Ginny's Small Studio

Musings

Mondays are my day off. I do errands, catch up on household chores and contemplate life as I know it. Taking stock of things, I always know how lucky I am in this life. I am surrounded by people and things I love all the time. I always have been. How does that happen that some people are lucky and some are not? Is is Karma, fate, faith, attitude? I do not know, but I am sure that I am lucky.

The store, Small Studio, makes me happy. Daily I am in the center of creative and/or interesting people. Every one has a story and the stories are always surprising. I have told you some of them here on my blog before. Saturday we had our Zentangle classes going on. I was chatting with one of the students who was new to our store. The conversation traveled to jewelry and beading. I asked her if she knew another customer who was into beading and it turned out they knew each other 30 years ago in college and had lost touch. I called my customer (and friend). She came over and the two of them had lunch and made plans to get together later this month. Sometimes I have to be reminded that the store is not about me.

Have you signed up for workshops here yet? I can't guarantee that you will be reunited with long lost friends, but I can assure you that you will have fun and learn stuff. Coming up next is Tory Brokenshire from Oregon. Tory teaches all over the country to filled classes. We are lucky (there is that word again) to have her here in Westlake OH for 3 one-day workshops May 3-4-5.

Two weeks later, the deMengs arrive. Michael deMeng has a quirky way with art. Some might say weird, but while making oddities, students learn excellent paint techniques and assemblage techniques and tricks. Michael's workshops are May 16-19.

Andrea Matus deMeng taught here for the first time last year and students could not be more pleased. Andrea is an accomplished collage artist and instructor. Andrea is not only talented, but she is also a sweetheart. She will be teaching May 16-18.

Go to our website here and decide which workshops you want. Fill out the registration form and send it in right away for the above classes.

Last but not least. We have added a new, expanded "Face" class with Aimee Kluiber. Now, 2 hours long, Aimee will teach you how to draw and shade faces using Pan Pastels, pencils, Ranger Paint Dabbers and other supplies.This will happen on Sat, April 20, 9-11AM. Details will be online in a day or two. Also, right after the Faces class, we will have our monthly Free Play Day. Bring your projects and have fun in our back classroom. This is free but we do need you to call the store and reserve a seat. 440-808-8599

Carded!

I haven't been carded in years. Actually I have not been carded in decades, but last night we ran a few errands after dinner. There on an endcap was a very cool looking six pack of beer. I don't drink beer. In fact, I have never had a beer in my life. I just don't like the smell. But this beer came with cool graphics, cool bottles and super bottle caps. John occasionally has a beer and my son drinks beer when he visits, so I bought it. I took it up to the counter and was asked for my ID. I laughed and thanked the clerk.= for asking. John said that she wasn't kidding. I looked at her and she nodded. Seems she cannot sell spirits without swiping a driver's license. Good idea, but really I am definitely old enough to buy beer.

Batch 19 is a Coors product based on a pre-prohibition recipe. The bottles we bought do not look like this, but they are still interesting. We didn't see the big bottles, but apparently you can buy them.

Funny what catches one's interest.

Being a Good Citizen

During this heavily laden political season, I feel like I cannot really make a difference. NPR this morning had a program on environmental issues and their closing remarks were that we should make our vote count for the environment. Which candidate is more for saving the environment should be our first and foremost question. We can each make a difference environmentally. Here are some things to think about.

1. Napkins: Americans use an average of 2000 napkins each annually. If we used just one less each it would save a billion pounds of landfill waste a year in the US.

2. Meat: It takes 2500 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef. That doesn't even count the trees lost for fast food chains that graze cows where rainforests used to stand or the fuel to get beef to market.Even one meatless day a week would make a huge difference.

1. Plastic Bottles: A bottle of water is so convenient and I think we are all drinking more water because of them, but did you know the EPA has more stringent rules for the safety of tap water than the FDA has for bottled water? And consider the land fill problem. Let's start cutting back on plastic bottles.

2. Paper: Print on both sides and cut your paper and ink costs in half and dispose of half the volume.

3. Cell Phones: Recycle your old cell phone. More than 130 million phones go into landfills a year.

4. Dishwashers: If you have a dishwasher that was produced in the last 10 years, you do not need to rinse dishes before loading them. You will save 20 gallons of water per load by eliminating this step.

