Ride Like the Wind to I.C.E. Atlanta

If you live anywhere near Atlanta you need to get your booty over to Centennial Olympic Park this weekend for I.C.E. (Indie Craft Experience). I am so sad that I am not going to be there, it sounds like so much fun. I was going to attend but then I realized I already had concert tickets for this weekend (more on that in a minute). While you are at I.C.E. check out booths by awesome folks like Etsy, The Small Object, Heyday Fashions and oodles more. If you remember pick up a copy of the program there is an interview with yours truly!

In other craft fair news I noticed that Felt Club has listed who will be vending at their XL Summer event on July 15th at The Echo in Los Angeles. Naughty Secretary Club is a proud sponsor of the event. I can’t mention craft shows without mentioning Stitch…Vickie told me on the treadmill this morning that she blogged about her role as roving reporter for the Stitch Podcast we are working on for this year. Whoo-hoo.

Ok so the concert tickets. I am going to be out of blogging pocket for a few days because I will be at the beach and rocking out to the smooth jams of Christopher Cross. If you are a child of the 80’s you know who this ballad bad-ass is. The theme from the Arthur movies, "Ride Like the Wind", "Sailing", "Think of Laura" – the hits just don’t stop. My sister and I call these songs “Car Seat Songs” because we were usually strapped into the back seat of our parents car when they were popular. Christopher Cross and the beach, I mean really does life get better? So I leave you with live footage of Christopher Cross singing “Ride Like the Wind” with the equally amazing Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers. No Michael won’t be there this weekend, but that’s OK I already saw him play a few years ago with Hall and Oates!

Craft in America

I almost forgot CRAFT IN AMERICA: Memory, Landscape, Community a three Part PBS Series starts tonight (thanks Ginger for reminding me)! I don’t think you are going to see the familiar Indie Crafter Faces that you might recognize in Handmade Nation, but the series looks fascinating nonetheless. Here is a little blurb from their site…

The centerpiece of our efforts at Craft in America is the production of a nationally broadcast PBS documentary series. The intention of the television series is to celebrate craft by honoring the artists who create it. In three episodes entitled Memory, Community and Landscape, Craft in America television viewers will travel throughout the United States visiting America’s premier craft artists in their studios to witness the creation of handmade objects, and into homes, businesses and public spaces where functional art is employed and celebrated. One of the main objectives of the series is to convey to a national audience the breadth and beauty of handmade objects in our culture.

Here are the run times and you can click here to watch a preview.
Memory May 30, 2007; 8p EDT/PDT
Landscape May 30, 2007; 9p EDT/PDT
Community May 30, 2007; 10p EDT/PDT

The other added bonus is that there is going to be a traveling exhibit called CRAFT IN AMERICA: Expanding Traditions In Texas they are coming to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft February 22 through May 4, 2008.

Ok I need to go set my DVR.

Bakelite Redemption

Have you ever walked into the thrift store and seen someone walking around with things in their cart that you want so badly you almost stalk them in the store in case they change their mind and put the items back on the shelf. That cart so full of good stuff you start cursing everything you did earlier that day that made you get to that thrift store just minutes too late to be the proud owner of that whatever. I had that happen at the thrift store yesterday.

Ya see I stopped by the thrift store because I need some supplies for what I am going to make on my episode of She’s Crafty. I was just going to run into the store and run right out, which I did, but I had no idea the heartache I would find inside. When I bee lined for the back of the store where they keep the plastic wares that I was in search of I passed a man with a cart. Not just any cart, a cart literally spilling over with vintage linens. Old floral 50’s table cloths, 60’s dish towels in hot pink and orange with groovy astrological information, place mats and more. I slowly circled around him, my heart racing and my face turning red as I pretended to look at the board games but was just really looking to see if he left his cart. That is when the moment of “If I had just come here on my way to the seamstresses rather than on my way home that could have been my cart full of awesome” feeling was sweeping over me. Worse yet I could tell he was a dealer and not a true collector. You know the type that combs your local thrift store not for the joy but for the job. Also I have an insider tip that this particular thrift store holds good things back for dealers that give them a little extra something in the financial department. It’s true I have heard it from valid sources. So I left the man and his cart with a sinking feeling. For a brief moment I was so struck with the linens I thought to myself he’s 80 I’m…well younger than that - I could take him, but I’m not a violent person. Early bird gets the worm and he won those linens fair and square even if I would have loved them more and given them a better home.

I wanted to share that redemption was mine. Since he was busy tallying his mark up on his pocket calculator at the back of the store I made it to the cash register with my plastic ware before he did. What was smiling back at me from the jewelry case but a lovely green carved Bakelite bangle bracelet for 99 pennies. I took a picture of my collection and put my new bauble front and center for you to see. HA-HA I got the last laugh. My bracelet is worth way more than his soiled dish rags and crusty table cloths. Ok maybe I am still a little bitter, but I do enjoy my new bracelet.

Oh and P.S. I forgot to add Claudine to my thank you list yesterday for blogging about Stitch. Also out in the blogosphere Erin at A Dress A Day blogged about Hot Pink Pistol and Naughty Secretary Club yesterday. Yipee!

I have a real soft spot for cupcake toppers of all kinds

Yesterday I stopped by my PO Box and waiting inside was the latest edition of Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion. I was super duper excited because I had spied on their website an article called Warm and Fuzzy Birthdays about Chenille Cupcake Toppers. I have a real soft spot for cupcake toppers of all kinds and these little fuzzy ones are particularly adorable. I actually have a set that are matadors in my collection. I was also glad to see a little article on Cut + Paste in the mag. Cut + Paste were kind of like the original one stop shop for Indie goodies pre ETSY.

Speaking of my collection of cupcake toppers and Etsy I just added to it this weekend with a little shopping at the A. Bel Emporium. I scored some fawns and gnomes. Did you ever see the necklace I made from the garden gnomes cupcake toppers? I love it so. I also added some new Crafty Curios to the Naughty Secretary Club Etsy store this weekend.

