Dawn Devries Sokol sent me a review copy of Doodle Diary: Art Journaling for Girls, her new book aimed at girls aged 8 and up. It’s really fun and cute!

It’s all hand-lettered and drawn by Dawn. And there is some basic art-journaling information in the front, but most of the book is dedicated to creative prompts that will get girls actually making art in the book.

Each two-page spread is another colorful, enticing idea. Honestly, if you were interested in breaking into art journaling but felt intimidated by the adult books, I think this would be a fantastic entry point into the craft.

If I had a niece, she’d be getting this book as a back-to-school present. But since I’m more of a nephew-girl, let’s have a giveaway!

To enter, post a comment below and tell me about the girl you’ll give this to if you win. (If that girl happens to be you, that’s totally okay.) Bonus points if, in your entry, you can explain to me just how the heck it’s already September.

I’ll take entries through Sunday, September 6th. International readers, you’re most welcome to enter.

Good Luck! (Oh – and that link up there is an affiliate link.)

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Print publishers have made many attempts to embrace the crafty blogosphere – some more successful than others. I think the mix works best when a printed book seeks to create a tangible record of the wonderful-but-intangible community we enjoy.

Julie Turjoman is about to release Brave New Knits: 26 Projects and Personalities from the Knitting Blogosphere – a book that celebrates how blogging has influenced knitting, and vice versa.

I should say right up front: I’m not a knitter, so I’m not qualified to comment on the instructional side of this book. I’ll show you some of the garment projects included, but you’ll want to check out some knitters’ reviews for details on the patterns.

I do love how Julie has selected a nice blend of knitwear designers to represent the knitting blogosphere – a mixture of established stars and new arrivals. I particularly liked the contributions of Teresa Gregorio, Mari Muinonen, Shannon Okey, Jared Flood (who also photographed the book), and Kathy Veeza.

The projects are divided into two sections: a variety of sweaters and a variety of accessories (including hats, scarves, and socks). This is a book for people who have basic knitting skills already – there is some coverage of special techniques in the back of the book, but no coverage of basic knitting stitches (which I always like in a craft book, because it leaves more room for projects.)

Interspersed with the patterns are profiles of the 26 designers, which reveal how they fell into knitting, and how the web has shaped their career paths. Many of these designers participate in traditional publishing, but there’s no denying that the influence of Ravelry has created strong indie publishing streak in the community.

(Don’t you wish we had a Ravelry for every craft? So do I. But I digress….)

Other themes that emerge in these interviews are how a blogger’s community of readers influences his or her design process, and how sharing your inspirations and designs publicly can lead to career opportunities. I was also struck by the way the web has allowed many more unique design styles to emerge than the traditional publishing world (always in need of widespread sales) has been able to foster. Because there are no gatekeepers in the blogosphere, the knitting community has been able to grow in all kinds of original directions.

Though we’re all immersed in the online community, it’s true that there’s still a vast swath of the world population who’s never looked at a blog. Brave New Knits is a nice introduction for these folks to a world that can change your creative and career path profoundly.

For those of us who hang out in the blogosphere all the time, this book is a lovely archive of this exciting moment in the collision of a very old craft with a very new social landscape.

(The usual disclosures: Julie sent me a review copy of her book, and the title link is an affiliate link.)

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Hoo, Boy – it’s been a long week. Over last weekend, I was knocked in the head by some kind of icky virus, and have been down for the count until today.

So, I have no podcast for you this week, and no Google Analytics tutorial. But I do have a cool craft book review!

No beating around the bush either: I freaking love The Big-Ass Book of Home Decor, from Mark Montano.

For one thing, there’s a metric ton of great ideas in here. Not just pretty stuff, not just trendy shapes and colors, but actual, innovative, original ideas.

(Case in point: this gorgeous chair modification, which is layers and layers of small vinyl patches.)

Not only that, these original ideas involve such simple materials and processes. This frame is made from nothing more than layers of cardboard and glue.

I know, right?!