5. Cotton Swabs: If 10% of users in the US switched to paper spindle swabs as opposed to plastic spindles which are petroleum based, the savings would be the equivalent of 150,000 gallons of gas.

Of course we all know the common sense ideas: avoid disposable anything, donate, give away, reuse, plan your route efficiently each day, unplug, switch off, change lightbulbs and be smart about what you buy. In today's world, it is sometimes really difficult to avoid what we know is not the best, but if we strive to be better each day, it just might make a difference.

Thinking of Summer

81 degrees today. Kids on skateboards zooming by. Teen girls in pretty sundresses and sandals stopping by the store. Not all of the local schools are out for summer. This is in front of the local middle school this morning on my way to the store.

Remember how antsy we all were the last week of school? Not much of value happened. There was a joyful feeling of impending freedom mixed with the sad realization that we would not see many of our school friends during the summer. The days stretched endlessly out in front of us and then it was over before we wanted. My friends and I spent our California middle school ("junior high" in those days) summer days at McCambridge Park. There was a public pool, dances on Wednesday afternoons, gym activities or just sitting on the grass in groups. Across the street was the Cornell theater, cool and dark in those unair-conditioned days. We walked downtown and got an ice cream at the drug store. We spent time at the library. We took turns going to each others homes to sit in the yard and talk or play cards or swim. One girlfriend had a shuffle ball court in her yard. Many of those memories include John. Sometimes our family would drive from Burbank CA to Rochester NY to see my grandparents and aunts and uncles. We would be treated to the North East summers, hot and humid. Our young cousins would ask us if we knew any cowboys or if we had horses at our "ranch house". The memories are sweet and probably a bit rose-colored. What kind of memories do you have?

Coming up on Saturday June 16...Barbe Saint John teaching "Industrial Geek Necklace" and our Steam Punk Social. You really need to join us. Stop by and check out what is new at the store, too.

Dilemma

(Artist: Lenard Buffet for an Ella Fitzgerald album)

Here is the dilemma...we want to save the post office because we love our post offices and the wonderful people who work there. So we pledge to mail more cards, more letters, more post cards and more packages, but then a new piece of information comes to the front. Read this:

If all US households decided to start paying their bills online, the annual benefits would be:

Saving 16.5 million trees

Saving enough energy to power every house in San Francisco for a year

Decreasing greenhouse gases equivalent to removing 155,000 cars from the road

What is a thoughtful person to do? Save jobs or save trees?

The stencil words I made for our room at the antique mall a few weeks ago and shared with you have sold out. So I made more. This isn't as easy as it seems since each stencil alphabet only has one of each letter. This really limits the number of words that can be made from each set.

"Jingle" in the background is 8" tall! To buy a new 8" stencil alphabet cost hundreds of dollars.

 

Observations

There is so much building and construction going on in our area that it is difficult to imagine that there is an unemployment problem or housing downturn. The county is widening roads and adding another freeway offramp. Cleveland Clinic, the huge and famous medical facility, is building a large new complex near us. The local community college just built a new multistory annex nearby. A new shopping center just opened up and new houses are being built. It must mean something. Unfortuneately, more woods are being decimated.

We attended a large swap meet last month.  It was a beautiful day and the meet had many vendors and many, many shoppers, but we were pretty unlucky in finding anything exciting.  It was a fun day anyway looking at stuff and people watching.

Thanks again for all the well wishes for John.  He came through the 2nd kidney operation on last Thursday just fine and is feeling almost back to normal. He is very mobile, climbing stairs again and being his old sassy self.  

Have you noticed the renewed interest in signs lately?

It seems as though they are everywhere.

And they seem to focus on feelings.

Could it be that when things are globally disheartening, we realize what is really important?

Doppleganger

We are back in Doctor/Hospital mode here at the Carter-Smallenburg abode.  John had some (yes, some) huge kidney stones that evidently he has had for years and years. On Thursday the doctors inserted a tube in his kidney and then drilled the largest stones and suctioned them out. The result is a tube that is still inserted in his back that drains.  He will have this until later in the week when he goes back into the hospital for the second surgery.  The reason that I share this very personal bit of information is that the dressing for his surgery has to be changed by a professional from Cleveland Clinic every day.  Today's nurse was a very tall guy that was an exact double for Jeff Goldblum, the actor. He even spoke in the same deep voice and cadence as the actor.

