Why I Love the Internet

.

A few months ago I received an email from a graphic designer in New Jersey interested in unlimited use of this tree for a project he was working on, designing an eco-friendly shopping bag. He wanted to know my fee. I had no idea how these things work and right around that time my friend Vickie mentioned in passing that she has worked as a graphic designer. (How's that for when the student is ready, the teacher will appear?)

We met at a Starbucks and Vickie loaned me her book, Graphics Artists Guild Handbook to Pricing & Ethical Guidelines and even marked which sections pertain to my situation. We came up with a price range but I was still nervous about the whole thing - not sure why. It's not like I care about this tree (designed for a cover of a book Gretchen wrote for a project) all that much. I guess it was because I was in such unfamiliar territory, about contracts & such. I started to email the guy my fee, when I decided the hell with it and called him on the phone. We chatted a bit, I told him my fee, which he said was a bit high, but he'd take it to his client.

I haven't heard back so I'm sure he has decided to go in a different direction, which is fine. Still, it was cool thinking about my design being on reusuable shopping bags though. (Good thing, I didn't already have that money spent!)

Very shortly after the above happened, I received an email from the managing editor of Schmap telling me that this photo was short-listed to appear in their Baltimore guide. There's no fee but the photo would be credited to me. This is a photograph of the outside of the American Visionary Art Museum that I took when we stopped in Baltimore last year on our way to Virginia Beach for vacation. (Thanks again, Gretchen, for recommending that museum - I loved it!) So I replied to the email a heck-yeah-I'm-interested.

And that, my friends, is reason #3679 why I love the Internet!

.

New Thread!

.I ordered this thread from Madeira on Friday and it arrived on Monday! This is only half of what I ordered because this time I ordered 2 of each, 1 for Mom, 1 for me. Mom does a lot of stitching for me so we've been swapping out her stash for new thread, depending on which circles she's working on. Now I'm working on building her "Private Stock". A few of these are reorders of threads we use a lot, some are new to me. It's hard to tell what you're ordering, judging from the tiny swatch on the monitor. I placed the order on my lunch hour so I didn't have my thread with me. Guess I should have a written list so I don't order duplicates. Not to worry, it will all get used eventually.

I've been looking for a variegated red for a long time. I found one at JoAnn's that was on the pinkish side but I had hoped it would stitch up more red. The color is okay, but the variegation is too subtle. I obviously had red on my mind when I ordered this thread because two are so close in color I couldn't tell them apart at first glance. I looked at the numbers and they are one digit apart. Oh well. This is one of them that I used last night. It's a tad on the orange side but it is a gorgeous color and I couldn't stop stitching with it.

Mom - we're gonna have fun!

~ ~ ~

I delivered the Silversong Farm mandala to Denise yesterday morning, along with the one for her brother and she loved it. I had it wrapped in bubble wrap but I asked her to take a peek at it right then, because it was different than we had talked about. She works in a busy high school office so it was a little chaotic at 7:30 but once she had time to really look at it she emailed me before I even got to my office. She paid the biggest compliment - one that I use all the time, "It's so me!"

~ ~ ~

Steve & Simon would not believe I'm still bitching about this but I just want to say one thing about customer service that's in complete contrast to the great service Madeira provided in getting my thread to me so quickly. I stopped in a small independent store last night. I wanted to buy a cable for $9.71 but they don't take credit cards for less than $10. I was literally counting my pennies to see if I could squeeze it out and I was less than a dollar short. This woman preferred to lose a sale, then accept a credit card for 29 cents less than their minimum.

I understand about credit card fees. I cringe internally when someone wants to charge one $4.50 notepad at a craft show but I smile and say, "Sure - no problem!" The thing that woman doesn't realize is that not only did she lose that sale, she lost any future sales from me.

She was about to close up so I think that played into it. She yelled at me when I entered the store for keeping the door open too long when her greyhound dog started running towards me. I was keeping my options - and the door - open in case it wasn't a friendly dog. She also had 2 yappy dogs in carriers on the counter. I had to tell her 3 times what I wanted because she couldn't hear me over the dogs.

No, I won't ever go back there again. I was so mad driving home, I was thinking, "I am so blogging about this tomorrow!" I was going to title the entry Boycott Fairport Computers. There, Google that, lady.

(Mom and Dad - that Radio Shack in Country Club Plaza is now a shoe store!)

But let's end on a positive note - new thread! I'll drop yours off on my way to work, Mom, which you'll probably see on the kitchen counter before you read this entry. Let me know if you want a case like mine to keep the thread in - or anything similar - it's on Pine Tree Designs!
.

New Mandala

.

Here is the other blue/green mandala I made for an order I'm delivering this morning before work, along with the massage therapy mandala I posted the other day. This is the one where the customer requested 3 specific elements, in this order of preference: horses, music and sailboats. To fit them all in, I had to go to a 6" x 8" frame instead of the 5" x 5" frame she and I talked about. She didn't ask me to use the name of her farm on it but I think she'll be very pleased to see that and won't mind that I'll have to charge her a tiny bit more.

This thing was so labor intensive. And besides being a new design, the first of anything takes forever. This is pretty much all I worked on all day.

I thought the musical notes would be easy, but they weren't. I'm pretty happy with them now though - the tiny ones in the center are made of a tiny paper dot - and stitching! I already had the 2 horse punches. And one incarnation of this thing had tiny sailboats around the outside edge. They looked really stupid next to the horses though - the scales were so different - so I pretty much started over.

