Drumroll

So! I have exciting news... well I think it's exciting! Coming in October I will be participating in a blog hop giveaway. Kind of like a blog progressive dinner. I will let you know more but the prize will be a copy of Ricë Freeman Zachary's

Destination Creativity: The Life-Altering Journey of the Art Retreat.
I have a project in there and I'll be talking about it and a new tip that will help you to make the charms. More info to come, so stay tuned!

Eric Whitacre

I think I can safely say that Eric Whitacre is one of my daughter's idols. My daughter is complex... many 16 year old girls are. She's searching... she's a rocker, she loves loud metal and can rip, she likes paintball and Halo yet loves videos of small cute animals. She's not a prep, not a scholar really, though she's smart and watches stuff like the BBC's Pride & Prejudice series with me over and over again. As a mom you worry ya know? Where's she gonna end up? How will I get her through it all in tact? Well, my daughter found chorus. The chorus teacher at her high school has some sort of magic touch with these kids. Kids from all walks find a common ground and they excel together. Meredith has fallen in with this mottled pack and adores it. I beam with pride when they sing in their black gowns and pearls. She has gone to searching Youtube for "cool, ancient sounding music" She's showed me videos of choirs from all around the world singing Mozart and Bach in grottos, kyrie's in canyons. Through this she has discovered the music of Eric Whitacre. If you haven't seen his Virtual Choir then I strongly recommend that you do. Here's a talk he did with clips of his choir for TED
Hearing his talk about this project always makes me cry. We've come to adore his music in our house. And I dream that my daughter, who wants to be a rock star, will become a composer... or a rock star composer...

JOURNALFEST 2011

Looking for a pick me up this fall? Come take my classes at Journalfest in Port Townsend, WA!
I will be teaching this Roadsign Journal. I'll bring the covers and show you how to attach stuff to it and bind in pages. You bring some pages and some cool stuff to attach, and we'll rock-n-roll. Next I will be teaching how to make this wild little wooden journal

I will supply beautiful maple covers made by woodworker Art Bert in Pennsylvania. We will dye carve and decorate them. Then I will show you how to bind them with a coptic stitch binding that looks complicated but isn't! Fun will be had by all!