Day 1 Creativity Challenge 2014

Phew. I’m back! Happy belated new year. It seems I took a break from blogging for a while–what with all the celebrating and enjoying my family and winter break (my favorite) and…oh, yeah….finishing my book in December. Woohoo! The editors and designers over at Stash Books are busy bees now. They are working on it and I will be able to share much more this summer. But I can say that I love what I created and I know you will too. It will be out in November 2014!

In honor of so much bounty and general creative goodness, join me in my 10 day creativity challenge over on instagram. Every day I’ll give you a simple challenge to help loosen you up, inspire, remove perfectionism, promote your unique creativity and express yourself. Use hashtag #yourcreativitychallenge and share what you create. It will be fun. You don’t need to be an artist to do this…you just need to be willing, open-hearted and ready to be inspired.

All too often we begin to think inside of our own boxes…these simple exercises will get your juices flowing. Share, tag, invite your friends and join me! Here is the first exercise: go outside on a short walk or hike…take a bag with you…collect stuff as you walk… make something simple on the ground with what you gathered. Make it as a love gift to life and the earth! Use trash, flowers, rocks…anything you find. I used quartz and creosote flowers. It doesn’t need to be perfect…or even good…or even art!


You can make art everywhere, with anything you find. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Lately, I am in love with the flower petal art Kathy Klein creates over at Danmala. (You can buy her beautiful hexagonal calendar–see below.) 

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The idea of colors

A painting of mine from this year called The Ecstatic Beauty of It All (Carrie Bloomston)

I wrote in the last post here about the “idea” of colors. I also wrote about how we are instructed early by painting teachers to never use paint right out of the tube. This is such an important point and I want to explain it further here as it applies to every area of art, design, sewing, crafting, etc. read more

Be the color!

From the graphicmac.com

From mood rings and chakras to seasonal color analysis and the psychology of color in design, we use color all day, every day to navigate our world. Companies use it to tell their story and sell to us. (Look at the cool color chart of logos here.) We use color to get dressed each morning and tell our own story. Color draws us to people, places, and things. It communicates our feelings. We use color to express ourselves. read more

Sewing School 2 Giveaway

I LOVE this book. I LOVED their last book. (See a post about the first one here.) In their newest book, Amie Plumley and Andria Lisle walk us through fun and rad projects that your kids can tackle on their own! The images, writing, and projects in this book are amazing. They make your kiddos want to make stuff! They make me want to make stuff!

Leave a  comment below to win a copy of your very own! 

We made the felt guitar on the cover. No matter how young, there is something in this book for your children…I let my wee one do the cutting of the frets. She designed the colors. She stuffed it. And now she plays it! read more

Modern baby book and giveaway!

So, I just ripped open the box containing my copy of modern Baby–Easy, Fresh, and Fun Quilt Designs. And it looks so pretty. It is my first ever quilt project in a book. Woot! Who doesn’t want to be in a book, right? Right.

modern baby is a lovely, curated book with fun quilts for babies designed by modern quilters/ bloggerssuch as Shea Henderson (of Empty Bobbin) and Carolyn Friedlanderamong so many others.

The book is available now at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, ShopMartingale.com, and your LOCAL SHOP!!!
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Modern Baby book news!

Exciting news! I am thrilled to be included in a new book from Martingale/That Patchwork Place called modern baby: Easy, Fresh, and Fun Quilt Designs. My first ever quilt project in a book. WOot! Who doesn’t want to be in a book, right? Right. 

modern baby is a lovely, curated book with fun quilts for babies designed by modern quilters/ bloggerssuch as Shea Henderson (of Empty Bobbin) and Carolyn Friedlanderamong others.

The book is available for pre-order and will ship in April. Pre-order at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, or sign up at ShopMartingale.com to receive an email notification when the book is ready for purchase.

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Sewing School :: Day 2

When two of my mama friends asked if I would teach their eight year old daughters to sew, I jumped at the chance. I distinctly remember learning to knit in an after-school class taught by my 4th grade English teacher, Mrs. Broughton. I remember how weirdly special it felt to be at school after hours— to be learning something other than English from my teacher. It felt… mystical—as if we were somehow conspiring. As if she was teaching me what I really needed to know in life. read more