It was pretty weird.  We kept look for the hidden camera thinking we were being pranked. He was a friendly, efficient and funny guy.  When I finally mentioned that I thought he looked like the actor, he told us stories about being mistaken for Jeff Goldblum, particularly when he spent time in CA. He said that once his photo even appeared as Mr. Goldblum in one of the gossip magazines. 

When I was a teenager, I was often mistaken for someone named Paige Timmons who apparently lived in the same town, but went to the rival high school.  I never met Paige, but I often wondered if she was mistaken for me. It was unnerving the way I was looked at when the "accuser" found out I wasn't Paige. The likeness must have been close.  

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?

By the way, John is progressing well.  He is just a wee bit grumpy about having to rest and stay at home.

It has been beautiful here in Northern Ohio.  70 degrees, sunny, breezy and lovely.  The trees are just beginning to show signs of acquiring their Fall colors.

Hello. Are you out there?

 

I have good intentions of blogging every day, but I just have not felt like it much.  The main reason is that I have not been as involved as usual.  John and I had a rough first 6 months of this year with two surgeries each and for me a number of bad reactions to everyday medications.  It has not been fun. It also has not been life threatening or terminal or any of those things, but it has taken it's toll on our energy levels nonetheless.  

I can hear many of you saying "get thyself to thy art room and do some art therapy".  I know.  I know. I just have not felt much like it.  And you know that the longer you stay away from your art supplies, the more difficult it is to get back into the groove. My friend and former employee, Aimee, is coming over this week for a play date.  I have high hopes that she will help me out of the art doldrums.

BUT...here is what makes me smile today.

John had to buy a new car to replace his very used old car.  He bought a Toyota (actually made in the USA) hybrid and is obsessed with keeping track of the milage. He is getting 40 mpg! 

My etsy shop is alive and busy. Our antique mall room is doing okay.  Thank you so much.

My grandkids all love to read.

My garden is blooming.

I watched "Letters From Juliette" last night.  I love that movie.

There are many things to smile about every day especially since I share my days with John.

Royal Wedding

Are you planning on watching the royal wedding on Friday? There has been such a fuss in the US media. Do you think Queen Elizabeth will skip over Charles and make Will king?  Do you even care?

I was in London the week leading up to Charles and Diane's wedding way back when.  The preparations were amazing then and fun to observe.  One could only surmise that the various vendors, retail outlets and workers were profiting greatly by this wedding.  Hotels were overflowing, restaurants difficult to get reservations and streets crowded.  We were happy to leave and return home.  I watched parts of it on TV with friends at a "wedding party".

I have been noticing that there are many things one can buy if a royal party is what you want.  How about Will and Kate Pez dispensers?

Maybe you want to serve a special brew?  How about a bottle of Kiss Me Kate?

Dessert is always welcome at parties.  I offer you several choices:

Cookies or "bisquits" above and cupcakes on a stick below.

Maybe you have ssues with the whole thing.

However you feel, I wish them the best of luck and hope they have a loving, long life together.

Letters

Recently I have been getting more letters than usual. I have been a terrible correspondent lately, but old friends have not given up on me...yet. The universe has been telling me to pay attention.  I was invited to a letter-writing party.  I was unable to attend, but what a great idea.  Just invite a few friends to bring their stationery and address book.  Maybe first you will all decorate envelopes and then get down to writing. Wouldn't it be great if you knew some of the same people?  Then you could round robin the letters and each write something.

Then I ran across this website about letter writing.

They have some interesting stuff online. They sponsor and report on mailing events and mailing news. 

I have always loved mailboxes of all kinds especially the pillar boxes of England and I have a collection of vintage miniature pillar box banks. I even have one of these happy red post boxes from one of the Danish countries that I bought years ago, but it sits unused waiting for the perfect spot and function.

Life will go on whether I write letters or not, but isn't it fun to get something personal in the mail other than circulars and bills?

The Allure of TV

I have never been much of a TV watcher.  I like to watch movies on TV, but John likes sports and political talk shows. I like the political talk shows too, but eventually they depress me and bore me with their rehashing.  John usually is the one who turns the tv on, so he has clicker control and like most men uses the clicker irresponsibly meaning very, very often.

While I was sick, John gave over possession of the clicker and I found out that although we get 100 channels or more, nothing much is worth watching....until I found all the auction shows. What fun.

