I've Moved!

I've been working to combine my Pine Tree Designs site with my blog into one new site. Check out my new beginnings here!

Cupcakes

I was watching Cupcake Wars yesterday and realized I never posted this photo. I had 3 friends over for lunch in December and this is what I bought for dessert. I've been wanting to visit Dollop Cupcakes in Penfield since they opened in 2009. Their cupcake bar offers an overwhelming choice of cakes, fillings, frostings and toppings, so I asked them to make me four different cupcakes. (Aren't these individual containers adorable? I hope they are recyclable though, I can't remember if they were.)

I presented the cupcakes to my friends and suggested we cut each one in 4 pieces so we could each try each one. They went for it, as I knew they would. "Thank goodness, because I was having real trouble deciding which one I wanted!"

I wish I could tell you what the flavors were but I couldn't even remember the various combinations by the time I got home. We had fun guessing. I do remember the one in the lower right of the photo was gingerbread. One was red velvet.

They were all delish!

A Dent!

I did it! I put a dent in my fresh start for the new year! I always get super-motivated at the first of any new year. In fact that starts for me, on December 26!

I've been unhappy with my Pine Tree Designs website, well, almost always. I'm happy with how it looks now but not how it functions. I bought (inexpensive) Artisteer software to use but it it wasn't as user-friendly as I'd hoped, in terms of ease of updating. I consider myself fairly computer-literate so I'm not sure what the problem is. Clearly it's me, but moving on . . .

Then I got the idea to combine my And Another Thing . . . blog with my Pine Tree Designs website since most of the time I'm blogging about my paper art and I've been linking to my blog from my website anyway. Might as well put it all together. And I'm very familiar with how Blogger works.

Here's where it gets weird. "I'm familiar with Blogger so I think I'll go set this new blog/website at Wordpress, which I'm totally unfamiliar with." Yep, I'm a genius.

So I fiddled with it over the course of a couple of weeks and today, finally came to my senses. (See? December 26!) I deleted the Wordpress version and popped back over here to Blogger and worked on this for about half-a-day. Voila!

Now it's on to the online store I've promised myself to set-up. I started a new shop at Big Cartel because I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Etsy. I give 100% responsibility for the hate part to Regretsy.com. (Warning: It's best not to consume beverages while reading this website, or spewing at the screen might occur.) Although I think I've found some winners on my own. I can't find it now but the other day I found a knit cap with built in mustache/beard warmer. I sent the link to Gretchen, "I'm thinking of getting this for Mom." Oh never mind - it's nothing without the visual - and I've already spent way too much time looking for that ridiculous thing again.

So the online shop set-up might fall under the same category that I discovered today: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Meaning, maybe I'll end up reactivating my Etsy shop.

And we won't even mention the studio clean-up and paperwork catch-up which were my real goals for this weekend.

Speedflying in Switzerland

Not just another skiing video - check this out!

PSA - Win Scissors!

Finally - a contest I really want to win! Although I'm kind of shooting myself in the foot here - go here to enter. You're welcome.

A Giggle with the Goats

Little Shells

I have a new "distributor" in Florida - my friend Suzanne is a "snowbird" in FL for four months and has offered to sell my Sticky Notes along with her jewelry at the shows in which she participates while living there January through April. She's already sold a whole bunch of them at her space at Perinton Square Mall this holiday season.

She has requested Florida-friendly designs - my current flip flops, sea turtle - and maybe some new ones - a dolphin in the center, etc. My favorite designs are the heavily stitched ones but people love the designs with something recognizable in the center too - I've done peace signs, horses, music notes, etc. So once again I gave myself a good talking to - give the people what they want! I know, I'm a genius.

I wasn't sure I loved this design at first but seeing it again this morning, it's really growing on me. And bonus! The pattern looks like little shells - how Florida can you get?

It's a keeper, after all.

Hello?

Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?

Remember me?

I hate admitting to holiday stress because for the most part we "don't do holidays". I mean, they are so low-key for Simon, Steve and me and for my extended family. Works for us.

Last week I learned that I had 11 hours more vacation time than I thought I did. It took me about a nano-second to decide to take last Friday off. I spent the day stitching, as I have most every waking moment in the past few weeks, working on these 27 tins Steve is giving to his staff and colleagues this year for Christmas. Yes, he pays for them but I gave him a deep family discount and at the last moment, decided not to add beads to them. I love these with tiny seed beads stitched into the designs, so I waffled back and forth on the idea. Ultimately, I'm glad I decided to forgo the beads because I was able to complete them all yesterday. We're going to fill them with M&Ms and I'll buy little gift bags today.

I had 3 projects in mind for things I wanted to make for Gretchen, Mom and Dad but yesterday I concluded I was not going to get them done in time for Christmas so in another step to eliminate stress, I opted to buy them gifts instead. Our gift to each other is a charitable donation with a little something to open. (I'll still make the projects for them - maybe give them to them as they are completed or maybe get a head start on next Christmas. Oh how I crack me up!)

The biggest news is that I got my Groove software back to "normal" on my new laptop. The final solution was to download a new version and install it by reading the manual. I know, what a concept. I finally feel "whole" again!

I have some catching up on posting photos to do, I have a deeply disturbed studio to straighten up, I have house projects, I have a Pine Tree Designs website to re-do, I have craft show applications to submit, I have inventory to replenish, I have . . . time to relax. And relax I shall!

I've missed you! Happiest of holidays to you and yours!

School #46 Holiday Bazaar

School #46 Holiday Bazaar

Saturday, December 4, 9:00-4:00

250 Newcastle Road

Rochester, NY

This Show Rocks! Hard!

Too busy to blog details but wanted to share my good news. With 5 hours of show to go today, this weekend's show will likely become my new #2 Best Show Ever - and has a real shot at becoming my new #1 Best Show Ever!

No wonder I woke up at 3:00 am, unable to get back to sleep. My Sticky Notes stand is about 1/3 empty, only 2 turkey pins remain and the ornaments are almost sold out too. Busy, busy.

In other news, Simon has pneumonia! I got home around 9:30 Friday night, exhausted, but decided he needed to go to Urgent Care. We suspected bronchitis, never thought of pneumonia. When my 23 year old son wants me to go with him to Urgent Care, I knew he was super-sick. My nephew Paul was here so he went with us. We were only there an hour and I enjoyed hanging out with Paul, so I was glad he was there. Simon was given 3 prescriptions which Steve kindly filled the next morning - and Simon feels remarkably better already. Whew!

There's no high like a good show! Details to follow tomorrow.

November 19-21

40th Annual Holiday Bazaar

Rochester Museum & Science Center
657 East Avenue
Rochester, NY

Fri, Nov 19, 5:00-9:00
Sat, Nov 20, 9:30-5:00
Fri, Nov 21, 11:00-4:00

RMSC's Holiday Bazaar

November 19-21

40th Annual Holiday Bazaar

Rochester Museum & Science Center
657 East Avenue
Rochester, NY

Fri, Nov 19, 5:00-9:00
Sat, Nov 20, 9:30-5:00
Fri, Nov 21, 11:00-4:00

People *ARE* Awesome

One of my very best finds on the Internet is Paul Overton of Dudecraft. His daily blog has turned me on to so many cool things, especially in the "extreme" art category. I love things made out of unexpected things.

Like a "carpet" made of plastic forks.

Then he had to go and start another blog, Everyday is Awesome, where he could offer more in terms of his thoughts, rather than quick hit photos of cool things. I'm preaching to my choir of readers, I don't have time to like yet another blog! I thought I'd give it a go for a while, then probably unsubscribe. I can't. I love this guy.

His post that featured this video is called People are Awesome. People are awesome - holy crap, are they awesome!

As I was transfixed by these people, I kept thinking they each must have said, as they pushed their "thing" further & further, "I wonder if I can do this? then this? then this?"

I think that a lot too - but only in terms of how tiny can my bits of paper be and how close can I get my stitches? I don't defy gravity!

Awesome.

Chemical Balance

Finally! I found something to do with the pill bottles I've been collecting!

I didn't create these, I found the post on Recyclart.org. But I am nuts for little containers and such, so I have a small (honest!) drawer of empty pill bottles because they are perfect to hold little somethings. I have a bunch with beads and buttons in some, though I prefer clear containers for such things. And I made myself stop saving these bottles when the small (honest!) drawer became full.

There are more photos at the website I linked to above. Here's what was said about the work.

To create this work, thousands of empty prescription pill bottles were collected from nursing homes, pharmacies and individuals’ medicine cabinets. Like stalactites and stalagmites, the constructions hang down from above and grow upwards from the floor below. Chemical Balance speaks to our culture’s over-consumption of prescription drugs and our bodies’ dependency on these medications. The piece acts like a group portrait, mapping our society’s chemical intake. The illuminated structures radiate with an intense orange glow, suggesting that issues of health reach far beyond the physical."

Happy Birthday!!!

This is our nephew's son, JB - as Batman on Halloween. How cute is he??

I love this photo - a little something I like to call, "After the Sugar Buzz". DJ was the Cat in the Hat.

Simon is a terrific "uncle" - JB just loves him! Both their faces light up when they see each other. Makes me smile.


JB and my dad both celebrate birthdays today, born 79 years apart.


Happy birthday, Dad - I love you! You too, JB.

Bon Jovi Fan

This cracked me up, in an I-could-never-be-this-uninhibited-in-public way.

That Time of Year

Here's a word you haven't heard me say in a while: auditor.

We are having one of our thrice yearly audits this week - let the games begin!

And in the way things just go sometimes, due to unforeseen circumstances, we have not yet closed October (hopefully today). That means we haven't run monthly statements for our customers yet (which I like to review before mailing/emailing to my customers) and I haven't been able to start the numerous sales tax returns for October.

The following week I'm only working 3 days in preparation for the 3-day museum show.

So that means a lot will have to be crammed into this week. But I really can't go in to work early because of all the Pine Tree Designs work to be done.

Although I'm sleeping spectacularly well these days and I've lost 17 pounds, I'm still exhausted from last week. It was one of those weeks where I had something to do every night after work, including going to the funeral home calling hours for the husband of one of Steve's colleagues and Fairport Pharmacy had an Open House last Thursday where vendors were expected to attend, plus other stuff, blah, blah, blah.

Then after the exhaustingly fabulous show on Saturday, Steve and I had time to gulp down dinner quickly, then we drove 45 minutes to Batavia to see a musical his friend is in. The show was Oliver, not a fave of mine, but Paul was great - played Fagin. As I said to him afterwards, he's my favorite goofball. He always plays parts where he can ham it up. A mild manner computer dude by day and a singing goofball by night.

In a perfect world yesterday would have been a "recharge" day. I'll sleep in mid-December. :-)

MayDay Underground Review

The Village Gate is in my favorite neighborhood of Rochester, NOTA, Neighborhood of the Arts. It's an old factory turned into a street of shops including restaurants, entertainment and stores.

I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of the 2nd floor is - maybe to rent out to events like the MayDay Underground Crafts & Art Luau, which was held Saturday.

(See the woman pushing the stroller on the left? She adopted that little girl from Vietnam, who was killin' me with her cuteness! Complete with little flowered pants, perfect for the show's luau theme. Yes, I do drool over every Asian baby I see and am unable to stop myself from chatting up their parents.)

It's an atrium, filled with sculptures, artwork and plants. You see the real skylights here and there are fake skylights along the sides of the ceiling that have blue sky and white clouds painted on them, which I loved too. (That's my friend Liz sitting there in her space - she spins roving into yarn during shows like I stitch my designs on paper during shows. She sells her beautiful yarn at shows, along with her vegan body products as seen in her Etsy shop I linked to there.)

I was glad I had gone to the venue Friday night to help the girls running it put up signs and hang decorations, so I knew to bring extra lighting. I normally use 3 clip-on lights at the top of my black shutter doors, but this time I just opted for this multi-arm lamp. I actually hate this style of lamp but it's very useful so it's earning it's keep. I may just take this to all shows from now on because no matter where you are, there can always be weird shadows. There's no such thing as too much lighting.