I sure love Google Images - you can find anything there, for reference. Like sailboats.

My customer doesn't know that I finished this one for her so I can't wait to surprise her. Then, in an email last week she also ordered another one, for a friend's birthday - with images of sailboats and photography. I have an idea for piecing together a camera with a rectangle and a couple of circles.

.

New Paper Art Books

.

In linking to Karen Thomas' website yesterday, I found that she has a new book coming out in March. I can't wait! Of course, she and I are tight - she's one of my Facebook friends. I'm kidding about the tight part, but she - and a bunch of other "famous" artists are my friends on Facebook, Check it out. Such fun!

I can't remember how I came across Patricia Zapata's blog a few weeks ago but her work is right up my alley, clean, graphic, perfect. Her book doesn't come out until August.

I've pre-ordered them both, which is cool, because Lord knows I'll forget about them, then I'll be all happy & surprised when my package from Amazon arrives. "Hey - what's this??" Middle-Aged Memory does have a silver lining.
.

Origami Floral Heart Tutorial

.

I made a bunch of cards a couple of years ago with this origami heart that I learned to make from, hmmm, where, now that I think about it? Maybe from one of Karen Thomas' appearances on the Carol Duvall show? (I see Karen has a new book coming out in March - more on that tomorrow.) A local class? Anyway, I've been asked several times to write a tutorial for creating it but I've never gotten around to it. I did poke around the Internet looking for directions one time, because I figured there must be someone else who has done this.

Yesterday, someone commented on one of the cards posted on Flickr - and left a link to a tutorial! Yay! The tutorial is here.

I can tell from my stats that a good number of people find me by searching for "origami heart". So fellow Googlers, here it is - go forth & fold! Actually, I just looked on You Tube, here's a video if you prefer watching someone make one as opposed to written directions. And there's tons of other origami videos I need to check out too. Some are amateurish and out of focus - but man, if you can't find what you need on You Tube, it doesn't exist.

Warning: there are lots of tutorials on a simple origami heart, but it's this flower in the center of the heart that intrigues many people.

It's a fairly complicated fold so I always keep my original example so I can refer to it if necessary. The thing is, I always remember how to fold it. Can't remember what I wore yesterday but I can remember how to fold a floral origami heart. (Which must explain why I get weird looks at work for showing up in the same clothes again and again. Seriously though, I have a system in my closet for putting clothes I've worn this week here so I know to choose from over here for what to wear next.)

I remember one craft show in Webster where I taught one of the promoter's son's (hi Ida!) how to fold the heart from a dollar bill. He was thrilled. That was fun, making him so happy.

.

7 Random Things

.

I love this card. This type of card is what I call my "five dollar card" but I think I should charge a bit more for this design because that's a lot of stitching. Sheesh - this weekend I really will get these Valentine's Day cards uploaded to my shop - I must!

~ ~ ~

I don't think I've ever done a meme before, maybe once. But I was tagged by both Vickie and Jamee recently so I thought I'd give it a go. I was going to say I hate these things, but really, I like reading those that other people have written. I think I'm afraid I'm going to blurt out something random, yet inappropriate, about myself, like I'm secretly a serial killer or something. But I am and this blog pretty much is, an open book. I'm not even sure I can come up with 7 Random Things you don't already know about me.

Here are the rules -
- Link to the person who tagged you
- Post the rules in your blog
- Write seven random things about yourself
- Tag seven people at the end of your post and link to them
- Let each person know they were tagged

1. Though I write left-handed, I do almost everything else right-handed, like stitching, using scissors, eating. I almost consider myself ambidextrous because sometimes both hands feel equally as comfortable or uncomfortable doing something.

2. I'm afraid of the water. I think we can probably blame our parents for this somehow, because it turns out Gretchen is too. However, she is now conquering that fear and learning to swim so she can participate in her first triathlon this year. Read about her humor filled journey here.

3. And while I'm on the subject, I was so determined not to take swimming class in high school that I had this idea of taking a doctor's note to the school board to get special dispensation or something, because I'd be traumatized if forced to take swimming class. In a true miracle of the universe, the next year I was put in a non-swimming gym class. I've always thought it was an accident, but now, at 52 years old, it just dawned on me that maybe someone within the school system did that on purpose. Is that even possible? We were always told it was a state law that you had to pass swimming in school. Mom? Dad? Did you have anything to do with that?


4. The very first concert I saw was when Mom & Dad took Gretchen and me to see Gary Puckett & the Union Gap. They also took us to see The Monkees, who we were 1000% wild about - except the concert was canceled - after we were in our seats. That seems like a dream now - did that really happen? Mom? Dad? Did we ever find out why they were a no-show?

Look what I just read on Gary Puckett's site! In

1986 Gary was invited to tour with the Monkees on their national reunion tour, which established itself as a major hit of the 1986 touring season.



5. Math was my favorite subject in school. I even took Geometry in summer school one year so I could get ahead because regular math had been too easy for me. I took Geometry in summer school FOR FUN. Who does that??

6. I hate mustard. In fact the only condiments I use are ketchup and Miracle Whip, with an occasional mayonnaise thrown in. Steve, on the other hand, has never met a condiment he doesn't like. Our refrigerator door is filled with them.

7. I had a rivalry with Sydney Weiner in 9th grade for being the fastest typist in our class. I just Googled her name and 123 hits came up, most of whom were men. Well there it is, in case she ever Googles herself - now she'll have at least one entry!

See? Now I can't stop! That's why this blog is called And Another Thing . . .

