Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da.

I haven't been very crafty the last couple of years. Life got sad and I got otherwise occupied dealing with it. But I don't want to drag down this poor, neglected blog with the details when I feel the creative juices starting to flow again!

While I may not have produced much art recently, I have been thinking about it, and some of those thoughts are finally starting to take shape in the real world. There is a highboy dresser in my backyard waiting to become something the manufacturer probably never dreamed of. There is a stack of styrofoam insulation leaning against my empty aquarium. And I still have plans to cut holes in the end of my storage shed.

What the hell am I up to with these things? Stay tuned.

And there's more, an even grander project in the works. It's a project so big I've enlisted the help of friends and colleagues across the United States to help me make it a reality. But that's all I have to say about that right now.

Life, eventually, goes on. :)

Just Checking In

I know, I know, I haven't posted anything in over a month. Well, I've been busy leading hoodoo practitioners in making portable altars out of cigar boxes:



learning about "or nue" embroidery:



and working on my project for the next issue of the AntiCraft:



Whoops. Oh well.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know I'm still here, and still crafting my fingers to the bone. Now, if I could just get paid for all this crafting...

Two New Releases!

I'm so pleased! 42 Magazine's inaugural issue has finally been released! It's forty-four pages of wonderful writing and art, all wrapped up inside gorgeously rich cover art by Kathleen Flannigan. Page seven features an article by yours truly about thrifty crafting, accompanied by the wonderful illustrations of Danielle Thillet. There's parables and poetry and pictures, with very little silly alliteration!

Here in pixel-land, the Beltane '09 issue of the AntiCraft, Attack of the Merkins is live. (I should warn you that the pictures in this ish may not be safe for work. It probably depends on where you work.) You'll find my offerings in this issue bright and shiny, and later you'll be able to see another. I'll let you know when that one's available for viewing. Don't the let the wait make your brown eyes blue. ;)

Both 42 and the AntiCraft are always looking for your submissions of creativity for publication.

42 looks for "...articles, poems, and stories that illuminate the themes of a meaningful life, whatever that means to you. Our thematic focus -- if indeed something so diffuse can even be called a focus -- is on: Peace :: Justice :: Ecology :: Economy :: Self-reliance :: Simplicity :: Reason :: Joy :: Love :: Art "

For more details on the what, how, and where, visit 42's submission information page.

The Anticraft likes "Craft in any media (weaving, metallurgy, crochet, soul-painting, cooking, or other any medium you can bend to your will)... so long as results are reproducible by your tutorial, it doesn't suck, and it is previously unpublished (blogs count). " The what/how/where for the AC is found at their submission page. The theme for the next issue is embroidery, but you should submit whatever moves you. If we like it, we'll find a place for it in a future issue.

I hope to see something from you in the inboxes soon!

Been a While

I haven't posted in a while, but I have been (and still am) busy crafting. Here's just a tiny hint:



More on that later.

I'm also getting really excited about 42 Magazine's first issue coming out next month! Serene has been wading through tons of submissions, and she says there is some incredibly good stuff in there. I've seen a couple of the pieces, and I can't wait to see more!

I've added a section over on the left side of the screen, for links to Useful Things. Right now it's only got one item in it, a website for measurement conversions. The site even has a place to convert volumes of various cooking ingredients (tiger lily blossoms?!?!?) to weights, and back again! I plan to add This to That as soon as I get or make a button for it. What website are you always referring to, when you need to know something? Let me know, and maybe I'll add it to the list!