LED blouses, cute knitted robots and a battle hauberk…

It’s just a bit passed midnight on Monday…late Sunday night should I say?  Four batches of soap in the molds with 3 more still to go.  I must admit I goofed off this afternoon and actually saw my husband!  There are times I wonder if I will ever see Colin  (he currently is up at the house sleeping while I work!) as the exciting world of hand crafted body care is in full holiday swing.  It’s the third night of living down at the shop…I miss my big bed at home…..Hard to image I am pondering Mother’s day already.

But no worries, I do have diversions while oils and lye are cooling.  My diversion?  It’s the premiere edition of Craft Magazine.  Marie at HomeOfTheSampler contacted me about reviewing a new DIY Craft magazine.  I’ll be the first to admit I am not “crafty”, but I really liked this first edition.  It arrived Saturday and the first thing I noticed….was the quality of the paper, ok the cover is pretty cute too!  It is not one of the cheesy woman’s mags with thin paper and glossy photos - it’s actually like a really nice text/manual I use to own in college with great quality pictures….not what I expected.

As far as subject matter, it covers just about everybody and every taste.  It’s alternative crafts with flair and practicality built in.  The title is no joke – and that ’s just a bit of what this little mag covers.  I really liked the article on the LED blouse…not that I am young enough to carry something like that off with any sort of dignity, but it was very cool and I would have been all over it in 1980! For those with little ones, I had to have a laugh about the Punk Up the Plastic photo on the back page….how wonderful are mom’s creative ideas?  Fashion designer Winter Rosebudd totally punked out a Lil Tyke Kiddie car for her uber adorable son.  If I had a child, I would do that!  All the directions for each idea is laid out well and with a logical flow, pictures of what you need, little quote boxes with extra info and usually length of time to do the project.

What’s great about this magazine to me are that all the reference spots are right in the article…I hate having to “go to the shopping section to find resources” of other magazines, Craft Magazine has all the references right with the articles – makes life easier.

I was I little surprised at the off the rack price of the magazine at $14.99 at first.  But once you start to look inside, it’s worth it.  Why?  Besides the fun, inspiring crafts that aren’t stenciled table clothes of autumn leaves (a pet peeve of mine),  but the ads are all in the front or back…..it’s great.  And the ads that are there are not bothersome like with other magazines – yeah they are there, and they have to be, but the way Craft handled it was quite nice in my opinion.  I will certainly look at the ads as I am not bothered every page. Why can’t more publications understand that?  I understand pimping your advertisers/products, but have some class when you do it.

Ok, probably not the most fun review, but the little things are what matters to me.  I know in their next issue,  I will probably not be bombarded with inserts everywhere, ads every other pages and when I pick it up, it will be special because of the feel of the paper.  I actually have to pay for the next one, and I will.   Strange I know, but things like that make this magazine stand out to me.  There’s a ton of craft/DIY mags out there, and you can go to a thousand different websites or forums on the web to find craft ideas, but when you receive something that feels special it just makes it worth it.  And I do like to receive things in the mail…maybe it’s old fashion and not terribly eco-friendly but it’s nice to look at pictures, flip pages and sip a cup of tea without a computer screen blaring at you.

So, good job to Craft!  You can find their website at http://www.craftzine.com/ and there is so much just on the website and the blog that it will keep you busy!  The blog is done by a variety of upcoming indie designers so there’s always something new.

Halloween Crafty Dining

OK, I know Botanical Earth isn’t a cooking site, but I just had to share these Halloween ideas for your next party! It’s not for the faint of dining I warn you.   I found this through the ever humorous NotMartha.org blog Oct. 12th post.

While I subscribe to ReadyMade Magazine personally, I didn’t know their blog had such options for dining ( check out their Gross Anatomy )….my sister loves Grey’s Anatomy so maybe this will be appropriate for her this 31st!

In the Kansas City area?

Love to shop, love indie designers and live in the Overland Park, Kansas area?  Well, check out Haute Market’s September 28th Fashion Roundup on Thursday night.  We sent in 80 of our Mint and Hemp Lip Balms for the event, so if you sign up early, you might just end up with one of our sample packs in your Swag bag of goodies.

 You can still pick up tickets for the show by stopping by Jennylous….and if your’e not careful you might end up with a few more things from her great collection!

Try before you buy (part 2)

Try before you buy

I had never seen such a thing prior to three months ago and now they are everywhere…..sampler boxes. What a great idea really for both businesses and indie groupies!
The original, from what I understand is Home of the Sampler which is run by Marie out in California. I can’t say enough of how nice she has been to me with my questions. I can not imagine the work that goes into rounding up the samples, packing and shipping! There is such a GREAT variety of samples from so many creative, independant designers that it really is the best I think around. Check out the list of contributors, it’s really a great variety. I can’t wait to get mine! I’ll post a picture of the items I receive when it comes. I am planning on ordering a 3 month subscription for my niece for the holidays – Gitta loves buttons and cool stuff and the Sampler certainly has plenty of designer items she’ll love, and probably want me to buy for her!