I'm walking three miles in honor of my dad's shoes.

(Father Heart, watercolor on paper)

Today would have been my dad's 73rd birthday.

To celebrate his life and all he taught me,
I'm doing something to make a difference on February 27th...

I'm joining my brother, sister, and my kids on team to fight heart disease and stroke by participating in the
American Heart Association's Start! Heart Walk!



Me walk a marathon?

I'm a plus-sized chica who spends way too much sitting - either at the computer writing, or at the art table tinkering. My dad used to love to do these things too, but he was also very active. He used to build ten-speed bikes from scratch and then take them on long rides around the city. Growing up, every Saturday he would BBQ a big dinner and then make the whole family walk around the block to burn the calories.

*

I know the fundraiser is about preventing heart disease, but to me it goes much deeper. It's about WALKING in honor of my dad.

My dad had his leg amputated eight months before he passed away. I was there when the doctor came in to tell him the bad news. I've never seen my dad's face look more heartbroken.
He made it through the surgery and rehab, and stayed positive.

Once the wound healed, he embraced the artificial leg, got up and walked every day. He was in so much pain, but it was his pride that gave him the power to stand up tall and carry on.
He would even joke around and show it off to everyone!
He was all about making the most of every day.

I want to feel that burn. It's hard to explain, but I want to do it for him
and push through the pain.

So even though I'm going to be out of breath and probably want to give up after the first 15 minutes, I'm going to give it my all and FINISH THE WALK!
And when I'm done, I'm going to kiss his picture!

*

Here is the official spiel:

Unfortunately, too many of us have a loved one affected by heart disease or stroke. To help stop this, I will be walking in this year's Start! Heart Walk benefiting the American Heart Association. I have set a personal goal to raise funds that are needed for
critical heart disease and stroke research and education.

I'm doing this in honor of my dad and my nana, who both suffered from heart disease
(both had triple bypasses), and have since passed away.

I've never done anything like this before
and am very excited to not only get outside and WALK,
but to do it for such a wonderful cause!

You can help me raise funds and protect those you love by making a donation online. Click on the link below to visit my personal donation page where you can make a secure online credit card donation.

The American Heart Association's online fundraising website
has a minimum donation amount of $25.00.

~* PLEASE SPONSOR ME! *~

Follow This Link to visit my personal AHA fundraising web page and help me in my efforts to support American Heart Association - Phoenix, AZ - PMA

It's OK if you can't donate anything, that is totally fine!
Just send good vibes my way on February 27th!

No matter what way you contribute, you will make a difference in the fight against our nation's No. 1 and No. 3 killers-heart disease and stroke. Thank you for your support!!!

Happy birthday Dad, I love you and miss you so much. I hope you are resting in peace and feeling all the love we are sending your way! Thank you for watching over us, we feel your love all the way down here! xoxoxoxox!

Peace, love, and a healthy heart!

Kathy :-)

Crafty Chica classes in the Oceanside area!

My friend Svea from Dancing Bear Indian Trader is holding two Crafty Chica workshops at her shop featuring Crafty Chica supplies!

I'll be there in spirit. In fact, I'll work it out so she can call me and I'll say hi to everyone over speakerphone!

Here is the first one - Crafty Chica Fancy Fedora, $20. The date is February 20 - so hurry and sign up!

The other is August 14th and it is the Chihuahua Pillow project!

Phone number: 760-726-BEAD (2323)

Hours: 11am-5pm (Pacific) Tuesday-Saturday

email: info@dancingbearindiantrader.com

Store Address: 135 E. Broadway, Vista, CA 92084

Don't forget, you can make your own versions by buyng supplies at select Michaels locations!

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Patrick made earrings!

Patrick made earrings!
Originally uploaded by craftychica

Patrick is performing at a big reggae festival tonight and wanted to make things to sell at a booth too. He has been working all week on making things. Today he said "How can I make earrings?" I told him what to do, and he did it. I attached the fish hooks for him. Real men use glitter!

Lyrical Love Song Pillowcase

(lyrics from Cameo's song, Sparkle)

Don't you want to be the last thing on your significant other's mind before he/she falls asleep? Diamonds and roses are nice, but they won't do the trick. But a Lyrical Love Song Pillowcase will. Choose your favorite tune - maybe one from your wedding or first date - write the lyrics on a pillowcase, then dye it whatever shade you want. Imagine your sweetie snuggling up to your sentimental, romantic verses long after Valentine's Day has gone.