In high school I swore I'd never be a "secretary" to use an antiquated term, or work in an office because it would be too damn boring. Yet I took shorthand in high school. I took it, not because I thought it would ever be useful but I thought it would be an easy credit. Turns out it was really fun (and yes, easy).

And I've worked in an office most of my adult life. Typing really fast, but never once using shorthand, ever.

Like Mary, I'm not tagging anyone, but if you feel like blogging 7 Random Things about yourself, have at it. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be.

~ ~ ~

As you can see, I had to flip back to high school to come up with some of these things, but that's also probably because I've been digging Facebook, as I've mentioned previously. I've been reconnecting with high school friends so that era is a little bit on my mind. What surprises me though, is the number of women using their maiden name - or maybe never married. The thing is, I have always considered myself a strong feminist, yet I took my husband's last name when I got married. That always surprised even me. Gretchen has kept her last name.

I like my last name, but I was never thrilled with the alliteration of it: Stefani Stahlman. I never think that of other alliterated names, just mine. Weird, I know.

When we got divorced, Simon's dad made a comment that he wanted me to change my name back. But I never wanted to because I wanted to have the same last name as Simon, who was only 5 at the time. And now, from time to time, I do consider changing it but now I feel I am establishing myself as an artist and don't want to change it now.

I'd say you got more than 7 random things out of me - pretty good bang for your buck!

.

Now That's Some Ice!

.

We've had our share of ice storms here in upstate New York but nothing like these photos taken in Switzerland in 2005. More photos are here.

.

We Have Chosen Hope Over Fear

.This is the custom piece I made out of the highest voted Dark Middle stitched piece, from the other day. It's for my customer to give to her massage therapist brother. Now I'm working on a piece for her. There are 3 specific design elements she wants so that may get a bit tricky in a 5" x 5" piece, but I can do it.

So about the inauguration. As soon as I got to work yesterday I emailed the manager of the IT department to ask if that large monitor in the lobby could be hooked up as a TV - yes, it can. They also set up a laptop/projector in the boardroom so the inauguration could be streamed there as well. Unfortunately, it was all hooked up at the last minute so I missed the actual oath-taking but that wasn't much. It was the speech I wanted to see and we did.

I sat in the boardroom with about a half dozen people, eating my lunch. I intended to stitch after I ate but someone turned the lights off for better visibility of the image on the wall, so there went that idea. I sat in the front, Kleenex in pocket. I felt like I was on Simmer, the whole time, very in the moment.

The tears finally came when he said this:

and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

I slipped the Kleenex out of my pocket and dabbed away, grateful for the darkness and sorry I had chosen to sit in the front of the room. Oh well - these people know me well - and being moved is never a bad thing.

I was also moved every time they showed Congressman John Lewis. How he must have felt, having worked closely with Dr. King, and now witnessing the first black president.

I appreciated the shout-out:

We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers.

I loved this:

We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.

and this line:

the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job

I read a survey recently and wish I could remember the exact percentage, but a surprisingly large number of respondents said they would cut their hours, if it saved the job of a co-worker. I was impressed. I would do that.

Full text is here.

One of my good friends at work is quite cynical/sarcastic, which most of the time is amusing. I call him a big ol' pot stirrer - which he mostly does to be funny. Deep down he's a good person - good work ethic, good family man. Yesterday, he started in on how this president is going to be no different than any other. I said, "Please! Can I just have this day?? Just give me this one day, okay?" And so he did. :-)

.

Solid. Solid as Barack.

.

"Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so that Barack Obama could run. Barack Obama ran so that all children could fly."

I read that quote two different places yesterday and got a little verklempt both times. Earlier in the day, I really couldn't listen to or read about inauguration stuff very much - it was like it was too much to take in. But I've settled down. My Tivo is set. I hope we can scrounge up a TV at work or someone brings one in (me?) though I'm not sure about non-cable reception there. I'm glad the swearing-in is noonish because I'm afraid I'd be glued to the Internet while I work. (As opposed to every other day. Ha!)

I'm glad I voted for Barack so I can be 100% happy. How do non-supporters feel? Surely every man, woman and child is feeling the importance of this moment in history? (I know, I know - but please let me live in my delusional dream world, okay?)

Here's a tune that's already been stuck in my head since I woke up so I might as well stick it in yours, eh? You're welcome.

.

19 Cards

.

My goal for this weekend was to finish 25 Valentine's Day cards and get them posted to my shop. I woke up at 4:20 Saturday morning and couldn't get back to sleep so I ended up taking what I intended to be a short power nap on the couch Saturday afternoon. Except it turned into 2-1/2 hours of deep sleep. Not a bad thing, but it threw off my schedule, dammit!

I was extremely focused yesterday and finished the cards and got them all scanned. Except I only have 19, but I can finish some more up fairly quickly. (I fell short because during the scanning process, I rejected a couple.) I'll work on getting them posted on my lunch hour and tonight.

Edited to add: Guess what I just found under some paperwork near my laptop? Four more completed cards! This makes more sense because I knew I only rejected two during scanning, as imperfect. I feel better now. :-)

I'm pretty happy with most of them. I think this little butterfly has great potential.

I tried to make a variety of detailed and more simple cards.

.

I'm a Student - and Poll Results

.