I have been watching Auction Kings. 

People bring their treasures into the gallery and talk about where they found them and what they want to get at auction. It is always a surprise.  Sometimes there is no interest and sometimes the items go for far more than they are worth. It is a fun show with likable regulars.

Then there is Storage Wars.

Storage units that have been abandoned or are in arrears on payments get auctioned off.  They are opened, but nothing can be moved, just looked at.  They go for quite a bit of money and funny thing, everyone seems to find some rare treasure hidden in the storage unit. I don't like the characters on this show so I only watched it a few times. Also it seemed really staged and phony.

American Pickers is fun to watch.  Two guys go off looking for old stuff to resell.  They run into lots of great people with hoards of stuff in old barns, empty fields and yards. Sometimes the people are happy to sell to them, sometimes not, but it is always interesting.

The only thing about American Pickers is that they give you the price they paid and the value, but not what they actually sold it for.  Still a fun show.

John and I have gone to a few auctions and we have really enjoyed them.  It is as much fun to watch the people as it is to buy.  We have had good and bad luck, but of course, I really only remember the good buys.  Love big swap meets, too, but it is too cold right now to attend any of them.

I forgot to mention in my last post, that our Costco had the Stampington big magazines for $10.49 instead of $14.99. They didn't have all the titles, but a few of the current ones.

A List of Things

1.  Snugglies in camouflage material.  I just don't get it.  

2.  Credit card debt.  Bad for everyone but the bank. So why does it continue?

3.  Half frozen Lake Erie.  At what point does it actually freeze.  I love seeing frozen waves.

4. We seldom see critters in our yard, but when we wake up to snow, the critter tracks crisscross the porch, the deck, the driveway and the lawn.  It is an animal super highway out there.

5. We attended an 11 year old boys basketball game this past weekend. There was a boy on the opposing team who threw himself onto the floor after every play.  I didn't know little boys could be such drama queens.

6.  CA Costco vs OH Costco.  In CA there is a whole dance going on at the gas pumps to jockey into place.  The lines are long to get the slightly cheaper gas.  In OH, we seldom see more than 2 or 3 cars at the Costco gas station.  In CA, the lines at the cash registers weave through the closer aisles as shoppers wait their turn.  This morning at our OH Costco, we were the only shoppers ready to check out.  John was disappointed that I did not have my camera to record this miracle.

7. I closed Small Studio Emporium in August for two weeks because inventory counts got all out of whack.  Then things just started getting busy for us and I never reopened it.  Now I have decided to just close it down for good after 6 years online.  Selling online is not as much fun as selling in person. There is almost no interaction with customers.  I don't get to hear or see what they are working on.  It is just filling orders. We will continue with our Etsy shops and our room at the antique mall.  If there is something you have been waiting to get, e-mail me and we will work something out.

8. Downtown Cleveland's skyline is lovely any time of the year, even when the lake is half frozen.

 

 

Little Things I Miss

Remember how heavy these old black phones were?    

Remember the 25 foot long, thick cords that connected that phone to the telephone stand? Ours was on a shelf below the linen closet cupboards in the hallway to the bedrooms. The 25 foot cord reached just about everywhere in the house.  It barely fit under my bedroom door when I wanted to have a private conversation with a girlfriend or boyfriend.

I don't miss the heaviness of the phone or the cord, but I do miss being able to tuck the big receiver under my chin like I did years ago so that my hands were free to do other stuff like homework or feed the baby or fold the clothes. The phones we have now have a flash button on the back that is easily and mistakenly engaged.  One little miscalculation on holding the phone and the conversation is temporarily gone.

I miss the sound of the dial clicking it's way around when making a call. It sounded like you were actually doing something to connect to that call.

I miss the excitement or suspense of wondering who the call is from.  Actually our talking phone makes so many verbal "mistakes" that we often do not know who is on the other end until we pick up the receiver.  Of course, I could look at the digitally printed caller ID, but that would spoil the surprise.

