free apple brooch tutorial - appreciate those teachers

Lark is offering my tutorial for making this sweet apple brooch FREE on their site in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week.  Stop on by and download the pdf tutorial.  It's easy enough for older kids to work up with just a little help and makes a nice gift for teachers and apple farmers alike.  This is one of the projects in the book Heart-Felt: Holidays, a sweet little book I'm thrilled to have been part of.

and because this subject always makes me a little soap-boxy...

On the subject of teachers...it's my wish that someday we would appreciate and compensate our teachers in the way we do our professional athletes.  It seems so backwards to me that we pay millions of dollars, millions!!, to those undeniably talented men and women who excel at their sport, to entertain us while the people who you know, only educate our future generations... are paid modestly (in most cases).

Imagine for a moment the possibilities our world could realize if education were king and entertainment was well, entertainment.  Imagine.

Thank you, teachers for all you do!

Feeling Fruity

So it seems I've been on a fruit kick the past few days.  The dear Heather from artbyheather asked me like a year ago (seriously, a year ago), to make her an apple and orange ornament and I just now finished them.  I was so excited by the fruit fiesta that I decided to add a pear to the mix. 

I made a few of each and put the extras in the shop.  I just added the pears today, but the apples and oranges have already gone to their forever homes.  Isn't that great?

It must be a holiday thing, but I'm on an ornament kick so expect to see a few new offerings soonish. (I promise, it won't be a year)  I hope you'll stop back and check them out.