How Many More Days?

I can't believe that I only have a few days left to shop for Xmas gifts! No matter how early I begin shopping (can you say "June?") I always end up in this same situation. It is as if those stockings 'hung by the chimney with care' have holes in the toes. The damn things just WON'T FILL! So hi ho, (or is it ho ho?) it's off to Target I go this morning to find more things for those stockings. Now here's the BEST part of the whole scenario: Each of my children (3) asked for a BIG holiday present and said that if they got the BIG holiday present, they didn't want a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g else. So I bought Ryan the snowboard and boots he wanted and gave them to him early so he could hit the slopes before Xmas. Britt wanted yoga paid for through the end of the school year. Erin wanted a contribution toward a trip to Napal. So, each child already GOT his/her big holiday gift and I shouldn't be spending my morning at Target at all. But...but...but...what about those stockings? They simply can't hang there empty on Xmas morning! What about that space under the tree? It can't just sit there covered with pine needles and no gaily wrapped boxes! What about Xmas morning? It simply won't be Xmas morning without the excitement of unwrapping presents! And so...hi ho! I"ll see you at Target. And Meeeeerrrrrrrry Xmas!
Kerry

Show Me the ART!

It's a hot and happenin' Friday night...got plans, sista? Thechicksguide.org does. Yep, I bet you're jealous! I bet you're thinking, "gee, to have the life of thechicksguide.org. I bet thechicksguide.org is jetsetting to a craft fair, way off in a faraway, exotic corner of the world." Well, we hate to disappoint you, but thechicksguide.org is staying home and making meatballs.

We were supposed to ditch work early and jettison off to Vail for a night of pure rock 'n' roll music (yo, Social Distortion at Dobson Arena), but the snow gods laid out a different sort of destiny: home, in Denver, without the boyfriend to snuggle up with, figuring out ways to lure traffic and artists to thechicksguide.org community. New ventures are always exciting at first...you get so wrapped up in putting together a wonderful product that you believe in, sometimes you forget that once it's finished, you have to bring it to other's attention. Don't get us wrong, we are definitely enjoying a healthy start-up. But, coming from the scrapbooking industry where gobs and gobs of people were clammoring for you to publish their pages, it's interesting.

So, artists and crafters, consider this an open invitation to SHOW ME THE ART! Just like Cuba Gooding, Jr. challenging Tom Cruise in the movie Jerry Maguire, we're challenging you to inspire us with your creativity.

Do you know how easy it is to get featured on thechicksguide.org? Seriously, just send us a good idea and we'll find a way to publish it. It's such great exposure for an artist. All you have to do is email a digital image of your work and tell us a little bit about it. If the photo is good quality, we'll probably use it, meaning zero hassle of packaging up your precious pieces and shipping them off for goodness knows how long.

Here, here's our email address: submissions@thechicksguide.org. Please, USE it!

We can hear you now, probably saying, "what kind of art are you looking for?" All kinds, all shapes, all sizes, all themes, all mediums, anything and everything a sassy craftista would want to make.

So, please, make our Friday night at home a worthwhile venture and send us some art! We'll save a meatball for you (eggplant for you veggies!).

December issue is up!

Hey people! The second installment of thechicksguide.org is hot off the presses, er, Internet! The December issue is chock full of excitement! We've got tutorials that show how to make hella cool holiday stockings, a superfly retro wallet and Nepalese prayer flags.

We are featuring some supa sweet artists, too. You should check them out in their own right. Artist Tamra Kohl is a Day of the Dead specialist. She makes wonderful polymer clay calaveras. We found artist Chanel Kennebrew while surfing the endless stream of creativity on Etsy.com. She started Junkprints so she could sell her awesome clothing and designs. She is rad to the bone! Artist Lacy Oden was only too happy to supply us with a set of her Nepalese prayer flags. This craft is as easy as it is full of good vibes.

Besides that, we launched our new column, Dear CG. It's our version of the advice column and we'll update it twice a month. Inside you'll find great how-to tips for your crafting and your lifestyle. Our first column is dedicated to holiday feng shui. We're also starting a contest: Chick Challenges. These could be art challenges, contests of wit, displays of strength...we're talking exciting stuff here, people. This month, we are actually looking for models for our next photo shoot that we'll be holding in Denver in the next few weeks.