I think Mark’s genius is in looking at everyday stuff with a fresh eye, and then boiling the concepts down to a really accessible form so you’re itching to try them.

…Especially once you’ve looked at the step-by-step photos and seen how simple this stuff really is to make. Mark’s done an awesome job of documenting nearly every project with photos of the crucial steps. This is a crafty reference I can use again and again.

Can you guess what this light fixture is made from? I’ll give you a moment.

That’s right it’s lucite plate stands. How seriously genius is that? Makes me want to trail around after the man while he shops, just so I can see how his creative brain works.

You know those annoying subscription cards that fall out of magazines? Here, they’re transformed into modern art. The painting process involves – wait for it – a record player.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Yup, those are broken mirror shards, made into a wall sconce. Mark has a process in the book for removing the sharp edges. Beautiful, eh?

I also love this crazy Bollywood dresser. The paint treatment uses a big sheet of lace as a stencil. Plus, if I could get away with it, I’d bejewel all my furniture.

So by now, you may have noticed that although this is a home decor book, there are crafty concepts by the score you could use in lots of other contexts.

(That, my friends, is a fabric plant. How cool is that?)

Last but not least, I have to say this is just about my favorite piece in the book. I don’t have the right kind of apartment for it at all, but it made me burst out laughing with delight when I first saw it.

Definitely, give this a flip-through in your local bookstore, because there are way, way more cool things to see. I didn’t even show you the wall treatments, pillow ideas, IKEA hacks, tables, dishware, or sculpture! (Like the title says, Big-Ass!)

Also, check out Mark’s blog, where he shares equally-awesome projects.

(A few disclosures: Mark sent me a review copy, the book link above is an affiliate link, and at this moment, I have no clue when I’ll get the new podcast done. But I hope you have an awesome weekend.)

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

My goodness, I have a pile of craft books awaiting reviews. Why didn’t someone tell me I was getting so far behind?

Anyway. Something interesting happened when I first thumbed through Jane Dunnewold’s Art Cloth: A Guide to Surface Design for Fabric (affiliate link). I went looking for the projects, and there weren’t any.

…Well, it’s not that, exactly. The book is full of projects. But they’re all methods for transforming fabrics. The book leaves up to you what you actually make with those fabrics. The collection of 20 (or so) projects using the fabrics that we’re used to seeing in craft books is absent.

And that’s when I realized: “This is such a useful craft book format! A reference book I can use to enliven all kinds of other crafts.”

You might recall this post I did on why Japanese craft books so often trump American ones in my opinion. One of the reasons was that ubiquitous project collection, and another, slim educational quality. So I’m delighted with Art Cloth. It’s all technique, and the educational quality is lavish.

Each technique not only gets a complete step-by-step photo tutorial, it gets deep and thoughtful text on how to avoid errors and get good results.

Not only that, the absence of a project set allows room for a fantastic array of techniques. Just to give you a snapshot, this book teaches you how to:

• Use dyes and textile paints to achieve a wide array of effects
• Remove color from fabric in select areas
• Create your own stamps and stencils for printing on fabrics
• Make “resists” to build reverse patterns on fabrics
• Build and use a simple screenprinting rig
• Apply metal foils and leafing to fabrics

There have been other recent books on decorating fabrics for crafting, but to my mind, this one offers far more value for the price because of the educational depth. I’m sure it’s not essentially difficult to dye or paint fabric. But doing this without accidentally ruining the fabric, or bathing my kitchen in dye? This is where you need instructional details, and Art Cloth provides them.

I could see myself customizing cloth for home decor projects, and Kanzashi, and clothing. That’s the beauty here – I can take the techniques in any direction I want.

Incidentally, Jane Dunnewold has written two other books on fabric decoration, which you can see here. And you can see some of her beautiful cloth at her Art Cloth Studios website. Oh – and I should say, Interweave sent me a review copy of the book.

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Susan was lovely enough to grab this book for me on a recent thrifting trip. She knows what I like!

Needlepoint: The Third Dimension (Copyright 1979) is a freaking masterpiece of 1970’s needlepointy goodness – one which (dare I say it) goes way beyond plastic canvas.

