Thursday, July 28, 2011

details


If I seem a little MIA lately, it's because I am.  I'm out of my mind crazy busy and loving every minute of it. 

Margie and I have been working on Spark and let me tell you... Girlfriend, we have already gone through the biggest jar of Mod Podge you will ever see and we are working on a second.

Spark is super hands on work intensive. We strive to hand make all the decorations.  We spend a lot of time on the details. Because in the end, that's what lets our students know that we really care. We really want it to be an oasis from everyday life. 

Down to every last detail.


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

my craft channel


So. I have a new project. But then again, don't I always have a new project? I swear. I'm a total project addict.

Anywho,  I'm really excited about this one.  I was asked by the producers at My Craft Channel to host a DIY jewelry show. And of course I said yes. Of course I did.

So starting this fall you will be able to hop on over to My Craft Channel and see all kinds of super fun creative people making cool stuff and teaching you how to do it.

The big website is yet to launch but you can read all about My Craft Channel and the people involved on their blog.

Also, they are giving away a Cricut everyday for twenty days as they announce their teachers. Isn't that amazing? Every. Single. Day.  You could win.

Here's how to enter:

The actual GIVEAWAY is being hosted on the My Craft Channel BLOG.  to win, you need to do ONE of the following things: (or you can do ALL of them and enter MULTIPLE times!)
1.     Like Secondsister Jewelry!! I have a facebook page … Make sure to leave a comment on The Craft Channel blog telling them you liked my FB page.
2.     LIKE My Craft Channel on Facebook and then leave a comment on their blog letting them know you did!
3.     Like Cricut on Facebook, and tell them Secondsister sent you… 
4.     Share the news link this post in a post on your blog and if no blog, share w/ 5 of your favorite creative friends, give them a link to this post and leave a comment on the MCC blog
5.     Facebook, tweet, or BLOG about Secondsister being involved with MCC, and then (again) leave a comment on the MCC blog so you are entered to win!!  (my twitter handle is @secondsister)

Good luck! I'm hoping someone I know wins a Cricut!  I'll keep you posted as to when my shows will air.

Now go and do something creative. Or if not creative, fulfilling.

http://mycraftchannelblog.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

hey utah- come play!


We are getting so excited for Spark this year! We decided to have a Soiree at Dear Lizzie like we did last year. Everyone is invited. Please come. Mingle. Laugh. Eat a cupcake and start the sparking!

Friday, July 22, 2011

home on the range


I always forget how rural my home town really is.  I am struck by the sheer amount of fields and pastures. I find that I don't take the scenery for granted the way I did when I lived in Utah.  It is, simply put, a beautiful state.

We are here for three weeks.  My children have already gone ferrel in my parents back yard.

I am doing all sorts of projects that will keep me busy almost everyday I'm here.  I'm excited to share the fruits of my labors with you.

Speaking of fruit, peaches and cherries grown here in Utah are akin to Hawaiian pineapple. They are ridiculously good. Candy good even.

I am so exicited to meet up with old friends and new while I'm here.

Rhonna Farrer is a good friend of mine that is going to be helping me on a little project. She is getting ready to launch her new website and it's going to be amazing.


Rhonna is looking for talented girls to be on her design team. Go to her blog and you can read all the specifics. 

It feels good to be here. In Utah. The beehive state. Home of the big pink cookie.

And lots of livestock.


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

renegade recap

Last Saturday and Sunday I went to the Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles to help out at the Uppercase booth. I have been a long time Uppercase fan and it was so much fun to work with Janine and her husband Glen.  They are my people.  We speak the same language. If you don't subscribe to Uppercase Magazine you are really missing out. Every issue is chalk full of inspiration.

In my opinion, Renegade is the very best craft fair out there. They seem to really draw in an eclectic mix of super talented artisans.

Here's a look:






















I'm super busy this week and I'm blogging on the fly. If you see something you love in one of these photos, shoot me an email and I'll look through the stack of business cards I collected and see if I can hook you up.

Friday, July 15, 2011

are you coming or what?


Just in case I haven't screamed it loud enough, I'M TEACHING AT SPARK!!!!

Finally, I get to teach stamp carving. I've wanted to teach it the last couple of years and it just hasn't worked out for one reason or another.

