Did I mention...

this little fact about my Good Girls? Every Good Girl that I make personally with my own little hands has a secret. If you lift her skirt, you will read a small truth about Good Girls. This is Miss Bonnie.

I did it...finally...

Good Girls Art Dolls for sale on Etsy. This is Juniper.

Have you ever been obsessed?

I get that way about certain makers of certain objects from time to time...people like

Dan Essig

Keith LoBue

Thomas Mann

Teesha Moore

I have studied with Dan, Keith and Mr. Mann. I met Teesha once in 2003. Yet, I remain my dorky, unchanged self. It appears as though what they have isn't contagious. Would I want it to be?

My latest obsession: The Black Apple - Emily Martin! I have listened to her CraftSanity interview a "few" times and she talks about being on Martha. I followed the Martha link on Miss Emily's blog and found the template she used on the show - for personal use only, of course - and I made a doll:

She's no real Black Apple, but she'll have to do until I can get one of Emily's originals. I love owning things made by people who have It. I never leave the house without at least one piece of Thomas Mann on - yes, I know he's the designer of my pieces, not necessarily the maker - but still...it's his brain and breath. I own one small thing made by Dan. Something from Keith? Well, only the memories of his class "Precious Little". I fear I shall never be of the means to buy anything substantial from Dan or Keith. I bought a rubber stamp directly from Teesha at Art Continuum in 2003. A set of wings I used all the time for a while.

Why has Emily been added to my Little Group of Modern Masters? She's really doing it - making a living (and a life) making art. Her voice and vision are strong and I wish her continued success.

A Very Rare Species

Something I made for myself. Something I didn't invent on my own. Something I followed to instructions for. Something that is done. Something I like.

This has been the thing missing from my art life ever since we wrote The Book. I haven't been able to just make things without thinking about them in terms of originality and how I could write about them and how to recreate them and if other people could make them or want to make them.

I got Anna Maria Horner's book in maybe December...it was the day of the Martinsville game and it rained and rained. I took it to the game to read during Varsity. My kids were both playing JV that night. It's such a great book and I wanted to make so many of the projects in it. I finally got around to making the "I'll Take One of Everything" bag. I started it last night and finished it this evening. I left off the tassel-y bits on the corners for now. I might add them later. This one is in the brown and warms color family. It really went together pretty easily. The top seams - if you have the book I think they are steps 21 and 22 - were a tad tricky. The pattern contains 2 of of my Sewing Danger Words - Bias and Interfacing - but I gutted it out and did it. When you visit Anna Maria's blog, check out the Flickr groups for all kinds of things made from her patterns and fabrics.

I think I'll carry it to my sister's graduation tomorrow.

Me @ Mile 12

So yesterday I did the One America Mini Marathon in Indianapolis, along with about 30, 000 of my closest friends. It was my third Mini.

I've mentioned this before, but let me reiterate: I AM NOT A RUNNER, or any kind of athlete by any definition of the word. My basic race strategy can be summed up in one word (Finish), but this year, I set a goal and calculated what my mile splits needed to be to finish in under 3 hours of running-walking-running-walking. I ran the first part - maybe two or three miles - straight thru to get out of the packs of pure walkers and carve out a little space for myself, then I would pick out a slow walker way in front of me and walk until I caught her. After that walking break, I ran until I passed 50 people. It's hard to count accurately in a crowd that big, but it gave me something to think about and a concrete goal. Everything went pretty well. I knew I had to be at the 9 mile marker at the 2 hour mark to make sure I could make my self-imposed deadline. Surprise - I made 9 miles in 1:58.

If you're a runner, you're laughing by now. I started out doing 15 minute miles a couple of years ago...my average mile yesterday was 13:38... a little progress is better than no progress.

Like I said, everything went great. Then there was the Mile 12 marker. The mile markers are huge electric beacons of hope. I scanned the horizon constantly for the next one throughout the race. The red 12, shimmering in the heat, came into view as we rounded the last right hand turn of the course. I challenged myself to be there by the 2:43 mark, which would give me 17 minutes to cover the last 1.1 miles. I could do that on my slowest of days. My mind scrambled to do all the math problems - What if I couldn't get there until the 2:45 mark? Could I still do it? What if I didn't make 12 until 2:47? Could I run the last whole mile? What if I finish in 3 hours and ONE minute? Then there I was at Mile 12. My watch read 2:43. Then it happened. It started just above my right heel and slowly crept up the entire back of my leg - A CRAMP! BUT I DRANK THE GATORADE! I'm not a real runner! How in the world did I get a cramp? Thank the Good Lord it stayed at a bearable level of crampiness and did not reach full on charlie horse status. It did slow me down quite a bit. It took me 15 minutes to cover that last, dreadful mile and finish in 2:58. Nine whole minutes better than last year. Sixteen whole minutes better than 2007. My goal for 2010? 2:45

I made this doll today. It's me at Mile 12. Sorta. My hair isn't that long and colorful and if it was, it would have been too sweaty to blow in the breeze behind me.