And Another Thing . . .

I've Moved!

2011-02-10T08:54:00.001-05:00

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

2011-01-17T05:41:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-12-26T14:35:00.007-05:00

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

2010-12-26T08:48:00.003-05:00

Not just another skiing video - check this out!

PSA - Win Scissors!

2010-12-24T08:04:00.009-05:00

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

2010-12-23T05:35:00.000-05:00

Little Shells

2010-12-21T05:48:00.006-05:00

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?

2010-12-20T05:31:00.005-05:00

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

2010-11-29T06:10:00.000-05:00

School #46 Holiday Bazaar

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

250 Newcastle Road

Rochester, NY

This Show Rocks! Hard!

2010-11-21T05:04:00.002-05:00

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

2010-11-18T14:26:00.002-05:00

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

2010-11-14T08:44:00.006-05:00

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

2010-11-11T18:20:00.003-05:00

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!!!

2010-11-10T06:06:00.003-05:00

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

2010-11-09T06:21:00.000-05:00

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

That Time of Year

2010-11-08T05:32:00.002-05:00

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

2010-11-07T07:33:00.016-05:00

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

2010-11-02T16:23:00.002-04:00

Art at the Lake Report

2010-11-01T14:34:00.012-04:00

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

2010-10-27T05:28:00.000-04:00

Gobble, Gobble, Oy

2010-10-17T15:09:00.006-04:00

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?

2010-10-14T07:15:00.001-04:00

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!

2010-10-13T07:06:00.000-04:00

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!

I'm a CPAPer!

2010-10-08T18:49:00.004-04:00

Since, without exception, every person I've mentioned sleep apnea to, knows someone who has it, I thought I'd lend some closure (what, it could happen!) to the subject and write about my first night at home with the machine. This is my ResMed Escape II, or I think I'll call it my Escape To. As in Escape To a Better Life.

I was pleasantly surprised to find it comes in it's own nifty black carrying case! I was also surprised by the amount of maintenance required - cleaning of this & that, change the filter, etc. Not a big fan of cleaning but considering I'm sticking my face in this thing every night, I think I'll be on board with the cleaning just fine.

Cutting to the chase: It was all good. I'm happy that I feel better already and know it will only get better. I only have to go through the first night once.

I picked up my machine at the sleep clinic yesterday afternoon. It was all pretty straight forward. I asked the woman teaching me about the machine, if there's a machine like the kind Lynn mentioned, that reports how much good sleep was obtained, etc. She said there are machines with more bells and whistles but they've found that people tend to over-focus on the numbers.

"I love numbers & stats!"

And sometimes the focusing on numbers leads to worrying and less sleep!

"But I had my heart set on color coded spreadsheets & everything!"

I was kidding - and she laughed heartily. Or maybe it was politely.

~ ~ ~

So it seems I was destined to have an emotional breakdown when I got home after work, while setting up the machine next to the bed – just getting rid of stress ‘cause that’s how I roll. I honestly don’t know why I felt stress – I feel good about this whole experience. Guess it’s just a new thing. Oh – and I ate a cookie. That stressed. Week 4 of Jenny Craig and it was my first moment of bad decision making. I felt bad – but Jesus, it’s only ONE cookie, not exactly life threatening.

The day before I had purchased a package of Wegmans cookies to take to work in an effort to get people to like me again since I worry I’ve been unhappy for too long and maybe it shows. Simon saw the cookies – so I offered them to him instead. I was not the LEAST bit tempted by them, I promise you, until I started wigging out last night. I wonder if anyone from work will read this entry, "Hey! Where are our cookies?"

I went to bed ahead of Steve (he had today off), got settled, then Simon came in to see how I was doing. I got teary again, wishing he didn’t have to see me like that. He and Steve are both 100% supportive, it’s just a cool machine, there’s nothing emotional about it – they are completely MALE about it. They’ve both been super nice about it.

I fell asleep easily. I feel like I woke up a tiny bit each time I rolled over (3-4 times) but I went back to sleep immediately. For a few weeks I’ve been setting the alarm for the last possible moment I can get up and be on time for work, 6:30. I’ve been waking up at 6:00 every day. Today I woke up at 5:00, totally refreshed and happy. Now we’re talkin’! I am going to get my early mornings back! Yay me!

I’m actually looking forward to sleeping tonight – it will only get better and better. Writing this entry after work, I think this might be what normal feels like. Up until today, even while still at work in the afternoon, I would already be thinking of how much longer I had to "get through the day" so I could go home and "make it to bed time". In fact, that's how the last few months have been - "getting through" the weeks between doctors and sleep clinic appointments to get to where I am today - at home with my own machine. That's not how I want to live, "getting through" stuff.

The machine will need to be reset for every 20 pounds I lose. I had already given myself a reward of a massage for every 20 pounds lost – so now there’s this too! I’m still extremely motivated so these are just bonuses. (And 20 pounds away from the first milestone, because I'd already lost 10 lbs when the machine was calibrated for my needs.)

And how cute is this? When I got up this morning, Simon had removed the cookies from the pantry. There were 3-4 left, I’m sure he took them downstairs to his room. How sweet that boy is. I texted him later to thank him – and tell him the “crisis” is over but I’m happy he’s watching out for me. Before I went to sleep last night he made me promise to text him in the morning to tell him how I felt. "Not just because I'm supposed to ask and care, because I really do care, Mom." Gonna get teary again, aren't I??

Speaking of liking numbers and statistics, I wish I knew exactly when my sleep started deteriorating. I feel like I can probably say I've been sleep deprived for years but that sounds so dramatic, like it can't be true. I suspect it's been a long, slow decline so it really wasn't noticeable and I adjusted, until the last 6 months when it reached an unbearable stage. Honestly, the lack of energy is one thing, but I really hated feeling like I was in a bad mood for so long when I couldn't figure out why. I felt I deserved the lack of energy for being overweight, but it's the being in a constant bad, mad mood for so long that made me go to the doctor.

Whew. Let's end this now before I owe you for a therapy session. I'm sorry, our time is over.

(Sorry about this teeny font. Every time I try to make it larger, Blogger makes it gigantic. I give up.)

Happy Dots

2010-10-07T06:57:00.006-04:00

I've started adding what I'm calling "Happy Dots" to some of my designs.

I think I'm liking them enough to "need" to buy the other colors of Smooch! Yay!

I'll be getting my CPAP machine at my doctor's appointment this afternoon.
My new life begins!

Sharon Kahler's Holiday Boutique
(formerly held at Casa Larga)
St. John of Rochester Church
8 Wickford Way
Fairport, NY
Monday, October 11, 10:00-7:00

Origami Christmas Tree

2010-10-03T07:39:00.000-04:00

My friend Leslie turned me on to this Origami Tree - isn't it great?

Now We're Getting Somewhere!

2010-10-02T08:08:00.008-04:00

My CPAP overnight was supposed to be Friday night but the sleep center didn’t have enough technologists available so they called me Thursday, offering me Thursday night – I went!

Cutting to the chase – it works nicely!

It was interesting this time, knowing what to expect overall – but the unknown of the CPAP machine freaked me out a little bit on the drive there. I called Steve on the phone for a pep talk/phone hug.

1. I could weep with joy that I’m so close to feeling better.

2. What if I’m the one person in kajillion the CPAP doesn’t work for and I have to live the rest of my life this way and never get to live up to my full potential??

See what I mean? I was a little nutty. But I was happy to get the stress-leaking-from-my-tear-ducts out of the way before I arrived at the sleep center.

My ex-husband look-alike was there but I didn’t have him. I had the same guy the entire shift this time – it was the same dude that worked with me at the end of my last time there. He explained stuff. He had me try on the CPAP mask (which was mine to keep). So far so good. He turned it on. So far so good. Breathing in is easy. Breathing out you have to force your exhale the tiniest bit because you are blowing “upstream” if you will.

He left me alone for about 10 minutes, to get used to it. It was a weird sensation being hyper-aware of my breathing! I know that’s only at first. In fact I turned the TV on and that was a good distraction.

He came back to check on me, I took the mask off, then he left me to change my clothes. He came back and wired me up. He left to wire up his other patient so I read for a while.

He came back and I put the mask back on and he turned it on, turned off the lights and left – it was about 9:30 by now. He had to reboot his computer and by the time he was ready to have me test the electrodes (wiggle your left foot, your right, cough, etc.) – I was asleep! I had been really busy at work that day up until about 3:00, then the adrenaline/caffeine rush left and I was so tired. I was kind of happy about that because I figured it would help me get to sleep more easily. It did!

I woke up at 12:30 to go to the bathroom. He unhooked the hose to the mask and the electrode hub from it's base, so I wore the mask to the bathroom. I wasn’t expecting that and may not do that at home. But maybe I will if it feels like too much work when I’m half asleep to take it off for just a few minutes. (But if I do keep it on at home, I won’t look in the mirror again, because it makes me kind of sad, actually. How did I let this happen to me??)

Speaking of sad, it makes me sad that Steve and especially Simon have to see me like that, with the mask. That’s an emotion that kind of snuck up on me. They love me 1000%, obviously. Still, I feel sad about that. Thankfully, they are males, and will feel zero emotion. Let's hope they don't go all Tim Allen on my machine, "Grrrrr . . . more power!"

It took me too long (to me!) to get back to sleep. I finally turned on my side, because that’s how I go to sleep at home – and zonked out immediately. I woke again at 4:00 and 4:30, then not again until he came in at 6:00.

I was in a sleep STUPOR, pretty much until after I showered at home. Seriously, I felt like I awoke from a coma. And I felt like I had pleasant dreams all night. I've always been one to be conscious of and remember my dreams and lately they've been horrible. Stress much?

The mask that 94% of patients use just goes over your nose. (If you open your mouth while wearing it – you get a weird air-rushing noise/feeling! It was kind of cool so I did it a few times!) If you breathe through your mouth a lot, you’ll get the full mask that goes over mouth and nose – or I guess they have a strap you can wear to keep your mouth closed while wearing the nose piece mask. While there are the over the head straps that you’ve seen in photos no doubt, the side straps are loose. The soft plastic cup pretty much sticks to your face with the suction of the air. I didn’t expect that and am greatly relieved this thing isn’t strapped tightly to my face, which is what I expected.

I was concerned about sleeping on my side though I knew it was possible. So when I mentioned above that I tried it, I was hoping I’d fall asleep but I also wanted to try it while I was being supervised.

I asked if I will have to ever come back again and he said people usually only come back if their circumstances change – if they lose a lot of weight or have surgery. Here's to me going back one more time after losing enough weight to get rid of sleep apnea.

I also asked the technologist what's the highest number of sleep interruptions/hour he's heard of. (You can tell I'm fascinated by these numbers.) 187! Whoa. That's stop breathing every 20 seconds, right? Severe.

Are you sitting down? My CPAP is 100% covered by my insurance! I was stressing over that too. But it’s not that bad otherwise – the machine rents for 13 months, then you own it. The full rent is $75/month and lots of insurance companies cover 50%. That seems do-able – for improved quality of life – definitely! Full price works out to $985 – I had assumed it would be over $1000 – but lots of people don't have that kind of cash available so I figured they’d have a payment plan of some sort.

I will get my machine at my next appointment with the sleep doctor, next Thursday. I can use the mask they gave me last Thursday night or try other ones.

I felt good on Friday initially, but less so as the day wore on. I actually felt more depressed than tired. Or maybe I can't tell the difference between the two. I'm writing this Saturday morning, expecting to have gotten a good(ish) night's sleep and feel better this morning. Honestly, I still feel depressed but I can't figure out why. Is it the culmination of these months of doctors appointments - and years of poor sleep I didn't even realize I was having? It's been stressful plus I'm never well-rested, but now the end is in sight and I can let my guard down? I have no idea. So much for the self-awareness I think I always have.

I even asked Steve if he could figure out why I'd be feeling so sad. I'm open to thoughts and suggestions. I think I can't see the forest for the trees, or something.

I talked to a guy at work yesterday who has sleep apnea. He loves his CPAP machine, calls it his little buddy. I'm not happy about the situation obviously, but I'm happy there's an inexpensive, user-friendly treatment. And I have faith this is a temporary situation. I truly feel like my attitude is good about this whole thing.

Jeez, Stef, snap out of it, already!

I have a good weekend planned - all Pine Tree Designs, except for going to Geva Theatre and dinner with Lynn and Linda this afternoon.

And the sun is shining!

One of My Favorites

2010-09-30T06:46:00.003-04:00

This is my first Christmas ornament! Or hang around anytime ornament. The gray part is just 2-1/2" in diameter. Btw, those black beads are sooo tiny, yet they make a difference when scanning - the way the yellow scallop is out of focus. This is why I need a professional photographer on staff.

I've stitched bunches in variations of red & green too, plus other colors. This is the only one I've completed so far. That's a black eyelet for the hanger part. I intend to have a little tree in my booth to display these.

I haven't quite figured out what to charge yet - always the hard part. If anyone's game, I'd be interested hearing in the comments what you would pay for this. I have a cost-figuring spreadsheet I use but my work is more labor intensive than materials intensive. I have a hard time with that, balancing what (I think) the market will bear. I would charge $6 if this design was on a Sticky Notes pad. Oh - I forgot to mention - this ornament is the same on both sides. So to me, $8 feels right. I haven't yet, but I will time myself stitching one of these - it helps with pricing of course - and that's a question I get at shows a lot.

~ ~ ~

I had my follow-up appointment with my beloved sleep doctor Tuesday afternoon. Guess what? I have sleep apnea! "What's my number? I want to know my number!" He said I stop breathing an average of 54 times/hour. I guess I seemed a little disappointed or unimpressed maybe, that it wasn't higher. I asked him what's the highest number people have, "like 100, right?" He said that's severe sleep apnea but 54 is pretty darn good - that's like once/minute. Oh yeah.

So I have to do another sleepover, wired up again, with the CPAP machine so they can adjust it (remotely) until I'm sleeping soundly. I knew I had to do another sleepover but I didn't know how they adjusted the pressure. I guess I thought I had to do that. This way makes way more sense, duh! Leave it to the professionals to figure out - good idea!

I kind of whined at the doctor, how far out are appointments being booked? I knew he didn't know but he suggested I slip the appointment maker a $20, or even $50 if I'm desperate. But I didn't have to because they had just gotten a cancellation while I sat there, "I'll take it!" - so I'm going back Friday night for that CPAP sleepover.

She told me they are supposed to book the next follow-up appointment 2 weeks after that (for insurance reasons) but she thinks that's ridiculous because people want to get going with their treatment. So she gave me an appointment next week. Yay!

He had me watch a 10 minute video, in case I needed convincing that CPAP is the way to go. Preachin' to the choir, doc - I've been sold for weeks.

I was proud I got to tell him I'd lost 10 pounds since I saw him last!

I told Steve I bet I don't even know how tired I am or how long I've been like this. I don't know if it works like this, but I think it's been a long, slow road to where I am. And here's what kills me. I think most people would agree that I'm a pretty productive person, right? Wait until I'm well rested and refreshed! I'll be a whirling dervish!

The older man in the video said he feels 20 years younger. I wouldn't mind that - having a 54 year old mind in a 34 year old body.

Stay tuned....

Perfect Paper Pineapple

2010-09-29T07:14:00.001-04:00

The lovely and talented Helen offers a tutuorial in her blog. I love this thing - it's perfection!

And here's a little box she made, with credit to yours truly, I'm happy to say. She is supremely talented - check out more of her work on her blog.

Artist Row Review

2010-09-28T17:20:00.010-04:00

Sheesh Louise. In addition to my limited time lately, my computer went kablooey over the weekend. I ran a ton of diagnostics and recovery functions and it passed every test so I can't tell if I accidentally fixed something or it fixed itself. So I got bunches of art done instead but I didn't catch up on my paperwork like I intended. Nothing critical but I was starting to get the heebie jeebies from Internet Withdrawal! Thank goodness for my iTouch.

