I’ve mentioned WordCamp briefly before, but I don’t know that I’ve truly explained what they are, so here is an excerpt from the WordCamp site to give you an idea on what the heck I’m talking about.

So what is a WordCamp? WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress, the free and open source personal publishing software that powers over 25 million sites on the web. WordCamps come in all different flavors, based on the local communities that produce them, but in general, WordCamps include sessions on how to use WordPress more effectively, beginning plugin and theme development, advanced techniques, security, etc. (source: http://central.wordcamp.org/about )

So now that you know that much, here we go:

Over the past two years, I have attended 12 different WordCamps.  I originally went to them to support my husband Shayne because he was presenting at them.  After 2-3 of them, I kinda fell in love with the people and the absolute passion behind the WordPress community.  Good people, brilliant minds and good times.  I began to learn more and more about WordPress, blogging and started to feel a little like a loyal part of the WordPress family.

So, fast forward to a couple of months ago when Amanda Blum–WordCamp organizer extraordinaire–contacted me about doing a presentation of my own at WordCamp Phoenix.  She asked if I would be interesting in teaching a WordPress for Kids class.  I was momentarily stunned, but she she explained it something like this, “A) You’ve been to more WordCamps than just about anyone.  B) You homeschool your children and can totally handle a room full of kids eager to learn. C) You know WordPress and you’ll be at WordCamp Phoenix anyway (Shayne was scheduled to speak at this one already).”  Amanda can be very convincing, so within a matter of minutes, I committed to teaching the class.

Fast forward again to this past weekend.  Shayne and I headed out to Phoenix on Thursday.  He taught a 7-hour WordPress for Beginners class on Friday. Saturday was packed full of sessions on all levels and the brainpower in the building was pretty incredible.  Sunday was WordPress for Kids in the morning followed by Dev/Hack day for developers & contributors.  As Sunday inched closer, my nerves kicked in.  See, I’ve got a history of being super shy and a huge tendency to blush, stutter and just generally feel like a fool speaking in front of people.  It’s just never been my thing.  However, after 2 years of observing how WordPress, being Open Source software, has become and continues to evolve into an incredible thing because of people contributing their knowledge, I realized it was time for me to buck up and get more directly involved in the WP community.

My class was held at a really, really cool co-working space in Chander, AZ (an amazing city that supported WordCamp beyond all expectations.  Very impressive city.) called Gangplank.  I arrived that morning (with Shayne by my side for moral and technical support, of course) and watched the kiddos come piling in loaded with notebooks, laptops, iPads and beautiful, eager minds.  I’ll admit that it was intimidating for a brief moment, but I went around to meet them as they came in and their blend of shyness, curiosity and excitement got me going.  I simply walked them through setting up a blog on WordPress.com.  Baby steps.  Nothing extraordinary on my end, but I got so excited to be a part of introducing these children to blogging and creating their own sites.  That’s big to me.  Exposing them to the world of WordPress might  just change what career path they take one day.  Maybe they’ll even end up being part of the team at Automattic one day!  These little ones we’re raising are the future of our internet experience, so getting them inspired early could lead to beautiful things.

Since this was the first WordCamp session targeted at children, deciding on the best way to present to a group of varying ages and WordPress experience was a bit difficult.  Now that I have that the session under my belt, I have a few ideas on how to better accommodate each child and help them get the most out of the class.  If the opportunity arises for me to teach the class again, I look forward to trying a slightly different approach.  In the meantime, I hope that the idea of having a WordPress for Kids class spreads like wildfire through the different WordCamps.

It’s my new iPad sleeve that my very, very dear friend Emily made for me.  Emily is the core of my knitting group that meets weekly.  We usually meet at my house, but rotate occasionally.  Most times, one of us will bring some kind of baked good.  Occasionally we’ll have some wine.  We always have a great time and these girls have become like family to me.  Love them mucho.

Back to Emily.  Emily is our guru.  Our pro. Our inspiration.  She’s a knitting ninja.  I can’t tell you how much she’s helped me learn and how many of my projects she’s saved from being scrapped altogether.  Her precision and lightening-quick fingers allow her to crank out knitting projects about as quickly as I can sew.  Check out her blog, for goodness sakes.  She’s amazing!

(She’s also ahead of schedule on her holiday projects and orders, so she has some openings.  And I don’t know about you, but I think that this iPad Sleeve would make a pretty awesome Christmas gift!  But…you didn’t hear that from me. )

If you’re a knitter and you are on Ravelry, check her out.  She’s created some pretty awesome patterns that you might want to try.  This iPad sleeve, in fact, was her prototype.  She designed the Kindle sleeve that you saw on her blog and as soon as she published the pattern on Ravelry, people requested an iPad version.  I’m the fortunate recipient of the very first one in existence and I’m feeling pretty happy about that.

Anyway…yeah.  Handmade gifts are now on the forefront of my mind as I start thinking of the holiday season.  What you will be knitting, crocheting, sewing, gluing, etc for the holidays this year?  Links are welcome!

