Happy Halloween!

.

(Photo courtesy of sykadelx at iStockphoto.com.)

Happy Halloween, my pretties!

~ ~ ~

And now for something completely different:

Our Lady of Mercy High School
4th Annual Art Show and Craft Sale
1437 Blossom Road, Rochester, NY
November 1, 2008, 10:00-4:00

.

Two New Cards

.

We have 2 people out of work on disability, one long-term, one short-term, so these are cards for the whole office to sign. They are each 5-1/2" square and I'll include loose properly sized corner-rounded squares of paper inside to accommodate all the signatures. I used to make little books when lots of people would be signing them but loose sheets works just fine and is a whole lot less work for me. The big bonus is we only use as many pages as necessary. I know that people write more for someone who has lost a relative than wishing someone happy birthday, for instance. But it's awfully hard to predict how many pages to include and too few or too many is not good either way.

I'll set this out in the mailroom and send an email to all Rochester office employees offering the opportunity to sign them by a specific deadline. I used to send each card around in a folder with a checklist of employee names but that always resulted in a ridiculous amount of my time being spent tracking down the card when it got left on some out-of-the-office employee. It was Jen who helped me see the light of letting the card signers come to the card. We might get less signatures that way but it is what it is.

~ ~ ~

Our Lady of Mercy High School
4th Annual Art Show and Craft Sale
1437 Blossom Road, Rochester, NY
November 1, 2008, 10:00-4:00

The Great Beagle Escape

.

Thanks Dad for sending me the link to this video! I found myself making up thought balloons over the heads of the escape artist - and the beagles left behind. Our beagle Reggi is fortunately (!) too overweight to attempt this - but she'd never have to because she's always with us.

~ ~ ~

Our Lady of Mercy High School
4th Annual Art Show and Craft Sale
1437 Blossom Road, Rochester, NY
November 1, 2008, 10:00-4:00

.

Congratulations are in Order!

.

Heads up to my fellow crafters - Scrappily Ever After is having another 30% off sale until midnight tonight. I just placed my biggest order ever - 17 new punches and a "professional" power punch. Yeah, but I saved over $60 on my order!

I bought a cheap plastic - I think it was $6 - punch helper thing from this place a couple of years ago, figuring if it didn't work that well I haven't lost much money. That thing is worth it's weight in gold. I actually clicked on the tool page this morning, thinking I'd buy another one - I like to have back-ups of the important tools I own. I'd forgotten about this baby shown above. There's also a personal model, but heck, I'm a professional!

The punches are listed in millimeters so in the past I've sort of measured my punches on the fly as I placed an order. This morning I decided to get organized and punch all the circles and squares I own to keep as reference. I pretty much ordered all the sizes I don't have. Uh-oh. I just realized, I'm going to have to reorganize my storage. I have room to grow, might just have to switch around some drawers. No problem.

See that scalloped circle at the top with the flat edge? It was after I placed the order that I wished I'd thought to order a replacement for that one. It punches cleanly if I lean on it just right.

The majority of punches I ordered are circles, scalloped circles and squares that I don't have, with a couple of replacements thrown in for good measure. (I also get free shipping for orders over $100 after discount.) I think the only new shape punch I ordered is a dove, which will be good for Christmas.

~ ~ ~

The congratulations I refer to in the title of this entry, are not for me for placing a big, fat punch order - but for my favorite sister, Gretchen! She ran her first marathon Sunday - the Marine Corps Marathon. She wrote about running their half marathon last year here. I can't wait to hear and read about the full marathon. Our whole extended Stahlman family was tracking her on the website, watching her yellow dot make it's way around the twisty course.

~ ~ ~

So work yesterday didn't suck. How's that for a glowing endorsement? The downsized employee came in and reviewed some stuff with me. It was announced at the Monday Morning Meeting without much reaction but several people within the office told me they wished they'd had a chance to say good-bye. And a couple of friends from other offices emailed me their shocked reactions.

