Beads and the City Trip AND Saturday Tastylinks!

In case you're wondering where you are...this is my new blog template!  I'm really loving it because the colors match my studio and are so soothing and inviting.  Plus I love the musical aspects and the simplicity of the layout.  I also love that ballerina girl and her spunky puppy...and the tiny sparkly accent in the heart.  Not sure how long I'll love this template, but we'll see!  Let me know if you like it or not...I need your input!

Drum roll, please...

I'm so, so excited to finally be able to announce the first Beads and the City trip!  It's official!  We have a date, we have a plan and we're going to go rock the Big Apple with a beadtacular, craftastic four day event!  The $774.00 price includes three dinners, double occupancy hotel room (that means you have to share with someone else or you'll have to pay the full room cost), Wicked on Broadway, a trip to Chinatown, an entire day of shopping at my top secret bead and trim sources in Manhattan, a tour bus for the shopping days and a Bead and Bitch event at the hotel with yours truly where we'll swap beads, make jewelry, tell tall tales and share saucy stories and I'll have a fabulous swag bag for every one of you! We did everything we could to make it as affordable as possible...but no, the bus can't come and pick you up.  You have to get to the hotel in NYC and we'll take care of you from there!

Plus we'll have some celebrity craft guests joining us for the fun!  Really...what are you waiting for?  If you can't make Bead and Button...come Bead and Bitch with Madge on Broadway!

Contact jaci@scrapmap.com to sign up!  We're going to have a blast!

It snowed here.  It snowed a lot.  It's still snowing.  The plows are few and far between and keep dumping mountains of snow at the end of our driveway.  We're digging in for a two day respite from civilization.  Our dog is so happy she got lost in a snow drift...we found her.  I'm sure she can't wait to do it again.  She's apparently part cairn terrier and part husky.  Who knew?

Crafty shout outs to the delightful Shabby Garden blog where my Retrofabulous Holiday Wreath was recently featured!  Thank you!

Here's this week's crafty sampling from the Crafty Bloggers Gang!

About Family Crafts
Sherri wonders what you could create using buttons?

Aileen's Musings
Aileen has a funtastical mini tutorial on creating a mailable canvas valentine and birthday card!

Cathie Filian
Enter win Cathie's HUGE 101 Snappy Fashions Giveaway!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside's got how-tos on making a double sided hanger out of a soda tab, burning the edges of silk, a good list of essential oils to add to homemade paints, a gift tote bag tutorial and some really wacky mannequin outfits from CHA!

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy is so excited! She has some new craft books to read, yes!

Cross Stitch at About.com
Stitch up some witty signs for your laundry room using patterns Connie created using help from the About.com Laundry Guide Mary.

Mixed Media Artist
Snow painting? Sure...go shovel up a small bucket full and meet Cyndi at her blog!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See how to make a Paper Flower with a quilling paper fringer inspired by one from the beautiful book- Home, Paper, Scissors by Patricia Zapata

The Artful Crafter
How to make laminated tasseled bookmarks and personalize them for any occasion. And don’t miss Eileen’s follow-on tutorial on making your own tassels (should you run out mid-project as she did – lol).

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
Make a romantic ribbon wristlet with The Impatient Crafter for iLoveToCreate.

TastyLinks Saturday!

TastyLinks™ are all the good blogs, all the good blogs wrapped up in one!

It’s a gloomy, cold, rainy Saturday here in our little valley. I’ve got a mixed media project for a manufacturer that needs finishing and we’re considering a The Impatient Crafter™ video shoot...it’s been forever! I have to design the project still...and figure out how to use the machine...and hope I don’t have any craftastrophic mishaps...which I probably will because I am The Impatient Crafter™ after all! So we’ll see how that goes!

Two exciting things to share here today! Firstly I’m working on an NYC The Impatient Crafter™ Beads in the City trip for August 13-17th. Join me in Manhattan where I’ll show you my top secret bead, findings and trim sources and we’ll dig through boxes of vintage goodies and rows upon rows of strands for treasures. We’ll hit a Broadway show and maybe even get backstage (I’m hoping for Wicked), take a trip to Pearl River Trading Company and Chinatown and do some NYC site seeing. Plus we’ll have an evening of bead swapping and designing together at the hotel located in Times Square! Sound like fun? I’ll have the details and url for the website where you can sign up soon. Save up your pennies, this is the mother lode of beady and crafty goodness my friends!

Our crafty cruise is coming together for Fall 2010. I should have the details for you very soon. At that point I’ll announce the dates, location and my top secret crafty celebrity co-host! We are both so excited and I think it’s going to be an amazing trip for everyone involved.

Linky Love shout out to Aaron Cohen who gathered 155 links about Peeps on his blog! If you need the 411 on Peeps, he’s got it! I’m still working on that Peeps edible bouquet, I think it’s going to happen. I’ll snap a pic and post it here.

Thanks to anyone who Linky Loved me this week! If you did, and I’ve neglected to Linky Love you back just email me at theimpatientcrafter@gmail.com and I’ll get you in next week. Sometimes my brain has so much rolling around inside it just kicks random files out. Do forgive!

Happy Easter...or as we like to say around here Bappy Beaster! Don’t ask.

Here is today’s linky sampling from the Crafty Bloggers gang:

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Martha Stewart's New Encyclopedia of Crafts is my muse this week to create a hoppin' cute Easter Card

Naughty Secretary Club This week Jen explores using fabric to make jewelry.

CraftyPod Sister Diane offers lots of creative ways to use Sharpie Paint Markers.

Crafty Princess Diaries ArtFire Crafty Princess Shop is Live! Tammy is kicking the tires, testing the waters, and basically, trying to figure out what the deal is over at Artfire.com.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside's got mixed-media art from Lisa Engelbrecht and an ATC by it, a free Amigurumi knit antler pattern, a couple of Art Nouveau jewelry designs with a how-to on making a wire ball bead and some pretty greeting cards with a tutorial on an Easter card made with stiffened fabric die cuts.

Cathie Filian Cathie Filian is having a spring fling with 11 different spring projects.

Blisstree Arts Unexpected results abound when you use this easy method to create background papers for your work.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner Swelldesigner shows you how to make rainbow tie-dye rosettes!

Aileen's Musings Aileen's offering freebie Spring images for you to download and use in your art. Happy Spring!

About Family Crafts Find a wide variety of egg related projects! Everything from creative Easter egg coloring to cute egg crafts

The Impatient Crafter Madge shares her three pronged approach to success and a link to her CraftCast interview with Alison Lee.