The party's off, but the celebrating is on

I love a good party and I love to be the center of attention, so you’d think that I’d eat up hosting a big shindig.

Yes and no.

I love creating a great environment for friends to mingle. I love multi-tasking. But between answering the door, introducing guests to each other, and mixing tasty drinks, I sort of forego any meaningful or lengthy conversations.

So instead of throwing a kick-ass open house for the holidays, I decided to kick it with smaller groups of friends. I’m having micro-parties, gatherings of a few pals at a time. And because times are tough, I’m making them a potluck of sorts: I supply the main dish and happily accept apps, snacks, desserts, and drinks. The important thing is not the food (although my spicy lasagna is something to write home about), it’s the friends. And by taking the focus off being an impeccable hostest (that’s the hostess with the mostest combined), I don’t have to: clean the entire house from top to bottom, decorate like I’m Buddy the Elf, shell out hundreds of dollars for booze and artfully arranged cheese plates, send and monitor the evite, and create playlists from my current favorite music (is it just me, or is Bruno Mars dreamy?). By changing up my holiday experience, I’m buying back hours of my time, time that could best be spent in the company of others.

How are you downsizing the holidays? I'd love to hear.

Simple Gifts contributor kudos: Shanon Lyon

It takes a crafty village to make a book. I wanted to give a shout-out to the lovely and ingenious Shanon Lyon, a professional writer and author herself, who showed up to my friend's birthday party with the cutest knitted wine sleeve. She told me it was made out of a sweater she accidentally shrunk. A trip to Goodwill later and I was in business. In fact, I even found the same striped Gap sweater she had used for hers! What are the odds?

What have you made out of stuff lying around the house?

"Black Is Not Your Color (And It's Not Your Brand)" Workshop on May 19

Check out this great workshop being offered by my friend Darcey Howard. I did a one-on-one phone session with her and it totally transformed how I view my personal style.

By popular demand, this workshop is being offered in both

Seattle and Manhattan at midday & evening times

Darcey Howard

"Personal Branding Through Appearance"

Being your brand takes guts.

Owning your value takes guts.

How do you create a brand that reflects your value and uniqueness in a sea of competition?

You have be ready to own it.

Are you ready to own your brand and stand out from the crowd?

_______________________________________

"Our society wants you to fit in so it can ignore you." —Seth Godin

___________________________

As an expert in building brand integrity for businesses and individuals, Darcey Howard, Personal Branding & Style Consultant, will provide the tools, tips and guidelines you can put into place immediately to make sure you stand out in a crowd versus just fitting in.

Come away with...

• Clarity of how your personal brand is conveyed and perceived both visually and professionally.
• Tools for bridging the gap between how you feel, how you look and how you sell.
• Knowledge on how to leverage your USP (Unique "Style" Proposition) to attract ideal customers.
• Guidelines to identify, build and maintain your personal brand and leverage it in your business.

Don't miss this opportunity to get what your personal brand needs to not be ignored. Cost is just $40.00.

Join Darcey Howard, founder of Personal Branding Through Appearance & LifeStyled, Ltd., on May 19th for one of two scheduled times, either 12:30 pm or 6:30 pm for this 90-minute program.

_____________________

"Black is Not a Color (And It's Not Your Brand)" Workshop

May 19, 2010

12:30–2:00 pm

Or

6:00–7:30 pm

Aspira

1823 Terry Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

(206) 623-8900

______________________

To sign up or for more information, please contact Darcey at darcey@darceyhoward.com.

Talk talk, all we do is talk talk

Two weeks ago, I road-tripped to see Dave Matthews Band with a childhood friend. When I returned to Seattle, I had a houseguest in town for a music festival. After he left, I had a day alone before I flew cross-country. There, in New Jersey and then Delaware and back to New Jersey, I was with a couple housefuls of people for a week-plus.

I felt like I had a radio in my head that couldn’t be turned off.

I suddenly realized why I was screaming in my skull. I hadn’t been alone for more than 24 hours in two weeks when I’m usually alone most of the time. Some days, I talk to a neighborhood barista and that’s it. While I adore my friends and can’t get enough of our sidewinding conversations, I am not trained these days to run the convo course. I can go at it in sprints but I get winded halfway through a marathon.

When I lived on the East Coast, I shone in situations where five conversations were simultaneously going on. I took it as a point of pride to follow all the threads. It was sport.

But it wasn’t connected. It was more about showing off than tuning in. I have been working to change this. And I know I’m different. When someone cuts me off, I can’t take it. I often just shut down and let them talk, figuring it’s more important to them to drone on than for me to interrupt. But I’m equally aggravated when someone isn’t listening to me. I don’t always have something important to say, but I am talking.

