The Friendship Stone Power of 2 Giveaway (Closed)

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. - Aristotle

The Friendship Stone is one of those things that you see and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?!” They recently sent me their Power of 2 (PO2) gift set and both my husband and I loved it. I like that I can keep the stone in the bag on my desk or toss just the stone in my pocket so that every time I reach in my pocket it’s there as a tangible reminder of the other person. It can also serve as a sort of worrystone.

The PO2 comes with two stones, two bags, two blank gift cards and a brochure explaining the meaning and origins of the stones.


All Friendship Stone purchases are “giveback gifts” meaning that 10% of profits go back to Western South African communities where the stones originate as part of Project South Africa. The PO2 also gives back in another way through Big Brothers Big Sisters. Twenty percent of profits go towards BBBS with fifteen percent of that going toward a local agency based on the purchaser’s zip code. These purchases must be made through the Big Brothers Big Sisters-The Friendship Stone site to be eligible.


Cathy Raff is the owner/founder of My Stone Company. This is her story as given to me.

“Cathy Raff was born in Ocala, Florida. She was one of five ‘Cathys’ in her high school and was given the nickname ‘Rafi which has managed to stick still today. A graduate of the University of Texas, with a BA with honors in Journalism with the emphasis in Photojournalism she now owns her own studio in Israel. It is from here that she runs My Stone Company with her best friend and sister, Jill, in New York. The Friendship Stone keepsakes and jewelry that her company produces and sells are more than just giftware, they stand as a symbol of the power of positive thinking and the ability to change your situation.

In her first year of college, Cathy was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitus and on her 21st birthday, had a total colectomy (total removal of the large intestine). Of the ordeal Cathy says ‘I knew this was really my birthday, as I felt re-born on the day after I awoke from surgery.’ Then when she was 31, she met the man of her dreams and married. It took them four years and twelve unsuccessful in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments to start a family. In the end they realized how lucky they were to have an alternative; surrogacy. The following years Cathy and her husband worked with three amazing women who were each incredible and responsible for helping bring the couple three healthy children.

Because she had been medically challenged so many times, Cathy realized the disease she dealt with on a daily basis was actually a gift. Cathy spent quite a lot of time thinking about life and what was important to her. Before her surgery, she had forgotten what life was without pain. She could not imagine what it was like to have energy or even the desire to get up in the morning. Several months after the surgery, all of a sudden, Cathy realized she had not thought about her stomach for over an hour! She started crying tears of disbelief. From that moment on, there has not been a day that she is not aware of the feeling of being pain free.

And in 2004, so began her journey with the friendship stone on a business trip with her husband to South Africa.

There’s much more to Cathy’s story that I am sure she would love to share with you. And the stones themselves have quite a story, too."

Be sure to take a look around the website and read the different stories and see the different ways you can get a friendship stone – as a necklace, as an engraved traveling stone, as a Power of 2 set, and others.

Right now the Friendship Stone would like to give one of my lucky readers a PO2 set. To win:

1. Comment on this post before Thursday, December 31st, midnight central time, and tell me a little about the friend to whom you would give the second stone.

2. You get one additional entry for each social networking site (your blog, Twitter, MySpace, etc.) you post this giveaway on. For Twitter it's as easy as hitting the "Tweet this" button at the bottom right of this post. Come back here and tell me where you posted it.

I will post the winner as we ring in the new year. Good luck!

Dedicated to my sister. I'm still Miss Priss and she still does a darn good imitation of a frog.


This Giveaway is now closed!

I wrote this twice last night and then hit back and lost it. Arrrggghh!

When there are 20-50 comments on a giveaway post it's much easier to choose a winner. But when there are only a few I just want to send one to each of you. :) This time the Magic eightball chose Theresa Rhakov. Send me your mailing address and I'll pass it on to Cathy at The Friendship Stone. Congrats!

The Sewing Bible Book Review by Liesl Gibson of Disdressed

Here is an excellent book review written by Liesl Gibson for The Sewing Bible by Ruth Singer. If Liesl's name sounds familiar, it should. She's the author of the popular blog Disdressed as well as the creator of Oliver + S, a beautiful line of patterns for children's clothing. So when she recommends a sewing book, people tend to sit up and take notice.

