Twitter-dee-dee, blog radio and other random bits

Well, after much ado around here yesterday (arranging childcare and other household hoopla), I participated in Celebrations.com's premiere radio show with lifestyle party expert Jeanne Benedict and three other crafty bloggers. More info here. Or, listen to the show right here on my blog.

I am busy, busy getting ready for our 2nd Chicago Craft Social. It's going to be fun! This time, Jess and I are arranging a publicity table for local bloggers, artists, business owners and the like to display promotional materials like cards, flyers, free samples, etc. I'm looking forward to getting to know more about our guests and seeing what they're up to when they're not crafting, snacking and socializing with us.
I'll be making some more alphabet block card holders (any thoughts on items to use in place of the blocks?) and here's a peek at Jess's homemade business card stands. We plan to use colorful mixing bowls, canisters, and other kitchen-y things for sample collections.
I will be leading guests in making paper airplanes that actually fly (Hopefully. Do you have any tried and true airplane patterns I could add to our selection?) and a "green clean" sample kit which will include an all-purpose disinfectant spray, a soft scrub, and a powdered laundry detergent. Let me tell you, it can be a chore locating washing soda. Until you find it at the market right next to the Craft Social venue. Argh.

Last week I tried out this recipe for Pasta Primavera and really liked it. Great for those of you who need to use up that fresh summer squash and homegrown herbs. But good for those of us who don't, too. And you don't have to turn on the oven.

Yes, I have set up a Twitter account. No, I don't really know how to use it and am not sure if I want to. My generous and extremely experienced friend Becky is becoming my Twitter mentor, however, so under her guidance perhaps I'll learn to enjoy it. (This is where I would smile at her, but I don't want to make one of those punctuational happy faces). I'll try to put a link on my sidebar soon so you can easily find me.
I'm working on creating a Facebook page for this blog, as well. Not sure when I'll have that ready.

To come: Green Clean sample kits, alphabet block frames, back-to-school fun, product review and give away. But not before the Social!

Blog Talk Radio and me

I will be a guest on Celebrations.com's internet radio premiere this Tuesday. Their lifestyle party expert will be facilitating a conversation on parties celebrating the end of summer and beginning of the school year. I am one of a few bloggers who will be joining her.
Check out Celebrations for more party ideas and Blog Talk Radio for the show, which will air at 3pm ET and run about 20-30 minutes. If you miss it on Tuesday, though, never fear, they archive the shows and you can listen to the podcasts whenever you have the time.

My blog in Spanish

Or French, or German, or Japanese, etc.
It seems like Google runs the online world so I guess it makes sense that they offer an online translator. I found it recently and thought it was pretty cool. Just paste in your text or URL and voila!
Now a reader suggested offering a translate tool on my blog, which I can't imagine I have a great need for, but which is kind of fun, so I stuck it down in the right sidebar. Enjoy reading this blog in the language of your choice!

I'm in a magazine, #2!

I'm so excited to share my second magazine appearance! Country Living, the May 2009 issue, is featuring my embroidered hand print project. This time, my project takes up the whole page. Cool.
If you happen to grab this magazine off the shelf, it's in the Idea Notebook section under DIY Made Easy, page 77. If you'd like to see the web version, you can find it here. If you'd like to read my original post, find it here.
I embroidered my kids' hand prints for the grandparents in our family this past Christmas, but this would be a great project for Mother's Day, as well. You know, for you to make for your mothers. Although making one for yourself will probably be tempting. I still intend to make one for our home. Let's see if I do that before our hands are all the same size.
Oh, and remember last time when I mentioned having a couple other magazine mentions in the works and hoped I hadn't jinxed anything by saying so? It appears I did. The article I was most looking forward to was, unfortunately, scheduled to appear in the Spring issue of a magazine that met it's demise. Darn.
Happy embroidering!

I'm in a magazine!

