Sewing Green by Betz White

Extra! Extra! Read all about it.

Over here, at EcoChild'sPlay.

Having Fun with Scrapblog.com

A Little Bit of Inspiration

I found this on Stephanie's blog....and HAD to share it with you.

I hope it touches your heart the way it touched mine.

Wow.

Science Fair Project - For Son No. 1

 

The "Before" picture:  nice, healthy, green plants

The project?  Acid Rain and its effect on plants.  Start with five great-looking plants and water them each with a different combination of water and vinegar (to imitate acid rain).

 

What do you get?

This:

 

The "After" photo. Acid Rain is not a good thing.

Okay...we're off to get some photos printed and to make a trip to Shipshewana, IN.  One of our favorite places to go.  Amish country.  Northern Indiana (where we live).  We'll be stopping at E & S Sales (bulk foods, tons of flour varieties, herbs, spices, etc., etc.) and Yoder's Meat and Cheese Shoppe.

The weather has warmed up considerably.  It's now 12 ° F outside, which is WAY better than -16 ° F which we encountered yesterday morning.

Hopefully, I'll have some craft time later today.

Have a great day!

Almost Done!

Except for the Velcro® , these are ready for sale.

It's such a great feeling to FINISH things.  I start so many projects and then get side-railed.  I truly think I have ADD. 

Handmadeology

Timothy Adam is an artist.  Who sells online.


And...he helps others sell online too.  That's what Handmadeology is all about.


Click on the button below (or in the sidebar) to learn more.





You won't be disappointed.


Thanks!

Trader Joe Loot

Hey bloggers!

We were in Indianapolis the weekend right after Christmas. As a last-minute gift, my wife and I surprised our youngest son with tickets to a Colts game. He is an AVID fan of the team and has been begging to see a game. So....we were going to be in Indy that weekend anyhow. So yeah, we bought tickets. And yes, we sat in the nosebleed section, but we had a great time.

While we were in the capital city, we also went shopping at a couple malls and found a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's. We are pretty much in love with the Trader Joe's store. The closest one to us is in Chicago. That's about two hours away. That's a little bit too long of a commute to get groceries in my book. It would be great if they'd open a store in our neck of the woods. I've heard about the store, and have read several blog posts about them. Their stuff is GOOD.

Take care!

A Touch of Spring Color is Needed About Now

I think snow is wonderful. Really, I do. But...I'm a bit tired of it already. So I took it upon myself to spend some time in the studio today to 'think Spring'. I came up with some bibs that remind me of springtime -- green apples and flowers. They are in the finishing touch stage and will soon make their way to either Etsy or Art Fire. I haven't quite decided yet.

Springtime bib -- ready for the sewing machine.

[01.12.09: UPDATE: Bib is complete. I'll post photo tonight.]

Snow Day

It is still snowing. It's been snowing pretty steadily since Friday. The boys and I have cleaned off the driveway 3 or 4 times. I [heart] my snowblower.

[Image: Uriah Welcome through a Creative Commons License on flickr.com]

The wife is getting ready to head back to Cleveland this afternoon. She has another appointment at Cleveleand Clinic. Her headaches are way better, but they still give her fits every so often. Hopefully this will be the last time she has to drive 5 hours each way to see the doctor.

Oh yeah, I'm working on a story on organic cotton yarn and LYS' (local yarn stores) that sell it. If you have a favorite LYS, please leave its name in the comment section of this blog post. I'd be happy to include them in the short article I'm doing to Eco Child's Play.

I've been a closet writer for a long time and this year I decided to take the plunge and start writing 'publicly'. I just signed on with ECP a few days ago. I'm writing craft-related blog posts for them at least three times a week. It's a great green site, so click over and see us.

Take care!

Weekend (Craft) Warrior

The snow is falling, coffee is brewing and we have nowhere to go until late this afternoon. So...it's a good time to get things done.

I have several WIPs (works in process) in the studio that are just begging to be completed, photographed and added to my new shop. New shop? Yes! I recently joined forces with Art Fire and have a new online venue to share my craft items with the internet crowd.

My Art Fire shop inventory is a bit skimpy right now, but by the end of the weekend I hope to have a nice selection of items up for sale. Stop by and let me know what you think. My Etsy shop is still up and running. And, I have nothing against Etsy; I just want to give Art Fire a chance. And I see huge potential with the Art Fire team.