Just a short post with some pretty summer photos to let you know that I’m putting The Green Wife on pause.  I’ve already been a little MIA lately, so I thought I’d just put it officially on pause for a bit.  Right now I don’t know if it will be a week, a month or a year, but I’ll return with more fun and tutorials at some point.

In the meantime, dig around the site, maybe catch an occasional update on Facebook or Twitter, and keep an eye on Flickr for photos.

You’ll still be able to reach me at abbie(at)thegreenwife.com if you have any questions or fun things to share.

In the meantime, I wish you many happy days, peaceful nights and lots of laughter.  Enjoy the rest of your summer!

My super-clever friend Valerie mentioned yesterday that she was buying a set of commercially available topic cards for and upcoming occasion in her life.  I started pricing them and decided to make some myself instead.  I’m sure the boxed sets are great, but we’ve got so many upcoming trips that I’m trying to pinch pennies, stay green and keep our travel budget under control.

So here’s the deal.  I grabbed a bunch of empty boxes from the recycle bin.

The kids and I busted them apart at the seams and cut them into sections.

I cut one at roughly 4″ x 1/5″.  This isn’t an exact science and in my book, who cares if they’re perfect?  It’s all about quick, fun and easy!

Then instead of using my ruler that you see above that I’ve had since 3rd grade (Yes, really.  It was a consolation prize from my small hometown’s Mayfest and has stuck around all these years.), I just roughly used one as a template and cut around them until I had 40 approximately-the-same-size cards.

After that, I dug around on the internet and in my brain for some questions to use.  I typed them up, printed them out and cut them into strips using some old scrapbook zig-zaggy scissors.

Then I borrowed a glue stick from the kiddos and pasted the paper onto the cards.

Voila!  Nothing fancy, but they should definitely help us while away the hours on the road.  But wait!  What’s that image flashing before my eyes??  Oh yes….conversation cards in the floorboards, wedged between seats and smudged with Cheeto fingerprints??  Ack!

Much better.  A drawstring bag to fit in Mommy’s purse. (See bag tutorial here.)

I hope that if you make these cards, they bring you hours of peace in the car and bring you and your kids a little closer.  You never know what’s going on in those brilliant little minds until you ask them a bunch of random questions.

Joy sells Amy Butler and Heather Bailey fabric, you see.

This is Joy.  This is Joy in her roomful of gorgeousness.  This is Joy in her room full of gorgeousness in her own home.

A) See that face?  Now you can see the joy in Joy.  The joy in A Joyful Soul Fabrics.  She radiates love, warmth and….joy.

B) Can you even imagine having that fabric stash in your house??  You should see the projects she can crank out.  She’s a sewing…..um…machine?  You know what I mean.  I think.

I need this quilt.  I’ll make one soon.  I think.

So…because she’s just about to leave me, you guys get the hookup.  See, it will save her lots of time, effort and moolah if she can unload some of this fabric on us rather than having to pack it up and ship it across Texas.  Poor, poor us, huh?

Details: Joy has given me a discount code to share with you guys!  Now through June 6, use the code TGW20 to get 20% off of any order over $25!!

She’s more than just fabrics, too!  She has fantastic quilt kits, really fun patterns, and…well, just good stuff.   Go shop her site, use your code, unload her stash and start sewing.  I would love to see pictures of anything you guys make with your Joyful Soul fabrics!

Side note:  If you live near me, you live near her.  She would love for you to set up an appointment to stop by her house, take a look around and grab some fabric!

Another side note:  If you are in the San Antonio area, she would love for you to set up an appointment to stop by her house, take a look around and grab some fabric….once she lives there, you know.

To Joy:  It has been wonderful getting to know you.  Every visit to your home leaves me inspired, smiling and joyful.  I will miss you….but don’t think you’re rid of me!   Best of luck with your move!

So…here are my photos from Alcatraz/Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco from 2 weeks ago. Enjoy!

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I need TOMS.  I need some now.   We’re headed to San Francisco and Chicago in a couple of weeks and TOMS would be great for all the walking, airporting and such.

Conveniently, they have a Mother’s Day code for $5 off of any item and I’m totally taking advantage of that.  Code = MOTHERS and expires 5/16/10.

Problem is….I’m seriously one of the most indecisive people I’ve ever met.  Can you meet yourself?  I don’t know, but I’ll ponder on that later.

Back to the shoes.

I’m torn between the fun-and-funky side of me and the I-only-wear-black-shirts-and-jeans-and-black-shoes side of me.

Won’t you help me choose?

I’ve been eyeballing the Seaport Vegan Classics for awhile and I’m strongly leaning toward them.  I think they’ll go with just about anything, right?

And these!  Oh, how I love these Baobab Sunset Classics!  Two issues, though:  They’re out of stock until May.  And they wouldn’t match as many things.

