This past week I’ve been enjoying some long needed time in the studio working on pieces that have been in progress for far too long. Something (cough, my self doubt) kept getting in the way of finishing them. I had such high hopes for how they would turn out and I just wasn’t ready to take the plunge. I finally got working on them again, and now that they are both well on their way, I know that they will be absolutely stunning when finished.

Quite a few years ago while I was still in college, I combined my crocheting with my drawings and while the result was a little lacking, it was the start. I think presentation had a lot to do with it. And I hadn’t finished it how I wanted. I kept it though, always meaning to go back and figure out a better way to complete it.

The year after graduating I started a new piece, but with a new approach. I worked the crochet out from the interior of the panel instead of just giving it a border. The piece was so huge that I got distracted with life and never finished it.

Last spring, I completed this piece and showed it in a local art show. I tried the crochet drawing thing again, and this time, I finally got it right. Not too big for my first attempt, nice and straight forward, and absolutely lovely. I think this is actually my favorite piece to date that I’ve ever completed.

That is until last week when I got my act together and stopped dodging the issue of getting out there and being a full time artist. It all just came together. It all just flowed. I’ve been waking up early to put in time in my studio. And I have so many ideas for more pieces along these lines. And I figured out exactly how I want to finish those first two pieces so they are stunning.

While I’m not going to tell all just quite yet of how it all comes together, I did want to show you my progress. It’s my newest leftovers project: the crochet thread was my grandma’s, the mat board is from the art shop I used to work at, the paper was from my stash, and they are all wips that have been languishing too long in a box. My art making really follows the same place as my crafting does. And it’s crushing my stash just a little bit more with each stitch (thanks everyone who’s helped to relocate my stash!).

I find my art and craft compliment each other and I can never really separate one from the other – my artistic sense informs my craft and my crafty know how inspires my art. And, after 3 years of taking a break from showing my work, I’m ready to put myself out there again. And it’s funny how I put that out there and now I’m finishing two new pieces, I have a show lined up in June, I’m submitting a piece to a community show in May, and I’m putting together a proposal for solo show at a few regional spaces.

I love how things all come together like that. I’ll be having prints of Entanglement (the bird piece) soon, I ordered a test print to see if the quality of the printer is okay. Once I see it, I’ll link up so you can get a print. I love the bird and the crochet, each so delicate and tense in their own way.

Happy Crafting!
Kristin

Perfectly suited for using up your stash,One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins is packed with fun, creative projects for my office, home, and even my wardrobe! There’s a super cute summer dress made from just one yard of fabric!

I’m so happy I finally got my hands on this book. On my visit to Storey, they let me pick out a few of my favorite titles that I had yet to add to my library–what a treat! One-Yard Wonders was one of the first ones I grabbed–well, right after Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens :)

There’s such a great variety of projects that there is really something for everyone. The first project I just had to make was the “wash me” bag on page 49. I’ve been trying to figure out a good way to “hold” the towels and dishclothes from the kitchen between washes (I do all my “messy” laundry once a week) and this was just what I was looking for.

Gregory was helping me take photos today. They are much improved right :)

The book is organized into 11 chapters: Sewing Fundamentals, Dwell Redux (unique home accents), Household Affairs (home organizing/cleaning/etc), Craft Organization, On the Go, From Head to Toe (clothing type stuff), Carry it All (purses, totes, bags, and clutches), Outfit your Small Wonder (kid’s clothing), Accessorize your Little One (kid accessories), Playtime (kid’s toys), Your Furry Friends (pets!).

Even though I don’t have kids, I loved all the great kiddo projects in the back of this book – plushies, outfits, and super cute toys.

These are the projects that are next on my “to make” list:

By the very nature of this book, all the projects are short and sweet. Most can be completed, start to finish, in one evening. And at the end, I know I’ve used up one yard of fabric in my stash, most excellent.

One-Yard Wonders is at most public libraries, book stores, and craft shops, so definitely go take a look. If you like it (which I know you will), pick it up. It definitely met my 5 project rule.

Happy crafting!

Kristin Roach

This past month I moved my studio to my home fully, finally, and officially. I really like our house. So does Jason. We decided not to renew the lease on our office. I’ve been slowly moving home the most used things.

March 28th, we moved all the least used things.

And it turns out there were a lot of them…the least used things that is.

