As I hope you already know, we recently launched Craft Daily, a fun and educational website where you'll find more than 100 hours of full-length craft video workshops and tutorials from world-class instructors on beading, crochet, jewelry, knitting, mixed media, quilting, sewing, spinning, and weaving.

In the wonderful book Crafty Birds: Bird Art & Crafts for Mixed-Media Artists, author Kristy Conlin and contributors offer ideas and projects for collage, jewelry, and mixed-media art.

I like to bake, and I know from experience when I can make substitutions for ingredients and when substituting is a recipe for disaster. Most of the time, anyway. (There was an unfortunate incident with an apple cake and bourbon, once.)

Found objects are everywhere-from flea markets and thrift shops to the beach and the city street. With new technology, you can make molds of your most precious found objects and replicate them for use in your mixed-media assemblage and other found object art.

Every time I walk into a store that sells paper goods like handmade cards and art papers, I long to own a paper store. The idea of being surrounded by the colors, patterns, and textures of printed and handmade paper all day simply moves me.

When it comes to Mother's Day gifts, I have always most enjoyed the handmade, heartfelt ones: poems, drawings, pinch pots, and the like. Even as my girls have grown into adulthood, I've made it clear I prefer something from the heart over something from the mall. (My birthday is a different story).

It's May 1! Where I live, that means birds are singing, nesting, and flying. Where I work, though, birds are everywhere, all year round. That's because birds are a popular theme in art, and a lot of fiber and mixed-media artists seem to like to "put a bird on it."

In Mixed Media + Painting Techniques: 4 Free Paper and Fabric Painting Ideas, we bring you mixed media painting techniques you can use in a wide variety of art projects.