Getting Bent with Terry Border

Terry Border makes me laugh.

A lot.

And since I'm a big fan of laughing, I'm a big fan of Terry's and his hilarious Bent Objects art. I'm guessing that, by now, you've seen his art around the internet, on your local bookstore's shelves and even on the Target greeting card aisle. And I'm guessing you've been laughing, too.

Terry's new book, Bent Objects - The Secret Life of Everyday Things, is a collection of new pieces from Border that are hilarious, clever and sometimes just a bit racy. I've followed Terry's work for a long time now, and was a bit curious about how I'd react to his book. Here was an artist whose work I'd enjoyed online for ages, complimented by his personal quips. Would I get the same hysterical laughter reaction and feeling of personal connection from a hold-in-my-hands book?

In a word: Yes.

Terry's book is hysterical. His pieces of art straddle whimsy and dark humor in the same page and make you think. Sure, you're thinking about things like hot dogs pooping baked beans, but your thinking. And you're laughing. A lot. In fact, I just picked the book up to flip through and come up with a list of favorite images, and I gut laughed on every.single.page.

When the book arrived in the mail, my entire family gathered around to read it together. Don't think this is some Rockwellian regular occurrence. I should say that once I started to read it and laugh hysterically, the family gathered around to see what was so funny. And we all laughed. A lot. Some of the jokes are above the kids heads (read: a doughnut dad's "point of view" as he sends his doughnut daughter off with her hot dog boyfriend) but they still got many of them, and just seeing things like chapstick with arms, legs and on a skateboard made them laugh. A lot.

I love this book, and every time I pick it up, I find something new I somehow missed. The details are spot on, and the humor is fantastically brilliant. (it reminds me a lot of The Far Side in that read ... wait 2-3-4 ... LAUGH kind of way)

I have to confess that I received Terry's book weeks ago and have been holding off to review it for one simple reason: I wanted to try a Bent Object myself. You see, Terry includes a tutorial for making a cork person Bent Object at the end of his book. This endeared him to me even more, and I was hell bent (ha!) on making one. I finally grabbed some wire at the craft store the other day, but I had no wine corks here at home. As I sat in my office, looking around at all my crafty bits, it struck me.

I call it "Getting ready for a hot date"

I hope it makes you laugh. A lot. (or a bit, who am I kidding - I'm an amateur here!)

PS - making a Bent Object was far more difficult than I expected it to be, and photographing it was insanely hard. The massive amounts of respect I had for Terry have been quadrupled.

Big News From Craft Leftovers Monthly A discount and a giveaway

Craft Leftovers was one of the very first craft blogs I read on a regular basis. There was something about Kristin's reuse philosophy and comfortable writing style that had me hooked from the first Craft Leftover's post I ever read.

Later, she posted a call for readers to create craft projects from fabric or items they had on hand. I created my first version of the armrest embroidery organizer and was thrilled when she posted about it. (and was even more thrilled when it was picked up by Craftzine - something that made me insanely giddy!) My devotion to Kristin and Craft Leftovers was sealed.

After a couple of years of emailing, I was finally able to meet Kristin at Maker Faire back in May. She was just as sweet and kind and generous and passionate as I'd imagined she'd be.

One of the things I've loved watching Kristin develop over the years is her Craft Leftovers Monthly, a zine and kits she offers on either issue-by-issue or subscription basis. The zines have Kristin's special style woven in to ever detail, and are fantastic sources of inspiration and information. From Kristin:

Craft Leftovers Monthly is all about living life creatively. It's full of resourceful projects, patterns, and ideas for using what's on hand. It turned two years old in August and is 100% recycled and 100% handmade!

She's just announced that, after two years, Craft Leftovers Monthly has outgrown it's initial quarter-page format. The new Craft Leftovers Monthly is larger in format and page count, and now includes projects from from guest designers for the first time ever.

And here's the sweetest part of the deal: Kristin has generously offered Average Jane Crafter readers a special 20% discount on their entire shop order at Craft Leftovers ( Just enter avgjanecraft as your coupon code*). And, she's given me a couple of copies of Craft Leftovers Monthly to give away to my readers. Just leave a comment by 6PM on Wednesday, Nov 18 and I'll draw a winner on Thursday. Thanks, Kristin! Check out her web site to read more about her art, craft and reuse philosophy!

* Use avgjanecraft as your coupon code to get 20% off your entire order from the Craft Leftovers Monthly category (not including shipping). The offer is good through December 15th!

Dreamy New Stitch Lab Stitch with me here next week!

The Stitch Lab move is complete, and the new location is one of the coziest, warmest, most welcoming and inspiring places I have ever experienced. Leslie's attention to detail is phenomenal, and every little nook and cranny has something special in it. The sewing space is large and open and fantastically functional. The handwork room is cozy and filled with inspiring embroidered pieces and the most awesome crazy quilt curtains you have ever seen. Even the bathroom is inspiring and fun! Come. ON! I love this place! I just want to hang out there all day long and make stuff!

1. Lab A, 2. Lab B, 3. Lab A, 4. Lab B

You can come hang out with me - for a class at least. I have a class scheduled for Monday, Nov 9. This will be my first class to teach at the new place, and I'm so excited! Come on and join us, won't you!? If you need more convincing, read my post about what past students have had to say about my hand embroidery classes at The Stitch Lab.