My cousin Scott sent our extended family a link to Ed2Go.com because he's looking to take an online course there and thought it might be of interest to others. Just for fun, I wanted to see what kind of classes they offer - and can you believe they offer, "Start Your Own Arts and Crafts Business"?? So I did a little impulse shopping and signed up. It's only $139 and according to the Syllabus, will address everything I want to know. I live and breathe this stuff so I can't wait.

It's going to cut into my Twitter and Facebook time, but I'll deal with it. :-)

For those interested here's a description:

If you have an art or a craft and you dream about starting your own home-based or small business, this is the course for you! You'll learn how to start your own arts and crafts business from a professional artist. You'll discover how to find your niche within your chosen craft and how to create your own unique business identity. You'll also see what makes marketing in the arts and crafts business different from marketing in most other enterprises, and you'll find a sales approach that meshes with your personality and preserves your creative integrity. You'll get insider secrets too, learning how to find and get into the best craft shows, as well as design booths that really draw customers in. You'll also discover how to price your work effectively so you can set yourself up for success whether you're selling through craft shows, in galleries, online, or even in your own retail store.

I signed up for the one that starts next week. This is the perfect time of year for me to do this. I didn't even know I wanted to do this - don't you love when stuff happens just when it's supposed to? Something made me click that link that Scott sent.

Simon starts at Monroe Community College next week too so we'll both be students again! My niece and nephews are all in (a different) community college and Gretchen is working on her MFA. What a bunch of intellectuals we'll all be.

~ ~ ~

Thanks to everyone who voted yesterday. (It's not too late - go vote if you want to.) Dark Middle is the clear winner, which is still the one I was leaning toward, even after stitching the same threads on lighter blue paper. I realized though, I guess it's not a surprise really, that the stitched pieces look better in person than online. I can definitely see why the Dark Top one came in second. And the good news? I can use all 6 pieces for something or other.

I'm meeting Pam for breakfast in a couple of hours then I'll be busy finishing and posting the Valentine's Day cards in my Etsy shop. I plan on sending out an email blast when that has been completed, so if you are not on my Pine Tree Designs mailing list and would like to be (email and/or postcard), sign up here.

Yay for weekends!

.

Help Me Decide?

.

So I did up the same design on lighter blue paper, as promised yesterday. I think I know which one I like best - - - but I finally found an excuse to use a poll in my blog. What do you think?

View Poll |View Results

Website Polls PoweredBy MicroPoll

.

Calling All Greens

.

I have an order for 2 specifically themed mandalas in blues & greens so this is a test of the 3 green variegated threads I have. I like the one on the right the best because the others are too light and too dark. But next I'm going to try it on lighter blue paper. This darker paper is brand new and I just wanted to use it because ahhh, there's nothing like a fresh ream of paper to make my heart go aflutter.

That's a brand new design though and that I am very happy with - it's very thready!

.

Warm-Up Cards

.

Eh. Okay, I guess. I was just getting warmed up.

.

Sneak Peak at Valentine's Day Cards

.

My intention is to post 25 Valentine's Day cards in my shop this weekend. The stitching is all done so I've been working on beading most of the pieces. God, I love beads. Paper, beads and thread are my addictions, in order if I had to choose. Which I don't. :-)

I have planned out the craft shows in which I'd like to participate this year. And in the spirit of the Laws of Attraction, I've already posted them on my Shows page. I've already applied to the new ones or have confirmed I'm on their mailing list for when applications are ready. I'm down to 11 shows, from 15 in 2008 - but 3 are out of town and 5 are big shows. Two are outdoor shows. I was researching a tent online yesterday. I have picked the brains of a bunch of vendor friends who do outdoor shows, to learn from their experience, since the quality/$ of tents can vary wildly. But I think I'll have to just stop overthinking this and buy one.

Last year I decided that I wanted to raise the height of my tables so I ordered some of the bed riser things yesterday. I had been concerned about my tablecloths because Mom very kindly sewed them to custom-fit my tables and if I raise the height of the tables, they'd be too short. Smarty-pants Mom, it turns out, saved the tablecloth fabric we cut off! So we're going to fiddle with it to see if we can make it work. I can always buy new cloths and start over, if need be. (Neither one of us wants to go that route if we don't have to. We combined 2 tablecloths into one so they fit perfectly and it was a bear to do. Times 2 tables.)

I'm happy to report that feeling like myself again has carried through to the day job - I felt like I was more productive yesterday than I have been in a long time. I like to think I'm always productive, I just mean it felt good yesterday.

.

Everyone Likes the Edges

.

You might remember when Mom gave me this brownie pan for my birthday a couple of years ago. It came with a little right-sized red spatula for lifting out the brownies. It's a very heavy duty pan - works really well. Every piece has edges, my favorite part!

Baker's Edge Brownie Pan.


Slice Solutions Brownie Pan. I see this company also makes similar round cake pans, pie pans and loaf pans.

I saw this pan in the AC Moore ad in Sunday's paper. You pour the batter in, then set the divider in place. It also has a removable bottom so once the brownies have cooled and the divider is removed, you can easily slide a little spatula underneath each brownie so not even one gets crushed.

I tend to use the top pan just sometimes, like when I'm not in a hurry because it does take a bit longer to fill and then to get the brownies out. More often than not I tend to go old school and bake the brownies in an 8" square pan (even though the box calls for a 9" x 13" pan) because I like them thicker and more moist. When they have cooled, I run a plastic spatula around the outside edge and flip the pan over so the brownies fall out in one 8" square. I then turn the square over (right side up) and slice them into 16 pieces with a knife large enough to make each cut in one swell foop (as we used to say).