I wanted to blog a special thanks to my friends Susan at West Coast Crafty, Kathy at Crafty Chica and Natalie at Craft Zine for blogging about the Stitch applications being online. (Actually double thanks to Nat because she blogged about her Naughty Secretary Club Necklace in her May Sampler package). Stitch needs all the help we can get spreading the word. I have more conference calls today with various sponsors. Don’t forget if your interested give me a holler. We also confirmed with the Indie Craft Documentary that they are going to come down and show a clip of Handmade Nation. They came to Stitch last year and filmed Stitch and interviewed Tina, Karly, Jesse and I so I can’t wait to see how everything is turning out!

Memorial Day Crafting

Yesterday was Karly’s birthday and Erin was kind enough to throw her a party. Clearly from the picture there was night croquet involved. I sat on the sidelines and cheered and chatted with friends. There was just a handful of us at Erin’s house celebrating and then at about midnight some folks got the wild hair to go dancing. We packed it up, got downtown, waited in long holiday lines for drinks and never once set foot on a dance floor. Oh well I had fun getting to see people like Courtney and Cory who I had not hung out with in forever.

This memorial day afternoon I decided to bust out my Simply Swank Soldering Kit and give it ago. Below are some pictures of my first attempts. Sure I have soldered on Craft Lab, but that’s TV. I learn the basics when filming the show but truthfully it’s stressful I’m trying to remember what I have to say next, I have a little bud in my ear with producers talking to me, I can’t always learn every detail of what the guest is teaching. Soldering is one of those things that I have done enough times to have the gist of things, but have always wanted to practice and learn more.


I know I keep harping about Craft Lab Season 2 but I had some guests that did some really amazing soldering that really inspired me to want to learn. Some of my favorites were Kate Richbourg who owns an awesome bead store in San Francisco called Beadissmo. She made soldering look so easy. Yvonne Palermo came on the show and gave me one of her microscope slide soldered pendants and I thought this reminds me of when I used to work with resin as far as the use of images between the glass and it is a lot less stinky. The guest who really really made me want to solder was Josie Cirincione. She wears the most amazing jewelry that she made and soldered herself that I totally covet, plus her book Collage Lost and Found rocks my face off. My first little piece is pretty bumpy and rough. My kit did not come with sanding tools. Practice makes perfect and I am going to tinker around with it some more this evening.

While were on the topic of Craft Lab here is what you can see this week…Tomorrow it’s a little Printer Play with PC Smart. Wednesday cutie pie Heidi Kinnamon makes layered cards. Thursday CW Roelle bends wire into the shape of a rock star. Friday Barbara Matthiessen teaches you and me some Altered Book Techniques.

Messy Studio Diatribe

Do you ever feel like you have let your studio space get so messy that you might just lose it? I mean really lose it. Between the dirty dishes, Diet Coke Cans, stacks of paper and bags of beads piled up all over my desk I feel like everything is about to cave in on my keyboard. I can’t even see things like my scanner anymore it is buried so deeply under what looks like CD cases, a hot pink belt, small green plastic baskets and magazines. I have got to clean this off today or it might be the breaking point. I woke up this morning thinking of a Keats poem called “The Second Coming” and the first paragraph of the poem pretty much explains why…
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Sounds a little morbid, but the gist that is applicable to me is that this studio is out of control and I need to get on it and rather than blogging I should be cleaning. And to think I am about to have a second studio built in the garage to also trash! So that you can feel my pain, for the first time ever I am revealing pictures of my dirty studio/office.



And this is just my desk. Occasionally when I get interviewed they ask me for a picture of my studio and I cringe and avoid the question, I figured today I will write a tell-all blog and let the world know I am a slob. The rest of my house is clean (ish), but when it comes to my studio I just don’t clean it. What’s the point it is only going to get it dirty again. I’m hoping those of you who completely agreed with my “why get out of your pajamas” logic will also agree with me here. Usually it does not bother me too much but lately things seem like a bigger mess that usual. Here are a few examples…

I bought a paper shedder because there are constantly sheets of random paper floating around on the desk, in the floor, in the junk mail and it seemed like a waste to throw it away. Instead now I shred it for packing material. Awesome for the environment, not awesome for my carpet. All around the shredder within a 3 foot radius is scraps of paper that have spilt when handfuls were being scooped from machine to packing box. More stuff on the ground = more chaos on the carpet.

Looking around the room I can see 11 large boxes in varying sizes on the floor. Some are empty that I am saving for shipping and some are full of random jewelry supplies that have never been put away. I see 2 boxes that are packed and waiting to be shipped, I see 2 boxes of CDs from my husbands band (why they are in my studio I don’t know), I see a box with a shoe box inside that my new Creative Recreation Hi Tops were shipped in. I took them out of the box, put them on, left the box on the floor. I can hear my dad telling me now “A place for everything and everything in it’s place”. Ya that life lesson really sunk in.



The above pictures is one of the messiest parts of my studio, it’s where I actually “make jewelry”. I once had a desk that I worked on but I found I always ended up sitting cross legged on the floor. With my knees getting bad I might eventually have to move back to a desk, but for now there is exactly enough space on the floor for me to sit. Sprinkled all around on the floor are random beads, charms and findings. The shelves around me in theory are some what organized. You can see that I have drawers pulled out and all over the floor. All my vintage trinkets were recently organized by color because before there was just shelf after shelf of randomness. All the little upright containers with yellow drawer pulls are two sided and chocked full of small drawers stuffed with charms, hoops, and goodies. What I can also see in the corner that does not need to be there is a vintage plastic cake box filled with spent shot gun shells. A left over silver metal shelf that I had extra that has been on the floor doing nothing for months now. I spy the spine of the two dinosaur shadow puppets I made with Make/Craft Magazine’s Bre on Craft Lab. Of course there are also the obligatory diet coke cans.