~ ~ ~

I've lost my touch with Birthday Brownies. I sure hope it's not a permanent condition. Another co-worker's birthday was Sunday so I intended to bake brownies for Monday. For people in our department I bake the traditional Birthday Brownies and a special treat of their choosing for a small departmental get-together in the afternoon. I totally forgot to bake anything! I think I was so relieved, after last week, to put work out of my mind for the weekend, that I did too good of a job of it. Since I get up so early, I thought about baking them in the AM but decided against it. I told the woman what I'd done and could I please have a do-over for today, Tuesday. She was fine with it, of course. It was her 60th birthday so that kind of made me feel like more of a heel but she really was okay about it. She even invited me to join her with our manager and the CEO for her birthday lunch. (I've mentioned before, he takes every employee in our building out to lunch for their birthday.)

I got home from a craft show meeting last night around 8:30 and as I walked into the kitchen to mix up the brownies, I remembered we are out of canola oil. I had some oil in a pour spout bottle, which measured out to exactly what I needed. Wow - what luck! Then I tasted the batter and it tasted funny. At first I thought maybe it was olive oil in the pour spout bottle instead. I baked them anyway, hoping the funny taste would magically go away.

It didn't. I tasted them this morning and I was wishing I had some caster oil or something equally as hideous (I've heard) to gargle with to get that horrid taste out of my mouth. I think the oil was rancid. Is that what happens to "old" oil? I have no idea how long that was in there, which surely isn't a good sign. I had baked two pans of brownies because one was the standard Birthday Brownies and the other was to serve as the afternoon treat - with ice cream for Brownie Sundaes.

I put it all down the garbage disposal.

I'll be stopping at Wegmans for brownies this morning since I have to stop for ice cream anyway. It's the thought that counts, right?

Woe is me. I hope this is a temporary set-back. I'm not ready to give up being the Birthday Brownie Fairy just yet.

Our Lady of Mercy High School
4th Annual Art Show and Craft Sale
1437 Blossom Road, Rochester, NY
November 1, 2008, 10:00-4:00

.

Weekend Wrap-Up

.First the bad news. We had to downsize a person in my department last Friday. So the week leading up to that was pretty stressful. I've never been part of the management side of that before. I understand the facts and figures of profitability but none of us, my boss included, feel any less busy than we've ever been. So part of our solution is to pull the rock star employee I lost to Human Resources a few months ago, back into Accounting, partially. Other than that, we'll all have to step up, do the best we can and let the smaller stuff slide.

The downsized employee is coming in early this morning to collect the rest of her things and show me where she was with some of her work, which she volunteered to do. I'd do the same thing but I'm not sure everyone would do that. She took it remarkably well, considering how shocking the news was, to all of us actually. I told my boss, "Just so you know, if you ever gave me that news, I would not take it so well." He said he wouldn't either.

Then we have a regularly scheduled every other week office-wide meeting scheduled at 8:30, where I know the CEO will address the situation. Obviously, I can't say anything more about it, but I'm sure we're just the first department to feel the pinch.

Overall, with the current economic state of the world, I feel grateful to have a job, I really do.

Which brings up another point. I'm worried that people are going to expect President Obama to fix everything in his first 2 weeks in office. Some experts (like Dad and his squeeze Suze Orman) say it's going to be 7 years to come out of this economic mess and even then, we won't be where we were in the last couple of years.

~ ~ ~

On to the good news.

I worked at MJ's craft show Saturday morning. It rained all freakin' day so I think that slowed traffic a bit. But people who come to that show in her home, really like it a lot. It really is nice - it looks nice, smells nice, feels nice. She told me my sales for Thursday and Friday and I was pleased. I met a couple of new vendors who worked the morning too. We had fun.


And I sold this piece! People seem to really like it - it attracts a lot of attention at craft shows. I'm glad it finally found a good home.

On to the next one!

Our Lady of Mercy High School
4th Annual Art Show and Craft Sale
1437 Blossom Road, Rochester, NY
November 1, 2008, 10:00-4:00

.

Holiday Market Publicity & Next Craft Show

.

This is the 16-page brochure the Junior League of Rochester printed for last weekend's Holiday Market. Each shopper received one as they entered the show. And it was included in some or all of the local Messenger Post community newspapers. It's newsprint and only the front and back covers are in color, but still - pretty impressive. This is why the big shows are expensive to get into. You get what you pay for.

