CREATIVE MOJO WITH MARK LIPINSKI is a live, two-hour entertainment program broadcast on the Internet. It's fun, entertaining, informative,
inspirational and illuminating.
Hosted by the amusingly candid Mark Lipinski, Creative Director for All American Crafts publishing and Executive Editor for Mark Lipinski's Christmas 365, Mark Lipinski's Fabric Trends, andMark Lipinski's Create and CREATIVE MOJO is dedicated to the modern crafter and crafting lifestyle. Infused with Mark's off-the-cuff and no-holds-barred humor and love of the creative spirit, the show boldly encourages listeners to discover and harness their own creative spirit by living creatively everyday.
Call into the live show with your questions or comments for my guests
(877) 864-4869
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MEET my co-host . . .
Author, Art Quilter, Long Armer, Designer
BARBARA PERSING
About Barbara . . .
Barbara is an author, pattern designer and award winner quilt artist. She was born in New Jersey where her mother taught her and each of her 4 sisters how to sew. Her first quilt was made using cardboard templates and making traditional blocks. In the last 35 years she has grown as a quilt designer and her quilts look nothing like the first traditional quilts she made with her mother. Barbara now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. She has always been a working mom but started working from home in 2000 when quilting went from being a hobby to a full-time job and she started her own business as a Longarm Quilter. Her business quickly grew because her customers appreciated her unique ability to develop quilting designs that highlighted the personality of their quilts. Her imagination for quilting designs grew from having the opportunity to work for quilters with wide varieties of interests and styles. Barbara enjoys the challenge of providing her customers with creative machine quilting designs that are as distinctive as the unique style of each of her customers. Embracing this challenge became the beginning of her quilting approach “I work for the quilt”. She is thankful to her clients for giving her so much inspiration as a quilter. Barbara will tell you that each quilt she works on provides a new learning experience that enhances her abilities. She is amazed at what she can accomplish when pushed to work outside of her own comfort zone.
In 2006 Barbara again started a new venture. In addition to her Longarm Quilting business, she started a pattern company with her sister, Mary Hoover, named 4th & 6th Designs. Mary lives in NY and shares Barbara’s love of quilting. Their patterns have been featured in Keepsake Quilting as well as in many other national quilting magazines.
Together, Barbara and Mary wrote the book, StrataVarious Quilts, published by C&T publishing, and have been teaching and lecturing at numerous venues since its launch.
Despite a hectic schedule Barbara still continues to find time for her dedicated clients and enjoys every minute of collaboration with them. She still loves to spend all day running her Longarm Machine.
Take a look at some of Barbara’s work . . .
THIS is the quilt that will be displayed at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this fall!
Combining his carpentry skills with his love of nature, Patrick Dougherty began to learn about primitive techniques of building and to experiment with tree saplings as construction material. Beginning about 1980 with small works, fashioned in his backyard, he quickly moved from single pieces on conventional pedestals to monumental site-specific installations that require sticks by the truckload. To date he has built over two hundred such massive sculptures all over the world.
His home base is his handmade house of log in Chapel Hill, NC where he lives with his wife Linda and son Sam.
Take a look at some examples of Patrick’s sculptural work:
Patrick’s work has been featured in this book,STICKWORK
“Helen” (not her real name) who is a an avid quilter, teacher and quilt shop owner somewhere in the United states. “Helen” is keeping her anonymity because she is one of the hundreds of thousands of women in these United States who has maintained a long term sobriety in her recovery for alcoholism. “Helen” is one of the lucky women who is living one day at a time as a sober and grateful recovering alcoholic, but there are many women, creative women, some even listening to Creative Mojo today, who are either are still struggling with the illness of alcoholism or knows someone who is.
If you or someone you know is abusing alcohol or suffering with alcoholism, know the you don’t have to be in this alone. There is help for you if you reach out.
Of course, this next part could be the very hardest part to do. If you or a loved one needs help with your drinking, logon to www.aa.org to find enough collects anonymous meeting in your area. If someone you know and love his struggling with alcoholism, there is help for you too. Log on to www.al-anon.org.
To afraid to make the call?
Then call me and I’ll make the call with you. If I’m in your area, I’ll attend your first meeting with you. It’s that important, and I feel that strongly about it. My phone number is 908/876-1208.
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Journal Spilling
Meet
Author, Designer, Teacher & Artist
DIANA TROUT
About Diana . . .
Diana Trout is a painter, book artist and teacher. She studied painting at the University of the Arts and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.
She has shown her work at craft shows and galleries in the Philadelphia area, New York and New Jersey. Diana has taught classes and workshops in painting, art journaling, general art and book arts to children and adults at art centers, libraries and national venues, as well as from her studio.
Allison is an accountant by training and a quilter by design. Now home full time with her 4 year old twins, she had been thinking for a long time about starting her own business. Having done the ebay, etsy, and craft fair thing she knew that wasn’t the best fit for her.
So she decided to use her business degree and knowledge of quilting to build a new website that she had been searching for but couldn’t find.
Somewhere to track her (enormous and growning!) fabric stash, patterns, notions, books and anything else she uses for her craft. She also needed something better than ‘bookmarking’ to keep track of the WIP’s, projects in process, and all of the fleeting grand ideas in 1 place especially developed for that purpose within her niche.
She called a podcasting buddy (Brye from Sew Stitch Create) whom she has STILL NEVER MET and through 14 phone calls a day over the last 18 months – SeamedUP.com has been developed and is constantly evolving and developing.
What is SeamedUP? . . .
SeamedUP is a one-stop destination for all things quilting and sewing. Created by quilters for quilters. SeamedUP Includes a comprehensive database of fabrics, books, patterns and notions that allow quilters to explore what’s new or find a use for something a quilter might already on. A claim that the best part is that the members themselves help to define the community, whether it’s quilting, home, decor, softies, accessories, or any fabric-based creativity.
Call into the live show with your questions or comments for my guests
(877) 864-4869
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BEFORE I BEGIN:
This photo may not mean anything to you now, but it will once you download and listen to the show!
The GUILTY party:
MEET my co-host . . .
Owner of
Fabricate, Quilting and Scrapbooking
in Bar Harbor, Maine
NESSA REIFSNYDER
About Nessa . . .
