Every year, I promise myself that I’m going to have a chill week before faire. I promise myself that I’m not going to take on 900 new projects in the months and weeks leading up to it, that I’m not going to make myself into a ball of stress. Well, at least this year I […]

Doing a little experimenting with something new. I’ve been eying Circut’s mug press for well over a year now and finally broke down and got one for myself with some funds left from last Christmas. I finally worked up the guts (after having it for a few days) to break it out and try it. […]

One thing any crafter knows is that space is always an issue–it doesn’t matter how much space you have, it’s always at a premium at any given time. The other thing any crafter knows is that collecting supplies and materials and actually making things are two separate, but complimentary, hobbies. To some degree or another, […]

GVRen was my first show years ago and remains my favorite all these years later. The long-running joke among friends is that some of us alumni have been around the festival long enough that we’ve seen everything twice, and a weekend like this past one was no exception. The weather was suboptimal on Saturday, but […]

A few months ago, I let everyone know that I’d decided to finally replace the old court gown that I’d sewn back in 2004 for my last renaissance festival as an undergraduate at GVSU.  After spending a few months distracted by a dollhouse (that’s another story!) and working on a few other projects (including surprises […]

Well, some of you may have seen this tweet of mine, announcing that I’m embarking on a new, somewhat daunting project–a new court gown to be completed in time for Grand Valley’s 20th annual renaissance faire this fall.  I was one of the original members of the duchess’s court at Grand Valley fifteen years ago […]

It’s official. I’ve caught the quilting bug, and I’ve caught it pretty bad. Now, making patchwork quilts has been a thing that I’ve really wanted to do since I was a kid and it’s something that I’ve dabbled in since I was pretty young.  I have tons of half-started projects laying around the house, tucked […]

So I found out on Sunday that I have a slot in the annual Athens Band Boosters Craft Show at Athens High School in Troy, MI on Saturday December 13, 2014.  I will be setting up there at about 6:45 in the morning for a show that starts at 9 and runs until 4.  I’ll […]

Well, it’s that time of year again — the time of year when I start panicking in twelve directions because there’s so much crafting and writing to do and so little time to do it in!  The Grand Valley State University Renaissance Festival is in exactly six weeks and I should really think about inventorying […]

A few weeks back was my sister-in-law’s baby shower, organized by her mother, aunt, sister, sister’s best friend, and my sister-in-law and brother’s best friend.  Fairly early on, my sister-in-law and brother’s best friend knew that she wasn’t going to be able to make the shower (she had another family obligation the same weekend), but […]