New Years Eve on a Budget

Jen over at Indie Fixx invited me to be a part of a fun article she whipped up about celebrating New Years Eve on a Budget that I thought you might enjoy. Learn how to make your own tiaras out of pipe cleaners like the one I am modeling here a few new years back. Find out what Black Eyed Pea recipe I will be whipping up tomorrow to ensure good luck for 2009. Plus see a cute picture of my friends Cory and Susanne.

I have a feeling that I will not make it until midnight tonight, but maybe. There is a laundry list of parties around town, but at 8 months pregnant I doubt I will make it to any.

Ella n' Sammy BFF

Who knew that donkeys and dogs could be best friends? I guess if you have an exceptionally large dog and a playful donkey most anything is possible. Last night we did Christmas with my in-laws in the small town of Smithville, TX where my mother-in-law lives on some acreage with her 3 dogs, 3 cats and pet donkey Samuel. I was not there last time Sammy met Ella (who is now over 110 pounds) but apparently they were fast friends on that occasion as well. Last night I practically thought they were going to head out to James Avery to get Best Friend dangle rings. Ella could be BE FRI and Samuel could have been ST ENDS. Don’t believe me, just watch the video.

For Craft Sales, the Recession Is a Help

My friend Kurt sent me this intersting article from the New York Times entitled For Craft Sales, the Recession Is a Help. Pictured is Etsy vendor Dennis Anderson pouring soap into molds.

If you run a crafty biz were your sales up this year? Business or not did you find yourself making and buying a lot of handmade gifts this year due to the economy? My friend Courtney made my puppies dog treats, Erin whipped up amazing Blueberry Preserves, my mom is sewing me curtains for the nursery, Hope is painting me a picture and I love these gifts even more because they are handmade.

Cut Out + Keep Crafty Superstars!

Man the holidays can sure suck up a girls time. Chris has been home from work so I have made him get into the nesting swing of things with me and we have been cleaning out kitchen cabinets, rounding things up for Goodwill and doing all around house maintenance – washing the windows is next. I’m still feeling the needle arts and have been embroidering little outfits for my niece’s Christmas gifts and Vickie taught me a new crochet stitch which I have been making into a baby blanket. Then there is the new marketing book pitch I need to have in to my editor by January 1st, so there has been a lot of writing going on. That being said I don’t have a whole lot of new fun stuff to tell or report.

One fun thing is a new interview I did for Cut Out + Keep. Not only an interview they are revealing a different project from The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry every day for 5 days! Get a sneak peak at projects like brooches made from old neckties, learn how to use a Melting Pot, cast resin and more!

Bead Bloggers

Art Bead Scene
It's the holiday season! Art Bead Scene is getting glitzy.

Carter Seibels for Divali Glass Jewelry
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Carter's studio.

About.com Jewelry Making
Think you don't have time to make any bead and wire holiday ornaments? Think again! Tammy has a super easy project so easy even children can make them.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi experiments with Claudine Hellmuth's new product line and ends up with another fun necklace!

Erin of BeadStyleMag.com
Erin's chosen a few free jewelry how-to's to get you crossing off the names on your shopping list.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Inspired by Chinese creation myths, Andrew creates a Swarovski-encrusted and bead embellished sculpture.

Naughty Secretary Club
Raid your stash of vintage baubles to make some Floral Fros – jewelry encrusted coifs to make your walls swoon!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean's in a holiday mood for Soft Flex Company!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off a simple winter rose bracelet project this week.

Jewelry & Beading
Glass bead artists galore are being featured on Jewelry & Beading!

I Pledge Allegiance to the Handmade Nation - an interview and contest!

One of the proudest accomplishments in all my crafty life is being a part of Handmade Nation. The yet to be released film and stellar new book by Faythe Levine and Courtney Heimerl are in my opinion some of the most important aspects of the DIY Movement as we know it today. The book profiles over 20 crafters from around the country including Jill Bliss, Heidi Kenny, Sue Daly, Jenny Hart and more – including me! Not only is the book brimming with wonderful colorful photos of makers in their studios doing what they do best the text and interviews are endlessly entertaining and informative. There is a crafty time line, craftifesto, articles on the Church of Craft, amazing handiwork by Kate Bingaman-Burt – the list goes on. I suggest writing to Santa today to request Handmade Nation of just check out the end of this interview for your chance to win a copy!

I was lucky enough to chat with author Faythe Levine about the book, my favorite topic marketing, traveling to craft fairs and oodles more. Snuggle in with a cup of coffee or cold beer (depending on what time of day you are reading this) and prepare to be informed.