Nessa is a memory artist, ranging across scrapbooking, small-scale handsewn quilting, decoupage, family history, and writing. She writes young-adult fiction, memoir essays, and poetry (her blog’s at http://homeness.blogspot.com). She’s also written for various publications, including Mark Lipinski’s Christmas 365 and Mark Lipinski’s Fabric Trends. And she’s a pop culture maven who owns more than 5,000 vinyl LPs (K-Tels a specialty!) and collects 1960s/70s craft & design books, showbiz bios, Sears catalogs, and cookbooks. Nessa graduated from Bowdoin College dreaming of becoming a jazz deejay, but instead worked as a writer, designer, and editor for 22 years.
Nessa says, “Three years ago, after much soul-searching, I took a leap: I resigned from a longtime desk job to open a quilting and scrapbooking shop on Mount Desert Island, Maine with my business partner, Erin Early Ward. This decision was as exhilarating and terrifying as you think it was. Fabricate opened on August 15, 2008, and on that very first day (unbeknownst to us!) the Quilter Magazine’s Cruise for a Cure ship docked in our home port of Bar Harbor. Nearly sixty customers (and lots of encouragement!) later, we knew we’d made the right choice.”
Fabricate enjoyed a surprise visit last July with Suzanne and Alex Labry, who came to Bar Harbor all the way from Texas. Nessa and her son Willis were thrilled when Suzy did a lovely write-up that appeared on the Quilts, Inc., website:http://www.quilts.com/newHome/viewer.php?page=../sfancy/2010/sf32 .
Since their visit with Suzy, Fabricate has moved to a new building that Island visitors and locals alike can’t miss: it’s a dome, originally built as a bank in 1978 (Nessa’s fave era!) Following their muse and whimsy, Nessa and her business partner painted it a luscious plum purple. They maintain an active Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fabricate/23645612677 and their website can be found at mdifabricate.com.
“As a shopowner,” Nessa summarizes, “I’m busier and dizzier than I’ve ever been (and I say that as a mom of 4 kids!). I meet thousands of crafters a year, and share stories with them about what inspires us. And I love that leap I took!”
I recieved this email blast from CHA (Craft and Hobby Association).
Dear CHA Members,On May 22, 2011a tornado swept across Joplin, Missouri leaving a catastrophic wake of destruction. Schools, businesses, homes were destroyed and many were killed. Since then CHA has learned that even months after the tornado there is still a great need in the area. Several CHA members including Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker and Kristi Parker Van Doren have been coordinating craft supply drives to help the surviving residents return to some sort-of normalcy through crafting.Nikki Sivils rallied manufacturers and scrapbookers to help give Joplin crafters their hobby back and on Sunday, July 10, 2011 when she delivered 50 tubs filled with nearly $50,000 worth of scrapbook supplies to crafters who lost everything to the tornado. CHA Members including Bella Blvd, My Little Shoebox LLC, Meredith Corporation, Bazill Basic Paper, Elmer’s Products, Inc, Unity Stamp Co, Graphic 45, Helmar Adhesive, Creative Crafts Group LLC, Jillibean Soup, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Best Creation Inc, Maya Road, Graphic 45, Creating Keepsakes, ProvoCraft, Elle’s Studio, and Spellbinders all responded with generous donations.CHA also learned that member Kristi Parker Van Doren is coordinating an art auction/sale to benefit the City of Joplin where 100% of the proceeds will go to a fund managed by a non-profit organization called the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. Monetary donations can be made directly to www.cfozarks.org/donate. For more about supporting and donating art and craft projects for the auction please contact:Art for Joplin c/o Kristi Parker Van Doren 3438 S Clifton Ave Sprinfield, MO 65807 417.823.0585 ask.kristi@att.net http://artforjoplin.blogspot.comWhile we applaud the selfless actions of our members there is still a great need. After contacting Joplin area authorities, CHA was informed that St. Mary’s Elementary school which housed pre-school through 5th grades was demolished and in desperate need of supplies and cash donations in order to prepare for the coming school year. The school that teaches 210 students, employs 12 teachers and six staff members was completely destroyed with very few items salvageable from the rubble.Any monetary or product donation would be greatly appreciated. The school has a wish list of products including school supplies, adhesives, plastic zipper bags, pom-poms, yarn, crayons, markers, paint, paper, and more that CHA can easily assist with. The list can be found by clicking HERE.Anyone interested in making a contribution to the school can do so by sending monetary or products donations to:St. Mary’s Elementary Attn: Stephen Jones, Principal (CHA Craft Donations) c/o McAuley High School 930 Pearl Joplin, MO 64801For additional questions about St. Mary’s, please contact:Renee Motazedi Development Director Joplin Area Catholic Schools 930 Pearl Joplin, MO 64801 417-624-5003 http://artforjoplin.blogspot.comThank you for your generosity and consideration.Victor Domine Public Relations Manager, Craft & Hobby Association
Meet
Community Organizer
KRISTI PARKER VAN DOREN
Kristi is coordinating an art auction/sale to benefit the city of Joplin where 100% of the proceeds will go to a fund managed by a nonprofit organization called the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. Monetary donations can be made directly to www.cfozarks.org/donate.
About Joplin Relief Auction . . .
The auction is being set for October 14th and 15th on line. The auction site should go up no later than October 10th to view all items with starting bids. We are hoping to raise a lot of money for this town so destroyed by a Tornado on May 22nd of 2011. Cash donations can be done on line to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.
CLICK HERE to donate directly to the fund at the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.
Paint, ink, glitter, leafing, polymer clay, pencils, watercolors, PanPastels and many more
Who are your favorite artists and why do they inspire you?
One of my favorites is Pam Carriker. She does fabulous painting but can also do altered art and mixed media. I also love Lisa Pevelka. Her work in polymer clay is fantastic. There are so many great artists it is hard to narrow it down.
What gives you inspiration?
Anything and everything. I love to look at nature for colors and shape. My family inspires me. The work of other talented artists is amazing and gives me goals and aspirations to move towards.
WATCH THIS!
A short video of Kristi demonstrating product at the Winter CHA show!
"Mary Fons likes to think of herself as the latest character in a prominent quilt mafia family.
A professional writer and performer based in Chicago, Mary also happens to be the daughter of famed quilt educator and author Marianne Fons, who taught Mary almost everything she knows about quilting. Mary currently co-hosts nationally-airing "Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting" on PBS with her mom, giving a voice to "junior varsity" quilters everywhere. Mary's thoughts on quiltmaking can be found in her column "The Bee: Notes From a New American Quilter" published bi-monthly in Quilter's Home magazine.
