I am a huge fan of Sunset magazine (not to mention their indispensible Western Garden Book) and I am so excited that Ivy Manning thought of me for her crafty holiday gifts feature in the new issue! I have subscribed forever, and it was downright thrilling when it arrived this week and there I was on page 30. A huge thank-you to Ivy, Sunset, and their fantastic photographer, John Clark.

John was kind enough to include some of my favorite things in the photo with me and my hot pink Solo Earrings: our prized Justin “Scrappers” Morrison painting, my modern heirloom quilt, and my Cathy of California flower brooch and pincushion.

The interview is in the Northwest edition of the December issue, and it’s also posted on their site. I really like the way it looks in print (I share the page with Hopworks Brewery and Soupcycle, both right here in my neighborhood!) so I put a photo up on flickr so you and my mom can see the whole thing, too.

I got to talk about some of my favorite local-and-everywhere resources for holiday crafting ideas, including DIY Lounge, Cool Cottons, Crafty Wonderland, and CRAFT: magazine, and Ivy spotlighted my own video tutorials for making the Solo Earrings and Vintagesque Necklace from Bead Simple, too.

So in honor of the article, I have finally added new Bead Simple earrings and necklaces kits to my Etsy shop! They come with vintage beads, findings, and complete written and illustrated instructions — everything you need but a set of pliers. There are lots more details over at beadsimple.com and in the kit listings, but I’ll just add that to celebrate the kits seeing the light of day after all these months, I am offering free shipping on any kit, plus a free Solo Earrings kit if you order a signed copy of my book, through next Tuesday, 12/2.

It’s been a bit of a rough fall, and it’s nice to have something cool out in the world! Thanks to the folks who have already mentioned that they saw and liked the article — you have made my week.

update, now that I’ve had a few days to think about it: I’m so honored to be featured in the magazine but I’m feeling a little embarrassed about being called an expert or a guru — not my usual terminology for sure! I am definitely a craft enthusiast and loved getting a chance to talk about my favorite things, but I hope posting a picture of the piece and writing about it didn’t come off as personally braggy. It wasn’t meant that way, and the other thing I wanted to own up to is that I designed those little kits eight months ago, when my book came out, and just haven’t had the time (with a baby running the show) to actually put them out in the world until now — not very expert. Anyway, the pitfalls of being a formerly very shy girl are everywhere in life, I guess…