The big day has arrived. I am ready to share a painting that I did since beginning my watercolor art class five weeks ago. One day a week. Three hours a day. One amazing teacher. Over the course of several weeks, Kathy Kovala has skillfully taught our class watercolor techniques by breaking down an entire painting with sky, trees,…

Today was my fourth watercolor painting class. I am learning more from my art instructor, Kathy Kovala, than I could have ever in the far stretch of my imagination envisioned! My goal is to use my newfound skills to paint upon the pages of my altered journal(s). But, since I will be using the written word to…

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you are right." These words have been zinging around in my brain ever since Tina, a recent bed and breakfast guest who inspired me to express myself using an altered journal, wisely spoke them. Ever since I painted a cabin in a summer school art…

Old books. A new friend.  At the end of August, my life became richer when a young couple from Iowa came to visit. While her husband biked the Cuyuna Trails in Crosby (Minnesota), my newfound friend crafted on the backporch of our bed and breakfast's main inn. I watched intently as she transformed pages in…

For Easter, why not have fun with natural egg dyes instead of food coloring? Tumeric powder produces a bright yellow to deep gold color, red cabbage-blue/teal, yellow onion skins-light peach to gold/orange, grape juice-blue to purple, red beets-magenta red, red cabbage and tumeric-green, red cabbage and beet-purple, and red onion skins-pale celadon green. Two online…

My initial zakka fabric basket rapidly transitioned into mass production… kachunk… kachunk… kachunk, as I envisioned Easter baskets for each of my five grandkids. A cowboy and Indian theme for my two grandsons… A bunny theme for two of my granddaughters… and a nature-inspired basket for my eldest grandaughter who is a child of Mother Earth.…

For one of my granddaughters, I got a little doll bed from Ikea. It needed a quilt. So, I made one from fabric scraps. When I showed it to my daughter, Jessie, she suggested my granddaughter might want to "turn it wonky" when she covered her doll lying in the little bed. I looked at her strangely because…

My 10 year-old granddaughter loves nature and my 6 year-old grandson had recently studied owl pellets* in school… and I live to sew. So, I organized some supplies in an old muffin tin and began to add details to fabric owls that I had stitched on my sewing machine. Black button eyes and ivory-colored embroidery thread beaks for…

Most Japanese craft books are written in… well, Japanese. I have been somewhat successful at following diagrams without the benefit of English text, but it is a struggle. Zakka Sewing 25 Japanese Projects for the Household by Therese Laskey + Chika Mori has been translated into English. The first project from the book that I chose to…

Three years ago, while I was watching a Martha Stewart Show segment, a guest crafter named Cheryl Robinson demonstrated how to make this adorable range made from a cardboard storage box assessorized with simple, everyday items. I was impressed by Cheryl's ability to look upon an ordinary box and imagine its possibilities beyond its intended purpose, then…