In the story of the chicken or the egg, the documentary came first. How did the idea for a companion book come about?

In April 2007 we uploaded an 8 minute teaser clip to Youtube.com, it received a great deal of attention from the craft community as well as the attention of three different publishers. Our publisher Princeton Architectural Press was my first choice out of the three. They asked for a formal proposal to pitch and at that point I contacted friend and fellow artist Cortney Heimerl who signed on as the co-author to the project. Together we put together a concept for the book and it unfolded quickly from there.

How did you choose which subjects from the film would be the few you profiled for the Handmade Nation Book? Was it like Sophie’s Choice trying to choose?

There were a few things I took into consideration when selecting who was featured in Handmade Nation the book. First, I went through the footage that I felt was the strongest interviews. Second, since we were dividing the book up regionally we took who was from where into consideration. Third, we looked at the type of work people produced because I wanted a wide variety of mediums represented.


I love how Handmade Nation has a crafty time line of sorts, if you had to break the time line down and pick 10 moments that most influenced the current handmade movement what would they be?

If I had to pick my 10 moments that have influenced the current handmade movement (off the top of my head in no particular order):
1. Renegade Craft Fair
2. The launch of Getcrafty.com, Craftster.org and the Glitter Boards
3. The launch of Craft Magazine
4. The Handmade 2.0 article in the NY Times Magazine written by Rob Walker
5. The first Craft Congress in 2006
6. Debbie Stoller’s influence: Bust Magazine and the Stitch & Bitch Books
7. The launch of Etsy
8. The redesign/relauch of American Craft Magazine
9. The start of shooting Handmade Nation (is that totally pompous?!, I don’t mean it to be)
10. The launch of www.cutxpaste.com


How did you guys decide on your contributing writers? Why the choice to have Susan Beal and Garth Johnson be contributors rather than profiles?

Similar to our decision making process with the featured makers I looked at who I had worked with and who had what to offer. Susan Beal and Garth Johnson both do a lot of writing surrounding the community and I wanted their voices to be strong when people were reading about different aspect of the community.

Writing a book is hard work, and you guys had to rush to get Handmade Nation done. What was the toughest part of getting the book together? Wrangling the interviews? Deciding who to interview? Dealing with a publisher?

We worked with a three-month turn-around for our final manuscript from the time we signed our contract. This was so we could get the book out by this fall and not late spring of 2009. Since we had most of the material gathered for the text the difficult part was getting the featured makers to submit photos that represented their work well.

You have traveled to craft fairs all over the country doing interviews and showing clips of Handmade Nation. We were thrilled to have you here in Austin for Stitch! Traveling to craft shows can be pricey, for a maker on a budget what craft shows would you recommend forking over the dough on a plane ticket for? Which ones do you think helped spread the gospel about Handmade Nation the most?

It’s tough to weigh out what shows are worth traveling to. Honestly, I would recommend indoor shows for makers who are worried about recouping their travel expenses- a rainy day can ruin sales entirely. The larger more established shows guarantee a large shopping audience, but can also be more competitive if there are a lot of vendors, so I recommend weighing out the originality of your work. If you think that what you make is the top notch of it’s type- then by all means fork out the money to travel to a show with 150+ vendors. If you are worried that you may not have something that is innovative enough, it may be a good bet to stay local or try a smaller show that accepts out of town vendors.

For us, going to the large shows is always the best bet for promotional purposes. I am basically there to be a talking advertisement- sometimes I am better at it then others. If you are not in the mood to talk with 100’s of people stopping to look at your table it can be really brutal. This past year I really enjoyed going to Renegade San Francisco and Felt Club in Los Angeles.

Dang girls Handmade Nation is already on its 3rd printing, that is amazing! You guys have garnered some awesome press Nylon, Etsy, New York Times. What are some pearls of wisdom for other authors and crafters about the importance of and how-to do a little guerilla marketing?

Networking and updating and my two priorities. Having a strong Internet presence is probably the most important thing I can recommend. This doesn’t mean placing ad’s for your 50% off on all 700 of your myspace.com friend’s pages every week either (I think that can be totally counter-productive). It means photographing what you are doing, blogging about it, sharing on flickr.com and participating in feedback with other community members. Most importantly just always working, moving forward and staying focused. I also recommend not procrastinating- always answer emails, send out press releases when you have a new line, newsletters often (but not too much) and just stay tuned to what is going on locally and nationally.

