New Sunflowers

First, please excuse the blurriness of these scanned images. No time before work this morning to get the lightbox out and take a proper photograph. But notice how in-focus the button is here!

These sunflower images are rubber stamped and the way I used to sell them included no stitching. So I was going to discontinue them because I want everything I sell to have hand stitching on it. But people really like them. So I spent a good bit of time last year trying to figure out how to add stitching the flower. I finally decided don't fix what ain't broke.

This year, almost by accident, it came to me how to add stitching around the sunflower, rather than on the sunflower itself. I'm very happy with these. I'm sure having the Groove in service this year is what helped me - my mind thinks in a whole new way these days.

I had planned to rubber stamp the center of the flower on brown paper and cut it out with deckle scissors as I always have when it came to me to do a little spirelli action in the center. Sweet!

As I was assembling 125 of these yesterday, I remembered I have ladybug buttons too. I have about 7 different shades of sunflowers and a larger variety of stitched background colors and notepad covers too.

And the centers of about half of the sunflowers have points, which was Jen's idea. I didn't like them as well as the rounded centers but I know if I give myself time to get beyond my first reaction and look at it again the next day with fresh eyes, I usually like stuff. Now I think these are my favorite centers!

The amount of stress I feel every single day about not updating my Etsy shop or finish setting up my 1000 Markets shop is really eating at me. Instead of beating myself up over it I've started to think of new ways to accomplish this. Ideally, if Steve or Simon would do it for me, for free, would be my first choice. But they are both busy and have zero interest.To hire anyone outside this house to do it would entail getting product to them to scan or photograph and just not worth the trouble. I want to clone me, that's really what I want to do.

Today though, as I was having trouble scanning the bulkiness of these Sticky Notes, I did consider getting out my light box and taking a photograph. But my craft table, while not the messiest it's ever been, doesn't have enough room at the moment. Then it dawned on me. I need a smaller lightbox! All my pieces are small. If it wasn't such a production to clear a space to set up my big light box I might be more inclined to use it more regularly. Or have a permanent set up for it even.

Ooooh! I think I have a place to put it, as I think out loud here. A kitty-free location. I think. You know how snuggly a box can look to a cat. :-)

New Square Design

Here's a new square design I've been working on, just for something different than my usual round designs. I fiddled about with different things and settled on the old standard layered points - but I like it. I've been working on a new butterfly for the center but I'm not happy with it yet.

Funny my last post was about getting my mojo back, then I promptly lost it. I've been feeling pretty crappy mentally but I couldn't tell if it was PMS or maybe I really did just hate the world. Probably a bit of both, as it turns out.

Yesterday, I was getting pretty worried about me but I couldn't decide if I should see a body doctor or a head doctor. I started figuring out what I would tell someone about how I feel, and I figured out my problem.

I'm annoyed because I'm not getting to do what I want, when I want. Saved myself a co-pay!

Simon's car is on the fritz again (whole list of things, I can't remember what). He's saving money to get it fixed so we're sharing my car in the meantime. You've heard this story before. Steve and I work minutes from each other so we carpool but that means I have to go to work an hour earlier than I want to, which cuts into my Pine Tree Designs time in the morning.

At work, I've been doing work I don't find fun or fulfilling. Plus I'm really mad about a situation that was supposed to change but hasn't yet and probably won't for a few more months. (Sorry to be so cryptic.)

It doesn't sound like much when I type it out, but it kind of snowballs sometimes I guess.

In the good news department, I filed my taxes last weekend, in January! That's a first for me - I always shoot for February, but end up getting to it late March or early April. And I've been applying to craft shows, figuring out that schedule for 2010. This weekend I'm going to make a list of product I want to always have on hand and get super organized. I love lists.

Click to join RochesterCrafters

Speaking of craft shows, just a reminder that our Rochester Crafters Yahoo Group has a pretty comprehensive list of upstate NY craft shows with contact information, fees and due dates available for members. It's easy to join. Email me if you have questions, I'm happy to help.

Return of the Mojo

I finally got my January Change Fresh Slate Mojo! (Turns out it was the Illinois Sales Tax Audit at work that was blocking me. But that log-jam is finally breaking free.)

Some people count sheep when they can't sleep. I rearrange furniture. I've done it 3 times now so it must be my pattern. In my studio, all I did was switch my desk area with my work space area. I say "all" but it took me hours. There weren't all that many pieces to move but I had to deal with a mess on both sides before I could begin to move things.

This all came about because my printer died. Before setting up the new one, I decided to switch the TV with the printer. (The printer is to the left, outside the photo.) I tend to Tivo more stuff than I watch, then I have to delete stuff to record more stuff. So maybe with the TV more centrally located, I'll watch more. Dunno. I like to work in silence too.

I love those 2 units with all the drawers but when I upgraded from smaller units to these you see here, they blocked so much of my window view over the back yard and the neighbor's Christmas tree farm, all I had left was a little 6" x 6" peep hole. Unacceptable! So Sunday morning, while trying to go back to sleep, it dawned on me to switch the two spaces. I love it.

The only downside is the cord from the Groove (located to the right, outside the photo) doesn't reach my laptop gracefully - has to reach across my chair - not good. For now I've been moving my laptop to the workspace when I want to cut something. But I think a longer cord that I can tack up under the MDF counter is definitely in order.

Flames

I finally got my new all-in-one printer/scanner installed. I gave up on waiting for Simon. Between work and enjoying his break before school starts up again today, it just wasn't going to happen, even for money.

This Epson is wireless and I got it connected to our network okay but I haven't been able to open the scanner software so I can scan from my laptop. I can scan from the control panel of the Epson but I can't adjust any settings there. In that case, it takes 3 minutes to scan one card - in super high resolution, which I don't need or want for most stuff.

I've downloaded the latest drivers, software, uninstalled, reinstalled, rebooted, etc. The messages I'm getting are that the laptop and scanner can't find each other, but clearly they can. I'll ask Steve or Simon to take a look - maybe fresh eyes will find the problem. To scan the above card, I plugged in the USB cord and then all is well.

I can tell why this Epson was only $150 - it's definitely cheaper than my other one. The plastic parts are pretty flimsy, for one. But it serves it's purpose and I won't feel bad when it gets worn out. Hopefully it will last at least a couple of years. The quality of items I've printed, copied and scanned all seem good - prints photos beautifully.

Scrabble Bulletin Board

I think thisScrabble Bulletin Board I saw at ReadyMade is very cool, but I know it would bug me after it got lots of pin holes in it and started looking kind of grubby. Clever idea though!

Rochester Crafters

Click to join RochesterCrafters

Last year a fellow craft business owner told me she was thinking of starting a group of eastside crafters to get together to bounce ideas off each other, share resources, etc. and would I be interested in joining? Absolutely!

But the more I thought about it, it seemed ideal for a Yahoo Group. When I suggested that to my new friend, she liked it too because we're all busy and don't really have time for meetings. She wasn't familiar with Yahoo Groups so I offered to set it up and she said to go for it.