So, I'm not famous or anything, but I have now had one of my projects featured in a magazine. Cool! It's a little spot on the Solutions page in Canadian Family Magazine, where parents share tips on specific family life topics. I was contacted and asked to contribute a project idea on the topic of food-craft and write an accompanying project explanation. Then my idea was reenacted and photographed, printed, and readers were directed to my blog for further craft ideas. I'm pleased! And grateful to Canadian Family for the opportunity.
Happily, in addition to this little magazine feature (can I call it a feature?), I'm awaiting a couple more to run in the spring. More news on those when the time comes! (I hope I didn't jinx anything by saying that).

FYI: In case you happen to click on the picture and read the article, I feel I should mention that my 4 year old daughter's name was accidentally misprinted.

Thank you!

Hello! I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you to some of the lovely ladies (see below) who have recognized me on their blogs and honored me with awards. I'm pretty slow when it comes to responding to questions, comments, tags, and awards, but I certainly love receiving them. I am grateful you consider my efforts here a worthy read.
Speaking of my efforts here...I've been pretty slow posting, as well. I'm still gung-ho about blogging, but am finding it difficult to fit in on a very regular basis. You know with children your daily routines change with each developmental stage your babies pass through. In this stage, personal time (with energy to use it) has been especially hard to come by. Thank you for sticking with me!

The Johnson Family
My Sisters' Cucina
Mrs. Nespy's Frugal World
Knitting Kat

New look!

I am still making changes to my blog, but have finished what I think is the major work.
I actually followed a tutorial and converted my blog to three columns all by myself. I feel like this is a major accomplishment! Then my well-known blogging friend, Jess, who happens to be a talented, insightful and detailed graphic designer offered to redesign my header and logo to better suit me. (I really never work with purple but am always taken with red. And turquoise.) I am so happy with my new color scheme! Jess, you're awesome! (She's a freelancer, too, if you're wondering.)
Now, as I'm writing, colors are appearing that I thought I changed, so this post is kind of a test.
Here goes!

Under Construction!

As you can see, I'm trying to make some changes to my blog, but as I have NO web programming/designing experience, it may take me awhile. Bear with me! And if you have any great tips for...anything blog-programming related, let me know. Thanks!

What I Can Do

But, despite my shortcomings, I am able to do a few commendable things. I can post occasionally (if not for the masses, then for my few dedicated fans who know me best), I can encourage my children in simple crafts (hopefully, more to come on this!), I can parallel park in really small spaces (oops, not so much anymore with a minivan), I can unclog the kitchen sink (where I do occasionally wash ALL of our dishes), I can upload (or is it download?) the pictures off our camera onto the computer, I can bake a delicious batch of cookies (cracking my eggs singlehandedly) and thoroughly enjoy it, I can dream about all the lovely things I'd like to make for my home or family or self, I can sing all the verses to American Pie, I can type a blog entry one-handed while bouncing a baby on my lap, and I think I once carried all three of my children downstairs at the same time (3-story building).
Today, we're snowed in and have already made pumpkin cookies (minus some of the dry ingredients that went flying all over the kitchen when my son turned on the mixer without being told), and have plans to make Christmas ornaments and take a bath. My, what a busy day.
Stay tuned for Christmas ornament pics.

What I Can't Do

When I envisioned my blog, I pictured lovely photos, crafts, food, some tutorials, creativity abounding. What I forgot, however, is that while I may, on occasion, exercise some creativity at home, the degree to which I can recreate it in an ongoing, attractive, interesting, and functional blog is limited by the extent of my knowledge (with some time and energy thrown into the mix).
I can't post on a daily or even regular basis, I can't take good photos, I can't manipulate the ones I do take in any way, I can't create shareable templates or do anything else graphic design-related, I can't take my children's art and embroider it onto quilts or bags, I can't teach them to sew gifts for each other, etc. and so on... like other (part alien, I'm inclined to believe) blogging moms out there. That list doesn't even touch on my failings in the domestic maintenance arena (you know, keeping a clean and organized home and such) or the tech-trendy arena (I don't know how to use our scanner, I don't know how to text from my husband's cell phone, I don't know what a Facebook is, I don't know what all Google can do for me).