Everywhere a Sign

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My name is Stefani and I am powerless over exclamation points!!! These are signs I made this morning for my display at The Enchanted Rose Garden. Sorry the lighting is a little weird - and I have no time to fix it. These signs have little paper easels attached to the back but I'm taking push pins and double sided tape with me because I won't know for sure how I'll use them until I get there today on my lunch hour.

Eileen, the owner suggested these signs, which I know, falls under the Duh! category. I was 100% focused on the product, not thinking like a customer. I do have a sign there now that I made that says Hand Stitched Paper Art but it's smaller. Now that my booth is switched around, the sign needs to be read from the door to entice people to come in to look closer.

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Venus

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Does this look comfy to you?? Venus has jumped into my giant paper recycling box in my studio before but never snuggled down like this. I think she only did it this time because it's so darn full, she can still keep a keen eye on the door, always on the watch for her nemesis, that pesky black cat, Verona.

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I attended a seminar for work yesterday, Excel - Beyond the Basics. Steve is Mr. Excel so he said he'd like to see any materials they gave me, out of curiosity. I told him someone at work that attended this same presentation earlier in the year bought the DVDs that go with it so maybe I could borrow them and we could have Date Night, watching Excel tutorials on the big screen TV.

I was kidding!!

He wants to do it! Geeks of a feather flock together, I guess. Pass the popcorn.

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And a big hello to my new Stalker/Friend, Cheryl. She emailed me this long funny email gushing over my art, blah, blah, blah. I replied; she replied - that she has finished looking at every entry on this blog - mostly looking at pictures. I can't exactly tease her for doing that because I did the exact same thing with the very first online journal I read. (Hi Willa!) I was blown away by this new medium - online journals back then, way before blogs. And Willa writes in a way about her every day, ordinary life that makes it so real. Biographies and autobiographies have always been my most favorite genre - book or movie, even fiction that reads like a biography works for me. Everyone has a story.

So I would spend every lunch hour, reading Willa's archives, starting at the very beginning. Only later did I learn that people kept stats and could see how long people were on their site, etc. I read so much that I started having dreams that Gretchen and I visited Willa in Kansas, meeting her at the bagel place she talks about.

I emailed her a few times over the years and when she answered, or even better, mentioned me in her journal, I felt like a celebrity had noticed me. Finally, on September 4, 2001, I started my own journal. And now I know that Willa stops by here sometimes. Small world.

This, is why I love the Internet so much. It absolutely brings people together. I love that.

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Blue Hearts

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The Wedding

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At the reception, my new niece Jill, my nephews Nick, his brother Paul and a bit of Simon.

DJ, Simon, Gershum and Paul. These are the 4 boys and sometimes Nick making 5 that spent lots, and I do mean lots, of time at our house in their teen years. It was a little tough getting used to having so many kids around at first. And there were times when it was not lost on me that they all had single mothers lolling about their own quiet homes eating bonbons while these loud, stinky boys ate us out of house & home.

But then they grew up and didn't hang out here as much anymore. I missed them and wondered how their lives were going. I mean, they all live locally, all stay in touch with each other but not like before. If they come over, it's usually after I've gone to bed. When they each graduated from high school (Paul will graduate in 2008), I could not have been more proud if I was their own mother. They still join us for our family breakfasts at The Log Cabin Restaurant for birthdays and always when Nick comes home on leave. We call DJ & Gershum cousins too. I love these kids.

When Paul gave his best man's toast at Nick's wedding, he spoke too softly, mumbled a little bit, but he did a great job. He had been so nervous about it and was so serious about his role in their ceremony. When he was done, I inexplicably burst into tears, shocking everyone including myself. I think that was really about how these boys have grown up into young adults.

They are so grown up that while Steve and I drove my parents home today, these 4 boys took a train into New York City for some fun on their own. I lectured them all sternly on driving home late at night, taking turns, keeping each other awake. It's the only thing that ever worries me, getting sleepy while driving. They assured me they'd watch out for each other.

Simon is such a goofball. But he sure cleans up nice though.

And so does Gretchen, it turns out. This is the mother son dance. Unfortunately Nick didn't inherit his mother's rhythm but she pulled him through it. She chose Paul Simon's Loves Me Like a Rock, a song with personal meaning for her, something she's always told her sons. Jill's Dad chose My Girl, another great choice.

My mama loves, she loves me

She gets down on her knees and hugs me

She loves me like a rock

She rocks me like the rock of ages

And she loves me

Wedding Cards & TV Shows

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We're off to Pennsylvania tomorrow for Nick & Jill's 2nd wedding, the big one. Here are some cards I made for the occasion.

