Craft Wars

Here's a blast from my past.  My buddy Scott Wilkinson (hubby of Pattiewack and fab videographer) shared this link this morning from a taping of Craft TV we did over ten years ago at my home.

From Scott "This was the very first episode of Craft TV with our kick-off "Craft Wars" segment. We shot and produced this in June 2002 and sent this out to our subscriber list via snail mail. Can you believe it, 10 years later and our concept is still fun and relevant. Watch Pattiewack and Joan Fee battle off with berry baskets in the very first "Craft Wars". How fun! What could you make from berry baskets in 30 minutes? Stay tuned as we begin to upload over 300 crafting segments from our Craft TV series. Some of them are old and funky, but all of them are super fun. Crafts, crafts, and more crafts."

Check out who wins the crown! www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3_jslB-XrU

Fess Parker

Fess Parker

I am so sad to hear of the passing of Fess Parker. Not only was I a faithful Daniel Boone watchers, but a few years ago, I was at Fess Parker's Red Lion Inn in Santa Barbara having brunch. I remember him coming to the table next to us and apologizing to the children there that he had taken their father away from them that day. Such a classy person. He will be missed!

My friend, Pattiewack, passed this article on to me: www.independent.com/news/2010/mar/18/fess-parker-dies/

True Confession Time

Craft Designer Reveals Secret

Remember that Bucket List everyone was talking about a while ago??? I made my list and occasionally check off an item. Well, it's time to check off another one of those items but also to confess to something that's been a struggle for me all my life. I CAN'T DRAW!!! My dad is great at it - I remember him sitting and doodling in meetings and he'd draw amazing cars. Not this kid - didn't get his genes on that front! When I was a designer for all those years at Aleene's, I would hide my lack of drawing talent - patterns - oh my gosh, no! A couple of years ago, I submitted some design ideas to my friend, Pattiewack and later she told me in a very kind manner that I should brush up on my drawing ability. We had a good laugh!

I remember the day in elementary school when we learned (or tried to) perspective. I didn't get it!!! Kind of like the song in A Chorus Line - I felt nothing....

So, I signed up today for a drawing class and I believe the teacher wrote the class description with me in mind - "Would you like to go beyond stick figures? Are you a novice's novice? Tackle your 'demons' around drawing abilities and learn how to really make it work."

I sure hope it works!

I agreed today to do something else on my Bucket List, but I'll save that for another day...it's a real YIKES! thing.

Challenge yourself today!!!

Joan

I'm cleaning today - going through that nitty-gritty stuff - organizing and getting rid of things - acting on what needs to be done. I was putting away a book on my bookshelf and noticed one my dear friend PattieWack told me about years ago. I am reading it again, but had to pause and do a little cleaning after being inspired by her words. The book - Living a Beautiful Life by Alexandra Stoddard (also the author of Choosing Happiness) - 500 ways to add elegance, order, beauty and joy to every day of your life. Love it! Back to cleaning - then, I promise to catch you up on all that I've been doing the last month!

Enjoy your day. It's rainy here - perfect for reading and cleaning.

Joan

Joan

Craft and Hobby Association Highlights

I saw this posted on a booth and I liked what it had to say!


Paper butterflies - when I was a kid, everything was pink - pink bedroom, pink clothes, pink, pink, pink...

3D flowers on the side of a booth

I'm getting ready for my class reunion and was searching the trade show floor for ideas for decorations. Can you see this in purple and gold?

My dear friend, PattieWack.

My friend, Cheryl Ball, created with butterfly dress - love it, Cheryl!!! Can I borrow it for my class reunion?

It was old home week at the show. Crafty Chica AKA Kathy Cano-Murillo shows off cannon spray paints in the i love to create booth.

This girl was soooo getting into spraying on dye to make a cool scarf.

I had so much fun making a button pin in the Blumental Lansing booth - it was great to be a crafter and enjoy all of the make-it and take-its.

Can you tell what this dress is made from?

Purple and gold??? Hanging from the oak trees at my reunion?

Too cute, paper dress.

Paper booth display.