This concoction uses fabric-friendly supplies to ensure the pillowcase will be soft and irresistibly huggable. Just like you!

This is also a fun project for kids to try. Let them draw on the pillowcase or scribble a love note. Resist medium and fabric spray paint can be found in the clothing aisles at the craft store.




Supplies:
1 cotton pillowcase
2 tubes of Tulip® Cool Color Block
1 bottle of Tulip® Fabric Spray Paint™

Set out the pillowcase on a covered surface. Write your lyrics with the Tulip Cool Color Block across the fabric and let dry according to package directions. TIP: The Color Block will spread - so make sure to write big and spacious!

When dry, spray with color, let dry and wash according to package directions. I used Tulip Fabric Spray in bright red, and then covered with a coat of gold glitter fabric spray.

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

LOVE SHRINE Contest!

CRAFT and iLoveToCreate.com have teamed up to present to you the Crafty Chica Challenge: Love Shrine!

Kathy Cano-Murillo, the Crafty Chica, has been making love shrines for the past 15 years. Using everything from mint tins to cigar boxes to even kitchen drawers, she transforms them into colorful art assemblages filled with objects, trinkets, mementos and phrases she loves. Her themes range from exotic lands to her kids to her Mexican culture. But her favorite love shrines to make are themed around romance!

In Kathy's new crafty-themed novel, Waking Up in the Land of Glitter, her main character, Star Esteban, makes a magical, glittery love shrine for her ex-boyfriend, Theo as a way to woo him back. Readers will not only have a peek at how Star made her love shrine in the story, but at the back of the book there are directions to make your own. You can also try one of Kathy's Love Shrine workshops in a Box - or start from scratch!

Here are her tips:

Let your heart guide you. Think of all the things that give you goosebumps (or that you want to give you goosebumps!) and make you happy! Your shrine can be exploding with sparkle and shine, or it can be soft and subdued. Start by laying down a foundation and background, and then adding a focal point, and then add accents to round it off. While Kathy likes to use creative containers for her love shrines, you can use what ever you want - anything is fair game! Kathy believes by setting out your love shrine in a place where you will see it everyday is a great way to bring happiness into your life!

Enter in this Crafty Chica Challenge for a chance to win crafty prizes. This challenge will run for 5 weeks, and the deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. PST on March 11, 2010. The Prize winners will be announced on Wednesday, March 17, 2010. Because Kathy feels that love shrines are oh-so-very personal, the winners will be drawn at random. There will be one (1) grandprize winner, and three (3) runners-up. For more information and official rules, visit the Crafty Chica Challenge: Love Shrine contest page.

• The Grand Prize is a Crafty Chica gift basket, a copy of the Crafty Chica's first novel Waking Up in the Land of Glitter and a $50 gift certificate to the Maker Shed.
• The Runner-up Prize is a Crafty Chica gift basket as well as a Crafty Chica bobblehead.

To enter this Crafty Chica Challenge, please submit photos of your love shrine to the Crafty Chica Challenge Flickr Group, and include a description of your project, inspiration, and materials were used in the process. (250 words or less please).

If you're joining in on the contest, here's the code for the badge to display on your site or blog.

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

FREE PHX FILM PASSES: Shutter Island!

I have a limited number of free movie passes for the new film, Shutter Island over at my ChicaWriter.com site! Click on that link to get the passes, first come, first serve!

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

INSPIRATION FRIDAY: Crafternoon NYC!

Please welcome, Maura Madden, author of Crafternoon: A Guide to Getting Artsy and Crafty with Your Friends All Year Long ($16.95) as this week's guest blogger.
Check out the cool idea she has for saucing up some skivvies!

Sentimental Skivvies

By Maura Madden

Valentine’s Day is one of my all-time favorite crafting holidays. Yes, Christmas and Halloween definitely lend themselves to displays of serious craftiness, but Valentine’s Day is the perfect reason to get your supplies out and make your honeys some tokens of your love. And Valentine’s Day is especially close to my, ahem, heart because Crafternoon was born out of a Valentine’s making party some eight years ago. So even in a really busy year like this one, I make time to make valentines. Everybody wants to feel the love, and this day is a great excuse to show it.