She does a good job of explaining what makes this book different from every other how-to-sew book out there. Liesl also shows several photos from the book. That's one of my biggest "make it or break it" things about a book review. If a book review shows just the cover image and a small paragraph/blurb, I'm not interested. I can get better than that at Amazon. I want a reviewer to put some thought into it. And Liesl does this.

I'm recommending this book to my sister and her husband who are both beginning sewists and can always use a good reference book. And I'm doing it based on Liesl's review.

Enchanted Adornments Book Review on Craft Critique

Doesn't the tray of treasures below look absolutely divine? See what master storyteller and jewelry artist Cynthia Thornton of Green Girl Studios and Green Girl blog can do with them in her first book, Enchanted Adornments. I don't want to give anything away here but I will say that I almost guarantee you'll fall in love.

Good Mail Day Author Interview and Book Giveaway (Closed)

And the lucky winner is Apple! Congrats, Apple! And if you didn't win this time, don't worry. I'll have more book giveaways soon. Cross my heart. :)



I love mail art! There’s nothing better than getting something fun in the mail rather than bills. So naturally I flipped over Carolee Gilligan Wheeler and Jennie Hinchcliff’s new book, Good Mail Day. And I was lucky enough to score this author interview with Carolee from her publisher.

And at the end I’ll share some great mail art links as well as tell you how you can win a copy of the book!

the authors - Do you think there's a mail art badge?

What's the name of your book?
Good Mail Day: A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art

What's your book about?
Good Mail Day is about all of the wonderful ways to utilize the postal service (a medium that many have thought fallen out of favor) to send creative, unique mail and mail art to friends and strangers all over the world. We take new users through simple ways to create more individual and interesting pieces of mail, from the humble postcard to mail-able sculptures, and then we introduce them to the finer points of working within the Mail Art network.

How long have you been doing this type of craft or art?
I would honestly say that I have been making mail art since high school, when I had a variety of pen-pals that I discovered through the pen-pal section of my favorite band’s Fan Club. Those people introduced me to the idea of friend books (essentially an add-and-pass in the fine mail art tradition) and the idea of making one’s mail as distinctive and artistic as possible. Within were letters, yes, but also drawings, mix tapes, and even things like 100 plastic ants. People prided themselves on how unusual they could make their mailings, which were essentially to complete strangers. The only comparable level of dedication I’ve seen since has been with mail artists. I became more interested in mail art as its own medium (separate from mere letter-writing, in which I was still engaged) when I met Jennie in 2004 and we started sending things to one another.

What inspired you to write Good Mail Day?
Jennie {Hinchcliff} and I have been engaged in our project, Pod Post, since we met, and Pod Post is, purely and simply, correspondence-obsessed. We have sold stationery sets and mail art kits, as well as mail art bentos filled with tags, labels, stickers, and postal rubber stamps that we bought on a trip to Japan and assembled in little bento boxes (complete with fake sushi grass!). Our Pod Post logo incorporates the international symbol for Post. Pretty much everything Pod Post does has to do with mail and mail art. So it was a natural fit, and since we continually meet people who say, “Oh my gosh, people still SEND MAIL?” we jumped at the chance to show them all of the wonderful ways they can incorporate their love of collage, or typography, or illustration—you name it—into making and sending exciting mail art. Doesn’t everyone love to get REAL mail? Most people I know do. And the first rule of the Mail Art Network is that if you want to get great mail, you have to send great mail. We thought maybe people just needed a little nudge, and the book could serve that purpose.

What makes your book different?
Most of the mail art books I’m familiar with have been out-of-print for a long time, and other correspondence-related books seem to focus on either card-making or penmanship or something of a more specific nature. With mail art I think you get the entire package. At its best, it’s 100% handmade, completely unique to the sender, and definitely the kind of thing you want to keep. And unlike more traditional fine arts, mail art is still really affordable, especially in the United States, where you can send off a gorgeous piece of mail art for as little as a postcard stamp. I also hope people will notice the incredible variety of the mail art we received for submission, all of it received through a traditional mail art call-for-entries. There are so many styles in there that it’s my hope that everyone who sees it will understand that anyone can make mail art, it can take as little as ten minutes, and there’s room for everyone’s personal vision.

