Releasing Attachment and Day Seven on CRESCENDOh!

Image Marc Chagall "Birthday" from Dover Books

I packed my daughter's room yesterday, with her assistance. I was relentless. We cleared out four big garbage bags of clothing she doesn't wear and a big Ford pick-up truck's worth of books, games and toys she no longer wanted. It was hours and hours of picking up things and saying, "Do you need this? Trash, Goodwill or keep?"

I was impressed with her new found ability to release her stuff. We've been trying for years to get her to give away some of her old toys and stuffed animals and suddenly it required no thought at all. Maybe it was those episodes of Extreme Hoarders we watched on the road this summer.

I like acquiring stuff, but I'm always aware of the great cosmic truth that we don't really own anything, we're just caretakers. I also like getting rid of stuff I don't need, it makes me feel lighter.

Lighter is always good.

It's my final day on CRESCENDOh and my artists today are two really phenomenally talented people whom I happen to adore. Corrine of Jafabrit, a mixed media artist who never stops amazing me with her endless creativity and Ben Sander a.k.a. Brini Maxwell the mid century modern maven with the impeccable sense of style and cheeky sense of fun. Please visit the CRESCENDOh site and follow the links to visit them both. I'm quite sure you'll be so glad that you did.

I must away to clean, clean, clean. We've already got someone interested in seeing the house! We put sheers in all of the 6 foot windows and finished painting the upstairs rooms. Everything upstairs is in variegated shades of blue, it's all a subtle shift in tone from room to room. It's so dreamlike. It's really been interesting seeing this house finally become what I'd envisioned when we moved in six years ago, and admittedly a little sad to have it look so lovely and know I'll never see it again.

Sigh. More of that releasing attachment stuff I'm afraid.

Enjoy your Sunday! Until next time...craft on with your bad self.

xoxo
Madge

SuperSized Saturday TastyLinks!

 Image from 133 Authentic Art Deco Patterns in Full Color Dover Books

Ah, Saturday.  Here we are again. 

I'm not feeling terribly chatty, I've been oversharing all week on both of my blogs and today is a more introspective sort of day.  I think people would be surprised to know how much time I spend in total silence.  I don't play music when I'm working because it distracts me, I don't listen to the radio or watch videos or chat on the phone.  The only noises are the sounds of trucks and motorcycles passing through our quiet little valley throughout the day, my rooster crowing and the occasional glass shattering barking of my snarky but lovable terrier Mrs. Fellerbee.  I like quiet.  It's easiest for me to dive into my work when I can give it my full attention.  I'm trying to be more mindful of being in the moment and that includes focusing on things with a little more singularity.  Multi-tasking isn't actually very good for your brain, though it's a useful skill when you do as much as I do every day.

But wait...here I am chatting on and on about not chatting.  What the what?!

The folks at ReadyMade magazine have a new travelcentric blog called Escape Hatch and the lovely Helen Jupiter interviewed me recently.  The post is up and it's a lot of fun.  Go see!

My gal pal Brini Maxwell has been blogging up a storm as of late and this week she shares a recipe for rum punch, a needlework retrospective and some of her lovely flower pins from her vintage jewelry collection.

The delightful Andrew Thornton is having a big sale and sharing a one year Beadwork magazine subscription to one lucky shopper!  You can  read all about it here!

Here's what the creative dervishes of the Crafty Blogger's Gang have for your entertainment and edification:

The Crochet Dude
Drew's crochet purse designs are super cute, and now he's got a crocheted Purse Pattern of the Month program? You've gotta check it out!!!

The Artful Crafter
This week Eileen is offering some free striking vintage photos from the 30s and a chance to win the eBook “Altered Ancestors: 50 Techniques for Using Vintage Photos in Art”. 

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
How to make recycled sweater tags inspired buy the one in: Hand-Me-Ups By Lorine Mason

Mixed Media Artist
When dumpster diving fails you, here are some great online sources for cool stuff! 

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
A hot topic Facebook thread leads to a post about valuing your work. Madge ponders the problems of discounts and freebies.

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style
Linda's finally going to intentionally make a quilt for herself! She's picked the pattern and is using fabrics she collected years ago. 

Cross Stitch at About.com
Connie made an oops with a stitching project when she laundered an item that wasn't colorfast. Have you ever had an oops like that? Vote in the poll and let us know.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy has added another charm discovery to her sterling silver charms and pendants sale page, 2 gorgeous mermaids. 

