The American Craft Council has announced that it is relocating from New York to Minneapolis, due to "the high cost of doing business in the city."

Anna on 11/09/09#

October 10th is the City Reliquary's 1st Annual Havemeyer Sugar Sweets Festival! It will feature baked goods, baking presentations, music and performances. It is also a fund-raising event for the Reliquary, which is a really cool organization. They are looking for Civic Bakers to donate fresh baked yummies for the bake sale. If you'd like to contribute your own fresh baked treat, email Jeff at jtancil@yahoo.com. The event itself will be on Saturday, October 10th, noon to 6pm, in Williamsburg on Havemeyer between Grand and Metropolitan.

Anna on 09/23/09#

My friend Jeff loves pie. He loves making them and eating them and sharing them with friends. About nine months ago I came across the Pie of the Month Club by Sue Anne Zollinger and have been waiting all year to give it to Jeff for his birthday. The time has finally come! For only $30 he will receive 1 pie recipe card each month for a year, an awesome pie t-shirt, and a membership pin. Sue Anne's site has other fun features like this Pie Map. AND she makes these awesome Mini Pie World sculptures in jars. Amazing.

Anna on 06/25/08#

At first glace, Kent Rogowski's bears look cuddly and adorable. Then they become a little unsettling. Then you realize... they're inside out!

I also really dig his "Love=Love" project, involving puzzles. And these snowglobes portraying every day moments.

Anna on 01/24/08#

Martha goes Glampire.

Holy crap!

But wait, it gets better; who is that goddess?

Anna on 10/10/07#

Wanna sell your wares at this year's BUST Craftacular, in NYC on Dec. 8th? Go here to apply. Sounds like it's gonna be HUGE this year!

Anna on 08/30/07#

Hey, New York Times! Thanks for letting us know that crafting is cool now! Who knew?!

Anna on 07/12/07#

In the recent issue of Craft magazine (#3), there is an article about dorodango, or "shiny mudballs," an ancient Japanese craft of making mud into shiny decorative spheres.

When I saw this, a flood of memories came rushing back! When I was a little kid, my sister and I used to make "mud babies." We would take mud and form it into a ball, using the ash in our Washington soil (from the Mt. Saint Helens eruption years before) to vary the color and consistency. The "babies" would then go through an involved process of being buried in the ground for several nights, and each day we would powder them with more ash and work them into more and more perfect spheres. Then (strangely) we would carry them around like small, delicate infants.

When I think back, it was one of the most satisfying projects I've ever done. We never thought to make them shiny; but who knew we were tapping into some ancient Japanese craftiness!

Anna on 04/29/07#

Don't worry, it doesn't shred hamsters...

Anna on 04/11/07#

What a cool resource. This site, hosted by the Powerhouse Museum in Australia, shows swatches of dozens of "unfaded samples of fashionable fabric designs, braids and laces ranging from the 1830s to the 1920s" that you can scroll through electronically.

Anna on 04/05/07#