I turned my clocks back Saturday night, resigning myself to the too-soon-dark evenings that are a daily reminder that winter is here. With these darker nights come more time snuggled on the couch knitting, crocheting or embroidering. And the perfect item to work on at the beginning of winter? HATS. Hats can dress up a dreary winter outfit, change the look of a too-often worn coat, and keep your head warm and dry. A pretty hand-made hat is also a great way to show one's crafty skills. So lets take a look at winter hats: Making a great winter hat

Everywhere you turn this summer, conversations, both private and public, seem dominated by the topics of the environment, global warming, carbon footprints, living greener. Besides changing lightbulbs, reducing driving, and saving water, though, what can a crafty person really do? Turns out we can do a lot.We can use our craftivism to spread the word about the importance of the number 350.

I was thrilled last month when I clicked on a message in my overflowing inbox and read a request fairly similar to this: Dear Deb, Please write about crafters who recycle in March as part of the Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, Healthy Wallet series. We Love You, The Babes of BlogHer.

Etsy.com, a site where buyers and sellers of handmade items come together, recently made the news by raising $27 million in investment funds. This had pundits asking questions like "Is Etsy the new eBay?" or "Is Etsy the Next Google?"

You can brave the malls, or you can take a vow and only buy handmade this year. Think I'm kidding?

Etsy. When you think of hand made that one word often comes to mind whether you're buying, selling, browsing or simply looking for inspiration. What makes Etsy work is it's organic way of building a community of buyers and sellers.

So let's assume that you have pared your closet down to the basics. You have a wardrobe of pieces that work for your everyday life. And while some part of you is thinking THANK GOD, there is another part that is already bored. Am I right? Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, 1970

This Monday marks my start as a Blogher Contributing Editor in the area of Art and Design. I'm very excited about this opportunity to highlight all the ways women are using their blogs not only as a visual medium but also as a place to illuminate the process of creating and sharing that work with the world. If you see something intriguing, creative or just plain beautiful when it comes to Art and Design, please feel free to pass your favorite links along.

I went to Geek Culture's The Joy of Tech comic page to see a geek comic and found something I thought was surprising and fascinating. Geek Culture calls them JoyPixels. They suggest you buy a pixel for a buck and put a tiny ad on their site. You can't really buy just one pixel, the smallest ad you can buy is 10 X 10 pixels in size, or 100 pixels. At 10 X 10 you create something tiny but still large enough to be visible.