This video showcases the use of plastic sushi grass and fabric leaves to make a small quilt — the "Autumn Leaves" project from The Uncommon Quilter by Jeanne Williamson.
More on the book The Uncommon Quilter here, and be sure to check out Williamson’s "Inspiration Project" piece here.
Fantastic article by David Byrne at Wired.com about music, the music business, and the different options and paths artists can take in the evolving landscape — Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — And Megastars. Though the article is about the music business, the ideas in the piece will be insightful no matter what artistic medium you’re engaged in. Worth a read, and then a re-read. And a listen as well — there are audio interview clips throughout the article.
A fantastic post by Guy Kawasaki on how to build an audience for your blog. The post was published in April 2006, and the link is passed around a great deal — perhaps you’ve already read the piece. Even if you have, it’s worth another read — just insightful, simply stated points on effective ways to connect with and grow your audience. (Thanks to Felicia Sullivan for sending me the link.)
The deadline is fast approaching — July 16 — but consider entering the Sew Useful Contest, presented by Etsy and Instructables. The goal for entrants is to create a useful project AND a very good instructable to go along with it. (Note that your project does not have to involve sewing.) They’ve kept the definition of "useful" loose — so your options are truly open and you have lots of room to let your creative imagination flow. Details on the contest specifics and how to enter are here and here.
Thread Heads is a great webcast about DIY fashion, featuring how-to tips, interviews and more. The “Size Matters” show below features how-to tips on shirt alterations, a segment on how to create a duct tape body form, and an interview with designer Rebecca Turbow.
With projects that range from yarn to wood, from found objects to fabric, with contributors from all over the craft spectrum, Tsia Carson has put together a creative lightening bolt — a force of craft. I’m not at all surprised, really. I’ve been a fan of her dynamically charged SuperNaturale.com site for quite some time (and have been fortunate enough to contribute to its Glimmer blog, along with many others, for the last year or so). But the book, Craftivity, takes the whole crafty mission up a notch — it’s inventive, wondrously colorful and full of creative surprises, and I am not alone in singing its praises. I’m really happy and honored to present an interview with Tsia about her new book here at 52projects.com.
Craftivity — what a wonderful name for the book. What does that word mean to you?
I wanted to get across the idea that crafting is active, that it is an activity and that the practitioners are activist. They take agency over their lives by making beautiful stuff. Most of the happiest crafters I know craft in groups or have a community of people they engage with about their work. I think that this is at the heart of what makes it relevant interesting culture and not just more stuff to consume and own. But I have to give props to Holly Gressley and Aviva Michaelov for introducing me to this term.
How have you met all these crafters? How much did your website have to do with pulling together all the artists for your book?
Most of the makers I have met but not all of them. There are a few I can’t wait to meet! The website was instrumental in meeting and discovering contributors. It’s the best calling card in the world.
Tell the truth — what was the hardest project in the book to make happen?
Twist my arm! I think that knit hammock, while not the hardest project to do in terms of skill level, was the hardest to make happen. It took a really long time and knitting with the hemp twine was really hard because it has a mind of its own. Poor Annika (Annika Ginsberg made it)! She is a master knitter and it was driving her nuts. Every step of the way something went awry with that project. Even building the harness at the end was nuts. But I think I would know how to do that much better now.
If you had to pick a theme song for your book what would it be?
"One Nation Under a Groove" Funkadelic?
"Who’s Got the Crack?" the Moldy Peaches?
"One Divine Hammer" the Breeders?
Gosh, I don’t know.
How does your background in design flow into your personal crafting?
I don’t really separate these creative activities up. I am heavy on the concept, I think through things and have to be excited by the idea before I make anything. If anything, becoming a designer has made me more sensitive to detail and more particular.
How do you think the web has impacted the world of crafting?
The way it has opened up communities to like-minded individuals rather than geographic location has been phenomenal. It has really facilitated discourse and making in a way that would have been impossible. I think that it has fueled the scene so that people are not working in isolation.
Do you recall your very first craft project? What was it? Why did you make it?
I was such a craftive kid. My parents totally encouraged it. I think what comes to mind is that I made a whole zoo of cut-out paper animals and then photographed them against a dark window so you could see the backs as well in the photograph. I wanted you to be able to see the back and front at the same time. It was all about the image. I was a total OCD kid. My father is an artist and when I just learned how to write I signed my name on all his work. That was a good idea too. Also there was my "multimedia" JFK presentation in 2nd grade…
In terms of crafting, knowing you’re a partner in a design firm and have a baby — when do you get it done? How do you find the time?
I still haven’t put together almost any of my personal projects.
There’s a baby quilt, a lampshade and house painting. Honestly, I have started to outsource and have people help me. It’s funny — I do find time to do those activities I enjoy. For instance I hate to sew, so that is going to be outsourced to a friend. But I like to knit, so I made my daughter a red scarf just like her favorite book character — Jenny Linksy the cat.
