kro designs

To be frank, 2008 sucked for us as a family. I will always remember this year for its struggles and not so much for the wonderful times we had. It's very unfortunate to think of the glass half empty but I'm not going to paint a rosy picture if it is gray! But I have hope for 2009. I hope I can use those challenges we faced as stepping stones that I can use for years to come. As everyone has their roundup of 2008, I'd prefer to look forward rather than back. 2009 will be filled with a serious shift in a job for me. I'll be teaching art quilting, fabric modification or whatever you'd call it a lot more. I'm very excited to finally be able to share my passion for fabric to many more people. Although being a teacher is great I love to be a student as well. I get to enjoy my favorite teacher, Pamela Allen , at Road to California in January. IQA - Chicago in April (if I can convince my husband), Minnesota Quilters in June and that is just half the year! So I salute...

On September 2nd I stood in line at the Textile Center for a chance to be one of 50 fiber artists who get to make a quilt to be donated to Ikea for funding of the Textile Mobile, art in schools and summer cam programs. Those quilts will be exhibited and sold on March 21st, 2009. I was number 29! Now seeing as how the deadline is January 30th, and The Holidays-Part 1 are over, I better get started! I was given 4 yards of 4 different Ikea fabrics to create a maximum 48"x 48" wall quilt. Here are the three I am working with: Although I'm not allowed to show pictures of what I'm working on I can show you some process photos. Can you guess what I'm doing?... More details to follow! For more information about the challenge, click here or the thread and spool above.

No, get your head out of the gutter. In my studio I will play in... I need therapy, I'm totally addicted to these things. Made 8 last night. Crazy!

I hate to jump the gun a bit but seeing all of the Valentine stuff in the stores (while Christmas clearancing ) reminds me that there isn't much time, that holiday always creeps up on me. By the time I get the holiday decorations down and put away, whammo Happy February! So today I embarked on a cute craft idea. Obviously, I'm into totes right now. Everything I do is tote related. Mommy ones, Daddy ones and whee little baby totes like this one. I bought the felt tote itself from Target with some really bad ribbon and dirty felt for $.25 , yes a quarter and assumed I could do better than the sweatshop children in China, poor things. All the felt and stitching was done by moi. I think it turned out pretty well for a one hour project. Now only 6 more to go! Tote size is about 6" square with a round flat bottom.

::drifting away in thought ::sharing holiday greetings ::excitement draws near Have a very Merry Christmas!

...Over the country and through the traffic to my sisters house I go. -- ivy and holly --music and family songs --the glow of Christmas time We will be returning home soon!

As I said on Twitter, I was at the mall, no not shopping, but helping out with mall goers who wanted a break from the hustle and bustle of the season. It was a great respite for Moms wanted to shop alone or ones who were waiting hours to visit Santa. Snaps from the day. There also were sculptors demo-ing their craft...I couldn't get enough!

Feeling Stitchy had a comment extravaganza where she asked bloggers to comment about holiday traditions. Like a lot of people I have many childhood memories. But I wanted to comment on the traditions that my husband and I are creating for our two kids. Way back when (oh 8 years ago I think) I made this (horrible) tree skirt out of bad Joann's felt and muslin. It was what I had on hand at the time of course because I'm doing this on Christmas Eve. Every year on this bad craft we print the boys hands with paint and write the date with the Sharpie. It's a tradition I enjoy sharing with my boys who could care less now but hopefully when they have their own children they can look back with great memories.

The collaboration that goes on between artists amazes me! Liz and the staff, from Articulture are the ones who suggested I make a bookmark which I made and posted a few days ago. Yesterday I delivered more product to their shop, told her about the book mark and that it would be sold for $7. She was fine with that but also envisioned something simpler and more affordable like the $2.50 book thong. (which actually is selling very well, only 4 left). Here is what I came up with. It has a combination of the book thong beads and the art of the textile fringe. I was worried that the knot in the middle would hinder the book closing but it seemed to work just fine! Next time I will use 2 sided fabric so it will be seamless and instead of the stitching on both ends, I'll just knot it. They have suggested so many things that can be tweaked either to make a more versatile product or more user friendly. Two brains are better than one! Note: After I posted, I did a little more exploring...

I remember when my sister's dinner repertoire included only spaghetti and mac and cheese and her idea of crafting included a used Popsicle stick and paper. She sent me this e-mail yesterday with picture attached. The subject, "Your lame sister" Your blog has me inspired… The girls made book thongs (!) for their teachers for the Holidays. I packaged them in a dollar store mug with a cardstock poem (which I wrote, don’t get too excited on my verse), inserts of cocoa, biscotti, and turtles. You could do this with both hands and one eye tied behind you back…but for me, this is my A game. Indeed this is an A game for her and I couldn't be any more proud! You've come a long way babe!

And I don't mean the white fluffy stuff outside (although we did get a fresh batch last night). My Aunt Ila has surprised me with a wonderful treat last night. "White Christmas" the musical was playing in town at the Ordway. What a production! All the fan fare and costumes I'd imagined. In the second scene the ladies were in their dressing gowns. The red head (can't imagine why I'm attracted to that?) was wearing this gorgeous Staten modeled print burgundy robe with all the pleating on the bodice to make it full, round and oh so lovely. It must have had 7 yards of fabric in that thing. I wish I could have taken pictures. That is what I want for Christmas! Thanks Aunt Ila for a great time!