Who will most enjoy or benefit from this book?
Everyone! Seriously. Well, anyone who likes making things. A wood-whittler could make really exciting mail art! The most natural extensions of their crafts will be for calligraphers, illustrators, collage and scrapbook artists, printmakers, photographers, painters, typography and design nerds, philatelists, junk-hoarders, origami enthusiasts…. Honestly. Name a craft, and I could probably think of a way that it could be applied to mail art. Beyond that, we’re just looking for the people who say, “I remember when I used to get the best mail…”.

When and where will your book be available?
It's available right NOW! You can get it at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon, and any number of craft stores.

Were there contributors to this book? If so, who were they?
We received a very large number of contributions through a call-for-entries and included nearly everyone in this book. They run the gamut—from friends and acquaintances who said “What’s mail art, again? Well, I guess I could do that…” to seasoned mail art networkers and paper crafters. There are far, far too many to list here.

Be sure to read up on the history of mail art at Wikipedia. It might surprise just how far it goes back. Then, check out the mail art at the following links.

http://www.actlab.utexas.edu/emma/
http://mailart2.com/
http://digitalmailart.blogspot.com/
http://www.zyarts.com/zybooks/mailartpage.html

Do you know of any others? Do share.

Now, wanna win a copy of the book? You get one entry for commenting on this post. But, wait! There’s more! Taking a cue from several blogs I’ve read recently I’ll also give you additional entries if you post about this giveaway on 1. Your blog 2. Your Twitter 3. One Other Social Networking Site. That’s a total of 4 possible entries. Just come back here and let me know that you posted about it and where. We’re on the honor system. :)

I’ll keep the comments open until Sunday evening 6 pm central time. Good luck and go forth and create mail art!

Complete Jewellery Book Review

Complete Jewellery is one of those books that not only makes jewelry appear easy to create, it gives such detailed instructions and photos that you truly believe you can do it, too. All projects are rated Easy, Intermediate, or Advanced so you know exactly what you’re getting yourself in for.

The first chapter covers tools and materials, giving a detailed explanation of both. It includes lists of and definitions for:

Basic equipment
Tools for stringing
Tools for wire wrapping as well as a gauge guide
Tools for polymer clay
Tools for textiles
Tools for advanced techniques and a small gemstone buying guide

The next chapter is on stringing, including classic bead stringing and with flexible beading wire. Several projects are then demonstrated. Next is wire wrapping. I was surprised at how clear and detailed the photographs are. I really feel like I can master wrapping a briolette, something that has always managed to escape me before. And I love this sweet little ring that is listed as one of the easy wire projects.


The next two chapters are on materials that many jewelry artists don’t work with in general. The first is polymer clay. Clay tends to be a little intimidating, I think. If it’s not done correctly you can end up looking like you’re wearing your third grader’s art project. The projects shown in the clay chapter are simple in design but high impact. The next rather unlikely material is what the book refers to as textiles. What it covers is crochet, needle-felting, and fabric wrapped beads. I’d like to adapt these needle-felted ball earrings in my own color scheme.


The last chapter covers advanced techniques. These include:
making ear wires and head pins
making French wire
using a chasing hammer to add texture
projects using gemstones

And if you’re wondering about the spelling in the title, this book is originally a title from the UK. However, there are standard measurements as well as metric ones. I didn’t see anything else in the book that would be exclusive to Britain (or Europe in general) so don’t let that hold you back from getting this great book.

Sewing Green Book Review

I've had Betz White's Sewing Green on my desk for several weeks now, its woolly autumn-like cover taunting me. You have to understand, I live in West Texas where it's not uncommon for the mercury to hit the triple digits on a normal summer's day. But for the last several days it's been deliciously fall-ish around here. I'm sipping pumpkin spice coffee and sporting a light sweater in the mornings. I even bought a miniature pumpkin at the store today. I'll probably give him a jaunty little face with my Copic markers tomorrow.

Will you look at that scarf? Isn't that the cutest? Not only are the instructions super easy but it's made from recycled wool. Maybe your kids have some outgrown sweaters you can felt up in the washing machine or if you happened to let your husband or boyfriend do the laundry last winter you might have some of your own sweaters already felted for you. ;) If not, hunt some down at yard sales or thrift stores. After a good hot wash with some laundry soap, they'll be perfect for this project. Imagine it in reds and oranges, too!

