The Hole in the Wall

This seems to be the fate of every DIY home project. Start on something you think will be fairly straightforward, and discover that whoever was there before you left a complicated present. This is the beginning of an ongoing storyline that just goes on forever it seems.

There's definitely an element of teaching yourself stuff in the DIY community though. It's like we never left school, and that's one of the things that I love about my job. It always feels like I'm learning something new. Speaking of learning new things, have you seen the Webcomics Handbook by Brad Guigar yet? It's really fantastic, and covers a lot of ground that's useful to comicers, crafters, and small business people. And it's great to see that we're not alone out here working for ourselves. There are so many other people sorking and striving to be better at what they do. It seems like there's always something to do, and lately for me that something has been working on my lettering. Slowly but surely, it's getting better.

Don't forget that through Christmas, you can get FREE SHIPPING from my online shop. That's almost as good as seeing me at a show, or stopping into Fusion in Chesterfield Mall.

How To Remove a Tile Back Splash

Sometimes, jobs are easier than you expected them to be. Sometimes they are harder. Sometimes they are just...different. One of the joys and curses of buying a home is discovering what was done to it before you got there, and every job that you do often creates two more.

I stumbled across this trailer today, from the folks who made Coraline, and Paranorman. There's another one of behind the scenes footage on their site. I LOVE seeing miniatures and models behind the scenes, and it always makes me itchy to make little figures and models of my own. Speaking of little figures, I made a whole bunch of Peg People for the shop a couple of weeks ago, including this one that I think looks a lot like Luke Wilson.

He'll be at Fusion this weekend, and if you sign up for my mailing list either on the Life With Girls website, or on the Life With Girls facebook page, you can get a coupon for ten percent off Handmade Family products which is good through December.

Kids Can Be Terrible Helpers

It's a lot of work, training willing helpers. We always let them help when we're cooking or doing projects, but kind of hate it when they do.

If you're looking for a cool gift for the holidays (or birthday, or whatever)we have super hero capes, baby blankets, games, and original art, as well as the Life With Girls Fairy Tale book and Calendar in stock in our online store at HandmadeFamily.com. Not only that, but we have a special going on right now through Christmas. Free shipping on your entire order with offer code SAINTNICK.

We're also giving away a calendar on both the Life With Girls and the Handmade Family facebook pages. Check it out if you like free stuff!