You can see I'm down to 4 measly framed art pieces, plus one on the table. I sold two at the last show, plus I had taken several to Dryer House Emporium, in Victor. But that allowed me to put the shuttered door behind the table. Not sure I could have reached the art if someone bought one - but my space was a little cramped so it all worked out.

Because it was a spacious warehouse space with very wide aisles, I was able to spill out of my space without problem. My chair and most of my Sticky Notes stand is outside the front of my space. The perimeter of the room is very jagged actually so we weren't all lined up nice & neat. I was out no further than the space behind my chair, so I wasn't being obtrusive or obnoxious or anything.

The load-in started at 8:00, and the show started at 10:00, which is really not enough time for me - I need 3 hours, start to finish, 2 hours for setting up the space alone. So Steve and I arrived around 7:30, hoping to get in earlier. The door was locked but a Village Gate employee opened the door about 5 minutes after we arrived so it really paid off to get there when we did. All I can say is thank goodness there was an elevator, which conveniently emptied very near my space.

The upside: The show was great! I made more money per hour at this 6 hour show than I do sometimes at multi-day shows. I smashed my goal by 52%. I had lots of fun seeing old and new customers and vendor friends. I had about 20 minutes to walk the show before it started so I passed out a bunch of cards inviting artists to join Rochester Crafters. I used to pick up business cards of as many vendors as I can and them email them the official invitation. Yesterday I didn't do that - I just passed out my card instead. I've decided that I like the first method better because I love business cards - they are little representational works of art!

The downside: I really have to work my tail off for the next two weeks in order to have enough inventory for the Holiday Bazaar at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, traditionally one of my biggest, if not the biggest show of the year for me. I understand - not a bad problem to have, overall. :-)

Plus - for the first time since starting to use them, I had zero hand-stitched business cards. I'd used them all at stores I'm in and/or passed them out. My increased usage comes from my recruiting efforts on behalf of Rochester Crafters. I usually give the artist my Pine Tree Designs card to show them I'm "one of them", along with a Rochester Crafters business card.

Thank goodness I had a full box of generic black ink on white business cards from the old days. I stitched cards during the show but only have 2 to show for it now because I used those at the show whenever I could. One new customer said to me, "Your business cards don't justify your art!" I motioned her over to my chair and thankfully had a spare stitched one I'd just finished and could set her straight.

The horror and shame I felt at not having my beloved stitched business cards! Especially because as I just said I love business cards in general, I specifically love my business cards and people do love them too. Minimum, they are a real conversation starter - plus I like to think people don't throw these away.

My recently retired friend Jen has joined the Pine Tree Designs staff - she's stitching business cards as we speak. (Jen - if you are reading this, stop. Go stitch!) lol

I paid Simon to stamp and label my postcard mailing a few days ago. The cards arrived in local people's mailboxes the day before the show - and several people mentioned they came to the show because of that so it was worth the money I paid Simon, I think. (Sorry to have temporarily replaced you, Pam - but time was of the essence! And Simon needed the money.)

These two 20-something organizing women have already selected a date and venue for their next show, May 7, 2011, at the Rochester Main Street Armory. I've never been there, but it's a well-known downtown venue. I will go to the show for sure, but I really want to be accepted to be in it too!

So after a bit of loafing on the couch, surfing, reading - it's back to the studio!

MayDay Underground Craft & Art Luau

Art at the Lake Report

The show was a great experience! And I was successful enough to want to do it again, should I be accepted. The quality of the vendors was outstanding and the venue was perfect.

I think we all wish the traffic had been a bit heavier, but it's a first-time show and these things take time.

This was the view from the banquet hall/conference center - but imagine this scene exploding with fall colors. (I lifted this photo from their website, obviously.)


I must have been shaky when I took these pictures - sorry! I'm usually very much against posting unfocused photos but these are all I have. Doofus.