When my brother remodeled his house (the house I grew up in) he offered me an old lighting fixture from the hall. I'm thinking it would look great as the top of a mobile like this.

Kathy Ireland was on the floor showing her new trims.

Such a colorful display of afghans and hats.

Blast Off!

Change, Change, CHANGE! (and I'm not talking about the stuff in my pocket!)

















A HUGE opportunity presented itself and I jumped on it without hesitation or fear (totally unlike me!)

While on my vacation at the ocean a couple months ago I knew I absolutely belonged there - I felt at peace, relaxed and comfortable. Not too long after I got home from vacation I got an unexpected phone call from my parents - one of their rental houses became available on the Central Coast of California in a wonderful little city on the ocean. This is a cottage my dad built back in the early 1960's in panels at home in the San Joaquin Valley, loaded them up for the 3 hour trip in a U-Haul truck and finished putting the house together on site - I have a picture of me standing in front of the U-Haul truck (I can't find it at the moment, or I'd post it, but these pictures are from back in the 60's. The hill is now covered with homes and that's me second from the left and no, the house is no longer painted Flamingo). This house has many joyous kid memories - we spent a lot of time here in the summers and on weekends getting away from the summer heat of the Valley. But, with this new beginning, comes many farewells and thoughts of what of the last few years have encompassed.

I moved to Fresno 3 years and 9 months ago to work for Duncan Enterprises as the writer while my 25 year marriage was ending. My friends at Duncan have seen me at my worst (and best!) - they have been there as my cheerleaders, my friends, my teachers...

In the 3+ years, I have seen a lot of changes not only in myself but with my co-workers and friends - Patty has had 3 fabulous babies and two brain surgeries, my friend Frances got the courage to introduce herself to her neighbor when I asked her If Not Now, When? - this October they will have been married 2 years - you go Frances!!! Many people have come and gone, but I appreciate everyone who has come into my life and the valuable life lessons they have shown me.

My family, especially my brother and sister-in-law and their sons Justin and Brandon have been an awesome comfort to me - Brandon and Nicki even stayed with me one night a week for over a year while Nicki finished her college degree. Nicki invited me to many concerts and enlightened me on new music groups - their CD's grace my shelves to this day. BTW, Bon Jovi rocks!

One person who came into my life just a short year ago and who has guided me with her gentle care and outstanding knowledge through this last year is Lindy. Lindy and Doug became friends - we spent a wonderful day doing the zipline and enjoying the Gold Country and they came at the last minute to haul away stuff I no longer needed. We did a lot of lunches together and now we have a standing Wednesday lunch phone call. She goes out into the Duncan rec park and last Wednesday I went outside and weeded my yard while we talked.

My IT guy, Rocky, is fabulous! Rocky rescued me on many occasions and was there in the end to take a boat anchor of a computer away for me. He's been there when I yelled "help!". Thanks Rocky!!!

I think I better stop because I'd be up all night thanking everyone, so I'll do a blanket thank you to everyone at Duncan, my family, friends and to my off-site friends (oh, I just have to send a shout-out to Pattie Donham Wilkinson - PattieWack - she was the one who told me way back when that Fresno was my landing pad - after a couple months she changed and said it was my launching pad - I found a picture of a rocket blasting off that said 'blast off' on it that I saw every day when I walked out my door.) Thanks for being there (there has been several places the last 3+ years...)

So, for a month I frantically packed boxes, threw stuff away, worked full time, went to Goodwill with things I knew would no longer work in my life and last weekend my brother and I packed me up and moved me over to Paradise (my bro's word).

So, I have been painting and and making the cottage my new home. I have lots of things to fix and lots of things to do - after I painted, I noticed I got some light sage green paint on the cottage cheese ceiling - I got out my Aleene's True Snow and dabbed it over the green paint and it was gone! Love it!

I look forward to keeping you updated on my blog letting you in on the secrets to 'small space living', exciting crafts and life's little adventures.

Joan

Craft Challenge

Craft Challenge Begins!!!