How is your crafting different as a mother from how it was when you did not have a child?
What project will take an evening max is the major deciding factor.
What’s the one craft project you’ve always thought about creating but have yet to get started on?
I thought I would be really DIY’d out after this book but it has actually fueled my desire to make stuff. I am going to study permaculture over the winter and my husband and I are going to make our property into an edible forest garden. I would also like to implement a grey water system for the house to feed the water from the washing machine through a drip irrigation system for the garden. Even saying this stuff makes it clear why I haven’t had the time to do it yet.
Read an interview with Tsia at Craftzine.com.
This is an age-old, time-honored tradition: Writing a novel on the man’s dollar. Yes, you can burn the midnight oil, or work on weekends, or take a few months off to pound out your tome, but there is nothing better than writing the words to that novel that may or may not become a bestseller and make you rich and famous while you’re supposed to be on the job. The lower level the job, the worse your boss is, the more deprave the conditions, the better your words, or at least the story of how your words came to the page, will be.
Plus, it should be noted that if you’re writing while on the job, you are technically being paid, albeit in a round-about, subversive way, for writing! That is no small feat. You are probably making more money off of your writing than most published authors.
Still, it’s not so easy to get writing done while you’re on the clock: there are all those urgent emails that pour into your inbox, urgent calls that light up your phone, and urgent requests from your boss to handle the various urgent issues that pop up throughout the day.
Why is it that in life, "urgent" means someone is in the hospital, but in the workplace, "urgent" ranges from "Meeting time changed" to "Need that report by EOD."?
Whatever… As long as YOU get what’s urgent in the workplace: getting work done on things that are near and dear to your heart: for you writers out there (and aren’t we all working on a novel these days, at least as far as the idea phase?), that would be your novel!
Here then, are some ways to write your novel while you’re on the clock:
1. Show up early and pound out some writing before the start of your day. Technically you’re not on the clock, but it’s a great habit to get into, especially if you have a truly demanding job where it’s hard to sneak in personal creative endeavors. Wait! Keep reading! Sacrilege, I know, to suggest that you show up early to work. But this really is an excellent way to get some writing done without interruption.
2. Or, when you do show up for work, right on time (or the usual few minutes after the official start of your working day), instead of checking your voice mail and email, and then surfing the news and gossip sites, commit to focusing completely on your writing for a solid half-hour. You’re fresh, and have yet to get sucked into or distracted by all the work-related crapola — red-flagged "urgent" emails, obnoxious voice mail messages from co-workers asking stupid questions (for like the third time), and just the usual tidal wave of stress that washes over you at the start of each working day.
Note: There is no better way to start the day than with a personal creative effort — it will juice you up, get your mind rolling, and instill energy that will help carry you through the day. If something crappy does happen during the work day, (and doesn’t something crappy always happen?), the stage you set in the morning will help you work through the negativity.
3. Just like you block off time for meetings and various work-related projects, like the overwhelming monthly report, for example, set aside specific times in your calendar to work on your novel. A half-hour every day, or an hour every other day. List it as "Top Priority Project: NVL" in your calendar. And just like you have to show up at that meeting or work on that report so as to finish it by the deadline, make sure you adhere to your schedule and work on your true "Top Priority Project" at the designated times.
4. Commit to writing a certain amount of words each day while at the office, be it 500 or 1,000 or more. Hold firm that you cannot leave the office until you have fulfilled your commitment. You’ll find a way to make the time — especially if you’re like most worker-bots and like to get the hell out of the office right at quitting time.
5. Just like smokers trying to quit throw a piece of gum in their mouth every time they feel the impulse to light up, every time you open up your browser to check out a gossip site or the blog you are currently addicted to, fire up your word processing program and pound out a paragraph or two of writing.
6. Dread meetings at work? Of course you do. Instead of re-running the Star Wars trilogy in your mind just to stay awake, jot down notes or bits of dialogue for your novel. If you can pull-off writing actual paragraphs in that kind of environment, with someone blathering on and on and on, the most annoying people in the room naturally doing most of the talking, the more power to you. Tip: Look up every once in a while and make eye contact with whoever it is that is talking. All your writing will look like you are simply taking copious meeting notes.
7. If you really, really hate your job, and you find yourself complaining to anyone who will listen, as well as making several calls a day to your significant other bitching and moaning about your sorry lot in life (not attractive!), you need to make a conscious decision to focus not on broadcasting your complaints but to writing your novel. Every time you feel the impulse to complain about most likely the same old shit, that should be the tripwire that sends you back to your desk to write. If you can pull this off, you will feel much better about yourself and your job (and people in the office, as well as your significant other, might actually want to talk to you again.)
