Craft Arsenal

Meet Up at Maker Faire

2008-05-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Marie is going to be up at Maker Faire this weekend and would love to see some of your shining faces--like in person. Drop a note to marimellodesign [at] gmail [dot] com, if you'd like to chat over some suds.

Charity Craft Volunteer Network Needs You!

2008-05-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

Ann Randall of the Stitching Studio just dropped a note to let everyone know that Austin has a new resource for charity crafting:

I wanted to let you know about our new non-profit, Charity Craft Volunteer Network, is now up and running with a brand new website. Allyson Lipkin designed the logo for us and we are really happy with the progress this year. We supply handcrafted items to local hospitals, treatment centers, transitional family housing, hospices, breast cancer patients, even the local Humane Society and we want to invite everyone to join us in producing these gifts for those in need in the Austin area. Most of our projects are for sick children and the elderly but we have a bit of everything for lots of different crafters. Please visit the website to get the full picture and scope
of what we do.

We need you to help fulfill the vast commitments we have in the local area. We provide the materials, projects, workspace and equipment – you provide the time and talent and heart to get them done. A lot of people would like to use their skills in sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidery and scrap booking but don't know what to make or where to donate it or can't afford the materials it takes to produce these items. We've been established informally in this area
for years and have projects and recipients waiting. Please consider donating your time for this very worthy effort.

We're also brand new – we got our tax exempt 501(c)(3) status in January of this year and we could desperately use donations of cash and materials. A few of our volunteers provide the majority of our materials, equipment and workspace and the burden is getting heavy on
them. We are applying for funding from various sources but that takes a lot of time and effort to see results so we are asking for individual donations to help get us through. If you have a stash of craft materials – fabric, yarn, etc. - that you've been meaning to clean out, please consider donating it. It's tax deductible and it will get used for non-profit purposes. We especially need cotton wovens with juvenile prints.

Drop them a note through the site, or send me an email if you'd like to be put in touch.

Stash Swap for Queen St. West Fire Victims

2008-03-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

Memo to Prometheus: Maybe the gods kept the secret of fire for a reason.
Memo to the crafters: Prometheus's little trick on the gods left him with some pretty heavy consequences, but it left us with another reason to band together, help each other out, and get some really cool chiffon in the process.

Straight from the Toronto Craft Alert's mouth:

Fabric Swap Party

After a winter of hibernation and crafting, many of you have boxes and boxes of leftover or unused fabric. We have a way for you to clean out your unwanted fabric supply and have a heart. Fellow artisans and fashionistas can come find fabric, get rid of fabric and have a great time raising funds for some people who have lost a lot in the Queen Street West Fire. Our swap parties are not about politely trading one thing for another. Here’s how it works: You bring in all the fabric you are willing to part with. Rummage through your linen closets, hope chests and project boxes and purge all that you can. Then we neatly arrange all the fabric goodies on our studio work tables. You will have a chance to review all the contributions before we all dig in. Then the organized arrangement swiftly turns into rummage chaos. If someone gets that chiffon you were eyeing before you do, you might have to persuade them to trade with you. Join us for a cup of tea and share your fabric foibles at the swap. Get rid of your excess fabric. Trade trash for treasure. Be inspired by your fabric findings and help raise funds for a good cause.

Please RSVP at 416-481-7784 or info@sewbeitstudio.com.

Date: Saturday April 5, 2008
Time: 7pm – 9pm
Admission: $10 (100% of proceeds goes to the Trust Fund to help the victims of the Queen Street West Fire)
All leftover fabric will be donated to charity.

Sew Be It Studio
2156 Yonge Street
Toronto ON M4S 2A8
416-481-7784
www.sewbeitstudio.com

[Images courtesy of Martin Reis and Kevin Steele.]

Craftivism: Shameless Magazine needs your crafty donations

2008-02-22T16:24:00.001-08:00

Could it be that the Crafties are getting less charitable? Certainly not. It's just another indication that I haven't made it all the way through my email box. Sigh. Well here's a good one from our friends up a the Toronto Craft Alert. For those of you not familiar with Shameless Magazine, check out the web site here.

Dear crafty folks,

International Women's Day, March 8, is just around the corner. What better way to celebrate than supporting Shameless Magazine, Canada's smart, sassy and feminist magazine for young women?

We at Shameless believe that it's more important than ever that girls get healthy messages from media. Everywhere you look, there's pressure on young women to conform to impossible standards as they navigate a world that values how they look and not what they think. Shameless Magazine is a fresh alternative to typical teen magazines. It's for girls who know there's more to life than makeup and diet tips. Packed with articles about arts, culture and current events, Shameless reaches out to readers who are often ignored by mainstream media: queer youth, women of colour, feminists, artists, and activists.

Here's how you can help! Shameless will be launching our next issue at a special feminist dance party fundraiser on March 8. We are soliciting donation items for our raffle at this event. Please consider donating an item, service, or gift certificate from your business or organization to support Shameless Magazine. We will publicly recognize your support at the event and we may be able to offer you advertising space in our magazine.

Because Shameless differs from other teen magazines (and because we refuse to print ads that make girls feel bad about themselves) we rely heavily on community and reader support. Shameless is an independent, non-profit magazine with a very small budget. Help us bring the magazine to youth by contributing much-needed funds to help us cover printing and distribution costs, office supplies, community workshops and training for our volunteer staff.

If you have additional questions, please contact Pike Krpan for more information at 416 703 6848 or pike@shamelessmag.com.

Thank you for your support.

Shamelessly,

piKe Krpan and the Shameless event committee

Charity Craft Sale: Bleeding Hearts Benefit for the Sierra Club

2008-02-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

From our pal Renee:

Today is the day folks!
Wolfie and the Sneak are hosting a One-day market to benefit the Sierra Club.

Why would we do such a thing??