Case in point: let me zoom in on the cover a bit. This is an entire needlepoint landscape, my friends – complete with foliage, a pond, and what appear to be french knot flowers. Wow!

Is this not the best bulletin board you’ve ever seen? Everything about those flowers and their basket is needlepoint. Oh – except for the pipe cleaner edging, which makes the whole thing even more awesome.

Speaking of awesome, this piece needs two photos to communicate all of it’s awesome. So first, this wider shot, which shows an interesting table. But what’s recessed into the top there?

Oh, it’s a needlepoint landscape, complete with topographic contours and dimensional trees!

I might need to go lie down just for a moment….

I also find this scissor case, encrusted with dimensional flowers, really charming.

(Apologies for the image quality here. It’s not always easy to photograph 1970’s printing well.)

Now, this bad-boy is made from plastic canvas. And that is some serious PC engineering. Oh- and, I want one.

Also, Roy is one lucky stiff.

In all seriousness, I’m super excited and seeing needlepoint in new ways now. I recently tweeted that the 70’s was the Golden Age of Craft for me. What’s your Golden Age?

(ISBN 0-13-611004-5. Googling the title turns up many copies.)

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Yaaay for indie craft publishing! Knitgrrl Shannon Okey has just released a new book in print and digital formats: The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design. I’m honored to be the second stop on the blog tour.

This is a very comprehensive guide to taking your knitting (or crochet) to an income-earning level. There’s a whole lot of content here, so forgive me while I retire to a simple bulleted list for a moment. I just want you to have some scope of what the book covers:

• Social media marketing
• Alternate streams of income: teaching, freelance writing, test knitting, tech editing, selling products, and others
• Copyright, contracts, and dealing with infringement
• Producing patterns for sale
• Selling: wholesale, retail, and online
• Publishing: both through publishers and self-publishing
• Advertising options

Image by Tie Guy II, via Flickr Creative Commons

One area where the book really shines is in decoding the process of writing patterns for sale. Shannon covers setting up a style sheet for yourself, and she explores various software options, sizing, getting tech editing help, selling wholesale, taking online payments – all presented in a very useful, real-world way. It’s clear that Shannon’s been doing this for a while, and her expertise can be of tremendous help to a beginner.

Another very strong chapter is Shannon’s take on getting a book deal. She’s shared (sometimes unvarnished) insights from people in various roles in the publishing industry, and it really helps illuminate the careful stepping that’s required these days to bring a mutually-beneficial book deal into being. And she gets into specific detail on magazine article and book publishing as well as self-publishing.

Image by dutch blue, via Flickr Creative Commons

To wrap things up, Shannon conducted interviews with 32 successful knitwear designers, who are extremely honest about how they manage to make their talent into a vocation.

All in all, this is a book of realism, and that’s awesome. The mainstream publishing industry seems to crank out a lot of “How to be a Professional ___” books that offer a more pie-in-the-sky portrayal of what it takes to go pro. You can’t blame mainstream publishing – this approach probably sells more books. But making your living, even in something as fun as creating, is still about business. It still has good days and bad, and learning curves that seem daunting, and it deeply changes the way you think about creating.

It’s still completely worth doing, mind you. But Shannon’s more honest take on the whole thing will help you make much more educated decisions about this future you’re seeking.

Image by franziskas garten, via Flickr Creative Commons

Giveaway Time!

Shannon has generously donated a copy of her book for a giveaway here. (I say “generously,” because remember, this is a self-published book, and she’s fronted all the costs of production and printing.)

If you’d like to enter to win, here’s what you do: leave a comment below and tell me what your ideal career as a knitwear (or crochet) designer would look like. Be specific!

I’ll draw a winner on Thursday, July 8th at noon PST. Good luck! Oh – And…

Image by dumbledad, via Flickr Creative Commons

Support Indie Craft Publishing!