I explored name possibilities last fall but didn't really want to launch it until January. We wanted the name Me, Myself and I - since we're all one-person operations but that was taken. I poked around forever and ended up with the generic, all-purpose, self-explanatory Rochester Crafters.

I know what you're thinking - just what I'm thinking. Do I really have time for this?

Probably not but I've been percolating on the idea for months and still really want to do it. I honestly have tried to talk myself out of it, but I can't. I was born to organize. :-) So without any expectations, I worked on it last night and emailed invitations to 37 women business owners that I've met over the years.

One of my biggest goals for the group was to store a file that lists area craft shows and the contact information for each. Because I list my show schedule online, I get calls and emails fairly often, from people asking for just that information.

So we'll see. I've been a member of these Yahoo Groups before and they can be really good or really bad, in my opinion. Really bad equals total socializing with no real content.

Secretly though I must have high expectations because last night I dreamed I invited 50 people and 38 accepted immediately. Then again, I also dreamed the large table in the middle of my studio was cleared off and usable. Dreams....

It's Up to Me

My new Epson all-in-one is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow so here's another golden oldie Sticky Notes cover. That circle is a leather-look paper I had - probably a report cover I recycled I bet. Wish I had more!

I had kind of a downer weekend. I "wasted" almost all of Saturday trying to come up with stitched heart designs. Nothing worked satisfactorily. I later remembered I had this problem last year, although I didn't have the Groove to work with last year. Last year I decided to go with my strengths and stitch some of my original circular designs in Valentiney colors. Yeah, that works.

Maybe I'll even get those Christmas cards in my Etsy shop replaced with Valentine's Day cards. What?? It could happen.

Sunday I decided I needed to erase that failure feeling by designing some new circular designs. I came up with several, which I'll be able to show you when my new scanner is functional. So see? Go with your strengths!

I also did some paperwork, in particular, I updated the two mailing lists I maintain - my own and the Brighton show. I cleaned up my workspace a little. I've been feverishly working on finishing up assembling piles of Christmas pins but I've decided I must put them away in favor of spring designs. I have applied to 4 shows - more about that at a later date.

~ ~ ~

In mid-December I found myself actively waiting for the new year to start because I love the fresh, clean slate it brings. Then I guess I found myself waiting for our Vegas vacation. I realized in the shower this morning, that I was still awaiting that January feeling. I thought it happened automatically! Bummer. You mean I have to do something about it?? Fine!

I think part of my problem is that work remains the same - no change in sight just yet. The Illinois sales tax auditor returns tomorrow and I still owe stuff to the New York sales tax auditor. And the other situation I can't talk about remains stagnant. But I purposely took a nice break between mid-December and now, doing more of my actual job, fulfilling stuff I like to do. That was nice. This other stuff will end at some point so now I'm ready to help push it along.

I've been thinking I'd like to rearrange my office or my studio in some way but I'm not sure that's do-able. Still pondering that. See what I mean? I'm craving change!

Moving On

This is an older card but it represents that I've got hearts on the brain, working on a new stitching design for Valentine's Day product.

My beloved Epson all-in-one has pooped out on me. I got a message a few weeks ago that some parts inside are nearing the end of their life - please consult the manual. Oddly (ha!) the manual has no mention of this message. So I consulted my usual source, Google. I learned this message means the waste ink pad is full. I found lots of places to download a utility which allows you to reset the printer sensor so it will think the waste pad is not full. But I never really found a satisfactory explanation of how to actually clean the waste pad.

Epson suggests you buy a new printer! Genius!

I asked my favorite go-to-engineer at work about it and though he was not familiar with my particular model, gave me some hints as to where to find the waste pad. I found it, but didn't seem to be able to remove it. I downloaded the utility but that kind of annoyed me - to be able to fool the printer into thinking it was good-to-go, but not really cleaning the waste pad.

Yesterday, the error message became serious - I can no longer print, scan, no nuthin'.

I bought my Epson in 2006 and even the engineer said they aren't built to last forever. Harrumph. So yesterday I looked online, just to see.

And then . . . I bought a new Epson all-in-one. What?? It was only $150 - no tax, no shipping, shipped same day. And they got me hook, line and sinker, by inserting the word "Artisan" in the name of the model. I was powerless. It's not my fault.

Ain't she sweet?

I remember when I went from my previous machine, a Brother, to the Epson, the improvements were mind boggling so I'm expecting some improvements with this new one too. While I hate giving up my current Epson after only 4 years - I really use the heck out of it - printing brochures, postcards, etc. I'll bring it to work to send to our electronics recycler but ultimately, most of it will end up in a landfill, which bothers me - - - but I'm excited about my new machine!

In a nice bit of irony, this morning I stumbled upon a demonstration on You Tube, of how to clean the waste pad. I never thought of looking on You Tube for that. It was a different model than mine but I might have figured mine out. It looked a little more complicated than I thought it would be. And I did consider bringing it to work to have the engineer work on it for me.

Oh well, now I'm stuck with a new machine! It was only $150! It's called an Artisan 710!

Vegas - Day 4

As per my assignment from Ann, we went back to Tiffany's on Monday so I could photograph the paper art in the windows. I'm still undecided if it's truly hand cut by Jeff Rudell or some other artist, or mass produced by Tiffany's for all their stores' windows - probably the latter.

That top photo was to whet your appetite. Look at these two windows! I think they are just breath-taking. The mitered frames around the windows are gray leather. It's Tiffany's, of course they are.

Tiffany's is in the street of shops at Bellagio, which also featured this atrium area. I love the burst of color of these lanterns (or seed pods) - not sure what they represent. There were also very large pots of sand sitting around, each holding a dozen or so giant burning incense sticks. Each was about 1" in diameter, about 18" long. (But not smoking as much as you'd imagine, it was very subtle.)

Then there's this dude.

I was kind of taken with these gold coins because artists use these (normal sized!) for embellishment on cards and as collage elements.

Before our trip, we had strongly considered renting a car and driving to Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Dam as I mentioned in a previous entry. Then I got the wild idea of driving to a California beach because I've never been to the Pacific Ocean. I did a MapBlast search and it seems like it would have been about 4 hours. I thought if we left the hotel at 6:00 AM, we'd get there by 10:00. We could hang out for about 6 hours, then drive back, arriving at the hotel by 8:00ish. (We never really slept past 7:00 any day we were there, try as we might.)

I wasn't totally convinced it was a good idea - that's 8 hours of driving for 6 hours of unguaranteed fun. But I floated the idea past Steve while we were eating lunch at New York New York, awaiting our room. He was moderately receptive to the idea.

Then we got our really cool suite and said screw any plans - let's just hang out and relax. So Monday after breakfast, we walked down to Bellagio for the above photos, then went back to the room, read for a while and napped for a while. Then I stitched for a few hours, watching Michael Jackson's movie, This is It, which honestly wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

Steve decided that would be a good time to go play some video blackjack. The movie was well over and he wasn't back yet - I was hoping that was good news. :-) I thought about going downstairs to find him but the casino is so big, it was likely I would miss him if he headed up to the room at the same time. (Duh, I could have called him on his cell phone.) When he came back to the room I asked if I should call our respective jobs to give notice. Nope, darn it. He'd played 3+ hours on the same $20 he started with! Guess he got his money's worth of fun out of that 2o bucks.