Then the picture loader in the new version of Blogger wasn't working so I spent too long poking around the forums trying to figure that out and eventually gave up, figuring it would be fixed sooner or later. Today, I read where to revert to the old editor. Next to the old editor button it says "going away soon". I hope not before they get the new editor fixed! (Lots of bloggers are having this problem so it's a known issue.)

But I wanted to tell you about the show I was in on September 19, Artist Row, held at the award winning Rochester Public Market. It's a keeper!

The show hosted 160 artists, and to encourage artists of all levels, they keep the vendor fee incredibly low, just $25! The show hours are 10-4 on a Sunday when the Market is not otherwise in use. About half of the artists bring their tents, as did I. The weather forecast called for a sprinkle in the morning but when we arrived around 7:30 to set up, it was just a little misty and stopped right away. My thought was to attach the sides but keep them rolled up, just in case the weather changed, so I could lower them quickly.

But overall the forecast was for sunshine galore so while I had the sides with me, I decided not to put them on - except for the back, which I did just for a better presentation. I'm really glad I did that.

We're under "sheds" they call them - like carports. That's why you don't need a tent. I took this early in the morning before things got rolling.

From my space, I had a perfect view of the stage. There were 3 musical acts throughout the day. The first one was 2 guys who sang music by Jimmy Buffet, Warren Zevon, like that. Loved them! The second act was a little more rock, but kind of a slick Vegas rock. Knowing how I love Vegas, you think I'd love that. They were good. The third act was a young girl who sang ballads, ala Ella Fitzgerald, scatting and all. I think she was good - just not my thing.

And we were invaded by zombies! There was a fundraiser by Sample Soap, an organization who distributes unopened toiletries, etc. to those in need. Those who brought samples to donate on this particular day were rewarded by having the group apply zombie make-up on them. Or you could come that way. Some were really into it, gaping wounds and all. This video goes on forever, but it gives you a flavor. That's the duo I mentioned that were my favorite musical act.

I really hated this electric box that sort of stuck into my space so I decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - so I posted my credit card sign there.

I sold 11 of the 16 stitched tins I took. In fact I ordered 48 more tins from my vendor today. And tomorrow I'm dropping off a half dozen tins at my friend Rachel's house. She's a candle maker so she's going to experiment with filling them with candles. She makes beautiful, elegant molded candles of all shapes and sizes. Once she gets the technique down, I'll have to test one to make sure the heat of the candle doesn't cause the stitched paper to pop off. Then we'll figure out fragrances, etc. Cool, huh?

So my sales were definitely in the very good category. Especially for a $25 6-hour show - I rocked it.

I intend to apply again next year for sure. Fun was definitely had by all.

Zzzzzzzz!

2010-09-22T21:19:00.016-04:00

Hi. Have you missed me? Is this a good look for me? Believe me, you are very happy I cropped the heck out of this photo.

The short version is my doctor thinks I have sleep apnea so I went for a sleep study. I knew I had to blog about it so I went into the bathroom for a quick self-portrait.

See the blue smudges on my forehead?I think the technologist was messin' with me because there's no reason for that to be there - no electrodes were plastered to my forehead. I think he was going for a smiley face but then chickened out.

Wanna hear something weird? The technologist for the first part of my stay looked exactly, I mean exactly, like my ex-husband looked 30 years ago. I didn't tell the poor kid that - how creepy would that have been? He would just worry that I'd either come on to him or perhaps stab him with pointy object. "Hey you. Big guy. Wanna come adjust my electrodes?" Ewww, right?

He did walk into the room as I was snapping a couple of pics of the room. But I'm sure all the bloggers on sleep study do that. The Hilton it's not, but it was spotless and served it's purpose well. That thing right above the bed is a microphone so you can tell them you have to go to the bathroom, for instance and they'll come unhook the unit that all the electrodes go into, from it's cradle on the side of the nightstand and hang it around your neck. That other box on the wall is the speaker so they can talk to you. Once you're wired up and lay down, they have you perform a bunch of things (which I can't even remember anymore) to make sure everything is recording properly.

They have wi-fi there but I could not log into their network for some stupid reason. My laptop must have had some setting that I couldn't find because it wouldn't even accept their password. It's weird because I've logged into other networks without problem. Something must have changed during a recent update. Oh well. I never turned on the TV (with cable and VCR!) but read a book instead. A physical book made of paper. What a concept!

I slept about 6 hours I think, which I'd think is pretty decent for the circumstances. I was laughing about this later thinking how bizarre this whole thing is - to put a person who sleeps shitty to start with, in a 1-star "hotel" and hook them up to 2 dozen wires and 2 belts around their body with people watching (via camera) and listening all night. "Okay - ready, set, go - sleep!"

My follow-up appointment is next Tuesday. I'm on a cancellation list for that too but nothing has opened up. I expect my sleep doctor (whom I love!) to tell me that I stop breathing 50-100 times per hour and I'll get a CPAP machine. There are many varieties available now so I know I'll find one I can use.

There are millions of people with sleep apnea and who knows how many more are undiagnosed. (And you don't have to be overweight - but it helps!) Still, I'm a little surprised that the people I've mentioned this subject to all know at least one person with sleep apnea.

So in the short-term I've stopped getting up at 4:30 and now set the alarm for 6:30. I always wake up at 6:00, which actually feels kind of nice to start the day waking naturally. However, I'm losing 7-1/2 hours of Stefani Time before work during the work week, which I'm not happy about at all. Thus the big gaps between blog entries. Plus I loved starting my day with good solid Pine Tree Designs time. But, in the No-Shit-Sherlock-Department, I'm doing much better on 8 hours sleep than I was on 6-1/2 hours. I have zero sense of how well or poorly I sleep until I see how I feel the next day. Overall, I have 1 pretty bad I'm-so-tired-I-could-cry day every 5-6 days. I'm not yawning-tired, but bone-tired. I feel trying to describe that feeling is like trying to describe the intensity of a hot flash to someone who hasn't had one. I guess it's simple sleep deprivation, but I find it pretty unbearable.

I used to do well on 7 to 7-1/2 hours sleep so I bet that's where I'll end up once I get the CPAP and start getting deep, restful sleep. (I never meant to get 6-1/2 hours sleep, but I never got to bed when I meant to because I was working on something fun, no doubt.)

One of the reasons I went to the doctor in the first place, besides being so tired all the time was that I was trying so hard to lose weight and kept losing and gaining the same 3 pounds over and over. I was depressed and tired and miserable. I honestly thought I needed a weight-loss psychiatrist to see why I can't fix this. The rest of my life is wonderful, why can't I get a handle on this one thing?? I felt so much better when the doctor told me if I have sleep apnea, I'll never lose weight when I'm too tired to exercise enough and make good food decisions. Whew!

Believe me, Steve and I talk about losing weight all the time. So toward that end, we started Jenny Craig last week. We love it! The food is really good - I think Jenny is a better cook than I am! I lost 70 pounds on Nutrisystem 20 years ago and liked the food. Then Steve and I tried Nutrisystem a few years ago and hated the food - it was all beige mush, to me. So we were cautiously optimistic about Jenny Craig. It's definitely more expensive than Nutrisystem - because apparently they sprang for the cost of flavor!

Unofficially, I've lost about 6 pounds. So that's the plan. Get the CPAP, sleep better, feel better, lose weight, feel better, get off the CPAP and live happily every after.

I love a plan.

I've been doing lots of paper art stuff lately - I never let that slide! (Thus the big gap between blog entries.) And I have a recent show to report on. But all that's for another entry. I wanted to get this up before I started getting emails from friends, "You okay?"

Life is still good. And going to get better.

I Need a Clone

2010-09-15T07:16:00.002-04:00

I always tell people that I know I'm in the business I'm supposed to be in because I never get discouraged by momentary set-backs (rained out show, for instance). That's not to say I don't get depressed for a minute or two, but I'm always excited about the next opportunity.

I'm extra excited about this Sunday's Artist Row because:

The weather forecast is perfection! (And WILL not vary, says I.)

The vendor fee is only $25! Can't help but be profitable!

The venue will be filled with eclectic art - created by some vendor friends and lots of vendors I've never met before.

6th Annual Artist Row
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 19
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
ROCHESTER PUBLIC MARKET

(My notify message said no words, just pictures - but I thought of stuff to say later on. That's why this blog is called And Another Thing . . . !)

Put Me Out to Pasture!

2010-09-09T19:43:00.001-04:00

I made this sign for the wall in my office because I've really sucked at remembering to pay the stupid Illinois sales tax weekly. Yes, weekly - how crazy is that??

Do you know how many times I've looked at this sign in the past month? Many.

Do you know how many colleagues have commented on this sign, "Really?? Weekly? That's dumb."

Today Jen (not her, another Jen) saw the sign for the first time and said, "Hey Stef, how do you pronounce the day that 3rd payment is due?"

Holy crap!

That was after I'd just confessed to her that in setting up a new customer in our system, I actually Googled to find out in which county the Suffolk County Police Department resides.

Just shoot me now. Please.

The Newest

2010-09-09T07:20:00.000-04:00

I'm loving the amount of stitching on this design. I can't even remember now what I set out to design but it wasn't this!

The second time I stitched it I decided the points needed more definition to I used solid colors rather than variegated. Better.

That led to outlining the points - even better!

Jen Stark

2010-09-06T21:07:00.000-04:00

I've linked to Jen Stark's site before but this feels like new work I haven't seen before. It's so worth a peek, if you have a moment!

I haven't been posting as frequently lately - time just gets away from me. More details to follow but here are highlights:

A new gift shop opens in Victor on 9/11 and I've been asked to sell my wares so I've been getting my display stuff ready, retagging product, etc. I'll go after work tomorrow and set up.

I updated my Pine Tree Designs site - mostly the shows and stores.

While I was in the mood I redesigned this blog - I was bored with the orange to the point I found it annoying. I'm not 100% happy with this look yet, but it's a work in progress.

I've designed my postcard for my fall/holiday mailing with my shows listed for the rest of the year. I'm going to have it printed at GotPrint this time. I'm just waiting to hear back on the Art at the Lake show.

I've test stitched a new design - I like it! (Mom, not sure if you'll want to stitch it or not. You'll probably want to try it though, I bet.)

I've firmed up the next steps for two super new ideas for product.

I updated the operating system in my iTouch - and I'm soooo not happy. The battery is draining like crazy. Like sitting on the table next to me after 10 minutes use - drained dead! I've visited some forums to see if this is a known issue. Steve said he experienced the same thing - but not to the degree I have. As soon as I have time, I'm going to see if I can revert to the old system, or uninstall and reinstall it - or something.

I'm probably in the minority but I'm kind of digging the cooler weather we've been having.

Steve and I both took Friday off so we've had a really nice 4-day weekend. Life is good. (Except that iTouch issue - it's really making me mad - feels like a betrayal. If I can't fix it - iPad, here I come! Then I'll give the iTouch to Simon and he'll get it working perfectly, no doubt. Wait - there's my answer!)

I Love the Internet

2010-09-04T09:37:00.001-04:00

I have to admit, I read through every one of these over-used, annoying business "buzzwords" on Unsuck It and there were very few I haven't heard. And some I use because I can't seem to find a suitable (to me) replacement. For example:

It is what it is = accept it and move on.

Win/win = good for everyone.

Oddly, buzzword isn't on their list.

And it was on the How About Orange blog that I found Unsuck It. Jessica Jones is a graphic designer and she shares a lot through tutorials and free downloads of her work and other cool stuff she has found online. Both her style and her blog are very clean and uncluttered - really nice. I subscribed to her feed because I'm pretty sure I don't have enough blogs to read, as it is.

I applied to a new show yesterday, Art at the Lake. Indoor! I received an email from the organizer that they are still looking for a few more vendors. The venue is Bristol Harbor Resorts, for 2-1/2 days (Friday night, Saturday and most of Sunday). (The show closes at 3:00 on Sunday, Halloween.) The woman organizing it has a reputation for running good shows, so I hope I'm accepted. I've been looking for something else in October and while I know of several other shows, I found myself procrastinating applying to them. Whenever I procrastinate, there's a reason. Sometimes it takes a while to show up, but I know that it will. And I think this show is my answer!

Email Bankruptcy

2010-08-29T16:41:00.005-04:00

Email Bankruptcy

Urban Dictionary
When you are so inundated with email, both genuine email and spam, that you have to delete everything and start over again.

I am so far behind on email that I am declaring email bankruptcy this year.

~ ~ ~

So that's what I did with my day today - declared Email Bankruptcy. Not 100% but a lot. I sat down on the couch with my laptop at 6:30 am and told myself I was not going to sit here longer than 10:00. I know, that sounds like a long time, but that's kind of a nice Sunday to me. We haven't subscribed to the newspaper in a long time, we do our reading online. We usually take Reggi for a pretty long walk early Sunday but Steve's not feeling well so we didn't do that.

It's now 4:30 and I'm done! Hundreds of emails - gone or dealt with. The thing is - there have been no kids here today. Steve didn't want breakfast so I ate granola while reading and have snacked on a few pretzels and Popsicles. And I have accomplished so much! It's such a luxury to be able to stay focused on one thing until it's done. I can pull it off at the day job too, once in a great while.

You can take a look at my Facebook page and see all the wacky stuff I've been posting today. Yep, that's me getting through my email.

I must have had this same opportunity just about a year ago - because some of the oldest blog notifications that I had filtered into specific folders, were dated just about a year ago. Hmmm.

Poor Verona is beside herself with worry for me, that I've been sitting here so long. I wasn't sure you'd be able to see her features clearly. Sometimes she does what I call "turns herself inside out" - she's so relaxed and stretches out unbelievably. When she's like that, it's likely Steve or I will comment, "Well, I see Verona's stress is through the roof again today." In her defense she hasn't been like that all day. She'll come over for a little scratchin' every once in a while, just to check up on me. Then it's back to her corner. This is where she sleeps all day when we're not here but usually she's curled into a ball, leaning into the corner.

I love her and she loves me.

Aqua Coffee Table

2010-08-28T08:54:00.000-04:00

Now that's a coffee table! I have no idea how the care and maintenance of such a thing works but I love it. And think of the never-ending entertainment for Venus & Verona! Only $569 at Walmart.

Duckling Rescue!

2010-08-27T08:33:00.005-04:00

I Celebrate My Weirdness

2010-08-25T18:22:00.001-04:00

"I celebrate my weirdness" is now a family saying, thanks to Mom.

Here are my random weirdnesses:

If I'm wearing my Bluetooth earpiece and want to sing along with music in the car, I always have to check my phone first to make sure I'm not accidentally connected to anyone, either not hanging up from a previous call or a new incoming call I wasn't aware of, even though my phone is not set to auto-connect (for that very reason).

Our phones at work are now over the Internet so I have a window on my screen that shows, among other things, calls in different categories, missed, received, made. I always clear the call history - don't like seeing any calls in there.

I hate when Americans name their babies “ethnic names”. No offense to the Shawn Patrick O’Reillys and the Giuseppe Salvatore Espositos of America. I also hate (but less so) Jrs and II, III, etc. Simon’s dad and I (semi)seriously considered naming Simon, our Korean-born child: Sven. Sven Tadio. Just to be contrary, I guess.

I would never in a trillion years get married in June – way too cliché and typical. I picked the month I thought most unlikely to be thought of for getting married: February. (Valentine’s Day is such a non-event to me, I guess I forgot all about that.) Got married on February 9^th, a Wednesday evening, 6:30, our living room.

I think this one will change but it hasn’t so far: 95% of the time I type text messages with proper spelling and punctuation. Pretty much the only exception is occasionally I’ll reply to someone’s message with a quick “k” for okay. I type emails with capitals and punctuation, though I do abbreviate a lot – like VM for voice mail and btw – and I type brb when Instant Messaging, which we’re using at work more & more.