What's that? Stefani's art at the head of the article about the show? Oh my!

Oh I know her! How cool is that? I'd forgotten all about it until I arrived at the show to set up and my friends told me about it. The Junior League emailed all vendors and offered this opportunity. There were only 8 artists featured so I don't know if that means only 8 out of 67 vendors responded or if I'm special. :-) The other vendors featured offer pretty unique wares too, so maybe we were chosen. I didn't think to ask; I was just happy to be included.

They printed exactly what I submitted. Note to self: next time - write more! Some artists had a full page.

(Gretchen - Doug McFarland was included in the brochure too. What are the odds that 2 out of 8 artists featured live on the same road?)

~ ~ ~

On to the next craft show!

Wednesday night I took my stuff over to my friend MJ's house for her annual home craft show. She's a glass painter I met at the co-op gift shop in Fairport, Village Gifts, which turned into Celebration Gifts. I worked for her in her booth at craft shows for a couple of years, so I definitely consider her my mentor. I picked up so much from her while working for her that I didn't even realize I was learning until it was time to put it to use.

One year ago she picked up a bacterial infection in one eye and almost lost the eye altogether. She's still going through surgery and medical procedures but the prognosis is pretty good, considering. So she's had to scale back her full-time glass painting business. I remember she used to do 20 shows a year - and a lot were big shows. She told me the other night though, she won another blue ribbon recently - at the Brockport show, I think she said. So even with only 1 eye working 100%, she's still got it!

I don't take my full booth set-up to MJ's. For instance, I took a wooden bi-fold door I painted black, instead of my big double screen, for my framed art. I also took a floor spinner for cards and my 3' wide acrylic rack for my Sticky Notes. All that and several plastic tote bins of product - all fit in my Prius! I had told Steve I thought I could do it so he didn't have to hurry home so I could use his Explorer. But when I saw the length of that bi-fold door again, I had my doubts. Fit like a dream!

MJ's show runs Thursday, Friday (9-4) and Saturday (9-4) so please stop by if you're able. I'll be working there Saturday morning. She rearranges 3 or 4 rooms in her house to showcase about 10 vendors. It's nice stuff - I usually do a little shopping there myself!

MJ Cramer's 5th Annual Home Craft Sale
342 Pannell Road
Fairport, NY

.

We're Green!

.

More precisely, I'm Barcelona Red Metallic - picked my new car up yesterday on my lunch hour.

Gretchen is Spectra Blue Mica, picked up 10/11/08.

If you need us, you can find us over at PriusChat.com with the rest of the cult.

You know, over the years, I always hoped my next car would be a hybrid. I just never thought they would be so available, so reliable and so affordable (as cars go).

I can't wait to see them side-by-side. I had to use these photos off the Toyota website because it's cold & rainy outside. A wee bit of snow was expected overnight - not sure yet if we got it. It would have melted almost instantaneously. Still, here comes winter.

.

Holiday Market Photos

.

This is the second time I've used carpeting in my booth. I bought this gray carpet because I was thinking of my black screen. However, I'm not happy with how it looks with my light & dark ivory tablecloths. So for 2 shows now, I've been trying to think what color carpeting would look right.

After seeing my friend Rachel's booth, I noticed she has a lot more (I think) black than she used to. Duh! It's my tablecloths that need changing, not the carpet! So I asked Rachel about the fabric - it's 60" wide gabardine she bought at JoAnn Fabrics. Doesn't fray, doesn't require hemming, she said - perfect!

You can see how nicely my tablecloths fit my tables. Mom very kindly sewed two tablecloths together for me for each table. I needed 2 cloths per table to reach the floor on all sides (it looks better and is required by some shows) and I was forever fiddling with them to get them perfect. Having the tablecloths "tailored" like this is fantastic. (I'm the envy of fellow vendors, Mom!) Rachel said the 60" gabardine doesn't fall to the floor in the back of her tables - so I'm thinking about layering the black on top of these ivory tablecloths - like position a square diagonally or something. I like the layered look and that way the tables are covered plus I have mostly the black showing, to co-ordinate my booth - and show off all my colorful wares.