We walked around a couple of hotels trying to find just the right place to eat dinner. We ended up at a steak place in Excalibur. Truthfully, I only had French Onion Soup and a salad because I'd had a pizza pretzel mid-afternoon. Steve enjoyed his steak though.

This is the view from one side of the suite, during the day. You can see that crazy roller coaster track. Beside the rollercoasterness of it, add in alcohol - how much puking you think goes on, on that thing?? Ewww. It went until 10:30 at night (I think it was) - we could hear the screams faintly from our room. You can also see the Statue of Liberty in the lower left. It all looked so big from the ground.

Mom, I thought of you often, in our big fancy hotel room on the 32nd floor. There were specific elevators to specific sets of floors so the higher floors didn't have to stop at every podunk lower floor. That thing zipped so fast, it just showed XX for the floors it was skipping! (It was beautiful inside, all inlaid wood looking.) You would have hated every minute of it.

Same view at night. Not bad for photos taken through windows.

This is out the front window, overlooking the strip.

Same view at night.

This is the sun setting over the mountains in the distance. We didn't want to go to bed because then vacation would pretty much be over but we got to bed at a reasonable time. Good thing, because we both slept like crap, waking up a lot. Must have been the anticipation of the alarm and getting showered, packed and to the airport by 9:00 the next morning.

I watched most of two mediocre movies on the plane, Fame and Post Grad. I even stitched while watching because we had no one with us on the aisle seat so Steve moved over and we put the tray down between us to hold my stitching things. I was so afraid I'd drop a spool of thread or my scissors and not be able to pick them up because everything is so cramped, especially with the seat in front of me reclined. On the way to Las Vegas, when the seat in front of me reclined, I could no longer hold my book out far enough to read without my glasses. I asked Steve if he would mind holding it for me out by the the aisle, but he politely declined. :-) I could read okay with my glasses on but it's kind of weird because I never do and I had to figure out just where to look through them.

A fine time was had by all.

Vegas - Day 3

We moved from The Luxor to New York New York today, Sunday. We upgraded to a corner suite with a Jacuzzi in the room. We were blown away when we walked in and saw how big it was - with spectacular views of the strip! This is what $70/night will get you in Vegas in January. I know the website says $120 and up but I've seen our bill. (This photo is from their website - there was no champagne in our room.)

We even got to check in a few hours early so we just hung out in the room then wandered around in the hotel casino for a while. We'd had lunch at ESPN Zone so Steve could watch the football game.

We split some loaded fries (cheese & bacon sprinkled on a mountain of fries) that we didn't finish. Steve then ordered a burger and helped me with this sundae but we left a good third of it. I should have put a basketball or something in the photo for reference. It was huge and delicious and way too huge for human consumption.

We went back to the room, read and napped and we couldn't bear to think of food again. We did actually go down and get a NY pretzel quite a bit later, then watched another movie in the room, Whip It. It was okay, not great. We've been wanting to see another Ellen Page movie since we watched Juno around Christmas time when Steve's sister was staying with us.

O.M.G. I knew Juno had won awards and was a good movie, but man, oh man. I cried my eyes out - at Jennifer Garner's character, who wanted a baby so badly and was afraid the adoption with Juno would fall through. I adopted Simon 22 years ago but in an instant, I was back in those feelings of my own. I literally couldn't breathe. Poor Steve and Barb, not sure what to say or do, other than wait it out. My complete over-reaction (heaving sobs, people) must have had to do with the holidays or work stress or something other than the movie. Because pulease.

Around that time, we also watched the movie, He's Just Not That Into You - which I liked a lot. Steve liked them both too, though probably not quite as much as I did. We watch a lot of crime shows, so it was nice to watch some romantic comedies.

The weather has been perfect - sunny and in the low 60s. When we booked this trip back in October, we read that the average temperature at this time of January is usually in the high 50s. I was looking at the 10-day forecast today - it will be going down to the mid-50s soon enough. Vacations just always work out for us (except for rainy Maine).

Vegas - Day 2

I meant to ask - is this a known thing that happens? Yesterday, on takeoff of both flights, as soon as we were airborne, I got so sleepy, I couldn't keep my eyes open and had to take a little nap. Is that an altitude thing? Weird.

In spite of trying to sleep in, we were both awake at 5:00 am, having had 8 hours sleep. We had a delicious breakfast in the Pyramid Cafe in The Luxor. But pretty early in the day, we were over the jet lag/time confusion thing.

I don't gamble.

Not!

Simon will be pleased that I can no longer say I don't gamble. "Who does that, Mom?? Who goes to Vegas and doesn't gamble?" When I got out of the shower this morning, Steve was watching the Players Network on TV, where different games were explained. I was kind of taken with Roulette, I gotta say. That's because it is literally a game of chance. All the other games require more brain power than I'm willing to give in order to give away money at lightning speed.

So we did a little casino hopping and ended up playing roulette at New York, New York. We had the table to ourselves and the dealer was a young kid, very personable and helpful to us. Turns out his wife is from Rochester and he used to visit his grandparents in Utica. We joked later that he pulled those city names from his dealer database to suit the players. For the next set of tourists, his wife was from Nashville, TN and he visited his grandparents in Memphis.

When I say I gambled, I should be clear, that I gambled with Steve's money, which turns out to be not that hard to do. :-) At one point I considered whipping out my own cash but couldn't quite do it. Guess I haven't totally gone over to the dark side. Too much tightwad in me to ever have a gambling problem.

We walked around different hotels for hours. We drank smoothies and milkshakes at a Haagen Dazs place. We went to see the lions at MGM and this time there were cubs there! Two years ago there were trainers playing with adult lions. This time there were three young women throwing balls for two cubs. They were like little kittens with balls of yarn except the balls were 18" in diameter and chewed to shreds. And the kittens had paws the size of my head. Still, cute as hell, we could have stood there all day.

We walked around one of the new hotels, Aria - just opened in the City Center a few weeks ago. That space was a big construction zone when we were here 2 years ago. This is a 4-ton, 19' tall typewriter eraser sculpture by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen. They are known for all sorts of "pop art" - large sculptures of everyday objects.

Here's another sculpture - bunch of boats stuck together. It's, um, colorful. By Nancy Rubins.

There was other glass art that I saw through a window - but I can't find it online now to show you. It was very cool - in a gallery, I think. But the art that really blew my mind was some white cut paper art in the windows of Tiffany's. I don't know if it was by Jeff Rudell, but he is who came to mind immediately, because I know he did some unbelievable work for Tiffany's in New York City a while back. I saw these windows as we were walking back to the hotel after a show and was kinda of tired and didn't think a photo through the glass would come out too well at night. I can't find it online anywhere. I explained to Steve that Jeff Rudell's work is the holy grail to us paper artists, a big deal aplenty.