One last vantage of my studio. These are more shelves that hold containers for doo-dads. These have a bit of a system the ones you can see hold parts of earrings, necklaces and cuff bracelets. So there is a rhyme and reason. Above them is a peg board with all my completed jewelry carded. What you can also see is all the necklaces and earrings in the yellow and blue metal containers on the shelf that have not been carded. Just sitting there, getting tangled. This is where the second assistant will come in. I can also see not one, but two piggy banks. One is a ceramic pig Chris painted for me and the other is a giant jar of pickles that I converted into a bank for Chris. I see a drawer pulled out full of shell earrings. There is a cardboard box covered in Tijuana Donkey earring parts, a random peanut necklace and a CD. Next to it is a set of Subversive Cross Stitch greeting cards, more CDs, a paper towel and of course a Diet Coke Can.

My mess is actually somewhat organized and honestly I feel a wee bit creatively stifled when things are too clean. It freaks me out. I like to have all my stuff laying out and around so I can see it and then sometimes it is luck when two things spilled on the floor are laying next to each other and you go “Holy whoa that goes together awesome”. The things I don’t like is looking for a tube of glue, not finding it so I have to go to the store and buy more glue and then one day later I move a box off the floor and there are two tubes of glue I bought the week before. I live in a state of constantly hunting for my pliers and a pair of scissors. Tape where is the packing tape, it all seems to hide. So ya my studio is a mess. I’m not saying I would prefer it be spotless, I’m just saying it is getting out of control and I need to reel it in a bit. The gyre is widening right at the breaking point as Keats would say.

Hot Fuzz and Mary Timony

I had a fun filled Friday night out on the town. First up Chris and I met Erin and Joey at the Alamo to see Hot Fuzz. I had not yet been to the Alamo Drafthouse South and it was really nice. For those of you who don’t live in Austin the Alamo is a chain of movie theatres here that you can order dinner and beer in the theatre. Oh and Joey is in Beta Valentine with Chris and Erin is who designed the Naughty Secretary Club Website. We had potato skins and Red Stripes. The movie was not quite as funny as Shawn of the Dead, but funny. After dinner the 4 of us headed downtown to Club Deville. Not usually my favorite bar, but for some off reason Mary Timony was playing there. I used to be a huge fan of her old band Helium (who the video is of). Actually click here to read something I wrote a bazillion years ago about the band for my old print zine Scratch-n-Sniff. I just realized that in the discography I forgot to mention another band Mary was in called Autoclave which also had members of Slant 6. Anyway Mary sounded good last night but I must confess I ran into my friend Jennifer Barker Benfield who owns the vintage clothing store in Austin called Blue Velvet (she was also on an episode of Stylelicious once) so she and I chatted more than we watched the show. Erin and I tossed around the idea of going to see Morrissey tonight but two nights out is crazy for me. Plus I have seen Morrissey (given it was over 10 years ago) but the last few times Morrissey has come to Austin I have bought tickets and then at the last minute he cancels the show. Not sure I want to go through that again.

Etsy Love

Yesterday I was perusing around on ETSY and noticed a familiar business name as the front page "featured seller". It was Debbie from Soapy Love. Debbie shot an episode of Craft Lab season 2 with me (ya know the episodes we are waiting until October to see on DIY) called Holiday Suds and we had tons of fun. We made popsicle soap that looked good enough to eat! Speaking of Craft Lab and Etsy also yesterday my assistant Travis told me that he had come up with a new and exciting product that he wanted to come on Craft Lab and make with me and that he is currently selling in his Etsy store. Peep Travis's Wulsut - two tiny doodle books in cassette case. I thought they were pretty dang clever. That reminds me I need to add some new Crafty Curios to my own Etsy store!

In sad unrelated news my two Lili Allen dresses came in the mail today. They are both gorgeous, but they are both too big. Although I am excited that for the first time in a long time something is actually too big on me, I am more sad that the dresses don’t fit. I am trying to decide if it is cheaper to have them altered here or to send them back to Jeff so he can exchange them.

Stitch Applications ONLINE NOW!

I have been waiting two weeks to do this blog post... STITCH APPLICATIONS ARE NOW ONLINE!

What is Stitch? Well it just so happens to be Austin’s largest Indie Fashion Show and Craft Bazaar. In years past we have had vendors and runway designers like Erica Weiner, My Imaginary Boyfriend, Chia, The Austin Craft Mafia, Parts and Labour, Edge of Urge, Craft Gym, Feto Soaps and more. Stitch is brought to you by Karly Hand, Tina Sparkles, Jesse Kelly Landes and moi (Jennifer Perkins)

What that means is people come in from as far as Washington, New York, California and Florida to participate. So sure it is held in Austin, but you don’t have to be from the Lone Star State to apply. All you gotta be is dang clever and crafty and apply before August 15th.

Last year Stitch had over 3,000 people attend and we sold out the Austin Music Hall. This Nov 10th will be Stitch’s 5 year anniversary and we are going to be at The Austin Music Hall again. The difference is this year they have expanded so things are going to be even bigger and better. More make and take booths (Yup Duncan Paints and their booth will be back), awesome DJ’s, a pod cast hosted by Vickie Howell, an after party that is going to rock your face off, the Indie Business start up grant is back with even more perks and of course the 500 goodie bags.

If you want to apply for a craft bazaar booth click here.
If you want to have your wares strutted on the runway click here.
If you are a company that wants to sponsor Stitch then click here.
If you wanna read the Stitch blog click here.
If you wanna see the pictures in our Flickr group click here.
If you wanna be our My Space friend click here.

That’s enough clicks to keep you busy for awhile.

Modish and Mixed Plate

After I blogged about my loot from The Sampler yesterday I flipped over to Modish and saw that Jena had blogged about The Sampler too and the Naughty Secretary Club necklaces she received in her package. Whoo-hoo. Speaking of Modish check out this brooch by Kookii:Kooky she blogged about, I am in LOVE!

Also yesterday the nice people at Mixed Plate wrote to tell me they had blogged about Naughty Secretary Club. Check out their fun blog for more hot shopping tips.

The Sampler

I received my first package from The Sampler this weekend! It was really exciting for me. I had contributed 25 Woody Necklaces to go in other Samplers so in return I too got a package. The Sampler is a really cool project started by Maire Kare who wrote the awesome article Craft Fairs 101 that I was telling you about in Adorn Magazine. Anyway you write in get all set up and approved and then you become a part of a big swap of goodies. Some of your goodies are promised to go straight into the hands of the press so you might even get some editorial coverage out of the whole thing. It’s a really cool project and I totally plan on signing up for the June/July edition.