8. If you are really focused on doing well at your job, and do indeed do a bang-up, kick-ass job, simply take that same standard for excellence and efficiency and find a way (while you are on the clock) to make it happen for your personal project as well: prioritize time to work on your novel, and when you are working on it, give the words you write the high-level attention to detail, originality and top-notch quality you would an important work-related project.
9. Take advantage of the lunch hour. Either find a quiet cafe and write in your journal, or write while you eat at your desk. Finding a cafe is preferable — gets you away from your ringing phone, incoming emails, people popping by to talk with you, not to mention that big old stack of papers that needs to be dealt with.
10. Incorporate events and characters from the workplace into your story. Annoying co-workers and your boss will certainly provide loads of ideas. Writing them into your story has the added benefit of helping you mentally deal with their shit in the real working world: you’ll find that taking the time to reveal the absurdities of your workplace in the form of the written word has a soothing effect — it provides a way to take a step back and laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Plus, there’s that whole revenge thing: in the pages of your novel you can expose — in a no-holds-bar fashion — the idiotic and petty behavior of your terrible boss and lame co-workers to the reading public-at-large (or at least to the people in your office that you like).
11. When working on your novel, spread out paperwork all over your desk. It will look like you are really busy, and if people stop by to talk with you about something, you can just point to all the papers and say, "I can’t talk right now — I’m in deep." They’ll totally get it, and leave you alone to write.
12. Form a writing group with like-minded co-workers. Reserve a conference room each week and hold your workshop sessions right there during the middle of the work-day.
13. End your day with an allotted amount of time to write — say the last 15 minutes or so before quitting time. It will clear your headspace of the day-job baggage and put you in a writing frame-of-mind as you head out the door. It’s also a great way to reignite your energy level and find your second wind after a long day at work. You can then use that second wind to carry you home and continue with your writing efforts until it’s time to hit the sack and begin the work day, I mean novel-writing, anew.
Be sure to check out the Simple Things You Can Do Right Now to Jumpstart Your Writing Efforts, as well as the Not-To-Do List.
And be sure to also check out the Working For the Man Book:
Order now: Amazon
More details at workingfortheman.com.
Leah Kramer of Craftster.org has a new book out: The Craftster Guide to Nifty, Thrifty and Kitschy Crafts.
Diane Gilleland of Craftypod conducts an excellent interview with Kathy Cano Murillo (the Crafty Chica) about her latest book, Art De La Soul, over at SuperNaturale.com.
And speaking of SuperNaturale.com — the site has offered a sneak peek at its forthcoming book — Craftivity: 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle — coming this October.
by Jeffrey Yamaguchi
Stop talking about your novel or short story ideas and start writing. Get in the habit of writing for at least an hour every day, no matter what. One strategy is to get up an hour earlier than you have to, make yourself a cup of coffee and completely focus on your writing. Not only will your mind be fresh, but you won’t be distracted by phone calls, prime time television or a visit from a friend. The main idea here is to make writing part of your daily regimen. If you can figure out a way to carve out an hour of writing while you’re on the clock, then go for it, because technically that means you’re getting paid for your writing efforts (something that’s not so easy). And of course in the evenings, instead of watching television, flip on the computer and write for an hour. After a long day at work, sometimes you just feel too tired, but if you plant yourself in your seat and start typing, after a few minutes, you’ll almost certainly hit a stride and find yourself feeling a burst of energy. It’s the hurdle of actually making time and getting started that might keep you from writing, and that’s why making it a habit is so important. It becomes not a question of "if" you are going to get some writing done, but "when" you are going to get your writing done.
Join or form a writing group. This gives you an opportunity to get your work critiqued, an incentive to complete and improve your writing, an outlet to commiserate and celebrate with fellow writers, a place to learn and experience different kinds of writing styles, and a source to both find and give inspiration.
Start submitting your stories to literary journals and magazines (both online and print). But before you start sending off those emails and sealing those envelopes, unleashing a continual tidal wave of mass-mailings to all the journals listed in Literary Market Place, found through online research, or listed in the back pages of Writer’s Digest and Poets & Writers, become familiar with the multitude of literary journals being published both online and in print. Create some form of database with contact information, submission requirements, publishing schedule and theme issues, and most importantly, the kind of writing the publication publishes. Once you’ve organized your research, then you can start submitting stories on a regular basis to the APPROPRIATE journals and magazines. Submissions that do not meet a journal’s specific basic requirements are despised by editors, and it’s a waste of your time and energy. Be smart and efficient about the way your submit your work.
Also: no doubt you’ll be able to remember which stories get published, but be sure to keep track of which stories have been rejected by which journals.