Heck, it might have been the work of Molly Jey - the style was very similar to hers.

We went back to the hotel after a while and read. I soon got so sleepy that I ended up taking a nap. I mean a good solid in-my-nightshirt, under-the-covers nap. My cell phone rang, medium-high with vibration, on the table next to my head and I never heard a note.

At 7:30 we went to see the Cirque du Soleil show, "O". Unbelievably wonderful! It's all set in and on top of water. From the moment the audience files into the auditorium and there are performers hanging out in the audience doing bits - to the way the curtain is removed - not even parted, but removed creatively, you know you're in for a mind-blowing experience. So much happening at once, so much to see.

You may recall we saw Cirque's "Love" last time, set to Beatles music. I had high expectations and they were exceeded but Steve didn't know what to expect so he was completely blown away. Even though by now we're both experienced, this show was nothing short of outstanding.

Dave Taylor writes a great review with lots of pictures. He has also written a piece about behind the scenes, which I'm off to read now. You can't watch one of these Cirque shows without wondering about the logistics of such a performance.

A good, long day. Lots of fun.

Vegas - Day 1

Our hotel, The Luxor, in the foreground. That beam of light shooting out of the top can be seen in space they say. Whatever.

"All Continental flights have been canceled."

Those are the first words we heard when we got out of the car at the Rochester airport departure zone at 4:30 am. We sent Simon to wait in the Cell Phone Parking Lot while we went inside to sort things out. They put us on a US Air flight that left only an hour later than our scheduled flight. So I called Simon with the okay-to-go-home call and we were off on our adventure!

In retrospect, I think it's good we didn't check our flight before leaving for the airport. I have visions of getting stuck in a queue on the phone forever awaiting help to switch us to another flight. Since our alternate flight left only 50 minutes later than our original, we would have to hustle to the airport anyway. I'd rather be there, checked in and relax & stitch until boarding time. But that's me. :-)

Our new flight went through Philadelphia instead of icy Newark (the reason for our canceled flight). Both flights were uneventful other than the plane was uncomfortably hot, even with the air blowing on me. I slept and read, didn't even try to stitch, though I stitched in the airports.

Oddly, I have been so screwed up time-wise this trip. I don't remember the 3 hour time difference being that big of a deal the last time we came here. I think it was because of the flight change, not that the flight was an hour later but because we talked about the time so much, figuring what time we'd arrive, etc. I tried to stay hydrated throughout the day. Dunno.

We checked into our room in The Luxor, both surprised to see we'd booked a room that had a Jacuzzi in it. This is where middle-aged absent-mindedness is a good thing - it was a pleasant surprise - oh yeah! Look what we did!

We rested for a bit, then went to dinner at the highly recommended Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay. Thanks John - the food was outstanding! We walked around a bit and I bought a Mandalay Bay shot glass for Simon. He has a bit of a collection, mostly provided by me in my never ending effort corrupt his morals. I only bring him shot glasses from hotels or cities in which I've stayed overnight. Yep, I have rules for even that. (I don't think I bought him one from Mandalay Bay when we stayed there 2 years ago or maybe he'll have 2 now.)

We made use of the Jacuzzi and boy, I was ready for bed! Except it was 6:30. Steve wanted to watch a movie so I begrudgingly gave in. We found a movie we'd wanted to see in the theater but never did, Pelham 123. What a good movie! I can prove it because I watched it start to finish, without stitching. I never do that! Denzel Washington is always excellent and John Travolta played an excellent bad guy. As I'm writing this, Steve is watching a football game and there was a commercial on just now for another movie with John as a bad-ass. As I said to Steve last night, "Who would have ever thought that Vinnie Barbarino would have turned into such a good actor?"

We slept like babies.

Let's Get Musical

I was really, really going to start my 2009 resolution to post no product here unless it's for sale online. But it's been a cuckoo week and I haven't gotten this Sticky Notes cover posted in my poor pathetic shop and I'm dying to show you because it's so different from my usual round stitched designs.

I filled out the application for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra biennial Designer Showcase House boutique and I remembered the woman who approached me at the School 46 show about this opportunity mentioned they like music oriented things in particular. I'm SO glad she said that because I'm not sure I would have thought of that. I know, duh.

This oval center lends itself to so many other designs, I think. I can see a stemmed flower there, or a snowman, or . . .

~ ~ ~

So I've been going in to work early this week, trying to cram lots into 4 days because we leave for Vegas at the ass-crack (as Simon would say) of dawn tomorrow. And believe me, he's thrilled about driving us to the airport at that hour. I'm taking my laptop so I'm pretty sure I'll be posting some while I'm gone. And stitching on the plane and in the hotel.

I saw some photos on a friend's Facebook page yesterday of her and a friend in Las Vegas, one of which was enjoying the nightlife. I started thinking that some people might think it's a waste to go to Vegas and not go out at night. We could stay in and watch TV or movies at home. But it's so not us, going out. I can't even imagine it. I mean we're out at night, we're not "clubbing" is what I mean.

Here and There

Snowy Rochester, NY: 13 degrees (feels like 6!)

Sunny Las Vegas: high 50s and low 60s! We're staying at The Luxor Friday and Saturday nights.

We're staying at New York, New York on Sunday and Monday nights.

We're seeing Cirque du Soleil "O" at the Bellagio Saturday night.

Yep, Steve and I are going to Vegas again. We'll get there noonish on Friday and return Tuesday. The trip kind of just happened. In October, a few weeks after his mom died, I said, "Steve, you really need to get away and just relax for a minute. You've had so much on your plate with your mom for the last couple of years, plus the uncertainty of your job, it's been so much for you. You need to get away - and of course I would need to go with you. Even if it's just a weekend in Vegas, or anyplace, really, I th..."

"Okay, let's do it!"

We were going to go just for a weekend literally but decided that's too much flying in time and money for a short trip. Plus, they are practically giving the rooms away during the week. So it would be silly not to stay for 5 days and 4 nights, right?

It still cracks us up that we enjoy Las Vegas. It's so not us in our real life, but I guess that's what makes it interesting. Steve said the other day, until 2 years ago, he couldn't imagine himself ever going to Vegas, let alone enjoying it and going multiple times. (It was his idea to go 2 years ago, just to see, I was fairly skeptical - but we're both on the same page now!)

Last time we went in April and it was in the 80s but very comfortable. So it won't exactly be outdoor pool weather when we're there but we thought we might rent a car this time and explore the area, like Red Rock Canyon.

Garland of Ringlets

Somehow this December 2009 project by Jeff Rudell escaped me! I love the tediousness of his projects. And that he uses the same tiny glue bottle I use. He's a paper craft rock star. (Click on his name in the linked article for his other projects, many of which I've posted in this blog from time to time.)