Summers, while I was in high school, I worked as an information operator.  We sat in little half round glass cubicles.  We each had three huge phone books, white pages only.  We had a headset on and the calls were fed to us automatically.  We would ask the pertinent questions and swivel to the correct book and quickly (we were trained to be quick) look up the number.  Sometimes it would be someone we knew, but we were not allowed to acknowledge that, although we were encourage to be efficient, yet friendly with everyone.  We had information for a certain nearby area and no more.  We had a strict dress code.  No slacks, levis, capris or shorts.  Skirts or dresses only were allowed, button up the front blouses and nylons and leather shoes.  No one saw us, so it was a silly code. I miss friendly local information operators who could tell what the name of the restaurant that you couldn't remember. 

It is nice to have cell phones and cordless phones, but it was almost better to be unreachable if you were out having fun rather than everyone being able to reach us 24/7. Few things are so important that 24 hour access is necessary.  

Privacy.  One of the little things I miss.

 

I have added some wonderful recycled silk sari ribbon yarn to my Etsy shop.  It is 130 ft long and so colorful.  Each bundle is a bit different.  We had this ribbon yarn at Stampaway last month and it sold out very quickly.Go have a look.

 

I am Still Here

We have been exploring a bit again and enjoying the summer days, the summer evenings and each other. The weather has been so glorious that we have been reluctant to do anything indoors including blogging.

Tomorrow Ingrid Dijkers arrives for the weekend of workshops she is doing for Small Studio.  We will spend the evening getting set-up and then the fun will begin on Friday morning.  I am really looking forward to the classes.  I love Ingrid's colorful art techniques and soon I will have them in my own art arsenal.  Don't you love to learn new stuff?  Of course you do.

Small Studio's Emporium is still closed and will be for a bit longer. So many of the items are sold out from recent shows and I have not had time to reorder new stuff.  I will get to it soon.

Our little room at the Antique Mall is doing very well and continues to be a learning experience.  It is fun to shop for it and try to determine what people want.  So far, we are doing a fairly good job.  

My Etsy shop is open again with a few items.

I will report on the weekend with photos.  I promise.  

Take Five

My wall of fives keeps growing as I receive more from John, friends and readers. 

I still have no idea why I am so drawn to fives.

Maybe it is because there were five of us when I was growing up: mom, dad, two older brothers and me.

Maybe it is because my own little family also consisted of five: mom, dad, two older sons and a daughter.

Maybe it is because the first bottle of perfume I ever was given by a boy was Chanel No.5.  I appreciated the gesture but really disliked the scent.  I must not have liked the boy much either because I can't even remember his last name.

Maybe it is because five is not al straight and severe like 4 or all round like 6. Five combines both characteristics.

Maybe it is because at an impressionable age, Interstate 5 in CA was built to connect San Diego to the state of Washington. I thought it was hilarious that there were hundreds of miles without any stops, gas stations or rest stops for the motorists. It almost caused another gold rush as the gas stations and fast food stops competed to get that business.

Maybe it is because it represents the five tastes: sweet, salty, sour, savory and bitter.

Maybe it is because my high school yearbook counselor, Mr. Quider and his wife had their fifth child and named him Quintin Quincy Quider.  He told us the names all referred to the number 5.

Maybe it is because I like the phrase "take five".  

What do you collect?

Hurry and sign up for Michael deMeng's workshops here in Avon Lake.

Can vs Can't

I can't seem to get a good photo of this necklace I made last month.  I tried new batteries, new settings and different lighting, all to no avail.  The good news is that it is sold! Thank you!

I can enjoy what a lovely day it is today.  There are thick white clouds and deep blue skies.  Lovely.

I can't read, listen to music or talk to John effectively because we have work going on, on the exterior of our house and it is noisy, very noisy.  The new, improved guaranteed 20 year siding has failed after 6 years.  The good news is that they are honoring the warranty.  The old siding has been removed and they are replacing it, but the bad news is today they found a section with some moldy wood  which has to be addressed before they can proceed.  The good news is that it is outside the house not inside.  The bad news is that it will delay the completion and the noise.

I can appreciate that the workers are very efficient, work from 8 to 5 every day and spend all their time working.  They clean-up perfectly at the end of every day.  We are definitely lucky to have them.

I can't believe how much the hammering affects those things we have on the inside that are on or near an outside wall. Things on shelves have danced closer to the edge.  We removed anything hanging and are so glad we did.

I can be happy that taking things off shelves has encouraged me to wash and dust the high places that I never think about.  Hmmm....maybe that should be a "can't".