If you like this (or for that matter, any other) independently-produced craft book, remember that you play a key role in helping it find its audience. Indie publishers don’t have big corporate PR companies at their disposal. So, check out this PDF from Shannon, which lists some ways you can help get the word out.

Other Blog Tour Stops:

• 3 July, Annie Modesitt, @modeknit
• 5 July, Diane Gilleland, @SisterDiane
• 7 July, Natalie Zee Drieu, @craft
• 9 July, Marnie MacLean, @MarnieMacLean
• 11 July, Daniella Cortez/Craft Culture, @danidocrafty
• 13 July, Kim Werker, @kpwerker
• 15 July, Marly Bird/Yarn Thing, @yarnthing
• 17 July, Ellen Gormley, @GoCrochet
• 19 July, Kerrie Allman, @yarnforwardmag
• 21 July, Vickie Howell, @vickiehowell
• 23 July, Melissa Wehrle, @neoknits
• 25 July, Julie Holetz, @skamama
• 27 July, Donna Druchunas, @druchunas
• 29 July, Amy O’Neill Houck, @plainsight
• 31 July, Jasmin Canty/Knitmore Girls, @knitmoregirls

UPDATE:
Congratulations to Sharon, our winner!

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Yippee! We’re the second stop on the blog tour for Whip Up Mini Quilts, the new book from Kathreen Ricketson of Whipup.net.

(Some disclosures: that’s an affiliate link, and Chronicle Books sent me a review copy.)

I’ve been really excited to see this book, because I love the art of quilting, but my living space and ancient sewing machine could never accommodate a full-size quilt project. I adore the idea of these smaller projects, turned into decor or household items.

In terms of educational quality, Whip Up Mini Quilts offers text-based instructions with some nice illustration. The initial sections cover piecing, applique, and various embellishment techniques as well as backing, basting, quilting, and binding. All the pieces are here to complete the book’s projects.

If you’re a beginner, you may need more visual reference, but anyone else should have no problem with these instructions.

For those wanting to reproduce the projects in the book, there’s a set of full-size templates for all the designs, bound into a handy envelope inside the front cover.

I love the diversity in this project set! It’s an inspiring mix of techniques and visual styles, grouped by themes:

• Romantic
• Playful
• Modern Folk
• Modern Elegance
• Geometric
• Punk, Pop, and Politics
• Memories and Storytelling

(This piece, by Sarah Steedman, uses applique and simple embroidery to great effect.)

Lizette Greco’s treasure map quilt makes me very, very happy.

I love that the book offers quilts-as-toys, quilts-as-pillows, quilts-as-placemats, and quilts-as-wall art.

Here’s a great simple quilt by Shannon Lamden – I love how the bold fabrics carry the design.

This is another of my favorites – Victoria Gertenbach’s grasshopper design. The quilting is done with hand embroidery, which adds some interesting dimension – and I love the addition of the buttons.

Okay – just one more. Kathreen designed this simple nine-patch shibori sampler. What a great project for playing with fabric-dyeing techniques!

There’s a nice glossary of quilting terms in the back, and, because it’s from Chronicle Books, a very useful spiral binding.

Whipup Mini Quilts is a great inspiration book to get you thinking about quilting in new ways.

What about that giveaway?

Oh, right. The nice people at Chronicle have donated a copy of this book for a giveaway! To enter, leave a comment below and tell me how you’d like to use a small-quilt project – as art? As tote? As runner? Some other way?

You have until noon PST on Friday, June 4th. Good Luck!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Shae, our winner! This drawing is now closed.

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Today, we’re taking a short break from the Archive-Along so I can participate in the blog tour for Totally Twisted, a new book from jewelry artist Kerry Bogert.

Totally Twisted combines really interesting wire-working techniques with beautiful handmade glass beads. The designs are whimsical and elegant, and the educational quality of the book is excellent. There are plenty of clear, step-by-step photos to teach you how to manipulate wire into amazing shapes.

Kerry did a little email interview with me about her work. Enjoy!

All jewelry images in this post by Kerry Bogert, and used with permission.

Kerry, what first attracted you to wirework?