First up I thought I would share a picture of the left side of my car bumper. I have an array of stickers from crafty peeps like Sparkle Craft, Chia and All Dressed Up and Shy plus all the various bands my husband has been in. Inside my Sampler package was a sticker for the San Diego Craft Mafia and I slapped that bad boy right on next to all the other stickers. You can never have too many right?


I heart 1” buttons and there were two packs in my Sampler. One with original art by Nut and Bee and the other made from old bits of ephemera from Re-Conceived. I’ll have to give Vickie by yarn sample from Third floor Fibers. There were several different greeting cards by peeps like Andy Pratt and Pencil Shavings. I loved the excerpt from Croq zine about how “Big Companies Rip Off Indie Designers” I have always wanted to read that article. My friend Traci texted me from the Maker Faire this weekend and said “I’m reading and interview with you in Croq”. Two different pocket mirrors were included made with pictures from old books one my Re-Conceived again and the other by My Favorite Mirror. I love making these and used to sell them at Parts and Labour now I am selling my old book pages and pictures over at Etsy through my Crafty Collage Curios packs. I could smell the soap from Barcelona Bath and Body before I even opened the package and um-um does it smell goodie. I will be using the fabric covered bobby pin from Two Busy Bees pronto! Last but not least I thought the luggage tag from Destination Unknown was really clever.

Also in my bag o’ goodies were a handful of flyers for different Indie companies. I have looked all through them and now I think I will continue spreading the word and stuff them into my orders so that my customers can find out about all these new awesome companies.

Vickie Howell in the Customer Gallery

Ya know if I knitted I am sure that I would find the free patterns on Vickie Howell’s site oh so helpful. Alas, as many times as Vickie has tried to teach me I do not knit. I noticed on the picture of her current free pattern that she is wearing a Naughty Secretary Club necklace and earring set that I made her! That is why Vickie is my latest customer gallery entry. Actually Vickie wears a ton of my jewelry; I guess most of my friends do. I went out Saturday night and Hope had on a pair of Funny Valentine Earrings and Erin had on a Revamped Vintage Necklace. Anyway back to Vickie. Recently when I was over at Vickie’s house she pointed out to me the latest issue of Knit n’ Style magazine where like total sweetie she dropped my name as her jewelry connection. Right in the middle of the article is this paragraph.

“When I asked about her wonderful jewelry and commented on her clothes, she immediately says it is thanks to her amazingly creative wardrobe lady Jane Manfolk (she gets me dressed too!) and her friend Jennifer Perkins. Jennifer, host of Craft Lab, another popular show on DIY’s lineup, lives a mile away from Vickie and makes most of her baubles. Visit her online at www.naughtysecretaryclub.com.”

Dang thanks for that plug and thanks for always wearing my jewelry. Remember if you want to send in pictures of yourself in your Naughty Secretary Club jewelry I’d love to blog about you and add you to the Naughty Secretary Club Flickr group. Also if you ever want to send in pictures of what you made with your Crafty Curios I’d love to see that too!

This Week on Crafty TV

Craft Lab this week seems to have something for everyone. I know, I know there are a lot of repeat episodes but like I said if you want to see the new Craft Lab with fun stuff like beer holsters, placemat room dividers and lit tiki punch bowls from Season 2 sooner rather than later email DIY Network. Not that I don't love me some season 1, just listen to what we will be crafting this week...

MONDAY: Laurie Mika and I are going to be making a mosaic table, the trick is the tiles are handmade from polymer clay!

TUESDAY: I have some fun with acetate with guest Elizabeth Dunn.

WEDNESDAY: Wanda Wen comes to Craft Lab to teach us some artful gift wrap. Not too long ago I blogged about Wenda because I saw her on an episode of Bravo's Top Design!

THURSDAY: It's Floral Art with Katie Killean.

FRIDAY: Have you ever made an Altered Board Book? They are pretty awesome and Jan Bode Smiley is the queen of them.

Let us not forget Stylelicious every Tuesday and Thursday also on the DIY Network. Tuesday is High School Revisited and Thursday is 40's and 50's Glam.

The longest day ever!

Yesterday seemed like one of the longest days EVER!

I started with a conference call over at Vickie’s house in the morning. More work for Craft Out Loud. We are going to be looking for some Austin craftettes to be helping us with some focus group stuff soon!

After the call the email I had been waiting all week for came in, my book proposal was approved. Hooray! I have been threatening to write a Naughty Secretary Club book for forever and a day and it actually looks like it is finally going to happen. Look for the Naughty Secretary Club jewelry book in summer 08 through North Light. I’ll keep you posted as I find out more.

Next on the agenda was a Stitch meeting with Graham from Emo’s / Fun Fun Fun Fest. FFFF is a really awesome festival that Graham started last year that had all kinds of awesome bands play and this year is going to be even more beyond awesome. The Hives, Of Montreal and more! FFFF is the weekend before Stitch in November so come to town and stay awhile.

After lunch I came home for 2 seconds and snagged Hope to go thrift store shopping. Not a pleasure trip, this one was for work. Looks like I am going to be digging into the vaults and making some resin goodies. I am going to be flying to Vancouver next month to film an episode of She’s Crafty for Canadian HGTV and am going to be making a resin bracelet and some resin coated TV trays. Should be an awesome trip because I have never been to Vancouver, Ladyfest is the same weekend I am there and the host of She’s Crafty is also in the Vancouver Craft Mafia! At the thrift store by some whim of God I scored a set of 4 trays for the show.

Speaking of books the Austin Craft Mafia is working with a packager on our first book. We had to have some proposal ideas in by today and of course I had waited until the last minute so I had to sit down and do that.

In the early evening I put together a few packages, paid off some EBAY auctions, wrote some emails and tied up a few loose ends. Travis was not at work today so I needed to get a few things done. Looks like I am going to be hiring a second assistant in the next month or two. I need someone who is organized, internet savvy and can pretty much keep Travis and I in line.