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside there is a sneak peek into the new book Mixed-Media Dollhouses, how to draw a Zombie Voodoo Doll, make 2 types of paper flowers from recycled book pages, and how to use white glue and tape as resists in fabric altering.

Aileen's Musings
Aileen has a wonderful Mother's Day project to help make it a banner day for mom! Find out what Canvasette paper is while you check out her easy background technique. 

About Family Crafts
If you are looking for a special, home-made gift for Mother's Day, check out Sherri's collection of 100 gifts to make for mom.

Saturday TastyLinks, Musings and Sundries

 Madge's Thrift Score

I believe that when you're moving in the right direction, the universe supports you entirely.  When things get too tough and I find myself smacking my head against the rocks, I remind myself that it's okay to change direction and swim right around them.  It's easy to become so micro-focused you forget to look up and see what's happening around you.  Some times things just don't work out and it can be tough when you've poured time, effort and energy into something to watch it fall apart, but it's a co-creation.  You dream the dream and take the steps to make it real and then it's important to try not to be so relentlessly specific that you get stuck on the details.  The details will work themselves out if you're navigating the boat in the right direction.  I'm telling myself this and sharing it with you.  It's how I work schtuff out.

I had a week of things falling apart and it's been a little tough, but other things are coming together and I'm being reminded that it's okay to let some things go.  Even things that on the surface seem pretty good can be holding you back.  I'm making some decisions about what to let go and what to hold on to...it's a process.

I scored some goodies at Goodwill today.  A small pile of vintage patterns from the 1960s and 70s, in my size!  The unfortunate thing about Goodwill is that they stick a frickin' sticker on the front of the patterns and album covers and taking it off ruins them.  Argh.  What is that?!  I also got THREE vintage 60s Monopoly games...huzzah...and a really horrid yet adorable apron dress from the 70s with a garish neon floral print.  Yay!

My dear friend Brini Maxwell has the most delightful new blog filled with fun and fabulosity.  You simply must go check it out.  This week she shares a recipe for Cheese Souffle from a cookbook written and signed by former Cosmo editor, author and feminist icon Helen Gurley Brown.  Too fun!

Here's what the Crafty Bloggers have in store for your craftertainment this week:

The Artful Crafter
Do companies offer free craft products to the general public for testing?

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See how to make recycled thigh high socks inspired by the book Color Knitting The Easy Way. 

Mixed Media Artist
There's a lot to be learned about texture when you work with a monochromatic palette!

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
Mother's Day is coming soon and Madge has you covered. Check out her mom friendly card project, recipe and jewelry design! 

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style
The organization continues, but the craft room is very close to finished.

Crafty Princess Diaries
While doing some spring cleaning, Tammy made some interesting jewelry discoveries. You just never know what you might find when you try to get organzied. 

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to crochet a "no-chain" foundation row, 17 ways to crop a photo, draw flames with Drew Brophy, change the color in a free cherry blossom print download and a call for entries for 1000 Steampunk Inspirations.

Cathie Filian
Cathie is doing back flips over the release of her new book, 101 Snappy Fashions! 

Aileen's Musings
Are you in need of a royal crown? Aileen has an oldie but goodie tutorial she's sharing with you.

About.com Cross Stitch
Connie's sharing a free pattern that was inspired by a piece of artwork she saw in an episode of Monk. You never know what the source of inspiration will be. 

Super Size Saturday TastyLinks!

Oh where do the days go?  I simply don't understand how it could possibly be Saturday...again.  Sometimes I swear I've slipped into a time wrinkle and missed the entire week.  Do you ever feel like that?!

A while back I went to visit my good friend Ben Sander in NYC and we shot two fun filled Brini Maxwell webisodes together with her partner in crime Thom Hansen as the irrepressible Mary Ellen.  The second video features a recipe I found in a 1965 Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  I collect vintage paper, as many of you know, and I have a nice collection of fashion and home magazines.  I found this issue at a local antique market and when I turned to the Weiner Loaf page I fell off of my chair in hysterics.  Not simply because shoving some weenies into corn bread mix and calling it a meal was funny, but because the picture in the magazine was so horrid one wonders how the art director let it slip into the issue.  Still this wiener loaf intrigued me and I decided to whip up a batch for a family gathering two years ago.  After the initial recoil, a few brave souls dug in and I have to admit, we all found it quite tasty!  Now you can make your cornbread from scratch and you can arrange your weiners in a more artful manner and serve this with a variety of flavored mustards, but I wanted to be true to the original recipe...and so...without further blather...here's a brand new Brini Maxwell vidcast offering with yours truly showing how to make weenie loaf!  Don't miss Mary Ellen's wanton antics in the background, she's hilarious!