Every time I slice brownies I think of this funny thing Dad said to me once. I took him a plate of brownies to give to someone, can't remember who or why. I told him that although I cut them into 16 brownies, I find that 14 fits on the plate just perfectly. (Because I usually hold two back, one for Steve, one for me.)

Dad: Just imagine how well 12 or even 10 brownies would fit on that plate!

I have no idea if the brownies ever made it to Dad's friend or not . . .

~ ~ ~

Ever since I mentioned feeling a little off recently, I've felt a bit better each day, but not fully myself. I think the dam broke yesterday - that thing brewing under the surface finally broke free. I noticed when I was reading the Sunday paper, I was feeling very anxious, even though I was purposely steering away from reading bad news. I thought, "Well this is stoooopid - now it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Then after dinner, I was in the family room with Steve, he was watching football, I was stitching. All of a sudden, this popped into my head: "What if I lost my job? What if I can't take care of Simon?" and the tears started flowing. I've never had a panic attack but I imagine that's what one would feel like, heart racing, etc. After football was over - I'm considerate even when emotional :-), I asked Steve if I could talk to him and I explained what I was feeling. He was oddly uncompassionate, pointing out A) Simon is 21 and although he still provides some financial support to his 22 year old daughter *, Simon is old enough to support himself, and B) he (Steve) is more likely to lose his job than I am.

Alrighty then. Thanks for the pep talk.

He wasn't mean about it by any means, just factual, true to his gender. We went back to watching TV and about 10 minutes later I said, "Oh! The answer is - if I lose my job, I get another one."

And I was cured.

This will be interesting to see if this "sticks" but as of this moment, I'm not sad or mad and in fact, feel quite ready to tackle anything. I feel like Stefani.

Whew! That was weird. And thanks for your comments and emails of support - they mean a lot to me.

In fact, I've been working on some new stuff I'll be ready to show you soon. I know I've been featuring other artists because I haven't had any new work to post. Soon . . .

* Steve's daughter is now living with his mom, who is in failing health. Steve is so grateful for her help in caring for his mom that in return, he's more than happy to help her financially. She really does do a lot for his mom so I can see Steve's point. (As for Simon, I made my usual 12/31/xx speech about "The Bank of Stefani is closed." But I'll always be his safety net - I just need to work on my definition of safety net.)

~ ~ ~

.

Credit Card Mirror

,You know how I love all things mosaic? Check out this cool mosaic mirror I found on Craft Stylish. These tiles are cut up credit cards - or could be used up gift cards, anything. I like it because it's colorful and the pieces are big enough that you can recognize logos. Might be nice for someone who is looking them self in the eye as they reduce their credit card debt. Directions are here.

.

I'm Perking Up

.I got about 6" of my hair cut off this morning. Use your imagination for the Before picture.

Let me start by saying I know nothing of fashion or hair, any of that stuff. It's just not my thing. I decided last year to stop getting my hair permed, just for a change. Then I started looking around and noticing so many females with straight hair. Hmmm, I wonder how long that's been in style and I didn't know it? Was it years or months that I looked out of step? (Try a lifetime, Stef!)

I did get it trimmed a couple of months ago but otherwise I've been letting it grow, just to see. As soon as I was old enough to make my own hair decisions, I've had long hair. I remember Mom saying to me once, "Why don't you ever change your hairstyle? Are you going to be XX years old, with long straight hair parted in the middle?" I put the XX there because I can't remember exactly what she said, 30? 40? I do know that every time I hit a new decade, I remember what she said and answer in my head, "Yep, Mom, 50 years old - and still with the long hair".

Lest you think I'm not without any daring in my blood - I did get it permed for years, as I've said. And I've worn it with . . . a headband . . . or a barrette. So there.

I have noticed about myself that when I'm home, I nearly always put my hair into a pony tail. Whenever I've tried wearing my hair down, it bugs me if I can feel it on my face. I worried this meant I had to go directly to old lady style helmet hair - I used to think that style was inevitable and mandatory as one gets older.

My hair is so incredible thin, as you can see, that without benefit of a perm, it does look pretty sad. Last week it occurred to me that the longer it got, with the top part pulled back, it was looking like a mullet. I may not know diddly about hairstyle but I know that's not a good look. For anybody. I could not call Maria fast enough.

(It feels too mean to post any of the photos from that mullet site here, but you might want to pop over there for a giggle.)

~ ~ ~

I had a massage after work yesterday. Mary often emails me during the day of a massage, asking if I want the heat in the table turned on. I told her yes - and that I've been feeling a little blue lately, and could she please summon her best juju and light some extra candles or something? She lit some lavender incense, which we both thought might be a bit strong but I really wanted to be enveloped in it so it worked perfectly. She went extra deep - almost to point of pain but afterward I felt like Jello. I told her that's the happiest My Happy Place has been in a long time. I zoned in, I zoned out - it was fantastic.

~ ~ ~

I'll leave you with this, sent me by my Illinois resident cousin, Scott.

.

Low Bridge Artworks

.
Etsy is so full of talented artists, I can't resist introducing you to another one. I've always said, if I didn't work in paper, I'm sure glass would be my medium. Check out this beautiful work!

12" diameter mosaic wall or table art by Laura of Low Bridge Artworks, in North Carolina. This was created with stained glass, vitreous glass, glass gems and millefiori.

Some of her work is free form, but most is very "Stefani", round and symmetrical. :-) This piece is 24" x 30".