The other end of this table had 6 more glass plates filled with paper pins. They sold quite well at this show. (At some shows, the pins garner nary a glance. You never know.) People love those sunflower pins you see here. I tried to quit making them once before because they have zero stitching on them. I keep trying to think how I could add stitching to them but maybe I better leave well enough alone.

Seeing this photo reminds me I haven't drawn the winner of the free drawing yet. The giveaway is a sunflower card, Sticky Notes and pin. People like the sunflowers - and I'm trying to get rid of the some of the last of my cards that don't have stitching on them. :-)

I love my framed pieces, if I do say so myself, but I really don't sell that many. I really don't think they are overpriced at all. I do have one "collector" who has bought maybe 10 or so, over time - some for gifts, some for herself. Late Sunday I did sell one of the pink pieces (right).

I bought those lights during last year's show at the Rochester Museum & Science Center. Even though I'm usually in big, well lit rooms, I am surprised at how shadowy it can be. At that show I was next to someone with a very tall booth so that's what prodded me to finally buy lights. I decided at this past show that whenever possible I will pay for electric for my booth - it's worth it to add a little sparkle and brightness.

I wanted to take this sign with me, but then I thought maybe the Junior League wanted to keep them in case they can use them again next year (fingers crossed for me). But then I saw the decorating company taking the curtains down and tossing the signs willy-nilly, so I poked at mine until it finally came down. I'll hang it in my studio somewhere, just for fun. It's my first sign provided by a show like that - the first of many, I should say. ;-)

To be juried for this show, I sent samples of my work, not photos. When the chairperson of the event stopped by to introduce herself, I asked if I was getting those back. (One usually gets photos back so I figured I'd get the actual items back - a card, a notepad and pin, I think.) She said they usually keep them on file but I could have them back if I wanted them. "No! You should keep them, definitely keep them!" I said. And that was before the show, before I knew how hard I rocked the sales. Btw, this was my 2nd highest sales show ever. Not bad for a brand new show.

I looked over the website for the Junior League of Syracuse show - Holiday Shoppes, they call theirs. I did remember correctly - they have over 8500 visitors. So I emailed them to get on their mailing list for next year. Looking over the vendor list for 2007, I saw a handful of names that were at this Rochester show. I wondered how so many out of towners ended up at this show. Apparently there's a lot of cross-pollination between Junior Leagues. Cool.

.

Kickin' It!

.

I'm kickin' ass at this show, I have to say. Actually, let me clarify - I'm kickin' ass 2008 style. That is to say I'm very pleased - but if the economy wasn't in the toilet, I'd be goosebumpy with happiness, I just know it.

I only talked to a few vendors and they all reported slow sales. I have a big-time policy to not be a whiny vendor so it's a challenge to talk to my vendor friends sometimes. I don't want to not respond when they ask me how things are going. I want to be honest. I just think, besides the fact that it's never a good idea to be overheard by a customer complaining about anything, it's bad karma to be negative at a craft show. It just is.

I told one of the Junior League women that I thought they did a great job and I hope they continue to hold this show. (She thought they would if there was sufficient vendor interest.) They had live music throughout the day! The food in their cafe was delicious. Those Junior League women are also shoppers, I tell you!

My friend Pam worked with me for 4 hours Saturday (thank goodness - and thank you, Pam!) - and she won one of the raffles. She won a beautiful turned wood pepper mill, a box of 3 bottles of marinade, vinegar and something else - and an acoustic guitar music CD, all stuff donated by vendors. That and the turkey sandwich I bought her for lunch - she had a pretty good day considering how much I pay her, which is zip. (I try to do something nice for her and my other friend Linda who works with me on occasion - a gift card, dinner, something.) She was even a good enough sport to sell the paper pin right off her shirt to a customer who admired it!

I was approached by not one, but two other Junior League chapters. The woman from the Buffalo chapter invited me to apply for their spring boutique. They create a store of hand crafted items in the carriage house behind their showcase house. It runs for 3 weeks in May and is a consignment operation with a 40/60 split. (I get the 60%. I'm surprised how often I get asked that question by people not in the business. Understandable.) I can ship my product there and she'll ship it back at the end, at my expense. Steve and I thought maybe we'd drive to pick it up, just to see the place - kind of a spring day trip. (For you non-locals, Buffalo is about an hour away.)