I know I do it, too. I might be working on the computer or watching crap Bravo TV (you know what shows I’m talking about) and zone out. I didn’t used to do this. I've been on high alert for most of my life. As a kid in an alcoholic household, I learned to multitask, doing homework, watching TV with the family, and always listening, listening, listening for something that required a laugh, a comment, or a trip to the kitchen for another highball. I guess my coping strategies have slowly melted away. I don’t need to split my mind into different compartments, I don’t need to always impress. Rather, I want to connect, to feel that ripple that flows through my body and causes my eyes to tear up when I am absolutely on the same page, wavelength, whatever you want to call it, with someone. That’s when the white noise stops and I can hear everything crystal clear.

(photo: textually.org)

A few photos from my birthday

I had a magical birthday weekend, kicking off with a small cookout at the CoSos. Rob, Kerry, Piper, and Molly—my Seattle family—opened up their backyard for some great play (including bocce ball), conversation, and all-around fun. Strange songs were sung in lieu of the "Happy Birthday" song, baked beans and bratwurst were shoved in the piehole, and there were cupcakes.

Yesterday, my actual birthday, I went with a couple of dear friends to Whidbey Island for the day. We followed my usual route: Greenbank for pie, Coupeville for salmon & chips at Toby's Tavern, beach glass hunting (check out the two bags of glass booty!), just over Deception Pass for espresso shakes at the Shrimp Shack (love the photo of Michaela and Jessica; they look like they are up to no good)... We added in a stop at the Tulalip Casino (truly, the number-one place for fun), which blew Michaela's mind. She kept looking up at the ceiling like she had just gone down the rabbit hole. Sadly, I was not the Queen of Hearts but I was queen for a day. The best part about the entire celebration was the insightful, funny conversations I had with my friends. I am so blessed to have such an amazing urban tribe; that really is the best gift and I get it on a daily basis.

A weekend of projects and Piper

I had a super weekend. After a fun Backcountry Betty: Crafting With Style talk and signing at the West Seattle Library on Saturday, I spent some time whipping up crafts for my upcoming book of gift projects. I made some salted caramels late on Saturday night and they are delish, if a tad hard. I am just going to have to make another batch this week, and pull out the caramel at the "soft ball" rather than "firm ball" stage. I made a quilted easy-peasy baby blanket yesterday and now I have the perfect go-to gift for my legions of expecting friends. I wonder if I can make a quilted Snuggie knockoff…

And I also made a charming framed silhouette of my favorite little pal Piper. Another perfect gift for a little one's room and a gift project that can be done, swear, in under an hour). Speaking of Piper, who's almost 4, I played dress-up with her for hours yesterday, meaning she was my Sarah Jessica Parker and I was Patricia Field. I'm most proud of two outfits: I wrapped a giant scarf around her so that it crossed in back and tied at the neck oh-so-smartly. Add to that a satin pencil skirt (from her Disney princesses dress-up kit), some mules and a floral lei worn as a bracelet and she was every bit as chic as Kate Moss on holiday in Ibiza. The other outfit was pure girly fun. I pulled a frilly pink skirt with lots of tulle layers up so that it became a strapless top (like SJP wore during that season of SATC when she was trying to cover up her baby bump). I added a slim pink skirt, a burgundy wrist band, and a pink headband worn Olivia Newton-John style and she was ready for Mr. Big/Prince Charming, not to mention a fancy lunch date with her girlfriends at a swanky place like Trophy Cupcakes.

I tried to make her up as a pirate but she was having none of it. Eye patches are not for her. However, her gypsy fairy look was a bit hit with her parents. She told a few fortunes with her Magic 8-Ball.

Anyway, it was a welcome respite from work and financial stress, and recharged me to come home and keep plugging away on the gift projects.

The real Pearl district...

I spent a great 24 hours in Portland this weekend, where I had a magical, relaxing time talking and crafting with Susan Beal, Michaela Murphy, Diane Gilleland, and Lee Meredith. Susan and her husband Andrew were so lovely and gracious, hosting Michaela and me, and I was just enchanted with her home and her handicrafts, not to mention her sweet baby girl Pearl.

After a fat dinner on Friday night at Sub Rosa to celebrate Susan's new book Button It Up, we all retired to Susan's living room to craft, sort buttons, and pick Diane's brain about Twitter late into the night. Michaela and I happily retired to the guest room and woke the next morning to more delights.

First up, the waffle wagon. Sitting under a tent with a heat lamp and patio furniture, we ordered up our waffles and chowed down. I hoovered a waffle, wrapped like a taco and filled with eggs, rosemary mushrooms, parmesan cheese, sautéed onions, and maple bacon. Holy moley. (The photos are of Susan, the wagon's order window, and my waffle.)

Then Susan zipped us over to the Knittn' Kitten, a craft supply thrift store and one of my favorite places in Portland. I combed through buttons, bins of fabric, vintage patterns, yarn, and all sorts of crafty odds and ends. Heaven. Michaela and I ended the trip with a three-hour coffee klatch on the train. A more civilized 24 hours was never had.