So the great thing is that I have a really sweet office and studio set up in my home, which I absolutely love.

Yeah, there is an old piano in my studio. Eventually I’ll get it tuned and maybe potentially learn how to play it :) I want to refinish it first, it has about 20 layers of paint on it.

But then there is the pile, the pile of craft supplies in the basement with boxes and boxes of things. Many of them were given to me by friends, family, and other super kind community members. Others purchased, found, “scored” from local shops and travels.

Granted some of it was purchased for making kits. But really, I don’t sell enough kits to warrant this huge pile.

I feel like I’m part of some kind of craftoholics anonymous group: Hi, my name is Kristin and I’m addicted to craft supplies. By announcing it, I might actually have a chance of doing something about it. The funny thing is, I actually haven’t purchased much of these things. About 70% have been given, donated, gifted, inherited over the last 6 years or so. I’m in big trouble at the pace I’m going. I just have a hard time letting them go. I see possibilities in every little scrap.

It’s time to be more proactive. It’s time to let others be inspired with these fun things. It’s time to destash.

There’s stash busting in the sense of making from the leftovers–which I do most excellently. But I don’t think I could knit, sew, crochet, weave, needlepoint for the rest of my life and get through all these things. I will continue to try though.

It’s not just craft supplies either, I’ve acquired books too. Old pattern books I don’t really care for or books that I have knit the 1 pattern I liked. It’s vintage things and new things and used things. It’s just a lot. I’m ready to pare down.

I’ve talked big about this in the past. I had plans for destashing, but it never happened. It’s funny, but I think it’s actually like an addiction. You can’t actually break an addiction until you are ready. It’s like when some may know you shouldn’t smoke, but still do anyway. I didn’t really want to destash before, I just knew I should.

I’m ready to DeStash

The first option is the Craft Leftovers Shop. I’m going to start taking full advantage of that Stash category by selling cuts of fabric, skeins, collections of buttons, and craft books. I’ll try and get a new group of things listed every week.

Here’s the first batch:

After a few weeks, anything that doesn’t sell will get put up on ebay. After that, it all gets donated. I’m promising you and myself that I can’t keep it. Even if I’m all of a sudden inspired by it, if it’s in the “to go” pile it has to go!

How do you keep your stash from growing out of control? How do you keep it organized?

Now I’m off to sew to try and use up some more fabric so I don’t have to sell it. :)

Happy crafting!
Kristin

While some of you may doubt the “leftoverness” of this book, let me assure you that Painted Pages is filled with wonderful ideas how you can take those smallest of small treasured scraps and integrate them into beautiful works of art all your own.

Not an artist? Let me assure you about that right from the start as well. This book inspired me to leap into my studio several times and it will inspire you to crack open a journal or test the waters in collage as well.

She explains her process clearly and gives ideas on organizing thoughts. She then steps out some fun warm-up exercises to break up the white of the page and make art making a pretty approachable endevor.

I’m going to share some of my sketch book fun from the past few days along with the pages from the book that inspired them. I hope you will take the plunge with me and make a few of your own scrappy creations.

I regularly use my sketchbook to map out ideas, journal, and capture fleeting inspiration. Sometimes I forget that. Sometimes I get intimidated by “what” and “why” to draw. I really loved the idea of having a scrap box on my desk to help get things started.

On page 38 Sarah explains how a clean work surface makes all the difference. But instead of telling you which cleaner to use for what, she suggests you sweep all the little bits into a nice big jar or box or basket. Then, use those bits to “sketch” in your journal and get your creativity warmed up. “I sweep my pile of scraps into tins and use them for fun warm up activities.”

I found this while decluttering my studio stuff. I have this flash of a memory of it sitting on my mom’s hutch and always being brimming with buttons and thread and sewing things.

The author uses quite a few old photos in her work and throughout the book I kept thinking, “Is she really just destroying all of those neat old vintage books? What if she wants to use something twice?” Well, come page 90 she answered my question. She uses an really neat transfer technique using contact paper and color laser copies. I tried it out this week with this fun image of my grandma and grandpa. It worked like a charm.

The book also talks a lot about process and continuing to work even when you aren’t inspired and along those lines, being keenly aware of “peak creativity” times. While you should do all you can to get things rolling, don’t try and fight your natural state. I know I do best making art work first thing in the morning or extremely late at night (like past 11pm into 3am zone). So I’ve been trying to get up early so I can eat breakfast and work in the studio for a couple of hours before heading to the gym.