You love to be creative! And, if you're like me, sometimes (OK, most of the time) it's hard to carve out time for myself and be creative. So, I'm taking the CRAFT CHALLENGE and I invite you to join in the fun too!!!

~ Commit 1/2 hour every day during March (National Craft Month) and do something (ANYTHING) creative.

~ Send me your creation for the day - it can be a photo, drawing, video - any form you'd like to share your artwork. Send it to me at jfee@duncanmail.com and I'll post it on my blog. See the 'rules' to the left - it's all about having fun and being creative!

My friend, Pattiewack, loves to be creative in EVERY aspect of her life. Here's an envelope from a card she gave me a couple weeks ago - it didn't take her long, but I know she enjoyed creating it.

I can't wait to see what you come up with. I have some ideas already brewing for my projects. Go ahead, take the challenge.

Joan

Craft and Hobby Association

Jane Seymour, Lauren Johnston, PattieWack, Jack Canfield the Chicken Soup for the Soul guy, Cheryl Ball, Vanna White, Craft Products, Friends, Crafty Chica, Home Dec Ideas, Carol Duvall, Beads, Retro, Beaded Corvette, Road Trip...I'm EXHAUSTED!!!

There is so much to tell you about my trip to Anaheim...we had a great group on our 6 hour trip to Anaheim - Valerie, our VP of Marketing, her daughter, Allee now a designer at work and a Jenn our trend spotter - my, what a group we were! I started the adventure about 8:15 Saturday morning, picking everyone up in the company van and we laughed, we shared, we talked about our lives and we waited in traffic - it was a beautiful day with downtown LA looking particularly stunning since the air was clear and the snow on the mountains was wonderful.

To get to Anaheim and see the booth in all its glory was great! Everything went together and to see all our hard work in front of us was so powerful - we work on our booth for months coming up with themes, signs, new products...

We introduced Crafty Chica at the show - Kathy Cano-Murillo is a tremendous designer and businesswoman. I am so inspired by her and her giving ways. She shares so freely and has such an awesome, upbeat personality - I love being around her.













I was so taken by this mural - it was huge and all made out of beads - you can click on the image and see all the detail.








Aprons, aprons and more aprons!!! AND RETRO - These aprons were made from patterns from the 1950's. So cute!









More retro aprons!








I was so excited about his booth - It was like a little cabana and people sat and did their make-it and take-its.








This ice cream cone was stuck to the carpet on the aisleways of the show - they were probably 5 feet long - it really made we want to find some ice cream!!!








This blouse was on display in the Designer Showcase - it uses the Tulip Sticky Fabric Stencils.












friends...
when you've been in the industry as long as I have, there are people you know everywhere. I had the opportunity to get together with Lauren Johnston a few times - here we're taking a break to have a lovely convention center lunch - you'll notice that all of these pictures revolve around food...




Here's Lauren and me again, but this time with our old friend Marina - Marina was one of the art director's at Aleene's - we worked together on books and the magazine.









OK, not such a great picture of me, but I wanted to include a picture of Julianna - we worked together at Aleene's and at Jangle.com - she lives in New Jersey, so I just get to see her once a year.






And, Jane Seymour - she was demonstrating her watercolors kits - her pieces were beautiful! I was a HUGE fan of Medicine Woman (I believe I should have been born back in the 1800's!!!)






I kept walking passed his ginormous hanging thingie above a booth - it's made of ribbon...I have to incorporate this idea somewhere.







Here's a dress Debbie Rines recreated in Tulip Fashion Glitter.

More details later...I think I need a nap - oh, that brings to mind our trip home - someone, who shall remain nameless, gave us directions to save us time during the rush hour traffic - what took us 6 hours down took us 8 hours to get back home and even the six hours to get there should only have been about 4 to 4-1/2, so yes, I'm tired, but the trip was fantastic!!!

OK, still more...I had a kind of funky afternoon yesterday because I was SAD, but happy at the same time! I had to tell my friend, PattieWack goodbye and I don't know when I'll be able to see her again - she has taken a job in Nashville - just when I thought they'd settled in California again. My best to you, Pattie and Scott - to new beginnings my friends...

