I forgot to mention that I received a handwritten note from Stephen T. Colbert (can't IMAGINE what the "T" stands for...) on his personal stationery! I think I went into shock immediately. This is what he wrote:

"Dear Julie, Thank you for the "Truthiness" cross stitch. It brings a homespun quality to my office it sorely missed. It's proudly on my wall! Stephen"

Now here's hoping it makes it to the set sometime... !!

If you've never shopped at Etsy, you should really check it out. It's an online community of creators of all kinds of crafts and offbeat art objects. I just bought a Vladmaster set, which is described as "handmade viewmaster disks designed, photographed, and hand-assembled by Vladimir. They make use of toys, neglected household objects, and other miscellany to tell 28-picture stories."

Ooh - I can't wait! I always find something here to amuse me, whether it's something on the techy side, reclaimed vintage, handcarved wood or the way-too-cute amigurumi (ooh, subversive amigurumi!) Also, there are a lot of art school grad students here, so the selection is really varied and super imaginative. Okay, I need to get back to work...

For the times when you come to this page and curse me for not posting anything new for days on end... skip on over to Extreme Craft: "A compendium of craft masquerading as art, art masquerading as craft, and craft extending its middle finger." Garth will take very good care of you - he finds the cooooolest stuff.

Cross stitch in the new issue of Vanity Fair -- not mine, but how cool is this stuff? The artist is Margaret Cusack, whose site is definitely worth checking out - she's a pro!

Long Awkward Pose: It's simple, really. People look foolish when posing for a picture. So tell your loved ones you would like to take their photo... then secretly videotape them the whole time. Brilliant!

I just got word from The Colbert Show peeps that the "Truthiness" piece I sent to Stephen is hanging in his office and he loves it! I feel like I won the lottery, I think he's just brilliant and I've been a fan of his forever. Stay tuned... I'm planning to release the Truthiness pattern for July! USA!!

HOW creative is this? Weeping Madonna fountain: "she can weep a little or a lot".

Groovy little two-inch books: variation on a theme. A great example of individual interpretation of craftiness.

Hitler cats: A blog dedicated to cats that look like Hitler.

Katherine Shaughnessy is one of my very favorite people in the new craft scene. She's one of those artists who creates such wonderful stuff and then you find out that on top of her talent and general fabulousness she's also really nice. She's not just faking it, she's the real deal!

Well, I thought I knew Katherine until I heard this great podcast from CraftSanity, and I found out there is so much more to know. She and her husband were featured in an issue of Readymade a while back because of their pioneering lifestyle out in Alpine, Texas (near Marfa). Now they have chickens and a baby and her husband manages the new public radio station.

If that's not enough for one lifetime, wait until you hear about how they spent a year and a half driving around the country in a van living wireless and freelancing. Before that, Katherine was artist-in-residence at Central Michigan University--yeah, I know, a bonafide artist in our midst!

Anyway, it's a fascinating listen and should leave you wishing (like I do) that she'd just hurry up and write a book about her life already. Who knows what the next chapter will be? In the meantime, check out her current book, which could teach Martha Stewart a thing or two.

Above photo: Katherine getting a kick out of candidate for Governor of Texas Kinky Friedman.
Below: A few of Katherine's gorgeous crewel patterns (available online at Wool and Hoop).

Escama - Handbags made in Brazil from recycled materials. Pop tops. Quit it. Me likee, me want!

LED Throwies: what a fun idea! If you make them, send me one!

Living Tables: great idea for your next party. They have living tables that "stroll" and living head tables (check out the sombrero pop-up surprise), but what about floating tables that drift around your pool with cocktails? What a terrible oversight...

Extreme Craft: one of my favorite sites. Rock on, Garth!

Uh-oh, now we're in trouble... Julie London - the smooth, laid-back songstress of the Ultralounge era, was apparently quite a potty mouth (mp3). Who knew? Sadly, she passed away in 2000 or we'd have to make her our patron saint of cursiness.

If you're not familiar, here are a few of her album covers: