The Crafty Princess Diaries

Tammy Powley’s Crafty Weblog

April 15, 2018
by Tammy
0 comments

Some Sewing Bits

After my thirty year old sewing machine decided it no longer wanted to back space (even after sending it in for maintenance two times), I finally took the plug and purchased purchased a new sewing machine, a Singer Quantum Stylist 9960. I’m still learning how to use it but have made a number of small items on it already such as Blythe doll dresses and some toddler-size simple skirts for my grand-nieces. Make sure to catch my sewing and other crafting and collecting videos on my Youtube channel.


March 14, 2018
by Tammy
0 comments

Cute Crochet Animals, Starting on the Bunny

I’m about halfway through my spring break and enjoying every minute of it, which has included spending time with family and friends, and of course, crafting. One project that I started while on my break is an adorable amigurumi bunny from the book Cute Crocheted Animals: 10 Well-Dressed Friends to Make. I’m well into at this point and hope to finish her up (she’s a girl bunny) in the next day or so and then make a little dress for her.

The book has instructions for making the animals as well as clothing and accessories for them. I couldn’t resist after seeing it mentioned on the Cherry Heart Crochet Podcast. While I’m finding some success, I have to admit that the instructions could be clearer in spots. Plus, this book uses British crochet terms, not US, so there’s that to deal with as well. Once the bunny is finished, I will do a more complete review of the book, but my initial feeling is that it’s great, just probably not a good choice for beginning amigurumi makers. However, seasoned crochet toys makers will probably be able to figure it out. Follow on any of my social media links to see more about this project. You can find links on my about page. I tend to be most active on Facebook, IG, and Youtube.

January 21, 2018
by Tammy
0 comments

2 Short Stories Published!

I have been focusing on creative writing lately versus craft how-to writing or blogging. It’s very different than the idea of writing something that I might get paid for. Instead, I write because I simply want to and then, hopefully, find a place that will accept it for publication with little to no intention of payment. Yes, writing for free, a very weird concept for anyone who has spent so many years freelance writing. However, the publishing world has really changed. Many craft companies prefer to have in-house (as in not freelance) content writers and designers. Craft book publishers have gotten lean and mean in order to survive. There is also a ton of free content on the Web, so the need to pay someone to write it is not really there like it was back in the day when I freelanced for a number Web networks and wrote books about how to make jewelry.

With this in mind and the fact that I’m not getting any younger, I realized how much I missed the creative writing I used to do when I was in my teens and twenties, so for the past few years I’ve been writing fiction for (gasp) pleasure and no real thought about making money from my efforts. However, I still want validation, which requires sending out my work and dealing with rejection (and more rejection). I was just about to the point of thinking I would never get anything published when within days of each other two short stories of mine were accepted for publication. Yippy!

My first story is called “Potluck Party” and is published in issue 7 of Constellations. This is a print journal that is published out of the Boston area. My story is a little PG-rated, but it fit in well with this issue’s theme of “transgression.”


Soon after this first story was accepted,  a second story of mine called “In Search of the Yoga Master” was accepted by a literary magazine called Typehouse (volume 5, no. 1, issue 13). This story was one that I really hadn’t sent to too many publishers, so I was surprised that it was accepted relatively quickly.

In a few more days, Typehouse will be out and in my hands. I look forward to reading the other works in it as well as the issue of Constellation I recently received. And, of course, I’m still writing away. I have a few more stories in the works, one of which has been rejected by dozens of journals, but I did a major rewrite on it, so I’m feeling pretty good about it. There is also the doll doctor novel I’ve written (which I’ve mentioned in videos on Youtube as well as here on my blog before). I plan to take a carving knife to it this summer and get the word count down to something that might be more appealing to publishers. Plus, tightening up a work of writing is always a good thing to do.


January 7, 2018
by Tammy
0 comments

2018, Back to Reading for Pleasure

A love for reading was the original impetus for my writing. As a child, probably around five or six years old, I distinctly remember having a moment of clarity when I realized that people wrote all of the wonderful stories I enjoyed reading, and thus, this meant that I would also be able to write them. I was hooked!

This past year, I’ve become cognizant of  how much I miss this, reading for pleasure, just sitting myself down in a chair or on a couch and reading (a book or story of my choice) for an entire day. Instead, with the exception of an occasional short story from a literary journal here and there, I was reading students’ essays and research papers, dozens upon dozens, which meant reading a lot of writing by authors who don’t want to write, who are being forced to squeeze out words and splatter them on a page to earn some kind of reward in the form of a grade. There are some writing students who shine when they are writing, but there are many more who find it drudgery, and this is very evident. It wasn’t a pleasure for them to write it, and thus, it’s not a pleasure for me to read it.

To help redirect myself back to my love of reading, I’m going to treat reading for pleasure similar to my daily yoga routine: it maybe hard to find the time, but I’m going to do it. And, once I’ve done it, I always feel so much better afterwards.

I’m not going to be overly ambitious and have created a short stack of “to be read” books and short stories (from One Story). I have no particular order I plan to read them in. So far, I’ve started with On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft. While Stephen King doesn’t normally write work that I enjoy reading (I’m too much of a chicken), I’ve heard good reviews from writers about this book where he discusses his personal approach to writing, and there’s no denying the man can write.

So far, I’ve enjoyed the little bits of time I’ve carved out to get a page read here and there and look forward to my year of learning to love reading again.

January 4, 2018
by Tammy
0 comments

Looking Forward to Summer Caribbean Cruise

I’m planning on another Caribbean cruise this summer, and as I have in the past, I plan to do some video podcasts on the trip. While I’m not a world traveler, I have started a small collection of cruise videos on my YouTube site. If you have cruised before or are thinking about taking a cruise, head over to my Cruise Reviews & Info YouTube playlist. You’ll learn the good, the bad, and of course, the ugly about past trips I’ve been on. Stay tuned for more videos popping up this summer.