Pssst. . . There are Ninjas, Too!

Just a quick sneak peek at something I've been working on for release next week at my Shiny Happy World. Have you signed up for my mailing list yet? You don't want to miss the pirates and ninjas - do you?

Read more...

B9 earns a 2011-2012 Young Hoosier Book Award nomination!

I got great news right before the holidays (and all the snow!) hit: The Brooklyn Nine has been nominated for the 2011-2012 Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award! The Brooklyn Nine is one of twenty books nominated in the Middle Grade category.

Thanks, Indiana Library Federation--and happy reading, Young Hoosiers!

Read more...

Fantasy Baseball Poster Giveaway

This past summer I took a two-week letterpress class at Penland School of Crafts, and what did I create and print? Fantasy Baseball posters, of course! A set of four, in fact, and I'll be giving copies of each away in the months leading up to Fantasy Baseball's release in March 2011.

 

First up is the game day poster for the big finale: the championship game between Dorothy's Oz Cyclones and the Big Bad Wolf's Grimm Reapers, done in the style of classic sports adverts. The date of the game is the book's on sale date. The poster is 9"x19", type-set in wood and lead, hand-printed by me, and, as they say, suitable for framing.

 

Readers of my eNewsletter already have a leg up on this, but even if you don't subscribe* there's still a chance for you to get in on the action. Just click on this link to enter. The drawing is free, the postage is free, and all street addresses will be pitched once I've mailed out the prizes. But hurry--I'm going to pick the winners tomorrow, on Christmas Eve.
 

Click here to win a hand-printed Fantasy Baseball game day poster! 

*And seriously, why aren't you signed up for my newsletter already? The sign up is just an easy scroll to the bottom of the page...

Read more...

Easy Peasy Rainbow Skirt

Alan lost a bunch of weight this year - which means I got a huge stack of too-big clothes to play with. Jo's response when she saw the pile? "Will you make me some clothes from those? I love it when you make things for me out of Daddy's old clothes!" I love it that that's still her attitude - I know at some point she probably won't want to wear things made from her dad's cast-offs. But for now? She got this skirt made from one of his T-shirts. She really does love these super-comfy skirts - though she likes them to be jazzed up a bit. For this one I stitched a rainbow of backstitches around the hem.

For the bottom two rows I stitched right in the stitch lines for the existing T-shirt hem. That dictated the spacing for the rest of the rows - which I eyeballed.

At some point I'll write up a tutorial for this kind of skirt. For you adventurous types who want to try it right away - cut the T-shirt straight across at the armpits. Turn the cut edge down to form a casing for elastic and stitch it in place. Thread some elastic in, close the casing and you're ready to fancy it up. Easy peasy.

Read more...

Tron's Legacy?

There's an awful lot of buzz out there right now about the new Tron: Legacy movie, a long-awaited follow-up to the cult classic from 1982. But good luck finding the original Tron on DVD to watch ahead of the new holiday blockbuster. The DVD is out of print, and the only remaining copies available on Amazon are going for around $120. Same thing on eBay. According to the L.A. Times:

Netflix lists "Tron" as "availability unknown," only two of Blockbuster's 30 L.A.-area stores had copies in stock this week, iTunes doesn't offer the title and even specialty stores that pride themselves on stocking obscure used DVDs are empty-handed.

Why, you might ask, wouldn't Disney capitalize on all the hype for the new movie to sell copies of the old one? It seems like an incredibly stupid move not to have at least the old version--let alone the planned newly remastered version available for sale and rental in the weeks leading up to the premiere of the new movie.

The L.A. Times speculates that Disney doesn't want the now antiquated special effects of the original to turn off modern audiences:

"Tron" was a much more modest success than those films, however, earning $33 million at the box office and becoming a cult favorite for its groundbreaking use of computer-generated effects and a prescient story about computer culture. Today its effects might look quaint to sophisticated audiences.

