9/11 and Saturday Craft Blog Links

Photograph by Andrea Booher of FEMA Public Domain from WikiMedia Commons

We were in the Outer Banks in North Carolina on September 11th, 2001. It was our first vacation in several years and it felt really good to unwind. The tourist season was over and it was quiet and beautiful. We woke up early and decided not to turn 0n the TV. Instead we drove over to the dunes at Kill Devil Hills. We saw two men dressed as Orville and Wilbur Wright and a camera man following them as they dragged a full sized replica of the first glider up the dunes.

"This is amazing." I said to my husband. "We're standing in the footsteps of the first flight."

Then I heard some people talking about planes flying into the Twin Towers in New York City.

"Are you talking about a movie? Is that actually happening?" I asked, feeling that dreadful churning in the pit of my stomach.

"Haven't you heard? It's actually happening. It's been on the news all morning."

I stood there in total shock, fully realizing the irony of this moment and knowing that nothing would ever be the same again. Here we were in the first footsteps of flight and there was an unimaginable tragedy unfolding around airplanes being used as weapons. The rest of that week was surreal. We had to call again and again to discover if our family and friends in NYC were okay (they were, though the stories they shared were unreal) and we had to keep a sense of happy calm for our daughter's sake. She was far too young to understand what had happened. I still don't understand.

I don't know what makes people become so hateful that they'd perpetrate an act like that. I don't begin to fathom that kind of insanity. Who can, really? I do know that the fear of "the other" is a powerful tool for persuasion.

It is crucial that we counter that fear with love. What separates us is far less significant than what unites us.

Perhaps, one day, we'll all understand that and war and terrorism and violence will be impossible.

On a lighter note here's what's happening in the craftiverse where we fight destruction every day through the power of creativity:

Big crafty shout out to Andrew Thornton for giving away a copy of Bead Chic in his blog! Go leave a comment for your chance to win!

Thanks to Rebecca E. Parsons for making me a Dream Doer in the Cre8tive Compass blog.

Congrats to Allison Stillwell formerly of Art Girlz for starting on her new creative adventure with her new blog!

And here's what's happening with the Crafty Bloggers Gang "We've got glue guns and we're not afraid to use them.":

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See how I took a bite out of a sweater with inspiration from the new book Vampire Knits by Genevieve Miller.

Mixed Media Artist
What did you name your business? Cyndi is betting that there's a good story behind it!

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
Confidence is sexy. Madge muses about the power of embracing uniquely wonderful you.

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Many artists and crafters find it helpful to set goals for their art but do so in different ways. How about you? Do you have any goals or methods for improving in your art?

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy asks about your creative muse and shares some information about hers.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
At Craftside this week there are tutorials on how to purl stitch with beads, embellish a softie with a heart, a recipe for a stop chewing spray for dogs, and how to eliminate a side seam on a pants pattern.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi has some great samples working with paper that has a white core.

Aileen's Musings
This week Aileen offers you her gouache painted sunflower tutorial using a black and white photograph she took of her harvested sunflowers.

About Family Crafts
Did you know that September is National Sewing Month? Sherri has some fun and simple ways you can celebrate with the entire family.