I can't wait to visit Portland and my crafty friends next month, when I return for the Portland premiere of Handmade Nation and Crafty Wonderland. And the waffle wagon, of course.

Cooking with condiments

Last night, I trotted over to my friend's house for chili and cornbread. Darcey Howard is not only an accomplished, stylish business owner, she's a mean cook. I always admire folks who can whip up incredible dishes from stuff they have tucked away in their cupboards and fridge. Darcey is one of these talented people, to say the least.

As I was leaving, I suddenly remembered that she loves to collect condiment and spice packets during her travels. Beyond ketchup, mustard, and mayo, I wondered what sort of packets she picked up so I asked her to show me her stash. Out of the fridge came a large plastic container chock full of Sriracha, lemon juice, taco sauce, Tabasco, sweet and sour sauce, wasabi, chopped onions, honey, relish, peanut butter, and Nutella (amongst other things).

My jaw dropped.

As Darcey sorted through these treasures, she showed me which packets came from Germany and displayed a wide variety of taco sauces (girl likes her Mexican and Asian food, if her condiment collection is any indication).

Darcey once told me she wanted to experiment with the different packets, perhaps making pad Thai with a few (peanut butter, honey, Siracha, soy, and vinegar) or a spicy shrimp glaze with another group (sweet and sour sauce, ketchup, lemon juice, and horseradish). I'd love to see this sort of kitchen McGyver action go down and I have every confidence that Darcey could whip up some seriously tasty vittles with these packets as her only seasonings and sauces.

What could you imagine cooking up with condiment packets?

My Expanding Craft Community

I’m beat.

I’ve been in California since Sunday working the CHA trade show on behalf of Craftstylish. I was hoping that this show and being surrounded by crafters, craft tools, and cool materials would recharge me, provide an antidote to the sickly few weeks I’ve had.

Yeah, not so much.

No matter where I go, I’m still there lugging around all my baggage. But I made the most of it. I loved, loved, loved meeting my fellow Craftstylish bloggers and other various craft authors. I have craft crushes on them all. So I thought I’d take some space to write them a virtual thank-you note for what they gave me this weekend.

I feel I could be lifelong friends with Diane Gilleland. A fellow Northwesterner, Diane exudes intelligence and quiet confidence from every pore. A thoughtful speaker, I hang on every word, as I know it’s said with consideration and deliberation. I can’t wait to roadtrip to Portland with Michaela to hang out with Diane and Susan Beal.

Erika Kern is downright wackalicious, which makes her downright delicious. Wildly talented, I found her to be a partner in crime for my snarkiness and irreverent chatter.

I want to move to New York in the hopes that I can rub elbows with Jeff Rudell upon occasion. He doesn’t know it but he’s my new gay boyfriend. Okay, I just got so excited that I spilled cold water down my shirt (I’m on the plane as I write this). He’s a genius, sure, but he’s got miles of personality and a huge heart to match his height (dude is tall).

Kayte Terry is so talented and style just exudes from her, so it's no wonder that she's a stylist as well as crafty gal. After hanging out with her, I want to start tucking my jeans into knee boots and growing my hair out.

Deana Tierney is so self-possessed. Her poise and calm will serve her well as she takes over the reins at Threads magazine and continues to post for Craftstylish. I'm glad I got to spend some quality time with her at Buca di Beppo (I wish I could also say I enjoyed their Celebration Cake, which is definitely NOT a red velvet cake. Yuck!).

Jessica Aframe did an exceptional job with show logistics and keeping everyone on schedule. While she works behind the scenes much of the time, she worked the booth like the rent was due and learned to crochet in her "spare" time.

Crafty Chica Kathy Cano-Murillo was working tirelessly at the Duncan booth for much of the show but she still managed to pop over to the Craftstylish booth and chat with us. I'm going to bring a lot more glitter into my life, both literally and figuratively.

Creative Juice hosts Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza were also working hard at the show, doing "make and take" projects with show-goers. But they were sweet as pie (mmm, pie) and are a great example of why the craft world is so generous and supportive.

Speaking of generous spirits, Sarah Hodsdon of sarah*n*dipitous delighted us all with her giving, giddy personality. She works a lot with teens in Michigan and they all helped to build her amazing cardboard booth, a showstopper and show winner for best booth. She helped to remind me that whatever you put out into the world will come back to you tenfold. While crafting is serious business, it's also about passion and joy.

And then there's the driving force behind Craftstylish. In less than a year, storyteller, writer, editor, and crafter Michaela Murphy has become one of my closest friends and mentors. Her indomitable spirit makes her a formidable, larger-than-life woman who doesn't see the limitations, only the opportunity. She makes life big, and I can't help but be inspired and energized whenever I'm lucky enough to spend time with her.