And this draft pillow? Be still my heart! I live in a 1950's home with hardwood floors so there's always a little bit of chilly breeze beneath a door somewhere. This is not only just the thing utility-wise but adorable as all get out. There is even bracket fungi on the side. When's the last time you heard that said as a positive thing? :)


Go ahead. Guess. What's this bag made from? Tyvek shipping envelopes. Yep, my response was pretty much "No way!", too. Betz even recycles the envelopes she receives packages in. These would make great shopping bags for the grocery store. You can bet you'll have everyone asking where you got them.


If you're related to me you can bet you're gonna see one of these neck pillows under your Christmas tree this year. So cozy, so warm, so easy to make. This would also make a great sales item for those fall/winter bazaars.

I have at least twice this many more projects bookmarked as favorites. But, hey, if I spend all my time telling you about them I won't have time for sewing! So run out and get your own copy of this great book. I promise this is one you'll use over and over through the years.

Re-Bound by Jeannine Stein Review and Author Interview

I recently received a copy of Jeannine Stein's Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials. Most bookbinding instructional books are quite a bit past my skill level. I was happy to see several projects in this book that, not only were at a skill level I was comfortable with, but felt new and exciting. The book on the front cover is made from, believe it or not, Starbucks gift cards. There a couple that I'm not so sure about but the majority of them feel like nice solid projects. This one made from cabinet cards with a stab binding is one of my favorites.


I was lucky enough to score an interview with the author as well.

What is your book about?
This is a how-to book on making books from new and vintage recycled and repurposed materials such as potato chip bags, sweaters, cabinet cards, record albums, hot water bottles and gift cards. There are 16 projects in the book that all have step-by-step instructions with illustrations, and 14 more books by other artists in the gallery. Each project features a different binding that even beginners can do. “Re-Bound” also includes tips and variations for each project.

How long have you been doing this type of craft or art?
I’ve been making books for more than 15 years, including photo albums, journals, sketch books, guest books, and notebooks. I’ve been crafting all my life, ever since I could hold a pair of scissors.

What inspired you to write this book?
I love to do fine bindings and work in traditional leather and bookboard, but while doing that I began to discover that exploring other mateirals offered a different challenge and satisfaction. I became inspired by flea makret finds such as vintage textiles and photographs, and started making books with them several years ago—it took my work to an entirely new level. I also love modern graphics on things like food and product packaging, and found they’re great for making books as well. At the same time I was doing this, I began to see fantastic work being done by other designers and artists who were turning existing items into furniture, clothes, accessories and lighting. I knew I wasn’t the only one who was crazy about working with recyclables.

What makes your book different?
All of the projects use recycled materials, which hasn’t been done before in a book on bookbinding. Although the projects are easy enough for a beginner to do, experienced binders and book artists will definitely find some challenges. Also, the text offers a lot of information on how and where to find materials, plus tips on how to work with them.

Who would enjoy or benefit most from this book?
Bookbinders and artists for sure, but also people who like working with recycled materials and found objects. Scrapbookers will really enjoy the projects, many of which can be used as albums. Photographers and artists are always looking for places to feature their work, and there are several books that are perfect for that.

Where will your book be available?
Sold: Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon, and a number of craft stores

Were there contributors to this book? If so, who were they?
The gallery contributors are: Norman Dixon, Charlene Matthews, Richard Troncone, Bee Shay, Dennis Yuen, Jennifer Kaiser, Susan Reardon, Holly Sar Dye, Andrew Borloz, Judi Delgado, Elaine Nishizu, Leslie C. Herger, Rhonda Miller, and Marcia Moore.

Copic Review at Craft Critique

Wanna see more? Check out my Copic review at Craft Critique.

Strands Book Review and Giveaway at Craft Critique

I forgot to mention I have a new book review up at Craft Critique. Go check it out and enter the giveaway for Jacqueline Myers-Cho's book. Strands Book Review and Giveaway

Artful Blogging Magazine Review

Artful Blogging. Isn’t that something we all aspire to? Or at least to making our little corner of the web a better place? And wouldn’t it be nice if it were easier to find those other bloggers with that same aesthetic? Somerset Studios has done just that with the publication of their quarterly magazine Artful Blogging. In it they strive to bring us those precious little corners of the web that are just that bit better, that bit more inspiring.