Steve and I made no attempt to stay up until midnight. I turned off my light when I was done reading in bed at 11:00. We got up around 7:00 and went in the hot tub for a bit. I made blueberry bread for breakfast and we started our year quite leisurely, hanging out on the couch, reading until almost noon. Nice way to ring in the new year.

Best wishes to all my family and friends for a happy and healthy 2010!

Mini LP Gift Tags from Paul Overton on Vimeo.

I spent some time today watch Paul Overton videos - check out his Dudecraft site.

~ ~ ~

I also spent some time this weekend rearranging some blog subscriptions. I periodically go through and purge a bunch or subscribe to too many new ones, depending on what time of year it is and how busy I am. Then I thought I got smart and had all my subscription notifications go to a gmail account I set up. But then I found I didn't get over there often enough was getting behind in the blogs of my friends, the people I want to keep up with. So now I have more of them come to my regular email address. I have all kinds of filters and rules set up for each mailbox so hopefully it won't get out of control. Ha! I crack me up.

I tried to go about the above rearranging in an organized fashion but I hope I didn't miss anyone. Oy, there's Feedblitz, Feedburner, ChangeDetection.com. And I use Bloglines to keep track of lots of marginal blogs I think I'll want to find again. What I'd really like is to make a living reading blogs. Anybody know where I can apply for that job??

~ ~ ~

I look forward to January 1 so much because it always feels like such a clean slate, fresh start kind of thing. I usually start feeling January 1-ish the day after Christmas. When we put Wilma's shelves up in the pet room (what most people use for a dining room), they displaced some other wooden shelves that belonged to my parents and are possibly older than I am. I ended up putting them in my studio, which required some rearranging. I threw out a bunch of stuff and found more stuff to Freecycle at work.

I still have more paperwork to get through. I should have been doing that but the purging and rearranging was so much more fun! There's always next weekend. Steve and I always say we love New Year's Day because it's like a free day off with no obligations. We usually don't even stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve - then there's that fresh start January 1 thing we love.

Christmas Gift from Wilma

Look what Steve's late mom gave us for Christmas yesterday! These are two bookshelf units that were lined up with two more in her living room. Steve's brother & family are taking the other two. Sister-in-law Sue brought her truck over yesterday so we moved ours to our house, even though it was raining a little bit. It's a work in progress but this is the first go-round at arranging. And I didn't notice until I posted this photo, Reggi's tail in the lower left! Silly dog, she follows me everywhere.

We have an interesting dynamic about books, Steve and I. I go pretty minimalist, not buying or keeping many books. Steve has kept every book he's ever owned, I swear. We're both major Internet users so our books are rarely touched, honestly. I'm sentimental about some books, he's sentimental about every book. Books have that effect on people, I know.

The upper left shelf contains my books - a few novels but mostly personal development books, what used to be called "self-help" books. It's the usual collection of subjects that any self-respecting 50-something woman would own - relationships, weight loss and finance.

The noteworthy items on the next shelf down on the left are two very tattered, held together by tape, books on television shows - everything that's now contained on IMDB.com. Steve uses imdb.com pretty much daily, I'd say. When I pointed out that everything in those 2 books is contained in his left pocket (where he keeps his iTouch), he insisted he wanted to keep the books.

I on the other hand, filled a re-usable grocery bag to the brim with books I'll be taking to the Freecycle table at work tomorrow - mostly gardening, canning, bread baking and other types of cookbooks. My life has gone in other directions now.

And there's another level of books that I'm almost ready to let go of but not quite. Same thing happened with old record albums - took a good two or three go-rounds to purge to what I have left now.

Next to the old TV books are home repair books which we used a lot when we first bought this house 9 years ago, but now our time is more valuable and we hire professionals for anything beyond painting, putting up shelves, minor repairs, etc.

The big books on the bottom shelf are all sports-related, arranged by sport. They are "coffee table" books for the most part and while I never see Steve look at them, I understand why he wants to keep them.

My dad made the wood mushrooms on the left and the shaker box on the right. The basket is a Longaberger basket I bought years ago; it holds books of matches.

Second shelf down on the right - the right side is Steve's collection of yearbooks. He has his sister's year books too, I think. I'll add mine to that collection someday, they are currently in a box in the basement. Steve and I went to high school together so there will be a few repeats.

To the right of the yearbooks are all cookbooks. A surprising number of them belong to Steve. We both seem to be a bit sentimental about cookbooks - must be because food holds such strong family memories for humans. It's interesting because Steve never cooks and I always look for new recipes on the Internet, not in a cookbook. But now that my memory has been refreshed, I might peruse those books now and again. Trouble is, I rarely feel like cooking anymore these days.

The two boxes on the shelves are recipe boxes - the white one is Steve's and the little wood roll-top one is mine. I don't know if that white one was Steve's mom's at one time or just his - I think just his. He's had it as long as I've known him. His and hers recipe boxes - aren't we cute??

The stacking trays on the bottom are our mailboxes - one for each member of the family, whether they live here or not - and for DJ, our nephew who does live here. We just gave DJ his own mailbox recently - he knew he'd been accepted when that happened. I'm kidding, he's been a member of the family for ages, of course. But that mailbox system is perfect for sorting the mail as it arrives each day. Steve and I tend to "process" our mail our weekends. Simon empties his mailbox several times a year after I've asked him to about 5 or 6 times, because it so full.

There's nothing behind the doors on the bottom of the units yet. It's a work in progress, like I said.

Best Gift of 2009

Without Dad's permission, I want to share what he wrote in an email last night, to me, Gretchen and our extended Stahlman family. I've read it three times and tear up all over again every time. I love my family. And they love me. Thanks Dad.

Fifty years ago, I had a job, worked with some great guys, doing work we enjoyed and were pretty good at. Designing office systems using these new computer things. We were all young, smart (imho), driven and close knit. Plenty of opportunities to celebrate triumphs and break-throughs. Also some occasions to bemoan set-backs, managerial stupidity, stolen ideas. Fortunately, right across the street was a pub that was quite accommodating whether celebrating or bemoaning.

On Christmas Eve, we always got to leave work in early or mid-afternoon. Traditionally, it seemed like half the company stopped across the street for a glass of Christmas cheer. Or two. Maybe three.

But not me---never!!! Not once!!!

I knew I had two little girls at home, just waiting for me to pull into the driveway. Excited, babbling, laughing, giggling, wiggling, jumping, both talking at once, hugging, happy, wishful. And why not|? Santa Claus is coming tonight---this very night---to our house---503 Cooper Road.

Can you imagine introducing the smell and effect of alcohol into a circumstance, time, and place as I have described above??? Not me. Couldn't do it then, wouldn't do it now.

The little girls are all grown up now and maybe they have even calmed down a bit. No matter, I am pleased that I never had that glass of Christmas cheer on Christmas Eve.

Martha Stewart Living

PS Just for fun, check Google Images for Santa - such a selection! They run the gamut from ridiculous, sublime, naughty, lots of images with Coca Cola and some disturbing images I don't even "get".