To Nick & Jill from Stefani, Steve & Simon.

To Jill from Gretchen.

To Nick from Gretchen.

To Nick & Jill from Paul.


To Nick & Jill from Mom & Dad. Similar to this anyway, as I recall - I think I forgot to scan it before I gave it to Mom a few weeks ago. I think it was this theme but probably one of my square cards.

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This year Mom and Gretchen got me hooked on dance shows - Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance. I knew nothing, zip, zero about dance so it's been very enlightening and entertaining. For someone who used to be such a reality show snob (sorry, they're called unscripted shows now, aren't they?), I can't believe I got so caught up in these kids on So You Think You Can Dance. And as I told Gretchen, I think I have a bit of a girl crush on the host, Cat Deeley. She's just as cute as can be and quite perfect, in terms of hosting. Ahh, to be 7-feet tall, thin, blond and British.

What surprised me though, is how emotional some of these dances make me feel. It's the story behind the dance, I suppose, but it's all part of it. That Mia Michaels routine about her dad who passed away a couple of years ago - totally got to me.

Then today I was watching the Tivoed performance show of this week, the final week. When Danny danced his solo to We are the Champions, I got kinda teary. That probably had more to do with learning he was adopted at age 10 and wondering what his life was like before that. I watched him dance that three times.

And who doesn't like a handsome young Asian man with a funny personality and wacky hair, I ask you?? All the b-boys and girls, but especially Hok, totally amazed me with their break dancing.

I still don't get krumping.

In other guilty pleasures, I continue my Design Star addiction from last year. (Design Star is the only show where I've actually voted. For the winner, I might add.) And I'm finding Bravo to be really stepping up. I've always loved Kathy Griffin's D List show. I even like the Hey Paula trainwreck. And I love, love, love Flipping Out. It's laugh out loud funny to me and that's rare. Now I'm worried I'm going to like a new show in the fall, that looks so bad, I'm going to have to give it a try. When I say bad, you know it's on Fox. It's called Kitchen Nightmares:

Inspired by one of the UK’s biggest hits, KITCHEN NIGHTMARES is seen in more than 50 territories around the globe, and the series reveals a whole new side to Ramsay. He’s still prone to the explosive outbursts and spectacular confrontations familiar to fans of HELL’S KITCHEN, but he also shows his sensitive and nurturing side -- a unique blend of fury, passion, inspirational leadership and tough love that can turn a small spark of talent into a roaring flame.

Gretchen watches Welcome to the Parker so I'm just starting that one now. God bless Tivo.

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You'd think I would be getting a lot of Pine Tree Designs stitching and cardmaking done with all this TV watching, wouldn't you? Never enough, I'm always in a state of panic. But I've started outsourcing some of the work. Mom and Pam are going to stitch my business cards. And I've been talking to Steve about taking over the business end of it. He would absolutely love that, be great at it and he's more than willing.

I guess this is how little companies grow, isn't it? True to form for all business owners, I'm sure, it feels weird, to let go of things. But good, especially to people I love and trust.

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Southwest

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8" square, black metal frame. Made with cardstock, variegated thread and Swarovski crystals. $36.

I finished this one last night, just in time to add it to my new Southwest page that I've been working on this week. Then I sent out a note to the email mailing list crowd, half last night and half this morning.

Throw a little copper into any piece and I'm happy but especially with these colors. I've had 3 requests for southwest inspired pieces within the last few months. What happens is people will see a Sticky Notes pad they like and will request a framed piece like it.

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Napoleon

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I made this card for my friend Sherry who had to have her cat Napoleon put to sleep last weekend. The vet thinks he had a stroke. He was only 3. I'm not sure who I am more sad for, Sherry or her other cat, KiKi, who keeps wandering around looking for that annoying little intruder, Napoleon.

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Starburst

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5" Square Greeting Card made with cardstock, thread, seed beads & a Swarovski crystal. $6.00.

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Sunflower

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5" Square Hand Embroidered Mandala Greeting Card, $6.00.



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Enchanted Rose Garden Set Up Day

.Almost all of my inventory is now is 3 stores. And I have the biggest show season of my career this fall. Panic much? Nah. Gulp. The good news is I have lots of centers stitched, ready to be made into cards, notepad covers and framed art. And lots of centers ready to be stitched.

I set up my space at the Enchanted Rose Garden in Penfield yesterday. I want to fill this wall with framed art. I actually have a few more pieces at home that I want to rework a little bit or reframe. Then they can go in too. That card rack contains a bunch of non-stitched cards I'd like to sell to get rid off so eventually everything I make will have stitching on it of some sort. I also have slightly bigger card racks I could put in addition to or in place of this puny one, as I increase my inventory here.