Okay, time to get moving. Have a great weekend.


P.S. If you sell crafty things online, I invite you to sign up for an Art Fire account today. Normal price is $20.00/month. Right now, they are going for just $7.00/month. It's a flat fee: no listing fees, no fees when you sell something. They use PayPal and their studio set up is fast and easy. As a bonus, they offer some great studio stats so you know who has visited your site.

Click on the link in my sidebar to get started today!

Time To Get Busy

Need to make more of these:

Green and Red Apple Tissue Holders

Green and Red Apple Tissue Holders -cute aren't they?

Need to get off my duff and start cranking out some more crafty stuff for the Etsy shop. Perhaps tonite!

Happy New Year !

It's out with the old and in with the new.

Here's a sneak-peek at my resolution list

• learn how to make pasta (found a pasta maker at the thrift shop)
• get the craft area organized @home
  
• stop going to the Chinese restaurant at lunch (way too many calories)
• de-clutter, de-clutter, de-clutter all my workspaces (@home and @ the office)
• continue to lift up my team @ work
• continue to lift up my family members
• minimize: take the approach that less is more
• have what I love, and love what I have
• remember what it was like to be an 8-year old and a 13-year old so I can relate to my boys better
• become more proactive with household duties in order to help my wife and set a good example for my sons
• teach the boys more life skills. they are never too young to learn
• tell me wife that I love her more often
• make lots of items and sell them on Etsy
• start selling our 'want nots' on eBay (see de-clutter above)
• compose DAILY blog posts with good quality pictures
• become more Christ-like
• stop using 'bad' words
• start using positive, 'good' words in all my communication
• drink more water
• remember to take my multi-vitamin every day
  
• eat more fresh fruits and vegetables
• shop at the co-op grocery store; buy in bulk when it makes sense

I'm sure I could on and on....but I won't.

How is your list coming along?

Brett Dennen -- This is Good Stuff!

I have found some new music that I want to share with you.  I REALLY like this song:



Tell me what you think!

Lucas Oil Stadium

Lucas Oil Stadium
Originally uploaded by crafty dad

Here's the new stadium in Indianapolis. It's the Lucas Oil Stadium and it's home to the Indianapolis Colts. We surprised the Little Guy with tickets to yesterday's game (as a last-minute Christmas gift).

He was ELATED. Like on cloud nine (or ten or eleven, not really sure).

We had a great time. And the Colts won too.

Latest Issue of Cotton Time

I found this on etsy.com today. I'm hoping to find some Japanese craft books (or Zakka books) in Indianapolis later on this weekend. We've had to delay our trip due to the rotten ICY weather we're having. There's a state of emergency keeping us hold-up on the house for now. So...it was tomato soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches for lunch and camping out by the TV and computer as ways to pass the time.

Here's the craft magazine I found on pomadour24's etsy site:

Hopefully, we'll be able to start our trip a little later this afternoon. Until then, it's back to surfing the web. Hey: it's better than spending the day at work!

Take care,

Let's Get Organized

Hey bloggers! We're headed to Indianapolis for the weekend.

One of our stops will be the Franklin Covey store. Click on this post's title to find out what's on sale at Franklin Covey right now. My wife has been a Franklin Planner Girl for many years. As a busy accountant, she has to keep track of every minute of her time. And...let me tell you: this girl is O R G A N I Z E D. WAAAAAAAY more than I am.



I guess it's the 'opposites attract' thing with us. I am Crafty Dad and she is Organized Mom.



Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Merry Christmas !

Wishing you a very 

Merry Christmas

and the happiest of New Years.

The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe

SUGAR COOKIES II

(Makes Approximately 40 3-inch Cookies)

4-1/2 cups sifted flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter baking sheets. Sift together the dry ingredients.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the dry ingredients, 1 cup at a time, alternating with the milk and vanilla, beating well after each addition. Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll 1 piece at a time on a floured board and cut with large cookie cutters.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Cool on racks.

From The Martha Stewart Cookbook -- Collected Recipes for Every Day

YOU: Aaaaaa-chooooooooooo!

ME: Bless you!

YOU: I need a tissue.

ME: Funny you should ask.




Tissue holder anyone? I have several laying around the shop.