My voice has yet to return to full strength, but I’m taking an optimistic approach and moving ahead with plans for CraftSanity Magazine trunk shows. On Friday, March 18, I’ll be showing all the projects from CraftSanity Issue 2 during my “Take Five” craft segment on WZZM Channel 13 here in Grand Rapids. The show [...]

My daughters love to decorate for the holidays and Valentine’s Day is no different. My mom showed me how to weave paper heart baskets years ago, and I’ve been wanting to weave some out of felt ever since. Yesterday I pulled out my stash of craft felt and got to work. Here’s what you need [...]

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 [...]

While prepping for today’s TV segment on paper casting I ran into a little snag. I was planning to use cotton linters to make paper  pulp for casting, but couldn’t find the product on the fly at the local art supply stores here in West Michigan. I didn’t have time to order online, so I [...]

My unplanned foray into crafting on TV has not brought me riches or fame (I don’t get paid to do my segments and Martha still hasn’t called.) but the adventure has payed off in many other ways. It’s forced me to learn how to craft on the fly in front of live audiences and allowed [...]

Today I showed “Take Five” viewers how to make paper ball ornaments out of punched paper circles. Read on to learn how to make some for your tree.

Today was the first print run of CraftSanity Magazine, so I asked to go see how the nice people at the Grand Rapids Community College Print Solutions do what they do. It was surreal to watch pages if my magazine slide out of a giant whirring printer. After daydreaming about turning CraftSanity into a publication for [...]

Ready for Thanksgiving? Don’t worry, I’m not either. Not even close. Since time is short, this year’s decorating ideas have to be fast. So we decided to use balls of yarn, pipe cleaner and colored feathers to whip up some cute turkeys on the fly. To make your own, roll a small ball for the [...]

This craft tutorial is in honor of Veterans’ Day, the day we pause to remember and honor the men and women who have made great personal sacrifices to defend our freedom. In an effort to reflect on what it means to be free in America, I thought it was appropriate to make some beaded lapel [...]

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 [...]

It’s time to send the kids back to school and I can’t quite believe it. This is the fastest summer I’ve ever experienced as a mom. I LOVED being home with my kids this summer – my first summer as a work-at-home mom. This year both my daughters will be eating lunch at school for [...]

Hi folks. I’m operating in an ArtPrize induced fog, so it’s not surprising that today’s live TV craft segment turned out to be one for the blooper reel. (See the clip below.) The “Take Five” segment features a bit of laughter and a demo on how to make a weaving loom out of an old [...]

If I had all the time back that I’ve wasted looking for my keys, I’d have sooooo much extra time. Seriously. Thankfully I’ve found a handmade way to decrease the number of times I lose my keys. After a particularly annoying key misplacement, I bought a key fob like the one above as an impulse buy [...]

Soon after launching my loom business last summer I started collecting colorful t-shirts to use in my weaving projects. But every now and then I like to change it up and do a t-shirt refashioning project or some other jersey knit craft. Yesterday I made some t-shirt necklaces with my daughters. This is a fun [...]

It’s been super humid here in West Michigan, so I was especially inspired to whip up a batch of neck coolers in an effort to cool off. Read on for instructions to sew one of your own and scroll down to watch my recent TV demo of this project. (Note: These are best made in [...]