Checking In

I just posted my blog address on the Etsy forum and thought I'd better write some sort of update.

I would like to spend some time doing some art tonight, but we've planned this holiday gathering and the house is a mess. So I should work on cleaning, but will I? I'm still in the process of organizing the craft cave. It's coming along pretty well. I love my space. I feel so blessed to have my own space to do with as I please!

Ok, that's all for now. Have a good evening.

Beaux Arts Bizarre

The weekend after Thanksgiving two friends and I participated in an art show called the Beaux Arts Bizarre in Columbia, Missouri. It was held in the Missouri Theatre for the Arts which was recently renovated. It was built in 1928 and was purchased by the Missouri Symphony Society in 1988. Events were held in the theater, but there was no denying the poor old building needed some love! The renovations were finished earlier this year and we were lucky enough to be part of one of the first events to be held in the "new" building. It is truly beautiful. It's awesome to see people who are interested in and dedicated to preserving the past, instead of tearing down what is old and worn out.

There were approximately 45 artists at the Beaux Arts Festival - including a couple of members from the Missouri Etsy-centrics Street Team and some Etsians I hadn't met before. It was good to be able to meet some new people and invite them to join our Team.

Our booth was located at the left side of the stage way in the back, next to the brick wall. The guy next to us was Fergus Moore, a potter. He had a booth he had built out of plywood. It was a really nice display for his work, but the wall that was next to our booth was pretty tall. We were very "tucked away" in the corner - all nice and cozy.

Fergus was a nice guy and sensitive to the fact that we might not want to have the big plywood wall crammed up next to our booth. So he located some nice lavender fabric to cover the wall that faced us and told us we could hang whatever we wanted to on it. I thought that was really honorable of him. The wall turned out to really be a blessing to us. We hung lots of things on it, adopted it as part of our display and it looked great. Thanks Fergus...do you think you could follow us around to all of our craft shows so that we can use your wall?

I think as far as attendance goes, the show was a little disappointing. We had good traffic off and on, but not like we thought we would. Though I'm pretty tired of thinking, hearing and talking about our economy, it's quite possible that is what influenced the number of people at our booth. I didn't make much money, but my partners did pretty well and I had lots of fun. It was great to meet people and to get some feedback about my work. We plan on doing it again next year.

If you get a chance, check out my friends' shops: Jolene at LocoMOmomma and Beth at Heartgrooves . Separately we all have Etsy shops but together we go by the name "3 Moms Creative Outlet". Jolene sells crocheted baby things, felted purses and fleece kidswear. Beth sells altered letters, journals, cards, tags and other papercrafts. Our things compliment each other and fit well together in a display. I'm thankful for Jolene and Beth. It's a way we can cut down on art fair costs and provide needed feedback and support to each other.

We also had a "guest Mom" whose name was Amy. Her Etsy shop is: Truetauruslove. Amy makes knitted hats and gloves, felted bowls and felted unique animals. It was nice to have her with us.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Here's the condensed version of my "summer vacation": We bought a house, sold a house, moved, cleaned, cleaned some more, bought some beautiful new bedroom furniture and I helped organize an Etsy Street Team in my area.

In the midst of moving, I painted a couple of things. I did this big leaf painting because I wanted something to put on our walls as we were "staging" our house for sale. I love leaves, but these don't look very realistic (I like them anyway). The big picture inspired me to do a small leaf picture, which is not really like anything I've done before. The whole leaf theme came from this really cool place mat I bought from Pier One. I guess I was kind of feeling like I was hosting an HGTV show or something. I'm not quite as talented as the HG people, but it really is fun to pretend I'm one of them sometimes!

We were very blessed to have found a house that was newer than our other house, had more space, a big back yard and less expensive than the house we sold. How often does that happen?! The very best thing is that the new place has a spot for me to craft. It's in the basement within a storage area (I call it the craft cave). It seemed like a big room until I got all of my things in there. I'm tellin' ya, I had no idea how much craft booty I had until I saw my friends hauling in box after box after box with the words "craft room" written on them. It was quite embarrassing, but it has curbed my supply buying appetite a little...Well, kind of... I'm at least trying to be more mindful of my purchases!

I love the cave and love being in there, working on projects. I'll post a photo of it when it's a little more organized.

I'm currently getting ready to do an art fair in November. It's a juried show that I'm planning on doing with two of my friends. We're still waiting to hear if we've been accepted. If we don't, I'll have lots of things to post in my Etsy shop!

I need to sign out for now. I don't like that I've been away so long, but I'm happy to start writing again. I want to be more diligent in writing for my blog and I want to do some work on my Etsy shop, including being more active in marketing. Check back soon!

Joyful Woman

I haven't really highlighted any shops in my blog yet, so here's one of the first. It's quite appropriate that the first shop I'm featuring is that of the Joyful Woman http://joyfulwoman.etsy.com. The Joyful Woman is Sandra Moore, someone I've known my whole life (literally). Our moms shared the same hospital room when we were born. We attended grade school and junior high together, and lived together for a couple of years in college. She was also the maid of honor in my wedding.

