I am thrilled to write that Master Class Online Creativity Workshops has opened its virtual doors!

I am so excited to be able to offer this service, and am thrilled to team up with fabulous teachers and leaders in the creative community at large to make creativity workshops available worldwide. Oh what a wonderful creative world!

The first class I am hosting is with the foremost polymer clay artist, Seth Savarick. Seth will lead us through his brilliant workshop called: From Imitation to Inspiration.

Here is what will be covered in this class:

Are you tired of re-creating other artists inspired work? Are you ready to move on and create with your own voice?
Find out how you CAN create work with your own vision and voice, not just imitating what you have learned from others.
In this dynamic how-to workshop you will get the skills to bust through creative blocks that are holding you back from doing you own work.
Discover techniques that will help you develop your own personal experiences into an artistic vision that will define and distinguish your work as truly your own.

Sign up for the opportunity to listen in as well as submit your own questions to Seth during this live 90-minute live workshop!

Come ready to play! Click here to enroll.

Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

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The completed flower baskets are up and happy!

So far all the plants seem to have taken hold in their new home.

I love these new coconut husk liners. These can actually hold some water, so I don’t have to worry about watering everyday during the dog days of summer. I can hardly wait to see them in another month, when the petunias and potato plant start to cascade down.

above: completed basket

above: ready for ice tea on the porch

Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

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This just makes me smile. I bought this old ‘ice cream parlor’ style chair and stuck a pot of pansies into the seat rim. I’m going to nestle it somewhere in my back yard as a visual treat.

The color combination of the flowers and of the paint peeling metal inspired a little painting.

Oh so many beautiful colors to play with!

Make sure to check back this Friday for all the information on the first CRAFTCAST Master Class with Seth Savarick. It’s going to be an online creative inspirational experience!

above: old chair turned planter

above: acrylic painting 8″ by 10″ inches by Alison Lee
Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

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Well, I guess I’m hooked. I saw this material and fell in love. Funny, the women at the counter wanted to warn me that it wasn’t the Teflon material you use on your ironing board. Geez. I guess it is always the slightly odd and industrial that appeals to me!

I am going to do skirt “B”. The khaki one to the left of middle. I have this idea to use my serger to stitch the hem with a pink thread and let it show. I have to experiment a little. I figure fitting this will be simpler than the dress, since if it is too big it can ride lower on my hips.

Stay tuned. Get those sewing machine engines revved!

above: Butterick 3134 pattern, material, and supplies

Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

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Today I talk with artist and author, Vicky Perry.

Vicky has exhibited her work in galleries from coast to coast, winning many awards for her work in national competitions. Her book, Abstract Painting, one of the only all-encompassing modern art workbooks, gives you not only practical information for using painting materials, as well as insight into the technique of different artists and what they were attempting to communicate with their work.

It is my purpose to create an aesthetic experience that does not require textual support.
~Vicky Perry

Today’s musical guest is The Alice Project singing
Happy Mother’s Day.

above: acrylic painting by Vicky Perry

Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

Subscribe to CRAFTCAST’s weekly crafting podcast
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It’s all about the garden right now!

I love this votive candle holder. I found it in one of my favorite thrift store haunts. When I pay, the women working the cash box are always shocked at what I find. It makes me laugh, it’s just about seeing the gem in the rough!

I had the beaded votive from an old project, where I used micro glass beads and adhered them to the glass. Always satisfying when I can reuse from an old project.

Perfect for evenings sitting outside. (Sometimes i just love being all girlie girl!)

Price:$3.00

Shop my new STORE for music, books and other fun stuff!

Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

Subscribe to CRAFTCAST’s weekly crafting podcast
free through iTUNES

After listening to Maggie Maggio on this weeks show, I took out my Crayola crayons and started playing. I came up with a palette I liked and decided to use it in the hanging flower baskets I make for the front porch.

Off I went to the nursery with swatches in hand, and picked some plants that followed the color concept.

They have to be done and up by Tuesday for a photo shoot for the historical society, so I will keep you posted with the finished results!

above: crayola colors: red violet,orchid,green yellow,yellow

above: ‘Baby Duck Yellow’ Petunias, ‘Daffy’ Coleus, Setcreasea ‘Purple Heart’, Ipomoea ‘Margarita’, Oxalis ‘Burgundy Bliss’

Shop my new STORE for music, books and other fun stuff!

Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

Subscribe to CRAFTCAST’s weekly crafting podcast
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I’m coming up with new projects for the metal working class I teach. These are “in progress” earrings. (I think I was influenced by the CHER billboards in Vegas.)

Students will learn how to cut circles with both the jewelers saw and the die cut tool, as well as bending the metal. I’m still experimenting with how to finish the surface for a hammered look. So far I’ve tried tumbling and a riveting hammer, but I want to take it much further.

Time to snoop around for another tool!

above: 2 inch diameter fine silver earrings in progress

Shop my new STORE for music, books and other fun stuff!

Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

Subscribe to CRAFTCAST’s weekly crafting podcast
free through iTUNES

I’m playing with printing my photos on fabric. I found a product called ‘Bubble Jet Set and Rinse‘ that is used for pre-treating fabric before putting it through an ink jet printer. I’m excited about the possibilities. Next, I am going to experiment with a product by Golden Paints to see what kind of results I get. I have a loose vision of the end results I’m looking for, but I’m open to where the path will lead!

above: “Portrait of a Crocus” printed on muslin

above: the first few samples

above: treating the muslin with Bubble Jet

Shop my new STORE for music, books and other fun stuff!

Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

Subscribe to CRAFTCAST’s weekly crafting podcast
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Today I am talking with Maggie Maggio, a “color expert” and nationally known polymer clay artist. Maggie explains to me whats a “myth” and what’s the “truth” when it comes to the science of color. Ms. Maggio has studied and played with color for over thirty years, and for the last ten years has traveled the country teaching her unique color workshops to both polymer and fiber artists.

Time to get out that big box of crayons and play!

Black is NOT in the Middle. Mud is in the middle.
~Maggie Maggio

Featured Book: Chicks with Sticks by Nancy Queen and Mary Ellen O’Connell
Musical Guest: Laura Hughes singing Benefit of the Doubt


above: polymer clay vase

above: polymer clay bead selection

above: close-up on polymer clay necklace

Shop my new STORE for music, books and other fun stuff!

Listen to CRAFTCAST™ for details about the
FREE BOOK give-away.

Call the CRAFTCAST™ “create-spiration” line and listen to this week’s message and leave one for me.
866.493.ZING (866.493.9464)

Subscribe to CRAFTCAST’s weekly crafting podcast
free through iTUNES