Chris’s band Beta Valentine had a show at the Conan’s Pizza down the street from our house of all places. This Conan’s is small and 70’s and I have never known them to have shows. Hey it was 2 blocks away and I got pizza so that is all I really care about. It was a benefit for some underground radio station called Kaos and it was quite interesting. There were crusty punks, teenagers from the nearby high school, girls in bikini tops, indie rockers, lots of adults and then eventually the police when it got too loud. I was home and in bed with Forensic Files on before that drama started. I have a birthday party to attend today and a trip downtown tonight so I have to conserve my energy.

Burt Reynolds on a bear skin rug

I had a long conflab with my good friend Traci last night who is in the Bay area for Maker Faire. If you are in the vicinity you should stop by the Duncan booth and say hello. Don’t forget that Duncan will be taking that same awesome make and take to Stitch Austin in November.

I also talked to my friend Kate who lives in LA about possibly coming out for Felt Club. Applications are due by this Sunday and I am oh so tempted to apply. The problem is I might be going to Rhode Island and to Massachusetts the week before for Brimfield. Uh ya the biggest flea market in the country. Do I want to take two trips back to back? Would I even get in? I have a couple of days to decide but I went to Felt Club last summer and it was tons of fun and I would love to come out again. I scored some rad jewelry by my friend Laura of Charcoal Designs so it’s tempting to go and just shop her wares. The flyer for the show with Jenny’s airbrushed hat is enough to make me buy a plane ticket.


In other news I have been blog tagged by my friend Claudine and have to reveal 7 juicy secrets about myself…

1) I drink a 6 pack of diet cokes every day, sometimes more. I get borderline hysterical when my stash runs low.

2) I have a naked picture of Burt Reynolds lying on a bear skin rug above the fire place in my living room.

3) I can’t go to sleep without hearing the soothing words “luminol”. This means when I doze off I am either watching Cold Case Files, Law and Order SVU or Forensic Files.

4) Since I work from home I have been known to go multiple days in my pajamas, the same pajamas. I mean why change them if I go from the bed to the studio and then back to bed. On a side note I have to wear pajama pants.

5) In the “Recently Added” option of my ITUNES listed is: Lush, The Talking Heads, Lita Ford, The The, Kenickie, Van Halen, Skee Lo, Cheryl Lynn, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Prince, The Marvalettes, Hall and Oates, El Debarge and Abba.

6) I have 3 tattoos the first of which I got 14 years ago and I have had my lip pierced for 12 years.

7) I loathe answering the phone. Most of my friends know better than to try and call me because I won't answer. Send me a text or an email.

I tag Chris, Tina, Dave and Coco.

I feel like I am in 6th grade writing a chain letter.

Scrap in Style

A while back I kept hearing a rumbling from the crafty underground about a new website/online TV show called Scrap in Style and apparently according to my friend Claudine Hellmuth’s blog the site is up and running. I looked around a bit and it looks like a really awesome site that I am going to need to investigate further. I am not much of a scrap booker, although I am drawn to all the papers for jewelry purposes, but the site looks like it has way more than just scrap booking info.

Anyway through my little adventure I stumbled upon some really cool scrap booking blogs. One in particular that caught my eye was Adrienne Looman. If I could scrap book and make it look like this the photos from my wedding would not be in a plastic bag in my garage. I have a hard time finding scrap book supplies that catch my eye on Craft Lab and at the craft store. Usually I think of scrap books involving pink, chocolate brown, and polka dots. A lot of the supplies can start to look the same after awhile especially when you are combing the aisles of CHA. One place that sells some really awesome stuff that I have mentioned before is Hambly. I sent Karly the link yesterday to their “Out on a Limb” rub ons for her wedding invitations. They use really bright neon colors and awesome prints like records, robots, pirate ships and chandeliers. They have a blog too written by their head designer Alison Kreft you should check out for further inspiration.

I Heart Adorn Magazine

I’ve had Adorn Magazine on the brain the last week or so. I just finished and shipped off a jewelry project that is going to be in the fall 07 issue. I won’t say anything besides the fact that there are toy motorcycles involved. I’ll keep you posted about when it comes out.

Besides this I also recently received my copy of the summer 07 issue. I really do love this magazine. I think pretty much all the Soho magazines (Knit 1, Adorn, Cutting Edge) look dang nice. Adorn seems to hit the Indie crafter nail right on the head every single time. Much like I did with the current issue of Venus I wanted to go through the new Adorn and highlight my favorite parts.

Two pages in is a big full page ad by Duncan paints. I love Duncan for many a reason besides the fact that they make awesome craft paint and let us not forget Aileen’s tacky glue. The ad features a girl in an outfit designed by my good friend Traci Bautista who you might have seen on Craft Lab a time or two. Two adorable ladies from Duncan Alyson and Alexis have both been guests on Craft Lab. Duncan does a mean make and take booth at not only CHA but at Stitch. Yuppers they are sponsors again for Stitch 2007! Last year everyone got free paint in the goodie bags and got to make themselves a custom T-shirt, can't wait to see what they whip up for this year!

On page 17 of Adorn in the midst of the book reviews I saw my friend Sonya Nimri smiling back at me from the page on the cover of her new book Just for the Frill of It. Sonya has been on Craft Lab seasons 1 and 2. I remember two years ago when I was in LA and Sonya talking about her ideas for this book over a margarita, I knew it was going to be good then. I need to pre-order a copy.

On page 20 there was another familiarity. Not a face, this time it was a thing. A cutterfly to be exact. On the DIY Network special Inside the Craft and Hobby Show that I just blogged about Vickie and I got to play with the Cutterfly. I believe I compared it to a clown car because there are so many different tools and parts in this one little expandable key chain. Vickie and I so wanted to take one from the EK Success booth at CHA, but they were not available yet. I hope they remember their promise to send us each one because I seriously want one. Interesting side note this is the same company who just put out the new Martha Stewart line at Michaels.

On page 23 there is a small blurb about Lov.li. I blogged about it back in March when I set up my account and have not done much with it since then. Glad this article reminded me to get over there and spend some time poking around.

