It's such an honor to be nominated...

As others have posted, I was startled to discovered that I was one of the nominees for the 2006 Homeshool Blog Awards, in the category of Best Crafts, Plans & Projects Blog. Thanks to whomever submitted my name.

I don't know how to make a click on the photo take you to the list of categories and nominees, so here is the main link. The list of nominees makes a great resource to find new ideas on the web, so go forth and find something extra while I gather up new items to photograph.

This should encourage me to post more often.

I'll take a new set of photos from what I've been making and what I've been receiving, what I should be mailing and haven't yet, and what I will be teaching to other families in just a couple of weeks.

Margarine Star

Margarine Star
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Art is a way of seeing. Art is how you look at something with open eyes.

My kids and I always try to notice and appreciate the star on the top of the tub of margarine, made when the factory machinery fills the tub quickly with a bloop of margarine.

A good friend once spoke of her family phrase, "Breaking the Smooth." It needed to be done with a little reverence. There is something about disrupting the form of a product as presented, altering the star into "just" a tub of margarine. Changing the sacred into the mundane.

My husband thinks we're all weird in this regard, and never shows us the star if he opens a new tub.

Where did you find art unexpectedly today?

Journal and Tags: Sept 2006 to March 2007

Had I realized how much the kitchen remodeling took over this journal, I would have put it on the cover. But I didn't. I started with my beloved Chucks.

I use my journal to encapsulate everything in my life: meeting notes, sketches, Cute Things They Say, and lists of things to get done (all noted with little boxes, waiting for that check mark.
Then add all of the samples of the kitchen old and the kitchen new, next to glued-in photographs and tucked-in event programs... This book will not close.

My life is too big to be fully captured. ;)

Journal and Tags: Sept 2006 to March 2007
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

I have date tags in colors of fall and of my new kitchen. I chose fun fuzzy yarn with the kitchen colors, too.

I attached the Formica(R) laminate sample for easy Show & Tell. When the walls were painted, I took a little paint from the bucket and painted the back of the laminate tag with wall paint. You can see a little on the edges.

When Former President Ford died, I was researched flag etiquette for my Scouts. I learned that for a fixed flag, one on a pole that cannot be set to half staff, it is appropriate to hang a length of black ribbon from the top, folded or tied so two ends hang down. To remember that event with my journal, I added thin black ribbon to the edges.

Six Pink ATCs

Six Pink ATCs
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Six ATCS for my first swap with Imagination Tribe. Theme: Pink.

They are cut from one greeting card that I started and then it really didn't go anywhere.

Pieces are from my daughter's art: the yellow-pink swirly hearts, the star on construction paper, the fuzzy fabric from her poodle skirt project. She makes more art than I can keep, but it makes great collage fodder.

The lower heart on the upper left card is punched from a glossy ad, showing a sliced tomato.

Six Princess ATCs

Six Princess ATCs

Ganoush made six princess ATCs for a trade.

The Disney images are from a local DIY store. A roll of cellophane tape with images of Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. Some of the paint stamps are also by Disney, bought a few years ago at the same DIY store.

On the lower left card, with C and SW, Ganoush stamped an apple for Snow White on the card's back.

Rose Vase ATCs

Rose Vase ATCs
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

ATCs numbered 3 through 6 My second-ever attempts.

The roses in a vase came from a tissue box. I choose my tissues based on the box art. The base is purple index cards.

The text is from a financial planning catalog that had great colors on the cover. The shapes are all from the catalog as well.

I made these in early 2006, with friend Andrea of Atypical Life in mind, then I set them aside and lost them. And now they are found! I sent two to her and two for me.

Imagination Tribe hosted a trade of Puzzle ATCs. Nine cards that could stand alone or make a 3x3 larger image. I did not participate, but this idea might have worked. Can you see where I cut the rose vase?

Burgundy Gold ATCs

Burgundy Gold ATCs
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

My very first two ATCs, from around last spring. A collage on chipboard of gift wrap, candy foil, glitter glue, and torn tissue paper.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Double writing in Flickr and here

I've been posting a bunch of my recent art on my Flickr account, shown on the sidebar. I leave detailed comments, then I don't want to re-write the text here in the art blog as well. Ah, these modern dilemmas.

So, go look at some ATC photos there.

I'll work out the balance thing.

Easter Countdown

Lisa Vollrath has added an Easter Countdown to her site. It's the same URL for each countdown. If you want to participate, add a link in a blog or forum and head on over.