Merry Christmas Eve

Like you, I'm sure, I've seen a bunch of these types of videos but this is my favorite! (Thanks Dad!)

Merry Christmas Eve Eve

I was so crabby yesterday! As I walked out to my car after work, I asked myself, "Self? You have to fix this. What would make you happy?"

So I reviewed why I was grumpy.

My perception, completely overblown, of a bit of rudeness the previous day at work. (Stef, get over it already.)

I hate the commercialization of the holiday season. I worry, yes worry, about people spending money they can't afford to spend. (Stef, worry about yourself.)

I was annoyed by hearing parents talk about their smarty-pants kids being home from college, when I would just be happy if my smarty-pants college kid would remember to keep his cell phone charged. (Stef - those other kids have plenty of foibles too; the parents just don't talk about those.)

I realized I really had nothing to be grumpy about. So I stopped. Wow, that was easy.

Then I had a wonderful massage.

Steve brought home dinner.

Life is good again.

~ ~ ~

Here's a note to future boarders about one of the quality services offered here at Chez TaCo. (Tadio Comstock - get it??)

If your car runs out of gas on the way to work, not to worry. We will give you a ride to work, then go to where your car is, call AAA to bring gas, drive said car to the gas station to fill 'er up and then deliver the car to you at work.

Yep, that's my boy I'm talking about. He was closer to work than home when he ran out of gas so he was going to walk to work since he was already late. He was unable to call me because his cell phone was out of juice (see note above). A nice woman stopped, let him use her phone, and then drove him to my office, where he wanted to take my car to work.

Steve was working late that night or I would have let Simon take my car - but instead, I left work to drive him to work, for which he was an hour late.

After work, I went to his car (which was safely off the road on a quiet back street, flashers flashing) and did what I said above.

My only regret is that I wasn't able to wash his vehicle and detail it properly. Maybe next time.

My email to Steve about this was titled: "Hi. My name is Stefani and I'm an enabler."

I really was prepared to let Simon deal with his car himself but he wasn't going to get out of work until 11:00 that night and I worried about his car sitting there for hours into the night. As it was, the AAA guy had to jump it too.

I did all this with the help of DJ, our other tenant. As he drove me back to my car, there was a tag tied to the door handle. I thought for sure it was a ticket - that Simon would have to pay, of course, but it was just an "abandoned vehicle" tag left by the police. I guess they do that so people know it has been reported. There was nothing I was required to do about it. Whew!

Oh - the other thing that annoyed me at work was how cheerful and social people were being while I was trying to work, dammit. How dare they?? Even at our office-wide Monday Morning Meeting, people were in an unusually good mood. That was another thing that snapped me out of my misery - I can't let all the good times pass me by while I'm pouting about nothing.

Woo-hoo - here's to a brand new day!

Alton Brown's White Trash Recipe

I made this to take to work - always a hit. I used cashews instead of mixed nuts.

Alton Brown’s White Trash

Ingredients
• 3 1/2 cups Cheerios toasted oat cereal
• 3 cups Rice Chex
• 3 cups Corn Chex
• 16 ounces M&Ms plain chocolate candies
• 2 1/2 cups salted mixed nuts
• 2 cups small pretzels
• 2 (11 ounce) packages white chocolate chips (Ghirardelli brand preferred)

Directions
1. Dump the cereals, M&Ms, nuts & pretzels in a large bowl.

2. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Melt very slowly, stirring occasionally, being careful not to burn the chocolate.

3. Dump melted chocolate over the rest of the ingredients and fold over and over until you have well-coated hunks and chunks.

4. Spread the whole mess out on parchment paper and set in a cool place until it sets up, then break it into pieces.

5. Store in zip-top bags or air-tight containers.

Happy Holidays Monday!

Ann Martin

I know I've written about my friend Ann's blog before, All Things Paper, but it deserves another mention. I was watching a Tivoed episode of That's Clever last night - and there's Ann making quilled Christmas cards! She did a great job. I'm so proud of her!

She makes quilling look effortless but I swear, it takes a lot of practice. You think I'd be a natural, right? Me too. Maybe I'll try it again some day and put in the time it takes to get better, but for now I'm sticking with what I know.

Please check out Ann's blog. She has tons of tutorials on cool paper stuff but also introduces the reader to some incredible paper artists. :-)

FunkyTown

Hey look, everybody - I'm funky!

2009 Craft Shows in Review

You know how when you have a vacation day or a trip scheduled, you feel like you couldn't possibly go another day without it? Craft show season has that same sort of self-fulfillingness to it. Thank goodness yesterday was my last show of the season because I just could not do another one - I'm exhausted!

Except I'm not really - because I did 15 shows in 2008 and just 9 in 2009. Some of that was by design - to do fewer, but bigger shows. I did outdoor shows for the first time, which tend to be bigger, multi-day shows. The mack-daddy of all shows was Letchworth - 3 super busy days in October, that I canceled out of at the last minute when Steve's mom died. Not only did I lose all that revenue but I had turned down several shows around that time, based on wanting to have enough inventory for Letchworth. (The show refunded all of my entrance fee, which is more than I had hoped for, even though it was the right thing for them to do. I'm grateful.)

In 2008, when I did 15 shows, the lesson learned there that I was over-saturating the market a little bit. You could have seen the light bulb over my head by the time I'd heard this several times: "Oh yeah, I just saw you at (insert show here) last week!" Better to pace oneself. I know, it seems obvious, doesn't it? I thought I was being ambitious and hard-working. There are lessons and steps to go through for every learning process, right?

The good news is, even without Letchworth, my total show sales for 9 shows in 2009 was 3% higher than 15 shows in 2008. That says it all.

I'm sorry to say that my heart wasn't in yesterday's show at School 46. I don't think it showed though - hope not. In my head, I'm already in 2010, planning and plotting and scheming. New products, new venues - I'm very excited.

A woman introduced herself as the producer of the Lilac Festival, took my card and said she'd send me an application. That is a show to which I'd planned to apply for 2010. The Lilac Festival is a big deal around here - runs for 10 days in May. (The craft show part is only on the weekends.) I believe vendors can sign up for 1 or 2 weekends. My vendor friends who participate now, recommend doing both weekends. The only downside is that the weather in May around here can be a real crap shoot, running from rainy & cold to sunny, warm & summer-like. And yes, we've had snow in May, on rare occasions. Still, I'm ready.

I had a couple of people tell me they came to the show just to see me. I love when that happens. I received a few good suggestions for future product ideas - some of which I've already been thinking of, so the confirmation was good.

I did go to the Alternative Fair held by Metro Justice, at the First Unitarian Church on Winton Road Friday Night to vet it as a possible venue for the 1st weekend in December next year. Granted, I got there right at 6:00 when they opened, but holy cow, it was busy! Nice to see all the hippie kinds of vendors (vegan stuff, social change stuff) - I can't even remember what else. It was so crowded!

Ultimately, I decided it's not for me, at least not now. Vendors rent a table, though you can bring your own set-up and you can get a double (table) space. I was struck by how small the vendor spaces were and how crowded they were together, cheek-to-cheek. It was all very sensory overload for me.