The woman from the Syracuse chapter gave me a flyer on this year's show. She said there are about 10 spaces left but she figured I'm already booked for that weekend and I am. But she encouraged me to apply for next year. (Syracuse is about an hour away in the opposite direction from Buffalo, for those of you playing the home game.) That show is in November all day Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday is 12:00-5:00. I think she said it's about 4 times the size of this Rochester show - that's big! I'm seriously considering it. Steve already said he's agreeable to go with me. He's instrumental to the set up and tear down process - and the rest of the time, he could hang out at the hotel, watch ESPN, read Sports Illustrated and do work on his laptop - the same stuff he does at home. We love staying in hotels so I think it would be fun too.

I was thinking today, of all the projects and product I expected to have done for this show season and haven't gotten to yet. I wondered, if I didn't work full-time and spent 40 hours/week working on Pine Tree Designs stuff, would I get it all accomplished? I think not. I think ideas expand to fill and overfill the time available, no matter what.

I bought a candle from my friend Rachel and some black raspberry jam from another vendor who was in my room at Casa Larga last May. (She's bringing me some homemade granola today - I bought some in May - it's killer.) I really haven't gotten around to see all the other vendors yet. I hope to walk around before the show starts this morning.

This is exactly the high quality show I expected it to be. It's an expensive show to enter but they did some major advertising. The show runs today 10:00-5:00. For any local readers, I encourage you to stop by and see the work of these top notch vendors.

(Click to enlarge to read the print.)

.

Holiday Market Buzz

.

Great art, bad photo, complete with my reflection in the glass. But I don't have time to take the glass out and photograph it properly. The art is about 7-1/2" square and the frame is 10" square. I'll have to price it when I get to the show to see what I sell this size for but I think it's around $40.

Remember my enthusiasm for the Junior League of Rochester's Holiday Market this weekend? Double it! I promise you it will be worth the $5 admission.

I knew the place was going to look cool because they hired a decorator. So it looks like a real trade show - and I mean that in a good way. Each booth has a backdrop of green curtains with a white panel in the center - and 3' high green curtains separating the booths. We each have a large white sign with black lettering with our company name and hometown. I'll take pictures today.

If you need more enticement, a list of vendors is here. (Click Fundraising at the top, then Holiday Market.) I'm right next to my friend Kathy - Grandma Hattie's Tea Party - she makes all kinds of cool home accessories out of old china and other dishes. My friend Rachel is near me - she makes beautiful candles, of which I intend to buy one today.

I saw that Enchanted Rose Garden has a booth but they were just setting up when I left. (I can't bear to think what my space at that store looks like. Stopping by to restock has been on my to-do list every weekend - or on the way home from work on Thursdays. When it comes time to go, I just don't feel I can spare the time away from my worktable. But I need to get the summer pins & Sticky Notes - FlipFlops style - out of there and get some fall/winter themed things set up. It's mid-October for cryin' outloud.)

The show is at what used to be called the Dome Arena, now called The Fair & Expo Center. I know there's an entrance from East Henrietta Road, not sure if the Calkins Road entrance still exists or not. I don't think I've been to the Dome itself since I saw Peter Frampton there a billion years ago!

I have more to say about it but I need to make 8000 more Sticky Notes before I leave for the show at 8:30. I feel like I spend every waking moment making stuff yet I never have enough inventory. I have to keep reminding myself, that's because I'm selling it. It's a good thing!

And yesterday was no exception. Just 2 hours before we left to set up my booth, the owner of Artizanns, the beautiful gallery-like store in Naples called to order 2 dozen Sticky Notes. Her timing really was perfect though because I was going to the post office on the way to the show anyway.

I have dozens and dozens of Sticky Notes assembled, I just to need to add the embellishments. I finished up a bunch last night and just now found more in one of my to-do boxes that are finished. I somehow missed them when I was separating out the done from the not done yesterday.

Anyway. Enough babbling. Time to get busy.

(Click to enlarge to read.)

.

Big Leaves

.