Mary has performed professionally on stages from NY to Los Angeles since 2001 as a solo artist, slam poet, and Neo-Futurist. She holds a B.A. in Theater Arts from the University of Iowa, is a founding member of Chicago's Gift Theater Company and in 2010 was a Driehaus Foundation grant recipient. As a freelance writer, her work has been published widely online and in print since 2005.
Mary is proud to be the creator and host of Quilty, a little show born from a big desire to ignite new passion for the American quilt. You should make one.
QNNtv.com: The First On-Demand Network for Quilters
Special interest groups dream of a channel devoted exclusively to their passion. For quilters this dream is a reality.
In addition to running shows created for traditional television such asFons & Porter’s Love of Quilting, Quilt in a Day with Eleanor Burns, etc, QNNtv.com produces made for QNNtv.com programming such as Quilt Out Loud with hosts Jodie Davis and Mark Lipinski, Quilt It! The Longarm Quilting Show, Quilty with Mary Fons!
QNNtv.com is all on-demand, all the time, you may watch on your schedule and have the capability to fast forward, rewind, pause, and watch over and over (similar to DVR or TiVo).
QNNtv.com has a library of over 1,000 quilting videos on-demand, bringing you the most comprehensive quilting library available.
There are two options for enjoying QNNtv.com. 1. Join QNNtv.com for $24 a year
or
Join Quilters Club of America for $39.95 and in addition to a membership to QNNtv.com and twelve episodes of Quilt Out Loud, you get a subscription to Easy Quilts magazine, a FREE tips DVD from Fons & Porter, discounts from Jo-Ann Stores, Fons & Porter, Connecting Threads, Keepsake Quilting, and much more! Simply click here and start receiving all the benefits today, including access to QNNtv.com! You will need to enter the discount code QN-XJ3YP to receive the discounted price.
CLICK HERE to become a part of Quilter's Club of America (with ME!!!)
And WATCH ME, Mark Lipinski, interview Jay McCarroll
for the Alliance for American Quilts’
CLICK HERE to get your tickets for THIS EVENT AND MORE!
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Chick Lit 101
Meet
Author
CATHY YARDLEY
About Cathy . . .
Cathy Yardley is the author of over seventeen novels and the non-fiction book Will Write For Shoes. She’s also the blogger behind Rock Your Writing, a website that promotes the belief that fiction authors can sell a lot without selling out.
Cathy is the author of :
Will Write for Shoes: How to Write a Chick Lit Novel
CLICK HERE to visit Cathy's, ROCK YOUR WRITING on Facebook
CLICK HERE to follow Cathy on Twitter! Tweet away, cupcakes!
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The Crafty Chronicle!
Meet
Artist and
Scrapbooking Product Designer
DONNA SALAZAR
A little about Donna. . .
Donna fell in love with both art and her husband in high school. A lot has changed in her life in the last 20+ years but these two constants remain. What most people don't know about Donna is that a large part of her career was spent in the corporate world where she was very successful... but not happy. She was in a serious car accident in 2005 that put her on disability for almost a year. During that time she made some serious life choices and decided to pursue her childhood dream of being an artist. Now, Donna is living her dream. She spends more time in her studio "playing" every day than she did in the office while in the corporate world... which is actually saying a lot.
Donna’s playful nature comes across in many of her products and in her classes because she believes that art can and should be fun. She is known for blending contrasting elements to create what she calls her “Girlie Grunge” look. Her style is especially appealing to mixed media artists, however her love of flowers and all things sparkly appeals to crafters of all types and styles.
Several years ago Donna created a “dream” list of companies that she wanted to design for. Now she has her "Distrezz-it-All" tool with Zutter Innovative Products, dies with Spellbinders Paper Arts, Smooch Spritz and Fairy Dust glitter with Clearsnap, Inc., and paper, embellishments and stamps with GCD Studios. Each of these companies has a “Compatible” product which works with a product from one of the other companies.
Donna teaches her "Girlie Grunge" techniques in stores, at events and online. She even has a FREE bi-weekly webshow called Tuesday Tutorials where she shows techniques, chats with viewers and gives away prizes. You can check it out here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tuesday-tutorials
Here are examples of Donna's Girly Grunge Notebooks!
Call into the live show with your questions or comments for my guests
(877) 864-4869
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SUBSCRIBE to everything MARK!
Now there are SEVERAL ways to subscribe to the daily wit and wisdom of Mark Lipinski!
You can subscribe to Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski podcasts, and never miss one episode, on itunes.com How easy is that?
Subscribe here to notifications of Mark Lipinski’s Blog where daily motivational and creative thoughts for artists, crafters and hobbyists are posted 4 times a week — plus the goings on here, at Pickle Road! Just click the button on the left of this screen to subscribe.
Head over to Twitter to follow Mark. MarkLipinski is his Twitter name! Just log into Twitter and Follow him.
Don’t forget to LIKE Mark on Mark Lipinski’s Fan Page (I’d love to have you as a FB FRIEND but I’m all out of room. Please LIKE my fan site).
Become one of Mark’s Pickles! Join the thousands of Pickles at Yahoo Groups, PickleRoadStudio! It’s free and you’ll meet a lot of really nice chatty people there!
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MEET my co-host!
Sitting with me in the Pickle Road Studio . . .
Artist & Sculptor
ANTHONY GIANCARLI
We’ll be talking about . . .
About Anthony . . .
Anthony Giancarli is an artist and sculptor. His field of endeavor is lifecasting; creating Art from molds taken directly from the human body. His work focuses on capturing a moment in time in the life of his subject. These personal sculptures evoke more emotion than any other art form.
Anthony is the oldest of six children born to Italian immigrants. His father became a self-made businessman and successful builder. His mother, a woman of exceptional culinary skills was a successful entrepreneur in her own right establishing two eateries.
“I am very fortunate to have had parents who instilled in me the value of hard work and striving to reach my goals and aspirations. At a young age I was always creating something… tinkering with this or with that. I loved creating things that no one else seemingly had ever done. Like many, I believe that true art comes from within; a passion yearning to come out. I also believe that the work of an artist is never truly finished. There’s just a pause between one expression and the next. And there is a common thread that can be seen in an artist’s work which is born from his or her spirit and projected into reality.
