I’ve been living in a “girl’s world” all my life. I grew up with two sisters and now have two daughters who love to play dress up and host tea parties for their stuffed animal friends. While all the women in my family are fans of pretty things and twirly dresses, some of us have [...]

I met Tom, a Valspar paint represenative, at my local Lowe’s yesterday and he hooked me up with paint samples for tomorrow’s craft segment on WZZM Channel 13′s “Take Five” morning show. (Thanks, Tom!)  Check back here tomorrow to see what the girls and I have been working on. Oh and the curtains are up! [...]

Check out these cute little finger puppets that I bought to put in my daughters’ Easter baskets. I bought them for $4.50 each at a local “fair trade” shop. I made the purchase even though I have yet to get my mind around how the people who made the puppets are getting any money out [...]

We’ve lived in our current house for more than five years and the horrid blinds that were hanging in front of the back slider when we moved in are STILL there. Now I’m to the point where I really can’t stand to look at them anymore. I bought fabric months ago to sew some new [...]

If you love quilts and you’re looking for something to do this weekend, go check out the Thornapple River Ripper Quilting Guild Show at the Barry Expo Center, 1350 N. M-37,  Hastings, Michigan. The show features about 200 quilts ranging from modern to traditional designs, vendor booths and quilting demos. The entry fee is $5 [...]

The wait is almost over. My husband picked up CraftSanity Magazine Issue 2 from the printer today and we’ll be shipping out all subscription and pre-order copies tomorrow. (Thanks for ordering!) We’ll be making deliveries to area retailers tomorrow, too. I’ll post a list of retailers tomorrow and you can expect to find the magazines [...]

I’m addicted to beading, so it’s no surprise that I LOVE making these beaded heart pins. I made a bunch last year and found time to stitch a new one a few weeks back. Check out my tutorial, if you’d like to make some for the crafty people on your Valentine’s Day treat list. Ok, [...]

Hi Folks. Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been busy working on the next issue of CraftSanity Magazine due out in March. There is a lot of writing, crafting and pattern testing to do in the next 20 days, but I think it will be worth all the effort. The next [...]

I’d like to wish you all a belated Happy New Year. I’ve been so busy working on some exciting projects that I have not had time to blog. I’ll update you on all the activity here at the CraftSanity headquarters soon. But right now I want to focus on sweatbands and giving away a free [...]

This is very last-minute, but perfect for all you crafters who like to fly by the seat of your pants. There are a couple spaces left in the Handmade Holiday Workshop that I’m teaching Wednesday here in West Michigan. This is one of my favorite classes to teach because I absolutely love handmade gifts. The [...]

Halloween is coming up, so I whipped up some easy superhero masks to add to our costume stash. The fun thing about these masks is that many kids like to pretend they’re superheros all year round. So, you can get quite a bit of millage out of these which is an added bonus. Read on [...]

Finishing this quilt project came down to the wire as expected, but boy am I happy to be done. Crossing the finish line was very unceremonious and that was expected, too. I just left the quilts in a pile on a table at the David D. Hunting YMCA and went home. If I had not [...]

I have five days to finish hand stitching the bindings and hanging sleeves on this stack of ArtPrize quilts. Five days until life returns to normal. Almost there… I’m headed out to shoot a photo for next week’s art & craft column. You can read today’s column about Alban Fischer, editor of trnsfr magazine here. [...]

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 [...]

Doodle, doodle almost done. I love scribbling on fabric with thread. I machine quilted panels four and five of my charity ArtPrize quilts late Wednesday. High five, everyone! Later today I’ll be picking out fabric for the binding and weaving in thread tails. I can’t quite believe I’ve been working on this project every day for [...]