There are all kinds of ways to find out about literary journals — online research, writing resource/guide books, library research, word-of-mouth, bookstore browsing. You can spend all your time clicking from one online resource to the next finding out about yet another literary journal. How do you decide which ones to submit to? Well, first off, I don’t think you should be submitting to a journal unless you’ve actually bought a copy and read it. Don’t just look up the submission requirements, and send off your story. My advice is to do broad research, and to really get to know as many journals as you can. Which journal blows you away? What online literary site do you make a point of reading each week? Which journals are publishing the kind of writing that you respond to? Those are the journals you should be aspiring to get published in.
One nice sort of cheat sheet trick to finding out about cool new literary journals is to look at the bios of published authors and contributors to literary journals that you like.
Keep in mind that getting published in the major, well-known journals and magazines (like The New Yorker) is like winning the lottery. It’s not impossible, of course, but be sure to submit to smaller, less monumental journals and magazines that you have a better shot of getting published in, especially if you’re just starting out.
Enter contests. Winning a contest is a great way to get your name out there and get noticed by either an agent or publisher. There are all kinds of contests out there. The higher the profile of the contest, the more cache a win, runner-up placement or honorable mention will have. (Of course the higher the profile, the more competitive the contest will be.) Keep in mind that all contests have very specific guidelines, and many have a $5 to $15 entry fee, so before you send out your best short story to every contest you come across, make sure you read the fine print. Again, do your research and create a database with deadlines, submission guidelines, addresses, entry fees, and of course, prize money. And be sure to budget a certain amount of money for contest entry fees — set a limit for yourself. There comes a point where you might start to feel down if you keep spending money to enter contests, only to get the form letter with a list of winners that does not include your name. You can start to like all your writing efforts are pointless, and having to pay for the privilege just makes you feel even worse. By allocating a certain amount of money, say $100 a year, I think that helps manage the expectations — You’re still taking the chance to enter contests, but doing so in a controlled, positive and responsible way.
No doubt you would figure all this out during the course of your research, but here are some excellent places to find an abundance of information about journals and contests: Literary Market Place (available in the reference section at your library); Writer’s Market; Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market; The Complete Guide to Literary Contests; The O. Henry Prize Stories; and The Best American Short Stories. Also, check out Writer’s Digest, The Writer Magazine, and Poets & Writers. And here is a comprehensive list of literary magazines.
Begin your education of the book publishing industry. Figure out which publishing houses publish the style of writing you are producing. Research the names of editors that are behind the kinds of books you wish you had written. Follow the trends and stay abreast of who’s who on the inside of the industry. This kind of information will give you an edge when you have a body of work worthy of getting published. A good book to get a hold of for this kind of information is the Writer’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers and Literary Agents by Jeff Herman. Also, check out Publishers Weekly Online, the website of the publishing industry’s main trade magazine. And definitely sign up for the electronic newsletter Publishers Lunch, which sums up and provides links (as well as biting commentary) to the most important publishing news and deals of the day.
Take part in online writing prompt projects to fuel your ideas and get you engaged in creative writing exercises, things like Sunday Scribblings and Poetry Thursday.
Always carry a pen and a journal around with you, to capture thoes fleeting "brilliant" ideas coursing through your mind, as well as to note down funny bits of dialogue, real or imagined. Chances are that if you don’t write it down right then and there, you’ll forget it completely, or not be able to recall exactly what was so perfect about it in the moment. Check out Moleskinerie for total journaling inspiration.
Instead of grabbing fast food or an overpriced sandwich and then bringing it back to your desk to scarf it down while you surf the web, make a point of getting some writing done during your lunch break at work. Find a nice cafe or place where you can sit at a table (free from emails, phone calls and co-worker banter) and simply knock out a page or two of writing on your laptop or in a notebook.
Read constantly. Fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional book on writing, such as Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might by Path Walsh, and Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction by Charles Baxter.
Look for writer resources online, sites like SlushPile.net and Flogging the Quill. A list of resource links is here.
Enroll in writing courses. Anytime you’re taking a class, you are forced to write. Not only that, but people other than your significant other will critique your work. And similar to being a part of a writing group, you will have the opportunity to meet other writers and read their work.
Cultivate relationships. Go to readings. Go to events for literary journals. Go to writing conferences. Meet other writers. Correspond with bloggers who write about writing. Ask questions, but be sure to share the information you gather.
Look to the web. The web is full of literary journals, and many print journals have an online component. And whereas print journals move at a very slow pace (sometimes a year just to hear your story has been rejected), online journals (or print journals with very active online components) reject and accept and publish on a much faster schedule. The prestige factor is still higher for print journals, and yes, there is something amazing about seeing your words printed on paper in a beautiful package, but online journals are fast gaining strong reputations and doing much more innovative stuff, because they can operate more cheaply, move faster and be read by much bigger audiences. Following are some literary journals that regularly feature work on their websites that you should check out: Quick Fiction; Pindeldyboz; Small Spiral Notebook; Word Riot; and eyeshot.net. And by all means, do your own searches. New things are popping up on the internet everyday.
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