Our big event is next Saturday, December 10th and we have 100 Michaels swag bags to fill! If you are a business or an artist or designer and have anything you'd like us to include, please send me an email and I'll send you the mailing address. Free advertising for your business! Deadline is fast approaching!
I'm all about Team Zooey. From her HelloGiggles.com web site to her movies to New Girl, she can do no wrong. I knew about her music project with Matt Ward, She & Him, but never took the time to give it a listen. That changed tonight when I went on my annual post-turkey day hunt for cool holiday songs.
This album is seriously all you need for the season. It's simple and timeless. No frills, just heartwarming shoulder swaying versions of classic tunes. Sweet, sentimental, dreamy, sexy, pretty, innocent all at the same time. Perfect for trimming the tree all by your lonesome or entertaining guests in your casa.
I don't know what came over me this week. I crocheted one scarf last weekend with the yarn my brother brought me from Ireland, then I made another...then I went and spent $100+ on yarn Thanksgiving night and as of a few minutes ago, I wrapped up the last of five scarves.
I worked my hook and yarn for 14 hours yesterday to make the bases. Then today I weaved them with sparkly eyelash yarns and some other fun fibers. I'm going to sell them at Crafteteria this Friday night, and then I'll put them in my Etsy shop.
My greatest moment of pride came when, after each one I completed, Maya would say "Oh! Can I have THIS one?" She loved all of them. And my sister Theresa ordered an orange one! That's a good sign because they have different taste and style than me, so if they appealed to them, hopefuly other people will like them too! I'll keep you posted.
It felt so good to make something new. Just me and my yarn! I felt just like Ofie in my Waking Up in the Land of Glitter novel -speed crochet all the way!
My yarn haul from last night. That's a lot of scarves to make!
I have this crafty OCD issue where I make something and get super excited and then I go out and buy enough supplies to make said item for an entire army. That's where I'm at with my crocheted scarves this weekend. all I want to do is make them. I've made three so far and I had to stop because my wrist began to hurt.
This video clip is me last night...I don't even know what happened!
This time I used black yarn, started with 20 chain stitches and then triple crochet. Threaded with assorted yarns. Next time I think I'll start with 15 chain stitches to get a thinner scarf.
The Muppets
By Lola S. Rocco
Special for CraftyChica.com
Director: James Bobin
Writer: Jim Henson (characters); Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller (screenplay)
Cast: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper and Rashida Jones
Rating: PG
Runtime: 98
Official synopsis: With the help of three fans, The Muppets must reunite to save their old theater from a greedy oil tycoon.
Mamiverse.com is a new site put together by two of my favorite people - Rene Alegria (my former editor at Harper Collins) and Sylvia Martinez (former editor of Latina Magazine). I'm excited to announce that I'll be contributing articles about crafting and life in general! I miss writing and reporting, so I'm looking forward to dipping my toe back in the feature-writing waters. Here are some articles I already wrote!
Every year we have a booth at the Heard Museum Spanish Market - it's our biggest show of the year. I took the entire week off from work last week to strictly make merchandise. it was a week in Heaven! I drank quad venti skinny gingerbread lattes every afternoon. I did nothing but make art for 14 hours each day! Here are a few of the things I made!
Today I'm excited to share an interview with a friend and fellow, author, Toni Margarita Plummer! We met years ago at a writing conference and have stayed in touch ever since. Please check out and buy her new fabulous book!
Tell us a bit about your book!
The Bolero of Andi Rowe is a short story collection, and my first book! The stories are inter-related, so you'll see recurring characters throughout. A lot of them tell the story of this one family, the Rowe family. They're mostly set in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles. Most of the characters are Mexican-American and Catholic, so the stories tend to deal with those cultures. I've heard from readers that some parts make them laugh out loud, and that they find other parts very touching. It's been really wonderful to hear readers' responses!
Did the idea come first, or the goal to write a book?
I think they happened about the same time. I wanted to have a published book, and I had a rough idea of what I wanted that book to be about. I didn't have much of a plot. I just had this desire to capture characters and place. It started out as a novel. Then I ditched that idea and put together a collection. It was even later that I realized the stories should be inter-related, independent but in communication with each other.
Outline or no outline?
I never had an outline for this book. I don't think one was necessary. The best moments writing it were when a story veered off in a new direction, when I realized that it was really about something else. These were short stories though. At the moment, I'm in the process of plotting out a novel. A novel seems so long! I'm hoping that if I can roughly sketch it out, it won't seem so daunting.
By day you are a book editor. How did it feel to be on the other side of the page? Did being an editor help speed up the process?
It was funny--while the experience felt utterly new, it also felt very familiar. I think being an editor meant I was coming in being more aware of the process. I knew there would be a copyedited manuscript, first pass pages, catalog copy, jacket copy--I knew the basic schedule for what it takes to make a book. I also had an idea of what the publisher would be handling and what I'd have to take upon myself. There are differences across publishers, of course, so I did end up making some assumptions based on my own experiences. There were surprises, but I think the process did run more smoothly than it would have if I were coming in a complete newbie. It's still very different when it's your own book being published, but it definitely did help just having been through it all as an editor with so many debut authors.
