A Few of My Favorite…

Just thought I’d share a few things that have brought me delight recently. Maybe you’ll like them, too!

- Neta’s Dolls Stories blog. Oh, she is such a talented doll-maker. Her creations are just amazing — you almost expect them to get up from the work-table and start talking to you. She makes punky dolls and family dolls and glamorous dolls (and there are more at her store). And, she makes me want to make dolls!

- While we’re on the subject, I’ve had this book for a long time, and always love flipping through. It’s a nice inspiration book of embellishment possibilities. In the back, author Martha Le Van offers three basic doll-form patterns, and then has a variety of doll artists interpret them.

- Janet McCaffrey’s blog, Primrose Design. I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve breathlessly told to read this blog. If you’re an embroiderer, you’ll love her Stitch School posts, which detail unusual embroidery stitches, with excellent photo tutorials. I’ve learned a ton from Janet. (And when she’s not posting stitch tutorials, she’s sharing things like vintage linens and ways to use ric rac.)

- In the podcast world, I’ve been loving the NPR podcast, Focus On Flowers. These are very short shows, in which host Moya Andrews waxes rhapsodic about various flowering plants. The segments are both interesting and charming. (Full Disclosure, though: you do have to sit through a short ad for, of all things, beer.)

- Also in podcasts, NPR has a great science series with Robert Krulwich, called Hmmmmm…. You don’t have to be a science-geek to enjoy this podcast, because Krulwich is a master at painting pictures with audio. He manages to explain all kinds of scientific subjects in a wholly engaging way. A great while-crafting listen to improve your mind.

- And in magazines, I stumbled upon Crochet Today at the newsstand recently, and was impressed. I don’t usually buy crochet magazines, because they tend to be either a) filled with projects I would never want to make, or b) filled with amazing projects that are currently way over my beginner’s head.

But this issue had several cute projects I can wrap my head around, and lo and behold, the contributors list is something like a craft-blog who’s who: Alicia, Regina, Linda. (I’m attempting the bag pictured above. At the moment, it’s looking vaguely like a bag, which is encouraging.)