Well, in 5 short days, the US will vote whether to place land up for lease for oil drilling in the Chuckchi Sea, and, well, we kinda like the polar bears up there, want them to feel at home and not too threatened. The Sierra Club has been working extra hard to get the word out while the rest of the world focuses on the newest Spears Sister debacle and the Primaries. We sure do thank 'em for it.

So here's your chance to buy your sweetie's Valentine's Day present, or just a little something for yourself. You'll find wearable goodies ("Hung Over" eye quilt, anyone?) to fine art to satisfy every style in all price ranges.

So we hope you'll stop by, take a gander, and buy a little something. And although we can't really guarantee what a polar bear roaring really means, we sure like to think they're yelling out at great big ol' thank you.

Bear Hugs and Puppy Kisses,
Renee, Charlie, Wolfie and the Sneak

Interview with Miriam of Crafter By Night

2008-01-30T09:45:00.000-08:00

I really admire people who maintain vast resources on their web sites. The Craft Calendar is really an homage to people like Miriam of Crafter By Night because these resources take time and are no easy thing to maintain. I would eventually like to make Craft Arsenal a better resource, but then I though why bother when Crafter by Night is such a GOLDMINE of indie shops and craft charities. By day Miriam works for the People's Community Clinic in Austin, TX (posted a couple of weeks ago), which works to provide individual and families with high quality medical services at a reasonable cost. Not too shabby huh? I got a chance to interview this keen lady and talk about her perspective on the intersection of indie, craft and charity.

I guess I should start by addressing the fact that I posted about a benefit for an organization you work for AND contacted you for an interview about five minutes later, without knowing that you worked there. It makes the world feel like such a small place, but then the craft community is kind of like that.

It was fun to see my workplace referenced when I went to look at your blogs. The world in general is a small place - 6 degrees of separation! Cause for Drinks was pretty successful, too, by the way.

Tell me about yourself...your crafts, your blog.

I've been a crafter forever … I enjoy figuring new things out, and I enjoy the process. Most of the time I like the end result, too. It's been fun watching more and more of what I make take over my house. But mostly, when I find something to do that I enjoy, something that really captivates me, I can get lost in the feeling of creating, and I love that feeling.

I blog for a lot of reasons. Mostly I'm something of a computer nerd and I love writing. I write about crafting because it just makes sense … it's what I do. The idea of "craft" is a big part of my life in many ways, aside from the obvious – the crafts I make. But it's also the idea of learning a craft, of honing a skill. Craft as artistic expression. A craft as someone's professional pursuit. Also randomly, the Arts & Crafts movement, which I love.

You write about and work for charities. Can you tell me a little about your causes, professional and personal?

Yes indeed … my professional "cause" is the People's Community Clinic, where I work in development – fundraising, public affairs, etc. The Clinic provides healthcare to people in central Texas without health insurance. It's really an amazing place to work. I'm impressed every day with the dedication and compassion of the people I work with. Our patients get better care than many people who have insurance. It's definitely work I'm proud of, and committed to.

Despite that, thinking of myself as a "cause" person is funny – I don't think of it that way. I do this work because in my life, what I do has to have some kind of meaning. I am not a person who can work only for a paycheck. Leaves me feeling empty, burned out and depressed. Maybe it's my background? My family has a number of social workers and teachers in it.

I choose the nonprofits I work for carefully - not all are great. I find that working at places that are really making a difference in the world spreads the enthusiasm for that kind of work to all areas of my life – my blog posts, for example. Being around passionate people is incredibly inspiring, and it lets me hold onto the idealism and passion that, I think, too many people lose. The people at the Clinic believe they can help relieve suffering and care for people in their community. Being in an environment like that makes me believe that anything is possible, and that cynicism is just giving up, accepting the way things are, accepting your own limitations and your own lack of ability to make a difference. What fun is that?

What's the best thing about what you do? And the worst?

Making myself be creative at work and at home, every day, all day – that's the best AND worst. Sometimes I just want to be a vegetable. Sometimes I get burned out. Sometimes it's too much work. But I think I'd go nuts without so many outlets for creativity, probably start making trouble! I like being busy and having so much stuff in my life that means something to me.

I love your Index of Indie! Suuuuch a good resource. You write on that, "Indie means lots of things, but mostly it means being out there on your own, doing it yourself, being creative, doing what you love, and if you're lucky, doing it for a living."

Supporting indie crafters/artists/designers/etc and supporting charity causes seems to go hand in hand. Certainly people have been knitting socks for the troops for quite some time, but lately there seems to be a proliferation of these craft for charity opportunities. How does Indie figure into all of this?

Let me see, indie and charity is not the same thing, obviously. How do they go together? First, I think lots of crafters like to support charity … don't know why! But it's true. Look at the Crafters for Critters website, for example, or Etsy for Animals …

For me, they go together because my interest in charity work and my admiration of independent artists both stem from an unwillingness to accept the status quo, and the belief that anything is possible. Independent artists, crafters and designers are following their dreams, they're doing the impossible thing. They're out there on their own being one woman/man creating, producing, selling, managing machines. It's impressive to even do it, much less succeed at it.

So, that's what the Index of Indie is about – supporting the artists. The Index was a natural sort of development as I got into being a consumer of handmade creations. I plan to keep working on it, making it better. I originally put it together because I had a hard time keeping track of stores and resources …

Really, "indie" anything can be overwhelmingly confusing and intimidating, whether that's indie art, crafts, music, film. With independent artisans, all the sales venues are decentralized, there aren't huge marketing budgets to appeal to consumers, and there are a huge number of artists and makers involved. To the casual observer, getting into buying indie is overwhelming. Maybe I can provide a resource to help wade through it all, maybe help encourage people to purchase from independent artists and designers. That's the idea anyway.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama...with a twist

2008-01-28T09:55:00.000-08:00

I'm completely wiped from an awesome birthday weekend at the Madonna Inn (Thanks baby!), so forgive me if I sound a little sad. I've been rummaging through my emails, and while this sounds fun, it reminded me that the craft world maintains such a tightly knit community online, but geographically, it's almost impossible to participate in most of the opportunities I find. And I guess I am still a little high from last week's Los Angeles Craft Mafia meeting which only awakened my appetite for in person meetups without bedding it down. Sigh.