If you’d asked me, growing up, I never would have thought I would take my husband’s last name. I wasn’t “the type” to do that, not by a long shot. I kind of surprised myself when I did actually. My logic (a term I use loosely here), at the time was our friends knew his last name and not mine so it just seemed easier. No, I don’t get that either. When we divorced 15 years later, he asked me to change my name back to my maiden name but I refused because I wanted it to be the same as Simon’s. He never mentioned it again. I could certainly change it now but now I don’t care anymore. Too much work. But if I was going to change it, I should do it now before I become a rich and famous artist. :-)

On a related weird note, part of the reason I don’t want to change it back is because I’m not wild about the alliteration of my maiden name: Stefani Stahlman. Sorry, Mom & Dad. Stefani Tadio alleviates that problem – but on the whole, I kind of dislike Italian names – yet I keep Tadio. Ohhh – very interesting! In my head, I just pretended that Simon changed his last name from Tadio to something else. Instantly, I didn’t care about my last name being Tadio anymore. So that’s what this is still about – I want to have the same last name as Simon.

While I’m on Memory Lane, back 30 years ago when I was trying to get pregnant, I deeply hated all pregnant women. I’m sure that’s common among us infertiles. I hated their smug I’m-better-than-you attitude. Which they totally didn’t have, of course. Even to this day, I really don’t want to watch birthing scenes or much of anything about pregnancies in movies or on TV. I’m certainly over that part of my life – just a little carry-over annoyance, I guess. (Gretchen, I never hated you for being pregnant, not ever, not even a little – nothing but pure 100% joy for you!)

Even though friends and family seem to think I’m frugal, I never feel frugal enough. I worry about money daily.

I hate when people look through their mail while standing at their mailbox at the end of their driveway.

I always eat the outside edges of a cookie first, saving the perfect center for last. The dessert of my dessert, if you will. (Gretchen eats fried eggs the same way - freak.) Oddly, I don't eat brownies or any other dessert like that - just cookies.

I really wish I am neurotic was still active. Actually I wish there was an "app for that".

That is all. (Actually I'll probably think of 50 more now that I'm concentrating on these.)

I Survived

2010-08-24T21:45:00.002-04:00

No, not another rainy outdoor art festival! I survived doing work for that company run by The Bully. Our contract with them ended July 31, as I wrote about here. Today I boxed up the files I had accumulated over 3 years - all fits in this box. They have been renting space in our Amherst office for 3 years and are moving out this Friday. A colleague is going to Amherst tomorrow for a meeting so he's taking this box to that other company for me. I felt unexpectedly giddy and finally felt a whoosh of closure. We've been waiting for this day for a year and it felt like it would never get here. We were always afraid to get our hopes up. It had dragged on so long, I wasn't sure closure was possible. It is!

I took this picture with my phone today and emailed it to my boss and another colleague who worked even more closely with this other company. I included my two accounting team members because they've understood our misery - and the emails flew around with some irreverent thoughts. Sorry I can't share them!

What's really important about this picture is my turbo fan. Now THAT is a fan, my friend - perfect for the overweight menopausal woman who works-in-old-building-with-unreliable-chiller. Yes, the building is cooled by a chiller, not air conditioning. I have no idea what that even means. That puppy oscillates and has 3 speeds though it's so powerful, I've never had it higher than low! I have to put bottles of hand lotion and hand sanitizer on my stacks of paper, lest they blow away. I'm not making this up. The best part?

It has a remote control.

Yep, that's how I roll.

August Birthdays

2010-08-21T21:10:00.001-04:00

This is the 5" square birthday card I made for Mom. I teased her about it via email on her actual birthday a few days ago, "Two words, Mom. Blue & Bling." The outside row of dots is tiny seed beads sewn in place and the inner row is Swarovski crystals glued in place. Click on the image to see it a bit closer.

This is an Erica Fortgens pattern that I stitched from one of her books years ago. I have drawers of stitched pieces so I try to use up the non-Stefani-originals that I can't sell, whenever I give cards.

The little dots between the navy blue scallops are created from Smooch Metallic Paint. I bought just 3 colors a month or so ago when I placed my last order with Outlines Rubber Stamps. It has a fine point foam tip that allows plenty of control. I watched several videos on You Tube about it before I bought it. I haven't used it much yet but I'm liking it.

My nephew Nick turned 24 today and my nephew Paul turned 21 earlier this month. So we all got together for breakfast at The Log Cabin this morning, to celebrate their birthdays.

And fun was had by all.

Pathetic Pins

2010-08-17T07:10:00.000-04:00

This is the last whining you'll hear about last weekend's festival, I promise. But how sad is this?? My beautiful pin I was so proud to wear. I finally had the sense to take it off - and I can easily replace the center piece, so no harm done. The plastic sleeve I made this to fit would not have saved it - it opened at the top.


As I was unloading the vehicle Sunday morning, I noticed one of my paper pins on the ground and couldn't figure out where it came from - must have been stuck to something. Thank goodness I went to Lowe's for more plastic drop cloths and went into the ladies room - and saw this! It wasn't even raining yet so I'm not sure why the pin came off the pin-back. Shoddy workmanship, I guess.

A fellow vendor friend offered me a couple of packages of tablecloth protectors. I tried to refuse them because I had plastic drop cloths but I'm glad I gave in. I didn't even know these things existed! They are table sized and crystal clear so people could still my product. Genius!

(Dad, that roll of plastic you gave me was, as we suspected, a little too heavy. But Steve put it to good use yesterday, covering that golf net thing I was telling you about.)

Back to the day job today, then grocery shopping after work. Whoopee!

The Day After

2010-08-16T05:52:00.002-04:00

This was my free giveaway offered this weekend, as my way to collect (with permission) names for my mailing list. I didn't get much bang for my buck this weekend. Oh well, maybe some good will come of it yet. (I know of at least one new opportunity coming my way for a show next year.)

I was beat so I went to bed at 8:30 last night. Naturally I woke up at my usual 4:30 this morning. I tried to go back to sleep but the thunder, lightning and rain was giving me Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Thank goodness there was no lightning yesterday - that would have been scary in a sea of metal framed tents.

So let's look at the good news of the weekend, shall we?

Um, well - so how was your weekend??

Actually, I think this is the first time ever I didn't "make rent" - made less than the entrance fee. It was close, but no cigar. Plus paying the kids to help and my time and gas, etc. spent - definitely lost money this weekend. I'm a little depressed about that, I have to tell you. This too shall pass.

When people visit my booth, see my work and watch me stitch, they often say, "Wow, you must really love what you do." To which I reply, completely heartfelt, "This is what I was meant to do. This is my passion."

It truly is. I'm happy to have found my passion.

~ ~ ~

Since Steve and I started taking off from our day jobs, the day after a show, it's always worked out nicely. Either I'm exhausted from making gobs of money or I'm a little down from a negative experience.

If the weather co-operates, we're going to take Reggi for a long walk at her favorite park this morning. Then I have a guy coming to look at our gutters for cleaning and repair if necessary. We're taking Reggi and Verona to the vet this afternoon for their "well visits".

Plus I'm going to look at a new store space in Victor sometime today. A friend is opening a new store and offered me space to rent. I forgot to ask her if part of the contract is I'd have to work in the store because that's a deal breaker for me. Though most co-ops like this let you pay a little more in exchange for not working. I've done the working in the store thing a few years ago - two different places. I no longer have time and I don't enjoy it like I once did - kind of a been-there-done-that thing. This new store is in a gorgeous huge house right on Main Street in Victor. The location is outstanding plus she's partnering with an established bakery which I think could make all the difference. I've been involved with 2 other stores in Victor in recent years, both failed. Maybe this one's the charm!

No time for moping anyway, even if I was inclined. My pity parties usually last about 5 minutes, then, "What's next?"

6th Annual Artist Row
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 19
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
ROCHESTER PUBLIC MARKET

This looks like the eclectic kind of event I'd like to attend! I've heard nothing but good things and I'm very excited. The fee to vend is only $25! I'm definitely going to make money and have fun that day. More information here.

It Got Funner

2010-08-15T18:44:00.001-04:00

Thunderstorms were predicted overnight and into Sunday so at the end of Saturday, Steve & Lizz came down and we packed up everything but the tent frame with roof, tables, black shutters and card spinner. As windy as it was during the day, I was worried that it would get even worse overnight.

The plan was for Steve, Lizz and Simon to go with me this morning to haul everything back and raise the tent, put the sides on if not too windy. I woke up at my usual 4:30, showered, wrote the previous blog entry - and decided to go it alone. I'm glad I did - it worked out just fine. The loading zone isn't very far from the site. It was very do-able by myself - plus saved me money I wasn't making this weekend - because I pay the kids to help us. Mainly, I really hated to make those nice people get up early and traipse down to Canandaigua again.

It had definitely rained overnight and was still a bit windy but not as much as yesterday. It was overcast, but a bit bright at times. I got my head together, it was going to be a good day, no matter what. It's what we're doing today.

I got all set up and settled in to stitch. It lightly sprinkled. Very lightly. Off and on.

Then the heavens opened up and it rained like a mo-fo. (You can tell by the length of the tent sides on the ground, I never raised the tent to it's tallest position.) I closed up the tent to wait it out. That's the front of the tent, but I had to close it - that's the direction the wind and rain was coming from. I worried that even covering the product with plastic, as I'd done, wouldn't be enough. Paper isn't a big fan of water or wind.

Not to worry, I'll just sit here at the back of the tent and stitch. I didn't fasten the sides down all the way, to allow for venting. I let the back sections flap free because otherwise it was too hot and stuffy in there.

Anybody want to buy a Sticky Notes?? I swear to God they are in there somewhere!

Other vendors were talking about leaving and a couple started packing up. I texted Steve that I was going to sit tight for a while and see what happened next. I was pleased to tell him that unlike Fairport, I was not panicky to get out of there. This is what we're doing now.

I stitched for a little while and kept poking my head outside to see what others were doing. Soon it became evident that everyone was leaving. It was pouring rain and not a customer in sight. There had been some folks there with umbrellas throughout the morning, but (almost) no one was stopping, even less were buying.

My sales for today: $5!

Which beats my Fairport Canal Days Sunday sales - by $5!

So I called Steve and said it was time to go. Like I've said, it's about a 30 minute drive from home, so by the time, he, Lizz and DJ arrived (Simon was working), I had everything packed up, weights disassembled from the tent - pretty much all I could do without taking the tent frame and roof down. Guess I could have done that too - I was completely soaked to the skin.

At one point, I was sitting in the Port-a-Potty, water dripping off my nose, chuckling to myself, "What is it I like about this outdoor show thing again?"

Vendors were driving on the lawn to get next to their space for loading. It's a big no-no to leave early, as a rule. It's in most contracts (indoors or outdoors) that if you leave before the show/festival is over, you won't be invited back. Today, the director made a point of driving around in her golf cart to apologize for the weather, "I'm so sorry - I know how hard you people work! I hope we'll see you next year!" I've said I have a hard and fast rule about never leaving a show early, no matter how slow sales are. That's why I was mortified at leaving Fairport Canal Days early. In my ever-evolving understanding of outdoor shows, sometimes it's just plain okay. (There was no thunder or lightning today but I can definitely see that being a deal breaker too.)

It was about 3:00 by the time we got back to Fairport. We went out to eat and called it a day.

And then the sun came out. (Bet you predicted that, right?) I just checked weather.com - and yep, it sunny in Canandaigua too. (Show would have ended at 5:00.)

And that's what I was doing today.

Au Contraire

2010-08-15T06:09:00.001-04:00

I say Au Contraire to those of you who live in and around Rochester - the weather was not as nice as you thought/hoped it was in Canandaigua, NY! But now that I've gotten in the groove of outdoor shows, "This is what we're doing today...." - all is good.

It was pretty dang windy. I started out with sides on the tent (open front and back), tablecloths on the tables and my black shutters bungeed to one corner. I also used my awning on the front of the tent for the first time. After my family left, I started setting up and one by one, removed the aforementioned accoutrement.

If I'd not had my experience with wind in Fairport this year, I would never have considered rolling up all four sides of the tent with paper product inside.

As we were setting up the tent, we were all impressed with the tent across the path from me - it was right on the lake, closed up tight and never budged an inch. As soon as my family left, that tent blew over into my tent, landing on my Sticky Notes stand. But I saw it coming and kind of got to my stand at the same time. It landed on the wood part and that thing is a workhorse - no damage done.

A bunch of us righted the tent, rolled up the sides and lowered it. There were two supports that were broken or bent (sound familiar?) When the people arrived, they tried to get it up but ended up taking it down altogether. They have another tent at home that they may or may not try today. The weather forecast is dismal, so I'm not sure they are going to show up.

I saw a tent frame tumbleweed across the park. Read about - never seen it in person before. Impressive.

My roof started coming off at one point but I could still reach it and a couple of people helped me get it back on. It stayed put the rest of the day.

I set out an example of all the styles of pins and magnets and left everything else in the containers. Not very aesthetically pleasing but beats chasing my product all day.

Welcome to my garage sale. That's what it felt like. Oh well. The wind died down so I could put my greeting cards in the spinner. That brightened the space up a little bit.

I still don't have a good handle on wind speeds. If I'm reading weather.com correctly, the winds yesterday were gusting to 18 mph. That's less than Fairport (24 mph) - but it felt like 40 mph! I can't wait to see what today brings - percent of precipitation ranges from 10% to 50% with wind 10-12 mph.

The festival seemed well attended but my sales were poor, I think largely because my set-up didn't draw people in. "Oh look, she's selling plastic tubs!" Other vendors reported the same slow sales.

Honestly though, I'm a little depressed starting the day, but overall, I'm not discouraged. I do have my eye on a Cadillac of a tent - a Trimline, to the tune of $800+. I just watched a video of how to assemble it even. I've done 2 years with the same starter tent everyone starts with, the EZ Up. I'm in this for the long haul - time to upgrade.

10:00-5:00 Both Days. More information here!

Hand Stitched Name Tag

2010-08-13T15:59:00.000-04:00

My new hand stitched name tag for shows. It's 3-1/2" x 2-1/2". I made it to slide into one of those plastic name tag holders but it looks better without the plastic (of course!) so I'm about to glue a pin-back on it and wear it as is.

For years, I've been wearing one of my (hand stitched) business cards in a plastic holder as my name tag. Few vendors do but whenever I've been a customer at shows, I want to be able to easily identify who the artist and/or money-taker is. Even when shows provide a name tag, if I can get away with it, I don't wear it - I wear my own.

At the last show, the Waterfront Art Festival, I did wear the name tag provided by the show and I noticed that several customers used my name, as in, "Your work is beautiful, Stefani," or "Thank you, Stefani!", because my name was big enough to be seen on my name tag. So I decided I needed to make myself a new one, with my name more visible.

Duh - it should be stitched! Isn't that a no-brainer I should have thought of years ago?? Honestly. What is wrong with me??

I love this new tag so much, I feel like I should offer them for sale, either with the center left blank for people to fill in their own blanks or make them custom-printed, like I did this one. Except I can't exactly figure out who my market would be for these. It seems like the people who would really appreciate them would be stitchers and they would want to make their own. I could sell the "blanks", ready to stitch.

I dunno. I'll just happily wear this one this weekend and see if anything comes of it. I do see myself stitching more of these - can't you see this in red & green to be worn at Christmas shows? I'll have one to match each outfit! (I'm only kidding a little.)

Plus - did you notice - the design isn't circular or square!? I'm branching out, yes I am.

10:00-5:00 Both Days. More information here!

Bob's Cake

2010-08-12T06:09:00.000-04:00

Here's Bob's birthday cake that we enjoyed yesterday. He's heavy into golf and bowling leagues throughout the year - pretty darn good at both, I hear. Don't you love the grass under the golf tees?! (The other half of the cake looked like this too.) I should have taken a picture of the top of the cake too. It had topsy turvy brown fondant letters spelling out Happy Birthday. Bob picked the flavors - a repeat of an earlier cake we'd had: the cake was chocolate with cherry filling between the layers, with white chocolate buttercream frosting.

Bob loved the cake - must have thanked me 6 times between cake-time (1:30) and when he left to play golf at 3:30. It's become quite our tradition this year for our department's birthdays. The full cycle will end with my birthday next March. Wonder what we'll do next?

