A couple of days ago, I posted about a sanity saver tool that I use all the time in my life as a designer.
Here’s another of my
most favorite tools
of the designer and author’s trade.
What is it?
A spreadsheet.
Why is a spreadsheet
such a big deal?
Believe me…
it’s truly one of
my favorite tools for a lot of reasons!
This is the spreadsheet from my latest book: The Woven Bag (the link is to Amazon, but it’s not one of the payback links…. it’s just the only link that I can find to the book at this point…. )
Anyhow…. when I am creating a book, …read more

It takes years to get a book out of the author’s heart and head and into your hands.
It’s a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaally long gestation cycle that makes the pregnancy of an elephant look like a cake walk.
My fourth book with F&W Media
is
‘The Woven Bag:
30 Projects from Small Looms‘.
It’ll be released in the new year,
but it’s been in the works for several years.
In fact, I finished writing it last year.
Whew… that was a HUGE undertaking…
there are around 35 bags in there, and I wove
(and re-wove) them all – often several times, just because they sometimes needed that.
The writing of the patterns and the …read more

See this big box?

Okay, it’s a small pic, but really, the box is a big ‘un!
AND – it is FULL of my life!
Yep…. this is hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours of designing, writing, illustrating, frogging and work work working!
This box is full of the projects for my new book.
Here I am , just about to take it to the post office to lob it off to my editor:

Whew…. it cost $50 to mail! sheesh……
Can I tell you anything  about the book?
sigh…. no, not yet…..
Let us say that a lot of yarn is involved……
and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds …read more

I’m working to deadline on a new book…. well, 2 new books.
I’m working on one book that is all my designs (+30 of them). I am also working on a group effort. It’s the 2nd book that a group of designers that I  are self-publishing.
We’ve just released our first one- The Belt Book
and now we’re going full throttle on our second one.
Will let you know when we release it.
This week, I’ve been working really hard on drawings and illustrations for the books.  I do all my illustrations by hand. Some people cleverly know how to do their illustrations on the …read more