Anyway, may this opportunity brighten your day...from Kim Schenck:

Hi all!
I am planning on putting on a Swap-o-rama-rama (SORR) with a twist. The SORR will actually be one of many activities planned at week long camps for youth who are in foster care. The youth participate in lots of activities at camp with the ultimate goal of developing leadership skills, creativity, independent living skills, teambuilding, etc. I thought a SORR would be a great way to teach youth about sustainability, diy movement, etc.

We are a local non-profit in Austin who has been providing youth development/leadership events for youth in foster care for over 20 years. I'd ultimately like to get several local designer/artists/seamstresses involved – hence this email. This wouldn't be a traditional swap-o-rama-rama, but a shorter version. We're also focusing on re-designing/restructuring *only* t-shirts. They can choose to make them into whatever they'd like – bags, hats, shirts, skirts, whatever. The evening will culminate in a fashion show.

Each youth 16-18 years old from around the state attend camp with a counselor or caseworker. We typically have around 75 total participants at each camp – 50 youth and 25 adult sponsors. Dates for camps are March 12-15 and March 16-19 with the SORR scheduled from 6:30-9:30pm on Thursday, *March 13th* and Monday, *March 17th* in Wimberley (about 25 miles southwest of Austin) where the camp is located. If you are interested in participating,
*please* reply to this email. We are able to compensate folks for their help – around *$100* for each camp. We'd love to have you!

I'm also looking for anyone with expertise in airbrush painting and/or screen printing.

For more info, contact, Kim Schenck (Kschenck@tnoys.org) LMSW ofTexas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS) and visit the site, www.tnoys.org

2008-01-23T10:31:00.001-08:00

My good friend Renee of Wolfie and the Sneak is looking for donations of handmade goods for her Bleeding Hearts Benefit:

Recently I was reading about the impact oil drilling will have on Alaska, should the US pass legislation to begin leasing drilling rights in the Chuckchi Sea . Environmentalism is a cause I feel very strongly about, and couldn't sit back without doing something to help out. Especially with Valentine's Day coming up, I believe there is no better time to show the world a bit of positivity through loving actions.

If you, too, feel this is an issue close to your heart, I will be hosting a benefit sale, for one day only on February 1, 2008. Items should be handmade (arts or crafts) and will be mailed directly from the maker to the buyer, shipping costs will be reimbursed. I will be accepting donations through January 26, 2008, of any value you are generous enough to give. 100% of proceeds will benefit the Sierra Club.

If interested, and want further details, please email renee at nobiting [at] gmail.com

Also, please spread the word!

No matter what your beliefs, I hope you will feel compelled to use your talents for changes you believe in!

Not So Crafty Charities: FreeRice

2008-01-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

I spent a lot of this morning beefing up on my vocab playing FreeRice. A sister site of Poverty.com, FreeRice aims to provide free access to English vocabulary, and to provide free rice to hungry people world wide by donating 20 grains of rice for each correct word you chose on their quiz. I like vocab and I like causes to end world hunger, so this site is the good way for me to wait on hold and as writer in real life, this can be a VERY helpful way to stir up the word juices in my word maker, when that, uh, stops working.

But to be honest, I don't know how much good it could be doing. Neither FreeRice or Poverty.com are listed on CharityNavigator.org or CharityWatch.org (disclosure: neither are the Wild Animal Park or CREF, which I vouch for). Some of the words seem awfully tough for a site that donates 20 grains of rice for each correct word in the quiz, however much that is, and I am not sure that lording your high scores over your friends is in keeping with the charitable spirit.

But that's really for you to decide. I don't think FreeRice is any where near being a solution, but it doesn't bill itself a one. If I have filled you with suspicion about the site, think of all the warm fuzzies you'll get from feeling smart, charitable and more verbose than your friends and check it out for yourself.

Craft Jobs

2008-01-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

Aside from going nuts on the craft event calendar, I am compiling some crafty jobs over on Marimello, because, well sometimes giving time/energy/fluffy pink bunnies just doesn't fit into the budget.

Here's one I posted today for One Good Bumblebee:

Craft Job Post: Assistant--One Good Bumblebee

**INTERNSHIP (or part-time assistant)**
Location: Dallas, TX
When: ASAP!
Pay: negotiable / to be determined

Job Description:
I’m looking for a super creative, friendly, enthusiastic, crafty type of intern who loves to create but also wants to know more about the business side of being an artist or designer. All work is done at my home in my studio/office located just south of Lakewood / Highland Park in Dallas, TX. Your job would be to assist me in production of products, managing sales and stock, and other various tasks including the creation of new products, customer services, etc. I imagine I will need you for at least 4 days a week from 9am to 4pm or whatever works best for you. My schedule is very flexible so exact times are negotiable.

Specific Responsibilities and Tasks:
- Preparing & completing products: cutting, gluing, trimming, labeling, printing, stuffing, packaging, lots of measuring.
- Shipping and receiving: packaging orders / unloading received packages.
- Keeping track of stock of both materials and finished products.
- Placing orders to re-stock sold out items: calling, emailing, & faxing vendors.
- Communicating with clients and customers via email. Lots of email!
- Running errands (coffee break!) - You must have access to a car, please!
- Helping me with day-to-day decisions, problem solving, creative ideas in terms of invention and design, as well as choosing new products to carry (the really fun part!)
- Organizing the studio, keeping everything tidy and manageable.
- Adding new products to the website: web skills including HTML and blogging are a plus.
- Taking product pictures for both website and print catalog - photography skills are a huge plus.