Anthony was educated as a civil engineer and is a self-taught artist. He started in the art of lifecasting over 11 years ago when he became fascinated while watching an artist use techniques to take molds directly from life. Through trial and error Anthony has honed his skills to create wonderful and creative personal sculptures.
CLICK HERE to get your tickets for THIS EVENT AND MORE!
Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories (Q.S.O.S.) creates, through recorded interviews, a broadly accessible body of information concerning quiltmaking, both present-day and in living memory, for scholarship and exhibition. This grassroots project continually captures the voices and stories of quiltmakers and posts the transcribed interviews here. Our downloadable how-to Manual has everything you need to conduct your own Q.S.O.S. interviews. Our archive for the original audio recordings and photographs is the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
Q.S.O.S. volunteers from across the country conduct and transcribe these interviews. We appreciate their generosity of time and dedication to the project. We are always looking for guilds, organizations and individuals to undertake their own Q.S.O.S. projects and join us. Find out how you can get involved with Q.S.O.S.
About Jay . . .
I was born in a little town in Pennsylvania in 1974. I was the last of six children. My father made septic tanks. My mother had a delicious hall closet stocked with remnants of fabrics and tins of buttons and bags of yarn. This was my favorite place in the house. My sisters were in the high school marching band and my brother was on the football team. I made myself costumes and twirled batons in the front yard. I suppose this is where it all started.
I studied Fashion Design at the former Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, now Philadelphia University, where I currently teach. I also studied at the London College of Fashion. While in London, I sold my clothes at Camden Market. I then decided I hated it and moved to Amsterdam. I sold at a few boutiques there and loved it but I was homesick and moved back to Philadelphia.
I put together small fashion collections in Philadelphia and sold at a few boutiques there. I moved back to the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania and opened a vintage shop for a few years. I discovered yoga. I auditioned for a reality show called Project Runway. I won the first season.
CLICK HERE to get your tickets for QUILTERS TAKE MANHATTAN!
CLICK HERE to get your tickets for QUILTERS TAKE MANHATTAN!
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Fast, Fusible FLOWER QUILTS!
FUSE YOUR WAY TO BEAUTIFUL FLOWER QUILTS
Meet
Quilting Icon, Designer, Teacher
NANCY MAHONEY
Here’s a little about Nancy . . .
Author, teacher, fabric designer and award‐winning quiltmaker, Nancy Mahoney has enjoyed making quilts for over twenty years, during which time an impressive range of her beautiful quilts have been featured in over 80 national and international quilt magazines. Nancy has also created over 75 quilt patterns for a variety of fabric manufacturers.
Nancy has authored ten books since 2002, all have been published by Martingale & Company. Her bestselling books include Appliqué Quilt Revival (2008), Ribbon Star Quilts (2008), Quilt Revival (2006), and Treasures for the 30s (2010). Nancy newest book Fast, Fusible Flower Quilts will be available April, 2011.
Nancy has designed 12 fabric collections, including four 30s reproduction collections for P&B Textiles. Her latest fabric collection, Nellie's Garden, is sure to delight quilters who love 30s reproduction fabrics and floral enthusiasts alike.
Nancy enjoys combining traditional blocks and updated techniques to create dazzling quilts. Not considering herself a specialist in one particular area, Nancy's favorite techniques include precision machine piecing, quilt design, and machine appliqué.
When she's not designing and making quilts, Nancy enjoys traveling to guilds and events around the country, sharing her quilts, teaching her piecing and machine appliqué techniques, and visiting gardens.
Visit Nancy's website, www.nancymahoney.com, for more information about Nancy, her classes, and her quilts.
Cate Coulacos Prato is Online Editor for Cloth Paper Scissors Today. She is the former editor of Cloth Paper Scissors Studios Magazine, and author of Mixed-Media Self-Portraits (Interweave 2008) and Inside the Creative Studio (Interweave, October 2011). Cate lives in Central Massachusetts with her husband, teenage daughters, various pets, and piles and piles of fabric.
Based in Loveland, Colorado, Interweave is the publisher of high quality art and craft magazines, books, TV Shows, and ePatterns and eProjects.
CLICK HERE to Link to Cate's Cloth Paper Scissors Today!
(Here's how crazy I am. I subscribe to the magazine and to the magazine on my iPad!!!)
Now, don't judge it by this issue's cover (it's a HIDEOUS cover!!! What were they thinking?)
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Master the Art of Aloneness
...and transform you life!
Meet
Author, Radio & TV Personality
LAUREN MACKLER
Here’s a little about Lauren . . .
Lauren Mackler is a renowned coach, psychotherapist, and author of the international bestseller, Solemate: Master the Art of Aloneness & Transform Your Life. Creator of the Illumineering Coaching method, Lauren’s work has been covered widely in the media, including CNN, FOX, NPR, Wall Street Journal, and many other media.www.laurenmackler.com
Lauren is the author of SOLEMATE. . .
WATCH THIS: Lauren discusses her bestseller, Solemate
The Alliance for American Quilts is holding YOUR place in history!
Join the Alliance for American Quilts today to help ensure that today’s quiltmaker will never be anonymous!
The Alliance for American Quilts, a national nonprofit organization, supports and develops projects to document, preserve, and share the history of quilts an quiltmakers. The Alliance brings together groups and individuals from the creative, scholarly and business worlds of quiltmaking to advance the recognition of quilts in American culture.
Alliance for American Quilts projects include:
The Quilt Index
Quilters’ S.O.S. – Save Our Stories
Quilt Treasures
Boxes Under the Bed
JOIN US!
JOIN US!
JOIN US!
CLICK HERE to read about joining the Alliance for American Quilts (along with me! xoxom)
CLICK HERE to get your tickets for QUILTERS TAKE MANHATTAN!
Call into the live show with your questions or comments for my guests
(877) 864-4869
*****************
SUBSCRIBE to everything MARK!
Now there are SEVERAL ways to subscribe to the daily wit and wisdom of Mark Lipinski!
You can subscribe to Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski podcasts, and never miss one episode, on itunes.com How easy is that?
Subscribe here to notifications of Mark Lipinski’s Blogwhere daily motivational and creative thoughts for artists, crafters and hobbyists are posted 4 times a week — plus the goings on here, at Pickle Road! Just click the button on the left of this screen to subscribe.