What next? You guys have invested so much time into Handmade Nation the documentary and the book, what are you plans for when things settle back down? Do you already have something else cooking on the back burner or are you looking forward to a little time off to bake cookies and stare at belly button lint?

The big what’s next, well, I’m putting together a proposal for another book and will continue to travel and promote Handmade Nation the documentary after it’s premier in 2009. I have a few international trips coming up in 2009 including a stint in Australia in March! There really isn’t ever any down time since every six weeks I have a gallery show to promote at my space Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery that I co-own with Kim Kisiolek in Milwaukee. We have a fantastic line up of artists for 2009 (Sarah Neuburger of the small object and Micaela O’Herlihy who was the director of photography for the documentary, she just also happens to be an incredible painter). I also have plans to work on some collaborative projects that will remain nameless in case I can fit them into my schedule this year, they may be for what’s next in 2010!


I have two copies of Handmade Nation to give away! All you have to do is leave me a comment letting me know your answer to the question I asked Faythe about the moments that you feel most influenced the current handmade movement. Feel free to name 1 or 20. Was there a particular crafter, website, event, article that you think really propelled the movement forward? What was the thing that brought you into the handmade movement? You have until December 18th and then I will pick 2 winners at random.

After you leave your comment and while you wait to see if you won, why don’t you check out a clip from Handmade Nation the movie.

Handmade Hellos - A Book Review and How To!

Have you ever unexpectedly tapped into something that you didn’t know you liked? Like you went for Korean food with friends thinking it would suck and ended up living for Kimchi? I had a similar experience with card making once. On an episode of Craft Lab we started the show by making little greeting cards out of paper and fabric and to my surprise I never wanted to get on with the episode because I wanted to sit there and make cards all day. For some reason I enjoyed the whole thing a lot more than I thought I would. It was one of those “who knew I liked paper crafts” types of moments. I might not make cards often, but when I do it is one of my favorite craft projects. This would be one of the reasons I was so dang happy when a copy of Handmade Hellos: Fresh Greeting Card Projects from First-Rate Crafters made its way into my world.

Handmade Hellos is written by Sarah and Eunice Moyle founders of Hello! Lucky. Not only do these card making mavens contribute adorable projects to the book, but so do several of their talented friends like Binth, Egg Press, The Small Object and more. There are over 25 projects total for making the perfect handmade card, which is darn handy to have right here at the holidays when card sending is a must. The spiral bound craft book is chocked full of colorful inspirational pictures that made me want to rush out and buy some fresh card making supplies. Which I did as you will see in a moment with my very own handmade Christmas hello. Techniques like origami, screen printing, embossing, collage and more are incorporated into these clever cards. Not just any card either we are talking cards that pop up, have secret pockets, horoscope windows and do more than you ever really thought a card could do. All holidays and events are covered as well from thank you cards to baby announcements.

Flipping through the pages of the book I kept getting more and more excited about what cards I was going to make. The nice thing about the book is that so many techniques and styles are covered you can easily take something from several examples and come up with you own design, which is exactly what I did. Several of the cards like the Anne Taintor inspired Cocktail Hour Photo Card and the Photo Ornament Card got me to thinking about all the pictures I took at my parent’s house last Christmas. They are some of the most viewed pictures in my entire Flickr account so seems like they would make amazing Christmas cards. The Wish You were Here Postcard set reminded me of the suitcase full of postcards I had from my grandmother and the Valentines I made with them last year. With all these creative juices flowing I cleared the kitchen table and embarked on a Christmas card making journey. Consider this your handmade project of the week on the blog, since these are so super easy to make!

Handmade Christmas Hellos
WHATCHA NEED
Ready made cards
Glue dots
Glue stick
Photos that you have taken
Printer
Photo paper
Sewing Trim
Scissors
Computer
Vintage postcards
Aleene’s Tacky Glue
Aleene’s Instant Decoupage Medium
Sponge Brush
Triple Thick Top Coat

HOW TO
Christmas Postcards

Choose your backdrops. I started by selecting several vintage postcards from my stash that had lots of negative space. Next I dipped into my supply of vintage Christmas cards. I had picked these up at a flea market in Massachusetts years ago for a buck. All of them are signed, but I wanted them for the graphics so it didn’t matter to me. I scoured the cards for the perfect holiday picture.

Eyeballing it I matched up my postcards and greeting cards based on size and colors. When I made a life choice I cut the graphics out from my Christmas cards and placed the images where I wanted them on the postcards.

Next using a sponge brush I applied a thick layer of my decoupage onto the postcard then applied my Christmas graphics and put another layer of decoupage on top. I allowed this to dry completely and then applied a layer of Triple Thick Top Coat just in case in transit the card got hit with rain, sleet or snow.