Qualifications:
Most importantly you should be interested and skilled in craft, art and design. A good sense of aesthetics and design are a must! The ideal intern would be honest, dependable, drama-free, friendly, focused, eager, meticulous, enthusiastic, organized, detail oriented, neat, and tidy. Photoshop skills are a plus.

Application Instructions:
If you are interested in working as an intern at One Good Bumblebee, please contact me at mail@onegoodbumblebee and include a little bio about yourself and tell me why you want to intern at One Good Bumblebee. I will get back to you and we can set up an interview and we’ll go from there! I hope to hear from you soon.

If you have any questions, please contact me at mail@onegoodbumblebee.com

Cat Mazza Interview

2008-01-16T10:28:00.001-08:00

There is GREAT interview with Cat Mazza of microRevolt up on We Make Money Not Art. Go read it and catch up on sweat shops, micro revolt, and her various projects: the Nike Blanket Petition, Stitch for Senate, Hackers and Haute Couture Heretics, and general crafty activism.

Cat is big craftivism hero of mine mainly because she's better at keeping up with the things I wish I was better at keeping up with, ahem, politics. But projects like the Knitoscope Testimonies, are more within my realm of knowledge and completely floor me with neato-ness. Knitoscope make video look like sweaters by lowering the resolution, pixelating, and translating the pixels into stitches that look like knitting. It's kind of like microRevolt's knitPro, but cooler and all the testimonials up on the site right now are from activists against sweatshop labor.

Three Cheers for Charity

2008-01-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

Hungry for good? Check out All Day Buffet. Part social network and part event planning, All Day Buffet bills itself as a social awareness brand for the cool kids. The idea behind All Day Buffet is simple, "Inspire Action. Change the world. Have Fun. Because doing good shouldn't feel like a chore." Being a bit of a hedon myself, but at the same time knowing not everyone is in the same position, I couldn't agree more with a cause like this.

Says the site, "Our purpose is to connect the things we like with the things that matter most. Our concept is open participation. Our network is a family of likeminded people around the world working towards the same ideals. Whether it’s drinking for a cause, curating an art project, or stripping for charity; we want to get you Full on Good."

If you're in the Austin area, why not toddle down to Ninety Proof and raise a glass or two to improve healthcare in Austin. $2 from every drink will support the People's Community Clinic. Who said that drinking only produces a hangover?

People's Community Clinic
Provides high quality medical, counseling and health education services at reasonable costs to individuals and families in the Austin area.

Ninety Proof
333 East 2nd Street
Austin, Texas Don't worry, alldaybuffet will be back in full force on February 20 in major cities across the country. Stay tuned for details on our website.

Save the Date: Knit for the Cure

2008-01-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

In my eyes (and in my hair), pink will never be over done. And it never will be, thanks to Breast Cancer Awareness.

Over the last three years Knit for the Cure has earned a LOT of support within the knitting and crochet community. This year, save the date, March 15, 2008, and whip up something pink for the cause.

Founded in 2004, the Knit for the Cure™ Campaign recruits knitters & crocheters from all over the United States to make handmade scarves, hats, purses, pins, etc., all incorporating the color pink. To date, over 700 items have been collected. The hand-knit and crocheted items have been sold at Komen Foundation events raising over $17,000 to support breast cancer patients and to fund breast cancer research and treatment through the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Los Angeles County Affiliate. Twenty-five percent of the total funds raised is donated to Komen's National Office for research and the remaining 75% stays in the local community and is awarded as grants to treatment centers and hospitals.

More Craftivism

2008-01-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

Causes with crafty efforts behind them are near and dear, my dears. This weekend, put your needles together for the Sock-Monk-a-Thon, and make a monkey for a South African child:

Saturday January 12th is the Second annual Sock-monk-a-thon, a craft- for- a- cause event where you can learn to make a sock monkey and donate your firstborn to a small South African. All materials are provided- though donations of materials are always appreciated! Funky socks, stuffing, buttons and embroidery thread are all ingredients for monkey making. Join us from 1-4 pm for good crafting and great karma. For more info, please contact lindsey@operationsockmonkey.com or check out www.operationsockmonkey.com.

Visit the Facebook event.

ABOUT OPERATION SOCK MONKEY

Operation Sock Monkey is an initiative created to raise money, support and awareness for Clowns Without Borders South Africa, (CWBSA). CWBSA is an organization providing laughter, hope and healing to children in South African communities affected by HIV.

Handmade sock monkeys are sewn with love and sent on a trip to South Africa where they will find new homes in the arms of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV /AIDS.

OSM needs help in the form of crafters and sponsors- the more monkeys made and sponsored, the more smiles will be sent across the miles. If you’d like to make a sock monkey to send, please contact lindsey@operationsockmonkey.com for upcoming workshop details. If you’d like to sponsor and send a sock monkey, or for more information, go to www.operationsockmonkey.com.

Image above is of therealgiganator's Craftster challenge winning monkey.

Football: over and out

2008-01-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

That's right. I'm talking about football. I'm really going to miss knitting through a football game once the season is over. Knitting is to football, like chili is to mac'n'cheese. Last year, we heard about the DIY Network's Knitty Gritty Knit In to benefit Warm Up America with Vicki Howell which aired during the Super Bowl. (Technically, last year this time, we didn't have cable, so actually watching was out of the question.) But this year we won't have the chance. Here's the scoop from Vicki's blog:

I just got word that DIY nixed the Knitty Gritty marathon (aka the Knit In), 2008 in favor of a bathroom renovation they're calling, the Toilet Bowl. Soooo, I know I told a lot of people that the KG special would air on Superbowl Sunday but that's apparently no longer the case. I'll keep you posted on any new developments but in the meantime, if you're looking for more Knitty Gritty love and want to tell the network(s) about it, here's where you can send your comments:
DIY Network Viewer Comments
HGTV Viewer Comments

Toilet Bowl? That's inspired.

