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In this episode of CraftSanity, Weeks Ringle, 45, of Oak Park, Ill., shares the story of how she launched a home-based contemporary design studio called FunQuilts with her husband and business partner, Bill Kerr.

Together Weeks and Bill design and make quilts for individuals and galleries, They’ve co-authored three quilting books and travel around the country teaching and lecturing on quilt design. They have also designed more than 100 fabrics for FreeSpirit. Look for their new Mendhi fabric designs for FreeSpirit (pictured at the top of the page) at your local quilt shop by mid-December, or find them here.

And perhaps even more impressive than their beautiful quilts is the commitment Weeks and Bill have to serving their community. They could easily make more money than they do, but instead donate quilts to charity organizations and fundraising efforts. For every 10 quilts they sell, they donate one to charity.

And few quilters can say they've created jobs in their community, but that's exactly what Weeks and Bill did when they designed the "Many Hands Blankies" (pictured below). These quilts are made by developmentally disabled adults at a vocational training and job center in Chicago. The sale of the quilts keep adult workers creatively employed.



Read Weeks regular posts on the whipup.net website. The site is fabulously addictive and wonderfully inspiring. It's all about "handcraft in a hectic world," and a place for artists and crafters to share ideas and pass along information.

Get your quilting fix. Here's the link to the quilt block swap I belong to. It's fun. Check it out.

This week's project is a lovely FunQuilts pattern called "Between the Lines" that you can try out at home. Download the pdf. (Thanks Weeks!)



This Week's Contest: THREE lucky CraftSanity listeners will win a copy of “Color Harmony for Quilts” donated by the authors. It's and great guide for rookie and experienced quilters wanting to learn more about quilt design.

Please type “quilt contest” in the subject line of your e-mail and include your mailing address so we can get the book to you if you win.

You can enter to win a couple different ways.

1) E-mail a photo of a finished quilt, quilt block or work in progress to Jennifer@craftsanity.com. (The idea is to create an inspiring photo gallery or quilts and fabrics. I’ll post your entries on CraftSanity.)

2) Or, if you have never quilted before but want to learn, send me a sentence or two about why you’d like to learn.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday Nov. 14. Abby, CraftSanity’s Vice President of fun, will randomly select three winners.

CRAFTY NEWS:
Calling all AntiCrafters! The AntiCraft staff scored a book deal and is collecting project submissions. Click here to check out this goth style craft web magazine and here for submission details. (Congrats Renee and Zabet!)


Congrats to Anu of Lake Park, Fla. You were randomly selected to win a free copy of "Our Lady of Weight Loss" by last week's guest Janice Taylor. Check out Anu's artwork.

Support the show! Vote for CraftSanity at Podcast Alley. Or, buy a CraftSanity T-shirt or button.

Taking Names: Who do you want to hear from next? Send your comments, guest and show topic suggestions to jennifer@craftsanity.com.

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Win this book; see details below!

Diets and support meetings didn't work for Janice Taylor. So when she heard a wise voice in her head, she listened to it and turned her obsession with food into an art form. She began making delicious foods the focus of her art instead of her dinner plate. Today she refers to the voice as "Our Lady of Weight Loss," the muse that inspired her to creatively shed 50 pounds and invent a new profession for herself as a weight-loss artist.

Tune in to this week's show to hear how Janice, a "woman of a certain age" living in New York City, set to work crafting off the pounds. Janice, now an author, weight-loss artist and weight-loss coach, has a fantastic sense of humor, so prepare to burn some calories as you laugh and craft along to her story.

Her first piece of weight-loss art was "Ms. Red Pepper," a selection from her sexy vegetable series. Below is one of her more recent creations, an impressive work created with stained glass.




ENTER THE DRAWING TO WIN a copy of "Our Lady of Weight Loss." All you have to do is make a piece of weight-loss or food-related art and e-mail Jennifer a photo of it along with your name and mailing address. The deadline is Thursday, Nov. 2. Abby, CraftSanity's V.P. of Fun, will randomly select the name of the winner from a hat. Entries will be posted on CraftSanity. Have fun and good luck! (Thanks to the publisher, Viking Studio, for donating the book.)

This week's project is a fun measuring tape bracelet how-to from Janice's book. Don't stress over measurements when you can accessorize!

Need a little extra motivation to stay on track? Don't worry Janice has your back. Sign up to recieve her weekly newsletter for fun and inspiration.