What else…what else…well, we are always looking for great craft projects to share and great artists to feature. Please drop us a line and tell us about yourself!

Handmade for the Holidays

Dar: Hey Kerry.

Kerry: Yeah, Dar?

Dar: Shut the f*ck up!

Kerry: (calmly) Now, Dar, you know I don’t appreciate that kind of language, especially when it is directed at me and especially, especially when it is not me using it.

Dar: Sorry, Kerry, but lookie! It’s one of Jon’s Hannakah presents! Isn’t it neato?

Kerry: Let me see here. (reading) Subversive Cross Stitch...”Shut the F*ck Up” Basic Kit…includes pattern, instructions, thread and material. (pause) Where on earth did you get this?

Dar: I bought it at Fancy Tiger. It’s this super cool, really hip craft store in the Baker Neighborhood, just south of downtown Denver (Dar thinks to herself: Jesus, I sound like a radio ad script). I dragged Jon in there one day as I hinted that I wanted a sewing machine for Christmas and he saw this basket of cross-stitch kits, all with similar phrases. There was “Chill the F*ck Out,” “Bee-yatch,” and “Homo Sweet Homo,” but his favorite was the “Shut the F*ck Up.” Fancy Tiger has all sorts of cool stuff like that. It inspired me to do a handmade holiday this year.

Kerry: Really? You’re going to make all of your presents?

Dar: Not my handmade…other people's! I mean, not that my handmade totally sucks, but for the sake of presents, I put my trust in the hands of others, literally. This year for the holidays, I am trying to purchase handmade gifts. It’s truly in the spirit of giving…I’m giving gifts that support wonderful independent designers.

Kerry: Dar, can we back up for a minute? I thought you and Jon were celebrating Hannukah?

Dar: Oh, we are, but at the time, when we visited Fancy Tiger that day, we were planning to celebrate Christmas.

Kerry: So, in the span of mere weeks, you’ve decided to convert?

Dar: No…it’s complicated…neither of us is particularly religious. It boils down to logistics, really.

Kerry: Uh-huh.

Dar: Christmas, Hannukah, whatever! The point is handmade for the holidays. As much as possible, I’ve bought all handmade gifts for those on my nice list this year. Over the weekend, we stopped by two Denver fairs. First we headed to Holiday Handmade (nice name!), which was a craft fair sponsored by Fancy Tiger. I wish it would have been bigger, there were definitely some really cool artists there. I bought the most adorable screen-printed, pink romper dress for my baby niece. It has an image of a flying bunny. I also bought a little painting of a friendly dragon. Her first piece of art! How rad is that? I’m planning to do the rest of my shopping on Etsy.com.

Kerry: Ah, Etsy. I love Etsy. So, Dar, am I on your holiday “nice” list this year?

Dar: I don’t know, boss. Am I on your holiday “bonus” list this year?

Kerry: Uh, well, uh, hey! Why don't you tell the kind folks that are reading this blog who some of the "rad" artists were at the holiday fair?

Dar: OK, here are some faves…
Becky's Buttons Guess what she had? Yes, you sly dog, she had buttons. But she also had these cardigan pins, which I loved. If you are the type that likes to wear your cardigan draped on your shoulders, you NEED these!
Karen Watkins She did the cute dragon painting I bought for my niece.
Vital Industries They had vinyl graphics for your toilet. I'm not kidding! So cool, but for the record, you can put them on stuff other than the cammode.
Workshop Denver This is a screen-printing studio from which I bought the baby romper. You can have a screen-printing party at the studio, which I thought was cooler than cool beans.
Stills in Motion The boyfriend awarded them as the "coolest booth." They had these handmade purses with photographic floral images. He a photography nut, so go figure.

The Photo Shoot

As the noon hour approached, no one knew what to expect. I was scouting Mark's house for quality light with Andrea, and Dar shows up in this babushka and apron ensemble.

"Uh, is that one of your outfits?" I ask with a wry smile.

"Uh, nooooo," she says with her typical sass. "Come help me unload the car."