From here these cards can be mailed just like a postcard or you can take the extra step of applying the postcard to a ready made card backing and sending it an envelope.


HOW TO
Christmas Photo Cards

Sure you could make your card from scratch Handmade Hellos has all kinds of ways to help you with that, but I am the type of crafter that likes to cut a few corners. The craft store is loaded with blank ready made cards complete with envelopes, they even have some that are glittered coated! You need a good selection so I went with a box of solid colors, box of patterned and several packages of the glitter covered!

Next I chose what pictures I wanted to use and cropped them to the correct size on my computer since they were digital photos. I then printed them out of shiny photo paper.

What glue you use to make your photo cards is a matter of preference. I started with a glue stick and quickly decided I liked the glue dots much better. I also used small black photo corners to give some of my cards a different feel.

Center your image on your card and make a life choice about placement. Once you are happy the glue dots are easily burnished onto the backs of your photos using your fingernail. If I was also using photo corners I only used 4 glue dots in the centers of all 4 sides. If the card was going to be without photo corners I used 8 glue dots applying them to the centers and corners of all 4 sides.

Once this is done all that is left to do is put pen to paper and wish your great Aunt Tokey a very merry Christmas and pop this baby in the mail. I warn you...card making can be addictive and super easy so you might find yourself sending cards to people you have not spoken to in years.

If you want to take your cards a step further with extra embellishment, feel free. In Handmade Hellos there are projects like The Blue Ribbon Congratulations Card that has a fun cloth rosette embellishment and the Fuzzy Octopus Valentine with button eyes. I decided to dip into my array of vintage rick rack and bias tape for inspiration.

I used the same steps as above to make my photo cards, but then using craft glue I added some extra bling around the edges. A light coat of glue with hold your trim in place. Measure out your 4 strips of trim and cut to size and then glue into place. Allow this card to dry completely before placing in an envelope and handing it off to your mail man.


Between this how-to and Handmade Hellos you have no excuse for not sending out Christmas cards this year! Who are some of your favorite card makers? Card making books? Card making supplies? I’m always looking for more inspiration in the realm of card making. After all I have custom baby announcements to make right around the corner so I need to plan ahead.

Travis Nichols Bestows Some Punk Rock Etiquette

Today we continue on our journey through book week on the Naughty Secretary Club blog with a fun interview and more importantly a contest. Did someone say free stuff. Yes I did.

My friend Travis Nichols has himself a brand spanking new book out called Punk Rock Etiquette. Just when you thought I only blogged about craft books I throw a curve ball at you. Punk Rock Etiquette is a combination comic book, DIY how-to guide, touring manifesto, marketing plan and more. The book is not just for people in a band either so if you are thinking you gave up your harpsichord lessons long ago and this book won’t be applicable to you, then you would be wrong. For anyone who has ever seen a band play and been annoyed by their onstage antics, dated someone in a band, had a child obsessed with playing Guitar Hero – this book is for all those people and more. Snappy writing that will make you giggle, hilarious illustrations (Travis after all has had comics in Nickelodeon Magazine) and for all you crafters (he has an Etsy store too) instructions for how to silk screen T-shirts and make CD cases out of cereal boxes!



We were lucky enough to have a little chat with Travis about Punk Rock Etiquette, his band Omega Monster Patrol, his life as a Texas vegan living in San Francisco and more. Be sure to check out how to win a signed copy of Punk Rock Etiquette at the end.

Was there a breaking point for you that inspired this book? Like was there a particular show that you saw or were involved in where the band took forever to set up, paused between every song to change guitars and tune, never mentioned hide nor hair of the other bands on the bill and you thought to yourself good God people there is such a thing as punk rock etiquette. For instance I once had a band hit my suburban with their tour van and then deny it, they are a perfect example of someone who could use a copy.

The idea for Punk Rock Etiquette came a little bit at a time. I think the initial moment was on a tour where a lot of bands were violating what I thought were just plain common sense "rules". Especially when it came to setting up before a set and getting off stage afterwards. The most critical of errors and my biggest pet peeve is when someone winds up their guitar cables on stage. No! Just grab your stuff and BOUNCE. There's another band waiting to set up. Those little lulls between bands are crucial. Lots of people bail during breaks. And lots of other stuff happened on that tour (like when we played with a band with eleven spare guitars on a rack on stage... and the bass player broke a string, which brought the show to a screeching halt for ten minutes while their "guitar tech" changed it). So, long story short, it sort of started as a DOs and DON'Ts list that my pal Shaun and I started on the road, then we forgot about it, and then I kind of re-thought of it as a how-to.

Who do you think will get the most out of Punk Rock Etiquette? There is advice on marketing, a packing guide for going on tour, how-to instructions for silk screening your own band T-shirts so it seems there is something for every band level. Do you personally think a newbie who just started their band or an old salty dog who’s band has been around the touring block would find your book most interesting?

I wanted to write the book to give newer folks a leg up on DIY music, but also wanted to give veterans of the punk scene fun stuff to read (and things to pick up as well). I've heard from 14-year-olds who liked the book and learned some good stuff from it. And my good buddy Kyle (of The Kyle Sowashes) has been playing and putting out music and touring for well over a decade, and he's into it. So yeah, hopefully people at every level can get something out of it.

For those of us not in a band, tell us why we would also heart Punk Rock Etiquette.

My mom and her friends like the book. Not really my key demographic, but I'll take it! I think there are enough comics and illustrations and jokes and stuff that it can potentially appeal to non-indie-rockers. It hasn't really hit hard in the "scene" yet. It's hard to market to, you know, an anti-corporate subculture. Haha. Um... yeah. But we'll see! Word of mouth is a powerful sumgun.

Back when Naughty Secretary Club was a zine I had a section called The Name Game where I asked bands like Arab Strap, Trail of Dead and Mates of State what the story was behind their bands name. If I were to ask Rasslin, Screaming & Violence and The Big Pile of Dirt about their names what would they say?

That is the best question ever! Let's see. Rasslin is kind of a gimmick band. All of their songs are about wrestling, and they dress as wrestlers - from amateur to professional to sumo to lucha libre. So that one is easy. Screaming & Violence went for irony in their name. They're a low-fi indie-pop band. Screaming and Violence is also the name of a Needies record (a band of mine) that came from my mom's distaste of music with "all of that screaming and violence". The Big Pile of Dirt got their name from a children's short story in one of those old storybooks from the '50s/'60s. It was a story about kids in a neighborhood finding this huge pile of dirt and junk in an abandoned lot, and it became their paradise. The band picked the name because it fit their thick, sludgy, spacey sound. 78 Monsters is an electro-grindcore band. They picked the name because it is awesome. By the way, I'm slowly working on music for all of the fictional bands in the book. There will probably be a compilation at some point.

Travis you are man of many talents: obviously a very witty writer, a musician and then on top of that an amazing artist/illustrator. If God came down today and said you have to pick one skill and I’m taking the other 2 away what skill would you keep?

Now that, on the other hand, is a HORRIBLE question. Come on, Jen! I kind of want to refuse to answer it. I guess right now I'm having tons of fun writing books and doing all of the stuff that goes along with it - book festivals and stuff. But... no. God wouldn't do that to me. Your question is hereby nullified.

I think I love the illustrations almost as much as I love the text of Punk Rock Etiquette. Not everyone can write a witty book and then illustrate it give yourself a nice pat on the back for that one buddy. Which came first for you the writing or the drawings? Which did you find to be more difficult and time consuming between the two?

The writing came first, and the illustrations after. They took about the same amount of time, but the illustrating was a bit more grueling. I spent many a day in the Architecture Library at UT after I discovered it when my girlfriend was in the Masters program there. What a great room. I'd get up there in the morning and work until 5pm. It was perfect because it was huge and beautiful and quiet and I didn't have internet access or TV to distract me.

In the section on forming a band you describe various potential band mates ranging from The Tortured Poet to The Rich Kid. What are your thoughts on say choosing a Sid Vicious type just so you can have a delinquent in your band and more street cred even though your rhythm section will suffer horribly? Rock-n-Roll does seem to be more about image than it is about talent in a lot of cases.

I had a Delinquent in a band once. He was an AMAZING drummer, but he was very much into getting in trouble and "the rock star life". He was fun to have around... to a point. We were on tour and on the night before our last show he wanted us to buy him beer (he was a minor at the time). The last thing I wanted was to get pulled over and be caught with a minor and an open container. We told him no, and then he got some dude at the gas station to buy a 40 for him. We were PISSED and decided that night that he was finished playing with us. We canceled our last show and went home. Man, we were a bunch of goody-two-shoes. And MAN, he was SUCH a badass drummer.

Give us your credentials on the subject matter...

How old were you when you first joined a band?

I was 15 when my neighbor and I formed "Yahoo for Pablo". I played my first "real" show at 16 with Choking Ahogo (not to be confused with the few other bands with the same name). It's funny. Most bands that I have been in have been two-man bands. Both of those and The Needies, The Short Way, and one or two others.