For any local readers who have driven by Turk Hill Estates and have seen the sign for Vanilla Swirl Cakery's garage sale for the last couple of weeks and wondered what it was, I'm here to report back. It's kind of what you would expect, really, junk they don't want or need anymore - like coffee cups and plain flower vases, an old cash register, I think, some cake pans (long thin loaf pans, but a bit rusty, which could be removed I guess). I can't even remember what else. The woman waiting on me told me there wasn't much left so I'm guessing all the "good stuff" was gone. Good to note for future years - go early!

Or maybe I can't remember what else was on the two tables because I was distracted by the truffles they had under a glass dome on the counter. They usually have cookies, sometimes a few, sometimes a lot, like yesterday- for sale on the counter. You have to understand, this isn't a fancy bakery, it's very warehouse-like. I assume these cookies and truffles are things left over from orders and serve as "impulse items" for those of us picking up baked goods. They only take cash or checks so probably a good thing I always have only the exact amount needed for the cake.

The sign said these were "cake truffles" so presumably they were little bites of their various leftover cake batter, baked, then dipped in frosting. They were decorated in a variety of ways - little swirl of frosting, flakes of this or that. They were $1 each. I would definitely pay that for one or two bites of their delicious cake. Note to self. :-)

10:00-5:00 Both Days. More information here!

It's Party Day!

2010-08-11T06:49:00.002-04:00

This is a birthday card for my boss. His birthday is Friday but he and I are both off that day so we're celebrating today - with a delicious cake from Vanilla Swirl! Then he's going to play golf this afternoon - sounds like he'll have a great day!

I've been super busy this week getting ready for this weekend's Riesling Festival. I'm taking Friday and Monday off, as has been my routine lately, whenever I have a weekend show. Steve takes off the same days so that's nice. We can set up Friday night 5:00-8:00 but we've decided to set up early Saturday morning for a couple of reasons - mainly because hired help Simon & DJ will be able to help us and it all goes much faster with them. Plus Canandaigua is about 45 minutes away so it saves time and gas money not making that extra trip. The forecast ranges from no rain at all to rain on Sunday but honestly, I haven't looked at it too closely yet. Because this venue is right on Canandaigua Lake, the weather is pretty changeable so why risk leaving the tent up an extra night?

We can check in Saturday morning at 7:00 and the festival starts at 10:00. That's cutting it a little close for me, but I can deal with it. I'm really looking forward to it - should be fun!

10:00-5:00 Both Days. More information here!

Pastels

2010-08-05T06:43:00.000-04:00


These are some of the pastel Sticky Notes for a custom order.


Not completely pastel - gotta have some contrast sometimes! I'll probably make more than the 14 the customer ordered and she can choose when she comes to pick them up.

10:00-5:00 Both Days. More information here!

New Tins

2010-08-03T05:56:00.003-04:00

Here's what I've been working on - new tins!

The stitched tins are still my favorite and I'm feverishly stitching new strips for those too but people love the sunflowers and ladybugs so I thought I should offer these too. I'm about to figure out something different for the ladybug lid - too much plain space. Might be stitching, might be paper leaves, not sure yet.

I received an order from a customer who purchased from me last year - for 14 Sticky Notes in pastel colors. I stitched a couple of those pieces last night, just to experiment with colors. It's a nice change of pace since I usually work in fairly bold, contrasty colors.

Yes, I do work on lots of stuff simultaneously - in my studio, on my lunch hour, while watching TV with Steve after dinner. It's always something! (Remember who said that?)

In other news, Steve's sister has been in town so I've been busy with her sometimes. She's staying with their brother for the last part of her trip so life is back to normal around here.

The day job has no significant events going on so I'm working my normal hours. The best possible news on that front is that our contract with the company run by The Bully is over! It's been a long, hellish 3 years - taking up way too much of my time. My last day to do work for them was last Friday though there's little bits to be done during the transition to the new company that bought them. I met (via email) the Accounts Receivable person at the new company yesterday so I've been emailing her documents that I think she'll find helpful. I'll box up their files later this week.

It's not like I'll have loads of free time I don't know what to do with because as I like to say, I already had a full-time job when we took on their accounting work. There's just been a lot of things not getting done so I'm eager to get back to that stuff.

This is a nice festival - the 2nd annual this year. Lots of art, music, food and wine! Hours are 10:00-5:00 both days. Stop by and say hi!

A Most Excellent Show Weekend!

2010-07-26T16:37:00.003-04:00


I love when the weather is good and I have the space to pull the Sticky Notes stand out in front of the tent a bit. That stand is clearly one of the best investments I've made - it's very eye-catching. If I had a dollar for every person who reads "Sticky Notes" out loud, I'd make a couple hundred extra dollars per show!

It was so freakin' windy at 10:00 Friday morning (my assigned set-up time) when Steve and I went to Canandaigua to put up the tent, we ended up packing it back up (never really got it up) and going out to breakfast/lunch. I wasn't going to leave my product there overnight that night anyway so we went extra early Saturday morning, along with my hired crew of Simon, DJ & Lizz. Mucho better. Went up in a snap. Hiring those guys to help really speeds up the load-in and load-out, even with Simon and I bickering. (Steve said it's nice of us to provide entertainment for the rest of them. I hate it and am going to try harder to not participate in that portion of the program.)

With my new EZ-Up weights strapped to the feet and my larger PVC pipe weights hanging from the top, that tent didn't budge. It's a very different experience being confident in your tent! The weather is very changeable on the lake, of course, but they keep a good eye on the forecast - as do vendors with iPhones and Blackberries. So an hour before close on Saturday, the director came through and said a storm was coming at 5:30, so pack it up. I put all my product in tubs overnight and that takes some time. But I got it done and the tent secured and it started sprinkling by the time I got to my car. By the time I started driving, it was a cats and dogs crazy driving rain. The tent survived the night nicely though!


This is the crummy view I was stuck with all weekend! I'm kidding, I was very happy with my assigned spot.

It was hot (86 degrees) and beastly humid on Saturday. As you saw, I had my tent open front and back but naturally the breeze was blowing side to side. I wasn't sure if I should open my tent more but I was worried about product blowing around plus I felt I should be able to button up quickly should a sudden storm come up.

It was too hot to stitch or eat. Those are words I've never used together in a sentence!

Leslie, I thought of you often with my cold towel around my neck. You saved me!! Thank you so much. Unfortunately, I didn't get organized enough to actually freeze any towels but I took one with me and kept dipping it into my cooler of ice water. That worked! Next time I'll do what you do - take multiple frozen towels. I just read what you wrote about tying one around your head and your neck. Maybe I should get Simon to set up a business as a strolling frozen towel vendor at art fairs!

The weather was much improved on Sunday - threat of rain in the morning that really only generated a tiny sprinkle. Then sunshine, temps in the high 70s with not nearly as much humidity. This time the wind was back to front and kept blowing pins and magnets off the table. That got old after a while but not worth changing the configuration of the tent.

My Sunday sales were better than my Saturday sales, which was strictly weather related, I'm sure.

My stacking cake plates worked like a charm - just like I envisioned. I originally had them closer together earlier in the show when I had more framed art on the table. (Note the close proximity of the Porta-Potties in the background. Plus this show had running water - one of those little foot pump operated stands next to the PPs. Luxury!)

One of my favorite things about this show was I sold so many pieces of framed art, I lost track of the number. I attribute that to 2 factors. A) I had more of it than I ever have had. I think less of something and the customer glances and moves on. If there's lots to see, they linger and buy. And B) Since getting my Groove on, my designs are very stitchy. They are more impressive - more stitches and less paper shapes.

I even sold 2 pieces without frames - took them right out of the frames for customers. That's another thing I've been wanting to offer. I did have some unframed pieces available at Fairport Canal Days but that aborted show doesn't really count. So I'm pleased to know I'm going in the right direction with that too. I'll have more unframed art available too.

The pieces I sold were 8" x 8" but customers didn't balk at the (semi) non-standard size. Here I was going to try to make my future art my 8 x 10 or 4 x 6, 5 x 7 - to be easier to frame. I still will but I'm not going to focus on that quite as much as I planned. My designs are circular and square, they just are!

These little tins sold like crazy and I could not be happier. I love them! I started with 6 - just finished assembling them on Friday and they were gone by the end of the show. One woman was going to put tea in hers, another thought maybe paper clips.

Slightly out of focus - but these are the tops. You may recall I ended up with these tins when they were shipped to me by a soap and candle online wholesaler. I'd ordered reed diffuser oil and received these by mistake, so I kept them at a reduced price. I've just been a nut for little containers my whole life - ask my family. I knew I could do something cute with them. I'm glad customers agreed so I get to make more!

Here's another trial balloon that floated successfully. I made a smattering (2 dozen-ish) just to see how people responded. Very well! I have another idea I want to try - a giant letter that is stitched, rather than a smaller letter surrounded by stitching. Or both.

It's funny how when I first got my Groove, I was almost ashamed of using it, that somehow using a computerized cutting machine wasn't as crafty as old-school punches. I quickly got over that and embraced the machine & software that changed my life. My customers think it's cool too. I keep the tool I used to use with me in my booth (thumbtack glued to a custom turned wood handle that Dad made for me) to show them how I got started. They seem to love my story of self-improvement. :-)

No one blinked at the new graduated pricing - but they liked my new sign (the lots and lots of stitching part). I only had two of the $8.00 Sticky Notes ready for sale and a woman bought them both, along with other pads, without even noticing the price. No one seemed to consciously notice the outline stitching that Mom "invented". They just like what they like without over analyzing it. (What fun is that??)

No one really commented on the little labels with the stitch count I put on the newest notepads. At first I thought I would discontinue that but I have bunches of labels ready to go and I know the stitch count for each design. To me, there seems to be no downside to putting these labels on - it only takes seconds. As Dad pointed out, maybe it adds to the perceived value.

I always think I'm going to see more people I know at show, than I usually do. This weekend though I saw lots of friends, old and new, from all areas of my life. I love that part too.

After the disaster that was Canal Days, I'm soooo happy to have successfully cultivated a new attitude. There's no such thing as a perfect show - indoors or outdoors. Rolling with the punches is what we do. Improve and grow, that's what we do.

And so this was my 2nd best show to date! Very successful!!

Ladybug Sticky Notes

2010-07-22T06:50:00.001-04:00

These ladybug Sticky Notes went like crazy at The Lilac Festival so I was happy to find I had about 3 dozen ladybugs stitched and assembled that I could put together in time for this weekend's Waterfront festival. I previously mounted them on green patterned paper but this time I decided to go back to my stamping roots. That's a Magenta leaf stamp with a few Judith "happy dots" filling in some of the empty spaces. I stamped them in Versamark ink, which is a watermark type ink that makes the image a couple of shades darker than the paper it's used on.

On another stamping note, yes, Leslie, these sunflowers are stamped as well. I used to stamp the sunflower twice, once on yellow paper and once on brown paper for the center. Now I do the center in that spirelli element in my never ending effort to have stitching or at least thread, on every piece. That is one of my favorite stamps - it's by Peddler's Pack, Stampworks, it says, from 2003.

37th Annual Waterfront Art Festival

July 24 & 25, 2010 in Canandaigua, NY

10 - 6 Sat & 10 - 5 Sun

Paper Cutting

2010-07-21T07:28:00.002-04:00

Lori Danelle hand cut her fingerprint in paper! This is fascinating from a delicate cutting point of view and a fingerprint point of view. Excellent work.

It's funny, at shows, a lot of people tell me they could never do what I do, it's so tiny and tedious. That's exactly how I feel about paper cutting. It's an endlessly fascinating art form to me, but I don't ever see myself doing it.

Check out this work by another favorite of mine, Joe. I could stitch something along this line. But cut it out with an Exacto knife? Never.

Love this stuff!

37th Annual Waterfront Art Festival

July 24 & 25, 2010 in Canandaigua, NY

10 - 6 Sat & 10 - 5 Sun

Bees on Steroids

2010-07-20T06:24:00.000-04:00

The bulkiness of these bees makes it impossible to scan correctly but that's all I have time for this morning. I thought I was ordering the same bee buttons I always buy, but these are so much bigger! I think they're okay, just a different look. I apparently ordered the first bees I came to without scrolling down the page to the "tiny bees". Whoomp, there it is.(I heard that song on the radio this morning. Is it stuck in your head now too? You're welcome.)

~ ~ ~

I finally received my load-in time and location for the Waterfront Art Festival in Canandaigua this weekend. I get to set up at 10:00 Friday morning - I'm thrilled, being a morning person. That's also the time that Kerri cleans our house so that works out perfectly, to be gone then. I'll be sending out an email tonight or tomorrow with a map and I'll be posting it on the Pine Tree Designs Facebook Page too.

In even more exciting news, I received my vendor application from the Genesee Valley Quilt Club for their 2011 Diamond Jubilee Quilt Festival. It's a big show they produce every 2 years. I participated in 2009 and it's still my 2nd best show on record. Now that I know what to expect, I'm really gonna kill it next year. I've been checking their website fanatically, awaiting the application. Not only do I make some good money, but it's a 3-day extravaganza filled with colorful quilts and colorful quilters. My peeps! I love it.

~ ~ ~

Here's a word you haven't heard me utter in a while: audit. We are having one of our 3 times/year audits by our flooring company (clearing house for vendor invoices). I agreed to do it this week, even though I knew I'd be crazy busy prepping for this weekend's show. I was at my desk at 5:45 this morning, though I am taking a few minutes out to post this. While it's usually quite a load of work on top of my already full time plus, job - this week I'm squeezing it into four days.

I can do it!

37th Annual Waterfront Art Festival

July 24 & 25, 2010 in Canandaigua, NY

10 - 6 Sat & 10 - 5 Sun

See What Mom Started??

2010-07-16T06:29:00.001-04:00

37th Annual Waterfront Art Festival

July 24 & 25, 2010 in Canandaigua, NY

10 - 6 Sat & 10 - 5 Sun

My Mom is a Flippin' Genius!

2010-07-15T05:52:00.001-04:00

Mom does a lot of stitching for me. She's a major part of my village - I couldn't run Pine Tree Designs without her help. I picked up another batch of completed circles last night and as I sat down to bead them last night, I noticed she had outline-stitched the points on this particular design.

Mom, I'm not sure if you stitched these two but I outlined them after I saw what you had done. The one that first caught my eye was stitched in light pink, outlined in dark pink. I almost called you last night, I was so excited - and you know I don't "do phone"!

I have stitched 80 skillion of this type of design and it never occurred to me to outline the points.

T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U! (And please outline the points on any future circles with this design.)

~ ~ ~

You may remember me whining about my new inexpensive printer that was inexpensive for a reason - it tends to feed through too many sheets at a time, and won't feed cardstock through hardly at all.

I recently had the brilliant idea of taking cardstock to FedEx (formerly known as Kinko's) and having them print the sheets of business cards that I then ran through my Groove to cut apart and cut the holes for stitching (by the aforementioned Mom).

I need to print more of my two-sided tri-fold brochure and using my printer wastes way too many sheets because of the multiple sheet feeding problem. (It sometimes prints on parts of the pages it pulls through so they can't be reused.)

I knew color printing was more expensive than black printing. I did not know it is MEGA SUPER DUPER expensive! I was so smug in my love for FedEx that I didn't ask the price up front. The nice man had started the print job when he priced it out for me. Because I brought my own paper stock he charged me for one-side printing. It's 59 cents/sheet. It sort of doesn't sound like a lot but x 200 sheets = $118!

Stop the presses!

Seriously, I had him stop at the 31 sheets that had been printed. And I thanked him profusely for telling me the price before we had gotten too far. Just for fun, he told me the full price for two-sided color printing would have been $1.25/brochure. Holy crap.

So I'm back to printing them on my printer. I think it was Mom who suggested I print a few at a time to see if that works better. I tried that a little bit and it did seem to help. (Told you my mom is a flippin' genius.) Not the best use of my time, babysitting a printer, but that's what I'm doing for now.