Head over to Twitter to follow Mark. MarkLipinski is his Twitter name! Just log into Twitter and Follow him.
Don’t forget to LIKE Mark on Mark Lipinski’s Fan Page (I’d love to have you as a FB FRIEND but I’m all out of room. Please LIKE my fan site).
Become one of Mark’s Pickles! Join the thousands of Pickles at Yahoo Groups, PickleRoadStudio! It’s free and you’ll meet a lot of really nice chatty people there!
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MEET my co-host!
with me in the Pickle Road Studio . . .
Author, Teacher, Lecturer, Journalist,
President of the Board of The Alliance for American Quilts
MEG COX
We’ll be talking about . . .
About Meg Cox . . .
Meg Cox is a nationally recognized journalist, author and expert on the modern quilting scene and family traditions. She also serves as president of the nonprofit Alliance for American Quilts.
A former reporter for the Wall Street Journal, where her beats included the business of the arts, Cox continues to write articles for the Journal’s weekend arts section, as well as freelancing for many publications. She has regular columns in several quilting magazines, including the “Look Who’s Quilting” feature about an unexpected quilter in The Quilt Life, and a business column for the trade journal Fab Shop News. Cox also writes a popular free monthly e-newsletter called Quilt Journalist Tells All!
Cox’s latest book is The Quilter’s Catalog: A Comprehensive Resource Guide (Workman, 2008), a 600-page guidebook that Mark Lipinski calls “mind-bogglingly out of this world.” It was chosen as a monthly selection by the Crafter’s Choice Book Club. The 5 years of reporting and writing helped turn Cox into one of the best known experts on the social, artistic and financial aspects of quilting today, and she appears as an expert on the craft in the new documentary about quilting, Stitched, out now on DVD (www.StitchedFilm.com).
In addition to lecturing often at guilds and museums, Cox has taught several hundred people how to quilt at such venues as the Newark Museum and New York City’s American Folk Art Museum.
Before writing her resource guide for quilters, Cox wrote two much-lauded books on family traditions and lectured widely as an expert on family ritual and celebration. She is currently updating and expanding her 2003 book,The Book of New Family Traditions, which will be published in time for Mother’s Day next year.
Find out more at her website, www.megcox.com, including free patterns for two of the quilts in The Quilter’s Catalog.
CLICK HERE to read the latest issue of Meg’s Quilt Journalist Tells All Newsletter.
QNNtv.com’s Jodie Davis, Meg and Me during aQuilt Out Loudsegment. To join QNNtv.com and to see all of theQuilt Out Loudepisodes,CLICK HERE!
DON’T MISS THIS . . .
It’s a Meg Cox and Mark VIDEO!!!!
CLICK HEREto get your tickets for QUILTERS TAKE MANHATTAN!
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A Patchwork Icon!
Meet
Author, PBS Show Super-Star, Quilt Artist, Teacher & Lecturer
Marianne Fons
About Marianne . . .
Marianne Fons was in her mid-twenties when she discovered quilting through a beginner’s class taught at the Iowa State University Extension Office in Winterset, Iowa. In that class, Marianne met Liz Porter, another young mother looking for something to do at home that would STAY DONE.”When I think back to those years before the rotary cutter came along, when we made cardboard templates and cut each piece out individually with scissors, I’m amazed that I stuck with it. The only explanation is that there wasn’t much besides child care going on in my life at the time!”
The little class eventually formed a club and put on a quilt show during Winterset’s annual Madison County Covered Bridge Festival. Quilt shows were not plentiful in 1979, but the first show by the Heritage Quilters was a great success. Local people who attended expressed interest in quilting classes, and somehow Marianne and Liz were picked to be the teachers.
“Neither of us felt accomplished enough to teach others, so we did it together, figuring we could fake our way through it.” As they continued to teach, they became better quilters. With not many quilting books on the market at the time, Marianne and Liz’s teaching led naturally to writing. Together, they have written many best-selling quilting books. With Liz, Marianne has hosted over 100 how-to quilting episodes on Public Television.
Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting is the No. 1 quilting show on PBS, reaching 82 percent of American households. Also with Liz, Marianne is owner/editor of Love of Quilting magazine, a bi-monthly publication with a circulation of 250,000. Among other responsibilities, Marianne serves as Advertising Director for LOQ and is involved with the styled photography that appears in the magazine along with many other editorial aspects.
On her own, Marianne authored Fine Feathers for C & T Publishing. Out of print and much desired by quilters, Marianne is in the process of reprinting this classic with hopes to have it available by fall of 2005. In 1986, Marianne was Iowa winner in the Great American Quilt Contest honoring the 100th birthday of the Statue of Liberty. She won Best Overall Workmanship in 1988 in Quilt Expo Europa, the first competition in which anyone in the world could enter. “After that, I ceased entering competitions–I figured I was the best quilter in the world for about five minutes, and decided to quilt while I was ahead.
When I see the incredible quilts in contests these days, I know I made the right decision!”
Marianne is making more time for personal sewing since the beginning of 2005. “We’ve worked incredibly hard in the three years since we acquired Love of Quilting, and sewing for me has had to take a back seat. I’m so excited that I’ve completed one full size quilt top and several small projects since the first of the year–it’s been like a re-birth of creativity for me! I love to sew at my machine, listening to NPR and watching the world go by out my front window.”
Marianne says she made three full size quilts last year in my new home sewing room. Grandmother’s Flower Pots was in this year’s March/April issue of Love of Quilting magazine, and the other two are scheduled for upcoming issues.
Texas Log Cabin is planned to run in July/August. I quilted that one myself on the APQS Millennium, using straight-edge templates and the circle attachment. It was very gratifying to complete my top and quilt it myself. I also quilted the Mola Menagerie quilt in the March/April issue.
Learning to longarm quilt has been a lot of fun. I will probably not ever win any prizes for my work, but I have really enjoyed learning a new, valuable skill. I’ve done about six big quilts since I started learning. I have a top and back sitting in my office right now that I hope to put on the machine and quilt for my daughter Mary.
MARIANNE with her daughter and PBS show co-host, MARY FONS
OK, you guys, THIS book sold like 47,000-zillion copies and is still the hallmark of a guide-book for quilters!
Marianne is also aHUGEsupporter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation!
CLICK HERE to find out more about Quilts of Valor!