Disney says it will release Lisberger's remaster of "Tron" sometime in 2011. It's possible the company is deliberately holding back on printing new copies of a movie that could alienate the broad, non-geek audiences they'll need to make "Tron: Legacy" a success.

"That film was ahead of its time," says Jan Saxton, an analyst at Adams Media Research. "But they want the focus to be on their new effort."

Stupid. Just really stupid, IMHO. Way to miss out on sales there, Disney! Because I can't tell the difference between the special effects in movies made in 1982 and one made in 2010...

I'm just glad I have that Tron special edition DVD Paul gave me for Christmas a while back! Who knew it would become a collector's item too?

Read more...

House Blend Granola Recipe

I love granola. I would happily eat it every day - twice a day. I especially love the granola I make with this recipe.

5 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup coconut. You can leave this out if you don't like coconut - I love the toasty flavor it gets. Maybe try some wheat germ instead?

1 cup chopped nuts. Any kind except sunflower seeds. They taste good, but they always float to the top of the milk and make the final bowl look less pretty.

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup sweetener. I like to mix two kinds - I think that gives it a deeper flavor. Try a scant 1/2 cup of brown sugar with a few tablespoons of honey or maple syrup.

1/2 cup oil.

Mix it all together. Spread on an oiled baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Stir once halfway through cooking.

Eat one bowl hot out of the oven, topped with some dried fruit and cold milk or warm apple cider. Let the rest cool completely and store in a sealed container. Serve with milk, cider, or yogurt.

I love mixing and matching different nut/fruit/sweetener combinations to get different flavors. Some of my favorites are dried apricots with almonds and honey (mmmm. . .) and dried cherries with cashews and maple syrup (fancy!). My everyday basic is raisins with almonds and honey. So good. And I just happen to have a pan in the oven right now.

Read more...

How to Make an Easy - and Extremely Cute! - Ironing Board Cover

I'm getting ready to shoot a video on pressing vs. ironing (I know! So exciting!) and I decided I just couldn't do it on my old, water-stained ironing board cover. I have a magnificent Michael Graves extra-wide ironing board that I bought several years ago. When I bought it I had the foresight to buy an extra Michael Graves cover - knowing that by the time I needed a new cover the extra-wide version would be long gone. I've moved it to four homes and I finally took it out of the package today - only to find that it was a standard-sized cover. Aaargh!

I was. . . angry. I briefly considered putting the icky old cover back on the ironing board - but it was really pretty gross. And then I realized it was just a flat piece of fabric - no shaping - nothing fancy. Even the drawstring was just slipped through the serged edge.

I realized I could use the old, stained cover as a pattern for a new cover - and one that would be way cuter than the boring Michael Graves design I had been schlepping around for years.

How about this cute Peter Pan fabric I bought in Japan? I just laid the old cover on the new fabric and cut around the edge. (New pattern weights are on my list of Things to Make Soon.)

I even made improvements! Instead of a flimsy serged edge I used some old (really old - look at that price!) seam binding tape someone gave to me. Bonus points for it being orange and looking so cute with the fabric.

I stitched the binding around the edge. I pulled the drawstring out of the old cover and reused it on the new one - I just threaded it through the binding tape using a big, blunt needle.

 

The original cover was tightened on the board and just knotted in place. I used this fancy sliding springy thing instead of a knot.

Now I get to iron on cuteness every day. Squee! I was so inspired that I didn't even shoot my video - I started on a new skirt for Jo instead.

By the way - the whole project took less than an hour from start to finish. Everyone should pretty up their ironing board this way!

Read more...

So You Want to Learn How to Sew, Do You?

I meet a lot of people - kids and adults - who want to learn how to sew. And it's fun to teach them! I've taught kids as young as six how to sew stuffed animals, skirts, aprons, and doll clothes - all of their own design! I've taught teens how to refashion a wardrobe from thrift-store finds. I've taught grown-ups how to make clothes and toys for their children and grandchildren, and how to sew beautiful quilts without stress. And I've loved every minute of it!