The very first time I thought to pick up a spool of wire was in December of 2003. I had the idea in my head that I wanted to make a necklace, like the ones you see sometimes at street sales, with my daughter’s name. By the end of that first night, I had 23 pairs of earrings! (Though I never did make that necklace, ha!)

I was instantly smitten with beading, but didn’t really focus on wire until a couple of years later when I learned lampworking. Glass and wire really are a match made in heaven, and I love dimensionality that wire can give to jewelry.

What I love most about your work is that it manages to maintain a tricky balance of simplicity and complexity. How much design development, on average, goes into your pieces?

There are two kinds of designs for me, personally. The ones that just pop into my head as I am driving down the street or reading a book are one kind and the other is the kind that comes from experimenting with what is right in front of me. Once an idea pops into my head, as I am working on other pieces, I ,step by step, start to build the new one in my mind. I think about all the layers to it, what order I will lay colors down with the glass, I work out what colored wires will work best, I decide each twist and turn of the wire, and how it will all come together in the end.

I can spend a week or more working out details in my head before ever lighting my torch to make the beads. And it is all that mental planning that makes the finished piece only take a few hours to make (or minutes even if it turns out to be something easy!)

As for the second kind of design, really, I just take what I have in front of me and I start playing!

I am 100% impressed by the consistency of your wire loops and twists. How much practice does it take to get your hands working so confidently?

Oh my stars, the very first time I tried to make a wrapped loop it was horrible. I remember working it so much the wire snapped right off!! I thought for sure that it was impossible to make them consistently. I found that, when I was just starting out, making BIG loops at the back of the pliers was easier. There was less “wiggle” room for the wire to move on me.

You want to use a slightly heavier gauge wire too when practicing. Fine gauges bend way too easily and that can get frustrating. Also, take a permanent marker and put a little dash on your plier jaws. If you always wrap your wire around that same spot, the loop size will always be the same!!

Looking at all the wonderful handmade glass beads in your book, I was struck with this nerd question: how do you organize your bead stash so you can find just the right bead among all these unique choices?

This is such a good question! I have to very embarrassingly admit that my beads are horribly unorganized. I joke on my blog that I have an OCD inclined alter ego, that spells her name Carrie, who loves to clean and organize. Oh how she gets mad when she sees my bead desk!! I do have several small dishes that I sort beads into. I have my “good beads,” “so-so beads,” and “bad beads.”

Bad beads rarely ever see the light of day. They are ones that have cracked from compatibility issues with the glass, or ones that have ugly coloring. So-so beads almost always get used eventually, HA!. They just have to be patient until the right project for them comes along. Good beads, of course, are my favorite. And thankfully, most of the time I am making beads, I make them for a specific project. That way, I don’t have too too many laying around waiting to be used.

If someone wants to get into wirework, what are three essential tools they need?

All you need to get started is round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, and wire cutters. That is it!

You can check out the rest of the Totally Twisted Blog Tour here.

Interweave Press has generously donated a copy of Totally Twisted for me to give away! To enter to win, leave a comment here and tell me about your favorite jewelry-making experience.

I’ll draw a winner on Tuesday, April 6th, at noon PST. Good luck!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Shannon, who won the book!

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

I’m so excited that Kari Chapin’s new book, The Handmade Marketplace is finally out! Kari and I are planning to do a podcast together soon, and thought you might like to contribute.

Got any craft-business questions for Kari? Just leave them in the comments, and we’ll include as many as we can in the podcast.

The Handmade Marketplace covers subjects like:

• Branding
• Pricing Your Work
• Hiring Help
• Marketing
• Blogging
• Advertising
• Selling at Craft Fairs
• Selling in Online Stores
• Selling in Brick and Mortar Stores

…So as you can see, Kari knows lots, and there’s a lot you could ask her! So, let’s hear your questions!

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been culling my craft book stash lately, and thinking a lot about Japanese craft books.

I should say right up front: I receive a fair number of review copies from US craft book publishers. So I’ve been in the fortunate position to see a lot of the new titles that have come out in the last few years.