Page 26 is an article by Tricia Royal and her endlessly entertaining project Wardrobe Remix. Recently at the Cinco de Mayo party my friend Natalie insisted she take some head to toe pictures of me in my 70’s polyester jump suit for the sole purpose of uploading to Wardrobe Remix. I have not gotten the nerve yet.

Page 36. I thought the Prada headbands were dog ugly until I saw the Adorn version and now suddenly I want one.

Page 38 is Craft Fairs 101. Being a producer of Austin’s Stitch Fashion Show and Craft Bazaar as well as a regular attendee at craft events such as the Renegade Craft Fair and the Soco market at Austin City Limits the article hit home. It is a great article that helps prepare people for selling at a craft fair. The survival check list is perfect!

I was so sad the article on page 46 about London did not come out last year before I visited or better yet 10 years ago before I spent a semester there. There were a few places on the list I did manage to hit like Camden Town, Brick Lane and Portobello Road Markets.

Besides the fact that I love me some Susan Beal I also loved her article on page 88 about DIY Brides. Sure I had the big white dress and got married in a church, but my mother and I got DIY crazy at my wedding. Have you seen my collection of vintage wedding toppers that acted as part of the center pieces for my tables. What about the terrarium I just made for the centerpiece at Susann’s wedding. Vickie and I are already plotting some sort of make and take for her summer nuptials and Karly is taking spray painted branches and metal bird cages to a new level with her event this August.

On page 94 you can’t help but notice my new and exciting Naughty Secretary Club ad! Ok that is really not that exciting. Besides all these fun things I mentioned there are about a bazillion adorable how to guides that make me wanna deck my clothes out all the day long. After all the tag line to the magazine is “The Crafty Girls Guide to Embellishing Life”.

Trophies Galore

Yesterday was my first time in a thrift store in a long time. If you have seen pictures of my house or ever been inside you know that we are petty much at maximum capacity and if something comes in something else has to go. Well yesterday Vickie talked me into swinging by one since she was looking for plates for her wedding and towels for one of her writing projects for Kiwi magazine. As she perused plates I found the mother load of trophy toppers. Bags of bright shiny gold guys on motorbikes and even a few in a karate pose. My favorite might be the one for the 5th place prize. Sure there is no room in my house for these (I already have a collection of bowling trophies) but there is room in my garden. We just put gravel down in the garden so I think I am going to strategically place all the trophy toppers around among the cactus and succulents. My one issue is will it be too much with all the garden gnomes already in place. Can trophies and gnomes live in aesthetic harmony together? We’ll find out this weekend and I’ll keep you posted on these hot burning issues.

This week on Craft Lab you can learn about fun stuff like spa gifts for men and making wire dolls. In 5 minutes catch a member of the Richmond Craft Mafia and I doing some copper etching of an adorable weenie dog. Weekday at 11am Central on DIY Network. On the same network on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2pm watch the Austin Craft Mafia and I on Stylielicious. Today is Outerwear with Jesse, Karly and I plus a special visit to our friend Chia’s house. Thursday is Accessories with Hope, Jesse and I. I’m gonna teach you how to make chop sticks into hair accessories. While we are on the TV subject Vickie and I got a copy of the Inside the Craft and Hobby Show yesterday that we watched. I had to hide behind a blanket because I still cringe when I watch myself on TV. Vickie even said to me at one point “Are you doing OK, do we need to turn this off”. It’s like when you were a kid and would tape record yourself and then play it back and thought “I don’t really sound like that do I?”. Maybe one day it will get easier.

Brain Wave Synchronization

Sorry I have been a bad, bad blogger. My weekend just seemed to get crammed with more and more stuff. Hope’s art show on Thursday went swimmingly. Chris and I had dinner with Vickie and Dave before hand and then I went out on the town with Karly and Erin afterwards. Friday nothing too exciting happened with me though Chris is going through some exciting employment issues. Saturday Chris, Hope and I went to yet another art show she had pieces in. This was where the picture was taken of Chris and I participating in “Brain Wave Synchronization”. We had to sit in these chairs in front of the painting and hold these plaster ducks. The black metal gizmo is a strobe light that we had to close our eyes and focus on. There was also very arty back ground music being played at the same time. It was quite the experience. That evening Hope, Karly, Chris, Matt and I all hung out on my porch. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the mothers out there. Chris and I met up with his mother and grandmother for dinner at the Olive Garden which I had not been to in probably 10 years. Before hand Chris and I went to Michaels to scope out the new Martha Stewart line. I love the little strawberry and tomato fabric stickers! Today Vickie and I had conference calls about our new consulting firm Craft Out Loud, hit the gym, and I am just now home. See I have been a busy little bee, I promise to be better this week.

Hope Perkins Art Show at the Hideout

Tonight there are two events of super crafty excitement going on around Austin.

From 5-7 at Moxie and the Compound Austin Craft Mafia member Jen Arntson is having a trunk show. Jen makes the most amazing vinyl goodies you have ever laid your eyes on. My guess is there will be some free drinkies too. Susanne and I are having a trunk show there in June, I’ll keep you posted.

After the trunk show from 7-9 head over to The Hideout Coffee on Congress to see a solo art show by Hope Perkins. Aka my younger sister, woman behind Hot Pink Pistol and all around arty gal. She has 15 pieces up at the show including this one that shows my collection of Dream Pets and all around creepy vintage stuffed animals. It is part of a triptych with self portraits of her on either side scolding the animals.

What Lily Loves

I’m so excited my friend Jeff just called me from London to tell me he has scored me two new dresses by Lily Allen. She designed a line (What Lily Loves) for a UK store called New Look that we don’t have here in the states. I had seen pictures of her frilly dresses popping up on fashion blogs across the internet and fell in LOVE! After the whole “I am Not a Plastic Bag” sell out I was afraid that if I did not get the dresses I wanted today when the line was released I never would. Interestingly Jeff called from the New Look store and said that no one was there and there were plenty of dresses. There was a fire at the main New Look store in Oxford Circus I think so maybe people were confused about where to go? Maybe I am the only person who likes her new dresses? There are a myriad of possibilities. All I know is that I got my dresses, now lets just pray that they fit me. I still have not worn the leopard skin hat I had Jeff bring me this spring from Top Shop, I need to get on that. Oh that reminds me you can buy Top Shop online now!