Clear skies and wind from the North can only mean one thing for Minnesota. Last night with the windchill around -15 F , it took our breath away. Today I will spend the afternoon huddled in my studio, ignoring the bitterness outside. The day I broke my favorite cup and saucer , a dear friend Tammy surprised me with this new mug. Just as beautiful as my old one but with more love 'cause it came from a friend! Maybe today won't be so cold after all.

My favorite cup and saucer. :(

I had a great time last night with the Mom's Group! They are such a diverse and devoted group of women. Second to their unconditional love, they are best known for their truthfulness (a quality we need in girlfriends, right?!) Many were cajoling me about my intimidating presence. Hello, it's me were talking about! Yes I'm honest, have red hair and like to wear nice cloths, but does that make me intimidating??! I always thought I was approachable, sincere, and sweet. I know for sure that I'm a food snob, particular and candid ( just to name a few). That comment took me by surprise. I'm not by any means hurt by their words, because it's not like they meant I was The Terminator, not that kind of intimidating. They mean a distant, aloof type of intimidating. I really am very thankful for their candor. I wish we could all know something about ourselves we didn't know before. A girlfriend doesn't need to say " Wow, your putting on some pounds" or ...

For the last year I have entered pretty much every show the Textile Center has had except the basket making one ( for obvious reasons) and the Members only show, "Common Thread" (I felt I didn't have anything worthy ready). Before entering the " Nothing New" show, I had dabbled in using found objects but had not delved into them like this. The challenge was to use 50% recycled materials using fiber related materials for a mixed media composition. Of course it was a lot more challenging than I thought. Here is my entry. I found this canvas at a thrift store and embellished it with 100% recycled materials. Egg cartons, cheesecloth, laminated paper left overs, grass cloth and many, many tea bags were used, just to name a few. My greatest fear was that the juror would look at it and suspect I just hot glued a bunch of crap on to this canvas and turned in a form. I probably spent more time and effort into this piece than I have anything else in my career. Sadly, it w...

We are thankful to live in a climate that celebrates the glory of nature for all four seasons. Every year we wish for but don't always receive a White Christmas. No doubt we get a cold Christmas no matter what we wish for. After a beautiful snow storm the sun finally popped out to egg me on to the final stretch of Christmas decorating. This picture captures the unmarred snow yet to be trampled on by kids and dogs much like my Holiday Spirit this year.

Wet felting is my favorite new friend. This fall I wanted to try something out of the box for me and was so happy with the results. Who knew bubble wrap and a bar of olive oil soap would do it for me! These felt buttons, as I call them, were stitched together and then backed with cotton (so it isn't itchy) and made into a necklace. Fun times! Nuno Nouveau by Liz Clay I'll be teaching this class March 2 nd at the Textile Center .

My friends are wonderful women! I've been so self absorbed in my own transactions and projects I did not sign up for the Inaugural Mom's Group Cookie Exchange. And if you know me at all, I love to spend time in the kitchen baking up a storm. But with so many pots on the fire (and they are not in my kitchen) I gave myself a break this year. Low and behold they made some extra for me. I could not have assembled a lunch that had more love baked in. Thank you my dear ladies, I am truly touched!

Why is it always that I rummage through a drawer at 9:00 at night and am inspired to do a project! I did this white work with 11 other birds in mind for a lovely quilt. (I think you know where I am going with this). I had this one and 3/4 ths of other done before I abandoned the gargantuan project. In crafters terms it hasn't been around all that long, only a year. Sometime, I'll finish the other one...maybe another year. One note of angst: I wish I could take photos of my projects like the ones I see everywhere else like Soulemama and Posie Get Cozy just to name a very few. I really need insider tips on how to stage pictures the " Etsy Way". There must be a secret Etsy photo club where everyone else is a member and my nose is pressed against the glass looking in. Am I back in high school? ...list it on Etsy ? I think I will. Knowing someone will love it just as much gives me "warm fuzzes ".

I was inspired by something I saw on Flickr Craft Pool . Thinking I may quilt the background first and then add one layer after another. Definitely going to make it into a tote but I need to add one red bird at the top of the stone wall to make it sing!

An out of town husband and no assistant coach lead me to a place I haven't been since college. Coaching 7 first graders came as a delightful surprise. I wasn't nervous which should have been my first clue. Isn't it always when you are nervous you do a better job. At least it is for me. Anyway, the first 5 minutes it was, "oh yea, I'm in charge...what do I do?!". I harkend back to when I played ball and rattled through the drills I liked the best. Almost all were too hard to try or too hard to explain: "OK pass to the person, cut, run toward the basket, set a pick.."...I don't think so. After another painful 5 minutes I asked the other team's coach when do we start the game. "Is now ok?" he asks. No hesitation from me...games are more fun anyway. An odd number of players puts rotations in a bind. Having to tell a kid he has to sit out another 4 minutes until the next substitution was absolutely painful. The look on their faces was of...

As the last days December wind down, the to do list gets longer, holiday obligations increase and deadlines approach I'm taking time to be sitting with a cup of tea, and wishing the days would be longer so I can spend more time with those who need me the most.

I listed this yesterday on Etsy. They have been selling out is the local shop I make them for. The owner has called three times now for replacements. This time I experimented with more "boyish" colors. Not as cute a previous girlie bags, but of course rushed them there without taking pictures. I think the next set of three will be Paris inspired with pink Eiffel tower fabric. Adorable!

I've had a lot of luck putting these little bags together. Making them inspires me to venture out for my own artistic adventure. I had a pile of designer fabric samples hanging around and with a little experimenting, voila. My friends at Articulture kept suggesting different designs everytime I finished one. I think I'm on my 7th experiment with new additions on try number 8 in the works. Of course each addition add more time but I'm having a blast!