Sandy is one of the most creative people I've ever known. She can do everything: paint, sew, draw, sculpt (snow, ice, stone, foam-stuff), bend wire, make jewelry, papercrafts, and probably a bazillion other things I haven't mentioned. She has always, ALWAYS encouraged me in my creative endeavors. In the "olden days" (before Etsy) she was one of the few people I would make things for because I believed no one else would appreciate my creations.

I have many happy memories of our life together, but a couple I want to share with you are related to creativity... sort of. The first one is: when I was 15, I had a huge attic bedroom. I loved that room and spent many hours there, drawing, writing, etc. I decided I wanted to paint my room, so Sandy and I started coming up with ideas of how it should be painted. One day, as we were painting, we were talking about how much we loved Lance Kerwin and Andy Gibb (if you don't know who they are go here for Lance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Kerwin and here for Andy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Gibb).

We decided we should invite Lance to dinner and spent a substantial amount of time daydreaming and giggling about how great it would be if he accepted our invitation. One thing we did was paint a heart on my ceiling with really thick paint. Even after we painted over it, I could still see the heart. I never did complete painting that room. 15 years later, when we sold that house, the room was still half painted and the outline of the heart was still visible on the ceiling.

The second memory is from college. Sandy was an art major and I was a communications major. It was Thursday night the week before Spring Break and Sandy had a project due the next day. She had procrastinated in getting it done, so she was kind of desperate for ideas. The assignment was to design symbols for signs in a park. I think this was when symbols were replacing words so no one needed to read to be able to find the bathroom. I just remember being up really late, being slap happy and coming up with some of the silliest ideas. It was so fun just to brainstorm, be silly and creative with my friend Sandy. I miss those kinds of opportunities. Now if I'm up late, it's because I'm supposed to be doing something productive and boring (dishes, laundry, cleaning...). Wouldn't it be so much fun just to stay up late with some creative girl friends, brainstorming about what to make next?

Sandy lives in Portland, Maine now. I guess we haven't lived in the same town since I graduated from college in 1988. She moved to Anchorage, Alaska for 10 years, Topeka, Kansas for a couple of years and to Portland in 2003. Now, she's doing some major butt kickin' (a.k.a "networking") in the Portland Arts Community.

I hope you will check out her shop. She is an amazing artist and I know you won't be disappointed.



*earring photos by Sandra J. Moore

I Hate Cell Phones - A Rant in Writing

I mention in my profile that I'm not a fan of cell phones and there are a billion reasons why. Before I list some of them, let me confess that I do have a cell phone. My husband gave it to me for Christmas after I came home one morning at 1:00 a.m. and he wasn't sure where I was. I had been Christmas shopping and knew it was very late, but didn't want to take time out to call him to let him know I was fine. It was selfish on my part. If the tables had been turned, I would've wanted to strangle him if he was out so late and didn't bother to check in. Anyway....

I got this cell phone and there are many things I do enjoy about having one. I like that when I'm out and about and I decide I want a chicken pita wrap with hummus, I can just whip out my phone and call in an order, then buzz by to pick it up. I can call my husband from the grocery store to ask if we need milk. I'm not tethered to my home if I'm expecting an important (or even not so important) call. And, if I'm ever stranded in the middle of nowhere in my car, I can call for help (provided there is phone coverage in that area). So yes, there are things I can appreciate about cell phones.

Today I was standing in the check out line at Target and the woman behind me reminded me why cell phones drive me nuts. She was talking to her mother about her brother and sister-in-law and she was having an argument with her mom - in the middle of Target. She wasn't even trying to keep quiet. She was raising her voice and saying things like: "mom, I love my brother, but I can't stand around while his wife is abusing my nephew! I just won't do it." Seriously, I just wanted to turn around and slap her. I mean, why on earth would she think it was ok to talk so loudly about something so personal? And I've heard other cell phone conversations in my day that I didn't need to be hearing. I don't want people listening to me when I talk on the phone and I sure as heck don't want to listen to their calls!

I also hate being at dinner with a friend or talking with a friend I haven't seen in awhile and their phone rings, so they decide to answer. Unless there is blood and hospitalization involved, why should that person answer the phone? I don't think they should. I mean, what better way to communicate to someone that they are less important than some stupid phone call?! Of course, it's different when your kids are calling to ask you to run home because the kitchen is on fire, or something like that (I'm not totally unreasonable).

I hate seeing moms at the grocery store or on a walk with their kids, talking to someone when they could be talking to their kid. Or people walking down the street with a cell phone"glued" to the side of their head. For all the contributions they make, cell phones are eroding our culture. People don't talk with each other anymore, and don't take the time to listen to what is going on in their own heads.

I guess the bottom line is, if you come to my house or we're having dinner at a restaurant, you need to turn the cell phone off or be prepared to listen to me moan and complain about your pitiful need to always be available to someone. I know it's harsh, but I'm being pushed over the edge!