I can't stop thinking about how great Michael deMeng is.  I was talking to him a day or two ago and he has offered to do a book signing and art talk on Friday night during the weekend that he will be teaching here (June 11-13th).  This will be exclusive to the students who have signed up for his Friday "Cave of Pages" and the Sat-Sun "Isle of Demented Toys" (either or both class qualifies). Details will be on our website and here as we cement them.  I can't wait for that weekend.  Michael is a wonderfully talented instructor who encourages each student to stretch their abilities and more importantly he makes the students want to stretch!

Wonder

It is good to have some "wonder" in the day.

We have had a week of warm (for March) weather with sunny skies and billowy clouds, but today it was supposed to rain all day.  Instead we had a sky full of contrails.  Contrails are those white lines of cloud-like substance that trail the airplanes...condensation.  Most days one cannot see them, but today the elements were just right and there were dozens of contrails crisscrossing the sky. One can only wonder at the amount of planes up above at any given time.  The contrails make it obvious that there are more than we are aware. 

I was listening to NPR and they remarked that the unemployment rate in Detroit is over 10%, higher than the average 9% in the rest of the country.  I wonder how this can be fixed and then I wonder about the domino effect of unemployment. Those unemployed are spending less on clothes, on movies, on food. They are spending less on gas, less on dry cleaning, less of paper goods, less on craft supplies, less on books and CDs. They are not buying new houses, new cars, new toys.  I wonder how they will survive and how those businesses that depend on their purchases will survive. The businesses who are surviving are producing less and stocking less.  This affects what is available Maybe if everyone who has not been affected by the economic downturn took a week or a month and spent money as if times were prosperous,it would have an impact on this domino game. 

I am not a scientist and do not pretend to understand how everything works, but it seems to me that more wind turbines should be built and installed everywhere.  I wonder why this is not being done. We live where it is almost always breezy if not downright windy. I wonder why we are not taking advantage of this.  In our explorations across country, we have driven through a few areas that have little forests of these turbines. They are not ugly, not pretty and usually in unpopulated areas, but certainly there must be many more areas that could be adapted to using these turbines.

I wonder why we have had those ladybug-like bugs in the house all winter.  Where do they come in? What attracts them? Why have they picked our house?  

I wonder why.

Small Studio Workshops with fabulous instructors coming up.  Sign up now.

Post This (and win)

Somehow I never noticed that I had reached my 500th post, but I did.  Imagine that.  Tradition urges me to have a giveaway prize for my readers.  So I shall.  Post on this blog and complete this sentence: 

"The reason I read blogs is...."

We will pick a winner on Wednesday night.  Okay?  Good.

Oh and the winner will win a $30 gift certificate to Small Studio's Emporium. Anything you want.  You pick.  I will include shipping.

I had a lovely day today.  I had lunch with my son Tim. I arrived at the restaurant first and watched him come in.  Tim is 6'5" and a presence.  I am so proud of him.  He has turned into a wonderful young man. He is kind, funny, loving, accomplished and did I mention funny?  He is a great dad to his little boys and a great husband to his wonderful wife.  

I had the rare and excellent opportunity to work side by side with Tim for almost 10 years while we ran the Creative Block (our store), Stampers Anonymous (our stamp line) and Art Continuum (our art retreat). We were a good team and I enjoyed every day working with him.  I miss that daily interaction with Tim.  I miss the shop talk and hearing about his life daily and what cute thing the kids did.  I miss his laughter and teasing and his good common sense.  I see Tim and his family pretty often, but it isn't the same.  There is too much to catch up with and there are a zillion interruptions. Once every couple of months we have lunch, just the two of us and I cherish those times together.  Does a mom ever really see her children as grown-ups?  I watch him grapple with life and want to help, but he can handle his joys and challenges without me. He is a good boy.

As John and I gear up for the shows and workshops, we have been buying stuff for you to make art stuff. Way above: old post office box doors and just above old doll parts.

Below old piano rolls.  That is if I can part with them.....

 

Dailiness of Life

Some days things just settle into a routine.  That is how it has been here the past few days.  We get up, have breakfast and then John goes down to his workshop and putters with his projects.  In the meantime I go upstairs, check the computer for orders, package them and run off to the post office to mail them. By this time it is lunch time or later. After lunch we take care of any errands or household chores and then maybe I have an hour or two to putter in my art room or in Small Studio's room.  It is just a nice routine but I am not playing enough and you know that if we don't play with our tools we become rusty and awkward.  

