Raise your hand if you’re of the “never really tan, mostly just pink in the summer” variety. (Yours truly is currently waiving both arms in the air.) Apart from my jealousy of those folks who have that glowy bronze thing going on in the summertime, I’m okay with having the complexion of a Scottish Swede. Especially now that I’ve been on the hunt for natural skin care recipes to see me through these sunny, sweaty months. I’m here to share some fun DIY natural body care finds with you, thanks to the head-to-toe sources listed below.

For hair: An Exotic & Nourishing Hair Mask from Organic Beauty Care Recipes

Avocado and coconut milk join forces to lend your tresses shine and strength.

For lips: Creamy Walnut Lip Butter from The Natural Beauty Workshop

No, you can’t eat it, but if it sounds this tasty, it’s bound to do wonders for your kisser.

For skin: Natural Body Moisturizer from ReadyMade

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Every Friday evening, I post a set of project instructions.

While I was editing Laura McCabe’s Embellished Beadweaving, I was also in the process of writing Leather Jewelry. At some point during that time, Laura and I discovered we’re both pretty nuts for leather. From time to time we trade tips on places to buy awesome leather or talk about tools, and share photos of what leather magic we’re up to. Yesterday, Laura sent me pictures of a cuff she made recently, and she said I could share it with you. This is made from chicken foot leather, seed beads, green moonstones, antique nailheads and tiny gem pearls; it’s backed with black suede and has a coat hook and eye closure.

By now, you’ve undoubtedly guessed that today’s freebie project is a Laura McCabe design from her book. Click here to download instructions for making the Star Flower Earrings.

Need still more Laura? (And, c’mon, who doesn’t?!) Check out her website, at www.justletmebead.com (sorry, the link mechanism doesn’t seem to be working), as well as the 2011 issue of Bead & Button magazine, to which she contributed instructions for her Elizabethan Earrings.

Celebratory Sale! 50% off Lark titles!

We’ve spruced things up a bit with a re-design of our website, and to celebrate some of our new features, we’re offering you a coupon for 50% off Lark titles! Our favorite element of the re-design is the addition of our Bookstore: you can peruse our titles, see what’s new, and purchase books with the click of a button. Easy peasy.

To get 50% off Lark titles, use this promo code when you checkout at BN.com: W9A9M8R

Click here to go to Lark’s Bookstore. This offer is available through Monday, May 23^rd.

Promo details:
The 50% discount is taken off a book’s list price and is only available for Lark titles. If the book is already being sold at a discount on BN.com, the coupon code will halve the list price, not the discounted price. Read more about Barnes & Noble’s Terms and Conditions for the Lark sale.

We’re also celebrating the re-design with several giveaways—take a look around and enter for chances to win.

Thanks for visiting us! We hope you’ll enjoy some other new features of the site while you’re here: a live feed of our Twitter and Facebook activity; a new image carousel; recommended “You Might Like” articles; blog post author photos; new free stuff; improved ways to like and share our content; and more.

Wearable, functional, sculptural…we love metal in all its forms!

My newest object of desire is a soba kiri, a Japanese kitchen knife specifically designed for cutting handmade soba, buckwheat noodles.

Japanese blade craftsmanship is well known and deeply admired. Their traditional kitchen tools are forged into very purposeful shapes. A knife for cod. One for octopus. Different knives for carrots, long onions, watermelon, and cabbage. One for removing chestnut skin.

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As our celebration of Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose Scarves continues, we wanted to feature some of the fantastic, creative folks who contributed to the book. Below, enjoy hearing a little bit about some of the designers…and if you like what you see, click on over to their Etsy stores or websites!

Alice Pino-Marina (Vintage Marmalade on Etsy): I am a busy wife and mother.  My store features handmade items from vintage textiles as well as vintage items from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. In my spare time I enjoy being with the family and going to the gym.

Rachel Le Grand (Nest Full of Eggs): I am a wife, stay-at-home mumma of 3, sewist, knitter, paper crafter, girl behind a camera, gluten-free, and a craft book contributor. I enjoy sewing (mostly clothing for my young daughter), knitting (I recently knitted & wet felted my new purse), paper crafting (mostly cards), photography, trying gluten-free recipes (my oldest son & I are gluten-free), and vintage shopping.

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How incredibly cute are these?! You want one, right? You and me both, I want to be completely leathered-up with these! RN & TN of Etsy create these wonderful leather accessories. All their work’s so colorful and whimsical–and this is just a small sampling of their talent. I picked only floral-related pieces to celebrate April showers bringing May flowers, but there are loads of other great designs in their shop.

These ceramic pieces are beautiful examples of how various uses of color, texture, pattern and firing are used to transform the surface of clay. If you are interested in trying some of these techniques for yourself, take a look at Angelica Pozo’s book: Ceramics for Beginners Surfaces glazes & Firing. As an added bonus, I have included a video tutorial of Angelica showing you an applique technique from the book. Check out the video after the jump.

Top Row L to R: PrettyMyDrink, catherinereece, vegetabowls, JDWolfePottery, symmetricalpottery

Middle Row L to R: owlcreekceramics, jakesclayart, dorothydomingo, kimwestad, PrinceDesignUK

Bottom Row L to R: HarrietDamave, blueroompottery, redhotpottery, PaisleyHillDesigns, CircaCeramics

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To get you in the zone for a little springtime creativity, we’re offering up a Spring Sewing Book Bonanza (A is for Apron, Absolutely A-line, Stash Happy Patchwork, Sew Tina!, Sewn by Hand, and Craft Challenge Scarves). To be entered for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post by 9 p.m EST on Tuesday, May 3. Any comment will do but we’d love to hear what your sewing to-do list looks like this spring. One winner will be selected at random and contacted on Wednesday, May 4. Click here for the official rules <http://www.larkcrafts.com/craft-your-life/uncategorized/sweepstakesrules/> . Congratulations to Tinkerman’s Daughter! She is the lucky winner of the prize package.