Still, as I weed out my craft book collection, I’m noticing that my little stash of Japanese titles always makes the cut. Every one of them feels as useful and relevant to me as it did the day I bought it, and some of them are years old now.

…But increasingly, I don’t feel the same way about all my US craft books. More of them (and especially, more-recently-published ones) seem to make the Goodwill/Giveaway pile. So I thought I’d look at what makes my Japanese books feel so much more valuable. And I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject, too.

I certainly don’t mean to “bite the hand that feeds me free craft books” here. But I know that many US publishers are struggling right now. I think there’s something to the way Japanese publishers approach craft books, and it isn’t just the aesthetics. I thought maybe we could open a discussion here about what we crafters would like to see in US craft books, and maybe this would be of some use to publishers.

…So, when I look at my Japanese titles, here’s what stands out:

Slim, Well-Curated Volumes

One thing I notice right away is that most Japanese craft books are fairly small books. The project collections are often fewer than the seeming US standard of 20-50. But what’s nice is, those slim books are very rich in content.

There might be only twelve projects in a Japanese book, for example, but they’re all really well-designed things I want to make.

I tend to think that this comes from careful curating of project sets, and maybe from a willingness to appeal to smaller audience segments. In so many Japanese books, the project set seems to be oriented to one skill set, and one design sensibility. Whereas US craft book publishers often seem to take a “something for everyone” approach, hoping to attract larger audiences for their books.

The problem there, of course, is that when I page through many US books, I find myself interested in only some of the projects. Some are too beginner for me, and some aren’t my style. And if I only like half of the projects in a book, then I may not make the decision to buy it.

But of course, I’ll willingly plunk down a much higher price for a Japanese book that’s designed around my tastes.

Project-Based Focus

In US craft books, I often see chapters about the histories of various crafts, or the obligatory “Materials” chapter that describes every last morsel needed for the projects. Don’t get me wrong – I get that these chapters are meant for beginners in a craft. But as someone with more intermediate skills, I often see them as pages I have to pay for, but rarely get much value from.

In Japanese books, they tend to get right to the projects. And I find that I rarely miss those developmental chapters. Wouldn’t it be great if US craft books were more targeted at specific skill levels instead of trying to appeal to everyone at once?

On a related note, Japanese publishers also put out this little format, which is something I’d love to see US publishers emulate. It’s a cross between a zine and a book – a small number of pages, simply staple-bound, with a small project set focused around a nice, tight concept. These little books seem to be budget priced – although, as a US buyer, I gladly pay a premium for them.

If anyone working in publishing reads this post, I’d love to hear from you: how expensive is this form to produce? And readers, would you buy these if US publishers made them?

It rather seems to me that, as budget-conscious as we all are lately, these small-format books could find an audience.

Educational Quality

Here’s where, to my mind, Japanese craft books have it all over their US counterparts. I have yet to pick up a Japanese craft book that doesn’t contain clear and thorough step-by-step visuals for every single project. Sometimes they’re process photos, and more often, diagrams like these.

In US craft books – and especially those published in the last few years – this kind of educational quality is pretty rare. I’ve looked at so many US books where there’s a lavishly-styled photo of the finished product, and the steps to make it are expressed only in text. (Or, in text with a few key diagrams.)

I totally understand that photographs and diagrams are more costly to produce than text. But it seems to me that crafters are a pretty visual audience. And text just doesn’t seem to be much of a visual teacher – especially for crafts like sewing, where placements and measurements are crucial.

Interestingly, despite the fact that I don’t read Japanese, I can generally easily follow the process photos and diagrams in my Japanese books. As a craft book buyer, I would love to see this kind of educational quality in US books. Because frankly, right now I can often get better, more visual learning on the internet, either from free tutorials or in the burgeoning market of self-published ebooks.

I want to support US craft book publishers, but I also need to get good value for my dollar. Beautiful finished-project photos are nice, but the craft books I keep around year after year are the ones with great educational quality.