Marianne and me after a delightful lunch and chatty afternoon in Manhattan last week!
My buddy and QNNtv.com’s Quilt Out Loudco-hostesswith the mostess, Jodie Davis, talks with Marianne about herBig Appleappearance!
CLICK HEREto get your tickets for QUILTERS TAKE MANHATTAN!
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Unleash the Artist Within!
Four Weeks to Transforming Your Creative Talents Into More Recognition, More Profit and More Fun
Meet
Author
Bob Baker
Here’s a little about Bob . . .
Bob Baker got bitten by the music bug at age 11, when he sang a collection of Elvis songs (Presley, not Costello) in a living room full of cheering relatives. Something clicked in his young mind. “Hey, this music thing can be fun.”
By high school Bob was jamming in rock bands and filling VFW hall kegger parties with classic songs by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull. (Okay, this was the ’70s, mind you.) By the early ’80s, Bob was providing lead vocals and guitar duties for nightclub bands in St. Louis and surrounding areas.
In the years that followed, Bob also put a lot of effort into writing songs and was drawn to melodic pop artists such as Crowded House, Cheap Trick, Squeeze and Elvis (only it was Costello this time). Bands he’s been in over the years have produced three independent releases, on which Bob was a primary singer and songwriter.
Music Meets Publishing
In 1987, Bob combined his love of music and feature writing and founded a St. Louis music magazine called Spotlight. Unlike other local publications, Spotlight focused on local artists and their activities.
Not having much money to work with, Bob promoted his magazine using creative marketing tactics. He was soon appearing regularly in the St. Louis media discussing local music issues and for four years hosted his own music video program. The popularity of Spotlightmagazine grew and became Bob’s primary business for 10 years.
Rockpress Publishing liked one of Bob’s book ideas and published 101 Ways to Make Money in the Music Business in 1993. (He’s often joked that his next book should be titled 1,001 Ways to Lose Money in the Music Business.) Being a published author got Bob excited about information publishing.
He started writing a regular column in his magazine filled with tips that musicians could use to promote themselves better. He offered the column to other music magazines around the U.S. The book and the columns allowed Bob to get his message to a national and international audience.
From Real World to Web World
From 1993 to 1997, Bob also served as director of the St. Louis Regional Music Showcase, the annual music conference he founded. Once a year for five years, more than 100 artists from a 10-state region convened in St. Louis for three nights of showcases and two days of industry workshops. Organizing the annual event became one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of Bob’s life.
In 1994, Bob signed up for an AOL account and joined the wired world. He soon started publishing an e-mail newsletter filled with his music marketing tips — one of the first e-zines of its kind on the Internet. Some time later The Buzz Factor web site was launched and Bob was hooked on the potential of the Net.
Bob put Spotlight magazine to rest in 1997 and has since been pouring his energies into writing and marketing his indie music marketing expertise. Over the years he has self-published a number of how-to titles, including his bestselling book Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook (which made an appearance in the major motion picture The School of Rock, starring Jack Black).
Onward and Upward
Bob has been a panelist at SXSW and the Nashville New Music Conference. He’s been featured in Music Connection, VIBE, American Songwriter, Canadian Musician and Electronic Musician magazines, among others.
In addition to writing and presenting workshops, today Bob enjoys life with his girlfriend, Pooki, and his daughter, Kelli-Rae. He serves as president of the St. Louis Publishers Association, and continues to write and perform music as much as time allows. Curious about what Bob’s music sounds like? Take a listen to his old band, Roomful of Jimmys.
Watch this short video 3 Step Formula for Creative Success by Bob Baker
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The Art of Collage
Meet
Collage Artist
MEGAN COYLE
About Megan . . .
Megan Coyle graduated from Elon University in 2008 with a degree in painting and creative writing. Despite her formal training in painting, she worked on collage in her free time and created a series of collage portraits for her senior thesis exhibition. Since then, she has continued to develop and hone her collage technique that she calls “painting with paper” – where she recreates the look and feel of a painting through the manipulation of magazine strips.
Coyle is currently working in the Washington, D.C. area as a web designer and collage artist. Her work has been exhibited in places like the Smithsonian Ripley Center, Art League Gallery, and Margaret W. & Joseph L. Fisher Art Gallery. She recently finished writing and illustrating her first children’s book, Duck & Fish, that she self-published with Blurb. Her work has appeared in blogs around the world and national publications like Somerset Studio and Art Calendar (now known as Professional Artist Magazine).
The Alliance for American Quilts is holding YOUR place in history!
Join the Alliance for American Quilts today to help ensure that today’s quiltmaker will never be anonymous!
The Alliance for American Quilts, a national nonprofit organization, supports and develops projects to document, preserve, and share the history of quilts an quiltmakers. The Alliance brings together groups and individuals from the creative, scholarly and business worlds of quiltmaking to advance the recognition of quilts in American culture.
Alliance for American Quilts projects include:
The Quilt Index
Quilters’ S.O.S. – Save Our Stories
Quilt Treasures
Boxes Under the Bed
JOIN US!
CLICK HERE to read about joining the Alliance for American Quilts (along with me! xoxom)
CLICK HEREto get your tickets for QUILTERS TAKE MANHATTAN!
Call into the live show with your questions or comments for my guests
(877) 864-4869
*****************
* * * * * *
MEET
my co-host . . .
Textile Artist and
Creative Community Activist
CLAUDE LARSON
About Claude . . .
I am a wife, mom and public school teacher of 17 years. I have been attracted to fabric for as long as I can remember and absolutely love creating things with fabric and a sewing machine. I went through the traditional series of sewing events - doll clothes, my clothes, home decor, our children's clothes and traditional quilts. Then I began to explore traditional piecing and adding non-traditional elements to quilts. Because I believe everything happens for a reason, I met a woman in a graduate school class who introduced me to art quilts and that was it - I was hooked. It was an opportunity to shed the directions and rules of everything else I had done in the past and create something completely new and unique. My first attempts were fairly successful because I had good skills from years of sewing but, recently I have begun to stretch myself artistically and have incorporated new materials and techniques in my mixed-media art quilts. I made a promise to myself a while back that I would not use my limited, valuable free time to make something that I could buy. So, no more sewing pants and basic utilitarian items - every thing that comes out of my studio is one of a kind and created without a pattern.
