Challenge Anyone??

The Skooba DIY Laptop Bag at the MAKER SHED is SCREAMING to become the basis of an art/craft challenge, isn't it??

Now who? how? to go about organizing it?

From the MakerShed page (photo from the same page):

This blank canvas sleeve is instantly ready to make a one of a kind work of art using permanent markers, fabric paints, glued-on decorations, sparkles, stenclis, pens, airbrush, needlework/embroidery or other medias*

I also blog at: Weight for Deb and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

photo credit:

Standing Strong

(believe it or not, I am close to returning to insane crafty goodness on this blog. Just a little longer...)

I am a strong person. I speak not about physical strength. When the chips are down, I am the one that people lean on; the one who doesn't crumble; the one who stands for the weak.

I am a strong person.

I do not know how much of this is a natural part of my personality and how much is a part of my environment. I have felt emotionally responsible for myself since I was a very small girl (ah the joys of child abuse! It makes you strong quick.) Still, my personality lends itself to being a strong reliable soul. A woman warrior.

A couple years ago, a young friend, himself a strong soul, mentioned a wish to me. He wished that there were times that the weak could pick up the burden for a while, be strong for him, let him - just for moment - be weak.

I stood beside him and wrapped an arm around him. I did not speak. The words I would have said might have hurt him more as the truth is:

We who are strong will NEVER TRUST another to be strong for us. The MOST we can hope for is that another strong soul will stand beside us, giving support, standing strong with us.

Today I'm standing strong. Come stand beside me.

I also blog at: Weight for Deb and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Understanding My Click-Click

There are days when I spend hours trolling the nets, clicking from here to there.. repeating the same steps over and over again:

Gmail.
Twitter,
Facebook.
Flickr.
BlogHer.
MySpace.
GoodReads.
Something new??

Click and repeat.

Clicking out to new links, then back to the home space. Click, move, read, move, click, click, click. I'm always anxious and become more anxious in the movement. It's compulsion in medium high gear. It's obsession and hunger and anxiety and emptiness.

I have always thought that it's me saying FEED ME. Entertain Me. Engage Me. Notice Me.

I just figured out that it's really me looking for the inspiration to engage myself. What I'm compulsively looking for isn't anything external. It's not the latest viral video or piece of gossip. It's not a a new friend. It's myself.

I'm trying to escape having to deal with myself.

Those are the times when I need to be blogging. My concentration is down to mere milliseconds, but I need to take a deep cleansing breath, open my editor and begin to discover what I'm running away from in my soul.

I also blog at: Weight for Deb and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Deb's Utterz

At the ball game

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Start Getting Ready for Halloween/Day of the Dead

The Crafty Chica has posted a neat video over at LifetimeTV on how to craft your own mask from plaster tape. She's then decorated hers (of course) as sugar skulls for Dia de la Muerte.



I also blog at: Weight for Deb and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Secrets No Longer

I surprised myself Thursday evening and shared a couple secrets with a friend by email. NOT little secrets like what I'm making a friend for a xmas present. BIG secrets. Secrets that I'm sure I've shared with others at times. In the past, however, they were not quick, not unplanned, not just spilling them out like every-day news.

Last night, I shared these secrets the same way I share what I ate for dinner or what I did yesterday.

In the past, they were shared in whispers or in tears. They were shared with shame. Last night they were sent without any of at. Matter of fact. This is what's happened to me. It's formed me; it's informed me; it's part of who I am. Felt that maybe today this friend needs to know this about another human being: me.

My friend didn't ask for them, doesn't expect them. I wonder what the reaction to reading these will be.

I don't know why they suddenly came out in an email. Or why, when given the breath to consider and delete the message (my normal way of dealing), I instead hit send.

Something is changing about me; I'm starting to accept who I am secrets and all. And I'm starting to expect others to accept me and my secrets too.

But, hey, I'm just starting.. you notice I kept a lot of secrets in this post, now, didn't I?

I also blog at: Weight for Deb and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

In Crafty Video News...

Did you see that CRAFT IN AMERICA, the PBS special from last spring that bloggers RAVED about was nominated for an Emmy this year? This after winning the Peabody award for television excellence last spring! Will have to watch the press releases in about 10 days to see if it won this second award.

If you have forgotten, the producer emailed me last spring, and I blogged about on BlogHer:

(me) I saw a large number of bloggers writing about the program before it aired. I'm certain that the ratings can and should be attributed to ALL the bloggers spreading the word. Congrats to us all!! We made a difference, it was noticed, and we shall reap the reward: More Programs! (though a thank you in the form of a complimentary DVD would have nice... I'll take more programs!)

A belated thank you for the wonderful coverage Craft In America received May 29, 2007 on BlogHer. The response from your readers must be considered when we look at the ratings for the series, which were excellent. Over 2.3 million households tuned into the first airing of the series on May 30th!

On the strength of the ratings and because they had a very positive personal reaction to the first three episodes, two of our supporters have decided to support future programs. This is especially good news because there is still so much of the story that remains to be told.

Hopefully we can look forward to a couple episodes this coming spring. If you missed the series first time around, check out this preview video. Sorry, there is no way for me to embed that video here.

So instead, I share a preview for a documentary that hasn't premiered yet. Faythe Levine's Handmade Nation:


I also blog at: Weight for Deb and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

BlogHer interviews Obama

This is my friend Erin Kotecki Vest (aka Queen of Spain) interviewing presidential candidate Barack Obama. The BlogHer community compiled a set of questions and approached each and every candidate before the primaries ended, requesting that they sit for an interview or atlest answer these questions.

Obama was the only one who took up the request.

Most candidates offered to let BlogHer speak with their wives; I'm not sure what the Clinton camp said, as I wasn't paying that close attention. Granted, this is a couple months old; I just found it on YouTube. (I'm way behind on finding stuff I want on YouTube...)


I also blog at: Weight for Deb and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Deb's Utterz

Carquinez Straits from Capt. Blyther's. The end of First Street, Benicia, Ca.

Mobile post sent by debroby using Utterz. Replies.

Deb's Utterz

Mpp

Mobile post sent by debroby using Utterz. Replies. mp3

OK. You have 10 minutes to get the phone call and the photo sent for them to show up together. Looks like I missed that time slot. The picture is above, the audio is here.