Don't forget about the Crafty Cabaret Cruise this September with Brini Maxwell and me!  We're going to have such fun taking classes, open studio time, two full days in the Bahamas, a cabaret show starring Brini and Madge and we've got an amazing line up of sponsors.  Beadalon, ILoveToCreate, Fiskars, Ranger Ink, Create Your Style with CRYSTALLIZED-Swarovski Elements, Sizzix, Scrapbook Adhesives...and more to come!  

Vickie Howell is doing a month long giveaway in her blog for her fabulous new book CraftCorps and today I'm the featured crafter! Leave a comment in her blog for a chance to win a signed copy of Beyond the Bead and a generous sampling of metal pendant frames from HHH Enterprises!


I had a most interesting week.  It feels good to have reached a point where people value your professional opinions.  Lord knows I've got a lot of them and I'm not afraid to share!  It's easy to forget when you're toiling away all by your lonesome in your studio that you're making an impact and you're building a name for yourself and people do pay attention to you.  It's a one woman show here at Studio Madge, some days I swear I hear carnival music in the background.  


Without further ado, here are this week's links from the crafty gurus in the Crafty Bloggers Gang:


About Family Crafts 
If you cannot wait for April showers to bring May flowers, here is a collection of flower crafts you can make now. 


Aileen's Musings 
Back in November Aileen posted about an Erosion Bundle Project she's participating in....yesterday she opened her bundles after 5 months! Stop by and see her after pictures...


Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world 
Craftside's got a great tutorial on how to sew tie style straps, a peek at how to turn ideas into inspired design, identifying different types of metal, a thread painting tip, a lace detail and a bit of ballerina brilliance from the hot new book Mixed-Media Dollhouses. 


Crafty Princess Diaries 
Knitters will be happy they know the Crafty Princess after finding out about this great 40% off deal on the new book entitled In the Loop. 


Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter 
Madge reviews metal clay artist Kate McKinnon's amazing new book Sculptural Metal Clay Jewelry. 


Mixed Media Artist 
Duotones can give a whole different look to your photos than plain black and whites! 


Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery 
Check out my summer knitting project from Toe-Up Socks for Every Body by Wendy D. Johnson 


The Artful Crafter 
How to make an envelope book for little treasures or clutter. 



The Crochet Dude 
Drew reorganized his garden this spring using squares, and the results are fantastic! 

TastyLinks Saturday and New PR Photos!

Video Shoot Segment with Cheer Bows (This pic is just for fun)

My High Fashion Editor Look...Don't Even Think About Messing with Me!

 Retrofabulosity

 Retrofabulosity Take Two

Fab New Limon Dress from H&M

New and Improved Studio Madge

We had a great shoot yesterday, though I have to admit that in retrospect I wish I'd have been ahead of the curve more so I could have had a little more fun. Having this first set under my belt means I know what to expect next round and I can make better plans. The videos we shoot ourselves are totally fly by the seat of your panties affairs. I make everything once and we show the seams. The videos that we shot yesterday have to be shot in distance and in close up, which I didn't realize until the videographer got here. Oops. That meant I had to figure out how to shoot it all twice with the supplies I had on hand. Nothing like thinking on the fly! Hopefully it turned out well and as soon as these go live, I'll fill you in on the details. I'm really excited!

Here are some shots of me in the new and improved studio we took after the shoot. I'm always looking for new PR photos, because I keep getting older dammit.  The studio is currently neat, but that will change. As soon as I get into a new book or get a big freelance gig, the glitter starts to fly. I'm going to do my best to keep the scene clean though, because it keeps my mind clear and helps me focus.  Let me know which shots you think work best for PR purposes!  Please!  Disregard the first shot, that's just for fun!

We're having a taste of spring this week and it's gorgeous outside. So before the pollen goes into overdrive, I'm going to get out there and enjoy it with my lovely family. I hope you have a lovely weekend too.

xoxo
Madge

My friends from ArtGirlz are selling their craft business.  If you're interested in finding out more information, you can contact them at: theartgirlz@gmail.com.

Did you know that my pal Brini Maxwell has started a simply fabulous blog?  Check out this post showing you how to make lovely embroidered fabric napkins.  So chic!