37th Annual Waterfront Art Festival

July 24 & 25, 2010 in Canandaigua, NY

10 - 6 Sat & 10 - 5 Sun

Beaded Circles

2010-07-12T06:31:00.004-04:00

Just a few of the pieces I'm working on. These will be used for the covers of Sticky Notes or maybe greeting cards. I used to never put crystals or beads on greeting cards so there would be no risk of damage going through the mail. Now for cards with crystals or beads, I include a piece of cardstock with a label that says:

If you’re mailing this card, I recommend you place this piece of cardstock

over the front of the card to protect the beads and crystals.

Also please note that square cards require additional

postage (typically 20 cents) – please see www.usps.com.

Thank you so much for your purchase!

Such a simple thing - why didn't I think of it before? It's freed up my work to be all that it can be.*

Other than beading some pieces while watching TV Friday and Saturday nights, I didn't work on any paper stuff all weekend. But I got lots of other stuff accomplished.

I bought 3 sets of these stacking cake plates that I talked about here. I headed to Target yesterday because I'd seen on the Anchor Hocking website that Target sells them as well as Wegmans, where I'd first seen them. Target seems easier to get in and out of quickly. At the last minute I decided to go to Wegmans instead (they are in the same plaza) since I knew they had them. Turns out they were on sale at Wegmans, $7.00 off! So I accidentally saved $21 by my last minute decision. Love when that happens.

These sets of footed plates will take up more room to store & transport so I reorganized one of my plastic bins by pulling out my lights and electrical accoutrements and putting them in their own box. I've been meaning to do this for a long time - no point in hauling that stuff to a show where I don't have electric.

I have one more full weekend coming before the next show. Busy, busy.

*All it can be until I step it up even more. Can't wait to see what's next!

37th Annual Waterfront Art Festival

July 24 & 25, 2010 in Canandaigua, NY

10 - 6 Sat & 10 - 5 Sun

The Panic has Receded

2010-07-11T11:28:00.003-04:00

The panic I refer to in the title is concerning The Waterfront Art Festival, held in Canandaigua, NY, this year on July 24 and 25. I spoke to the director today who confirmed I have been accepted and she'll be sending me my space assignment in the next couple of days.

Now the backstory and reason for my panic attack. I received an email from the director back in March, saying I was accepted to the show but she had put my application in the wrong bin, but she found it and now it's in the right bin. Yay! I've not done this show before but I hear good things and another show in Canandaigua was good for me last year.

She also said my credit card was declined. She was really nice about it, saying don't be embarrassed - that she has a small business too and is always "on the razor's edge of financial disaster" and to let her know when to run it again. So I replied but I didn't hear back. I called the phone number on the website and left messages. I emailed again. I did these things several times until I figured she was just super busy and I had probably reached the point of being annoying. So I stopped trying to contact her.

I realized a couple of weeks ago that she and I had never connected and she had not run my card again. I called the phone number on the site again - no answer, no voice mail. I emailed her personal address and the info@ address on the site. Still no response.

Last night it dawned on me that maybe they lost my application altogether or the show was canceled or something. The website has not been updated in months. Red flags galore.

I called the phone number this morning and the director answered! She alluded to the City of Canandaigua being difficult to deal with - the festival was just approved on July 2! No wonder they had not sent out space assignments. Poor woman has been going through hell, I guess.

She knew exactly who I was (from all my pesky messages I guess!) and said she'd run my card now and mail me my space assignment in the next few days. Usually these assignments and vendor packets go out to the vendors weeks, if not months in advance. Though now I just read on the application they don't usually send them out until the end of June anyway, so it's not that far off.

I'm greatly relieved. Because it's the 37th annual edition of this show, I'm sure it will be fine. But I still have a couple of wee butterflies in my stomach, wondering why all the hub-bub with the City.

~ ~ ~

I spent yesterday getting my tent & accessories ready. I replaced the broken support beams in my tent. I filled my new EZ UP leg weights with sand - each one weighs 45 lbs and attaches to the bottom of the leg of the tent.

I made new PVC pipe weights, these are 4" in diameter instead of 3" diameter. These will hang from the roof of the tent, weighting the top. Seems a bit like overkill to me now, but I'm sure I won't think that in windy weather.

Simon made the last PVC pipe weights for me so this was my first experience cementing PVC pipe together - and I have the purple primer fingers to prove it! This time, I first drilled a hole in the center of the top end cap and inserted a large eye bolt held in place by a nut. This will allow the weights to hang straight down. We didn't do this with the 3" weights - we tied rope around the neck of the weight. These will be better and was easier to do than I thought it would be. Wish I'd done this the first time. But this is what learning looks like. :-)

I washed all my tablecloths and related fabric and hung them on the clothesline.

It was a tiring day - lots of weight lifting! - but I'm very happy with the results and happy to be able to check this stuff off the list with a couple of weeks to spare.

Today will be a busy day in the studio. So off I go!

37th Annual Waterfront Art Festival

July 24 & 25, 2010 in Canandaigua, NY

10 - 6 Sat & 10 - 5 Sun

AlmsHse Alphabet

2010-07-06T06:50:00.003-04:00

I've had a couple dozen of these square designs stitched for a while, from when I first started working on breaking out of circle mode. I wasn't sure what I'd put in the center but it dawned on me recently, when I unearthed them on my work table, they'd be perfect for a monogram, an idea I keep coming back to. (Thanks Brenda for being the first to suggest it! It hasn't left my mind since you mentioned it back when, and a couple of customers have suggested it since.)

I initially rejected the monogram idea because I could, still can, foresee customers asking, "Don't you have N in blue?" So I'm finishing the covers I have stitched, with random letters and we'll see how they are received at the next show before I go nuts on them.

Do you know how hard it is to choose a font?? Number 1, I decided to stick with one font, because otherwise, this monogramming part could become a full-time job in itself, trying to please everyone. My Klic-N-Kut Groove comes with something like 700+ fonts. That's about 600 too many. (Actually, that 700+ includes bold, italic, slim, fat, etc. of each font. Still.)

I quickly found the letters can't have parts that are too skinny to easily get off that mat at this size. Some of the paper I have seems to cut more smoothly if the letters are rounded. Most fonts are too plain and boring or too "usual" for me. This one is called ALMSHSE, which I take to mean Alms House but I really didn't research it too far. I don't know much about fonts, I just know what I like. This one has a Peter Max feel to it, to me.

I started out cutting letters onesy-twosy, but that's not how I operate anymore so I quickly changed to mass production mode.

Which of course, necessitated a filing system. I have only cut out about 5 pages of letters, in the colors I needed as I went along. Each letter on the Sticky Note pad is 3 layers deep so sometimes I layered different colors for added depth, sometimes the letter is 3 layers of the same color. Not all of my little drawers had dividers so I made a bunch out of cardboard so I can fit 2 letters per drawer.

If this takes off, it keeps bringing me back to another idea I have that I know is good in theory, but I'm not sure if the reality would work. That is to have, in my booth, bowls of embellishments so customers can mix and match and a selection of unembellished Sticky Notes. Maybe they want a green turtle with a blue shell or an apple instead of the one with the ladybug on their Sticky Notes pad I have on display. Or they can pick the blank notepad and the letter they want in the color they want, for the center. Then I would glue it while they wait. It would just take seconds to glue - but is that really what I should be doing instead of collecting money?? And I have a feeling some people would want to buy just the embellishments, to put on other things - a peace sign on their notebook for school. So I'd have a price for just buying the embellishment.

I've thought about having the embellishments with adhesive already on them, just pull the paper backing off and apply. Now it's getting really complicated. This is a subject Jen and I talked about at length and eventually wore ourselves out, I think. We just couldn't come up with the right product that would allow adhesive to be already on the back, with a paper backing. I tried a couple different things with negative results. Surely there's a product out there just perfect for this application, that I'm not aware of. So, crafty friends - what do you recommend??

People tend to get overwhelmed with the color choices I offer - maybe the embellishment choice would be too much? Sometimes too many choices can be overwhelming and people give up.

Like now. Now I'm overwhelmed with the possibilities, so I'm going back to doing what I do and do it well.

Like I said, I think this might be a bit crazy. But the idea just won't leave my head. Yet.

So yeah, the letters became a project - but I'm really happy about the results. As it took up more time than expected, I kept telling myself a lot of this (choosing a font, setting up the drawers) was a one-time thing. I have further plans for embellishing the letters themselves but I want to try it before I talk about it. I have a new product on order - should be here this week. Show & Tell to follow!

Spool Spectrum: Runaway

2010-07-03T17:29:00.002-04:00

Nice embroidery, right? Check out the animated version on Spool Spectrum. Scroll down his blog to see each individual piece. I spent quite a bit of time on his blog last night, then only scratched the surface of a host of other embroidery blogs. Lots more to see. I love the Internet.

Meanwhile, back in the studio, I finally made a bunch of little stand-up signs for Fairport Pharmacy. The manager of the gift shop saw a couple that I attach to my Sticky Notes stand at Canal Days and mentioned that's what she needed. She didn't come out and ask me to make some for her but I knew it was good customer service and of course, may possibly increase my sales. I haven't gotten around to it until this morning but I wanted to head to the village to go to the Farmer's Market and pick up (hopefully) my check for June sales at the Pharmacy so I finally got my act together and made a bunch. Then I decided they need embellishing. Took me way longer than anticipated. Thankfully the parade had just ended by the time I was ready to drive through the village. It was slow-going but do-able.

Then . . . the Pharmacy is closed today, tomorrow and Monday. Oh well, I'll drop by Tuesday on my way home from work. At least the signs are finally done!

I bought some lovely strip steaks for the grill and a bone for Reggi at Skip's Meat Market. The last bone I bought her there kept her busy for literally hours - like 3-4 hours. How could her jaws not be tired? Oh right, she's a dog. She kept going back to that bone for weeks, long after it contained any meat or marrow. I buy her bones from Wegmans but they are way more fatty and gristly and she definitely enjoys them, but not like these bones. These are the Godiva's of dog bones. (Not sure why I reference Godiva because I don't think their chocolate is all that special. Makes a good universal reference though, yes?)

I bought some rainbow sprinkles, cheddar sesame sticks and flax seed corn chips at the Red Bird Market.

I bought cherries, tomatoes, lettuce at the market - and I really tried not to but I bought Snickerdoodles from the Mennonite family. And ate half the package in the car on the way home. Ain't nothing like a fresh perfectly underbaked Snickerdoodle!

800 Stitches

2010-06-30T07:38:00.006-04:00

Honestly, I can't believe I am willing to post such slap-dash photography. But this is all I had time for this morning before work. This is a journal I covered for a work friend to give to her friend for her birthday. She liked the little book I made for Jen so she bought this journal and told me what colors her friend likes. The journal came with plastic flowered covers and I was concerned that cardstock wouldn't stick to it permanently, so I replaced the covers altogether. I just covered relatively heavy cardboard with cardstock, didn't even worry about the edges. I used my eyelet/brad hole punch tool to make the holes - that worked spectacularly well, both artistically and tension-release-wise because I had to really whack that thing with a hammer to go through that cardboard. Fun!

The black part is a purchased double mat I had in my inventory. So the cover is pretty dimensional with all those layers. I put that big flower on the corner for interest, then decided to add the yellow ribbon, using that super sticky skinny red tape. The corners were less than perfect so I slapped 3 smaller flowers on them. The ol' cover-them-with-flowers-diversion.

I thought about adding a flower to the corner of the design on the card but it just didn't look good to me so I went for letting the "stitching speak for itself". I put a "book plate" inside the front cover with the recipient's name in a fancy font, layered and added a small flower to the corner of that.

My friend loves it. I love the colors. I think I like it. It's become one of those things that I've labored over for so long, I can't tell if I like it or not. I like it, not sure if I love it.

I'll scan one of these designs for real some day, but you get the idea from this enlarged piece of the top photo. I freakin' love this design. It's so simple, yet makes a huge overall impact. I was floored the other day when I figured out how many individual stitches are in this thing. The subject of this post says it all: 800 stitches! Isn't that amazing!? I've done the math over and over. It's 32 stitches per square x 25 squares. See what I mean? Wait! I forgot, I outlined these squares in black - that's another 60 stitches. Plus the stitches for each of the 25 black seed beads in the center of each square. Oh my.

Just figured this out now - that's 1280 stitches in the top journal cover, not including the black stitches. :-)

I'd like to use this design on Sticky Notes but it's so labor intensive, I'd have to charge more and I'm not sure if people would pay above some certain number for essentially a notepad. I always think about actual value vs perceived value - such a fascinating subject.

Anyway, I considered charging a penny a stitch, which is this case would be $8.00. That seems like a lot for a notepad but reasonable for this much work. Then I counted the stitches on another design, just as pretty, but not nearly so labor intensive - I would charge $1.60. Well that won't work! Add in cost of materials? Then $8.00 goes up too. Oh, now my head hurts.

But ultimately I decided to make about a dozen Sticky Notes in this pattern, price them at $8.00 and set them in their own little section of my display with a sign noting how many stitches and see what happens. Otherwise, I'll use this design for cards and framed art where people are willing to pay a little more. Or something like that.

Yep, like everybody else I know, I'm just making it up as I go along.

Five, Count 'em, Five

2010-06-28T06:15:00.000-04:00

You know I loves me some green!

I had a pretty productive weekend. I shipped an order to the store in Corning and mailed 5 craft show applications for the fall. I even (mostly) cleaned off my big table in my studio and semi-cleaned my desk area.

Steve and I went to see Knight and Day, the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz movie. It was a pleasant little romp, a nice departure from the multitude of "realistic" crime dramas we watch on TV.

And I made a killer cheeseburger pizza for dinner last night.

And here we go on a new week already!

Classic Combination

2010-06-25T05:47:00.001-04:00

I love spring or lime green with navy & white, like in this 5" square card.

My week was so focused on Jen's retirement day, life beyond Wednesday had not entered my mind. Other people at work said Wednesday felt like a Friday to them too. That's unusual for me because I'm always a few days ahead of myself in my head, usually in terms of scheduling Pine Tree Designs work.

I forgot to mention that we felt an earthquake here in the Rochester, NY area - just after lunch on Wednesday. The epicenter was 275 miles away in Ottawa, Canada. We felt intense shaking for 5-10 seconds - pretty wild! I was at my desk, on the phone with a colleague and at first thought some work was being done on the roof, because that's happened before and it vibrated the building. Some people thought a big truck was rumbling down the road. But it was too intense and lasted too long for those scenarios so we quickly determined it was an earthquake. Seconds later I jumped on the Internet to find information and started to load a news site but figured they would not have had time to get anything posted just yet.

So I turned to my most reliable sources for immediate information: Twitter & Facebook! Sure enough - people were talking about it.

I've been wondering what Californians would have thought. Is the shaking caused by a 5.0 earthquake 275 miles away just another day at the office? I know it would not have taken Californians any time at all to recognize it as an earthquake.

So no local damage, no one hurt here, just a fleeting moment of excitement.

Our Best Wishes Go with You

2010-06-24T07:22:00.003-04:00

Jen's retirement party was a big ol' success. She had a good time, as did we!

This is a half sheet cake, 2 layers, marble cake with chocolate ganache filling and chocolate buttercream frosting, from Vanilla Swirl Cookie Company, Fairport, NY. I just had a smidge for my breakfast dessert! It's outstanding.

I should have taken a photo before we ate! From top to bottom of the photo, rolls, and from Dinosaur BBQ: pulled pork, salt potatoes, beans (with ground meat), cornbread and cucumber tomato salad. All super delicious. We sent most of the leftovers home with Jen.

Jen's husband was supposed to come to the party, as a surprise to Jen, but at the last minute he was unable to come. He's a teacher, head of his department and being the last few days of school, stuff happened and he couldn't get away. So he called Jen to apologize. She was as touched by the notion that he was going to come, as if he'd actually come! We were disappointed because it was just about the only surprise element of the party!

I arrived at the office around 10:00 after my dentist appointment (no Novocaine - went great!). I made a beeline for Jen's office with a plate of brownies and a little gift bag of stuff. "Aww, my last Stefani Brownies!" Jen said she's been saying "my last" about a lot of things lately so we've been teasing her, "Aww, the last time I'll wait for the printer to warm up!"