I have a good (highly coveted) spot in the gym at the School 46 show so yesterday I committed to that for next year. The only downside is the spaces are only 5' deep by 8' wide. My tables are 6', plus I need a lot of walk-around space for my two sided Sticky Notes stand. Thankfully they aren't very strict about keeping within the space because the aisles are really wide. So my table overshot the 5' mark by 1'. I had Steve take the other table home - I just couldn't make it work. So I had all my table-top product (pins, magnets and cards) on one table, rather than spread out over 2 tables. Little cluttered for me but it worked okay. So while I had all my usual product out, it still felt like it was an abbreviated version.

I requested a double booth space for next year but there isn't currently one available. My current space is right by a door so that actually gives me additional viewing area. So if the people on my other side don't commit for next year, I can have their space - or maybe something in the middle will open up. I prefer being against a wall, but I'd gladly move if I could have a double space. I paid for one space for next year but the organizer made a note that I'm first on the list for a double space if one opens up. (Note to my curious vendor friends reading this - the entrance fee is only $45 so even a double space is very affordable.)

I slept until, gasp, 6:30 today - 8 hours. By then my mind was racing about what I wanted to do today. Now that I'm up though, my energy is lagging. I guess this is supposed to be a recovery, recharging kind of day. Plus I'm going to my friend Nancy's house for lunch today, with Kim and Kathy. So there's a few hours of relaxing with friends built in to my day already.

Recharging is a necessary and good thing. I've learned to embrace these days!

St. Jude's Craft Sale Report

My office day job stupidly continues to be open the day after Thanksgiving. Because I take off a bunch of other days in November for shows, I always work it; which also allows the other two people in my department to take it off. I left early, as do most people.

After work, I stopped at Keuka Coffee, just up the road from my office, to meet a new online artist friend, Tanvi Asher-Jones. She greeted me warmly by name, by just having "met" on Facebook. She showed me her beautiful earrings, jewelry and embroidered bags. (I bought a bag with lots of turquoise (of course) - couldn't resist - it's colorful, stitchy, handmade and useful!) We talked shop for a while. I'm very happy to learn that Tanvi is very happy with her 1000 Markets shop (linked above) and has closed her Etsy shop. I'm pretty sure that's what I'll end up doing. (Soon - one more show to go next weekend.)

I then stopped at JoAnn Fabric for ONE spool of red thread. Turns out the thread was 50% off; it never goes lower than that. I picked up a couple more colors. Oops, my hands are full, better get a basket. Eighteen spools later I headed to the check out counter.

I used to buy thread is sets of 3 shades. This time I just bought 2 shades of 8 colors. This is the olive green set - you know how I loves me some greens. Even though I stitched a lot at yesterday's craft show, I still haven't tried all my new colors. Plus I've officially run out of room in my thread box. Must buy another. Darn, I hate when that happens - I have to buy a craft item.

Oddly, this year Steve had to work Friday also but he came home early too. We spent the afternoon watching our newly arrived Netflix movie, Goodfellas. I'd never seen it and he hadn't seen it in years. It was pretty good. I told Steve I bet it was a more fascinating look at mob life back when it came out because now, post-Sopranos, it's a little been there, done that. Good movie though. And I got lots of gluing of Christmas tree pins done.

Yesterday's show at St. Jude's Church in Gates is run by a friend of mine. She invited her vendor friends to participate last year and because we're all craft show veterans (hey! that's me!), this thing runs effortlessly. (Or so it seems from where I sit. I know there's lots of work being done to make it happen.)

But it's a small church show so I set my expectations accordingly. Except, I increased my sales from last year by 65%. Sweet! Since my last 3 shows have shown significant increases over 2008, I'm inclined to say the reason is two-fold. One is that I'm making sure each design is stellar (she says modestly) and the other is the economy is perking up just a bit.

(I haven't forgotten that I promised to post some sub-standard designs, so you can see what I'm talking about, even though you people think I'm just being hard on myself, you silly reader-friends, you! I'll show you, goshdarnit!)

I've said that meeting people is the highlight of any show for me, second only to making money, of course. :-) My first two (separate) customers both told me they came to the show specifically to see me. This is the only show I do on the west side of the city so I guess that isn't totally surprising.

But what was extra cool was the first woman brought some examples of paper art she had stitched since she saw me a year ago. She does have a computer - so if you are reading this, please don't be insulted if I have this wrong - but I'd guess she's in her 80s. She was so excited to show me what she'd done. It was beautiful work! At one point, I put my hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eye, "You aren't setting up shop, are you? Are you my new competition?"

"Oh no!" she laughed. "This is just for fun." She has a friend who is also crafty so they are both always searching out new things to try, then they teach each other. Isn't that cool? Imagine how many crafts they have tried over the years??

She showed me a couple of cards and even a Post-It Note pad she'd made. We talked shop for a while, she asked me some questions. I gave her an old pattern of mine that I used when I poked the holes by hand. And I gave her a couple of circles with the designs already poked so she can either stitch them or use them as patterns to create more pieces to be stitched. I told her I didn't care if I sold anything at all that day, the joy she had from making these paper pieces and showing them to me was all I needed for the day.

Then my artist friends Cheryl & Don came by. Cheryl bought some things while Don grilled me on my KNK Groove. He had previously dropped some broad hints that he'd like to come to my studio to see the machine in action, so he teased me for avoiding his question. I hadn't really - just said after show season. ;-) He uses a laser cutter for his wood and paper pieces, so he's always interested in cool tools. It was fun seeing them - nice people, so creative!

Then the biggest surprise of the day, my friend from high school, John and his partner Eric came to the show - from Vermont! They were really in town to celebrate Thanksgiving with family, but on Saturday they found themselves near the show, to attend a surprise party for John's uncle's 80th birthday. So they stopped by, John saying, "I guess this proves that people read your blog!"

All in all a good day, for sure!

RMSC Follow-Up

This was my booth space at the Museum & Science Center show. It's not the best photo but I think you can an idea of how big my space was. I paid for 10' x 10' but could use all the space within this little display alcove so it was quite roomy. Seemed a little tacky to whip out a tape measure but I am curious as to it's size. Thought about "walking it off" to estimate but a gal like me strives for accuracy in her numbers, don't you know?

I'm not 100% happy with my display of magnets but I'm getting there. Those are little gift tags on the top row - not a Christmasy one in the bunch, which I thought was going to be a huge problem. Not one person mentioned, "Don't you have any gift tag designs for Christmas?" I told you, it was a ladybug and sunflower weekend! I'm still hoping to get some holiday season tags made for Saturday's show but we'll see.

This display is by my new friend Allison Barry, who creates wonderful machine embroidered towels and other items. I lifted this photo from her website, Graceful Living. I've run into her at several shows but really had a chance to speak with her this past weekend - and she'll be at Saturday's show at St. Jude's too. We bonded over the magic of our respective machines. It sounds like her embroidery machine (she's just ordered a 3rd!) allows her to create quite like my Groove does. Files/designs are available to buy but we create our own. If we can create it, the machine can make it.