There were 25 vendors so it was a small, but very "exclusive" show. A fair number brought their tent frames to either hold their walls with artwork or to hang curtains for a nice back drop. I was between 2 (very different) jewelers, who both had the curtains, which provided a nice space for me! I made a trade with the basket weaver behind me - she was nice.

I love my wire tree for my ornaments. Someone gave it to Dad a few years ago, who in turn gave it to me. I wasn't sure what I'd use it for but I was glad I took it - it's perfect for this. When I started making ornaments, I envisioned a small fake Christmas tree in my booth but I kept procrastinating getting one. I finally decided it was too traditional for me. Then my mind landed on the wire tree in the basement - perfect! Those are little gift tags with vellum envelopes in the background. I really need to get on the stick & make some holiday ones pronto.

These are pretty new for me, for selling my magnets. I used to use identical white picture frames where I replaced the glass with sheet metal. These take up much less space. I package the extra magnets in little cellophane packages so they won't get funky. Notice my big and little turkeys - brand new - very popular! I stitched more turkeys the entire show because I have two more shows before Thanksgiving.

These are my 3-tier cake stands for pins, which I love, especially that one on the right filled with Halloween and fall colored pins. You can see my tins on the right - and even better in the next photo. Rachel is filling 24 of them with 3 scents of candles that will probably be ready in the next week or two. I really need to get stitching more pieces to cover the tins anyway, so I'm not in a big hurry to get them!

Did the custom embroidery on my black overlays come out perfect or what?? (I would not have minded if the words and logo were a bit bigger but this was as big as she could "hoop" so I'm 100% fine with it.) Overall I could not be happier with them. And I'm almost positive it would not be possible for my tablecloths to be any more wrinkled. (They look worse in person, IMHO.) Each one is two tablecloths that Mom and I sewed together for a custom fit - so they are like folding contour sheets so honestly, I don't try very hard to fold them neatly. I need to try harder - or take a steamer with me! Hopefully everyone was looking at the product and not the wrinkles.

I took today, Monday, off from work to get caught up on paperwork and clean my studio. I've done neither. Guess I needed a goof-off-putz-around day instead.

It's all good!

Art at the Lake

Gobble, Gobble, Oy

One of my best customers has challenged me for two years to make a pin for Thanksgiving. Honestly, it's been so long, I can't remember if she suggested a turkey or that's where my mind went, thinking in terms of stitching. I've been working on this thing for 2 days! I think I'm happy with it . . . but . . . you know there's a but. Is that black outside layer too dark? I like contrasty though. Maybe I should try it with dark brown - still good contrast but not so "severe". This isn't a literal interpretation of a turkey, obviously, though I have stared at countless pictures of real turkeys, cartoon turkeys, oh my.

And please, please tell me the beak is enough to convey the turkey-ness? You don't know want to know how tiny that beak is. I'm delving into Vickie Porter's Tiny Works of Awesome territory here! It's one point cut off a star punch that is less than 1/4" diameter. And PLEASE don't make me put eyes on here! I'd have to make 100 turkeys to get the eyes correct on 10, I just know it.

Fine! You people are killin' me. I redid the black piece on brown paper. There! Happy?

I am!

And now I like the black turkey body because there's black thread in each of the layers.

I added the blue thread which is actually barely visible, but I think it adds real depth. I meant to try that on the black piece in the first picture but got too eager to assemble it I guess. Then the orange beads started beckoning me. I was powerless over the beads.

It's 2-3/4" diameter. I was half afraid it was going to turn out too big for a pin but I checked it in the mirror, it's fine. Might put these on some cards too, we'll see.

Well, that angst was exhausting! Thanks for helping me work through it. Check's in the mail.

Which Logo Do You Like?

I had that banner made to hang outside my tent but since I didn't know what I was doing back then, it's too tall, so it would partially block the front of the tent and customers would have to duck under it. And so . . . just the way things go, I like it better inside anyway. It draws people in. Not sure that many people look up at the front of a tent anyway. So it all worked out just like it was supposed to.

