Monday, September 28, 2009

Craft Tutorials: Lemme Have It


Some of you may know that I am an author. I am also a publisher, and I have a new, exciting project. As such, I am beginning a highly-targeted search for authors. Can you help me?

I need to know who you think writes the best photographed craft tutorials. I have seen a lot, and I'm constantly looking for more. Do you read a blog that regularly shows you how to make things? It can be anything, even including cooking. It must be well-written, witty is nice, and have great photos.

Please leave a link for your favorite craft tutorial blogs in the comments. I appreciate your help! More info to come on the publishing project. It's going to be huge!

NaBloWriMo is ON.

It's that time again. I wanted to wuss out, but that's not happening. I think it's fun, and so I'm doing it again.

I am running NaBloWriMo. Again.

Please feel free to spread the word. Go to the blog and join up! You'll be glad you did.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Saturday Style Maniac

As promised from yesterday, today's post is filled with the wicked style of Sam Robinson. She is the organizer of Gifts for Yule, which is coming up in mid-November here in Denver. This is the one big craft show that I do every year, and it is excellent. There is a reason for its excellence: Sam's Style.

Everyone who has ever been a vendor at a craft fair, take note. The photos here are of the vendor application for this event. Look up above, and see the whole package that arrived. First of all, how fun is it to receive a package like that in the mail? Very! Everything is all email nowadays, right? I long, like an old coot, for the days of yore when people would write letters. I do write letters now and then. But Sam? Sam takes letter-writing to the next level.

Well, this isn't really a letter--it's business correspondence, remember? Sam's application feels ultra-special. I wonder what the show will be like, hmmm?? Let's have a look at this piece of mail. Up above, please note the stamp on the brown kraft paper. She could have handwritten my name on there, and that would have felt special. But no! There's a lovely stamp to frame the address. Let us open the plastic cover, and see what we find:


A manila envelope, out of which peeks some fancy paper. Okay--I'll grab the paper.

Wow, it is fancy. And thick. What's that thing up on the top? Is it made of wood?

It is. It's an old-timey clip of some sort. Made of bamboo, perhaps? I have no idea. I'm just excited to open this package. The layers and layers of stuff make it feel like a present.

Folding back the fancy paper, we can now see what it is. Vintage wallpaper! How much do you want to bet every vendor got a different piece of wallpaper?

And we finally get to the actual application. I don't know what's going on with the color saturation here, so please ignore that. Look closely and you will see that this is printed out on old-school yellow legal paper. Have a closer look:

See the green lines?

Remember, folks, this is just the vendor application. If you are thinking, "Dang. I want to just attend that show. Forget vending. I bet that show is incredible," then you would be right. And if I ever become independently wealthy, I will attend the show instead of working at it. Feel free to use the information in the photo above to mark your calendars. This show is so worth it. Free admission, super vendors, great food, incredible location. See you there!

Friday, September 04, 2009

Coming Soon: How to Send a Mailing

I took photos last night of the vendor application for Gifts for Yule, the one big craft fair I do every fall. I thought I would show just how stylish these apps are. The organizer of Gifts for Yule, Sam Robinson, is a stlye maniac. She's awesome.

More to come, when I get home.