What is the name of your current band?

OMEGA MONSTER PATROL! It's equal parts band and performance... thing. I'm also toying with "reforming" The Needies. It started as just me and then I added a drummer, and I've done some thinking about finding some new pals to play with.

What was the first instrument you learned to play?

I took piano lessons in elementary school, and that helped me later on when I started playing trumpet, then guitar, etc.

Who was the first band you saw in concert?

My parents took me to a lot of concerts, and I don't remember what was first. I saw The Dixie Chicks when I was like 13. There were four of them, Natalie wasn't in the band, and they were country as hell. But my dad had a law professor who was in a Creole/Cajun band, and I know I saw them play when I was younger than that. So... hmmm...

What band have seen live the most times?

What band have I seen the most times? I've seen Minus the Bear three times. When I was living in Lubbock during college, some friends and I drove to Portales, NM when they were playing. We were all really into them, and I don't think anyone in Portales knew who they were. It was a RAD show. I've seen Cursive two or three times. I guess that's it for more well-known bands. Other than that, I've seen a bunch of Lubbock friend's bands a zillion times. Tom Foolery and the Mistakes, 10k Drive, Kid Gruesome, Thrift Store Cowboys. Same thing with Austin bands. I think I've seen your manfriend's radical band three or four times. They're awesome. They're the audio equivalent of a glass bottle of syrup getting smashed on your head. Woah. That was poetic. Pitchfork, did you read that?

What is the most exotic location you have toured to?

Lamely enough, I've never played outside of these united states. I've played out to both coasts, but as far as exotic... let's see. Well, I got to play at the Sidewalk Cafe in New York. That place is the world capitol of anti-folk, so it was sort of a pilgrimage for me back in 2004 or whenever that was. And it was perfect and fitting because there were like six people there. Oh, the struggle! I love playing in smaller cities, and I really love playing in New Mexico and Arizona. With OMEGA MONSTER PATROL!, I most often play at art galleries, so that has made for some weirdo shows.

What’s next for Travis Nichols, man about town? Are you gonna pack you up some Shaun Chow and go for a book tour, of course following Punk Rock Etiquette guidelines? Any new books on the horizon? Is Omega Monster Patrol going to put out a new record? Inquiring minds want to know.

I'm looking to do a book/rock tour in February or so. California to Texas. There will be Shaun Chow and dehydrated zucchini-a-plenty. I also want to do a week or so in the Northeast traveling via Chinatown Express bus, even though I think I swore I'd never ride them again last time I went on one.

I do have a new book on the horizon. This one is fiction, and it's sort of an easy transition from Punk Rock Etiquette. It's about a kid trying to get a drum set, but The Man keeps trying to hold him down. It's a coming-of-age story about dealing with authority figures, i.e. The Man. It's tongue-in-cheek, though. I mean, it's The Man, but it's not a prison warden or anything. It's the principal and parents and stuff. I also have a picture book that might come out at around the same time, but most likely after. And I'm still doing comics for Nickelodeon Magazine every once in a while. What else. Um, I'm working on some posters and stuff.

I'm also thinking about a quarterly Punk Rock Etiquette magazine. The book is an across-the-board how-to, so the magazine would get into specifics. Stuff about awesome bands and more tutorials and random city profiles (like where to eat if you play there, etc.) and comics and stuff.

I've been so busy with book things that I haven't played any since I moved to San Francisco. I played a couple of songs at the Texas Book Festival (you were there), but that's it. I need to get out and dust off Red Sparrow, fluff Tina's fur and get back out there. I have a new OMP! release ready to go, but I haven't had time to do the work. It's going to be a cassingle. Recorded over existing cassingles that I've been collecting. I also have the last Needies record that we never put out. Not sure exactly how I'll put that out, but both releases will also be for sale online. You know, it being the future and all.

Ok onto the free stuff!!!

See little Travey-Poo just sitting here in the picture signing copies of Punk Rock Etiquette? He is inscribing them with lyrics from Peter Cetera just for you, and I’m not joshing! 2 lucky winners will score themselves a signed copy of the book by just leaving a comment right here on this blog post. You have until December 16th to let me know what are some of the things that you have seen bands do that annoy you? What about fellow show goers that could use a bit of punk rock etiquette? Girlfriends of the band members can sometimes irritate me, what about them. Come on let the world know with your comment and you might just win!