I recently renamed my sewing room and now refer to it as my studio. I thought long and hard about name would sum up what really happens in there and with some serious consideration, I came up with "Random Acts of Piece". The projects that go on in there vary in medium and almost never end up as they were originally planned. Every new piece is a bit of an adventure, which suits my personality because if you offer me an opportunity to do something I have never done before I will almost always jump at the chance. Speaking of jumping, I am also a skydiver - how's that for adventure. I am part of a 4-person team of formation skydivers and love the freedom of flying (okay, well, falling - but who's going to nitpick?)
Anyway, after living a hermit-like existence with my studio time, I decided I needed to reach out and find others. Build a tribe, as I think of it, of like-minded people who love to create and enjoy seeing other people's creations. I met Debby D'Aries a couple of years ago and we became friends. Being a bit modest and somewhat introverted - especially in large groups - I talked with her about the open studio concept and we decided to launch an adventure. In an effort to meet others who love art and build a community to share ideas with, we have planned the Common Thread Open Studios Art Tour for Sunday, June 26th. Along with our two studios we have recruited 7 other local artists and one business in our venture. It is the first of what will hopefully become an annual event and you can find us on Facebook at Common Thread Studios Art Tour and on blogger.
Take a look at some of Claude's work . . .
CLICK HERE to visit Claude's blog, Random Acts of Piece!
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Sure, it's about being creative, but
IT'S ABOUT GETTING YOUR CREATIVITY COMPLETED!
Do these excuses sound familiar?
See if any of these statements sound like you, someone you know or your audience:
I don’t like to set goals because then I can’t follow my inspiration.
I’m an artist, I’m supposed to be free like the wind!
Setting goals seems too boring, rigid or hard so I prefer to go with the flow.
Too much structure makes me crazy and goals = too much structure.
I know I should set goals to be a more successful artist.
Stay Creative and Get Things Done!
Meet
a Mastermind of Creativity and the Creator of
TARA REED
About Tara . . .
Tara Reed is an artist, entrepreneur, teacher, writer and speaker. When she graduated from Penn State with a degree in Marketing, she would have laughed if you told her she’d be doing what she does today – it just proves that you can never be sure where life will take you!
In 2000, Tara was a stay-at-home mom with a crafty streak. She began earning money from her art and creativity in the scrapbooking industry and in 2004, launched her art licensing business, Tara Reed Designs Inc. She has been licensing her art for all sorts of products from quilting fabric lines to kitchen textiles to garden flags and more. In 2008, she began teaching about how the art licensing industry works through her website, www.ArtLicensingInfo.com and blog,www.ArtLicensingBlog.com
Take a look at Tara's amazingly transformational book . . .
The term outsider art was coined by art criticRoger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut (French: [aʁ bʁyt], "raw art" or "rough art"), a label created by French artistJean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.
While Dubuffet's term is quite specific, the English term "outsider art" is often applied more broadly, to include certain self-taught or Naïve art makers who were never institutionalized. Typically, those labeled as outsider artists have little or no contact with the mainstream art world or art institutions. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, or elaborate fantasy worlds.
Outsider art has emerged as a successful art marketing category (an annual Outsider Art Fair has taken place in New York since 1992). The term is sometimes misapplied as a catch-all marketing label for art created by people outside the mainstream "art world," regardless of their circumstances or the content of their work.
Meet
The Executive Director
of
INTUIT: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
CLEO WILSON
About Cleo . . .
Cleo Wilson is a founding board member of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art and served as its president from 2002-2006. Established in 1991, Intuit is grounded in the belief that the instinct to be creative is universal and the arts must embrace all, celebrate all, and be accessible to all regardless of education or socio-economic status. She was the editor of Intuit’s magazine, The Outsider, from 1992 until 2002, and in 2004, curated an exhibition at Intuit,Sistuhs: Four African American Self-Taught Artists.
Prior to accepting the position of Executive Director at Intuit in 2006, with responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the Intuit, including supervision of artistic and administrative personnel and programs, she served for 25 years as the Executive Director of the Playboy Foundation, a corporate giving program of Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
A Playboy employee since 1976, Wilson was named Foundation grants and programs manager in 1982. She was promoted to executive director of the Foundation in 1984 and named director of public affairs in 1989, and appointed vice president in 2000.
Wilson serves on a variety of state and municipal grant-review panels, including the Illinois Arts Council, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs City Arts, the Evanston Arts Council and most recently the Propeller Fund. Wilson is a member of the board of directors of Arts Alliance Illinois and has served as a member of the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, and was a member of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s board of directors (1989 - 1999), and as its president (1990 to 1993).
Listed since 1988 in Who's Who Among African Americans and, since 1990, in Who's Who Among American Women, Wilson was saluted as one of Chicago's up-and-coming black business and professional women in 1985 by Dollars and Sense magazine. In 1984, she was inducted into the Black Woman Hall of Fame in recognition of her community service. In 1991, Wilson was honored as a “Friend for Life” by the Howard Brown Medical Center. She received the “Phenomenal Woman Award” in 1997 at Chicago’s Expo for Today’s Black Woman, in recognition of her leadership and dedication to community issues. In 1999, Wilson was honored by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago for her “leadership, compassion and generosity.” In 2004, Wilson received the Handy L. Lindsey Award for Inclusiveness in Philanthropy, and also that year, an award “For outstanding leadership in support of reproductive rights from Personal PAC. In 2006, Wilson was awarded the Edwin A. Rothschild Civil Liberties Award for her “persistent and clear voice in defense of civil liberties.” In October 2010, Wilson was inducted into the HistoryMakers, the single largest archival collection of interviews of both well-known and unsung African Americanhistory makers. In March 2011, she received the Community Engagement, Community Service, and Community Organizing Award from the Gender and Women's Studies Program at the University of Illinois Chicago.
A native Chicagoan, Wilson is a 1976 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
CLICK HERE to visit INTUIT: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art!
Here are 3 VIDEO perspectives on various Outsider Art artists/concepts:
If you haven't heard about this viral group that swept the nation, you will! Maybe it's forY-O-U!
Latifah's in da House!
No, Not QUEEN Latifah!
Someone BETTER!
Meet
Designer, Teacher, Lecturer
and Founding Member of The Modern Quilt Guild
Latifah Saafir
What is the Modern Quilt Guild?
