DIY Office

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Fall Pin

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This orange Spirelli pin is 2" in diameter. (See? I got smart and scanned it on top of another piece of paper so the scanner wouldn't cut off the edges of the round object. Still don't know it does that.) I'll be making these in more colors - next is blue & green with green or blue Swarovski crystals I think. Not too many, just enough to add sparkle.

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Answers & Hilton Apple Fest

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More parts, awaiting completion and framing. This one is about 4" in diameter and done with three shades of blue DMC floss. I use patterns by Erica Fortgens - but the more I do, the more I think about creating my own, for true original works of art. I make a copy of the pattern from one of her books and poke holes through it into the cardstock, using a pushpin. It seems to almost make the right size hole. When I was on some of those paper embroidery Yahoo groups, I would see examples of people's work where the holes were so big, they were distracting from the piece. I read about replacing the lead in a mechanical pencil with a needle to use to poke the holes. I'd like to try that, or some variation of that to see if I can get my holes even smaller. They do sell special needle tools but I've never found them quite satisfactory to hold - too long in the hand, or something.

This was stitched with my newest variegated thread - Confetti I think it's called. I'm usually a monochromatic kind of girl, but I'm really digging these very colorful variegateds lately. They aren't cheap but the spools are rather large, I suppose - or I'd be tempted to buy every variation at once. This way is good too though - I can treat myself to a new one every once in a while. This yellow square is 3'" square and will be made into a card.

Because I'm pretty sure I don't have enough to do at the moment, I've started revamping my Pine Tree Designs website. I received some junk mail from a company that offers easy-to-use software and hosting for the same price I'm paying per month right now. I've only gotten part-way through the home page. But that's why I've been lagging in posting the new pieces to my old site. Of course a nice goal to have would be to get the new site up and fully functional in time for these fall craft shows. But seeing as how the first one is a week from tomorrow - not gonna happen.

Speaking of craft shows, I'll be working for MJ, at the Hilton Apple Fest this weekend, both days, 10-5. It's her biggest show of the year, she says, so I know I'll be busy. We'll be in Booth #282 - stop by to say hello and see (and buy!) her beautiful painted glassware.

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Three More

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Edited to add: The art is 5" x 5", framed = 7" x 7". These are the wonderful frames my dad made. I painted these with acrylic paints with a brush because I didn't have these colors in my beloved spray paints. It was pretty fun!

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Turquoise

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More Centers

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Two more pieces that will be made into greeting cards.

Variegated

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This will be turned into a framed mandala. You just can't go wrong with variegated thread. I always want to buy every spool I see at JoAnn's. (Funny how the scanner cut off the sides - it really is perfectly round.)

Stitchin' Up a Storm Lately

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5" x 5" Card

Studio Kitty

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Does this look comfy to you?? Venus will sleep wherever the sunbeam shows up.

Craft Company No. 6

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Visiting Craft Company No. 6 was not on yesterday's To Do List, but I am so glad I stopped. Boy, do I love that place! I haven't been there in years, but I stare longingly at the beautifully colorful building every time I drive by. It's in the "Neighborhood of the Arts", one of my favorite areas of Rochester. If I was single, I'd live in a loft in that area.

What was on my list yesterday was stopping at Urban Essentials, a new store on University Avenue. I'd seen it when driving to the Clothesline Art Show a couple of weeks ago. I thought it might be a place to approach about selling my stuff. It turned out to be less unique than I thought it would be. Small place, soup to nuts, nothing special.

That's when I decided there was no time like the present to visit Craft Company No. 6, just down the road. I am going to contact them about selling my framed art. I'm very nervous. But I have nothing to lose, so why not?

My very favorites pieces in the place are Sticks Furniture and Art Objects. They just blew me away.

A plaque like this, maybe 10" square was $100 I think. Hardly in line with my Target Girl Budget. But I loved every single piece I saw. Especially the $2000+ tables.

They also had a collection of marquetry boxes that were all quilt patterns. I have a similar jewelry box that I bought eons ago at a craft show - and a pin too. They were fantastic too.

After Craft Company No. 6, I went to XpedX to buy a couple of reams of white cardstock. From craft store to paper warehouse. Yeah, I know. I almost hyperventilated.

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Show Schedule

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Postcards go out today to my local friends, family and customers! (If anyone wants some postcards to pass around to their friends or leave at their workplace, let me know and I'll be happy to send you some.)

I set up my booth in the garage this weekend so Dad and I could figure out a good size for the screen he's going to make for me to hang my framed art on. It's gonna be so cool!

I've had to forego the large wood card rack I've been using and go with several smaller wire racks. I knew this time would come - when Simon is no longer available to help Steve lug it around for me. His new job hours are 1:00-11:00 so I knew I could bully him into taking it to the venue for set-up but I had no idea how I was going to get the darn thing into Steve's vehicle at the end of the show since Simon would be working. The two of them kind of struggle with it so I know I'd be of no help. The good news is I have been given enough wire racks that I have an immediate alternative available. The really good news is I'll never have to hear Simon bitch about that heavy card rack again.

I took Friday afternoon off and have today off as well. In fact I'm meeting a former vendor from the Fairport gift store I was in, today at 11:30 to pick up two more card racks she's giving me. One is an acrylic tiered rack that should be perfect for my Adhesive Note Pads.

I didn't get as much crafting done this weekend as I would have liked but I did do a bunch of Pine Tree Designs related stuff. Dad and I worked on the aforementioned screen. I finished up a bunch of framed pieces and Steve and Reggi went with me out to Creative Presence so I could deliver them.

The non PTD stuff: grocery shopping and catching up on the week's mail and various paperwork.

I have next weekend as a three-day weekend with only a couple of obligations on Saturday so I should be able to get more work done. I'm sure I'll be fine but I bet everyone stresses before shows - do I have enough product available??

