We are just 9 days away from the big wedding day, which means just 6 days away from the first wedding guest arriving. We really want to have the all the wedding related things done + the house prepared before those first guests start arriving.

Of course Jason and I both have two large projects coming up due about the same time we are getting married. And we are trying to get loads of work done before we leave on our Texas Triathlon trip so we can actually relax and have a non-working week long vacation. Chaos was consuming. The house was a mess. Still looks semi like we just moved in (maybe not that bad). But definitely was without the “homey” touches we both wanted, though the kitchen has always looked awesome. So…

Two weeks ago we did something that I only ever dreamed of doing. We hired help. My friend Aimee is a wonderfully talented creative woman who not only can make the dullest of dull things shine, but has an uncanny talent for organizing and bringing order to a disordered space. It’s a special type of personality that can cut through the clutter of a home and restore order in a way that it will stay organized despite the residence (Jason and I).

We’ve been able to clean and restore order to the bulk of the spaces that need it. Only the guest bedrooms are left and now we can focus on a little dash and splash decorating to tie this whole place together. This weekend I’m taking a “break” from wedding projects per-say and working on some home projects – a day bed for one of the guest bedrooms and a shoe caddy/bench for the living room.

I found the perfect day bed for one of our guest rooms (formally our offices), but with the $1000 price tag Pottery Barn had attached to it, I was going to settle for a much less attractive piece. That is until I found this amazing website that is revolutionizing my home woodworking projects. Have you ever seen Ana White: Homemaker? This website is brilliant. And I see about half of you have already liked it on facebook. I feel so in the dark sometimes! Why didn’t you tell me!

And wouldn’t you know it, she’s put together plans that knock off the very day bed I was envying? The Storage Day Bed: Lovely. I especially love Kara’s version and pictures of the bed. I guess it’s finally time to dig out my sewing machine and make all those pillows I’ve been talking about.

Encouraged by this tri-box approach, I’ve decided to build a knock off of my own. I found this “perfect” bench on amazon, but at $300, couldn’t really justify the expense. Especially because it would over-lap our living room windows by 5 inches+. I realized if I just leave off the bottom footer and give it a slightly less abundant cushion, it would fit our space perfectly. Ah I do love the custom nature of making it myself.

Today I wanted to share with you something a little different. It’s a project that has literally been keeping me up at night and last Friday I finally sent it off into the world. Our main contact at the location asked, “Does it feel like you are leaving your kid at daycare for the first time?”. She couldn’t have been more right! It was so hard leaving it there. Not watching over it. Making sure everyone played nice.

Last Thursday night I could hardly sleep, in fact I didn’t. Those last minute details–like applying inventory stickers to items–always take longer than I think they will. I think I got about hour hour of sleep, maybe, because I was so excited that the day had finally come (and there was a load of work to finish before dawn!). Myself and the whole Ames C.art team have been working on a vending machine project called ArtVend since last January 2010. We planned, schemed, fund raised, purchased a machine, cleaned it, changed out the lock, checked all the electronics, sanded, primed, painted, and finally applied the design and logos.

This project is really great for a few key reasons that we love to point out to anyone who will listen:

• It’s 100% local – everything was made within 50 miles of Ames
• It’s art and craft side by side!
• 20% is donated to charity (thanks to Wheatsfield’s generous donation of their “cut”)
• It’s 100% paid for! We were able to raise enough funds through kickstarter and our rummage sale to fully fund the machine.

I never thought I would consider myself a community art coordinator, but here I am, my second year in a row, heading up a large community art project and getting to do all the art for it too. That’s my design on the side, and I made the logo too! I laid everything out using Adobe Illustrator. We used adhesive backed vinyl for the design. It looks so clean and sharp – so much nicer than if I had tried to paint all those curves!

I started out in graphic design and illustration and in an odd series of events, find myself returning to those roots well after finishing my degree in oil painting. But I love it! And I love oil painting still too. It’s been a fun summer packed with projects–like my first solo show here in Ames that I had at The Space in July (I just picked up my paintings last Wednesday).

Wheatsfield was really pleased with how the machine turned out and is happy to be the host for the next year.

This project is so much fun. We are stocking the machine with work from local artists – so if you happen to live within 50 miles (give or take) of Ames, Iowa (or grew up there/have significant ties to our community) than you can submit your work to be stocked in the machine. Or if you happen to wander through Ames, come visit the machine, it’s located at the Wheatsfield Co-op! You can get all the details on the Ames C.art website.

Happy Crafting!
Kristin

The newest issue of Craft Leftovers Monthly is in the shop today and it happily marks 4 years of making this fun zine! Can you believe that? Four years of zine making and I’m still loving it as much as that first issue.

To mark this great event, get 40% off your entire order when you purchase any issue of Craft Leftovers Monthly now through October 1st! Just use coupon code “anni4” to get the discount!

And to mark this great anniversary issue, the first 50 issues sold have a limited edition color cover! It is super cute, look at this cuteness:

In this issue:

• Lemon Balm Tea
• September Skies Lacy Knit Headwrap
• DIY Watercolors and Travel Set
• Knitter’s Balm to relieve the aches
• Plant Press and Field Journal
• Find the Words – a crafty wordfind

Get Issue 4 in shop and don’t forget to use your discount code! A great time to stock up on back issues you missed or maybe even a whole box set! That’s right, those are discounted through the end of this month too. Maybe a great time to order some Christmas gifts for a crafty friend or two!

I’m put out a Fall issue around mid October and then a Holiday November/December issue in mid November to finish out this volume. It’s a small volume – just 6 issues total, but they are some of my favorites!

Happy Crafting!
Kristin