I'm sure more pictures will come my way as my friends make their way home - the trade show goes on through tomorrow afternoon.

Joan

It's almost time to leave for CHA...

Things keep piling up in front of my desk - unfortuantely, we're one of the last to leave for the trade show and we have a van, so that means we get stuck taking all the stuff people can't get in their cars or were forgotten. Check out all the fun we'll be having at the show http://duncancrafts.com/cha/

I'm in the process of writing a couple ads this afternoon, a friend is picking me up lunch at one of my favorite places - Japanese Kitchen, I'll load up the van and get outta here to pack up my bags, indulge in a 1-1/2 massage tonight and then get on the road early tomorrow morning for some awesome adventures.

I've lined up a couple of get togethers with old Aleene's friends - Lauren Johnston, Sharon Williamson, Julianna Hudgins and hopefully PattieWack will be able to squeeze me in for at least a hug.

Until next week - keep craftin' but, I have to share with you an email I received from a friend this morning...she knows me pretty well - I shared it with friends at work and thought you might like her insight.

Remember life is too short...take a minute and look around you wherever you are, THEN YOU WILL SEE 'your life is wonderful!' but YOU aren't letting YOURSELF SEE IT! Make it a HAPPY LIFE!!! - Love you Miss FS

PattieWack, Lauren, Me and Mupu!!!

What a great weekend!!! I got to spend time with three of my best friends!!!

I had a long breakfast on Saturday with my friend, Frances. We don't get to see each other often enough now that we don't work together so it was awesome to spend 2 hours of uninterrupted time chatting and catching up. Remember, she got married last October and I was in the wedding.

Then, it was on to Santa Paula to spend an entire afternoon and night with PattieWack!!! Loved it! It was just Pattie and me for the afternoon - it was girl chat catch up BIG time! We can email and talk on the phone, but we gotta have one of those hugs and talk face to face to really feel connected. Lauren arrived in the evening (more on that later).

Pattie sure knows how to make people feel special! Not only were we greeted with a sign on 'It' (what I call the decoupaged mannequin in their entryway), there was a sign along with a rose in the bathroom AND not only a sign in the guest bedroom but pictures of Lauren and me too!

So, it's a Saturday and three crafty ladies are together. What to do? CRAFT OF COURSE!!! But first, we went to Mupu's Grill and saw the sights and murals of Santa Paula. After dinner we got out tissue, yarn and paper and went to town (or Pattie's Studio in this case!)

Pattie got us started by fan folding two colors of tissue paper and showed us how to make incredible flowers. (here's how to make them) We then moved on to create beautiful tassels and circle books. Thanks, Pattie - you're the BEST!!! BTW, we saw Scott (PATTIE'S BRAND NEW HUSBAND) only for a quick hug that night and early the next morning.

Lauren and I kind of invited ourselves to Pattie and Scott's and we're so thankful for their hospitality - our mission was to get rid of a bunch of craft supplies we'd accumulated over the years! We decided we wanted them to go to good homes so we blew them out at $1 each. We got up super early Sunday morning and headed to Ventura to sell our wares. I was in charge of making our sign so I used Aleene's® Crystal Clear Tacky Spray™ to adhere cut out letters on foam core - it worked perfect! Notice that we used the tissue flowers we made the night before to decorate the pole.

This was truly a different experience - in the afternoon
the dreaded Santa Ana Winds came flying in and pop-up awnings and merchandise

was flying. A fire was raging in Malibu not too far away and the smoke flooded the sky along with ash as the afternoon progressed.

On my way home, the 2 o'clock in the afternoon sky was as dark as if it was midnight. Ash was everywhere. Just down the road from where Pattie and Scott live, I came within 10 feet of flames as a different fire had just started. Along the major freeway I took home, two additional fires were being worked on, the strong winds carrying the flames on to new territory. Keep the firefighters in your thoughts as all these fires continue to burn out of control.

Thanks Pattie, Lauren, Scott and Frances for being my friends and taking time from your hectic schedules to play and thank you to all the firefighters who are putting their lives on the line to protect us everyday!

Joan