We are enjoying our days very much but I fear that I am letting precious time slip through my fingers. Plus I have nothing to blog about that might be interesting. This afternoon we went to watch the 10 year olds play basketball.  Our team won. I took my camera but forgot to take pictures.  

John just started playing with wood and power tools a few months ago and he is having a ball down in his man room making wood stuff.  Here is something he has started for his daughter.

I have been working with my daughter/webgirl on the schedule for the Small Studio Workshops.  It should be live in a few days.  And I have been trying to get ahead with my booth product packaging for the upcoming Artiscape here in OH (Columbus) in April.  We will also have a booth at Stampaway (Cincinnati) in August and we will have a mini booth at each workshop.  So I need to get ahead on packaging and amassing goodies that may appeal to each workshop and show.  You know, metal and rusty stuff for Michael deMeng, Keith Lobue, Tracy Moore and Linda and Opie O'Brien.  Then I need collage stuff for Teesha Moore, Lynne Perrella, Pam Sussman and Ingrid Dijjkers.  Plus we need cool stuff for all seven weekends.  I have a good start thanks to all the vintage shopping John and I have been doing.  It is fun, but I never know how much is enough, too much or too little.  

So that is what I have been doing.  What have you been up to?

 

Friendship

Years ago, I think it was the late 80s, when I first got on the internet I was on Prodigy.  I typed in "Rubber Stamps" and found a small group of about 20 people who were chatting on a shared list about stamping.  They all had stamp names like Stampo or Ex Posto Facto or Rubber Queen or Arto Posto.  The group was extremely active in mailing stuff back and forth. When I say stuff, I mean stuff.  Sure there were cards and envelopes, but also paper plates, Barbie dolls, shoes and all matter of other stuff unadorned, unwrapped, unboxed, but definitely stamped both with postage and rubber stamps and the Post Office let it all go through.  We were a tight group. We joked, we argued over what is art and we shared each others ups and downs.  Most of us had not met in person. Through the years several of us opened stores and several of us started stamp lines. Some became involved in mail art, some in formal art and a few drifted away.  When we come across each other either in person or online, it is a warm and friendly reunion.  It is as if we are family and had grown up together. Solid old friendships, they are.

Rubber stamping during my involvement, has gone through many transformations. It started out as funky and quirky and then became very cute with fluffy animals and fat simple flowers. Then it transformed itself into sophisticated art designs and I think now it has gone back to mostly cute and is generally clear stamps for scrapbookers full of words and phrases, flowers and scrolls.  There was a 20 year heyday for stamps that is slowly fading away.  The conventions have dwindled and there are very few true stamp stores left. 

What made me think about all this?  Yesterday I had to move all my stamp storage to get at the phone jack in my art room. I realized that I had not used a fraction of my stamps in a long time.  I thought that maybe I should try to sell them or donate them to a school art department.  As I looked at them, I realized how much I love those old friends, my stamps, and could not part with them, so back they went into their drawers. I will use them again, I am sure.

Today John hung an old architectural piece we recently purchased on impulse.  I love how it looks over the doorway!

What is Abundance?

Defined, the word "abundance" usually means an overflowing fullness; ample sufficiency; great plenty; profusion; copious supply; wealth. A lack of scarcity in all things.

For me abundance is defined as being able to pay all my bills at the end of the month, having enough food, enough room to feel free, enough gas to get where I want and all those basic types of needs fulfilled.  Real abundance I think is having a safe and happy family, love that surrounds one and the ability to recognize it all as wealth. Oh, and I want access to books I haven't yet read and art supplies I haven't used up.  I want people to admire and learn from and yes, an abundance of laughter.  I want to have curiosity and some skills.  I want to believe in things like the goodness of people, honesty, fairness and community.  I want to have friends who cherish these things also, lots of friends.  Life is good with all these things in it if we recognize them as abundance.

When we are young and we are asked what we want out of life, we often answered what career we wanted or where we wanted to live.  Seldom does anyone young answer that they want the abundance of happiness, love and passion for what we do. But really I think that is what we all want as our bottom line in life.

Why am I thinking of this tonight?  I am not sure, but personally life is so good right now and I am just so aware of how lucky I am to be so happy.