That's my friend MJ's painted glass next to me. She downsized her space slightly and offered this set of black shelves to me at a good price so I took her up on it. Those two shelves actually form a wall down the center of that room, dividing off our little area. (You can see her glass next to my wall space too. We both have space on both sides of an aisle, if you will.) MJ bought the shelves at Target and painted them black, which the owner & I just love. Really pops those colors as they say.

Overall I'm happier with my initial set up than I thought I'd be. I was able to fill more than I expected. This is an acrylic display I had, someone had given it to me actually. I've found one similar online at a good price, measured yesterday and so today I'll order 4 to fill the rest of the shelves. I like displaying all like-colored items together so I think I'll keep that theme going. It worked out well assembling these purple Sticky Notes all at one time too. I punched multiples of various parts at a time and so they went together pretty quickly. I hustled at the last minute to get the gold flip flop Sticky Notes ready - it won't be summer forever. The fall shows will be too late to sell these.

I priced that piece on the left pretty low - would love to sell that thing. It was way more work than the result warranted and has garnered very little interest. I'm going to pick up some black or clear easels I saw at Michael's recently. I just used these big clunkers for now because I had them on hand. This turquoise quilt set-up sort of came to me at the last minute.

This shows the top two shelves. The shelves are adjustable so I can always play around with them as I change things around. That's a wood tray I painted black that holds my pins. Next to it are my business cards (must stitch more!), my little bio sheet and my list of future shows.

Above are the 4 remaining notepad & pen sets. (I had another but I stored it carelessly so the cardstock cover got bent so I'll have to redo that one.)

I had to retag every single thing because I now have a vendor number again. Since I haven't had one in a while, but still participate in one-cashier-for-all shows, I've been using my initials. Most shows are good about using existing numbers, knowing that vendors also participate in co-ops. Hopefully there's not another #15 participating in the same shows that I do. I took this opportunity to raise my prices just a skosh because for one, I feel more confident in selling. I initially priced my stuff on the low side to test the market. Without exception, every fellow vendor who saw my prices thought they were too low. The second reason is the owner of the store keeps a percentage of each sale to cover advertising and credit card fees.

I need to tidy up my studio a bit today, then get back to creating.
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Purple Haze

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The finishing touch on this one will be a purple crystal in the center.

I'm "mass producing" a bunch of purple Sticky Notes to start off my Enchanted Rose Garden experience, the store in Penfield I've mentioned. I knew I wouldn't have as many pieces finished as I would have liked so I figured working on one color at a time would be the most efficient. I'll have bunches of these, some cards and some paper pins for my booth set-up Saturday morning. Then I'll fill more in every few days or once/week, however it works out. The store closes at 5:00 each day so I'd have to pop over on my lunch hour. It's not all that far from where I work, it's just that there's no clear direct route, as the crow flies. Still, it's quite do-able. And so I shall.

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New Pin

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I like this pin well enough.

I love this pin!

I made this pin yesterday morning before work because I wanted to wear a piece of my own jewelry to the Valentown Museum Open House last night. I already had the center stitched and the rubber stamped & embossed flower part came to me in the shower so I hustled and put it together. I had to take the pin to work instead of wearing it because the glue for the pin back was still wet. I got a number of compliments on it and one woman seemed interested in buying some. Score!

My lease at The Enchanted Rose Garden begins today! I won't have time to get set up until this weekend so I'm going to shoot Eileen (the owner) an email to let her know. I need to check their store hours too but I'm not sure I can make it there after work during the week anyway. And I've decided to put out what I have and add to it over the next couple of weeks. I just can't get everything done that I want to in time so better to have some product out than nothing.

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The day job is going better. The drama is over and I'm sensing a renewed sense of work ethic among a lot of people. I've actively changed my attitude and mood. I finally realized how the bad situation was flavoring my attitude towards others. Hopefully it didn't show on the outside as much as I felt on the inside, but still, I want to be a good team leader and fellow employee.

Funny how putting extra hours in on the day job burns me out far faster than any Pine Tree Designs work I do! I'm also feeling a bit sleep deprived but that's fixable. I'm off to work now - want to be at my desk at 6:00. The good news is it's Wednesday, which means one of our accounting friends brings in bagels for each of us, which means it's the day I treat myself to a Dunkin' Donuts strawberry banana smoothie. I've found this to be a good system to have a designated day to treat myself so I don't feel deprived the other days. (Yes, I make smoothies at home all the time, but they just aren't the same, I tell you!) (Yes, I'm so anal and organized that I have a designated treat day!)

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