Whoa. Inside her car are giant, clear, plastic bins exploding with purple skirts, green pants, wigs and fur. Lots of fur. We carry everything downstairs. Dar is excited about setting up the basement as a staging area. You see, we've got about eight chicks coming over for a photo shoot. It's mid-September and we are just two weeks away from our target launch date for thechicksguide.org Web site. We need our chicks for thechicksguide.org to be a sassy reality.

The girls start arriving. They are all ages, all sizes, all personalities, all hair colors, all ethnicities, all styles. Andrea and I are ecstatic about our group of models. Dar ushers them all downstairs and starts explaining the logistics. 

"Welcome, ladies, and thanks for coming," she says. "We're here to get photos for our new Web site, which is an equal-opportunity crafting Web site for all things hip and chicky. We launch in October and our first theme is 'costume wardrobe.' So, all of the crafts and info relate to building a bomb-ass costume wardrobe, and we need to get photos of ya'll in really cool, almost theatrical outfits. I've assigned everyone an area, so you can spread out all of your clothes and accessories. Once you get situated, it's time to play dress-up like you've never played before. First call is for retro, so everybody give me you best retro outfit. When you're ready, head upstairs to the garage for your close up!"

Chicks start racing between the staging area and the photo studio. Each time they disappear and come back, they are wearing another wild outfit.

Upstairs, Andrea is in his element, snapping away and capturing each chick at her best. He really does know how to photograph a woman. I am by his side, acting as the art director. My love for the theater and dance flows into my modeling commands. Our photo studio is in the garage.  We've set up studio lights and unrolled a sheet of white seamless paper to act as a backdrop.

Back downstairs, the basement makes the photo studio look like a church. Stuff is EVERYWHERE. Scarves are flying. All of our chick models (mostly friends and family and friends OF family) are in various stages of dress and undress. There is one pro model and the rest are just chicks looking for a new experience and fun. It's NOISY! Chicks are becoming fast friends, sharing and helping to dress one another. I walk into the flurry to experience all of the teamwork:

"OK, so I'm gonna wear this sarong but I think I need chandelier earrings. Anyone have some?"

" I can't figure out how to paint a flower on my face. Who's good with eyeliner?"

"I'm thinking porange (this is a new term I learned, pink + orange = porange). Who has a top and tights that would go with this pink boa?"

"Baby girl, you need a necklace with that cleavage! We need some BEADS, STAT! Can you check your stashes?"

"God, if my boyfriend could see me now, he'd go wild! I'm like a whole new girlfriend!"

Dar is creating a "bad girl" pile of racy clothes while Susha is pulling from it and throwing items to models, "here, try THIS!" The music is throbbing. Models are giggling, munching on snacks that are set out next to drinks of all sorts. And, best of all…there's CHOCOLATE!!!!! Oh yeah! CHOCOLATE!!!!

Eight hours later, thousands of photos are shot and all of the models get CDs of their photos. Everyone is a little tired, hungry and slap happy. I tell Andrea that we need to do it again in December. Not only did we get great photos of chicks acting goofy and having a blast, we got to party with some really cool young ladies. So, here we go, photo shoot redux! Only this time, we want YOU to model for us! Yeah, you! Email your photo to submissions@thechicksguide.org and get ready for your close up!

Creative Thought for the Day

Can a person be "creative" if they don't "create" anything? I mean, lots of people like to think of themselves as being creative, but if they don't actually put words down on paper, open their mouth to sing or pick up a paintbrush or an instrument or pull up those dance tights, are they really creative? Is being called "creative" an honor that has to be earned by showing that you are courageous and self-disciplined enough to actually make your vision a reality?

Some people like to say that "everyone is creative in his or her own way." That rubs me wrong. I think it's a reflection of today's society where you aren't supposed to say that one student is smarter than another (they are "just different"—yeah, right), or prettier than another (everyone has their own "personal style"—yeah right) and every kid who plays soccer gets a trophy just for showing up for the game (or his feelings might be hurt).