I usually make paper valentines for most of my buds, but sometimes I like to go the extra mile and make a crafty pair of underwear for the besties. Nothing too racy, mind you, just something fun to show my love. I’ve got lots of suggestions in my book, Crafternoon, for hilarious sayings and witty observations to scrawl on your own pair of funderoos, but for this special Crafty Chica post, I kept it simple. Hearts and initials are all you really need to show your love, right? At least that’s what the trees have been led to believe.

Sentimental Skivvies Supply List:

Cotton underwear

Tulip® Soft Fabric Paint™

Paintbrush

Tulip® 3D Fashion Paint

Cookie cutters (optional)

Cardboard (optional)

Exacto knife (optional)

1. Identify the undergarment. Pick up some plain underwear in the right size for the intended recipient. Paint will show up better on a lighter color, so you white want to go with pre-Labor Day white. And though Sisqo may have been interested in seeing that thong, I do not recommend crafting on one. There just isn’t enough of a “canvas” to work with.

2. Create a panty plan. Do you want to use a stencil, or just paint freehand? Figure it out! Do you have a steady hand and a strong grasp of the heart shape? Then go freestyle! Want more guidance? Use a stencil to help you make your mark. (If you feel like freestyling, skip ahead to step four.)

3. Make a sweet stencil. I kept it simple by using a heart shaped cookie cutter to make my stencil. Just trace the shape of the cookie cutter on to a piece of cardboard or posterboard, and then cut out the shape with an exacto blade. (Parents: If you are making stencils, divide the labor by having kidlets do the tracing and then you can do the cutting. Exacto knives are very, very, very, very sharp, and the misuse of them is sure to ruin your Crafternoon).

4. Make yourself a masterpiece. With a brush and some fabric paint, paint on your image using either the stencil, or your mind, as your guide. You can do all sorts of things, but for Valentine’s Day, it’s hard to beat the beauty of a simple heart.

Whatever design ends up on the pantaloons, your recipient is sure to love them. After all, there are a few things that everyone needs in life, and two of them are love and underwear. Making valentine panties will make you a very popular person, and that’s a sure path to a mailbox full of valentines.

For more crafty tips on making valentines, mending hearts, and throwing your own Crafternoons, visit www.crafternoon.com.

Maura Madden is a writer, performer, producer and crafter working at Comedy Central in New York City. Maura was a member of the San Francisco comedy group Killing My Lobster from 1998-2002. She co-hosted Two for the Show, a monthly variety show at Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction in NYC, from 2005-07. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband Rufus, her Two for the Show co-host. They have a lovely dog named Lorenzo. Crafternoon is her first book.

Would you like to submit an article for Inspiration Friday? Click HERE for the guidelines. -SUBMIT your piece with INSPIRATION FRIDAY in the subject line and email to kathy[at]craftychica[dot]com

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Happy Heart Fabric collage

Discover the joy in creativity with this Happy Heart Fabric Collage! Embellish colorful fabric swatches with the Milagro Heart Crafty Chica® Iron-On Transfer™ and super holographic Crafty Chica® Chunky Glitter™ then hang in a special place for a happy pick-me-up!
For more projects, visit iLoveToCreate.com!

• Crafty Chica™ Extreme Embellishment Glue™
  
  
• Crafty Chica™ Iron-On Transfers™
  
  

  Milagro Heart Flocked Transfer

• Crafty Chica™ Chunky Glitters™
  
  

  		25693 Bollywood Blue
  		25695 Popstar Purple
  		25696 Goddess Gold

• Miscellaneous
  Foil
  Trims – yarn, sequins – contrasting colors
  Measuring tape
  Iron
  Pressing cloth
  Sewing machine or needle and thread
  Scissors
  Fabric swatches – contrasting colors
  Paintbrush – liner
  

Instructions

1. Cut a 9” x 6” piece of fabric and use a sewing machine or needle and thread to hem the edges.
2. Place fabric piece on a hard surface and place Milagro Heart Iron-On Transfer centered on fabric. Cover with pressing cloth. Following package instructions, iron Milagro Heart transfer onto fabric.
3. Cut another piece of fabric that’s 11” x 7” and hem the edges.
4. Sew the smaller piece of fabric with Milagro Heart design in the center of the larger piece of fabric.
5. Sew yarn and sequin trims around the edges of fabric swatch, then sew loops that hang off the bottom edge of the collage to create fringe.
6. Stitch a long strand of yarn around sides and top to create a hanger for fabric piece.
7. Pour a puddle of glue onto a piece of foil. Using a small liner paintbrush, brush glue onto crown of heart then immediately sprinkle Goddess Gold glitter onto glue. Let dry then shake off excess glitter.
8. Repeat step for glittering other sections of heart. Refer to photo. Let dry.