Here's what's happening with the Crafty Bloggers this week:

About Family Crafts
Celebrate spring with Sherri and these fun craft projects!

Cathie Filian
Check out Cathie's silk screen projects for Better Homes and Gardens. She has something for everyone.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside there is a fun Steampunk style socket set bracelet, how to repurpose a canvas tote with applique and make faux patches, a peek into some cool art from the book Digital Illustration, a hot water bottle gets Re-Bound and a how to and tips on vampire drawing.

Crafty Princess Diaries
The Crafty Princess has done some house cleaning, at least she's been cleaning up her blog that is.

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style
Looking for an easy way to paint coloring-book art on the walls in a kid's room? Linda walks you through how she did it.

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
Where do you find inspiration? Madge wants to know! Share her process from inspiration to design in this inspired post!

Mixed Media Artist
See how you can achieve the look of a hand-tinted print with Photoshop!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
How to make recycled plastic bunny ears inspired by the techniques in the book Upcycled Accessories

The Artful Crafter
Have you seen Xyron’s Creatopia? Prepare to be amazed by the baby booties going through a Creatopia in the video!  

Tawdry Tales and Pleasing Pics from CHA Winter 2010!

Brini and Madge for iLoveToCreate

 

I'm still decompressing. These shows are a huge amount of work. We have to be on like a 1000 watt light bulb from the time we wake up until the last call at the bar...okay well maybe we don't have to be at the last call at the hotel bar...but sometimes that's where we end up. There's no time for chatting and catching up with friends during the show, so after the show, the meetings, the dinners and the schmoozing...we get to cut loose a little.

Here's a plethora of pics from the show and I've got plenty more so I'll be posting them until I get through them all. I'm starting with the three big projects I did for the show floor. The jeans and sneakers were created for EK Success and they were delighted with the results, which is fabulous because I worked mighty hard on the designs. The rainbow is hand applied with a hot fix applicator tool and there are crystal transfers and sew on stones. The shoes use glue on flat backs and hot fix crystals. The canvas was a UTEE design challenge for Ranger. This is one of those projects that need deeper inspection to fully appreciate. I'm particularly excited about the way I made the UTEE look like water droplets on the smaller ticket. Also the layers of old and new magazines in wax that I reheated several times with my heat tool adding sprinkles of metallic Alcohol ink. I added layers of metallic UTEE to create the look of rusted metal and the dimensional elements are cast from vintage Spirograph elements and a vintage skeleton key with dry UTEE sprinkled in the molds to again give a rusted metal look. The image is from my private ephemera collection and I adore her, look for her in my project for the new book Steampunk Style I'll share next week. She was fused on the surface of the encaustic background, I hope to share these techniques in future classes...so stay tuned.  Finally there's the Carmen Miranda/Brazil themed design with the display I found to coordinate and the bracelet I made with wire coil accents.

Lots of pics of my crafty friends too...

...until next time...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo,
Madge

CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE DETAILS!

Project for EK Success CHA Winter 2010

EK Success Project Detail

Ranger UTEE Designer Challenge CHA Winter 2010

Carmen Miranda Project for CHA Winter 2010

Madge and Brini for iLoveToCreate

Brini, The Crochet Dude and Madge

Brini and Madge for iLoveToCreate

 

Brini for Streuter Technologies

FG3: Rebecca Peck, Robin Beam and Madge

Pretty Ladies: Candie Cooper, Madge, Cathie Filian and Traci Bautista
Madge and Suze

Crafty Rock Stars Mark Montano and Crafty Chica

Brini and Madge at CHA!

I made it home late last night and I'm exhausted.  I have a ton of great pics and stories to share, but I'm afraid that's going to have to wait until I catch up on my beauty sleep.  Until then...here's a little video clip filmed by my pal Alexa Westerfield for iLoveToCreate of Brini Maxwell and I making feather hair clips at our make it/take its for CHA.

Enjoy!

xoxo
Madge

What the Heck is CHA Anyway?!

Design Copyright 2010 Margot Potter All Rights Reserved

You may have seen some buzz about CHA on the interwebs and if you don’t know what it is, perhaps you are scratching your head a little. What the heck is this CHA everyone’s blathering about? Can I go?

Well my little Smurflings, yes! This year they’ve added a consumer event at the show in Anaheim. It’s the CHA SuperShow! I can’t attend because my amazing daughter is starring in the musical Annie, but you can! The Super Show is totally focused on consumers and you can purchase products at retail and do a bunch of really fun make it/take its. Most of the bigger craft companies will be there along with some of your favorite craft industry celebs. If you’re crafty and you live in the area, you really should check it out.