I've taught at schools and summer camps, colleges and fabric stores. I've published books and online tutorials. But now I'm thinking bigger. I've set up a whole website just for all those folks out there who want to learn to sew. Starting in 2011 there'll be two new video lessons every week - one sewing and one embroidery. There'll be lots of projects for you to practice your new skills. There'll be galleries where you can share (and show off!) your work.

By the end of the year you'll be able to sew everything from stuffed animals to clothing. You'll be the master of zippers and buttonholes. You'll know tricks for working with all kinds of fancy fabrics - from velvet to tissue lame. You'll know what tissue lame is! And you'll have fun. Hopefully, lots and lots of fun.

Through the end of the year I'm posting a lot of videos covering the basics - how to choose a machine, how to use an iron, etc. We'll start with the fun sewing stuff (and projects!) in January. So right now - if you want to learn to sew in 2011 - sign up for my newsletter so you won't miss a thing. If you have a friend (or a child) who wants to learn to sew - get them signed up. There will be plenty of boy-friendly projects too - so get those boys signed up as well.

Gather your materials. I have a post on choosing a sewing machine here. If you already have a machine but it's been gathering dust and you don't know how to thread it - take it in to your local sewing machine store. Have it cleaned and ask them to give you a quick lesson on threading and basic maintenance.

You'll need some hand tools too. I've posted a list of the basics here. If you're signing a friend or a child up, a collection of all the tools they'll need would make a terrific holiday gift.

If you just want to learn to embroider - stay tuned. You'll need only a few basic tools and I'll have a list posted next week. You can go ahead and sign up for the mailing list now.

I hope to see lots of you over at my Shiny Happy World next year! Happy sewing!

Read more...

Found on Wikipedia: Pizza Farms

From Wikipedia:

A pizza farm is an educational visitor attraction consisting of a small farm on a circular region of land partitioned into plots shaped like pizza wedges. The farm's segments produce ingredients that can be used in pizza, such as wheat for the crust, tomatoes or herbs, pork for pepperoni, dairy cows for cheese, and even trees for pizza oven firewood. Certain farms may even have access to coal or natural gas deposits that can be used as alternative pizza oven heating fuels. Many of the newer pizza farms are experimenting with alternative energy, such as installing wind turbines in the fields, to be more green. According to a 2005 article in USA Today, there are several such farms in the United States.

Read more...

The Masked Sewing Bandit

Jo finished her first quilt top yesterday. I'm putting the back on today for her. Proud finished pictures coming soon - but I couldn't resist sharing this one right away.

Read more...

You're Invited to an Open Studio Tour

I'll be the guest of Michael Kline and Stacey Lane at the Toe River Studio Tour this weekend. Come join us! 

Michael will have plenty of warm pots, fresh from the kiln, as well as his new lamp designs! Alan helped him and Courtney Martin stoke the kiln yesterday. The man does love to burn things!
 

Stacey will show several new styles of pearl jewelry and work featuring recently found, lovely stones!
 
And me? I'll be bringing brand-new bears. . .

bunnies. . .

. . . a handful of ragdolls. . .

. . .lots of colorful stockings. . .

. . . and unbreakable ornaments.

Friday December 3rd, 12 noon-5 pm
Saturday, December 4th, 10 am-5 pm
Sunday, December 5th, 10 am-5 pm

We're at Studio No. 30 on the TRAC studio tour map. And here are directions to Michael's studio.


While you're out and about in the area, stop by Courtney Martin's for more pots. . .

and John Geci for some glass. They're both at #19 on the map - just a mile or so from Michael's studio.

Also visit Erin Peters for a special Bulabags open house on Sunday from 1-6. You can even look through her fabrics and design your own bag - and get it in time for the holidays. Woot!

Looking forward to a fabulous weekend!

Read more...