Another problem is that the Warm Up America project has concluded. [correction: NOT concluded. the only thing that concluded was the baby hat project.] In any case, there are obviously a lot more projects to donate your Super Bowl sit in projects to. The San Diego Wild Fire Blanket Project is still going strong as I mentioned yesterday and I am encouraging you all to send a square there. Since there are still a lot of play off games, why not knit a few up before then. Not into football? Just flick on the TV. You've probably already noticed, there are plenty of inane shows to put on in the background.

Witch Fire Project updates for 2008

2008-01-02T15:42:00.001-08:00

It's about time we started setting some goals around here. Personal, ahem and for the Witch Fire Project. What with the holidays and everything, I've been a little lagging both in the shop and on this here blog, so while I am not a resolutions person, I am still going to tie a little string around my finger and promise to step things up this year. New projects which have been on the back burner will be shoved front and center.

First off the shop needs a little refresh. I will be posting new items in the next week. As I post them up I will be entering the gracious donor into the raffle and kicking that back into gear.

Next it's off to the writing cave, where I will be working on a short book about crafters and how crafting currently and historically is used to benefit communities in need. A lot of those ideas will be bounced of the lovely readers here and on Marimello, so keep your eyes peeled and let me know what you think.

I was perusing other similar projects over the break and was happy to see that San Diego Wild Fire Blankets has been doing really well. To date they've done 73 blankets and this year they're launching a whole new Web site to reach their goal of 1588. They've so far reached everyone in my home town, Poway.

Seeing the efforts of other projects always makes me happy, so this year I'd like to team up with some other similar efforts and see if we can't start a disaster awareness/preparation awareness type effort for crafters and the people who support them by buying handmade. If you're interested comment or email me marimellodesign [at] gmail

2008 looks like it's going to be a good year. The Witch Fire Project made news of it's own this morning when Naik Fur's Pom Poms were featured as an Etsy pick in the newsletter. If you didn't get it, that's ok. Go check them out right here.

So happy January! Keep spreading the good word.

Merry Merry

2007-12-25T15:33:00.001-08:00

It's certainly been a year now hasn't it? Given enough time, anything could happen.

That's a little joke between my dad and me. But it serves as appropriate adage for the year. While 2007 proved a good year in some respects (I got a new and improved job), 2007 has dealt it's blows and I am going to be really glad when 2008 come to bump it off it's throne. But we'll all talk about that next week.

This day is special because it reminds us that perhaps we have spent too much time bitching to see the best and realest things. Stopping to think about it, drinking a little nog and emptying a stocking puts the bitching on pause and give us a little time to think about that which no man or child can see. So take my jokes for what they're worth. It's been a best /worst of time type year, enjoy and cheers to the best-ofs!

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Wha...where did all this Christmas decor come from

2007-12-21T08:17:00.000-08:00

I know I have been MIA for a while. Sorry.

I just posted this on Marimello, but for those of you who don't read both blogs, here you go.

Somehow I was enjoying a cruise to Mexico and now it's the 20th. But all that sun and sand has been muted by the news that while I was gone, an amazing woman, and mother of my best friend died suddenly. Being that she was such an influential and creative lady, I've been thinking and chatting about how creativity is passed on through the people we know.

Certainly my friend's mother was an influence on me directly. She welcomed me into her home after I only just met my friend in college and I slurped up her sense of interior decorating. On the same trip, she took me to her stylist after a series of seriously bad hair cuts and taught me to trust the powers of a good hair cut again. She knit me a scarf after a fun, but cold trip to London and encouraged me to return to knitting. Which of course led to this here blog.

But more so I knew her through people she loved and who loved her. My friend talked me out of my men's undershirts and into a fetish for shoes. She weaned me off my baggy earth-tone wardrobe and taught me that good clothes open all doors. After we hadn't seen each other for a year, we showed up on the quad with the same shade of hot pink hair. She got me into blogging and inspired my writing both on and off line. Somewhere behind all of this, her mom was shopping for stylish vintage, borrowing the pink hair dye, and reading the blogs. Knowing a woman with a pink fish tail allowed me to trust my own flashy instincts and to wear them on the outside. I couldn't be more grateful to have known Judy. And I couldn't be more pleased with the thought of her keeping the eclectic fire alive in her family and friends.

I do other stuff you know

2007-11-29T01:06:00.000-08:00

...once in while anyway.
Go check it out. My name is in print and not just on the web. Even if you don't like me, CROQ is a FAB zine and you should read it anyway.

You can purchase at Etsy and various shops. But only if you live and cooler area than I do. Sob.

Knit a Square, Any Square

2007-11-16T17:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a good weekend project for you knitters from lys Yarning for You. I'm going to do it. Heck I'll probably watch so much football this weekend, I'll have a whole afghan done.

Hello Knitters,

Please help us in our newest charity project:
Re-Covering San Diego!

Hundreds of fiber artists are helping to make blankets for the San Diego 2007 Wildfire victims. Would you like to join in the effort?

We have complementary yarn for this project thanks to our vendors. Yarn has been donated by Plymouth yarns, Berroco yarns, and The Skacel Company.

Here are the details along with a pattern…

1. If you want to participate come by the shop, sign up and receive your complementary yarn.

2. One ball of complementary yarn will yield TWO squares.

3. Knit or crochet a 9" by 9" square using any machine washable yarn. It can be made in any stitch pattern or yarn as long as the square is 9" by 9".

4. Please return your squares in roughly 2 weeks to Yarning for You, 1001 West San Marcos Blvd., Suite 180, San Marcos CA, 92078.