If you’re a craft industry professional and you join CHA as a professional member, you can attend the regular CHA Show. This show is for the trade only and it’s where the biggest art, craft and hobby companies debut their newest products and product lines to the industry. This is the stuff that hasn’t even hit the shelves yet. It’s a little like Willy Wonka’s candy factory, only it’s a potpourri of glitter, glue, papers, paint, wire, yarn, tools and beads from all over the world and there aren’t any Oompa Loompas! You can’t actually buy anything at this show, but you can see what’s coming. Think of it as Fashion Week for the craft industry.

I’ll be attending the regular CHA Show and I’m sharing my schedule today. I am so excited to be introducing my friend Brini Maxwell to the CHA Show and to be doing demos together for iLoveToCreate!  In between the appearances I’ve got meetings and of course, we’ll be walking the show floor to check out what’s new and exciting. I’m bringing my new camera, so hopefully I’ll get some pics this time. If you are attending, please stop by and say hello or consider taking my class:


Sunday January 24th
3-6pm Brini Maxwell and Margot Potter make it/take its at the iLoveToCreate Booth 2827


Monday January 25th
1-2pm FW Media Booth 4228 Signing and Demos for Beyond the Bead

3-4pm R and M Booth 4212 Signing and Demos for The Impatient Beader and Beyond the Bead

Tuesday January 26th
9-12 Brini Maxwell and Margot Potter make it/take its at the iLoveToCreate Booth 2827

1-2 FW Media Booth 4228 with Fernando DaSilva and Katie Hacker Signing and Demos for Bead and Wire Jewelry Exposed

4-6pm Crocheted Wire and Crystal Necklace for Beadalon Room W1203
I’ll teach you a knifty little trick for adding beads to crocheted wire using Beadalon Artistic Wire, Crystallized™-Swarovski Elements and the fab ProvoCraft ergonomic crochet hook  We'll create a simply striking necklace in the two hour class.

Design Copyright Margot Potter 2010 All Rights Reserved

The wild design above is one I created yesterday for a special designer CHA Global Crafts display. If you look closely, you’ll notice that I used the Dimensional Fabric Paint circles from yesterday’s post decoupaged with Collage Pauge on to vintage wooden poker chips and a plethora of ginormous vintage lucite beads, vintage plastic fruit pendants and faux pearl hearts. I’m giving you a sneak peek, there’s more to come for this design and after the show I’ll share the entire thing. This is totally over the top and I’ll be surprised if anyone actually purchases it, but I don’t really care. I made this for me. I get tired of having to pull back; sometimes I just want to take it to the extreme. Really I wish I could design a line of jewelry for Jean Paul Gaultier and take it to the extreme all of the time. Hee. I thought perhaps I’d lost my mind after I added the feathers last night, but when I woke up this morning and looked at this again, I fell madly in love. I actually may have lost my mind.  This is an Haute Couture style design based on a famous woman whom I greatly admire. These designs for me are like mini-narratives.  Can you guess what woman and what country this represents?

Until next time...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo,

Madge

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to you and yours! Hope you have a ball! Tee hee.

Love,
Madge (and the incomparable Brini and Mary Ellen!)

NYC and TastyLinks Monday!

Well folks...I survived NYC! We had a great time shooting videos with Ben Sander (aka Brini Maxwell) at his charming apartment. Mary Ellen joined the fun and I think the videos are going to be super cute. I'll post them here when they go live. Ben took us to the fabulous Rosa Mexicana restaurant for dinner, but we got deluged on the way back to the car. My hair met an untimely death and it never quite recovered! We had to blow dry our shoes so we could wear them the next day!

As fortune would have it, we stayed across the street from a huge flea market in Chelsea, so I scored some fun new ephemera, a small smattering of vintage watches and a pair of vintage Foster Grant sunglasses. Ah...nothing gets me happier than a flea market...even if this one was seriously overpriced! I think I did better in Paris!

We met my old friend Scott Long for lunch on Sunday. We used to be in a 'cowpunk' band together in the early 80s called Big Hair and he's been doing concert promotions in NYC for the past few years. It was great to catch up. It's so fascinating where life can take you if you're willing to be open to the possibilities. Scott's a very cool dude.