…But this is all just my opinion. What do you think? What would you like to see more (or less) of in US craft books?

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Update: This drawing is now closed. Congratulations to Deedles, the winner of this book!

Happy 2010, everyone! Let’s wrap up this week of giveaways, shall we?

Our last prize up for grabs is a copy of Rashida Coleman-Hale’s I Love Patchwork. It’s definitely visually reminiscent of Japanese craft books.

The project set is pretty, in that minimalist-meets-designer-fabric style many crafters like. (You can see more projects over here (scroll down).

Like many modern craft books, a lot of the project instructions here are expressed in text form only, so I Love Patchwork is probably best for people who already have some sewing skills.

If you’d like to enter to win, just leave a comment here and answer this question:

What one thing are you proudest of when you look back on 2009?

I’ll draw a winner at random on Sunday, January 3rd. C’mon in, international readers! And, Good Luck, y’all…

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Update: Congratulations to kkimberly, the winner of this book!

Updated to add: A bunch of early entries seem to have misunderstood today’s question, so I’ve rephrased it. I want to know what you’re letting go of, okay?

________________________________________________________
So, your entries in yesterday’s giveaway were really interesting. I was surprised at the number of people whose “what I want to do less of” wishes involved worries and stresses from 2009.

2009 was a pretty challenging year for me, too. It’s comforting in a way to know that many of you were going through challenges, too. Here’s wishing us all smoother roads in 2010, eh?

“Enough talk,” you’re saying. “Give something away!” Alrighty, then…

Today, we have up for grabs a copy of Meg McElwee’s Sew Liberated, which I reviewed a couple weeks back.

To enter this drawing, leave a comment here that answers this question:

What’s one thing you feel you “should” do in 2010 that you’re going to let go of?

Most of us have a few “shoulds” too many. I have so many, I have to store them in an offsite garage.

You have until Sunday, January 3 to enter. International friends are welcome. Good Luck and Happy New Year!

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Update: Congratulations to bookscout27, the winner of this book!>

Don’t worry – the massive design-tweaking going on around here will not stop the flow of giveaways this week!

Today’s prize up for grabs is a copy of Enchanted Adornments, by Cynthia Thornton. It’s part mixed-media jewelry book, and part fairy tale.

There are 20 projects, covering a wide range of techniques and styles. And interspersed with them, you’ll find hand-lettered chapters of a charming narrative that follows Cynthia as she makes these designs.

(In fact, you might enjoy this video, and the preview here (scroll down).

To enter to win this book, just leave a comment here, answering this question:

What one thing would you like to do less of in 2010?

I’ll draw a winner Sunday, January 3. International readers, heck yeah! Good luck, everyone!

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Update: Congrats to Lind-E, the winner of this book!

Wowee, I had fun reading all your entries in yesterday’s giveaway! Let’s continue the theme, shall we?

Today’s entry in our Week of Giveaways is a twofer – both Cute Dogs and Cute Pups, by Chie Hayano. These are Japanese craft books, translated to English by Vertical, Inc.

Both books offer full patterns and diagrammed instructions to make tiny stuffed dogs – 28 different breeds, to be exact. And all of them are this stinkin’ cute. (Follow those links above for even more pictures.)

So, to enter this drawing, leave a comment here and answer this question:

What one thing would you like to learn more about in 2010?

I’ll draw a winner Sunday, January 3. International readers, you betcha. Good Luck, everyone!

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Updated: Congrats to LSS, the winner of this drawing!

So it’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s – a time when traditionally, not much happens. (Unless you work in retail, of course. And if you do, I am sending you good thoughts.)

Anyway. I thought it might be fun to have a week of giveaways here. I have a lot of cool books stacked up – want one?

Today’s prize up for grabs is Kayte Terry’s Applique Your Way, which I reviewed before the holiday.

To enter the drawing, leave a comment here, answering this question:

What one thing would you like to do more of in 2010?

I’ll draw a winner at random on Sunday, January 3rd. International readers, go right ahead. Good Luck!

©2010 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.