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White

Up late writing a fun scene tonight. This is the music one of my characters puts on for his date to impress her. The song is called Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White by Perez Prado. It was a big hit way back in 1955, but I think it is timeless.

It helps a lot to have the actual song playing while I script it all out!

The video is sweeter than cotton candy on a sundae, so I thought I'd share it! Enjoy!


LINK

NOTE: About my deadline! I turned in a big chunk of the book Monday, and was allowed a week extra to finish up! Thank you for all the encouraging comments and emails,I really appreciate it!


Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Just a nibble

Photograph: Roger Tooth

This time of the year always reminds me of when I plunged to the depths of my chocolate addiction. This little event took place about 10 or 11 years ago.

For years, I nagged Patrick to surprise me with a box of high-end valentine confections. When he finally got the hint, I happened to be on the Atkins diet.

I hadn't tasted sugar in months. Shock came over my face as I unwrapped my gift - of all times to hit me up with these creamy confections? I had no will power. I felt like Edward Cullen, sitting next to Bella Swan in Biology class. My eyes turned black and I couldn't contain the yearning to BITE.

I stayed firm and calmly set the box aside. I decided to do the dishes as a way to quietly debate my dilemma. To scarf or not to scarf? I know you're thinking - "just a nibble", but when you haven't had the hard stuff in weeks and then it's under your nose - the concept of "nibble" does not exist. "Gobble" takes over. I contemplated my options while Patrick went to the other room with our kids and my mother-in-law.

I thought maybe I could handle a nibble if I prepped myself first.

My mind raced. I knew if I ate just one piece, my diet would certainly crash and burn. You know that split-second turning point when you eat junk, there is no turning back? Regardless, a devilish voice in my head said,

"It's a gift, silly. A nibble won't hurt."

"NO waaay!" I said out loud. I grabbed the box and shoved it into the kitchen trash.

My hands trembled as I scrubbed the countertop. "Just a nibble . . . " I innocently thought.

Next thing I knew, I had my hands in the trash. I ripped off the lid and popped a truffle in my mouth. I closed my eyes and began to sway from the smooth, dark, decadence. I hadn't even finished it, yet had one more on deck.

All of a sudden the voice of a child brought me back to reality. My child.

"Mommy, why are you eating out of the garbage?" my son asked.

"Oh!" I laughed while wiping away the drool, "It's not what it looks like, sweetie!"

Yikes. I noticed my mother-in-law and husband had also witnessed my dirty deed.

"Were you just eating those candies out of the trash?" my mother-in-law asked.

"No, please let me explain," I cried. "The top of the box was still on them and . . . "

"Kathy!" said Patrick. "Why did you throw my present away?"

I ended up taking the box out of the trash and we all ate the chocolates together!

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Almost done! Needs something around the edges!

And an angel and/or fairy!

Watercolor hearts on wood

Rapid-fire woodburning to meet a deadline tomorrow!

Queen of Hearts Window Box

It's February already and I haven't posted new projects in a while, shame on me (book deadline!!)! I haven't had time to tinker with new projects yet, but will very soon. In the meantime, here is a golden oldie.

I love this idea because it is just five inexpensive picture frames transformed into a box to hold all your treats from candy to cotton balls!

SUPPLIES:

5 picture frames w/ glass (buy at the dollar store!)
Sandpaper
Crafty Chica™ Little Chica Paint Packs™ (or spray paint)
Deck of cards
Chip or cardboard
Tulip® 3D Fashion Paint
Red mardi gras beads
Dice
Liquid Fusion and hot glue
Large doll head (wood ball with flat side)
Felt tabs

DIREX:
1. Remove the glass and paint the frames, let dry.
2. Arrange the frames in the way they will be assembled. Use the sandpaper to remove paint from the sides that you will be gluing together.
3. Replace glass.
4. Use Liquid Fusion and hot glue to glue the frames together in a box shape. The hot glue will allow them to secure while the other glue dries.
5. Glue on the chipboard, trim any excess.
6. Set box upright and use the squeeze paint to affix the playing cards to the glass, add beads to borders, etc.
7. Decorate the top frame and glue a ball to the top.
8. Add felt tabs to the bottom side of the top.
9. Glue dice for feet.

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!