Ginny's Small Studio

Monday, Monday

Creating with Carol Owen

The wonderful Carol Owen spent the weekend at Small Studio with a group of lucky students. They made a really happy mess while learning technique after technique to use in their altered books.

Carol is one of those exceptional instructors who while appearing to be relaxed keeps the class on task and paced well. She was attentive to everyone's needs whether they were very quick or a bit slower than the rest of the group. This is a strong sign of a good teacher.

This was a two day workshop and it was chock full of great ideas and examples.

Thank you, Carol, for making Small Studio a special place this weekend. You are a wonderfully creative and kind human being and it is a joy just to be around you. Carol has promised to come back again next year. Woohoo!

One of our students this weekend was Phyllis.I commented on her shoes and she told me that while painting an art project with a group she belongs to, she would use up the paint on her brush before cleaning it. This was the result:

Summer Market Adventure

John and I were surprised at how quickly our booth for the Summer Market came together. We had planned carefully and the planning actually worked out well. We had never done an outdoor show before and we basked in the beautiful warm, sunny day on the edge of lake Erie. There were just the right amounts of little breezes off the calm Lake to cool us down in the warm sun. We watched as booth after booth began to pop up along the bluff.

The show began at 5pm and there was a nice sized crowd and we had a few small sales when all of a sudden there was a huge burst of wind which lasted just a minute. In my experience here in the Eastern part of the US, that little pouf of wind usually means a storm. This time was no different. The wind came up, strong and furious with driving rain, lightning and thunder. The crowd ran and the 55 vendors hung onto their canopies for dear life.

The wind drove the rain all around us. There wasn't an inch of space in our booth that didn't get soaking wet including us. Some canopies held huge amounts of water and suddenly dumped a waterfall on an unsuspecting person underneath. Some canopies were destroyed. Ours held but quite a bit of product was ruined. We won't know how much until it all dries.

Everyone was good natured about it because it was actually pretty awesome to watch and experience. Everyone helped everyone else clean up the disaster.

It was such a disappointment for everyone: the vendors who worked so hard to have product and a pleasing booth, the shoppers who went home empty handed and the organizers who worked really hard to promote and plan the event.

Out Of The Woods

We are very lucky to live on the edge of a golf course. It is like having a really beautiful backyard without having to take care of it. The golf course is on three sides of our house. The fourth side had a beautiful wooded lot.

This little forest shades our home from the brunt of the morning sign. It is home to deer, rabbits, a fox, hawks, cardinals, orioles and who knows what else. We have always loved this wooded area. Our house has been here for eleven years next to this woods.

We have always known that the lot was for sale. We even tried to buy it, but we would have had to agree to put a house there. We were lulled into thinking it would not sell since it was really one of the only lots not to have a view of the golf course and this is a golf community. Then the other day these little orange stakes appeared. See the one at the bottom of the above photo?

Yesterday morning the big tree removal equipment arrived. I took the above photos yesterday morning. The photos below were taken this morning.

John and I are so sad to see these friendly, lovely trees disappear. We will miss the wildlife that visited us and sought refuge there. On the positive side, we are hoping the new neighbors will become great friends to compensate for our loss.

Summer

Stacy Caron/Spellbinders

Saturday was a great day at Small Studio, not only because of the reasons stated in the previous post, but also because we were visited by Stacy Caron. Stacy created Spellbinders. I remember Stacy and Jeff bringing their new invention into my old store. They were so excited and confident that they had "something"in this innovative die cut machine. They were right and they kept at it until Spellbinders became a craft room staple. At CHA last week they won a prestigious award. The Innovations Award.

Stacy and her family moved to AZ, but were visiting Cleveland on her way back from CHA. She and her son, her sister, her mom, her nieces and nephews swept into the store on Saturday and visited and did a bit of power shopping. I cannot divulge what she bought or why, but both of us enjoyed the whole visit tremendously. Thank you, Stacy and it was great to meet your family.

Some New(s)

A group of ladies came to the store on Saturday. It was hot and they needed to keep cool. They lined up their drinks on the front counter and hit the store running. It was great fun having these ladies led by Teri Whidden back again.