I could tell her face immediately changed, just a little, and we both fought back tears as she opened the gifts. I gave her a gift certificate to one of our favorite stamp companies, Outlines Rubber Stamps. I gave her a little set of 3 sizes of square paper pads, stacked and tied with a ribbon. I saw them in a store the other day and they screamed Jen at me - just so cute and useful, they looked. And I gave her a Sticky Notes pad I'd made.

I went back to my desk, thought I'd be fine, then I reread what I wrote to say at her party - and my eyes filled with tears. No problem, no one will see me, this will pass quickly. Just then, my friend Jim came in and started talking, stopping abruptly, "Are you crying?? Aw jeez. There's no crying in baseball! Stop that!"

I, of course, denied everything. Me - crying? No way!

Just before we went down to the retirement lunch, I called Simon (because I knew Steve was unavailable, in a day-long meeting):

Stefani: Simon, I need a pep talk. I'm feeling a little shaky because I'm going to give a "speech" at Jen's retirement lunch shortly and I don't want to cry. Tell me that thing about how strong I am and I can get through this - that thing, okay?

Simon: Mom. You're a cryer. Everyone knows that. You're going to cry. Suck it up. It will be fine.

Stefani: That's it? That's your pep talk??

He made me laugh though, so it was all good. And he called me after lunch to see how it went.

What I wrote was only a few paragraphs long, about when Jen and I first bonded over crafts, 15 years ago. It was funny, I got some laughs. I didn't make it through the last paragraph though.

I know we'll keep in touch. <--- I said this.

I'm so happy for you in retirement - you deserve it! Thanks for being my friend. <--- I sat down abruptly, couldn't say this part.

Jen met with her department and wrapped up loose ends and left around 2:30, I guess. No tears then, just "See ya later."

Her boss stopped by my desk later to tell me I did a nice job with what I said. I told him I'd just been thinking, "That wasn't work related, that was stupid, nobody cares about that, why did I say that stuff?" But he said it was the perfect personal note to end on. (I was the 3rd of 3 speakers.)

It was for Jen to hear anyway, not so much everyone else.

It hasn't quite hit me fully yet, that I won't have her here to show my new pieces to or ask advice of. We will definitely keep in touch, I'm not worried about that. Just like retirees feel like they are on vacation at first, rather than retired (so I've been told), I guess I feel that way too. Jen's just on vacation. A really long 30-year vacation.

Jen's Last Day at Work

2010-06-23T06:47:00.002-04:00

This is the little notebook I covered, that the entire office is signing for Jen's retirement. We're throwing a retirement lunch today - Dinosaur BBQ is catering. We've ordered a big fancy cake from that Fairport bakery. We're eating outside - should be fun!

I'm so genuinely happy for Jen, but the sad emotion is catching up with me. Others have been talking about how they are going to cry when it's time to say goodbye. I know I will too because, duh, that's who I am. But I'm really just so happy for her. Saturday I was sitting across from Steve at Denny's, eating breakfast, when I casually mentioned that Wednesday is Jen's last day - and my eyes filled up with tears. Oops, there it is.

I'm speaking at Jen's lunch today. Just a little something I wrote about the first time we bonded over crafts. Hope I make it through it.

We'll stay in touch so that will be fine. Jen's predecessor is returning to our office to take back her old job - she's a friend, so thankfully I don't have to spend any energy breaking in a new friend. :-)

But first, I have a periodontist appointment at 8:00 for some deep scaling. I'm going to try to do it without Novocaine. I think I have before - it hurts at the moment, but it's nice not waiting for the Novocaine to kick in - or to wear off. Especially when I'll be eating delicious pulled pork.

Send me good vibes today please?

Not Black & White

2010-06-22T05:56:00.000-04:00

5" Square Card

This is one of the cards that Mary, owner of Mackenzie's traded in for the black & white cards I delivered on Sunday. She loved them all!

Gussied Up

2010-06-21T05:16:00.000-04:00

Before & After!

Touch of Yellow

2010-06-18T05:53:00.000-04:00

I've almost completed a whole series of black and white cards for Mackenzie's, a terrific store in Palmyra. She wanted some with yellow so here's one of those. She really has an eye for display. Her windows always look fresh and great and she has cool little vignettes set up around the store.

138 East Main Street

Palmyra, New York 14522

Store Hours:Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday - 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Monday - Closed

In My Head Studios Giveaway!

2010-06-17T06:10:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure why I'm sending you over to the RNEST giveaway of this beautiful pendant by my friend Vickie, of In My Head Studios, because clearly I intend to win this for myself. I actually love all her work but this blows me away. She creates the original artwork on paper with ink and stamps, etc., all collagey and colorful, then digitally reduces it, prints it and cuts it into these little squares. This is a domino - so those squares are tiny! Can you believe how "Stefani" this is? It's 21 tiny little perfectly lined up colorful squares of art.

** Edited to add: Vickie corrected me. She digitally manipulates the image of 21 tiny squares to domino size. She doesn't cut the image into 1/4" x 1/4" squares and glue it together like I was thinking. Her method is way more efficient than I would probably do it! I still love it to pieces. Pieces!? Get it??

So go on over to Vickie's Etsy Shop and see her other beautiful work.

Oh! And the most recent cool thing - check out this article about Vickie that appeared recently in The Examiner. Must read more of The Examiner - all kinds of cool stuff over there. Who knew?

iFixIt.com

2010-06-13T10:24:00.001-04:00

What a genius concept!

NBA: Nothin' But Art

2010-06-10T07:18:00.000-04:00

I Found It!

2010-06-09T06:16:00.002-04:00

I went to Pier 1 on my lunch hour yesterday to look for new display pieces for my hand stitched paper pins and one of the first displays I came to was a clearance rack which held a tiered cake plate, just like I was looking for, marked half-price at $12. It had a weird line on it but my pins would cover it - but I still thought $12 was too much for something that "damaged".

I walked around more - man, I love that store. I found the two smaller tier sizes, I think they were marked down too. I found another "as is" large plate with a chip in it which I could live with easier than that funky line that looked like glue.

But I didn't want to impulse buy so I didn't buy them.

Back at work, I remembered Ikea so I checked their site.

$14.99! This would work perfectly - and it's glass too. Except when I slowed down to read the site - only available in stores, not online. This is where my mind went: I can always talk Gretchen into a trip to Ikea. We've gone to the closest one - it's in Canada, we took Mom on a road trip there a bunch of years ago. Gretchen's been many more times than that. But I'm not sure about the new passport/special license laws - too much work. Let's see - the next closest one is only 5 hours and 18 minutes away, in NJ.

Maybe one of my beloved blog readers lives near an Ikea and would buy three of these and ship them to me - for postage and a finder's fee, of course. I mean, what's the point of having a blog if you can't inconvenience your blog-reader-friends?

Last night I was grocery shopping at Wegmans, who has everything on Earth under one roof - sure enough, just what I'm looking for! It was $25 but it didn't require an investment of time or money I can't spare. It's made by Anchor Hocking, so I checked their site - they don't sell to the public, but they are available at Wegmans of course, Target and a bunch of other local stores. (I checked overstock.com too - none there.)

This is just what I envisioned! I can use them separately or together. They'll take up more room than my previous set-up but I can wrap them in bubble wrap and figure a compact way to transport them. And hopefully not fall and drop them!

I've been wanting to use even more vertical space in my display so I'm off to a good start.

~ ~ ~

In other news, my friend Maria tells me I can buy replacement bars for my tent! I'm not sure I ever would have considered that. I thought they were welded or riveted or something not replaceable. Duh. So I'll check out that option this weekend. I bought the tent for a June 2009 show so if there was a year warranty - it's just over. Isn't that the way? I don't care, I'll pay for the bars - gotta be much cheaper than a new tent! I was hoping to buy a new tent with heavier duty walls, but I'd rather earn more money first and work towards that later.

~ ~ ~

I mentioned yesterday feeling sad and depressed and still a bit "off". About mid-afternoon, the old Stefani returned and she's stayed returned. Yay! I like Happy Me much better.

I thought of two more funny things that happened over the weekend though. Remember my story about falling and the 3 gregarious "carnies" who came to my rescue? After he was sure I was okay, the one teased me about my graceful swan dive? He also said, "Don't worry, you'll see it on You Tube soon enough!"

I was telling someone at work that yesterday and suddenly thought how awful that would be if it really did show up on the Internet, available forever and ever. So I went to You Tube and searched Fairport Canal Days and a bunch of stuff came up! It was all musical acts and normal stuff. I searched some other unflattering things, didn't see myself and decided to put my paranoia away. I'm such a goofball.

The other thing was I asked Steve for the receipts for the sand and pillowcases he bought on Saturday as additional weight for the tent. He said he was covering the purchase.

Here's my convincing argument:

"As a business owner, I don't want my go-fer paying for it - I'll cover my business expense, thankyouverymuch."

Steve replied, "Go-fer? I thought I was more like a partner. You know, like in a law firm."

Isn't that sad and sweet? I felt really bad for calling him a go-fer! Especially after all the bragging I do about him being the mayor of The Village that keeps Team Stefani going. We laughed it off because it was pretty funny - but in fun or not, I'll never call him a go-fer again! What was I thinking??

Anyway, Stefani's back and I could not be happier about that.

Quoting Me, to Me

2010-06-08T06:48:00.002-04:00

Gretchen said in the comments yesterday regarding my recent show experience, "This is what learning looks like." I don't know if I got that from her or she got it from me or we're both just super intelligent independently :-) but that's what I say all the time too, mostly to Simon when he's having a rough time and gets down on himself.

I thought, "She's quoting me, to me!"

Similarly, my new neighbor-friend at Canal Days, Karen, gave me a big pep talk on Saturday: "You are a strong woman. You can do this - do not get down on yourself. Some things are beyond your control." Simon heard her say to me several times, "You are a strong woman," and told me later it was making him mad. He said he wanted to say to Karen, "You're not giving my mom enough credit! She's the strongest, most independent woman I ever met!"

I said, "Simon, I was having a moment. I needed to be told that."

Simon: "I know you were having a moment, Mom. But jeez, she doesn't know who she's dealing with!"

Isn't that the nicest?? I love that kid to pieces.

I had told Karen at the time that she was quoting me, to me. The next day I made a point of telling her, "Ya know . . . in real life - I'm you! I'm strong, capable, I know stuff. I don't know this stuff yet but I'm not usually this lost."

She said, "I know."

~ ~ ~

I shared links to my blog entries about Canal Days with my Rochester Crafters friends. It took me a minute to decide if I was embarrassed or not. I've heard so many worse stories of people's learning experiences than what I went through. I actually got off light! Others chimed in with their experiences, both at Canal Days and other events in the past. We've all had them - I just finally joined the club.

~ ~ ~

I took Monday off as a vacation day because after a show I find, yes, I'm tired, but more often, I can't wait to clean up my studio and get started on whatever is next. This time it turned out to be such a good idea to take some time to regroup and clear my head. I still feel a little "off". Hope that passes quickly. I don't like "off". Here's another quote from me, which I actually got from Dr. Phil. "It takes as long as it takes."

Steve took the day off too so we went in the hot tub when we got up. I woke up at 6:00 but I'd gotten 8 hours of sleep so I didn't even try to go back to sleep. We took Reggi to Ellison Park. Then we ate breakfast on the deck. Weather.com said the wind gusts were up to 20 mph which is about what they were over the weekend. Funny how they seemed like gale-force winds when struggling with a tent at a festival. Dining on the deck, it was all, "What a lovely breeze today!" :-)

This is sort of what I want to use to display my pins at shows. This is plastic, so it's lightweight, presumably it comes apart for easy transportation. Except the weightiness of glass is good in wind! And hopefully it doesn't look like plastic. I found it online at Target.com, $19 each, free shipping if the order is over $50.

But I worry the little indentations for cupcakes are going to bother me. I'd rather it be flat or just have a lip around the entire edge. I want to see one in person before buying it.

So in the afternoon I went shopping. Those are words you don't often hear me say. I'll run into a store from time to time but I very rarely mosey around a store without purpose.

I went to two Targets to see if I could see this in person. Of course not. I'll keep looking around but I could always buy this online and return it if I don't like it.

By the way, the glass plates I'd been using came from a dollar store. They were round, sort of vaguely sunflower shaped. I also bought clear glass candlestick holders and glued one or two of them to the bottom of some of the plates, to make them pedestals of different heights. Actually, I have those left - two were packed in a different box than the one I fell with yesterday - and one survived the crash. I like them a lot but thought I could find something bigger and better. I'll keep looking.

Actually, I saw some clear plastic plates that didn't look like plastic - in the wedding section of Hobby Lobby. They might work in some way.

Dad, I know Mom is going to volunteer you again to lathe-turn me some wood thing to use but I still have my heart set on clear glass (or plastic) so you're off the hook - but thanks. And thanks, Mom. ;-)

I wandered around Target and only bought a new small Silverstone type skillet. I wanted to buy new beach towels for Steve and me but they mostly had little kid ones that were kind of flimsy. I tried to find other stuff to buy and couldn't. I'm no shopper, it turns out.

Except on my way to the second Target, I went to Hobby Lobby, which I'd forgotten about in Webster. Turns out I am a decent shopper - in the right store! I bought some cool square pictures frames at 50% off. And a bunch of little stuff, nothing too interesting. But I wandered around a craft store aimlessly - what a treat!

I came home and was so tired I wanted to take a nap but it was too late in the day, really, even for a power nap. I'd hate to screw up my night's sleep.

~ ~ ~

I wrote the above stuff Monday afternoon. Now it's Tuesday morning and I'm feeling kind of sad & depressed. Huh?? I was so much better yesterday! Human brains are so weird. This too shall pass.

It will be good to go back to the day job today and focus on unrelated stuff and see my friends.

Our Rochester Crafters group has been active in the last 24 hours, comparing weekend stories. I asked for advice and thoughts on new tent & weight selection. I learned of a few nuances of stuff I already knew.

(If anyone reading is interested in joining our group - there's a button to the left.)

And on we go!

Still Shaking it Off - Sunday

2010-06-07T13:41:00.006-04:00

In the still pouring rain, Steve, Simon and DJ and I went to the tent site around 7:30 and raised the tent and unloaded the product. I shooed them out so I could finish setting up. It was decently breezy with regularly strong gusts of wind. I also learned that other vendors were having problems too which made me feel better in a sick way. I guess I really thought it was just me and I was too stupid to be allowed to do outdoor shows.

I have to say that while my tent was a big fat mess, the stuff inside my tent never budged. The sandbags that Mom and I made - Mom sewed cute covers for them - for the Sticky Notes stand and my 2 card spinners worked perfectly. The lesson learned at the Lilac Festival was nicely executed! (Thanks again, Mom!)

It rained throughout the morning. I had my tables pulled in from the sides so the wet tent sides wouldn't touch them. I had my Sticky Notes stand pulled into the middle of the tent. Overall, I had a compact version of my usual set-up. I was unable to relax and stitch though because the gusts kept picking up and I'd reach up and hold the roof of the tent. (We'd only raised the tent to people height, not it's full height, trying to keep a lower profile that the wind couldn't easily catch.) The tent wasn't going anywhere with both the top and bottom weighted so well. The holding of the tent was strictly psychological for me.

My clothes were pretty wet from setting up in the rain so I was a little chilly, when just the day before I'd been hot all day. (Another lesson learned successfully from a previous experience - my sunscreen prevented sunburn!)

I was so worried about my product getting wet that I finally ended up putting a sheet of plastic (thanks Dad) over my Sticky Notes stand. I noticed later that my cards had gotten a few drops on them but they are protected in cellophane sleeves so no damage done. I couldn't imagine how rain got inside to the back of the tent where the cards were but I think the water must have flown off the tent walls, being whipped by the wind.