Complete Embellishing by Kayte Terry

I have never come across a book with a more appropriate title than Complete Embellishing: Techniques and Projects. Author Kayte Terry of the wondermous blog This is Love Forever and publisher Home Arts hit the nail on the head with the name. No embellishing stone is left unturned as the book covers everything from needle felting & potato stamping to stencils from freezer paper and glass etching. The book discusses techniques for wearables & home décor items. See I told you when they said complete embellishing they were not kidding.

From the moment I started flipping through the pages of Complete Embellishing my heart was going pitter patter. I have a bit of an addiction to craft books. First there was the fact that the book is spiral bound like a cook book, which I totally appreciate. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to follow instructions and hold a book open at the same time. The tools and techniques section of this book is 50 pages long. In most cases that might seem excessive but with Complete Embellishing I found the information indispensable. I can tell already that I will be using this book again and again as a reference while crafting. I was just getting ready to make some appliqué awesomeness happen and well what do ya know there are simple instructions in the book for basic and reverse appliqué. I have spent the weekend embroidering onesies barely conquering a basic split stitch and Complete Embellishing has 5 pages of tutorial for trickier moves like the feather stitch and ribbon embroidery. I’m gonna need more onesies.



Not just a reference book, Complete Embellishing is full of big colorful inspirational project pictures. Some books trying to tap into the DIY handmade market get the look all wrong and since Kayte Terry is a woman of the crafty people (just check out her articles on Get Crafty) she knows the look and aesthetic that appeals to this crowd and scene. In other words this book is chocked full of things I would actually make and wear. My favorite project might have to be the Bits and Pieces Scarf made with a variety of doilies. It reminds me of the Bouquet Light Shade by Nice that I have been eyeballing for quite sometime. A close second is the Rainy Day Skirt. Small print feedsack recycled onto a contrasting hounds tooth skirt was never cuter. Always a sucker for silhouettes I am completely smitten on the Quick Shoe Embellishments and Lord and Lady Pillowcases. Plus you know the way to my heart is through jewelry and there are a few pieces inside!

For people like me that love the look of an embellished wardrobe and home, but don’t so much love the sewing machine Complete Embellishing is for you. Don’t fret if you are a whiz at the machine, there is plenty inside these spiral bound pages that will curl your crafty toes as well. If a book can make a pregnant woman want to get up off the couch, change out of her pajamas and run to the nearest 24 hour Wal Mart at 10pm to score some fusible webbing you know it has to be good.

Today marks the start of book week here at the Naughty Secretary Club blog. Who doesn’t like finding a bright shiny new book under the Christmas tree? I thought I’d throw a few gift suggestions your way this week. Look for interviews, how-tos and more reviews. To help celebrate book week My Craftivity is having themselves a 40% off sale. That means if you just enter the code MYC40DEC when you score a copy of The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry at My Craftivity it’s just barely over 10 bucks! That’s cheap enough to get a copy for everyone on your naughty and nice list!

Bead Bloggers

Carter Seibels for Divali Glass Jewelry
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Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Barbe reviews Tammy Powleys Making Designer Mixed Media and Memory Jewelry with 2 big thumbs up!

Katie's Beading Blog
Make your own jewelry sets in minutes with these projects that are perfect for gifting.

Brilliant Crystal Jewelry 2
Get the scoop on this special issue from Bead&Button Magazine

Carmi's Chinese Silk Button Covers
The simple button form is used to create these stunning asian inspired fabric pendants.

Art Bead Scene has a deal for you!
Got $10? Then you can make lovely home decor with art buttons and beads!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
The mythic riddler-of-old prompts Andrew to find Sphinx Inspired jewelry components.

Jewelry & Beading
Cyndi is hosting a Beadmaker's Blitz this month!

About.com Jewelry Making
Thinking of ways to sign your jewelry art? How about a metal stamp? Even better, how about a cool sale Tammy found out about on metal stamps and jewelry tags?

Naughty Secretary Club
Jen is in the midst of a 4 day jewelry display extravaganza with this post that gives you a glimpse into the jewelry boxes of the ladies behind Felt Club, Crafty Chica, Handmade Detroit, 31 Corn Lane and More!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean, an "Amazon top 1000 reviewer" pens her thoughts concerning Melinda Barta's new custom jewelry making book!

Strands of Beads
Melissa makes very simple Christmas tree earrings to kick off the holiday season.