What were a couple of your challenges with writing the book?
I kept wanting to rewrite the stories! This drove my family and friends crazy, and me too, quite honestly. I would talk about how I needed to do more work on the stories and my family would say, uh, haven't you worked on these enough already? Aren't you done yet? But I couldn't let them go until I was satisfied that they were ready.
How would you describe your main character? What is the overall message you want readers to take away?
If there is a main character in the book, that would be Andi Rowe. Even though she's not the main character in every story, or even present in every story, she's sort of the focal point and the other characters and stories branch out from her. She's a college student, figuring out her life--what is her relationship to her hometown after moving away, her relationships to her friends, family, etc.
I wasn't really trying to give any kind of message. I was writing around my interests, which have to do with relationships, faith, and heritage, to name a few. I wanted to create stories around these and pose questions, more than give any exact message. What I hope readers will take away is a feeling of intimacy with these characters and with this world.
Will the experience change how you edit books?
I don't think that it will, actually. Each manuscript and author has different needs and I only figure that out as I'm reading something.
What is your story of how you got your book published?
I saw an announcement for the Miguel Mármol Prize, which Curbstone Press gave out for a first work of fiction by a Latino author. The winner got a contract and a small advance. I had several stories, enough to make the page count. And I thought, I have a good shot at this! So I brushed them up and sent them in. Roberto Márquez was the judge and he picked my collection as the winner. Curbstone was going through some internal changes though, and they found they couldn't go ahead with publishing the books they'd acquired. So my book was stalled. Eventually, Curbstone was acquired by Northwestern University Press, which added them as a new imprint, Curbstone Books. My book was the inaugural book in the imprint. And that's it! It only took, hm, I think about 8 years! That's from when I first started working on the material to publication. I think I needed all that time though. My perspective on these stories has changed over the years--I developed a better understanding of what I wanted to accomplish with this book and I'm very grateful to Curbstone and NUP for making it happen!
Maya has set a new goal of uploading a new video to her site every Thursday. Sometimes it will be her singing, sometimes a craft, sometimes a life lesson...this week it's, well awkward. See for yourself!
We have Spanish Market this weekend, which is our biggest art event of the year! I took the week off from work in order to make as much merchandise as possible. Ech, I'm not going as fast as I want. Below is my wish list and I'm through a couple items. I think i'm making too much. Instead of making five or six fabric collage pillows, I'm making SIXTEEN! That's what a quad mocha will do to a crafty girl.
Here are some of the ornaments. Every year I try to make a new style, these are my favorite yet! I made 52 of them over the weekend. Tomorrow I'll finish the pillows ans then bust out crosses and framed prints.
Speaking of tomorrow, which is actually TODAY - remember how Maya made that "How to Get Over a Break Up" video last week? Well, it is getting mucho hits and she was interviewed by a national show called Right This Minute about it! Check your local listings to see when it airs in your city. Here in Phoenix it is on channel 15 at 11 a.m.
This will be our second year putting on this fabulous event! Last year it drew hundreds of Phoenix crafties and we expect this year to be even bigger!
We have a few spots left for instructors. This is how it works:
As an instructor, you get a table and 10 chairs, electricity, promos, and you sell a craft project for people to sit down and make with you. The fee is $25 to be an instructor - but you get to keep 100% of what you make! You can also sell your art, craft kits, whatever you want!
Well, the relationship didn't exactly work out, which is totally fine - actually kind of expected considering both of them were, well...only 18! I'm not going to lie, there was a lot of emotion and heartache, but they're both great kids and after all was said and done, they both moved on in a positive way and we're all really happy about that.
Maya made this video as part of the closure. I hope you watch it and pass it along to anyone you know who could use some support in that area, no matter what the age or gender. I'm so proud of her for being bold enough to share her experience to help other people!
OK, this is how the Latina Smart Fund scholarship contest works. First you sign-up and then you submit an essay of up to 1000 words or a video up to 2 minutes answering the topical question. We want you to be creative, be inspiring and most importantly, be yourself! Once everyone has sent in their submissions, the top 50 entries will be selected based on the amount of votes received. If multiple entries are tied for 50th spot, all entries involved in that tie will move on to the judging phase. Then our Latina Smart Ambassadors (Blogueras) will rate the 50 finalists based on the following criteria:
Originality — How unique and creative is the essay/video?
Relevancy to the theme — How well was the question answered?
Style — How well was the applicant’s personality portrayed? Is the entry well written in terms of grammar and is it easy to understand?
Enthusiasm — How much does the applicant believe the scholarship will benefit her?
Engagement — How compelling is the entry? Did it make you want to keep reading/watching?
HOW TO ENTER:
My friend Alexa from The Swell Life, is getting in the calaca spirit! She has two wonderful posts that celebrate crafty goodness for Dia de los Muertos! Some of these finds are AHHMAZING!! My fave are the painted sugar skull fingernails! Check them out HERE and HERE.
Happy Dia de los Muertos!
Me and Maya getting in the *spirit* of the season.