5. Volunteers are needed to assemble the squares into blankets. Want to help? Just let us know!

PATTERN:
An easy 9" x 9" square knitted with donated yarn (one ball makes two squares).
· Size 11 needles
· CO 30 sts
· Knit for 9" in stockinette, seed, garter or the stitch pattern of your choice.
· BO. Weave in all ends.

Call us if you have any questions at 760-744-5648.

Thank You, Sandy & Debra

New News: the raffle has been won

2007-11-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

Michelle, the lovely designer of this jewelry on Etsy, will be reciving a bundle of goodness including:

A transfer from Sublime Stitching
A Dink from Shannon Gerard
Some lovely buttons from Girl on the Rocks
And a couple of loverly cotton mits from yours truly
And, and, and you know what? I'm not going to tell you what else. You'll just have to play along to find out what else I have over here.

And so because it would just be boring to discuss the other reasons why this week has been a good one (go hawks!) let's just make this good CRAFTING news day.

First of all Supernaturale posted an interview I did with Jess and Casey from Ravelry.
Secondly, Felt Club is this Sunday, November 18. I will be there and I know Girl on the Rocks will be there swilling cozied beer with me, so come check us out. It's going to be splendid: artist, crafters, designers and indie businesses, classes, AND Maker Square.

What the hell is Maker Square, you ask? Well if you're too lazy to click the link, it's a mini Maker Faire. You may want to read my assessment of last Maker Faire in San Mateo last Spring here, or you can just come find out. It's a five buck donation and well worth it.
Check out their site for all the details and where to park. (I swear parking will be better than this the Summer XL event.)

Raffle Update

2007-11-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I did the raffle, but I'll be doing one tomorrow as promised. This time, it's a grab bag of coolness. A peek in the shop will give you a hint, but I haven't made my final selections yet.

Everyone who donated or purchased thus far, will be entered.

In other news, the Wild Animal Park received a donation of $75 this week to help re-green the areas that were burned by the fire. Here's a bit about the fund:

Wild Animal Park Greening Fund: Situated in the San Pasqual Valley, the Wild Animal Park is no stranger to the threat of fires. Over the past years, we have actively worked to minimize these threats through our Greening Campaign. This campaign has enabled us to create hundreds of acres of nutrient-dense, eco-irrigated land that functioned as a safety blanket for our animals during the recent fires. Although we have converted much of the Wild Animal Park’s dry, arid, and fire-prone animal habitats into environmentally sustainable landscapes, the 1,800-acres Park needs further help. Your contribution today to our Greening Campaign will allow us to continue our greening efforts in our animal habitats at the Wild Animal Park.

A Week in Review

2007-11-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

The fires are out, but that doesn't mean it's time for me to kick back and relax.
This has been a big week. First there was an article featuring the Witch Fire shop in the Storque on Etsy, then a Ryan Jacob Smith's print from the shop was featured in a front page treasury. (Just in time to have a savvier friend snap that screen shot)

Then...drumroll please...I was on the Tom Leykis show AND the bastard agreed with me. Of course no one I know heard it, because, they claim, "a bunch of whiney bitches were bitching about women who vote or don't vote." Whatever. It was an awesome day.

But I digress. Literally.

Shop and sorry that I haven't run a raffle in a while; I'll do one on Monday night at midnight so get your donations in or buy something from the shop before then!

New stuff includes some patterns donated by Sublime Stitching, more Pom Poms from Naik Fur, boobies and dinks from Shannon Gerard, and lots more that I'll be posting tonight. Keep you eyes peeled!

New Items in the Witch Fire Shop

2007-11-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

Well my lovelies, it has been a long and fairly tiring week. Here's a smattering of what I have posted in the shop so far from my friends and family who were directly affected by the fires:

A loverly Habu scarf was donated by my mother who knitted it while evacuated.
Another scarf, crocheted for the shop by Yolanda from LA Church of Craft. Her family is down Lakeside way.
Earrings come from Michelle on Etsy, who grew up for a time next door to me in Westwood. She took that picture of a lemon down there and her pictures are particularly harrowing.
And finally super cute coasters from another woman I might have grown up with, Melissa from Haworth Handmade.

Go check it out! I'm going to put my dogs up and what else I can do for San Diego this weekend.

When Life Gives You Burnt Lemons...

2007-10-30T13:09:00.001-07:00

Crafty people stick together; there is no doubt about it. When you start looking around, there are crafters all over the world. But when a big event like this happens, the world becomes surprisingly (and reassuringly) small. Since starting this project I have run across all sorts of neighbors I didn’t know I had. Some of us lived so close we could have grown up together. I met Michelle on Etsy, but I certainly lived close enough to through a rock at her house in Westwood, an area that is now totally unrecognizable due to the fires. She posted a link to her flickr photos of the street she grew up on and they were startling. On my trip down this last weekend, I didn’t venture to that side of town. Since there are so many (sick) looky loos, most areas are shut down and police/sheriffs/National Guard members are asking for IDs to enter. But her pictures are amazing. You can take a peek here. Our conversation is good too, so I just pulled it out and am posting it here.

Me: Those pictures are so sad. I used to live in Westwood too and even though I was a shitty little teenager who hated living there, I grew up and now it's just devastating. My parents are over off Valle Verde in Poway. I just came back and though their house and street are fine, a couple of streets away it's a wasteland. And they've been evacuated for like a week now. The power just went back on. I guess the transformer that blew and started the whole [witch fire] thing was actually the one the neighborhood was using their ACs off of. Oh the irony…

Michelle: You know, I hated living there too as a teenager...that's why I live in University Heights now. ;) But it's been really hard seeing what my parents are going through and what my former neighbors are going through.

I didn't mention this on flickr, but we're convinced that one of the main reasons that our house is still standing is that we had a news crew in our cul-de-sac (Danza Circle) while the other homes were burning...and as our roof started to smolder (we watched this on TV minutes after my parents made it to my place after evacuating--it was awful), a news producer ran around to our backyard, found the garden hose, and hosed down the hot spot on the roof.

