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 [...]

Hello! It’s been very busy around the CraftSanity headquarters as we enjoy the last bit of summer before school starts. It seems the summers fly by faster each year. I’ve been burning the midnight oil working very hard on the fall issue of CraftSanity Magazine due out next month I’m really enjoying the projects, recipes [...]

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 [...]

I’m feeling rather fickle as I indulge in the visual feast that is ArtPrize. Each new piece I see becomes my favorite. I’m currently enamored with this “Rag Rug” dress created by Betsy Timmer that is on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM). The piece is made of found sheets, curtains and tablecloths [...]

Even in the busiest times, while in the thick of the most involved projects it’s important to stop and soak up nature’s wonders. The other day I snapped this picture of a rose past it’s prime but still quite beautiful. It’s so important to pause every now an then, especially when your plate is full [...]

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 [...]

Hi folks! I have many projects in the works as usual, but I wanted to take a break from stitching hexagons to give all you locals a head’s up about some classes I’m teaching this summer at Lakeshore Sewing’s Wyoming location (1011 Gezon Parkway SW, Wyoming, MI). Here are the details: T-shirt Refashioning 101 Learn [...]

What a great opening day for the Fulton Street Artisans Market in Grand Rapids! I sold several looms (Thank you, dear customers!) and enjoyed meeting some very supportive column readers. A special thanks to our kind booth neighbors for helping Jeff and I set up the new “EZ Up” tent for the first time. And [...]

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 [...]

My oh my. I’m insanely busy and kind of loving it. I’m exhausted and I don’t really know what day it is, but, wow, am I having fun! I’m very excited to report that awesome apron designs have been submitted to the first-ever CraftSanity Apron Show to benefit Safe Haven Ministries. Thank you to those [...]

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 [...]

Happy holidays, everyone! I’ve been blog silent for a bit spending every free moment sewing this sparkly new race apron. When I suit up in it for tomorrow’s 4-mile Resolution Run through East Grand Rapids, I’m going to look like I got jumped by Richard Simmons on the way to a bake-off.  But we only [...]

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 [...]