And then, of course, the Black Canvas Classics.  Practical. Black. Practical.  Classic.  Practical.

So.  Whatcha think?  Which ones and why? Vote via comment and make this decision for me.  Pleasey cheesey?

And..out of curiosity…have you met yourself?

Today, dear readers, I am bloggin’ for the boobies!  Because they’re pretty cool, those boobies.  And because my friend Jackie Reitz– photographer, blogger of The Fabric Floozie fame and crafter extraordinaire–has an amazing project going on today.  See, she is a passionate participant in the Susan G Komen 3-Day race for the Cure and has already raised her minimum of $2300.  She’s not stopping there, though!  She has reached out to 300 bloggers and asked them to donate a single blog post today, April 14, to her cause.  See, the idea is that if at least one reader from each of these blog posts donates $10, she will have raised an additional 3000 bucks in just one day!  This girl is seriously dedicated to the breast cancer cause and there’s no telling what she can do with our support!

So, she and I would both be so grateful if you would go here and donate to her cause.  Let’s try to help her not just meet her goal, but blow it out of the water!  I can’t wait to see how much she’s raised at the end of the day!  I will update as soon as I hear.

So, please join in this HUGE event and help Jackie make a huge impact in a 24 hour period on this horrible disease.  Donate and then spread the word.  Tweet it, Facebook it, share it on a forum or even join in and write a blog post!
Thank you so much!

But wait!  There’s more!  I was just rereading this post and realized that it needs something.

Hmm…

What could it need?

What about a….

pink knife??

Yes!  So…I want each of you that decides to donate** to leave a comment telling me that you have donated to Jackie.  Feel free to share a personal breast cancer story or name who you’re donating in honor of.  Then, I’ll verify each donation with Jackie and select a random winner!  Donate and comment by midnight Pacific time tonight to be eligible for the knife drawing.

To learn more about these knives, click here.   Coolest. Knives. Ever.

**Because I’m only halfway through my coffee, I forgot to say that each $10 earns one entry.  So the more you donate, the better your chances.

At the bottom of each post, you’ll find this:

Simply click that, then open or save it.  Print and stash for crafty days!

I’ll include some links to my more popular tutorials for you guys to bookmark and save as PDFs.

Owl Party Favor Tutorial

Hair Clip Tutorial

Felt Board Tutorial

Halter Top Tutorial

And while I’m in halter-top-making mode, I thought I’d share some fabric combos from Fabric.com that are so cute and fun!

I love these two from Michael Miller’s Lagoon collection.

These prints from Alicia Place Frost are just gorgeous!

Who can resist Heather Bailey’s Pop Garden collection?

This fun set is from Michael Miller’s Gray Citron & Black collection and I just love it!

You can never go wrong with Amy Butler.  These two are from her August Fields collection.  Beautiful!

So, I hope the PDF feature makes crafting a bit easier for you!  Be sure to let me know if there is anything I can do to make things on The Green Wife easier for you guys to use and enjoy.

And I want to know:

Who has started on their spring sewing?  What fabrics are you loving for this season?  I would love to see some links!

I get approached frequently with questions about how to start a blog or how to make a blog more personalized, more professional and more aesthetically pleasing overall. While I’ve been able to kind of get people aimed in the right direction, I usually have to direct them to my personal IT support person and web designer….aka, my husband. I’m pitifully dependent on his brilliance since his desk is approximately 2.74 feet from mine, but I realize that most new bloggers or soon-to-be bloggers don’t have that luxury.

That’s where page.ly comes in.

Page.ly is a brilliant service that provides the fastest, easiest way to set up a very professional-looking site with a personalized domain.  It takes care of the hosting, setup and steps that confuse those of us that aren’t as gifted in the ways of the web.  Page.ly gives you the ease and convenience of wordpress.com with the freedom and options that come along with wordpress.org.  They offer a large selection of premium WordPress themes for you to choose from so that you get just the looking you’re wanting.  With a page.ly account, you can achieve professional quality and functionality on your site without spending a big chunk of change on hiring a pro.

Page.ly takes care of you.  Period.  And it’s cheap!  Starting at around $15 a month, you get your domain (or use one you already have), hosting and setup.  Right there, you’re saving money and not wasting your valuable time digging through confusing files, figuring out FTP, etc.  They do all the work for you…in seriously a matter of minutes. Seriously.  Take a minute of your life to watch this video.

See how easy and fast?  You can literally set up an account, build your site and make you first blog post before you even finish your morning coffee.

To that, I say:  Word.

So, for those of you who have been considering starting a blog but are too intimidated…..here’s your ticket to ride.  Page.ly, baby.  Page.ly.  And for those of you that have a blog, but don’t love it…Page.ly.

Oh, and one more thing.  The people behind page.ly are just outright awesome.  They provide excellent support and will take care of you down to the last detail.  Good people, I tell ya.

If you set up a site using page.ly, leave the link in a comment below. I would love to see it!