We have not heard from the Phantom Subscriber (PS) in a while – probably too busy protecting the community craft sites she established before the recent uprising, we suspect. As you may remember, our PS made a grant proposal to the Iraqi Redevelopment Counsel to set up a string of in-country stamping, scrapbooking and craft venues. Well, it was approved and she has been hard at work setting up the sites. She is really ticked off that two of them were destroyed by rocket attacks and she had to shoo several Muhdi fighters from using one of the sites as a firing base.

For those of you new to our newsletter, the PS has, as of end of March of this year, sent dozens of requests to be placed on our newsletter mailing list. We keep telling her once is enough but the requests keep coming.

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kudos and brickbats

The Creative Palette in St. Mary’s lived up to, and even exceeded, last year’s success. The buzz was rampant and Paula Amari of Old Town Crafts out did herself. More teachers and classes than before, more vendors and more venues. And attendance was up about thirty percent from last year.

The town was prepared this time around and things went off with out a hitch – except the weather, which was a bit rainy, but failed to dampen anyone’s spirits. I met many old friends there, and Cheryl Ross of Savannah, my alter ego on the east coast, and I had a great time team teaching classes while The Hun manned the booth (kept him off the streets and out of trouble). The Creative Palette is definitely a fixture in February for years to come.

And to top it all off, Artiscape in Cochoctin, Ohio (a beautifully restored 1800’s village, sort of mid way between Cleveland and Columbus near nothing else except Newark, Ohio which is not a biggie in my book) now tops the list as one of the best craft and art retreats I have ever attended.

My Amulet Bag class was sold out and several people told me that the chat lines were buzzing with offers of twice the class fee for someone to give up their spot. With this kind of demand I am considering teaching it again next year.

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up coming shows and classes ta ta!

We are bringing the full booth, so there will be a great selection of my images, as well as what ever amulet bags are around, bracelets, necklaces, and the new pewter charms. Best yet, entrance to the show is free.

This show draws the “artsy” vendors – no cute or whimsical stamps. There will be 24 artist tables with participants from all over the country selling finished pieces and collage ephemera. This is a great show for Altered books, doll, and collage artists.

goodbye kerchunk!

Xina (aka Christina) has her hands full with the advent of SkyBluePink, her collage and ephemera web business and its weekly newsletter. HRH said she simply cannot do with less than four hours of sleep a night. I keep telling her she can do it if she really tries.

Personally I think it was that little problem with Cardacian customs that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Here she goes all the way to Quadrant B for those lovely little Tri-Ominos and they give her a hard time. Illegally exporting cultural artifacts – give me a break. Okay, I do not think she really meant to insult their leaders, but you have to be careful what you say to a Cardacian. And I think that throwing her in the clink was a bit of an over reaction on their part. We had a hell of a time getting the bail money out there, converting dollars into Cardacian bloxxes and given the time change (they are 241 light years behind us). Thank goodness she brought back enough stock to cover us for a while. Now she is talking to the Romulans about knocking off the Cardacian Tri-Ominos – mess with her will they. Before we sprang her, Xina had organized several craft classes among her fellow inmates. The best beaders she said were the Partogos, a race with six hands, well pincers actually.

saddle up!

charming pewter

As you may remember, when the articles came out in Expression and Belle Armoire last year I was inundated (almost 200 e-mails to date) with queries about whether and where one could buy the faces I used. At the time I was reluctant to sell what was proprietary to my work and I put together a series of resources for faces and/or face molds, which I published in this newsletter. They were not my faces but they were faces nonetheless.

Well I decided to try one of my faces and see how it went. The first dozen sold out in Portland. So I ordered two dozen to take to Cochoctin. They sold out in under an hour.

I was fortunate to hook up with a very high-quality casting house that was willing to work with me on a start up scale (the biggies cannot be bothered). The charms are a very high quality pewter and quite hefty for their size. And I will be adding six or so more other faces in the near future.

In an effort to make these charms accessible, I have priced them on the low side, $3.00 for the small ones and $6.00 for the larger charms and the face. Write and let me know what you think of them. Click here to see the photos of them now up on the web site.

web woes

Whatever the truth of the matter, the good news is that we are back online with no visible scars or missing parts. Whew! WebMistress Xina spent a few sleepless nights worrying about this one. And it happened just as our new line of pewter charms was to debut.

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bistro hun

• Put some walnuts or pecans in the toaster oven for three minutes (careful not to burn them) and coarsely chop them.

• Dry roast some pine nuts (these are our favorites) in a fry pan, shaking the pan occasionally, until they get a bit of color. Costco and Trader Joe's have the best prices.

• Beat an egg white until slightly frothy, coat some walnut or pecan halfs, spread them out on a sheet pan and sprinkle with a mixture of spices, such as sugar, cinnamon, ground ginger, and, if you like them spicy, a pinch of cayenne pepper. Let them dry. And make lots as they will keep for weeks in a closed jar and are irresistible for snacking.

• Peel strips from a block of parmesan or pecorino cheese (with a vegetable peeler) directly into the salad.

• Peel and dice a ripe pear or an avocado and add it to the salad with some crumbled blue cheese.

• Crumble some bacon into the greens. And you can make a dressing with some of the bacon fat for a wilted salad, but olive oil is healthier.

• In Trader Joe’s and the more upscale markets and gourmet shops you can buy a course paste made from black olives. It comes in jars and tubes. Place some goat cheese on the side of each plate and squeeze or place a teaspoonful of the olive paste on top of the cheese. This combo also makes great bruchetta.

That's all for now!
Roberta