Look at the detail! Laura went back to her quilting roots for this 24" x 32" piece. It includes stained glass, mirrored glass, vintage ceramic tiles, millefiori, shell, glass "rocks", glass gems, stones, iridescent glass, jewelry findings, broken plate pieces and crushed glass. Each bird has a millefiori eye.

This piece sells for $400 and I say Laura earns every penny. Fantastic!

~ ~ ~

Me? I really felt off yesterday, still do and I'm not sure why. I feel like something is brewing below the surface and I can't quite put my finger on it yet. I know lots of people have trouble with post holiday season let-down, but we are so low-key about the holidays, it doesn't really feel like that. Some people have seasonal sadness but I haven't in the past, not until March or April, when I get sick of the cold and snow.

The closest I can come is that I feel very unfulfilled at the day job lately. That ebbs and flows, like anything else. Besides my insurmountable workload (like everyone else there), morale is pretty low.

I think it was Joan who asked recently if people at work appreciate the effort I put into the cards I make for everyone to sign for various events. It's something I'd been thinking about on my own before she even asked it - but I worried it was my ego talking. But I think that thing has run it's course, as things do.

Both of the cards I made recently - for the widow of the employee that passed away recently and for the top engineer whose last day is today - were signed by something like 11 people - out of 60 or so. The thing is, I used to pass the card around, in a folder with a list of employees - cross your name off and pass it on. But I finally got sick of tracking down the card so the more recent plan has been to leave the card on the table in the mail room and let people come to the card. (I email the office to let them know it's there.) People just don't make the effort.

I had already decided to take a break from the Birthday Brownies this year. I've done this before - stopped when it ceased to be fun.

I'm not mad about any of this, I'm just not interested in doing it anymore. Part of my brain worries that now I'm contributing to the low morale - but since both of these things have gotten to be non-things, I don't think it will make a difference to anyone. It just no longer interests me.

The other thing that's bothering me is I think I need to put myself on a news moratorium. This has happened before, where news affects me too deeply or something. And man, if the bad news isn't enough to make someone sad these days, when is it?

The thing is usually I can turn any of the negatives into positive energy for myself. But now I'm just feeling worn out by everything. Which really pisses me off because I usually really love the first of the year - clean slate, fresh start, new goals - love that stuff.

Wow. Do I know how to bring down a room or what?? Sorry about that. This too shall pass.

I do have one positive note - I worked on some Valentine's Day designs last night. That got my juices flowing nicely. My goal is to have 25 Valentine's Day cards posted in my Etsy shop soon.

.

Bert Simons, Paper Artist

.Look at this amazing work by Bert Simons.

~ ~ ~

I received my first 2009 craft event application in the mail this week and I'm ecstatic. This is for the boutique that the Jr League of Buffalo holds in conjunction with it's fundraising Decorators' Show House. One of the women approached me at the Jr League of Rochester show in October. I was just on their website the day before the application arrived, wondering what their timeline was and if I should contact them. It's a consignment deal, April 25 - May 17.

Their jurying day is January 31. Artists are to set up their pieces in their assigned display place in the morning, leave for the jurying process and come back that afternoon to pick up their stuff. When I spoke with the woman in October she said I could ship my product there for the month the boutique is set up. But Steve and I will make a road trip of the jury day. I'm scheduled to see a play at Geva with my friends but we can reschedule that.

I do have one other definite show scheduled for 2009, the School 46 show the first Saturday in December, because I signed up for that at the 2008 show. But I've been feeling kind of antsy about not having anything else scheduled, even though we're only 1 week into the new year!

~ ~ ~

The day job has been a bit challenging this week and I finally figured out why. I'm not having fun. I generally like my job a lot but sometimes the tasks are just so dull. The Illinois sales tax auditor is back for the week so today I'm going in early to get the mind-numbing task of printing 450 invoices for him, behind me. We aren't registered to file in IL yet so this process is more tedious that usual - he's helping us get caught up and figure out which customers we need to charge tax, etc. He's a very nice man, it's pretty painless. But tedious. Did I mention it's tedious?

.

The Art of Quilling

.

Look what arrived for me yesterday! It's a sweet little 5" square card made by Brenda at If Looks Could Quill. How could I not buy it? It's paper art, square, symmetrical and heart themed - totally me. I'm going to frame it - I'm thinking a red frame.

I've tried quilling, it's not as easy as one might think - to get the coils even and flat.

I know another quiller who does outstanding work - check out Paula Bauer's work at Give it a Twirl. Her blog is full of art and family life.

I use some of the same tools that quillers use and I highly recommend Quilled Creations. The first order I placed with Alli arrived the following day, which shocked me - until I looked at the return address - she's right here in Fairport. In fact, I stopped over at her house to pick up an order once. She's very talented and nice and provides great customer service.

I just searched for quilling on Etsy.com and more cool stuff came up. Lots of talent out there!

.

Midwest Woman Helps Soften the Recession

.

By DEBRA-LYNN B. HOOK McClatchy Newspapers

Published Friday, January 2, 2009

My friend Lisa has been angry for the past few months.

She’s mad on behalf of hardworking Americans like my friend Ron, the father of five and the sole wage earner in his family, whose boss called him one day and told him not to come into work anymore. Ron is 51, with two kids in college and a brand-new extension on his house that he’s still paying for.

She’s angry for my husband’s good friend, who got his 25-year pin last year, who was considered one of his company’s most valued employees, who was told the month before Christmas, the month he turned 50, that he was being let go. Luckily, his wife works as a bank teller - though nobody knows how long her job, or her bank, will last.