The Modern Quilt Guild is a community of quilt guilds across the country. The online community of modern quilters is thriving and this guild grew out of a desire to also have us meet in person. The founding branch of the guild started in Los Angeles in October of 2009. Through blogs & the internet word spread quickly of the fun they were having and now branches have started popping up all over the country. We are a young organization just getting started with planning, organizing and sorting out all we will do as an association.
We encourage anyone who’s interested to join us! Beginners are welcome.
What is Modern Quilting?
Modern quilting is a new twist on the traditional art of quilting. This may mean something as simple as using a traditional quilt block and updating it in a fresh fun new way. That includes using modern fabrics, modifying the block arrangement or even the scale of the block. The piecing could be improvisational and wonky, or it could be very exact and measured, following a pattern or creating your own. The quilting could be traditional stippling, clean straight lines or a very “free” have fun, quilt as you go style. Fabrics could be upcycled vintage sheets, custom digital printed fabric, a yummy selection from one of the new modern fabric designers, or an old fabric from an ever-growing stash.
Modern quilting is sometimes difficult to define because in many ways the definition is as individual as the quilter – changing from quilter to quilter. In addition to reflecting the individual personality and personal style of the quilter it also reflects the current aesthetic of the day.
Modern quilting is also about the attitude and the approach that modern quilters take. It respects the amazing artistry and talent of the tradition of quilting, while allowing the quilter to challenge the “rules”. In fact, if there were one rule in modern quilting it would be that there are no rules.
The concept of modern quilting is not meant to divide or segregate. It is meant to welcome new quilters, of all ages, to the world of quilting in a style that they can relate to. In many ways, modern quilting takes us back to the basics of the early quilters, when women of the day used the colors and styles of their time to express themselves creatively.
CLICK HERE to visit The Modern Quilt Guild's website!
It's a Brand New Kind of Segment in Creativity-Themed Radio . . .
Get your
FIRST BREAK
HERE
Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski
(and get an HONEST answer for a change)
Do you have dreams of breaking out of the creative shadows and walking in the glow of creative stardom as a fabric or pattern designer?
Have you started a creative themed business but can't seem to get it off the ground?
Thinking about dumping your day job to pursue your craft or hobby professionally but don't know where to start?
Having problems getting noticed?
Having questions on pitching an idea?
Need to know what to watch out for?
Need a reality check, some sound advice or a swift kick in your creative behind?
Want an impartial opinion?
CALL IN
Share your story and experience
and learn something, too!
WE CAN HELP
877-864-4869
I have always been committed to giving people their "first break." I tried to bring new people into television industry. In my magazines, I’d given new quilt and fabric designers, writers, shop owners, and companies articles when nobody else would. And now I want to do the same on Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski.
In this horrible economy, a time when big box stores are knocking out small arts, crafts and niche market venues left and right with nowhere for us to shop, with so much competition and with so little new to offer in our respective creative industries . . .
We only have one choice
FOR OUR CREATIVE SPIRIT TO HELP OTHER CREATIVE SPIRITS SUCCEED AT THEIR DREAMS.
We all win!
On today's Creative Mojo...
I'll be talking with talking with a small quilting business owner, Glenda Spencer, from Ontario, Canada, who wrote to say she was having problems with self-confidence, distribution, pricing, and promotion, and breaking out as an internationally known designer, among other things in her shop. She has questions and now she'll get noticed (AND the chance to ask questions that she needs answers to)!
I encourage you to call in to talk with Glenda and offer your advice and play it forward.
Here's a little about Glenda . . .
Glenda Spencer began Stone Cottage Crafts in 1987, as a cottage industry, for a stay at home mom with three young children. As the children grew, so did the business. The focus shifted from children's items and alterations, to custom sewing, making home decorating items for Homework Design in Toronto and boat tops and interiors, on Georgian Bay, with Superior Textile Fabricator's in Midland, Ont. In 2006, Glenda shifted the focus once again.
"I decided, if I was going to work, it was going to be at something I love to do; that something is quilting. What could be better than being surrounded by beautiful quilts and fabric. It's such a pleasure to have new quilters in a class and watch them get so excited when they see that they can create these works of art."
"One thing I found lacking is an outlet for quilters who would like to sell their work. To sell retail, puts a huge markup on items and puts most quality, handmade items out of reach. Selling online allows some very talented people to offer their quilts for sale, at a price that is fair to the quilter and the consumer." They are also available at the store at the same price.
Some of Glenda's work can be seen at Settler's Ghost Golf Club, just outside Craighurst, Ont.
STONE COTTAGE CRAFTS began in the Spencer's stone house, under the pines and maples, in beautiful Horseshoe Valley, Ont. and is now located at 2092 Horseshoe Valley Rd. in Craighurst Ont.
CREATIVE MOJO WITH MARK LIPINSKI is a live, two-hour entertainment program broadcast on the Internet. It's fun, entertaining, informative,
inspirational and illuminating. 
Dear CHA Members,On May 22, 2011a tornado swept across Joplin, Missouri leaving a catastrophic wake of destruction. Schools, businesses, homes were destroyed and many were killed. Since then CHA has learned that even months after the tornado there is still a great need in the area. Several CHA members including Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker and Kristi Parker Van Doren have been coordinating craft supply drives to help the surviving residents return to some sort-of normalcy through crafting.
Nikki Sivils rallied manufacturers and scrapbookers to help give Joplin crafters their hobby back and on Sunday, July 10, 2011 when she delivered 50 tubs filled with nearly $50,000 worth of scrapbook supplies to crafters who lost everything to the tornado. CHA Members including Bella Blvd, My Little Shoebox LLC, Meredith Corporation, Bazill Basic Paper, Elmer’s Products, Inc, Unity Stamp Co, Graphic 45, Helmar Adhesive, Creative Crafts Group LLC, Jillibean Soup, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Best Creation Inc, Maya Road, Graphic 45, Creating Keepsakes, ProvoCraft, Elle’s Studio, and Spellbinders all responded with generous donations.CHA also learned that member Kristi Parker Van Doren is coordinating an art auction/sale to benefit the City of Joplin where 100% of the proceeds will go to a fund managed by a non-profit organization called the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. Monetary donations can be made directly to 
Any monetary or product donation would be greatly appreciated. The school has a wish list of products including school supplies, adhesives, plastic zipper bags, pom-poms, yarn, crayons, markers, paint, paper, and more that CHA can easily assist with. The list can be found by clicking 