Artful Blogging began in the spring of 2008, and a year later, they still have plenty of creative blogs to discover and explore. I recently went through both the Spring and Summer 2009 issues and picked a few favorites to share.

Gillian Hamilton of New South Wales, Australia has a yummy blog featuring journal pages and jewelry. Her photographs of her work are excellent which always makes a big difference.

Dina Wakley from Arizona is primarily a scrapbooker and art journaler. I had her pages in the magazine bookmarked without looking at the name and when I went back to write this post I noticed it was the same person whose online journaling classes I was drooling over just last week. She has a grunginess to her pages that is just so appealing.

Irene Tan is a scrapbooker from Malaysia. Her work is just so full of depth. I would love to hold it and explore it and I still don’t think I would be able to “get” everything about it. You really must check out the Nature mini album pictured.

Penny Elizabeth Neil lives in Greensborough, Victoria, Australia. I relate to her because of her love of collecting and her ability to find the beauty in vintage things others might throw away. She makes beautiful jewelry from many of these found items.

Texan Debra Cooper is an artist whose blog I have followed for a long time so I was excited to see her blog included. Not only are her journal pages full of color but she seems to live her life with intention. The intention to fill it with not only color but also joy, creativity, and inspiration. Her recent photographs from both Mexico and Portland make me want to pack an art bag and run away for the weekend.

Finally, this article would not be complete if I didn't mention Aimee Dolich. I first saw Aimee's art in the Facebook group Journal Pages (insert shameless plug) that we run together. I am so incredibly jealous of her lettering! Aimee is also one of those people who goes out and grabs life by the reins instead of letting it be something that happens *to* her. I don't know how she manages all the things she does with two little girls.

Artful Blogging is one of Stampington’s $15 magazines. Is it worth it? Simply put, yes. It isn’t just a directory. It’s filled with wonderful photos and stories, also. Each one has a little bit of info about blogging in the back. And it will save you many hours surfing, sifting the wheat from the chaff. Just tell yourself it’s softcover book. It works for me.

Complete Embellishing Book Review

Tight budget? Bored with your current wardrobe and home accessories? Just want to stand out from the mall crowd? Creative Embellishing by Kayte Terry was written just for you. It contains “easy techniques and over 25 great projects.” The adorable headband on the cover is what really caught my eye what with headbands being all the rage now. It has a very Anthropologie feel to me.


The book starts with tools and techniques and a comprehensive section on sewing basics. This includes a variety of things such as hand-sewing, machine sewing, making pockets, patchwork, embroidery, crochet, felting, fabric printing, and basic appliqué. There are also simple directions for using beads, buttons, and sequins.


The rest of the book is divided into Garments, Accessories, and Home Furnishings. Each project is rated by its difficulty – Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced. There is a complete material list for each one that includes metric as well as standard measurements. The instructions are detailed enough that even the advanced projects are easy to understand and follow.


This book really embraces the DIY culture that is so popular at the moment. Most of the garments and accessories have a romantic feel to them while the 5 or so home furnishings are more modern. There’s a youthful vibe to the book as a whole. If you’re looking for that little bit extra that makes you unique, look no further. Complete Embellishing can help.


To wrap up book week this is the book I'll be giving away. I'll be taking all the comments on the book review posts from this past week (including this one) at 8 pm central time this evening and drawing one name. That person will receive Complete Embellishing compliments of Anova Books.

Update: The book giveaway is now ended. I will post the winner first thing in the morning! Thanks, everyone, for playing!

Big Book of Fashion Illustration Book Review

If you’re looking for eye candy look no further than the Big Book of Fashion Illustration by Martin Dawber. And when they say big book they mean it. We’re talking 384 pages of juicy pictures. It features a foreword by Karen Santry, Associate Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and Executive Vice President at Fashion Art Bank Inc. After that Martin Dawber has written a small introduction and the rest is just art. It’s divided into seven categories – Womenswear, Menswear, Youth Culture, Children, Sport, Accessories, and Beauty. Each of those is then divided further into subcategories.