So, here's the question: Can you be called a "writer" if you keep a diary but never share your work? Can you be an "artist" if you finger paint murals on the inside of your bathtub only to rinse them down the drain before anyone can see them? Can you be a "crafter" if you have great ideas that never take form? Can you be "creative" if you never create anything than can be shown, shared and critiqued.

I've been thinking about this because I just got back from visiting my daughter at the Berklee School of Music. The students there utterly blew my mind. Every day they work themselves to the bone, taking creative risks, expanding, growing and pushing themselves to become better and better and better. It's not comfortable, and it's really scary. If they define the word "creative" then where do the rest of us fall?

Day of the Dead LA

The weekend of October 27 we (Kerry, Andrea and Kerry’s boyfriend, Mark) traveled to "loverly" Los Angeles to find artists and photograph the Day of the Dead festivities in the area. We are working on a book, Day of the Dead Crafts, that has a quickly approaching deadline. This trip was all-important in making the book a success and LA didn't let us down.

We arrived on Thursday night and turned the 25 minute drive to our hotel into an hour and a half tour of metro LA (humming theme to Gilligan’s Island). After some sushi and a couple of drinks all was well and we plotted our strategy for the Dia de Los Muertos weekend.

If you have never experienced a Day of the Dead celebration mark your calendar NOW! It is a must for anyone interested in crafts and fun. We will spare you all the details and share with you the highlights of our trip. First you’ve got to visit the best original folk-art store in Southern California, http://www.folktree.com/homepage.htm. For local color and many Day of the Dead happenings stop by Olvera Street, http://www.olvera-street.com/ and the street festival held on the 6th Street bridge in downtown LA. Both events have lots of great arts and crafts, food, music and terrific people watching.

The grand finale is the amazing celebration at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, www.ladayofthedead.com/. The cemetery opens to the public in the late afternoon with a procession. Scores of artists from all over the world have created Ofrendas (altars) along the palm-tree-lined streets of the cemetery. These Ofrendas are a visual feast. In addition artists have booths with Dia de Los Muertos crafts for sale. There are also two stages that feature traditional and nontraditional music and dance. Oh and the food is also terrific. People come decked out for the occasion and it goes on into the night. We came back to Denver amazed and craving more.

Meet the Chicks

Publishing corporation. That rolls off the tongue nicely with a ring of authority. Let me say it some more…corporation. COR-poration. CORPORATION!!! Wow, that is a powerful release of steam that makes me feel so…so…so grown up! Couple that word with "publishing" and stand back, people, and watch your step in our bustling Manhattan office that is just running amok with photographers with cameras slung around their necks, models preening in the studio, editors in power suits barking out orders between calls as they prepare to dash off to lunch with coveted advertisers.

Yep! That's exactly what it's like at Cantata Books, Inc. Exactly, to the T, especially if you trade Manhattan for Denver and power suits for jeans and t-shirts or sweatshirts and yoga togs. Office? Well, we call it an office, but the Cantata offices are really in my fiancé's basement (LOVE that man!). Hustle bustle? As much as four people can muster, which, when fueled with coffee and deadlines, can be quite impressive.

Small buy mighty, our crew is pretty darn cool: There's me, Kerry, a.k.a. executive editor, and my business partner, Andrea, who is the photographer, accountant and designer extraordinaire. Darlene is our awesome managing editor and the creative bean behind lots of our writing; she also does her best to keep me organized and on-track (a tough job because I can be pretty DUH! when I get overwhelmed). Last, but not least, we have Susha, a terrific designer/writer and, most recently, the all-important Web master for our brand new Web site, thechicksguide.org.

Andrea and I launched Cantata Books a couple of years ago because we were tired of creating cookie-cutter craft books in a corporate environment that left us no room to be creative. I mean, we wanted, we NEEDED to create craft books that are as offbeat as we are. Admittedly, not an easy task, but lots of fun because we are such a cool little family. I don't care that our "corporate" lunches come from Taco Bell or that Andrea is the only one who gets to run around with cameras around his neck. Fun, yeah, that's what we are all about.

So, if you want to have some fun, check us out. We've got books, a couple of Web sites, a Myspace page and now this blog. We'll try to take a break from our breakneck publishing corporation to connect with you a few times a week. Power suits optional.