Remember I said yesterday that I ended up buying a large leaf punch in addition to the replacement small leaf punch? Turns out I did that for a good reason, other than I just wanted something new. I broke the replacement small leaf punch! Cheap piece of crap! Martha's punch would never have broken after so few punches.

So I punched a big pile of leaves with the large leaf punch with no problem. I made a dozen of the 3-cat cards for Helen, 3 1-cat cards for Ida and an extra half dozen for this weekend's show. Let's see, each card has 18 leaves x 378 leaves. Wow.

I love numbers, of course. My latest thing is I love figuring out how many pieces make up each card. The leaf card is 53 pieces of paper - because each of the black dots on the tree branches is a black punched circle.

There are 27 pieces on the one with the cat, who is 3 layers herself.

Ida ordered 3 of the quilt cards so I made a bunch extra of those too for the craft show. They were so much fun to make, I can't wait to make more of this style card. I'm thinking I'll use this for my free drawing in my booth, along with a co-ordinated Sticky Notes and a pin. And I need to make a donation to the show's fundraiser door prize so maybe another set for that.

I was feeling bad yesterday that I don't have more Christmas things made for this big show, but it is what it is. I've done the best I can and I'll keep plowing ahead for future shows.

Set up is 2:00-8:00 today so I think we'll leave here around 2:30 to arrive at the venue around 3:00. I'm hoping the first wave of vendors will be done unloading by then. Steve took today off too to help me, sweet man.

Click image to enlarge.

.

Holiday Market

.

You can click on the image to enlarge it so you can read the details. This is the show I am most looking forward to this year. It's a new show and so professionally run. The admission is $5 to get in, which used to annoy me on principle but now I understand it from a fundraiser's point of view. And it's always a sign of a high quality show. Please stop by my booth and say hello.

Gretchen got her new Prius on Saturday! It's the most beautiful deep blue. I took her to pick it up - we had a lot of fun. The salesman says mine should be here in 1-3 weeks.

Simon hit a deer with his car on Saturday night so while he fixes his car, he's driving my Saturn and Gretchen very kindly loaned me her Prius because she's in Florida on business this week.

In spite of how much I wanted to drive 'all the way' to Webster yesterday after work to buy a new leaf punch - because her Prius is so fun to drive and I wanted to check out the new Hobby Lobby, I was able to find a leaf punch at Michael's near work.

Hobby Lobby doesn't list their products on their website so I Googled leaf punch and landed on Martha Stewart's site. Darn, I hate when that happens. She does offer a leaf punch but I thought it might be bigger than I want. I went to Michael's and I must say, they now offer about 3 times as many Martha punches as they used to. Or maybe she came out with more. They are still expensive but very high quality.

And they were sold out of the leaf punch! I saw the spot where it goes so I know they carry it. So I got stuck with a regular craft punch. It's the exact size I wanted. But so annoyed was I, that I didn't get to buy a Martha punch, that I bought a bigger leaf punch too, just for fun. Guess I showed her.

.

Halloween Cards

.

These are 3 prototype cards I made for Helen to choose from, for a custom order of a dozen cards.

She said the sunflowers look like cookies. She's not wrong. I'd already decided that while I like the sunflowers themselves, gluing on the black dots is "too much". Next time I'll punch tiny holes in the brown center and glue a black piece of paper to the back so the "seeds" are more subtle. I'm not wild about the center design. The deal is Helen has 3 cats so I have to work cats into the design. (Yes, 3 cats, not 4.) So I think I'd make this card again with a different center panel.

This one is a stretch, I admit. I've been dying to make a quilt card with these punches and Helen is a quilter so I thought I'd give it a shot. I like the design but not the colors - too "forced" as Helen said. My vision was making this in pastel colors, something you don't see me work with very often. But more faded calico that Halloween fabric, you know? I do, however love the batik look of the background quilt here. I stamped a tiny design with Versamark ink over and over. I'll definitely do that again.

This one is the winner - except with 3 cats. This one is more labor intensive that it looks. This is the first time I've used that tree stamp. It looked too plain though so I glued tiny black dots on the end of each branch and I like it a lot better. For the leaves, I rolled the paper through a crimper before punching the leaves. Then I scored down the center and then hit the scored line with a black pen to bring on the center vein more. I like them - they are just dimensional enough. Unless they get flattened down in the envelope when mailing them.

