tough decisions

dear friends,

i have been struggling with whether or not to continue this group i started at the beginning of the year.  i had grand ideas of spreading love for all things handmade in this group.  i heartily advocate & encourage handmade & diy creations & products.  that is basically why i started the blog & flickr group.  i still believe in this. 

but, so much has happened, project & life-wise for me,  since handmade monday was born.  & frankly, i cannot keep up with managing & maintaining both the blog & the flickr site.  i am only one person & i cannot expect my kind moderators to feel obligated to pick up the slack.  so, something had to give… to make things easier for myself & for everybody else involved here,  i’m making the following changes.

i thought long & hard & i’ve reached a decision.  i hope that you will understand where i am coming from. 

the flickr site will continue as it has except there will be no more weekly themes.   so that means,  group members can continue to post any & all their handmade creations in any medium/media so long as it was made/altered/manipulated by their own hands. 

i encourage any sharing of ideas, tips, links, tutorials, events, swaps & the like in the flickr group.  please post your items of interest in the discussion threads as you see fit.  kindly post ideas & comments relevant to the group & all things handmade/diy.  i will still continue to monitor the group’s activities from time to time & will remove anything unrelated. 

the handmade monday blog will sadly end.  i simply cannot devote the amount of time & energy to properly run the blog the way that i had initially envisioned .  i am sad because it was such a good idea!  but i have other projects & commitments clamoring for my attention & energy right now.  i won’t delete the blog, however.  it will be kept up for archival purposes.   many heartfelt thanks & appreciation to everyone who generously contributed to the past several themes!  it was FABULOUS to see all your amazing handiwork!  keep at it!!!  don’t ever stop creating!!!

when i first started the hm blog, i didn’t think i’d be ever ending it.  but sometimes good things have to come to an end…

(sigh), at least the flickr site is still here.  please continue to share all your wonderful handiwork.  YOU are all part of the handmade revolution.  so let’s forge on!

…to all things handmade…celebrate & inspire!

xo mary ann

my apologies for being MIA

hi all!  some of you may have been wondering whether or not handmade monday is dead or still alive. 

well…..it is still alive.  just at present on an extended hiatus. 

i, as the blog’s founder, have been multi-tasking more than (my) usual these days & frankly, have not been able to devote time to this blog like i would have liked.  also, i thought i was going to have some extra help by now, in the form of moderators, but nada at this time.  i understand though that life gets busy, especially during the warmer months here in the northern hemisphere.  folks tend to be oudoors more rather than be indoors to craft.  i can relate because i’ve been putting a lot of hours in my garden these days.

BUT, please i encourage you to continue to share your wonderful handmade creations in our flickr group.   

i am hoping to restart our weekly challenges next month (fingers crossed!)…until then, have a wonderful summer…& remember to always celebrate & inspire all things handmade! 🙂

yours sincerely,

mary ann xo

SPRING BREAK entire month of APRIL

hi all!

i hope this past march that you crafted your little heart out and/or supported the crafts (esp. handmade ones!) in honor of national craft month!

april is a busy month for me…traveling, meeting deadlines/completing arty assignments, work & family commitments as well as doing some (very much needed) spring cleaning…so i have decided that now is a good time for a “SPRING BREAK”.

of course, you may continue to post pix of your handmade artwork! please do…it will be our group’s “default”.

as always, to all things handmade….celebrate & inspire!

xo mary ann

happy march is national craft month!

in honor of national craft month, why not share our handmade crafts in any media shape or form?!  so for the entire month of march, pls. add your OPEN THEMED photos of your handiwork along with your links. 🙂

so many of us are multi-talented & what a great excuse to show off all the cool stuff we can do….all in the name of national craft month, right? seriously…

 later tomorrow, a guestbook will be added to this post & you can then begin posting unlimited numbers of your handmade creations for the entire month of march!  yippee!  🙂

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so, what are you waiting for?  get your CRAFT on!

to handmade artists/artisans/craftsters everywhere:  celebrate & inspire! 

week 18 (paper dolls)

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many thanks LAURA for this wicked fun prompt for this week!  🙂

to add your pix to the above guestbook, simply click on the “sign this guestbook” prompt above & then go from there!

…to all things handmade, celebrate & inspire!

welcome laura!

thanks laura (aka funky luke) for getting us ready for next week’s creative prompt already 🙂

& thank you for joining the handmade monday team!

i really appreciate your help for the coming week!

…celebrate & inspire! xo mary ann

(p.s., laura, don’t forget to add yourself to the blogroll ) 🙂

next weeks is paper dolls

hi  everyone,laura here helping mary ann out .. so i thought paper dolls would be a fun project to do. i love trying things out of the box for me… i also hate to type..lol.. can’t wait to see what you all come up with.. have a cosmic week.. peace laura

aka..funkyluke

week 17 (birds)

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hi all!  for this week, think BIRDS.  yep, anyway you want to interpret it is fine as long as it’s handmade, of course!

 have a great week!

is it spring yet?! lol…

…celebrate & inspire! xoxo

(p.s.  i have no idea why the guestbook says i live in san fran, when i really live in cheeseland, lol!  everytime i try to change it, it insists that i live in ca!!!) 

week 16 (valentine)

hi all!  i hope your chinese new year is starting off on a good foot!  things are running a bit slow on my end (my apologies!)…we’ve been in a deep freeze for some time now & just recovering from a mega blizzard that dumped on us last week…but anyhoo, i thought how fitting it would be to make this week’s creative prompt be about  any & all things valentine. 🙂

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so come on, show us whacha got for LOVE week!  🙂

will be back to add some more pix of a bunch of valentine pretties to share in the above guestbook! ( i think i am making up for my absences in the last few prompts, hahaha! enjoy!)

happy valentine’s to you & yours! 

celebrate & inspire! xoxo

week 15 (chinese new year)

gung hay fat choy!  loosely translated, it means happy chinese new year!  this year, it falls on february 7th & it is said to be the year of the rat. 

 so think red lanterns, sunflowers (which means to have a good year), chrsyanthemums (which symbolizes longevity), & of course, rats…well, maybe, little mice (mickey or otherwise, lol!)…  (photo credit: from chinapage.com) 

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happy creating!

celebrate & inspire!