Hello! I’m hosting a CraftSanity Crafternoon at the new Grand Rapids Press office on Saturday and I’d love for you to come. Attendees will get to make a beaded heart pin, discuss the impact of technology on art and craft and many other crafty topics as well as mingle with [...]

This is Willie James Jones, a man who spends his days drawing hot rods, surf boards, bongo drums and palm trees at Heartside Gallery and Studio, a free drop-in art studio located  in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The studio is frequented by people who have struggled with homelessness, addiction, mental illness and other challenges. I wrote [...]

I bought this print at Friday’s Art Downtown event. It’s called “Keep Heartside Beautiful” by Grand Rapids printmaker Sarah Scott. You can read the column I wrote about her in The Grand Rapids Press today. Sarah is donating a third of the money generated by sales of this print to Heartside Gallery and Studio where [...]

Friday night I’m headed to Grand Rapids with my daughters for an evening of art appreciation. From 6 to 11 p.m. 28 downtown venues will open their doors to the public for Art Downtown, an event that will feature 250 artists. It’s events like these that make me happy to live in West Michigan. I [...]

I’m backtracking here, but I want to note that Wednesday’s ArtPrize opening reception at the David D. Hunting YMCA was very nice. I would have posted about it sooner, but my Internet service was knocked out by Mother Nature for a couple days. I’ve also been busy soaking up inspiration at ArtPrize with out-of-town guests. [...]

At long last I bring you a podcast interview with Lisa Price, a crafty printmaker and one of West Michigan’s most successful handmade businesswomen.

Hi folks. I’ve been spinning many, many plates lately and it’s really cut into my podcast production time. (Don’t worry, I have a plan to reverse this trend.) In the meantime, I want to give you a heads up about a few things: 1)  For all you locals, Lisa Price, owner of artgoodies and the [...]

On this episode of CraftSanity you’ll meet West Michigan fiber artist Beth Ann Williams, an accomplished quilter, teacher and author who never ceases to inspire the people around her. Tune in to hear the story of how Beth Ann turned to quilting after serious health problems forced her to edit her life plan. Beth Ann, [...]

Father’s Day is coming up and my daughters are very excited. Abby has been squirreling away little handmade gifts for weeks and Amelia is on a magnets-for-every-occasion kick, so I thought it would be great to team up with my daughters for this week’s Father’s Day craft TV segment on “Take Five.” First off, we [...]

It’s official. I entered ArtPrize 2010, the international art competition based here in Grand Rapids. I’m working on a hexagon quilt called “Power Ties in Bloom” made out of neckties that will be displayed at the David D. Huntington YMCA in Grand Rapids Sept. 22 – Oct. 10.  The ties were collected by Safe Haven [...]

Dandelions rank among my favorite flowers. I used to pick them for my mom when I was a kid and now I get to watch my daughters pick them for me. Because most people consider them weeds, no one ever gets on your case for picking them and I love that, too. I wrote a [...]

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks filled with creativity and color, teaching  and talking art and craft. So while I’ve been away from the keyboard creating, this blog as been a bit neglected. So it’s high time for a CraftSanity update. I’ve been training for the 25K I’m running in May and working hard [...]

This is my contribution to the Margaret’s Hope Chest Hope Squared quilt drive to benefit homeless children living in the Grand Rapids Public School District this holiday season. I interviewed the charity organizers, Carin Vogelzang, and her mother, Carol Peters, for the podcast and my column and wanted to do more than encourage everyone else [...]

This is my first Day of the Dead paper cut banner, or “papel picado.” I LOVE paper cut art, so I had a great time cutting this design out of tissue paper with a craft knife. First, I drew the skeleton wearing a hat on a regular 8 1/2″ by 11″ piece of white paper. [...]

When my parents flew my sister and I to Washington state to meet our Great Grandmother, I couldn’t wait to check out her outhouse. I heard it was a two-seater and, at age 5, I found this little fact very intriguing. Ignorance is bliss, eh?