In other news did you hear that Patricia Fields is designing a line of shoes for Payless? I swear I heard that rumor.

Isabella Blow

How sad I just read that Isabella Blow has died. I always loved seeing pictures of her in fashion magazines throughout the years in her super duper big Phillip Treacey hats. She was such an interesting fixture on the London fashion scene that always stood out and never looked like everyone else.

Cinco de Mayo and TV this week!

Leave it to Chris and I to wear the most obnoxious outfits at the party. Our Cinco de Mayo fiesta went swimmingly and I think everyone had a great time, I know I did. Preparations and then recovery is the reason I have not blogged in a few days. I have to go all out for these things. Between backcombing my hair into a beehive, figuring out how to pay per view the Oscar de la Hoya fight and making the perfect mix it pretty much sucked up my entire weekend.

Tammy Powley reminded me this morning that a special I filmed in February for DIY Network aired this weekend. Inside the Craft and Hobby Show has Michele Beschen, Cathie Filian, Sandi Genovese , Vickie Howell, Steve Piacenza and I all running around the spring 2007 CHA show testing out new gadgets. It seemed to have been on last night at 9pm, 1 this morning and then again tonight at 9pm Central. One product that Vickie and I demonstrate is the Simply Swank soldering kit and I just ordered my very own a couple of weeks ago along with the book Simple Soldered Jewelry and Accessories. Check out the show if you get a chance, I think they even interviewed Martha Stewart to talk about her new line of goodies through EK Success at Michaels.

While your watching TV this week be sure to tune into Craft Lab for 3D Collage Boxes with Claudine Hellmuth, Photo Image Transfers with Amy Rachlin, Foam Crafts with Sonya Nimiri and more. Every week day at 11am Central. Tuesdays and Thursday on DIY Network peep the Austin Craft Mafia on Stylelicious. Tuesday Susann, Karly and Tina take things from Old to New and then Thursday is Eco Friendly fashion with Susann, Tina and Jen.

Lost Classic Indie Albums

This week in my PO Box we received the spring 2007 issue of Magnet magazine with Connor Oberst of Bright Eyes on the cover. My husband told me about an article in the magazine called 75 Lost Classics that intrigued me. The article is about some of the best Indie rock records of all time that most people have never heard of. I know there were several that stumped me. Chris wrote his blog yesterday about the issue and for some reason I feel compelled to write my response to the article today.

ARCHERS OF LOAF – ICKY METTLE
I could not agree more with their very first entry. I loved the record when it came out and I still love it today. I will always have a soft spot for the Archers of Loaf guys. When I wrote my zine Scratch-n-Sniff they played at Deep Ellum Live in Dallas with Velocity Girl and The Lemonheads. I drug my friends Becky, Erin and younger sister Hope out to the show with me because I wanted to interview the band. Well they were first and the only way I would get the interview is if we left the show and went around back of the club so I could get a chance to chat with them, back then there were no ins and outs so that meant the rest of the show and our pricey tickets were blown. Around back we met the guys and got the interview and on top of that they got us all backstage passes where we got to watch the rest of the show and munch on Evan Dando's veggie tray. So not only is their music great, they are hella nice guys.

UNREST – PERFECT TEETH
I do love me some Mark Robinson and Teen Beat but I am not sure they have ever had one solid album, including Perfect Teeth that I would call a lost gym. Sure “Make Out Club” is a good song, but I would beg to differ that “World Cup Fever” by Air Miami is better. I just saw my old Teen Beat Records shirt when I was at my parent’s house last weekend. Does anyone remember when they had combs that said Teen Beat that would come with your records when you ordered through the mail? I also remember how long it took to get the order.

MAZZY STAR – SO TONIGHT THAT I MIGHT SEE
Sure I love this record a much as the next guy, but is it really a lost classic they played these songs on the big radio stations in its day. Boy they were a snoozer live, saw them at Trees in Dallas. Also if you have not heard "Sometimes Always" by The Jesus and Mary Chain with Hope on backing vocals go download it now. I have the 7" single on red vinyl somewhere now that I think about it.

VELOCITY GIRL – COPACETIC
I remember I bought this CD at the same time I bought Helium Pirate Prude and since I fell in love with that record so Copacetic did not really get the fair shake it deserved. However, I still think “Crazy Town” is one of the best songs of all time.

DRIVE LIKE JEHU – YANK CRIME
This is a fine record and all but I have to say I like their first record better because speaking of best songs of all time “Caress” is on it. I saw these guys play at The Orbit Room in Dallas once and they were awesome. Since I was a Rocket From the Crypt fan I was pretty excited to see John Reis. Oh and if you have not heard The Hot Snakes, you should.

BUTTERGLORY – ARE YOU BUILDING A TEMPLE IN HEAVEN
I’m not sure I have heard this record all I know is Crumble is dang good just listen to “The Skills of a Star Pilot” to prove it.

THOMAS JEFFERSON SLAVE APARTMENTS – BAIT AND SWITCH
When I saw their name in here I ran to my CD shelf and dusted off their records to add to my Itunes immediately. I added “Cheaters Heaven” to my mix for Saturday’s Cinco De Mayo party!

BRAINIAC – HISSING PRIGS IN A STATIC CULTURE
In college I had a tape of several videos I had recorded from MTV’s 120 Minutes and “Vincent Come on Down” by Brainiac was on there and I loved them so. This was back when I just thought my husband was a cute guy that drove my bus and I was not even sure of his name. I went to the Brainiac show at Emo’s hoping to catch a glimpse of my little stud muffin and hear my favorite song and I got both. I was glad I went to the show to hear “We are Brainiac from Dayton, Ohio” looped over and over because pretty soon after that the lead singer was killed in a car crash. However there awesomeness lives on in another of my favorite bands Enon.