Look at her display - how nicely it displays so many towels. It's a wall of colorful towels - very visual. Genius!

Look at the way she sells her towels - 3 to a clear topped box, with ribbon. And her merchandise bags are clear so other people see her purchased product walking around at shows. Genius! She credits her husband with the display and packaging ideas.

She was invited to participate in the Mackenzie-Childs Home Again for the Holidays, which is a pretty big deal. She has two little girls, so her life is very full. I kept telling her she's doing everything right and I'm so proud of her. She's so humble, I had to finally tell her, "Don't you roll your eyes at me, young lady!"

It's so much fun hanging out with like-minded creative people!

I Rocked the Taters!

I said I'd bring mashed potatoes to Thanksgiving at Gretchen's. She wanted her son Paul to learn to make them so Grampa set up a tutorial because he thinks he's some hot shit potato masher dude. Then Gretchen started calling it The Mashed Potato Throwdown. Next thing I know, my niece Jill wants in on the action. And the trash talkin' commenced.

Pulease, people.

I knew I was perhaps taking this a bit too seriously when I said to my 80 year old dad when he arrived at Gretchen's today, "You're going down, old man!"

What's that? Who won, you ask? Why moi of course! And above is the bedazzled trophy that Gretchen and Jill made. I could not be more proud.

My potatoes included the usual butter and milk, salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus diced thick cut bacon, cheddar cheese and just a dollop of sour cream. Then I added a layer of shredded cheddar to the top and broiled it, adding homemade fried onions for garnish and presentation. I should have taken a photo when it came out of the oven - it looked great!

We think a new tradition has been born. Next year: a Stuffing Throwdown.

Simon insisted we have shrimp cocktail today so I asked him to arrange it attractively. Even he knows presentation is everything!

I have about a skillion things to be thankful for - primarily family and friends whom I love and love me back. Life is good.

Time for a nap.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Number 3

I was worried about not having enough Christmasy stuff for this show. But the big sellers seemed to be ladybugs and sunflowers! Ya never know.

This weekend's craft show at the Rochester Museum and Science Center was a smashing success. I was up 57% over last year! 2008 was down 44% from 2007 so I'm happy to be "trending" in this new upward direction now. I don't know how much to attribute it to being in the front building this time, but I'm requesting the same space again next year if I'm accepted to the show.

I said yesterday that this would likely be my 2nd best show ever but I'd forgotten about the quilt show I did in June. This museum show was just $8 below that one so technically this weekend's show is in 3rd place. I can live with that. :-)

One of my favorite parts about doing shows is the new opportunities that find me. A woman from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra organization sought me out. She'd purchased from me before and asked if I'd be interested in participating in their fundraiser in May 2010. They build 2 houses every other year she said, as show houses for people to tour. It seemed like she meant that literally - new houses are built - but I'm not sure about that part. She said one house will be a pop art style house and the other more traditional. People who tour the houses have to exit through gift shops so she wanted to know if I'd be interested in selling my stuff there on a consignment basis. Yes! It lasts for 5 weeks. I had a lot of success doing that at the Jr League of Buffalo show house this year. Great exposure, little time investment.

The other opportunity is to sell my goods on consignment in a new shop, (to be located on Winton Road, across from the Winfield Grill). A vendor I'd met at another show last year came into my booth with her partner this weekend and mentioned the store in passing. Then I found an email from them when I got home last night. So I'll be checking that out too.

Plus I bought Christmas gifts for Mom & Gretchen. Score!

My other favorite part of craft shows is hanging with my vendor friends. Before I started doing shows, I never would have guessed the community is so tight. I look forward to seeing these people. I'm amazed at how many vendors I know now. Because I was in a new location, some came looking for me. I love this biz!

No time to dilly-dally, must go order red crystals for Christmas tree pins and more brochure paper.

November 28, 10:00-5:00

St. Jude's Holiday Craft Sale

4100 Lyell Road, Rochester, NY 14606

Man Chair

Here's today's offering from Urban Dictionary:

November 22: man chair

A man chair is the chair that men sit in while their partner is shopping for long periods of time. They can be found in almost any clothing or shoe store.

Honey, Ill go over here and sit in a man chair while you go shop around. Meet me here when you're done.

(Mom & Gretchen - I corrected the punctuation from the original. Even though it was a copy and paste, I couldn't let it be.)

I can't imagine why anyone would drag anyone along to something they clearly didn't want to do. Especially someone you love! I see it at craft shows a lot.

Woman to disinterested husband: Isn't this cute?

Husband: Yeah.

Woman: Wouldn't this be perfect for Aunt Betty?

Husband: Uh-huh.

I'm sitting there thinking, "Why are you asking him? Can't you see he doesn't give a darn?? Furthermore, why did you bring him in the first place?"

There are men who are genuinely interested - especially in the mechanics of how I do what I do. I can spot an engineer at 20 paces. Or a math teacher.

My favorite addition is one I've seen several times this weekend. Mom or Mom & Dad are dragging a disinterested teenager with them around the craft show. Said teenager is walking and texting on their phone the entire time. Sometimes they actually do look at my stuff - and then they dig it. Especially the peace signs. They are selling well at this show.

I took twice as many Sticky Notes as I've taken to any other show. I think I'm just going to have enough. The show is just 5 hours today. If I have an outstanding afternoon I just might match the first year I did this show. I was starting to think that was just the novelty of my first year of participation in that show. That was my "career-high" to date. As it stands now, this weekend is in 2nd place of career-high - so I'm pleased as punch.

Most other vendors are saying good things too. I honestly don't know if being in this front building has made a difference in my sales, but it feels like it has. I want to stay here, I've decided. I'm going to walk around this morning and get a better feel for the lay of the land. I'll take a picture of my area today to post tomorrow. I was assigned a spot I wasn't sure I'd like - in an alcove of an exhibit. That sounds worse than it is. Being a museum, the layout is a bit funky but maybe that makes it interesting. I paid for a larger booth this time, 10" x 10" but I can use this whole alcove, which I think might be 12" x 12" or so. I love having that much room.

Granted this is a big popular show in time for the holidays - but we're feeling the economy must be improving. I hope/think/feel/believe the worst is over and things will get better and better from here.

I have two more shows the next two weekends - each just a one-day Saturday show. Then I have some house projects to finish up. Then time to get cranking on next year! Yesterday I counted - I did 15 shows last year. This year I will have done 8. But that was my strategy, to do fewer, but bigger shows. Not doing the major 3-day Letchworth show when Steve's mom died definitely put a dent in my projected sales, but that's okay. I'm already planning next year in my head. I'll get serious about planning after this season is over.

39th Annual Holiday Bazaar
Friday November 20, 5:00-9:00

Saturday November 21, 9:30-5:00
Sunday November 22, 11:00-4:00

Rochester Museum & Science Center Holiday Bazaar

657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607