Oh wow. There's a lot of challenges. I get so many messages and emails every day with questions, problems, and other things. Sometimes it takes me 2 months to get to people. I constantly feel like I'm leaving 500 different people hanging.

You shouldn't! I wish I could do this kind of thing more! Another big challenge is that while I while I'm pretty savvy with programming, I know not a single thing about what it takes to run a website that gets the kind of traffic that Craftster does. And it's harder than you might think to find the right kind of help in that area. So I spend a lot of time learning about servers and what to do when things crash and how to optimize the server, etc etc. Stuff that people who run typical website usually don't have to think about.

I studied Computer Science in College. I really didn't plan on it. I took an intro to programming class my sophomore year just for kicks and I was surprised at how much I like it. Every assignment was like a really fun brain teaser or puzzle! So I enjoy and have a knack for programming. But it's computer hardware type stuff that I'm totally fumbling my way through!

There are so many perks. Just to name a few... (1) Due to the amount of time it takes to handle it all, I left my day job and I work on Craftster full-time. I'm so lucky to have an opportunity to spend all my working (and sometimes all my waking) hours on something that's totally my own goal in life. (2) Every single time I see someone post an amazing project on Craftster or see someone post how happy they were with a swap project they just received and on and on... I just feel so humbled that they chose to do this on Craftster . It really is a great feeling to have been able to create a place where so much positivity occurs.

Gosh. Funny you should ask that. I usually don't dream of crafts. Seriously! Well, only before a big event that I'm planning like the Bazaar Bizarre. But last night I dreamt that there was this amazing project in my new book where you could sew this teapot cozy that when you turn it inside out, it turns into this gorgeous purse. It was such a great dream. I was like "This project is the best thing since sliced bread. It makes my book rock!" Then later this morning it was such a let down to realize that doesn't really exist! Ha! how weird...

Sure... Although in reading over my last response I promise I wasn't trying to plug my book or the Bazaar Bizarre! ha ha... So... I love to spend my free time at thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, peeking into people's trash piles, and seeing if there's anything interesting and inspiring. I'm a total pack-rat! I love to collect things. Especially things from the 1950s. There's just this certain appeal about the design of that era. And the graphic design and the portrayal of what life was like and the fashion... It can be simultaneously beautiful and funny and ironic and charming... So one of the things I'm always so excited to find is craft books from the 1950s to 1970s. The ideas are either so clever or so charming or so tacky. So when I had amasses quite a collection I thought "I HAVE to do something with these!" Thus the idea for this book was born!

It was hard to balance it all for sure. There where stretches of days where I really couldn't even open up the Craftster webpage and that's always so hard. Because with 60,000 members there's always someone who needs something taken care of rather urgently. So it's hard mentally to have to make people wait. And the book itself was an interesting challenge because first of all I had to track down the right person to get permissions from for every single vintage project in the book. It was actually pretty fun. I felt like a private detective because often times one company had published something but they were long out of business and I'd have to find a way to track down the current permissions holder, etc. It was very educational. And then, I had to make a version of every single vintage craft project. And in some cases the original book where it came from had only one line of instructions and them a drawing of the final result. So I had to come up with really clear instructions and fill in a lot of blanks. So lots of work overall but so much fun to have an excuse to spend my days doing all this!

Yes! All over my apartment! Besides being a pack-rat where I'm constantly collecting stuff, I have this little problem where I never want to throw anything out because it might be totally handy one day! I need to enroll in a 12 step program for this.

I think that this book is a really fun look at a slice of time gone by. It's a fun snapshot of the style of crafting of the 1950s and 1960s. But at the same time I wanted to be sure to include enough projects that people will really want to make and that are not purely just for looking at.

Ha. I just love that there was a time (and for some people there still is!) where you took the time to cover your toilet seat and your teapot and your toaster and so on. It's so fun! So let's see a favorite project... There are so many that I love for so many different reasons... I really love the towel loincloth project because it's so preposterous and yet it was served up in this magazine I got it from in total sincerity. It was basically like "ladies, whip up this handsome terry cover-up for your husband to wear around the house!"

I promise I'm not responsible for any possible fallout good or bad if you do that! ha ha

Ok... let's see...

love popsicle sticks?
love golden macaroni?
succumb to the kitsch... Ooh! You're good!

Ooh -- on my horizon? Minions! I want minions! To help me with all my work!