She also features quite a few other artists and has them explain their own unique creative process. Everyone focuses around mixed media work, being inspired by collections, found objects, and little pieces of their own past.

After finishing the book, I went for a walk with Jak. My eyes were so much more in tune with all the odd shapes and textures around me. I found these:

I am totally going to draw these after this post goes live.

If you want to get your sketchbook feet wet, definitely pick up “Painted Pages.” If you are an artist and want to infuse your studio practice with some new techniques and practices, this is great for that too.

And some final words from the book to inspire: This book is all about, “…finding your own way, in the everyday, to be creative and make art.”

Happy making!
Kristin

I loved my room at the Porches. It was a little oasis where people picked up after me for a change, coffee was delivered in the morning along with croissants and cream.

Tea in the evening and a nice deep bath every other night.

But, by the end of the week I was so ready to be home. I missed home cooked meals and being able cuddle with the cats. I missed the daily walks with Jak and working out with Jason–and just hanging out with him in general.

I had a great homecoming on Saturday. While the flight was bumpy and obnoxiously long, I made it safe and sound without too many flying casualties. I did lose the book I was reading which is really annoying, but at least I didn’t loose my Kindle. Maybe someone will pick up “Made from Scratch” and read it and get inspired like I have been. Or at least use the flight info that has my name and address on it and send it back to me.

Anyway, Jason was all smiles and I was too. Jak did a dance. The ferrets rejoiced. The cats purred loudly. And then the next day happened to have beautiful sunny weather. I did the inaugural spring mowing of the lawn. I raked some leaves. Jason and I double teamed the house to get it picked up (he awesomely cleaned the whole kitchen while I mowed and raked). And while thunderstorms were predicted for today as well, we had another brilliantly sunny day. And at around 4:30pm my plants arrived!

My first round:

• Asparagus
• Horseradish
• Blackberries
• Strawberries
• Lobelia

I had been grinding the ax all day and decided to take advantage of the nice weather and work outside until dinner time. Gardening has a funny way of time-warping me. Before I knew it, the sun was starting to set and it was 7:30pm!

I sure did get a lot done. Most importantly, I discovered that what I thought was “just a few bricks” behind the garage, is actually a pretty huge stash that’s sunken into the ground and been covered by weeds. I’m going to have enough bricks to make my two raised beds! I love old bricks used for beds and paths in gardens. It will match our little patio so well too.

Even better, it saves me about $40+ in supplies for building the raised beds from wood. I am trying to keep a pretty strict garden budget this year, so every little bit that I save now can get rolled into more plants from Seed Savers or a greenhouse for next year or some maple trees or plum trees or native prairie plants for the front yard. Oh, or the morel mushroom kit to set up a stand of mushrooms in the woods right behind my house. The main thing is not having to buy 2×6″ and 2×2″ will go a long way towards other things in the garden.

Today, the most important thing was to remove the sod over a 8′x1′ wide area so I could get the asparagus into the ground. I saved the leaves from raking yesterday and was able to use that to mulch (which saved another $5 in my budget). The rest of my afternoon was spent mapping out the two raised beds, digging and hauling bricks from behind the garage. I also dug a 4′x2′ section of the north bed.

And while outside, I listened to the sun powered radio! How great is that? I don’t even need to use batteries or run a line. I just pop up the little solar panel and turn it on. It lasted all through dinner and my bath as well. Love that.

I’ll be approaching the two beds at a steady clip. I want to plant my peas, beans, and other early crops by the end of the week.

It’s so good to be home! And happily, more posts are coming soon! I have three posts lined up for this week (including this one) and 3 next week on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule.

Happy spring!
Kristin

ps – update – finished digging the two other beds and went to lowes to get the remaining supplies for this sweet strawberry planter and the potato planter I talked about in this post months ago.

I feel like a bona fide author this week! Storey Publishing flew me out to Massachusetts to be on hand for the photographing of all the books steps. It’s turned out to be really good for both of us. We have been able to tighten up wording, make things better, and get to know each other a bit before the book goes into full production.

It’s pretty fun to see how to do high quality photos for a book. I’ve learned quite a lot and I’m excited to try some new things in my own photography.

