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 [...]

Okay, podcast episode 114 is in the bag. We just have to update the blog and do a couple other behind-the-scenes maneuvers. But first I want to tell you about the exciting opportunity I will get this summer to participate in the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs, Aug. 13-15 in Seattle, Wash. I will be speaking [...]

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 [...]

Watch CBS News Videos Online I’ve always liked Mo Rocca. Now I like him even more. Mo, I would knit with you any day.

Four years ago the very first episode of CraftSanity was released into the world. My husband uploaded the show and added it to iTunes while I headed into to the office for my first day back at work after my second maternity leave. I was feeling emotionally torn about whether or not going back to [...]

I can’t believe it’s Saturday already. This week has been a complete blur. Here’s a recap: * I sold more looms this week than I expected to, so I’ve been busy making more. (A special thank you to my lovely customers. You folks rock!) This uptick in sales comes at a good time because layoff [...]

When I quit my day job in early July it was as traumatic as a birth. As I walked down the back “employees only” hallway the last time as an official staffer, I cried like a baby while trying rather unsuccessfully to hide my face behind a vase-full of sunflowers. It was a pretty pathetic [...]

After more than 11 years as a staff writer for The Grand Rapids Press, I quit my day job. So this is it. I’m a free agent. A freelance writer. A podcaster. An independent, self-employed woman. From here on out I can’t blame The Man for holding me back or squashing my dreams. Now I’m [...]

Great news, folks! Hilary Karnatz, (formerly known as Hilary Seabolt) owner of the felt food toy company Lilly Bean Market, will be a guest on “The Martha Stewart Show” tomorrow. The segment is scheduled to air in Grand Rapids at 10 a.m. Wednesday on the ABC affiliate WOTV-TV (Channel 41). Please check your local listings to [...]

There’s a massive effort underway to help the survivors of the bushfire that devastated parts of Australia over the weekend killing more than 180 people.  I’ve read the media reports online and the destruction is hard to fathom. According to Reuters, the disaster area is more than twice the size of London and encompasses more [...]

I’m writing my next Grand Rapids Press art and craft column about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act that takes takes effect Feb. 10. If you’re a maker with a handmade business please e-mail me your story. And feel free to post a comment below, too. (Just omit your personal contact info, of course.) This [...]

Okay, so we fixed the comments feed. My apologies to those of you who tried to comment and couldn’t because we had it restricted to “registered users.” Oops. See, I told you this change was going to be tricky. I’m a creature of habit and while I didn’t really care for the old blog tool [...]

I took this picture in my kitchen on Nov 27, 2004. I was on my second maternity leave from my job as a newspaper reporter and feeling totally conflicted about the big return to work. My husband had recently clued me into the high tech world of podcasting and I almost immediately decided that I, [...]

I won’t believe it until I see it, but today is the big day when my first newspaper craft column appears in print. Since most who read this blog and listen to the CraftSanity podcast don’t live in West Michigan and won’t be able to look for the column in the Home & Garden section [...]

After nearly a decade as a print journalist, the major craft window I’ve been waiting for has finally opened to me. I’m writing craft blog called “Running with Needles” for my newspaper, The Grand Rapids Press, and a weekly column that will appear in print on Sundays. The good news for curious CraftSanity listeners is [...]