Holiday Tour of Homes in McKinney, TX

Do you live near Dallas, TX? Do you love looking at fancy Christmas decorations? Do 100+ year old Victorian homes do anything for you? If you answered yes to any of these questions you need to shake a tail feather and get your toosh up to McKinney, TX this weekend for their annual Holiday Tour of Homes. This year is super special because my parent’s house is on the bill. See the room I grew up in, though things look quite different these days. My mother has been killing herself for weeks spray painting taxidermy deer heads festive Christmas green, stringing up the biggest faux acorns you have seen in your life and lugging life size Santas that really wave up tall staircases. Stop by the pink Victorian house on the tour, find the cute short sassy red head or the tall lanky guy with glasses walking around like a proud peacock and tell them I sent ya. Here are a few pictures of their house last year just decorated for a normal family Christmas so you can imagine what it looks like this year. She lost count of how many Christmas trees she put up!






I’m sad to miss the tour, but alas I will be there this time next week for a baby shower so I will still get to see the house in all it’s Christmas glory. I’ll take and post some pictures then!

Floral Fros – Jewelry Encrusted Coifs to Make Your Walls Swoon!

There was a time not long ago when I would look at Christmas Trees made of vintage costume jewelry and a pang of sadness came across me. All that beautiful jewelry that had been torn up to make a decoration, think of the revamped vintage jewelry I could make with it!

Lately my feelings have changed. I don’t know what happened, it’s as if something nostalgic for the trees came over me and now I kind of wish I had one of my very own. These are some fantastical examples by This Little Piggy, Junkmail 050269 and Dally. I started to make myself a jewelry covered tree for this holiday season, but I had a better idea. Jewelry covered Christmas trees can only stay up around the house for a month at most without making you look like those weird neighbors that keep their Christmas lights up all year long. My concept was a Floral Fro that could adorn your walls all year long!

The idea for Floral Fros came to me as I was flipping through a book I found at a thrift store called Hair Today. It’s a gold binder full of hair style pictures (front and back) straight out of the 70’s. The bottom of each picture says “Hair Style of the Month Chicago, IL”. I have been going through a silhouette phase lately and decided why couldn’t I combine the two looks together. With that I chose my favorite profile from the book, scanned her in, turned her black and white in Photoshop and printed her out on some sturdy paper.

Next I needed to cut out a piece of felt to the exact size of my head, this is where I started racking my brain for tracing ideas.

I placed a piece of parchment paper over my hair style hottie and was able to clearly see the picture and trace her outline. I cut out this piece of paper making a pattern and pinned it to some white felt. I then cut the white felt out in the same exact shape as my woman’s head.

My black and white woman needed a protective top coat so it was time to rev up my heat press and bust out the laminating paper. I cut off all her perfectly coiffed hair, ran her through the laminating machine and then trimmed her up.

Once this was done I then lined her face up with the piece of felt I had cut out and glued her face down to the felt.

Next the fun part. I keep some of my craft supplies in drawers sorted by colors. This is a system I use mostly for things I only have one of. I hit my white drawers and started pulling out all the earrings, pins, pearls and what not that I could find.


First things first I decided to outline my Floral Fro with a strand of faux pearls using a glue gun.


In my line of work it pays to have very little discretion when shopping for craft supplies. It just so happens that I have 3 whole drawers full of white and cream odds and ends that came in darn handy for this little project. Once upon a time on a trip to Rhode Island I purchased a huge bag of single clip on earrings from several different costume jewelry designers Coro, Sarah Coventry and more. My guess is they were singles so that traveling costume jewelry sales men could take the examples to stores for them to see, the stores chose their favorite styles, placed an order and the rest was history. Lucky for me white was apparently a hot color for clip on earrings in the 50’s and 60’s.


Using my pliers I removed the backs to all the earrings. I then placed them within the pearl trimmed outline of my Floral Fro and once I had everything placed exactly where I wanted it I went back and glued everything down.


The last few steps were to glue my silhouette onto a piece of black felt and frame my piece of art. I am totally smitten on the finished results!


So smitten in fact that I made another version in black and white!


Think you might want to stick with the traditional jewelry covered Christmas tree this time around? No problem. I scanned in some easy step by step instructions from one of my favorite craft books Don’t Throw That Away by Vivian Abell.




You can also visit the Signs of Times n Such blog for more instructions. She also currently has “Hard Candy Christmas” by Dolly Parton playing over there that makes me feel warm and squishy as it is one of my holiday faves.

Don’t forget we are doing a crafty how-to a week through December so that you can be sure to give the raddest home made gifts in all the land. Kinky Candles, Jewelry Displays and more! Keep you eyes peeled for book week with contests, reviews and a fun how-to card making guide coming up next!

Let me know what you think of the Floral Fros and if you decide to make one yourself!