inverse effect on my real life, which gets more complicated, stressful, and unappealing.  Case in point, I won the contest for a bird drawing at Art Esprit.  I'll be sure to show you what she draws for me when I get it.

I suspect this drawing is in exchange for the figurative insurance headache I had earlier this week.  I'm not giving out any details, but let's just say the headache involves the words "dentist," "insurance," and "pain."  Enough said.

Is the good/bad exchange worth it?  You bet!  But I hope some day my craft life and my real life stop fighting like this.  Can't we all just get along? :)

No Commissions For Now

This isn't a link, but I wanted to let you guys know I can't take any commissions right now.  I feel so bad having to say "no" to people.  Commissions are one of my favorite things to do.

I still have seven handbags in my shop, and I will probably add things as I create prototypes of new handbag designs and whatnot, but for now I can't take on any extra crafting.  If my time opens up and I can do commissions again, you guys will be the first to know! :)