Not one person had come in my tent all morning anyway. Oh yeah, there were people walking around with umbrellas, but I never saw them stop anywhere. I saw a few umbrellas blown inside out. Honestly, I don't get it. If it was me, I probably wouldn't leave the house on such a miserable day. I saw two women pushing a woman in a wheelchair who was so covered by plastic, I wasn't sure if there was a person in there or not. Truthfully - it kind of looked like elder abuse to me. She could not have been having fun. Karen wondered if could she have even spoken up if she wanted to. Pushing kids around in strollers in the rain (some shielded with plastic, some not) was pretty unbelievable to me, but the wheelchair thing was shocking, I have to say.

Around noon Karen and another vendor on the other side of me were talking about packing up and leaving. It was that bad. A vendor across the street from us left Saturday night and didn't come back. The smoked almonds person's stuff was gone. The lemonade stand across the street never opened and he was talking about leaving in an hour. One vendor checked the hour-by-hour forecast and said the 24 mph winds would last until 4:00, then it would die down. The rain would stop before that, but not the wind.

The other veterans decided to leave, so I did too. I called Steve but he wasn't sure how much help he and the boys could be since they couldn't drive up close to where I was with the streets being closed. I know he really thought I should stick it out. If I was him, I'd think the same thing. I knew I wasn't thinking clearly - I just wanted out. So I relied on these two vendors - one had done this show for 6 years, the other for 12. Karen was on the end of our row and really taking the brunt of the wind. The other one, whose name I've drawn a blank on - I saw some of her boxed beautiful blown glass jewelry blow out into the street. My tent was broken and I have paper product. It seemed crazy to stay.

The thing is, I have very strong feelings about vendors who leave early. It's against the written rules for every show but I wouldn't do it anyway. I've sat at very slow shows until the bitter end, seething at those "amateurs" who I see leaving early.

My car was parked in a lot across main street so I boxed up my product and carried it to my car. This next part sounds like I made it up for sort of comic relief.

On my second trip to the car, I stepped on a crooked gas main surrounded by a pot hole (couldn't see it because of the boxes) - and fell to the ground. In the middle of Main Street. Carrying a box of glass plates. The plastic box broke as did almost all the plates inside.

It was just as awful as it sounds.

I'd just seen 3 burly guys walk out of the coffee shop before I fell. I recognized them from the day before - I think they ran various food carts. They were very gregarious, which is why I remember them. Real "showfolk", like carnival barkers almost. After I fell, they were by my side as soon as I hit the ground.

"Don't move. Take stock of yourself. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

All I wanted to do was jump up and pretend it didn't happen. Ta-da! Fall? What fall?? Or as Gretchen said later, "And she stuck the landing!"

I was shaken up and couldn't find my glasses. I was worried they were broken, not because I cared about seeing :-) but because I didn't want the expense of having them fixed/replaced! So I became that person, "Where are my glasses? I can't find my glasses!" They found them for me and helped me up. Karen came running up and took my boxes to the car. My lip was bleeding a tiny bit and my knee had a tiny scrape but I was fine. A woman appeared from I don't know where - a vendor I guess, offering me a blanket. I really was fine, though totally embarrassed but she insisted I take the blanket because I was wet and cold. So I did so as to not hurt her feelings but later I was happy I had as I sat in my car cold and wet.

Crap. I hate when that happens. The falling part. The kindness of strangers totally floored me this weekend. I'm a big pay-it-forward person - sure hope I have the opportunity to properly repay all the kindness I felt this weekend.

Afterwards, one of the guys asked me again if I was okay. I smiled and said, "Definitely!" He said, "Good. Then in that case, man, that was a beautiful dive you took! You shoulda seen it!" And he did a little fake swan dive. He was funny and made me laugh.

I finished carrying my boxes to the car - watching where I stepped! I secured the tent and went to the car to get warm and collect myself. I couldn't leave for 5 hours because the roads were closed. I tried to stitch but couldn't concentrate because the guilt of leaving was killing me! I kept watching the weather. People were still walking around with umbrellas but maybe the wind wasn't as bad as I thought it was. But getting out of the car into the weather I realized it was still fairly strong. And two roof beams of my tent were broken. I wasn't just being a big baby because of the rain. And my product is paper. I know, I'm repeating myself. Sorry.

About 1:30 Gretchen texted me, "Where are you?" I texted her back, "In my car. Are you at Canal Days?" She was on her way she texted back so I called her and ended up crying in no time. (See what I mean about it being a big ol' tear soaked weekend??) She said, "I'm on my way!" She brought me a nice warm White Chocolate from Starbucks. She sat in the car with me for about an hour talking. She said all the right things, we laughed and traded stories. I had no idea she was planning on coming to Canal Days - I don't think she was, until she'd read an email about how miserable my Saturday was. She showed up at exactly the right time and said the right things. I love that.

This is why I say It Takes a Village to support Team Stefani. Steve is the mayor of my village - very supportive but all smart and problem solving. Dad and Simon are that way too, doing their male thing, "How can we fix this?" Mom's the champion hugger and stitcher. Gretchen is the peer with the same foibles and strengths - the same mind set. I need 'em all.

I tell you, I knew I'd feel like crap for leaving early but I had no idea how deeply. Overall, I regret my decision to leave but I made the best decision I could with the information available at the time. By the time 5:00 rolled around, the wind had calmed some, the rain had stopped and the crowd had filled in, though attendance was obviously still way down. I walked over to one of the parking lots with Gretchen so she could get her annual Artichoke French and I counted about 6 empty vendor spots - people that left after Saturday presumably. Gretchen later reported that about 1/3 of the vendors had left the other parking lot area.

Steve had made me promise I wouldn't make a decision about future shows until a few days had passed and the dust had settled. I'm committed to two more outdoors shows, but even before Sunday was over I knew I would continue to do outdoor shows. I want to succeed at this business and doing big festivals is where the money is. I'll feel "less-than" if I don't.

This weekend was only my 4th outdoor show - that's pretty early in the learning curve. I always say I live & breathe my business and one of the most satisfying things has been learning new stuff. I just underestimated how painful this new learning curve was going to be - it's kind of been a shock to my system. It's weird because I thought I was more of a roll-with-the-punches kind of girl.

One of the things Gretchen said to me when talking me off the ledge yesterday was that there's a difference between quitting and giving up. Giving up is not even trying, not caring. Quitting is to stop doing something that isn't working.

I've got 6 weeks before the next show - plenty of time to buy a new upgraded tent. If I'm going to learn these stupid weather lessons, I guess better to learn them with a relatively inexpensive "starter" tent. Though I suppose one could make the argument that maybe a better tent would not have snapped like that. Hard to say.

Before I bought this tent last year, I talked to many vendors about their tents and their experiences. I did research online. Ultimately, I decided to stop overthinking it and buy the basic EZ-Up like most festival vendors do. I honestly don't regret my decision at all. Now I know what to look for and what questions to ask.

Dad always says, "Good or bad, it won't last." I always say to Simon, "This (blank) is finite - it has an end. It won't always be like this." Mom always says, "Rise above it."

None of those things were helpful to me in the midst of this money-losing weekend. I was super miserable all weekend and I was worried the memory of this show would haunt me forever. But already today, Monday, I feel way better than I thought I would. I know the bad memories will recede and the lessons will stick.

My sales were decent on Saturday, but I lost Sunday sales plus the cost of a new tent, new display glassware and I paid Simon and DJ handsomely because I literally could not have gotten through this weekend without their help. Plus the show fee, of course.

(My insurance deductible is higher than the cost of a new tent - I checked.)

And I did not have one ounce of fun. But I will next time - and I've shaken off the feeling of wanting to never do another outdoor show and gotten to where I'm excited and eager to become the seasoned pro that I am with indoor shows. Take that, you.

The festival ended at 5:00. And then the sun came out.

I'm Shaking it Off - Saturday

2010-06-07T13:34:00.002-04:00

Cutting to the chase, Canal Days was a disaster for me. Partly natural disaster, partly self-induced.

This is how deep my Bad Mind was yesterday. I considered lying about my experience - to my blogger-reader-friends, Mom and Dad, my sister Gretchen, Steve, Simon - the world. Then I caught myself. I don't lie. What was I thinking? Take me or leave me, this is me. Did I really think for a second that my family and friends would love me any less? Well yeah, I did, but just for a second.

I had more framed art than I've had in a long time and I'm very happy with it.

I had more art completed than I had frames for so I wrapped them to sell for $10 like this.

Saturday was pretty warm - 80s, I think, beautifully sunshiny. I loved my location on Liftbridge Lane, my neighbors were friendly and fun. Then the breeze turned into wind. I had my tent closed on 3 sides but the sides were billowing so I thought I was vented okay. Venting was something I'd learned about at Lilac Festival - better to let the air through than make it try to go around.

Then a gust came through, in spite of heavy sand-filled PVC pipe weights on each corner of the tent, it blew over backwards, breaking two roof support beams. I made a mad dash for the black shutters which hold my framed art and was Bungeed to the middle roof support. No product was lost, thankfully. A very kind passer-by grabbed the front leg and stayed until I could get to the other front leg and we righted the tent. Karen, my new neighbor-friend, went around rolling up the sides of my tent.

I never would have considered doing that with my lightweight paper product inside - but it actually worked. I put my stand-up easel picture frames filled with magnets down flat on the table was the only consolation I had to make. Straightening the framed art on the black shutters became a full-time job so I quit worrying about it, though it bugged me like crazy that people were seeing my stuff askew!

I was pretty shaken, I gotta say. I really wanted to pack it all up and go home and never do another outdoor show again. Ever. I called Steve, pretty close to tears - okay maybe actual tears - I've cried so much this weekend, it's all a blur at this point. He and Simon came down to assess the damage. They insisted I at least stay through the rest of the day. They went to several stores looking for fast options for more weight. They came back with DJ at the end of the day with 4 pillow protectors each filled with 50 pounds of sand that they placed on each leg. I was a little skeptical I have to say because the feet of the tent are tiny. But sand forms around stuff so maybe it would work.

I packed up all my product, which normally I leave in the tent overnight in plastic tubs but since I was unsure about the stability of my broken tent and rain was predicted for Sunday, we put all the product and my precious (expensive) Sticky Notes stand in Steve's Explorer for the night. I left the black shutters and plastic tubs of unimportant things, all sitting on top of the tables. We Bungeed the sand bags to the tent legs and lowered the tent to it's lowest position.

I took the family to Perkins for dinner. We had not ordered yet when Mom called me to see how it went. I'm 54 years old and still need a hug from my mom apparently because I started crying (again). By the end of the conversation, I couldn't speak. Simon said what the other 2 were thinking (and what I was thinking as well), "Mom, you really have to get it together." I told them what to order for me and went to the ladies room and cried it out, wiped my face and returned cheerful. Sorry - the stress had to leak out my tear ducts at some point, just wish it hadn't been in public. Oh well, shit happens.

As forecast, it poured rain like a mutha that night into Sunday. I woke up at 5:00 and couldn't get back to sleep so I drove to the tent around 6:00. The water was about 2" deep at the back of the tent - the gutter of the street. No harm done though. And the tent was fine. I think I was half hoping it had blown to Kingdom Come so I could pack it up and quit, never to return. Damn. Now I had to go through another miserable day with a broken tent.

I drove around the festival to see the condition of other tents (didn't go in the parking lots) and saw just two tents that were down -both commercial vendors, not crafters.

I stopped for a dozen warm bagels on my way home so at least there's that.

To be continued....

What Has Brown Done for You Lately?

2010-06-02T07:29:00.000-04:00

Fairport Canal Days

June 4 Friday

4:30pm - chicken barbecue & 10 other food vendors
6:30pm - The Uptown Swing Orchestra

June 5, Saturday - 10am - 6pm
June 6, Sunday - 10am - 5pm

Artisan Booths are open 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday
Over 200 artisan booths
Over 30 artisans demonstrating
Over 40 food vendors
Over 20 professional bands including area high school Jazz bands
Fairport Duck Race on Sunday at 3:00pm

The Fairport Canal Days festival is one of the premier annual Arts and Crafts festivals in the Northeast, attracting nearly a quarter-million visitors each year. It is held annually during the first full weekend of June in beautiful Fairport, NY, along the banks of the historic Erie Canal. The festival features over 300 artisans, more than 40 food and drink vendors, and performances by regional bands and more.

One Little Mistake

2010-06-01T07:20:00.001-04:00

There is one little mistake on this card for which I decided, rather than fix it, I'll go with the Amish sentiment for why they purposely put one mistake into each quilt: because only God is perfect.

It's for Jen's birthday which we'll celebrate at work tomorrow. She doesn't look at this blog very often so hopefully that will ring true this week too.

Fairport Canal Days

June 4 Friday

4:30pm - chicken barbecue & 10 other food vendors
6:30pm - The Uptown Swing Orchestra

June 5, Saturday - 10am - 6pm
June 6, Sunday - 10am - 5pm

Artisan Booths are open 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday
Over 200 artisan booths
Over 30 artisans demonstrating
Over 40 food vendors
Over 20 professional bands including area high school Jazz bands
Fairport Duck Race on Sunday at 3:00pm

A Perfect Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-31T11:30:00.002-04:00

We spent a lot of time on our deck this weekend with such perfect weather! Granted it was mostly in the morning and evening and we were loving our air conditioned house mid-day.

That red thing in the top photo is a portable pet kennel - for beautiful big black cat Verona, so she can join us on the deck. She loves it. She'll sit and meow at the sliding door until we bring her out. We would let her roam free on the deck, but only with a 100% guarantee promise that she won't leave the deck. She hasn't come through with that for us yet so she stays here in her private accommodations. She's pretty happy here, lounging in her bed. She has taken over every

bed in the house, dog, cat or human. She is the most relaxed cat I've ever met. We joke about her "anxiety is through the roof today!" when we find her sprawled about, practically turning herself inside out, so stretched out and relaxed.

Meet polar opposite kitty, skittish, nervous Nellie, petite little Venus. She hates Verona so we were pleasantly surprised when she wanted to come out on the deck too - in her own kennel, of course. After about 20 minutes of standing around nervously, she finally sat down. She eventually laid down too. We tried to take her outside again that night and she clung on to Steve's shoulder so tightly I damn near had to put a tourniquet on him to stop the bleeding.

She very happily spends every day while we're at work, closed in our bedroom, safe from Verona, finally able to relax, sleeping her day away on our king sized bed. No food, no water, no litter - she's fine! She runs to the door to go in there constantly - except not at night because Verona sleeps next to me most nights.

She's half a psychotic wackadoodle, but we love her too.

I bought this hanging basket at my favorite nursery, Country Way Garden Center, very near our house. I have a couple of pots for which I will buy flowers this afternoon probably. I'm trying to keep the maintenance to a minimum because I'm so busy with other stuff. But a deck just isn't complete without flowers, I've found. And ever since we put a hose reel on the deck that hooks to a faucet, watering is really painless.

(Note beagle Reggi to the left of the grill. She was totally digging that we were outside so much this weekend.)

Our ten year old grill finally bit the dust so we bought this big honkin' grill on Saturday at Lowe's. They were surprisingly inexpensive so even a frugal gal like me couldn't say no. This one lights like a dream. I hadn't realized how finicky our old one had gotten until I used this one. We celebrated the new grill and deck set-up for the summer by grilling steaks and even Simon and DJ joined us - it was fun!

This is Steve's mom's deck furniture. I went from not really wanting it because we didn't need it to kind of liking it, once we found a spot for it.

We ate breakfast there on Sunday because the other table was a little too sunny. Nice change of view too. Actually we watched Reggi watching a woodchuck - better than TV!

This is what we call the lower deck because it's down a few steps to where the pool used to be. You can't see it here but we bungeed the chairs and little table to the railing. We've wrecked plastic lawn chairs here because the wind whips through here pretty good and sends the chairs flying down the steps. We often sit here after we get out of the hot tub at night.

That deck box was Wilma's too - now we're going to use it for firewood.

Steve and Simon bought the fire pit and bench last year. Simon dug the fire pit into the ground, did a nice job. He uses it a lot - he's a great fire builder! We have a bunch of lawn chairs stored out of view here that we pull around the fire.

