I'm working on a planner.

I've been working on a new planner design made of seperate month books that connect together, but I need some help. Slip on over to the Adventures in Making blog to look at what I have so far.

Any help is appreciated.

shadows are cool

Just look at this artist on Le Zebra Bleu.

Cooper got some awesome Pom-poms, and he's not even a cheerleader.

Kat came over last weekend and we had a spontaneous craft evening, making pom-pom toys for Cooper. They're super easy to make, and a great silly adventure.

Oh, and don't forget, there's even more awesomeness over at Adventures in Making.

I can make paper OUT. OF. PAPER.

I finally did it - made the paper leap when Rachel came over for a crafty retreat. You can find documentation of my Adventure here.*

I have big plans for the outcome, but you'll have to wait and see...

*I should warn you, before you attempt this yourself, that now I look at everything differently. I've been thinking of stealing flower petals, and I have been stealing the recycling.

it was the best xmas gift ever.

So, I'm sitting on the denim slipcovered sofa in my mother's house when my step-dad (Dave) picks up a smallish wrapped box and sets it gently in my lap.
I say gently, but I'm not sure that it can be used accurately describe the pure heft of the box (which was, as I said "smallish").

Of course I knew it could contain only one of two things
1) Gold Bricks
2) Lead.

Guess which one I was more excited about?

Sure enough the box contained what appears to be two typefaces, 24pt, and various other bits and pieces.

The strange part; it came out of the garage. My Dad had acquired it, at some point, to melt down for potentially nefarious purposes. My mother stepped in and stopped him from committing this crime against type.

Nearly 20 years later, and it is my legacy, along with a handful of various woodtype characters that came from... the garage.

I told her – "You find a letterpress in there, you let me know."

Here I am beginning to sort it, in a slide box, at the craft retreat. (Photos by Rachel.)

Oh, btw, taking a box of lead type through airport security is a hoot and a half.

it's 2011...

(Photo to come... I hope.)

To jump on the bandwagon, here are my New Year's hopes and dreams...

• Buy more, from people who make stuff.

I've always been a sort of frugal shopper, which meant I bought a lot... of stuff... at target... on clearance. Much of it has gone straight to Goodwill. As a craftsperson, this is a habit (read: lifestyle) that I must break in order to live with myself.

PS: anyone know where I can get a nice gray cotton scarf and some skirts?

• Make everything exercise.

I mean, it can be right? Papermaking can be lunges (I learned tonight) and I can get more steps into my day by making more trips down the length of Parkside. More to do, means less time to focus on keeping healthy... and that is me you see working my quads in the grocery line.

• Make more out of everything.

Make more of my time, make more stuff, make more blog posts, make meals last longer, make everyday happier.

• Embrace spring/summer with reckless abandon.

Me and this weather got to figure out some sort of way to get along. My requests for extended and plentiful warmth have gone unheeded. If this keeps up, there will be consequences.

Consequences!

But at the same time, I am going to be outside, moving, dancing, biking, hiking, dreaming, as long as the weather holds... you just watch me.

• Remember every day how fantastically luck I am to be in a beautiful part of the world and have great friends (a group in which my sister and husband firmly belong), great family, and an enviable life.

(You're just jealous.)