I am so excited that Bead Simple is officially out in the world today! Yay!

I’m so happy that after two years of designing, writing, obsessive Excel-sheet-updating, proofreading, and waiting, it is finally out. I hope that if you buy it, borrow it, or see it at your library or local bookstore you’ll enjoy it thoroughly, and I’d absolutely love to hear what you think.

I’m really looking forward to doing some fun events, starting next month when I dip into my crazy collection of vintage beads to start hosting a few free jewelry-making parties. Here’s a sneak peek at one of my favorite beginner-friendly projects — sparkly Solo Earrings, as modeled by one of Moxie’s delightful monsters!

I’m working on the details for my Powells event (Monday, April 7 at 7:30, more info to come very soon!), and really looking forward to doing book events at Twisted, Crafty Wonderland, and Church of Craft later in the year. I’m also planning some fun out-of-town stuff in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Raleigh, and I hope a few other places too!

Last, a couple of quick things… if you make anything inspired by the book, I would really love to see it — please add it to the Bead Simple flickr group I set up!

And if you are looking for a copy, you can find it at your local bookstore, any Michaels location, or on Amazon. You can find signed copies at the Taunton website or directly from me via my Etsy shop, too. And hopefully it will be on the shelf at your library branch!

ps: I am doing some major updates to the susanstars site — some spring cleaning, reorganizing, and a visual overhaul. More on this soon, I’m really excited about it!

My new jewelry-making book, Bead Simple, is up on Amazon! It will be in stores March 28, but you can pre-order it now or add it to your wish list. I came up with 50 projects, from earrings to embellishments, and included two variations on each one, using different beads or materials. I asked 39 of my favorite designers to contribute, too, so there’s plenty of variety in the mix!

I’m in Los Angeles to teach a Bead Simple jewelry-making class at Felt Club — if you’re here in town, please come to the sale and stop by my workshop at 1:00 on Sunday, November 18. It’s free, and I’ll have little kits for sale if you’re interested! We’ll be making the necklace on the cover of the book and a pair of drop earrings as well.

I just saw the “Crafty B*tches” article in today’s Willamette Week and I’m so excited to be included along with dozens of other Portland crafters! Beth Slovic was kind enough to highlight some of my projects like West Coast Crafty along with some of my all-time favorite things, including my collective PDX Super Crafty, Crafty Wonderland, Diane Gilleland’s craftypod blog and Church of Craft, Jessica Neuman Beck’s Cranky Pals, Amy Karol’s Bend-The-Rules Sewing, Handmade Nation, getcrafty.com, BUST, Etsy, and the Museum of Contemporary Craft.

The photo of me in my craft room is by Chris Ryan and includes lots of crafty essentials like a Gocco printer and sewing machine!

In susanstars news, I just picked up some new patterned fabrics for my skirt kits and I’m planning to debut those very soon… along with some brand-new jewelry-making kits too! And if you’re in Portland, please stop by the October 14 Crafty Wonderland sale — I’ll be teaching the free craft at the DIY Table. Hope to see you!

I’ll be teaching some fun jewelry-making classes at Maker Faire this weekend in San Mateo! Please stop by and make a set of a vintage-bead necklace and earrings if you’re at the fair. I’m teaching the workshop at 3 pm on Saturday and 11:15 on Sunday.

My site changed hosts and servers this month and I ended up losing some of my more recent updates (including the last few months’ worth of front-page posts), but now that the dust has settled a bit, I’m planning some overhauls to my jewelry collection, as well as some skirt kit updates. I’ll post more when the new pieces are on the way, and please check out my West Coast Crafty blog for updates about all things crafty…

I can’t believe it’s the first week of December — wow! I’m leaving for New York next week and it really crept up on me. So, if you’re interested in ordering anything from me for holidays, the last day I can accept orders is Friday, December 8. If you are looking for my skirt kits after that, please check out Plain Mabel, My My, or Bolt or Frock in Portland. If you’re interested in handmade jewelry, may I suggest browsing all the pretty things from Totinette, Lucky LooLoo, or Bossa Nova Baby? And if you want a signed copy of Super Crafty, no problem!

