TastyLinks™ Saturday!

Illustration Copyright Enoch Bolles

It’s going to be a hot, sunny day here in Amish Country. I’m praying that the manure spreaders won’t be in full force or I’m afraid I’ll be stuck inside yet again. The poop spreaders cometh, phew. Our trees are just about fully leafed...which means that the annual Leafing Days are upon us. Tra la, tra lay...The Leafing Days! Hopefully they’ll be fully unfolded soon because I’ve been miserable. Snerg, wheeze, cough, sniffle.

I think we may actually get our Christmas tree put away this weekend. Have I mentioned I’m so not Martha?! Egads woman, it’s APRIL! Would it help if I mentioned that my husband kept saying he wanted to have a cocktail party with the tree up in the Spring?

Not so much, eh?

There’s a lot on the docket this weekend. We’ve got to do the bi-annual clothes swap and Goodwill run. The garden is prepped and ready for planting. I’ve got to put the finishing touches on my *TSP for a presentation on Monday. I need to make one more sample for my class proposals for Tucson 2010. Plus we’ve got a family gathering to attend this weekend.

It never stops around here. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

Big The Impatient Crafter™ Shout outs to Melissa J. Lee and Sister Diane of CraftyPod for their awesome reviews of my new book Beyond the Bead! I was gobsmacked! I wasn’t sure if people would get my intention, which was to break down and simplify basic mixed media techniques in a way that would resonate for the Average Jane. I wanted the book to be easy to digest and the projects to show a variety of aesthetics. I’m really glad to see that folks are digging what I threw down.

Thanks to Wendy T. Gibson for blogging about our Intellectual Property rights day on her blog Craft Dinner!

Congrats to Herbette of the Little Epiphany blog for winning the Rings ‘n Thigns loot. Email me at theimpatientcrafter@gmail.com with your mailing address so I can get that out to you!

Without further adieu here is this week’s sampling of TastyLinks™ “All the good blogs wrapped up in one!”:

About Family Crafts Why not make a special May Day treat for your neighbors!

Aileen's Musings Aileen has a Bottle Cap project just in time for Mother's Day or for that end of the year teacher gift!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner Swelldesigner finds some colorful inspiration by Wrecking her Journal!

Blisstree Arts Cyndi's done a round-up of all her image transfer tutorials.

Cathie Filian Cathie Filian has lots of spring garden projects! Pop by her blog to learn how to recycle paint stir sticks into a garden planter, blend up fresh fruit smoothies, easily create wood burn garden markers and ideas for painting a garden set that is perfect for mom.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside has a call for entries: 1000 Artisan Textiles, a tutorial on how to upcycle an old promo charm with stamped polymer clay, fusing plastic bags from the soon to be released book: Green Guide for Artists, and two asymmetrical jewelry designs made from recycled elements.

Crafty Princess Diaries More about YuDu - If you still aren't convinced after seeing Margot Potter's video on how to use this interesting contraption, then here is some more information for you to consider.

CraftyPod Sister Diane is super-excited to launch her new ebook, Making a Great Blog: a Guide for Creative People. It's all about how to write and photograph compelling blog posts, and how to keep the inspiration flowing.

Cross Stitch at About.com How do you organize your flosses and fibers? See what other stitchers do, then share your own methods.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Earth day Jewelry Making Inspired by Heidi Boyd's Simply Beaded Bliss- making charms from button covers and advertising buttons.

The Crochet Dude Drew met the King of San Antonio!

The Impatient Crafter Madge shares some thoughts about copyrights, artist's rights and intellectual property theft in this thought provoking post.