The good news is I have Helen's dozen cards assembled.

The bad news is I apparently wore out the leaf punch so I need to buy a new one today. It looks like a tiny piece of the metal punch part actually broke off so the leaf is deformed on one side. Naturally, I didn't notice this until I'd punched 4200 leaves. I tried cutting a notch in each tiny leaf but that was way too tedious, even for me.

I'm debating going to Michael's which is more convenient, it's very near work - or driving to Webster, about 20 minutes away. There's a new Hobby Lobby there that just opened a few weeks ago. I hope they have a good punch selection. An AC Moore store opened in Henrietta last year (?) and I was sorely disappointed at their punch selection. I think I'll end up going to Webster because it's also a 2 for 1 shot - if Hobby Lobby turns out to be a bust, there's a JoAnn's there too and they normally have a decent selection of punches.

Either way, oh please, please, don't make me wander around a craft store! I hate when that happens.

.

Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

.

Happy Birthday to Steve!
(Who never reads this blog and will never know I wrote that unless I tell him!)


I swiped this from my friend John's Facebook page. Click the image to enlarge.

.

Zen Habits

.

I guess I'm glad that I'm so focused on what I should be focused on these days - preparing for the fall/winter craft shows. But I hate that I'm neglecting other things - like this blog and my Etsy shop.

I wanted to pop in, however, and tell you about a new-to-me website that I'm loving: Zen Habits. (Except I keep calling it Zen Garden in my head.) I've only just begun to explore it.

You know that phrase, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear? Yep.

I'm a big multi-tasker - prided myself on it actually. But lately, mostly at work, I've been conflicted about that. I guess that's because I'm tired of feeling like I'm always doing everything half-assed. I do still blame that largely on the workload (which I'm actively working to resolve - more on that another time).

(Interesting that I'm better able to have singular focus on my passion (Pine Tree Designs) but not so much the day job. Then again, that's really apples and oranges isn't it - in terms of who I have to answer to.)

So logically, I know it's better to concentrate on one thing at a time. Or as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III said in M*A*S*H, "I do one thing at a time. I do it well and I move on." (I remember waaaay too many lines from M*A*S*H, believe me.)

But it still felt better to use every available second to be productive. I've been wondering how to balance logic with feeling.

The second entry I read on Zen Habits is called 10 Simple Ways to Live a Less Stressful Life. Bingo! All of a sudden, it all lined up for me.

I liked one of his other 10 ways - be early. In my family, if you're on time, you're late. We're early people. So punctuality is sort of a hot button for me. Simon's prone to make a late entrance so I explained to him why it's rude. It's like he thinks his time is more important than my time. So many people are late, that being early feels freakish sometimes. It's not. It's a good thing! (I really did already know that.) :-)

The first entry I read on Zen Habits was Success isn't a Competition: Boosting Others Helps You in the Long Run. It was interesting enough, but my eyes really opened when I got to his Zen Habits Helping Hand Program. His topic was blogging so he (Leo Babauta) offered these 6 things, free to other bloggers:

Links
Ad Space
Money
Mentoring
Other Help
Suggestions?

Pretty impressive. Then I started reading the 104 comments his readers left. The first one was from a guy offering his services to help bloggers with any Wordpress issues they might be having. That's when I knew I was onto something here. Well, me and his 70,600 subscribers.

Like I said, I've only skimmed the surface. I'm off right now to read his biographical notes. All I know so far is he lives on Guam with his wife and 6 kids.

(I learned of Zen Habits in the comments of another blogger. I'm so taken with it, that I emailed the commenter to thank her for posting the url in her comment.)

So I pass along Zen Habits to you, in hopes it resonates with your inner student as well.

.

Sharon Schamber's Quilts

.

I learned of Master Quilter Sharon Schamber's outstanding quilts for her interview on CraftSanity. Listen to the podcast if you can. I've only just begin the episode but I'm blown away by how humble Sharon is.

(Click image to enlarge.)

You kind of have to take a moment to realize these are fabric works of art, not paintings.

.