There is our mutual friend Brian, single father of two, who at 42 found out he has cancer about the same time the economy began affecting his contracting business. One day last week he told me he had just spent his last dollar, which, in a way, is good: At least now he qualifies for Medicaid, which means he can start paying his $40,000 medical bills.

For a while, Lisa, who is 51 and the single mother of a 15-year-old daughter, couldn’t be anything but livid about a belly-up economy that is forcing layoffs and long lines at food agencies nationwide.

A former academic adviser and college counselor at Akron University in our home state of Ohio, she loves making sense of the human condition. But this recession bordering on depression bordering on destroying families’ lives - this she could not spin. "I am honestly having a hard time wrapping my head around how bad this thing has gotten."

Then, like the Grinch whose heart "grew three sizes that day," a switch flipped inside Lisa.

She started asking people: What do you need? Do you need gas money? Do you need child care?

And she began giving away her money - not just $5 here and there, but $900 to one friend to buy a month’s worth of health insurance to pay for her jobless husband’s cancer treatments.

She started driving friends to doctor appointments and offering her daughter’s free baby-sitting services to anybody who needed child care for any reason. She paid for kids’ karate lessons, bought gas for empty tanks, made pots of soup to distribute.

No need went unnoticed: When her friend mentioned she couldn’t afford to do Christmas crafts with her young daughter this year, Lisa opened up her own box of felt and stickers and markers and said, "Come on over!"

She has begun opening her modest home every Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m., telling her friends to come to eat what she has, or to play music or do crafts with her daughter, Zoe, or just plain talk and hug and be together.

Lisa is not rich in the traditional sense of the word. Although she once was a counselor, the demands of motherhood and the depth of it called for something simpler: Today, divorced from her dentist husband, she works in a warehouse as a packer and lives in a small frame house in a middle-class neighborhood in the little town of Kent, Ohio. Although she lives an unassuming life, she says she also was blessed recently by the sale of a condo she once owned. It is the cash from that sale that she freely gives away.

"The way I look at it, I have this extra income," she says. "And people just have to know: If they don’t take the money to pay their health insurance or to buy gas or groceries, it’s going to American Express. I’d rather they have it."

Lisa’s world view constitutes a "new paradigm," she says, one that embraces generosity and sharing, one that decries the shame and embarrassment of expressing need, one that says nobody should ever have to suffer alone, particularly during the holidays, when the losses are particularly acute, when electricity is expensive but the heat needs to be turned up anyway, when families sit inside their individual houses in the bleak of wintry days, reflecting on what’s going to happen tomorrow, who’s going to get hit next.

A couple of days ago, Lisa took her mission of benevolence even further, e-mailing 25 of her closest friends, asking them not only what they need, but what they could give, not only where they had weaknesses in their personal family systems, but where they had strengths. She suggested that her friends look to bartering and trading with each other, that if they need a good or service, they first look within their own community. Within a few hours, she had responses from several people who wanted to help where needed.

"I’m really kind of selfish, you know," Lisa said. "I just know that things are getting bad, and I don’t even think we’ve seen the depth and breadth of it yet. I just want to stay close to people. I just want to raise awareness of what we can do for each other."

---

Reach Debra-Lynn B. Hook at dlbhook at yahoo.com.

Year End

.

How beautiful! I've never seen anything like this.

I put a mention on my Facebook page the other day that I hit 69% of my 2008 goal and in this economy, I was pleased. My 2008 goal was ridiculously high, but isn't that the point of goals? It was 35% higher than my 2007 goal - and I hadn't reached that. But I had smashed my 2006 goal so it was go big or go home so my 2008 goal was double my 2006 goal.

Yesterday I finally got my Pine Tree Designs paperwork caught up and bank accounts reconciled. Now . . . what to do with all this money? ;-)

First thing, I figured out my sales tax return, which is due February 20 so I could set that money aside. In doing that I discovered a discrepancy in one of the month's sales records - so it turns out I hit 72% of my sales goal, which puts me solidly in the category of ecstatic. I made a full $1000 more than last year but I worked harder for it - did 15 craft shows as opposed to 2007's 10 craft shows. Oddly, I owe about the same amount of sales tax, which tells me that the wholesale accounts made all the difference in my sales. Note to self on that.

Not to break my arm patting myself on the back, but I sold a whole lot of $3.00-$6.00 pieces of paper art!

So I . . .

I placed an order with Staples. (I never go to the store anymore because I always order enough to get free shipping and my order is generally delivered the next day. Can't beat that.)

I ordered 1000 more business cards. Mom graciously stitches my logo on these for me so I can keep busy on the art for sale. I last ordered cards in July 2007 so I have given out an average of 62 cards/month. With that actual stitching, these are a real attention getter. Do I know if it actually brings me more business? I dunno, but it's a great deal at 4 cents/each. (Good thing Mom works for free, I probably couldn't afford her real rates!) (Thanks Mom, you rock. A lot.)

And I renewed both of my domains, stefanitadio.com and pinetreedesigns.com - for 10 years each, the longest period and best rate available. I have no idea if technology will change in a way that makes this a bad idea, but if something like that happens, there are going to be a gazillion people in the same boat so I'm not worried. I'm in this for the long haul.

Which brings me to something I wasn't planning on writing but I feel it spilling out. And that is a big fat thank you to my family, my friends, online and otherwise and to my customers. Your friendship and support mean the world to me. These words snuck into my brain sometime mid-2008. This is what I was meant to do. I get to do what I love. Life is good.