But now I like it so much, I've decided I'm going to miss it at my indoor shows. I have a smaller version of it, on foam core, but I don't have room for it on my tables anymore. And usually, we aren't allowed to hang anything on the walls at shows. So, because I see the above photo very frequently as the wallpaper on both of monitors at work, I've decided the perfect spot for signage is on those black overlay pieces of my tablecloths.

I have two vendor friends who do custom machine embroidery, so I picked one, which sort of makes me feel I'm "cheating" on the other one. I went to Pati Robbens' home last week to discuss the design. I had SO much fun talking shop with her and drooling over her studio! And, as an added bonus - she gave me a beautiful thread cabinet her father made for her that she has outgrown. I'll post a picture of it when I bring it home in a week or two.

So she's going to use the Architect font, which I love, for the words Hand Stitched Paper Art, on two lines. That black triangle space on the cloth looks pretty big but it really isn't and we were limited by the size of her largest hoop, which is pretty big so it will all fit perfectly. Then the star shaped logo will go in the point. She emailed me the proofs yesterday.

These are the 5 colors we picked out. I thought I didn't care if it matched the thread used for stitching the logo on my business cards - this just has to convey the idea.

But when looking at the proof yesterday, I pulled out one of my business cards and began to have second thoughts. So I asked her to make the blue more turquoisey and the purple more of a deep pink. And to variegate each point, rather than one color per point. She actually matched the variegation exactly to the business card I emailed her. I didn't think I was going to like it, that it would be too "disorganized" for me, but now I'm not sure which one I like better.

I'm taking the black fabric to Pati at the Jr League of Rochester craft show on Saturday (she's participating, I'm going as a customer) so she won't sew these until next week sometime. So I told her I wanted to live with both for a little bit and see which one rose to the top for me.

Plus, I might have this same stitching done on some shirts - could be my new show "uniform"!

But I'd like to know what you think too. Here's a poll! (And of course, I'm open to other suggestions and ideas.)

It's Snowing!

It's snowing just in my studio, not outside. Yet.

The one on the right was my first one - I should have scanned it against a different background. And next time I'll stitch with white thread. I made it as a design to go on cards and Sticky Notes. (Yes, people ask for "seasonal" Sticky Notes!) I have parts cut out in a variety of blues. The bonus is I can use the cut out snowflakes for other things too. (Those above have a piece of paper showing through the cut out snowflake.)

Then I made the stitched ornaments and decided I'm really on to something so the one on the left is to be hung. Btw, I decided to do away with the eyelet in the hole where the hanger goes because I couldn't live with the eyelet looking good on one side and not good on the other side. I've started making the ornaments slightly different on front and back so it's like getting two ornaments in one. I started to research an eyelet replacement that would look good on both sides, then decided to sell them as is, without any sort of reinforcement. These are delicate ornaments and need to be treated as such. Unless I change my mind again.

My question to you is - is there enough stitching on these? I get really hung up on that part of it, wanting every piece I produce to be really super stitchy, forgetting to look at the overall big picture, if you will. I think these might be a nice overall design and not everything has to be super complicated, stitching-wise. I'd really like to hear your thoughts in the comments because I'm feeling a little like I can't see the forest for the trees. Or something.

~ ~ ~

I've been using the CPAP machine almost a full week and today is the first day that I can say I feel 20 years younger - just like the old dude in the video said! The company that provides the machine left me voice mail while I was at the craft show on Monday, just checking in to see how I'm doing. I'll call him back today - I think I'm ready to try a slightly different style mask. I've been using the mask I used at the sleep clinic but one comes with the machine too. I wanted to live with this one a little bit before the next one.

~ ~ ~

The craft show at St. John's of Rochester on Monday went well. The traffic was a little slower, especially in the afternoon, than I would have liked. It was an inexpensive show to do, I made some "good" money (is it ever enough??) - and I really had a lot of fun. I saw a lot of customer-friends - it's good to have repeat business, especially when I have new product to offer. The ornaments sold well and the tins are still selling well - so both are definitely keepers.

The upside to a slowish show is I get to spend some time catching up with my vendor friends and making new ones!