Eek, right?

eWomen Network helps out Fire Victims

2007-10-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Hey I'm back from the wreckage and back to my handy dandy internet connection. More importantly I am back in a place that has power. Yay! I'll be back later today with pictures and stories galore.

This email was in the emailbox this morning I think it is important to pass it on to you all:

Over a million people, including eWomenNetwork members, have been displaced by the fires ravaging the Southern California area. What we don’t see on the news is that the fires have taken not only homes, but also schools and small businesses, like the ones we seek to support. And to a very large extent, senior citizens have been particularly impacted, given the high population of retirees in the ravaged areas.

We know we can make a difference, and we’re calling on you to help. Please make a donation today of any amount you feel comfortable with. We will be working with our Orange County and San Diego eWomenNetwork chapters to identify the best and most impactful use of Foundation funds and calling upon the resources of our extended network, to help those in need.

Our Intention:

At your encouragement, we are pursuing a strategy to complement the efforts of the government and large relief organizations by serving women and children we know can benefit from additional assistance. We will particularly focus on opportunities to make a big impact through supporting small, local nonprofit organizations that may be most devastated by the loss of their facilities or their clients’ homes. We will also look for ways to bring safety and comfort to those senior women who may be particularly adrift due to the loss of their places of residence.

We further commit to “femtoring®” and tracking the progress of these organizations and individuals. As they experience a new and powerful network filled with the resources, ideas, information and tools, they will create a new beginning which will yield long-term results. We will apprise you regularly by publishing these success stories through the Foundation web site, email updates and the 2008 International Conference. As with all the Foundation dollars we collect, you will see first-hand how your contributions are actually being used to create a better life for those displaced and impacted by the fires in Southern California!

We request your support and generosity:

Together we can make an important and positive impact on this tragic situation. Your participation and donation are essential to rebuilding the lives of many. We kindly and respectfully ask for you to open your hearts and, yes, your purse, as well, to help us help others so desperate for our assistance. Remember, giving is at its best when you can help someone who can never pay you back. Let’s join together to make a profound difference.

Let us take this time to thank you in advance for what we know will be an overwhelming response to this request. There’s one thing we know for sure about eWomenNetwork members and supporters, we aren’t just “go-getters”—we’re “go-givers” as well!

Please know that no donation is too small. We’ve long learned that doing little things usually leads to BIG RESULTS!

To donate, please visit their site.

Big Marimello Hugs to Everyone!

2007-10-26T16:28:00.001-07:00

Big hugs to everyone who has posted about the Witch Fire project.

I feel famous! Modish, Wolfie and the Sneak, PR Couture, The Runway Scoop, and Organic Stills, you all make me blush...Keep on spreading the good word.

So on to the important news. Melissa from Hayworth Handmade won Tutu Monkey's oh so cute tutu. Go check out Melissa's donations in the shop.

Fires around California are getting under control. Well some are and some aren't, but don't take my word for it. Go read the news. It's going to be a long time before everything is back to normal. There was even still a little char left from the last fires when these new ones started up. Thank goodness it is a little over cast today at least in LA. I'll be in San Diego this weekend helping out and making swag, so I hope I have lots of good things to report when I get back.

Wild Animal Park Update

2007-10-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

I KNOW you've been checking the Wild Animal Park site daily. Remember? I used to work there. And before that I went through all the summer programs. I love that place. I am happy just thinking about it now.
I know. Sappy. But just look at that cutie on the left.

Ok on to the update:

Of the over 3,500 animals that reside at the Park, two animals (a clapper rail and a kiang) were lost due to complications from the fire. More than 600 acres of Wild Animal Park property were burned. These were open buffer zone areas and not exhibit or public access space.

The California condors and other endangered bird species, as well as other animals that had been relocated to the Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center’s fire-safe area, have been returned to their home habitats.

The animals remain safe, secure, and have weathered the firestorm well. The Wild Animal Park did lose one of the empty condor breeding facilities to the fire as well as a storage facility containing Festival of Lights event materials. Winds have damaged trees throughout the Park, but again the animals and exhibits have weathered the storm. A core group of employees is on hand to care for the wildlife. Other employees and some contractors are currently assisting with clean up and restoration efforts. As an energy conservation measure, the Wild Animal Park has voluntarily removed itself from the SDG&E power grid and is operating on generators.

YAY!
You can send in a donation directly here.

Fire Aid San Diego: another way to help

2007-10-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here's something to do tomorrow! They're open late so you know you have no excuse if you are in San Diego, or San Di-Fuego, as I have taken to calling it. (I know. Terrible joke. It's been a rough week.)

On friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. st UTC, Fire Aid San Diego will be taking donations.
Where?
Amilyn Pharmaceuticals
9625 Towne Centre Drive
What?
Crisis Relief Supplies!
Bedding: cots, air mattresses, sheets, blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, Camping gear, tents, flashlights, batteries Face masks, gloves, sanitary wipes
Warm Clothing: Clean clothes: Jackets, hats, sweatshirts, blankets (good condition only)
Household goods!
Personal items: contact lens solutions, reading glasses, deodorant
Hygenic items: baby wipes, diapers, depends, sanitary napkins, tooth brushes, tooth paste
Family items: baby formula, canned goods, vitamins, baby wipes, sunscreen
Food: canned vegetables, canned fruit
Children: toys, games, stuffed animals, balls
Other: pet food
Gift Cards and Certificates!
Calling cards
Restaurant and fast food outlets
Grocery stores
Discount household goods (Target, Walmart, etc.)
Home improvement stores
Time!
Register to volunteer your time and skills over the next few weeks.

