I’m a huge fan of Craftypod, Diane Gilleland‘s fabulous blog and podcast. I just marvel at her energy for all things crafty and the sheer volume of her writing, crafting and podcasting — so inspiring! But let’s face it, we all burn out at some point. It’s so tempting to keep saying yes and doing more and more and more cool things until you realize that you haven’t had a weekend, or made or written a crafty thing just for fun — that’s not to be published, blogged, or spoken for immediately — in months. Oops.

So Diane rounded up six uber-productive crafters and asked them how they balance life, work, and creativity, and the result is her latest podcast, Crafty Overload. Some of my favorite designers, like Cathy, Linda, and Kayte, weigh in with their insights about staying organized and staying sane in the face of it all. Don’t miss it!

Speaking of Diane, she has just overhauled and streamlined her brilliant Portland-centric project, DIY Alert. The newsletter is now totally free of charge and has a more stylish, magazine-like feel, and the site hosts details of all the ongoing classes and events, so the email announcement is freed up for more fun stuff and visuals rather than an endless list of each time and place.

On that note, I’m off to get things ready for our first show later tonight! Hope to get my crafty equilibrium back sometime next week… I definitely hit that crafty overload wall recently, with our show looming and a decent number of high-maintenance deadlines hanging over me, and just shamefacedly realized that I’ve had this skirt cut out and waiting for me to sew it for a month. I can’t wait to finish it and wear it in triumph! Soon, I hope.