Oh, if you’re a subscriber to the elongated nine-head-length stereotype, you’ll want to look away now. Fashion illustration has taken leaps and strides in the last 20 years. There is no set template that’s followed anymore. Not just in size but in technique. You’ll see not only drawn and painted pieces but several other methods as well. Naturally there’s digital work and photography. But there’s also collage work. In fact, UK-based illustration duo, Jacqui Paull and Carl Melegari, have this to say: “We like to fuse two elements together to achieve our goal. It is more innovative and exciting. We mix a combination of techniques - photography, hand-drawn elements, Xerox, flat graphics, - all collaged together using Photoshop to give a more individual approach.” (taken from the introduction)


I got the book because my drawing skills are seriously lacking. At this point, you’re wondering how this would help, right? Because I have a dozen drawing books and they all tell you the same thing. Draw this particular way, with this particular pencil, on this particular paper. And I get so sick of drawing realistically. I don’t want to draw perfect people. As I flip through this book I see that I can throw all that out the window. Yes, I *can* draw a perfect-looking nose but why? There’s no character, no soul. I’m hoping it will inspire me to work on my individual style. And, it also makes me want dust off my Wacom tablet so I can develop some mad digital skillz.


I’m not the intended audience for this book, I’m sure. But there is so much that I’m getting out of it. If you have any desire to draw people or just need a creative shot in the arm, I highly recommend this book.

Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts Book Review - Fuzzy Felted Friends and Woolly Embroidery

The next two books are courtesy of the Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts book series by Chronicle Books. The series includes four books: Amigurumi, Fuzzy Felted Friends, Lacy Crochet and Woolly Embroidery. Since I don’t crochet I only have the embroidery and felting books.


The books were originally published in Japanese and have been translated into English. We’ve all run into badly translated foreign movies, instructions, and websites. These are nothing like that. They have been remarkably well done. The only thing that gives away their foreign nature is the naivete of the text.


Woolly Embroidery begins with 33 pages of color photos of the motifs and projects. This is followed by a guide to wool embroidery, useful tools and materials and thread color charts. There are also clear illustrations for 30 different decorative stitches. I find that particularly useful. The patterns are adorable, some even having a touch of that 1970’s crewelwork look that’s so popular.


Fuzzy Felted Friends is laid out in the same manner, with about half the book being full color photos of the projects. Several pages of step-by-step photos of the different techniques follow. The instructions for the projects are next and, fortunately, have both metric and standard measurements. It includes projects for wet and dry felting, for both felted animals and pouches/bags, for useful items and purely decorative cuteness.


I would say these books are suited to the crafter who has had some experience.However, they do have projects that are do-able by the beginner with a little bit of patience. I do wish there was a little bit more substance to each of them but $15 for an 80 page softcover book is still fairly reasonable.

Scrapbooker's Creativity Kit Book Review

The latest from the collage world’s darling Claudine Hellmuth is The Scrapbooker’s Creativity Kit: Prompts and Ideas to Jump-start Your Layouts. While it is marketed towards scrapbookers, the kit is useful for any type of journaling or painting really. In fact, many of the examples in the book aren’t even scrapbook layouts. There are also several of Claudine’s signature paintings as examples throughout the book.


In the kit you receive two decks of double-sided cards. One is a set of color cards and the other is a set of word cards. The trick is to draw two color cards and one word card and let those be the inspiration for your project. It’s not necessary to stick to the word precisely as you’ll find when you read some of the thought processes of the design team.


Speaking of the design team, Claudine has assembled some wonderful artists inside the 80 page book that’s included. They include Genevieve Simmonds, Donna Downey, Christina Lazar-Schuler, Rhonna Farrer, Ashley Calder, and Kal Barteski. Then there are many more artists in the gallery.


I wish the kit hadn’t been pigeonholed quite so specifically for scrapbookers. I think that will keep a lot of people from buying it that could really benefit from it. It’s a wonderful word prompt exercise that gets your juices flowing. Whether you use it to do a whole painting or journal page or just a quick ATC as a warm up, it’s comparable to one of those lessons they teach you in expensive art classes.