We had another group of ladies show up on Friday. These ladies are pretty laid back and require no hydration. They are hoping to go home with you and just sit around at your house.

John and I finished the last of the birds and they are ready to go to The Summer Market next week at Veteran's Park in Avon Lake. It begins Friday night at 5pm and continues Saturday until 4pm.

WORKSHOP NEWS

Altered Books with Carol Owen is this coming Saturday and Sunday. Don't miss this if books and fun are your thing.

In August we host Teesha and Tracy Moore. We are moving Tracy's workshop to a larger venue to accommodate the wait list people (I will contact you on Tuesday) and a few more lucky souls who may want to sign up. Everyone in these classes will be contacted about directions. There are also a few spaces left in Teesha's Saturday DayPlanner and Sunday's Hand Stitched classes.

In September we have Ingrid Dijkers with 2 one day workshops and Pam Sussman with two one-day workshops. Books, collage, boxes, journals and wonderful fun with both of these ladies. All classes have space in them.

In October, the unique and wonderful Keith Lobue joins us again for three days. Go read all about these workshops on our site and his.

Bussing

John and I have been invited to take a booth at The Summer Market next week. We are pleased to be included in this fun affair on the Lake. I shared our wee industrial steampunk birds. Thank you for all the enthusiastic remarks.

For years I have been collecting train and subway signs. Some I have sold through my Etsy shops (not open currently) and some I have framed for myself.

For the Market, we didn't want to take glass framed signs because of weight and breakage, so John mounted a number of them on boards. They turned out great. These are authentic 1940s English red double decker bus signs.

What do you think?

So Lucky

I have to say again that I have the best customers any shopkeeper could ask for. For our Bastille Day celebration Ray made badges for the staff. Very cool. Thanks, Ray!

And "Singing Theresa", after making a French themed charm at our Make-it Take-it on Saturday, came back yesterday with another charm. This one for me made from our Valentine's Day Grand Opening postcard (created by Michele Monet). Look how perfectly placed the post office cancellation mark! Thank you. Thank you!

I know my customers have a multitude of places to shop. I am so lucky that so many of you shop at Small Studio. I love your visits!

WORKSHOP SERIES: Coming up on July 28-29th, Carol Owen and her Altered Book Weekend. Sign-up now.

Do You Cloche?

If you don't know, a cloche is not only a snug women's hat, but also a glass dome.

At Small Studio, we are all about the Cloche. We have several different ones.

I have one up at the front counter and every time I put a new one up with something inside, someone buys it.

I am happy they like it, but then I have to come up with a new idea. I have a number of ideas for Christmas vignettes inside the cloche and oh Valentine's themed cloche vignettes will be fun. So do you cloche? What do you have inside yours?

And So The Sun Sets on Bastille Day

We got off to a slow start but the Bastille Day party was well attended and fun.

The photo above is before the baguettes were cut and the liquid refreshment arrived. The French sparkling lemonade was a gift from Gery who showed up in an authentic beret.

We made charms with small collages created out of French themed papers and old French dictionary pages. The Make-it Take-it table was occupied right up until closing.

It was a good time, especially when Theresa came in and sang the French National Anthem in a bold voice in front of a crowded store. Merci to everyone who participated.

Oh My!!!

Mailman came today with an unexpected package! An interesting package. From Sharon Fraser who lives in Canada.

Inside was this lovely note.

It was packed beautifully and carefully.

Just in time for Bastille Day:

Let's get a close-up.

What were those scrabble pieces about, you ask. Well, they are the bases for the actors. So clever.

Sharon, dear. You made my day. What a lovely thing to receive. Thank you so very, very much. I can't wait to see you in August to give you a big hug.

Workshop Reminder

I just wanted to remind everyone that we have some great workshops coming up at Small Studio. July 28-29 we have Carol Owen teaching a two day Altered Book Class.

Aug 25-26 Teesha Moore and Tracy Moore return for 3 one-day workshops. Just a few openings are available. Call and sign up asap.