So this year, as a creative partner, I said, "By damn, I'm teaching stamp carving." And Margie said, "So let it be done."

I'm a wee bit passionate about stamp carving. It's so relaxing and rewarding.  It's easy enough to do with your kids. You can take it along on trips because the supplies are small. It isn't expensive.

So, if you are still sitting on the fence about coming to Spark, this is me, yelling for everyone to hear, Come! Please come! We are going to rock the cazbah. We are going to laugh and create and commune. 

You need this. Really. You do.

And I want to teach you to create your own custom stamps. 

That is all.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

among the living


When I was growing up my best friend also happened to be my first cousin. Convenient little miracle for our mothers, I'd say.

I was two months her elder but she was the leader. I always felt that she was smarter, faster, prettier. I tried to copy her penmanship. I wore the type of clothes she wore. I tried, unsuccessfully, to emulate her too cool for school attitude.

Our friendship was epic. She was the center of my universe.  I lived for the summers when we could spend weeks together. Her's was the only phone number I knew for many years.

When she went to prom I curled her hair and zipped her dress as she held her breath.  We talked about boys and other teenage stuff, but she was always more interested in adventure. She had an incredibly brave way about her, with a healthy dose of teenage invincibility on the side.

When we were eighteen, she was working for the forest service as a fire fighter.  I was in awe of her moxie. Her chutzpah. She did the things I would only dream of doing. She just did them. Like it was nothing. When we were eighteen she went hiking with her brother and in a freak accident she slipped and fell from a cliff. And she was gone.

And I was left behind.

At first, I felt the intense grief you would expect.  Shock and grief.  After just a little while I started to have intense feelings of embarrassment for still being alive.  I felt awkward and ridiculous.  I felt ashamed that I was going to college, dating boys, eating ice cream. Being in the presence of her parents was excruciating. I didn't know how to act. I wanted to crawl into a hole.

In the spirit of practicality, my aunt gave me a pair of her daughter's shoes.  They were a beautiful pair of boots that I loved. I tried to wear them, but they were a half size too small and after just a little while I realized they were the physical manifestation to how I felt. Like I had no business. Ridiculous. So I put them away in a dark corner of my closet.

Time passed and I got to a point where I could go weeks, sometimes months, without thinking of her. But every now and then I would have a series of dreams that would follow me throughout my days and the old feeling of guilt for still living would be there.  This continued throughout my twenties and early thirties.

Then I met Amelie's birth mother.  She shared not only the same first name as my cousin, but the same middle name and birth date. She had the same color hair and eyes. And she was also too cool for school. It was uncanny and unnerving and miraculous.  I felt that to deny the similarities as anything other than my cousin's hand in my daughter's birth would be a slap in the face to all I hold dear.

After Amelie was born, I felt set free. I felt that I had been given permission to enjoy my life. I haven't had any unnerving dreams for a long time now.  Happy childhood memories of our friendship have started to come back to me.  Just now, at thirty-seven, I feel that I can celebrate the times we had together instead of focusing on the terrible event of her death.

I wanted to write this down because although I have carried these things deep down in my heart, they have been a part of my life. They have had an effect on who I have become.  I feel it is time to let go. The beauty of a butterfly cannot be fully realized if you keep it cupped inside your hands.  One must open up and let go and watch it fly so that others can share in the beauty.

I want my children to know the story of how my cousin and best friend helped us become a family.


Monday, July 11, 2011

authentique

My friend Margie is nothing if not a busy bee.

She is always up to something. Designing new products. Traveling the world. Getting locked out of her house.


She just released her newest line of paper products.  She is working for a new company called Authentique.  They will debut their new lines at CHA later this month. They are almost ready to launch their website. For now you can check out the Face Book page.


As always, she sent me a fun package with all her new stuff.  "To play with." she said.

So I played. I made soldered jewelry charms with some of the smaller die cuts. I made a gift box to put them in and give them to someone deserving.


Margie is one the people in my life that really keeps my creative juices flowing.  When we get on the phone to work on Spark plans, we always end up on some huge crafty tangent. We swap craft ideas like baseball cards.

We are kindred spirits in that way.


Congratulations Margie on your latest achievement. Your papers are beautiful as usual.

I love you girl.