The Shop is Up

2007-10-25T10:20:00.001-07:00

The shop is up on Etsy, finally. I will be posting a bunch more items as soon as I take pictures. You can see the items I have already put up over there on the side, but rest assured, there will be more by the time you read this. Remember, the raffle is tomorrow, so get involved! See below for Tutumonkey's beautiful donation!

Scary Story from PrettyCheap

2007-10-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

Our Etsy pal and fellow CCCOE Street Team member, PrettyCheap, sent in this story of a recent trip to Sea World that was foiled by the Fires...

Here's a little account of my personal experience with the fire and a picture from my front yard. (above)

Red world in my backyard (and my front yard) Sunday mid afternoon. It was 2pm about an hour after the Malibu had fire started. Now I live dozens and dozens of miles from Malibu. But it was scary.

I had planned a Seaworld trip with my kids for the Monday/Tuesday as school was out for the week. We headed to LA to stay with my MIL and my hubby and the dog went up to our weekend property (he had taken a couple days off). Good timing, so we thought, to escape the smoke. And there was a fire started far to the east near I5 as well to escape.

Down to LA, no problems there. Monday morn we got on the road after rush hour and went through another orange world in Orange County, (no pun this time). Not fun. Then into San Diego where a fire had started in Northeastern SD County. Our hotel was under mostly clear blue sky (except for a little smoke) but things were getting pretty hairy. More fires were starting by the hour and evacuations drove people to fill every room in the large area filled with hotels where we were.

Everyone was in good spirits but things were definitely getting worse. By Tues dawn I consulted with my husband via cell about the practicality of going to Seaworld. We absolutely bailed and got out of there by 7am practically flooring the gas pedal to make sure we could get north before something forced closure of I5.

We didn't stop until Sta Barbara and went to the zoo. Whew. Back home that evening things were in much better shape than I'd worried.

And the winds are gone. Thank goodness.

PrettyCheap will be entered in the drawing at the end of the week. PrettyCheap also raised the point that throwing money at a situation is not the only answer. "A gas card, grocery card, drug store card and the like would be hugely useful to people at this time probably." Not probably, definitely. Follow the links on the right up there to see what else you can do. If you find other links, let me know and I will post those up too!

SEE the devotion!

2007-10-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

What a hottie. Hunk o' love is making BUTTONS for you all!

Wow that was QUICK!

2007-10-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

First sale wheeeee! I don't know what is best about tonight; setting this all up and meeting all you rad kids, or watching my hot, not so crafty boyfriend making buttons on the floor of our apartment!
The Muy Calente washrag is sold, so I will just need to put something else up quick...

How about this?

Kids are a mess. Well, not your kids, but you know what we mean. Sometimes it's tempting to throw a tarp over the whole house.

But when you're out on the town, draping little ones in a plastic bag just isn't going to get you a whole lot of smiles. And it certainly won't get you anywhere near the Bullocks Wilshire Tearoom. Thus the need for the newly launched Babimello line.

Cotton, Machine washable and vividly girly this bib is the precursor to your chic child's pinafore.

Talkin' the Talk: Walkin' the Walk

2007-10-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

Here's something to buy everyone! For tonight and tonight only I will continue to host it in my Etsy shop. (Frankly I am still figuring out how to swing this whole thing financially.) Rest assured that all the dollars will go to the Wild Animal Park fund wherever I end up selling it. Today they lost part of their condor facility (or CRES, which also saving Pandas). And if you know about California, you know these birds are SUPER rare. I used to work at the Park when I was younger and I think it's a great cause. If you have a better idea of how to help San Diego and the SoCal Region, you are welcome to contact me and let me know what you would like to do.

On to the goods:

Spill too much tequila salsa this weekend? Did that paper towel just make it worse AND kill a tree? Down with paper towels and up up with washrags!

Get clean and green with this colorful fiesta washrag. Guaranteed to beat any paper towel or generic washcloth at their own game. In the kitchen or in the bathroom this soft cotton piece is sure to delight.

OK so here's how it's going to work. Go to the Etsy shop and pay that way. Let me know that it is for the benefit via convo and I will send you real proof that the donation went through. Sure I could wait until I gather a real significant amount, but I'd rather put proof in the pudding if you know what I mean.

Remember, any one who participates will be entered in the drawing of the week. This week the drawing is for a SUPER cute Good Witch Halloween costume. How appropriate, huh? The house is threatened by the WITCH fire. I love it.

TuTu Monkey comes to the rescue!

2007-10-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

We have our first donation! I am loving this tutu and wishing this came in a bigger size and that I hadn't already started crafting my Hamburger costume! Oh well...
TuTu Monkey has donated this tutu and the cute topper (but not the cutest girl in the world so don't get greedy). And I'll raffle it off just in time for Halloween! There are three ways to enter the raffle; send in a donation, tell me about a donation you have made (not that I don't trust you, but gimme proof), or buy something once I get the shop set up. Look for updates here.
Raffle will be closed on Friday the 26th.

Fires Fires All Around

2007-10-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

As of this morning, 1000 homes had burned near where my parents live. I used to live there too and this is terribly sad news. Disasters of this type are so emotionally crippling, but through this blog I am hoping to band together the DIY and Crafty communities and send help to those who need it.

Please contact me if you would like to donate some items that will be sold on this site. They don't have to be super valuable. I will donate all proceeds to various charities (check here for updates). Both buyers and seller can enter a raffle for a sampler that I will put together from donated items. If you still want to be eligible for the drawing, send me a great story of how you contributed to fire relief efforts in SoCal and I will post them here.

This set up is so spur of the moment but I felt I had to do something. I will be posting items here as the day goes on. I promise I will update the charities that will be receiving the proceeds, but for now, check on the side bar for links to a few that I have already stumbled upon.

Think about it, this could be a great way to help to a lot of people who need it, but it will also be a great way to promote your business/blog/whatever.