Support the show! Vote for CraftSanity at Podcast Alley. Or, buy a CraftSanity T-shirt or button.

Taking Names: Who do you want to hear from next? Send your comments, guest and show topic suggestions to jennifer@craftsanity.com.

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Before Laura Buzard created her own line of Laura Bee Designs handbags and opened a fabulous store and working studio in Seattle, Washington, she was crafty woman with a dream. Now she's a successful business owner specializing in custom designs made from fabrics customers select from her stash.


Tune into this week's show to hear the story of how the little girl in the photograph has progressed from sewing on a toy machine with Grandma Doris to running a fun and inspiring business that caters to every woman in search of the perfect handbag.

This week's project is a fabulous tutorial by Laura that will help you become a better designer and make color selections with ease. Download the PDF.

Support the show! Vote for CraftSanity at Podcast Alley.
Or, buy a CraftSanity T-shirt or button.

Taking Names: Who do you want to hear from next? Send your comments, guest and show topic suggestions to jennifer@craftsanity.com.

Listen to the podcast

Subscribe to CraftSanity on iTunes

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This week the CraftSanity podcast visits the home studio of Grand Rapids, Michigan glass artist Nancy Puffer. She's a 49-year-old stay-at-home mom turned artist who makes the vibrant beads she uses to make fantastic one-of-a-kind jewelry. Tune in to hear how she fell in love with lampwork and how it's changed her life. (She made all the beads in the photo above.) Click here to see what she created during the taping of this show.

Click below out to see Nancy's work and view some of her favorite glass bead havens:
www.nancysellsglass.com

www.wetcanvas.com

www.lampworketc.com

www.justbeads.com

www.beadandbutton.com


CRAFTY ANNOUNCEMENT: The West Michigan Bead Expo III that Nancy organizes is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14 at DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids. Admission is $3. I hope to see you there!


Photos by Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood


Support the show! Vote for CraftSanity at Podcast Alley.
Or, buy a CraftSanity T-shirt or button.

Taking Names: Who do you want to hear from next? Send your comments, guest and show topic suggestions to jennifer@craftsanity.com.

Listen to the podcast

Subscribe to CraftSanity on iTunes

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Believe the hype. CRAFT magazine will rock your craft room.

First, they brought us MAKE, the quarterly DIY magazine for people who can't stop tinkering around with the technology in their lives. Now the creative minds at O'Reilly Media, Inc. have answered our crafty call with a sister, publication called CRAFT that's all about "transforming traditional crafts."

The CRAFT staff successfully created a crafty buzz for the new publication billed as the first projects-based publication of it's kind, and it's likely to satisfy the growing legions of DIYers caught up the alternative craft movement.


From knitted robots to embroidered skateboards and a programmable LED tank top, this magazine aims to push readers to craft way outside the box. One of my favorites is a knitting project that involves drilling holes into a pair of high heels to create these deceptively comfy-looking "Groovy Boots" (left) stitched onto a pair of old high heels.


This week's episode of CraftSanity features a conversation with Natalie Zee, the associate editor of CRAFT magazine and writer of the publication's blog. Zee, 33, of San Francisco, is a crafter, fashion trend spotter and tech expert. Check out her books, her personal blog and her her flickr gallery. We chat about CRAFT and crafting and how you can get your work into this fine publication.

CRAFT magazine is headed to a newsstand near you Oct. 17. The only bad news is it's quarterly, so we're going to have to wait a little while for Issue 2.

THIS WEEK'S PROJECT: Learn how to make a cell phone charm in this tutorial Natalie wrote for the MAKE blog. A similar project appears in the premier issue of CRAFT.

"HIP TO STITCH" WINNER'S: Two lucky stitchers won autographed copy of Melinda's "Hip to Stitch" book courtesy of Interweave Press. Abby, CraftSanity's 2-year-old vice president of fun, randomly selected the names of two lucky stitchers from entries we mixed up in her jack-o-lantern pail. Tune in to this week's show to see if you won. Visit the gallery of entries here.

CRAFTY ANNOUNCEMENT: The West Michigan Bead Expo III is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 14 at DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids. Admission is $3. Maybe I'll see you there!


Support the show! Vote for CraftSanity at Podcast Alley.
Or, buy a CraftSanity T-shirt or button.

Taking Names: Who do you want to hear from next? Send your comments, guest and show topic suggestions to jennifer@craftsanity.com.