So here are some of the things that have been keeping me busy lately! I just started a new craft blog, West Coast Crafty, that’s been a lot of fun. It’s now linked off the blog button at the top right. I just posted a big round-up of holiday gifts to make with links to tons of free tutorials online, including my coffee-cinnamon bath salts pictured above. Get ideas for making all kinds of holiday decorations, cards, and presents this year!

I’ve also been writing and designing for Adorn and Cutting Edge magazines, and writing regularly about fun crafty stuff over at the wonderful Adorn blog. And I just got to do a round-up of my favorite handmade holiday cards for the new Venus — ten cool gocco’d, letterpressed, sewn, and woodcut designs to send out to your nearest and dearest.

Last, if you’re in New York, my husband Andrew and I will be doing our AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller performance art show on December 12, 13, and 14. Tickets are available on eBay (linked by date above), or you can live on the edge and get them at the door.

I hope you have wonderful holidays, and I’ll see you early in 2007 with a new line of wood jewelry and some new skirt kit fabrics too!

I have an embroidered piece in the I Heart Portland show at Reading Frenzy this month. It’s my little love letter to Portland–a view of the city with Mt. Hood in the background, stitched on felt (my all-time favorite craft supply!).

If you’re in Chicago, Cathy and Rachel are representing PDX Super Crafty at Renegade Craft Fair this weekend! Stop by and say hi, and pick up a skirt kit or a signed copy of Super Crafty while you’re there.

Speaking of skirt kits… I’m sad to say I only have two kits left with the pretty brown and pink flowered fabric. If you love it, pick one up quickly, because when they’re gone, they’re gone! Don’t forget, there are other patterns over at my etsy shop though…

I’m filming an episode of Craft Lab with Jennifer Perkins next week–we’re making handmade chocolates and a super cool decoupaged bamboo box. I can’t wait!

And my article on Duchess and Memoir is out in the new issue of Venus–which also has great projects from Crafty Chica and a piece on the fabulous Indie Craft Documentary. Don’t miss it!

My wonderful nephew Jules is five years old today! Yay!

In other summer news, I’ll be at Felt Club in Los Angeles on August 10–don’t miss it! There will be free craft classes and ice cream, along with cool handmade stuff from more than 20 vendors. I also posted a Summer Crafting Party column over at getcrafty with recipes for lavender lemonade and pineapple mimosas. Up next is an interview with Faythe Levine of the Indie Craft Documentary.

I’m so excited that I’ll be in New York next week! First I’ll be at Renegade Craft Fair on June 17 and 18 (look for me at booth #9 with the ladies of PDX Super Crafty). Then, on Monday, June 19, we’ll be teaching a fun Super Crafty shrink art class at MAKE Workshop. And on Wednesday, June 20, I’m teaching an a-line skirt workshop at MAKE, too! You’ll leave class with a reusable pattern and your very own custom-fitted handmade skirt, plus a matching scarf.

I set up flickr galleries with some cool pics of shrink art and skirts if you want to click for examples. Both crafty classes will be a lot of fun!

p.s. My new West Coast Crafty column is up–an interview with Linda Permann of the fabulous new craft magazine Adorn. It’s coming out June 13–find it at bookstores everywhere!

and I have two articles in the June issue of Venus! One is a review of Leah Kramer’s new Craftster book, and the other is on a subject near and dear to my heart, Yard Sales 101! This extremely crafty hand-beaded map of Oregon is one of my finds (for $1!) from the article.

And I added skirt kits in three new fabrics (pink and red stripes, brown and tan stripes, and a black and red floral) to my etsy shop!

I also updated the flickr gallery with some cool new pics of handmade skirts, and restarted the susanstars blog.

p.s. some new fabrics for skirt kits and a collection of cute little sushi magnets are on the way soon, too!

Look for my skirt kit featured in the new issue of BUST magazine! Click here to see the feature, and check out the skirt kit page to see all the shops and studios who are carrying it, too–including the Boobtique.

Also, I’ll be out of the studio from January 29-February 10. If you order skirt kits or books during that time, they’ll be shipped out within the week, but any jewelry orders will go out after February 10. Thanks!