I'll post more on the sights and sounds of the show in the next few days.

Alternative gifting

This year, time and money are in short supply so a couple of friends and I got together on Sunday to make a boatload of Christmas cookies for gifting. Laurel brought boxes and tissue, not to mention the dough for sugar cookies and thumbprint cookies. I brought my cowboy cookie dough. And Kerry and Piper had a grand time helping us embellish the cookies with all sorts of frostings and sprinkles.

We made about 12 or 15 boxes but the real gift was the fun afternoon spent together in a warm and fragrant kitchen with great friends. I highly recommend it.

Rethinking the holidays: give the gift of yourself

The holidays are kicking me from one end of the street to the other. I'm not gonna lie. I'd like to say I'm making everything by hand and each precious gift will be exquisitely wrapped and shipped out by, well, now, but that's simply not the case.

Life, or in this case, my book deadline, gets in the way.

So my girlfriends and I decided to forego actual gifts to each other this year. Instead, we headed to Olympus Spa in Lynnwood for a relaxing evening of naked girl talk in hot tubs and crazy heated rooms with different properties: i.e., "Mud & Jade Room," "Charcoal Room," and "Salt Room." It was exactly what we needed to recharge and attack our work and the holidays. On the way home, we swung by Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream for some organic ice cream (candy cane ice cream for me, birthday cake with caramel sauce for the others).

In lieu of gifts, consider a shared experience this holiday season with loved ones, be it a dinner party, a weekend matinee, or naked hot tubbing. It's good for the soul and it's a gift that you'll be giving yourself. What's a better gift than quality time spent with your favorite people?

Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines

I've been pretty much drooling over my copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines ever since I picked it up. Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne are not only hilarious in that "I want them to be my best friends" kind of way, but they have compiled some seriously gorgeous garments in the book.

Here, in the order that I want to knit them, are my favorites:

• Baby Dotty Blanket
• Fern Kids' Sweater (please, I want the grown-up pattern for this one!)
• Picnic Bag
• Cardi Cozy
• Metropole
• Flapotis
• Margaret
• Mitered Hanging Towel

Usually when I get a craft book, I sort of skim the pages looking for the one or two projects that I can actually see myself knitting up. With this book, there is no weak link. I want every single project.

McMinnville craft motherlode

My friend Jessica and I were in McMinnville, Oregon this weekend for a wedding and we took time to enjoy the haunted Hotel Oregon (art adorns the rooms, the hallways, pretty much the entire building). Then we discovered Boersma's. We started at Boersma's Knitting Basket and each bought some gorg yarn. In my "spare" time, I'm going to start a smoky grey shawl. Then we moved onto Boersma's Sewing Center.

Sweet baby Jesus.

The store was huge and packed with scrumpdilious fabric and great, modern ideas on how to use them creatively. We started picking out bolts and piling them up at the counter.

Then we found out the sale fabrics were in the basement.

Sweet sassy molassey.

Needless to say, our stash grew by leaps and bounds yesterday. I am already fixin' to make a cool cabin-style pillow with the retro mountain map fabric.

In my spare time, of course.

Beachy keen

I spent the weekend in Oregon, celebrating my friend Gina's impending nuptials with her friends and family. We drove through McMinnville, where the wedding will be next weekend, and I was completely charmed by the farmland and vineyards in the area. Then we got to Lincoln City and I was bowled over once again. I love the craggy, windswept beaches of the Oregon Coast and had a glorious time collecting driftwood and all sorts of stones that have perfectly round holes dotting them. I don't know what's up with that, but I thought it was magical. My favorite is currently serving as a paperweight on my desk.

The driftwood, however, is bound for a project for Backcountry Betty: Crafting with Style, coming in Spring 09 from Skipstone Books.

Of course, I also loved roadtripping, eating bad fast food, and looking for ridiculous bumper stickers...

The Pajama Game

I got together today with Michaela Murphy (CraftStylish.com's awesome editor) for a crafternoon. With Michaela's help, I sort of cobbled together a pajama pattern, using this adorable cherry fabric (with rickrack at the hems!), while Michaela whipped out seven pillows with complete nonchalance.

I can't wait for our next get-together, so I can be inspired by Michaela and her home, a wonderful blend of vintage, kitsch, and exquisite taste. It was just what I needed to get creatively rejuiced.

A whole new world

Okay, my world has been rocked by the wonderful generosity of my friend Jared. I came home the other night to find a box with a Canon PowerShot digital camera in it, a 40th birthday gift from my lovely pal in Philadelphia.

Now, as you may recall, I had a time trying to photograph my new shrink plastic rings. I could not get a close-up shot for anything. Well, check this out. Gorgeous, in-focus photo of my work, don't you think?

Thank you, Starfish. This is the gift that will keep on giving. If only we could go back to Rehoboth for another photo shoot...