The Michaels' event was amazing. There were lines stretching back into the aisles and a zillion people working at the store. I had five or six helpers and a special handler named Angel who made me feel like a Crafty Rock Star. Seriously! Folks were patiently waiting to do the make it/take its so we stayed an extra half an hour. There were still people working on the earrings when we left to battle Manhattan traffic and head home. I can't thank the fine folks from Michaels Manhattan enough! What a wonderful experience...and the store is gorgeous!

Here's what the fine folks from When Creativity Knocks have for your craftertainment this week! Make a fun Rocket Card in this video with Sharon Jankowicz.

Here is this week's sampling of TastyLinks and I'll be back tomorrow with the final installment of Terrorific Tuesday:

The Artful Crafter Make a pretty fall triple wreath wall hanging for your own wall or as a housewarming gift. With a little imagination, you can adapt the design for Christmas or just about any other occasion/season.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Polymer Clay Candy Corn Beads Hot out of the Oven made using a "recipe" from the book The Polymer Clay Cookbook

Mixed Media Artist Do you have a signature style? Cyndi wants to know what it is and wants to help you show it off!

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style Linda revisits a quilt she made a while back.

Crafty Princess Diaries Diggity Doggity, the crocheted dog blanket is done!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world At Craftside there is a free cross stitch pattern, a downoadable label and idea for a spooky Halloween decoration and some wild pumpkins, a sneak peek into the new book What is Illustration?, how to sew gathers and ruffles and finally a fun question to be answered to be entered to win a free craft book.

Cathie Filian Make a warm mug of Chai Tea at home with this traditional recipe from Cathie.

Aileen's Musings This week Aileen offers a free pumpkin label for you to download and print. Also, a very cool photo manipulation site, so gather your favorite pictures and have some fun!

About Family Crafts Sherri offers several free pumpkin carving patterns for you to download and use!

The Impatient Crafter Madge scares up another fiendishly fabulous mixed media design for Halloween!

Busy Busy!

Image Copyright Enoch Bolles

I had a busy day yesterday with a photo shoot and a ton of errands to run. I'm off this morning to NYC to visit Brini Maxwell and tape two segments for her NPR video podcast. Then on Sunday I'll be at the brand new super fabulous Michael's store in Manhattan (808 Columbus Avenue at 97th Street) to sign books and host a fun make it/take it. I have been so busy, I haven't had time to stop and blog or post any projects...but I've got something fun for you on Monday.

Until then...craft on with your bad selves!

xoxo
Madge

Madge's Monday Updates!

(Thanks to John Fritzinger at Beadalon for taking this shot!)

Here's a sneak peek at the earrings you can make with me at Michaels Manhattan next Saturday October 25th! (I'll also offer a floral design.) I'll be signing copies of my best selling first book The Impatient Beader and assisting folks with this fun Make it/Take it! Big thanks to Beadalon, Fiskars, Ranger, Tim Holtz, Krylon and iLoveToCreate for donating materials. I'm super excited! Plus I'm really glad I found a use for the huge bag of plastic flies I got at Five Below. Tee hee.

I would add a chain with a big plastic spider on each earring, but I was thinking subtle.

Har har.

While we're in NYC we're also going to be filming a two part segment with my friend Brini Maxwell for her NPR Podcast videos. As soon as that goes live, I'll let you know! I'm really excited!

Speaking of Brini...we're retooling the Crafty Cabaret Caribbean cruise to make it shorter and less expensive. As soon as that's arranged, I'll provide the link here. We're still planning on Fall of 2010. I'm also finalizing the details on Beads and the City May 13-16th 2010! So stay tuned for the 411!

I'll be back tomorrow with Terrorific Tuesdays. Until then, craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo
Madge

Crafty Cabaret Carribean Cruise with Brini Maxwell and Margot Potter

I'm a little under the weather here, but it's nothing a course of antibiotics and more rest won't cure. Before I crawl back under the covers I have something exciting to share!

I'm thrilled to finally be able to announce our cruise! We've been working on this for months with Jim West and the folks from ScrapMap and it's taken amazing amounts of self restraint for me not to spill the beans...but...finally...I CAN! Follow this link to read all about the Crafty Cabaret Cruise with your hostesses with the mostest(est) Style Network star Brini Maxwell and The Impatient Crafter Margot Potter!

We're going to entertain you with our sensational song stylings, share our style tips and tricks and help you get your craft on while we cruise the Carribean for eight fabulous fun filled days! Let us entertain you...let us...make you craft! Come along and join the crafty fun!

xoxo
Madge