I'm thinking next year I might schedule every Monday in August and September as vacation days. I feel like I worked year round on new creations but I guess no matter what, there's always crunch time before shows.

Auditor Joke

In light of all the recent audit activity at our office, I can't resist posting this joke:

At the end of the tax year, the Tax Office sent an inspector to audit the books of a Synagogue. While he was checking the books he turned to the Rabbi and said, "I notice you buy a lot of candles. What do you do with the candle drippings?"

"Good question," noted the Rabbi. "We save them up and send them back to the candle makers, and every now and then they send us a free box of candles."

"Oh," replied the auditor, somewhat disappointed that his unusual question had a practical answer. But on he went, in his obnoxious way:

"What about all these bread-wafer purchases? What do you do with the crumbs?"

"Ah, yes," replied the Rabbi, realising that the inspector was trying to trap him with an unanswerable question. "We collect them and send them back to the manufacturers, and every now and then they send us a free box of bread-wafers."

"I see," replied the auditor, thinking hard about how he could fluster the know-it-all Rabbi. "Well, Rabbi," he went on, "what do you do with all the leftover foreskins from the circumcisions you perform?"

"Here, too, we do not waste," answered the Rabbi. "What we do is save all the foreskins and send them to the Tax office, and about once a year they send us a complete dick."

TGIF

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I've been making piles of these cards this week. I've only made these in blue before but I'm digging the other colors a lot. Yellow/gold is next and last in this series. (Fellow crafters will love the giant roll of foam tape in the background.)



Pretty much every design for cards or framed art piece will have matching adhesive notes available. These green ones are awaiting the Swarovski crystals in the center of the flowers - they should arrive today, I think. I have a good supply of the clear crystals, which are cool - they pick up whatever color paper they are paired with - but I also ordered them in 4 colors for these cards and note pads. I'm not normally a glitzy kind of girl but they add just the right amount of specialness to things, I think.

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Back to Johnny Depp for a second - if you've seen any of the Pirate movies, be sure to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: Bonus Material. It's all about the making of the movie - special effects, make-up, bloopers - the whole deal. We're in the middle of it now and it's excellent. (Mom - have you seen this? It's totally up your alley. If you haven't seen it, I'd be happy to drop it off. Wait - you have a DVD player, don't you? How come I can't remember??)

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Not to be a big whiner but what a crappy week I've had. How crappy, you ask? I called my massage therapist on the way home last night, asking to change my Monday appointment to today. (I had made the appointment for Monday this time, just to change up the routine a bit and because I thought I might be stressed from a busy weekend, working at the Clothesline art show with MJ while trying to squeeze in time for my own work plus the dreaded grocery shopping.)

I'm taking this afternoon off - to craft - and get a break from work. After my massage. It's amazing how that hour washes the week off me. I don't like to fall asleep - why pay good money to sleep through a massage? - but I definitely go to my "happy place" - completely zoned out. It's a skill. Thank you.

The New York State sales tax audit began this week. The guy (and his trainee) are both very nice and easy to work with but man, is it involved. I found out how little I know about the big picture of our operation. I mean, I know my piece really well and I know other pieces kinda sorta, but not the details. I spent a moment feeling inadequate, then decided I can't know everything - we all have our own jobs we specialize in. So I'm getting the right people who know their own pieces involved.

It's quite different than I remember the previous audit years ago, even though I wasn't involved in that one. That person was with us for weeks - in and out - but weeks. This guy was here this week for 3 days, getting to know our operation. Next we'll communicate by email for a couple of months, he said, then he'll come back. It's been the same with our other audits. There used to be a big crunch to get everything they request done while they are with us. Now it's okay to email them the rest. I love that.

Meanwhile I feel like I haven't done diddly on my "real work" this week, so that's stressful. It's stressful watching the unanswered email pile up.

There's other work stuff going on but I'll spare you the details. Everyone is overworked and stressed - it's not just me.

But today is Friday. It's breakfast day at work. I'm working with another woman on repotting several of the lobby plants this morning. Our company is celebrating it's 35th anniversary this year and we're having a big open house, boot camp and family picnic later this month. So we thought we'd pitch in and help the building dude by sprucing up some of the plants with new pots and soil.

Massage. Crafting. Maybe pizza for dinner - maybe out for dinner, if Steve feels so inclined.

That's a good day.

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I Got the Blues

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I made these for orders yesterday. I've been framing a lot of pieces this weekend. I've been spending money so I can make money at my 5 upcoming craft shows. I can't wait for that 2nd part. Good thing I'm having fun in the meantime. :-) (Oct & Nov show details to follow.)

In the movie department, Steve and I have been whipping through the movies in the last few weeks. We are currently Netflix dvd-less, a first! We watched Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which I think concludes our Johnny Depp Film Festival for a while. Great movie. It was better than the second, though I enjoyed that one too. We also recently watched Ed Wood, a movie I had no interest in until I "discovered" Johnny Depp a few months ago. I guess it was good, not great. (Sorry, Mary!) I did love Edward Scissorhands as Mary promised I would! This is the first Tim Burton movie I've enjoyed, by the way - just not my thing usually. And I loved Finding Neverland too!

This weekend we also watched Ray, which was excellent. We also watched The Recruit recently because I wanted to see Colin Farrell in something else after seeing him in Miami Vice. It was enjoyable.

Our movie watching will taper off greatly once the new TV season starts. I told Steve we should think about which new series we want to watch because each year we don't start watching anything new because we don't want to watch any more television than we do. Then we start hearing good things about shows and start watching, having missed the first half dozen episodes. I think we're going to give Shark a try - and Studio 60 too, both pretty much based on the casts.

Whew! I'm "linked" out!
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