I told Steve I was a bit worried that we've used up our good weather karma this weekend and will have none left for next weekend's Canal Days. I finally peeked at the long-range forecast and rain is predicted for both days. Ruh-roh. But . . . that's 6 days away, weather can change. And it's only a 30% Saturday and 40% Sunday.

Still - please pray, hope, barter - for good weather for us for next weekend? It's not too early to start crossing fingers. (Thanks!)

God Bless Kinko's

2010-05-28T07:37:00.001-04:00

5" Square Greeting Card

I love Facebook. A lot. I have reconnected with so many people from my past and my present too - on terms that work for me now: online at my leisure. (See left column for links to my personal FB page and my PTD page, she says shamelessly.)

Here comes a but.

But I think people have gotten carried away with the invitation feature. Today I received an invitation from someone in the art world that I don't know personally, to her daughter's senior concert halfway across the country. I can't tell if the daughter is graduating high school or college - I think college.

I guess she's just a proud mama so I'll give her that. Speaking of which . . .

For my non-Facebook friends, I'll post this here too - braggin' on my kid. Simon won a texting contest at the Lilac Festival last weekend. He won a CricKet phone and year contract plus a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. He remembers there's also a bottle of wine and I remember there's a $25 Home Depot card I'm hoping to get my hands on.

Yeah, my kid has mad skillz fo sho!

So the title of this post is God Bless Kinko's (now called FedEx Office, but Kinko's is more fun to say).

My inexpensive all-in-one Epson turned out to be not quite the bargain I'd hoped for. It's just that it can't live up to the high standards of my last Epson all-in-one. It won't accept cardstock that's heavier than light weight cardstock. I found the most beautiful ivory paper that I want to use for my business cards. But it's fairly heavy and just won't go through the printer. (Note to self: make sure the next printer has a straight path.)

I've been researching online for another printer that accepts cardstock but I'm leery that even the printers touted to accept cardstock - what weight cardstock? I just can't make a decision yet and I'm getting desperate. I probably have enough business cards for upcoming Canal Days but I want to have more than enough. People love them.

My brilliant mom suggested I have Kinko's print the cards. I took 100 sheets of cardstock and my Publisher file on a thumb drive to Kinko's yesterday on my lunch hour and they printed them while I waited. It works out to 3/4 of a cent per business card - and they are pristine and perfect! (Thank you again, Mom!)

Here's the gray version I've been using. I can't remember if I printed these on the old Epson or the new one - old I think. I liked the gray a lot but I love this new ivory paper too. It has a slight columnar texture to it.

Today I'll have my Groove cut the cards and stitching holes for all 1000 cards, then Mom and I can get busy stitching!

Meanwhile I took today off and so did Steve, just to extend our Memorial Day weekend. I'll use the time to prepare for Canal Days, of course. But first we're going out to breakfast while Kerri cleans our house. That's after Steve does the dishes so she can get to the sink.

Yes, it's nice to "have people".

Fairport Canal Days 2010

June 4 Friday

4:30pm - chicken barbecue & 10 other food vendors
6:30pm - The Uptown Swing Orchestra

June 5, Saturday - 10am - 6pm
June 6, Sunday - 10am - 5pm

Artisan Booths are open 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday
Over 200 artisan booths
Over 30 artisans demonstrating
Over 40 food vendors
Over 20 professional bands including area high school Jazz bands
Fairport Duck Race on Sunday at 3:00pm

Top 10 Things I Learned About Big Outdoor Craft Shows

2010-05-20T06:31:00.001-04:00

1. Bring extra and/or different clothing in case it warms up or cools down unexpectedly. Saturday I was underdressed and Sunday I was overdressed. (Simon very kindly brought me shorts to change into. I meant to throw them in my backpack but forgot.)

2. Have on hand a good supply of various size shims to level your personal playing field. I was on exceptionally "hilly" ground last weekend, but an outdoor surface is never going to be perfectly flat, even asphalt. In this case, it was so hilly I used my table risers on the front of the table, but not the back. That hilly.

3. In addition to the well-known weights for your tent itself, make sure your displays can be weighted down, preferably attractively. One of my card spinners blew over so I ended up clamping it down with big honking clamps. But I like to think people are concentrating on my product, not my displays.

4. Sunscreen. "Band-aids". Clasp, elastic or hat for your hair if it's hot or windy. I know. Duh.

5. Larger shows means a larger number of people will have come directly from the ATM with fresh twenty dollar bills. I've always felt I overdid it on having enough change. For next time I'm already supplied with way more tens than usual.

6. If it's an open environment (a park or street), customers will arrive before the show officially starts. I have to admit, being an early bird by nature, this freaked me out more than it should have. At one point I had only the sunflower and ladybug Sticky Notes in the rack. People were oohing and ahhing over them. I wanted to shout, "Wait! That's not even the good stuff!" Before the show starts is always a good time to make sales or trades with fellow vendors.

7. Carry flat pieces of wood to put under tent and table legs if the ground is soft. I didn't experience this but just thought it up. These would be different than wedge shaped shims, though these could be used as shims too.

8. Carry plastic sheeting in case of a quick rain, especially if it's breezy and blowing sideways. Again - hasn't happened to me yet, but it's going on my list.

9. One can't have too many cable ties and bungee cords available. I've always been a big fan of those plastic cable ties and can find 101 uses anywhere. I use them to hang my banner in my tent. This past weekend, I also used them to tie the tent zippers closed at night, which were being unusually uncooperative. When I was worried about my Sticky Notes stand in the breeze, Simon used bungee cords to tie hand weights that DJ happened to have in his car, to the feet of the stand. Bless their hearts, those two boys.

10. Bring your own food and beverage. I know this sounds like a no-brainer. I always bring my own because I work alone and it's just easier and cheaper. On Saturday, however, the lure of 26 mouth-watering vendors made me not bring snacks only, not my usual sandwich. I had Pam working with me so I thought I'd be able to get away. I didn't even try, when I heard from a customer who was loaded down with bags of kettle korn that she waited in line 1 hour. (I wanted to tell her you can buy microwave kettle korn now! I know, it's not the same.)

We also learned how nice it is to have extra help. We paid DJ to help us take down on Sunday because we had so far to haul the stuff to the car. (Simon had a prior commitment.) We've already booked both Simon and DJ for Fairport Canal Days, both load-in and load-out.

This Lilac Festival was perfectly organized though. The load-in times were staggered as they usually are. We arrived to find a good spot in the small loading zone. We just started getting stuff out of the vehicle when a young man tooled up on a golf cart, offering to help. "With our stuff, you mean?" Yep! "You'll take our stuff to our spot??" Yep! He could tell by the incredulous look on my face that I was a newbie. That was fantastic. Two quick trips and we were in business.

I didn't discover this until Sunday afternoon but they had an "Artist Only" Port-a-Potty set up. No line. (Less stinky!) Brilliant!

It was kind of cool being set up next to the registration tent in one way. As I was rearranging my tent for Sunday, I got to eavesdrop on the veteran vendors catching up with old friends, talking shop, as they got their coffee. The festival provided free newspapers to vendors who wanted them too. Nice.

I sort of unofficially handled the overflow from the registration tent. Because I was the first tent that people encountered coming down the hill from the food and other areas, and I sat in front of my tent on Sunday, people tended to ask me questions. I'm always happy to help, even if it's just to point them to someone who can really help them.

So - Fairport is next! Check out my presentation here! This show has the best online application and publicity I've seen. For the record, I've started passively obsessing over the weather already. So much for my "it is what it is" mentality.

Saturday, June 5, 10:00-6:00

Sunday, June 6, 10:00-5:00

Fairport, NY

Lilac Festival Report

2010-05-17T07:20:00.001-04:00

I did "really well" - was hoping for great but I'm also satisfied with really well. It leaves me in decent shape for Canal Days - with a couple of weeks left to make more for that. The Groove has been humming along since I woke up this morning.

I lost track of the number of lessons learned about big outdoor shows. I'm always very conscious of getting the first of anything behind me so I can get comfortable and smarter about the next time. Nothing major just little things (sunscreen!) that are going on my list.

And it was unexpectedly weird for me to feel like a little fish in a big pond. Not that I feel like a big fish otherwise, but I feel comfortable at indoor shows I'm used to. This was the first major show I've done, surrounded by professionals who travel the country in their RVs from show to show. I felt very much a newbie, struggling with my little tent in the wind.

But product-wise, I felt very much at ease. It was nice to reach new people who haven't seen my work before - and I ran into lots of current customers, which is always cool.

I was on a slight hill which I really hated and was not prepared for. Nor was I prepared for a breezy day. Thus, I have assignments, if you choose to accept them - for each of you, my favorite village people - Mom, Dad and Gretchen.

Mom: fabric covered sand bags.

Dad: wood shims. Though I think I can buy a bag of assorted shims at Home Depot inexpensively.

Gretchen: Directions for stitching patterns. I've talked about this to enough people that I'm (happily) committed.

Details on all to follow. Just giving you a heads up. "Chores" are optional, of course. :-)

Good God, I'm tired. Can't wait to go back to work this morning and rest with some nice soothing sales tax returns.

Love,
Stefani

PS Sorry, Gretchen, but I just know Mom's going to like me best when I give her the Lilac Festival poster she wanted . . . . autographed by the artist!

If I Had to Pick

2010-05-15T05:40:00.001-04:00

(Photo courtesy of Moments and Momentum.

Hoo boy was it a windy set up yesterday! Exhausting! If I had to pick one bad element for a show, like that was a rule or something, I'd pick a windy set up if I could have two gorgeous festival days. It's still dark out as I type this but it looks like the wind has died down considerably just like it was supposed to. The forecast is still spectacular for this weekend - 61 and 68 degrees, sunny.

I told Steve, "I'll be standing in this exact spot tomorrow morning, high as a kite." The wind will be a distant memory, I'll be filling my tent with color. My friend Pam will work with me during the day. The weekend holds tons of promise. As stressed and anxious as I get, I live for this!

This is the biggest show I've ever done and I can't wait to just be there. We listened to live music (The Coupe DeVilles) as we set up. There's a Smart Cars exhibit. I told Steve I want to test drive one of those. I don't even know if that's offered but I will if I can. There are so many food vendors I may not take my little sandwich like I do.

All of the above activity could be a moot point if we're super busy selling!

Okay, Stef, stop typing and start working. I have a couple of framed pieces to put together.

(I really appreciate the notes of support I've received - thank you!!)

Lilac Festival

Highland Park, Rochester, NY

Saturday & Sunday, 10:30-6:30

I'm in space #65, near the registration table - so please stop by and say hello. (And click the link for the festival just above. There's tons of entertainment and food. Something for everyone.)

Circling Triangles

2010-05-14T07:08:00.001-04:00

Mom asked me the other day how I come up with new designs and I couldn't answer her. I think most designs come from previous ones - what if I do this or that to it?

The very next day I was driving home from the dentist and this design popped into my head out of nowhere. That never happened before! I'm glad - because it's different than most of my previous designs. On one hand, I worry that my stuff all looks so similar. On the other hand, that's my style!

Having the Groove has helped immensely. I'd never get those triangles above lined up so perfectly without it. I have another design with triangles that I've stitched and I think I like it but I want to use it in a card to know for sure. It's big and different. (How's that for building suspense?)

I'm in full Bipolar Craft Show mode. Yesterday I felt pretty good about my preparedness. I told Steve it's not a feeling I'm used to. That ship has sailed! I woke up at 4:29 this morning but decided to go back to sleep and had weird stupid dreams that left me waking up grumpy. They weren't even craft show related - they involved cousins I don't even have! Dr. Freud - help?

A couple of my work friends emailed me yesterday to see how I'm doing so in responding to them, I'm feeling better. So I'll finish up some stuff this morning, then Steve and I will set up the tent, tables, hang the banner, etc. this afternoon at 3:00. We'll leave the product in plastic tubs overnight and I'll set it up in the morning.

Truthfully - I'm very happy and excited about doing this show. I live for this stuff. I'm so happy and grateful I get to do what I love.

Lilac Festival

Highland Park, Rochester, NY

Saturday & Sunday, 10:30-6:30

I'm in space #65, near the registration table - so please stop by and say hello. (And click the link for the festival just above. There's tons of entertainment and food. Something for everyone.)

Alexa Meade

2010-05-13T05:48:00.005-04:00

Alexa Meade paints people. Literally. She applies paint to living, breathing people and poses them in front a painted background so they become part of the 2 dimensional painting.

This photo of the artist gives you a better understanding of the process. Fascinating!

~ ~ ~

I've had a super productive week, away from the day job, doing nothing but Pine Tree Designs work all week, prepping for the big Lilac Festival this weekend. Of course that didn't stop me from having a teeny tiny meltdown yesterday feeling like I had NOTHING prepared. Don't be ridiculous - I've been working 13 hour days - I have lots of product prepared! I'm such a nut.

I realized this morning how far I've come in a year. Last June was the first time I participated in an outdoor show and I obsessed over the weather for at least 10 days prior to the show. This year, the only time I've thought about the weather in terms of this show was last weekend when I said out loud and in my head I don't know how many times, "Thank goodness the show isn't this weekend." We had up to 60 mph winds, rain, thunder and lightning.

Just today, two days before the show, I finally thought to look at the forecast. Rain is predicted for Friday morning, but just cloudy by Friday afternoon when we'll set up the tent. Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be sunny with highs of 58 degrees Saturday and 67 degrees Sunday. Perfect! Of course, now that I have thought about the forecast, I will obsess over it constantly.

It is what it is.

Still. Please send good thoughts our way?

Back to work...

Lilac Festival
18th Annual Arts and Crafts Show

Highland Park, Rochester, NY

May 15 and 16, 10:30 - 6:30

I'm in space #65, near the Registration Table. Please stop by to say hello!

I love you, Mom.

2010-05-09T14:36:00.001-04:00

I love PostSecrets.

I'm 54 and am happy I got to hug my mom today. And take her lilacs from my yard.

Happy Mother's Day!

And Another Thing . . .

I've Moved!

Cupcakes

A Dent!

Speedflying in Switzerland

PSA - Win Scissors!

A Giggle with the Goats

Little Shells

Hello?

School #46 Holiday Bazaar

This Show Rocks! Hard!

RMSC's Holiday Bazaar

People *ARE* Awesome

Chemical Balance

Happy Birthday!!!

Bon Jovi Fan

That Time of Year

MayDay Underground Review

MayDay Underground Craft & Art Luau

Art at the Lake Report

Art at the Lake

Gobble, Gobble, Oy

Which Logo Do You Like?

It's Snowing!

I'm a CPAPer!

Happy Dots

Origami Christmas Tree

Now We're Getting Somewhere!

One of My Favorites

Perfect Paper Pineapple

Artist Row Review

Zzzzzzzz!

I Need a Clone

Put Me Out to Pasture!

The Newest

Jen Stark

I Love the Internet

Email Bankruptcy

Aqua Coffee Table

Duckling Rescue!

I Celebrate My Weirdness

I Survived

August Birthdays

Pathetic Pins

The Day After

It Got Funner

Au Contraire

Hand Stitched Name Tag

Bob's Cake

It's Party Day!

Pastels

New Tins

A Most Excellent Show Weekend!

Ladybug Sticky Notes

Paper Cutting

Bees on Steroids

See What Mom Started??

My Mom is a Flippin' Genius!

Beaded Circles

The Panic has Receded

AlmsHse Alphabet

Spool Spectrum: Runaway

800 Stitches

Five, Count 'em, Five

Classic Combination

Our Best Wishes Go with You

Jen's Last Day at Work

Not Black & White

Gussied Up

Touch of Yellow

In My Head Studios Giveaway!

iFixIt.com

NBA: Nothin' But Art

I Found It!

Quoting Me, to Me

Still Shaking it Off - Sunday

I'm Shaking it Off - Saturday

What Has Brown Done for You Lately?

One Little Mistake

A Perfect Memorial Day Weekend

People ARE Awesome