Sept 8-9 Ingrid Dijkers teaches her Vintage File Folder Journal and Swirly Twirly Journal

Sept 22-23 Pam Sussman teaches the Butterfly Binding Book and The Box Journal

Oct 5-6-7 Keith Lobue is here for his fabulous jewelry and metal work workshops.

All information, photos and supply lists are available on our website here.

And don't forget our Bastille Day celebration at the store on Saturday. We will have some surprises for you!

Bastille Day at Small Studio

Local Friends! Plan on stopping by the store this Saturday to celebrate Bastille Day with us. We will have a simple French themed craft for you, a French word game, French refreshments and a "Kiss Me I'm French" pin with purchase. Small Studio carries many French themed goods just for you.

And on it goes....

This is another new product by Tim Holtz. How do I know that? Why it says "By Tim Holtz". I am sure he thinks his people will know he didn't design these images just by looking at them. True, but wait a minute. It does say "by Tim Holtz". I am confused.

Stampers Anonymous

Most of you know that I founded and owned Stampers Anonymous for almost 10 years. In 2005, I sold the stamp line to Ted Cutts because I was getting married and moving to CA with John. Ted hired me back to be Art Director for a couple of years. At that time we were approached by Tim Holtz to do a stamp line with his name on it. Stampers Anonymous had never put the artist's names on the stamps and none of our excellent artists had ever asked for that recognition. It was during the infant days of family owned stamp companies who were pretty naive about marketing and commercialism. Tim Holtz's popularity is well-known and he works hard to keep his brands forefront, but I think it is just wrong and misleading that his name is on each pack of images that were designed by our original artists.

A number of the original stamps have been released as "Classic Stampers Anonymous" and are now available in cling mount.

The majority of the classic Stampers Anonymous images chosen were designed by Michelle Ward for Stampers Anonymous. I was thrilled to have this exceptional artist and just good human being design for us. Others were by David Simon, a professional artist who works at a local advertising agency. David designed more than 300 images for us and became a good friend. There are images in this collection by Michele Monet, our very first artist who is a wonderful talent and professional photographer. There were also a number of other artists who designed just a few stamps for me back then and all the rest of our images were designed by me. I feel with the new release of these stamps that new stampers should know that the artists for these classic Stampers Anonymous images are not Tim Holtz. I don't want them to be confused with the "Tim" images. The packaging should be clearly marked as just Stampers Anonymous classics. Tim had nothing to do with these images and in my opinion, his name should not be on them.

Bird Brigade

John and I have been playing in my art room together and we have altered some little wooden birds for The Summer Market at the end of the month. Summer Market is held at Avon Lake's Veteran's Park on Lake Erie July27th and 28th. Small Studio will have a booth there.

We are working on some other treats too.

It is a beautiful summer day today, the store is closed and we have been out and about enjoying ourselves. Salad and summer fruit for dinner was just perfect.

I hope your weekend was wonderful, too.

This Week at Small Studio

I know, I know. I have been neglecting my blog. We have been busy. We have so much coming up personally and at the Studio.

We have single Copic Sketch markers now in stock. You asked for them and well, I agreed. Not only that, but my daughter Amy (not to be confused with the Aimee who helps out sometimes at the store) has just been certified as a Copic instructor. She and her family will be with us mid July to mid August and she has promised to do a demo for the store. She is really excited about Copics, watch for that announcement.

Our July/August schedule of classes is newly online, so be sure to check that out. Aimee Kluiber and Barbe Saint John will be teaching classes in BookBinding, Collage, Layering, and Resin.

Avon Lake's Summer Market held the last weekend of July has invited Small Studio to participate. We will have a booth there at Veteran's Park right on the shore of Lake Erie. John and Amy will man the booth while I host Carol Owen that weekend for our Workshop Series. There is still room in her Altered Book two day workshop.

July 14th is Bastille Day. We love everything French and will have a little celebration at the store with a few treats, a fun French word game, a simple craft for you to make and light refreshments. Make a purchase and get a free "Kiss Me I'm French" pin.

Ingrid Dijkers will be joining our Workshop Series in September teaching her wonderful journals. So, in September we offer you both Ingrid and Pam Sussman and her bookbinding workshops. Lucky students!

I am looking forward to seeing you for all these fun events.