Even if you can't make next week's class, you need to stop by the Lab (we have retail hours now!) and check out the stunning selection of yummy fabrics. It'll knock your socks off.

Enjoy, and I hope to see you at the new Stitch Lab soon!

For all the t-shirt hoarders in the house

My family has always teased me about my massive collection of t-shirts - almost to the point of convincing me to trash all my "meaningful" old shirts. Almost. But there's been a small group of shirts that I've held on to for years - some all the way back to third grade - and I finally found a way to put them all to good use.

We're in the middle of a very cool contest over at CRAFT right now (raise your hand if you'd like to have a serger! Then, quick, go enter the contest!) called Me, My Scarf & I. The contest requires you to sew a scarf that somehow matches or speaks to your personality. I loved this idea, and when I was cleaning out my closet a few weeks ago and found a stash of my old t-shirts, I knew exactly what to do with them.


I posted the resulting project up on CRAFT yesterday, and have gotten some very generous, kind responses. I've also had a few very small world encounters - one person who lived in my home town and was in the newspaper for which my dad was the publisher, and one friend from high school who recognized the t-shirt from our production of Fiddler on the Roof. Very cool!

This project was so easy - a little time consuming, but used very basic sewing skills, and it makes me so happy to see the shirts in this new way. Go check it out, and also check out what the fate of my beloved Space Camp t-shirt was .....

Come stitch with me!

Austin folks, here's your reminder about my hand embroidery classes at the Stitch Lab! And have you heard the news? The Stitch Lab is moving to a NEW, fantastic location! Beginning next week, classes will be held at 1000 S. 1st street, a charming, comfy house with loads of space for classes and y-u-m-m-y fabric. We'll even have a separate room for the hand work classes (like embroidery!). I can. not. wait. to get teaching in there. I was able to help paint in the hand work room a few weeks ago (before the flu plague hit us) and it is just so awesome. This is going to be the place to get crafty and comfy and connect with friends. HURRAH!


With the new location comes more of the fabulous class offerings. I truly can't express how lucky I feel to be a part of a group of such awesome instructors and of a teaching facility that offers such a varied and interesting array of classes.

As always, I'll be teaching hand embroidery classes. We're also working on adding in some advanced embroidery and silk ribbon embroidery classes, so be sure to sign up for the newsletter to get the up-to-date info on that. I have ONE SPOT that just opened in my class this Wednesday. It will be the last time I teach at the original Stitch Lab location, and I'm excited to get back to teaching after being off for a few weeks.


If you can't make this Wednesday's class, check the schedule for loads of other opportunities. Grab a friend and learn to stitch! You won't be disappointed. Here are some nice things my students have said about their embroidery class experience:

Thank you for introducing me to the world of embroidery. I'm an addict! There is something so cathartic about pushing and pulling a needle and thread through taut fabric... It's a cheap drug! And I want to thank you for being so patient with me during class. You made me feel so comfortable with the whole process. ~Jen

You now have me hooked completely. Thanks for a great class! ~Jean

Thanks so much for the class! I have been embroidering the heck out of anything I can get my hands on! ~Jessica

Our class sampler, stitched by Eliza!

From Eliza's blog:
Rachel’s class was wonderfully fun, but it wasn’t until the next morning that I realized the calming effect stitching has on me. I finished my french knots while waiting in my car for an early meeting to start and instantly became relaxed.

Some of Eliza's post-class handiwork! Amazing!

Thanks so much to all the rad students I've had. You make my job very easy and very, very, fun.

So what are you waiting for? Nab that last spot in this week's class or grab a spot in one of the others. It's time to unlock the stitcher inside of YOU!

Embroidered Effects Winner!

Wowza! Thanks for all the great comments! It was so much fun to go through and read about all the different games everyone likes to play. It reminded me how much I enjoy playing games, and that I really need to establish a game night around here. It's too much fun!

I think I'll need to check out this Bananagrams game so many people mentioned. I was surprised that a couple of my favorites didn't make it on to the list. Balderdash, anyone!? How about Mastermind? Surely someone wants to come over and play a round of the Welcome Back Kotter game with me? (Up Your Nose With A Rubbe Hose!) Or how about the E.T. board game?

Thanks to everyone who entered. I wish I had a copy of the book for all of you! It's a truly fantastic embroidery book, though, so I highly recommend grabbing a copy for yourself and a friend. Enjoy!

And the winner is .....
Mollie! Please shoot me an email at averagejanecrafter at gmail dot com with your mailing address so I can get the book out to you!

Way-Oh-Way-Ohhhhhhhhh

Don't forget! You still have time to enter to win a copy of Embroidered Effects!

I feel very lucky to be included in a group of Halloween stories over on Dude Craft this week. Paul invited a handful of folks to share their childhood Halloween memories, and seeing as how Halloween is one of my very favorite holidays, I could not pass up the opportunity.

So why is my picture* all fuzzed out above? Well, if you want to see pure vintage Average Jane Crafter in a classic 1980s Halloween costume inspired by a certain song from The Bangles, you'll have to click on over to Dude Craft for the big prize.

Be sure to add Dude Craft to your regular blog rotation. He's a prolific poster with a knack for finding fantastic goodies on the web, and for writing well-said, thought-provoking posts. Very good stuff. Enjoy! And thank you again, Paul, for including me! :)

*Thank you, mom, for making the costume, letting me make the "serious" face when you took the picture, and for finding the picture among the dozens of family photo albums so I could share it with Paul!