(Another thought popped into my head during a craft show that cracked me up. Thank goodness people want to buy my art because otherwise, I'd be sitting in my studio watching Law & Order reruns, cranking it out, just the same.)

After catching up that paperwork, I feel fully charged and ready to hit the ground running for 2009. Even though I kept stitching since my last order and show, it was at a more relaxed pace. I feel like I've been on a well-deserved hiatus, but now it's time to get moving. Feels good.

Not to mention, starting Saturday night, I'm sleeping well again, for the first time in a couple of weeks. That makes all the difference. Still have a little cough, but nothing to keep me awake at night. Whew!

~ ~ ~

And to start 2009, I have my eye on a new piece of equipment that will blow your mind. (Thanks to my new best friends Darcy and Sandy.) Stay tuned.

.

For Frank

.

This is a sympathy card for the family of one of our engineers who died of cancer a couple of weeks ago. After the office signs it this week, we'll mail it to his widow and son.

.

Dos and Don'ts of Efficiency

I love the Internet in about a million ways but one of the best things I did late last year was subscribe to Digg. I added the Digg Toolbar and with it comes a setting whereby you can be notified of popular posts for whatever categories you choose. I have found some fascinating stuff this way - like this video. I had to Google it to find out more and here's what I found out:

Minnesota storm sewer overflows during heavy rain and launches giant manhole cover onto freeway where a pickup truck hits it. This is where East 35th street crosses I35W in Minneapolis.

Isn't that incredible? I had to watch it several times.

~ ~ ~

I am also loving Facebook and especially Twitter. Facebook also has a notification setting, which I'm enjoying. My friends pop up in the lower right corner of my screen with their little post showing. I don't know that Twitter has a notification thing but since there are literally hundreds of Twitter-related applications, I'm sure one of them does.

(Edited to add: I just downloaded Tweetdeck because Vickie recommended it highly. It's like a dashboard of your own Twitter, arranged how you want it. Pretty cool.)

The irony is that a year or two ago, I turned off my email notification at work as part of some research I was doing with one of our managers/my mentor. We're both into workplace efficiency, using technology to be efficient, etc. We both found that simple thing of turning off email notification to be extremely helpful in reducing distractions.

The irony of that is that shortly thereafter, I received a second monitor to use at work. Side, by side, joined via a specific dual cable and software setting so I can have 2 full-view applications visible at once and can drag windows back & forth between the new monitors. Not to overstate it, but it's been life-changing! My mentor had read that such a set-up increases productivity by some impressive number. Almost everyone in the building now has 2 monitors. In fact, my boss just went that route this past week and wonders why he didn't do it sooner. Especially at this time of year when he's working on the budget for 2009, he's always moving between spreadsheets and he's found this so much easier.

So my irony point is that I stopped the email notification window from popping up but now I keep my email open on my right screen. It's usually covered up by other applications, but I can still sneak a peak at it far more often than I should. I should just minimize that window but just can't (won't!?) bring myself to do it.

For the last 6 months or so I've really been working on staying focused on one task at a time. I proved how well it works when focused on Pine Tree Designs work at home so I figured, what the hell, might as well give it a shot at the place I depend on to earn a living.

.

Mucho Stitching

.

This is a good-bye card for the office to sign for one of our top engineers who is leaving us to move to Arizona. I love this combination of stitching (outside two patterns by Erica Fortgens) so I'd like to come up with something as intensive stitching-wise, using my own designs. The tiny dot embellishments are mirror paper, using a very tiny craft punch. They scanned black but they are silver.

.

Welcome New Year!

.

iStockPhoto.com

I asked Steve earlier in the week, "What kind of food would you like for New Year's Eve? Special or business-as-usual?" He picked business-as-usual, which was fine with me. Simon's girlfriend's birthday is 12/31 so while they were waiting for their table at the restaurant of her choosing, he called me to find out what special food I bought. He was sorely disappointed to learn that we had spaghetti & meatballs with garlic bread for dinner. Steve and I laughed because we probably had "special" food the first couple of years we lived in this house, but not lately.

This business-as-usual food fell in nicely with my recently renewed "make do" mentality. It's always like this after a busy craft show season, where we rely on fast food too much - take-out or my own. Like many middle-aged women, I'm mostly been-there-done-that about cooking these days. But every once in a while I'm ready to get back to my roots. I made Beef Stroganoff the other night. Technically it was "Poor Man's Beef Stroganoff" according to the recipe I pulled from the newspaper a while back. Although I've renamed it "Poor Woman's Beef Stroganoff", of course. (It uses ground beef instead of a better cut.)

Steve only had to work until noon yesterday but I worked a full day, as did most people in my office. You know how we accounting types get at month-end/year-end, busy, busy. It had snowed like crazy too so the driving was pretty tricky when I went in to work around 6:30.

Probably our earliest New Year's Eve yet, we went to bed at 9:00 last night - but man, I slept later than Steve this morning, which is highly unusual. In fact I slept 9-1/2 hours! My cold is going away day-by-day, so I'm at 85% feeling myself. I usually get laryngitis at some point - sounded like that might be happening this morning - something Steve is highly anticipating. ;-)

Steve is going out to lunch with his daughter, but me? I'm having a real Stefani Day, not planning on leaving the house or anything. It snowed some more so it feels very cozy in the house today, looking out over the snowy scene outside.

Best wishes for 2009
to all of my family, friends
and readers! (both of them)

.