GODHEADSILO – SKYWARD IN TRIUMPH
This was a heavy record my friends Ryan and Parker used to listen to quite a bit that eventually rubbed off on me. I remember we saw these guys a few times live, there is a show at The Argo in Denton I recall in particular. Apparently the guys do silk screening as well as rock out. Once at a SXSW years ago I was in my Kill Rock Stars T-shirt and one of the guys from the band proudly came up to me and told me how he had made my shirt.

VERSUS – SECRET SWINGERSRemember last year at Stitch when we had +/- play? James Baluyut from Versus is in the band. Chris bought this record when we first started dating and I have to say that we listened to the very long and very repetitive “A Heart Is A Diamond” quite a bit and I am still fond of that song and the band.

THE SPINANES – STRAND
I am assuming the only reason Manos is not listed is because this is a lost gems list and not a best of all time list. I have seen the Spinanes and Rebecca Gates solo a couple of times and swooned on all occasions. Manos breaks my heart every time. On Strand “Lines and Lines” is slow to start, but so dang good when it does and “Azure” makes my heart go pitter patter.

THE HALO BENDERS – THE REBELS NOT IN
I am pretty much going to like anything Calvin Johnson touches because I am a big K Records and Beat Happening fan. This is not one of my favorite Halo Bender records (I prefer God Don’t Make No Junk) but it is really good.

DUSTER – STRATOSPHERE
I did not learn about Duster until after college when I was writing music reviews for magazines. I got sent Contemporary Movement and remember thinking this is not my cup of tea, but for some reason I really like this. I recently walked into a coffee shop that was playing it and was reminded of the goodness. I need to bust that bad boy out, maybe I will even download Stratosphere while I am at it.

DUSTY TRAILS – DUSTY TRAILSSince I loved Luscious Jackson and The Breeders, clearly I was going to love this record. Since I was smitten on Sterolab too and that is kind of what they sound like it was a match made in heaven. I have not heard this record in a long while and need to change that. On a side note I have to say that I do like The Kostars better than Dusty Trails.

PAPAS FRITAS – BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
Melodic dueling chick and dude vocals, what’s not to love? Let me mention Stitch again because year before last we had “Way You Walk” as one of our runway songs. See we knew this was a lost gem 2 years ago, pffffffft.

TRIPPING DAISY – TRIPPING DAISY
Thank God for Tim DeLaughter’s Polyphonic Spree, it took the shame out of loving Tripping Daisy. I grew up in Dallas when Tripping Daisy was the local band phenomena and if you wanted to go to Trees that weekend that is who you were probably going to see (Sometimes it was The Toadies or Bedhead). Thanks to this article I just added some hits off of Bill to my Itunes and was guilt free about it.

THE ANNIVERSARY – YOUR MAJESTY
This band is in the same vein as Rainer Maria, Mates of State and The Annuals – except maybe a little quirkier. I always tittered on really liking them but they were one of those bands that when you saw them live all the kids standing around you were singing along at the top of their lungs and for some reason that annoyance rubbed off on the band for me. I think I like Designing a Nervous Breakdown better as a record although I really like “Sweet Marie” as a single.

SWERVEDRIVER – MEZCAL HEAD
It kills me that this is a lost classic because this record is so good everyone should know it by heart. I saw them a couple of different times in Dallas (I think once with Medicine opening) and once saw singer Adam Franklin solo at SXSW where he did some Swervedriver covers. Seriously “Duel”, “Last Train to Satansville” and “Never Lose That Feeling” are some of the better songs of the 90’s.

Ok thank you for bearing with me through that trip down memory lane. Apparently I miss writing music reviews more than I thought.

Beta Valentine Tonight!

Are you asking yourself: “who are these 3 stud muffins”? They are Beta Valentine and they are playing tonight at The Parlor on North Loop around 9:30. If you live in Austin you should stop by. The guy in the white shirt with the big hair and sideburns is my hubby and he will be the guy behind the drum kit. Beta Valentine has a new CD out called Gold you should check out. Chris and I run a record label called Has Anyone Ever Told You? And we put the record out. Well really he did not me. You can also buy a lot of our releases through Naughty Secretary Club. My two favorite bands that Chris was ever in was Drowners Sailing and The Search for Saturnalia. You can listen to MP3s of both on the site. Chris has been working diligently on his new solo CD. As a matter of fact he was at the studio until almost 2am Monday night mixing it. I’ll keep you posted on when it comes out.

Oh and yesterday I bought a Margarator Margarita Machine because all the margarita machines in town have already been rented out.

Blown Glass Beads and Handmade Headbands

I only have 22 minutes to type this because I realized that today DIY Network is showing one of my favorite episodes of Craft Lab. I think this is a new one. Well new in the sense that we filmed it awhile back but it has never been on TV. Today we are making blown glass beads! Which means I get to play with fire, whoo-hoo. Chad Pitts is the guest and besides being one of the handful of boys we have on the show he is nice as all get out. I was kind of scared filming this episode and he held my hand through the whole thing. Also this week look for Printer Play with Pamela Smart from Creative TECHniques Magazine. Have you seen this mag? It is really cool the last issue I saw had a how to by Julie Jackson and a story on Traci Bautista. Thursday my mom is back on the show and Friday is fruit and veggie carving. This reminds me I need to watch my taped episodes with Kathy Cano Murillo of Crafty Chica to get some decoration tips for my Cinco de Mayo party.

Today on Stylelicious were Putting it On I teach you how to make some unique headbands with felt and cupcake toppers. Susann makes tank tops, Tina makes a choker and we visit with our good friend Amy Barber. Thursday on Stylelicious it is Animal Magnatism with Vickie, Karly and Jesse. Karly makes the most hilariously awesome purse of all time that looks like a hamster running in his cage.

If you heart hip Indie crafts as much as I do and want to see more of Craft Lab and Stylelicious write DIY or get on their posting boards and tell them so. They don’t listen to me when I tell em :)

9 minutes till 11 I better go grab a diet coke and get the TV situated for bead making. Man that means I type fast, and people think I must spend hours a day blogging. Pffffff.