They have so many fun sewing things in the photography studio. It’s great that the creative director AND the editor both have piles of amazing sewing notions, accessories, and material–which worked out great since I was flying here. I didn’t have to try and ship my studio of things to Mass. And it’s just neat to see other people’s collections–like this great stack of vintage fabrics, old wooden spool and pin cushion.

Last night it stopped raining long enough for me to wander around North Adams. This neat old warehouse is actually home to both Mass MoCA and Storey Publishing. I’ll be taking a tour on Thursday. So far I’ve just been at the photography studio.

I’m staying across the street from Storey at the Porches. Oh my gosh, love this place! I get coffee and croissants delivered to my room. There’s a huge tub in the bathroom. It’s decorated so freaking cute. I’ll take loads of pictures tomorrow so you can see. I’m so glad it’s comfortable because I’ve pretty much just been hanging out here working on things for Craft Leftovers–I need to get the next zine printed asap after getting back–and Ames C.art–we are getting our ArtVend project off the ground this week.

My personal part of the book making is finally coming to a close, manuscript, projects, and samples to photograph are finally all in their hands. But, there is still so much more work to be done. Proofs and layout, test prints and final reviews. Selling, marketing and publicizing are huge tasks all on their own that I’m so happy to help and be a part of it. It is my first book and I am so proud of the way it’s shaping up.

I’ll be back soon with more pictures and bookish fun!

Happy crafting!
Kristin

(Totally want to try making these homemade tortillas, yum! photo from The Health Seeker’s Kitchen)

Today I was at the gym and these two meat heads were being their general loud mouthed selves going on about drinking all night, getting up for class, sleeping through said class, and then coming to the gym to throw weights around…. And tacos! I guess there’s some kind of Taco Bar Thursday at one of the residence halls at ISU and they just kept going on about tacos. So here I am, working out, trying to mind my diet to trim some pound, and they keep just going on and on about these tacos – beef tacos, shrimp tacos, “I ate so many tacos last time I was like ‘uuuuuuhhhhh’ ” Taco Taco Taco.

I should tell you, I love tacos. I like chicken tacos, fish tacos, beef and bean, bean and cheese, tofu, avocado. Tacos are probably hands down my favorite food. After my 40 minutes of chest and bicep exercises are up I am jonesing for some freaking tacos. If I don’t get some tacos stat I’m going to have a serious melt down of give me now fits.

But I’m eating clean. I can’t have a cheat meal for 2 more whole days! Taco seasoning is loaded with msg, artificial flavors, weird gluten-something-soy-mono-no-what-the-crap-is-that-chemical-doing-in-my-food-type ingredients.

Wait.

I WILL make this work.

Taco seasoning wasn’t always packages in some little paper-plastic-aluminum sealed pouch. NO. Tacos have existed as long as flat bread – which is longer than sliced bread.

I will MAKE taco seasoning that is clean and on hand and delicious.

And so, after a quick look around on allrecipes.com I found this brilliantly easy recipe for a homemade taco mix, which I then modified thusly.

Taco Terror Craving Mix

For those times you are craving tacos, but don’t have any taco seasoning on hand.

Ingredients:

• 1 T chili powder
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1/2 t. onion powder
• 1/4 t. dried oregano
• 1/2 t. crushed chipotlé pepper with seeds
• 1 1/2 t. ground cumin
• 1 t. mineral salt
• 1 t. black pepper

Directions:
Whisk, smash, or blend it all together. I used my handy mortar and pestle that my sister gave me, but a small food processor or little whisk would work really well too.

To cook:
Cook up meat of your choice – I did shredded boiled chicken today, but ground anything would work well too – drain off excess grease.

Combine meat, taco mix, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 t better than bouillon (I used beef today, but chicken or veg would taste good too). You can also use 1/2 cup of the stock of your choice to replace the water and bouillon.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, simmer and stir occasionally until the water/stock has evaporated off.

Taco Toppings I love:

• black beans mashed with diced red onions
• cilantro
• tomatoes
• salsa
• sour cream
• shredded cheese
• lettuce
• avocado

We enjoyed the way it turned out so well that we had it for dinner too. I might make some more and have turkey tacos tomorrow! I do love tacos.

I hope you enjoy making your own taco mix as much as I have. It’s fun, easy, and much cheaper than store bought.

Until Next Time!
Kristin Michelle Roach