Meant to Be

Sometimes I wonder who and what I am meant to be.  

I love art.  It feeds my soul and makes me happy.  I love being around artful people.  I love listening to the ideas soar through the air with the energy of jet propulsion engines.  I love making stuff.  I love being surrounded by things that create possibilities in my mind.  Truthfully, I find social gatherings a bit boring when the talk is not about creating and possibilities.  Maybe that is what I like about art, the possibilities.

Then there is the impact of planning and organizing artful events, stores, Etsy shops, websites.  All this excites me too. Oh, the millions of possibilities of how to promote artful people and artful stuff.  Every time I drive by an empty store (and there seems to be too many of them at present) I mentally plan a business that would fit in that spot.  Every time I drive past a place that could house workshops, I mentally click through the possibilities of inviting instructors and students to meet there.  I love the art of creating a business.

John, at this point, reminds me how much we enjoy spontaneity and free time to play and just being together with no stress.

Then I ask myself if I am done with this part of my life.  The part that makes big, big plans.

I am not sure, but in the meantime I will just play with my art stuff and try to surround myself with like minded people.

Missing

I have a great life, an almost perfect life, but still I miss some things.

1.  I miss living near my brothers.

2. I miss the Southern California mountains that were the backdrop to my youth.

3. Heck, I miss my youth.

  

4.  I miss my dad (see photo above)

5.  I miss my old store and the customers/friends who used to sit on our stools and visit.

6. I miss doing conventions and shows.

They are all great memories and I will have them forever, but today is a wonderful opportunity to make some new memories that I can look back on with affection.  Are you making good memories today?

P.S.  Some new items have been added to my etsy shop.  Also, we are running out of Graphic 45 papers in my EMPORIUM.  If you have been waiting to order them, now is a good time.

Blogging/Not Blogging

I have had several friends and family members call or e-mail and ask if I am okay.  Yes, why?, I ask.  It seems my blogging rhythm has been inconsistent.  Maybe I have run out of things to say.  No, that can't be it for I am a known rambler of words.

Here are my reasons for not blogging regularly:

1.  The garden.  Although the work is not finished, Greg the landscape guy and his workers do such a great job of clean-up at the end of everyday, that we find ourselves puttering about in the garden and then sitting on the deck sipping something cool and contemplating the horizon.

2.  The aforementioned puttering continues to play havoc with my allergies and then I spend the next day sneezing and rubbing my eyes and taking my allergy medication.

3.  The aforementioned allergy medication makes me very drowsy and every afternoon I find myself battling and losing the desire to take a nap.  I have never been a napper, but I am lately.

4.  The aforementioned nap is always accompanied by extremely vivid dreams that require elaborate retelling to my patient John.

Blogging is fun for me.  I love the challenge of finding a photo to match my topic or vice versa. I enjoy the comments and e-mails and how my rambling blog topic was perceived by you, the readers.  But sometimes the well run dry and I really have nothing new to share.  We have been very busy this Spring with a variety of different activities and when I read through other blogs, it seems that our activities are pretty much the same as everyone else's.  I do not want to bore you.

I didn't have my camera the other day when a perfect photo-op happened right in my own backyard. John and I were admiring that day's plantings in the back yard when a cart of golfers started shouting "Ginny!".  It turned out that it was one of son Tim's friends who had just been hired by the company Tim works for. The friend and his golf partners walked over to our yard.  The partners were Tim's boss and another new hire.  I had met the boss before so we all sat down on our patio and chatted.  John was passing out beers and sodas when I mentioned that wouldn't it be funny if Tim stopped by and saw "his people" having a beer in our backyard.  They laughed and said that Tim was in the foursome following them.  Two minutes later two golf carts drive off the fairway and into our yard and we had a full-fledged party going!

And that my friends is why we love living in this community.

The Decorated Life

We are having the family over for Mother's Day.  We see this side of the family often, so sprucing up is not necessary other than making them feel welcome with a hug and a kiss, some drink and good food and laughter.

But....

It is spring and spring calls to us to make tidy that which was ignored during the dark months.  Spring calls to us to renew and replenish and repurpose and redecorate.  Does all animalkind do this or just humans? Why do we feel the need to place a pillow or hang a picture or put a pretty placemat down?

John is feeling it too.  He has transplanted a few plants that we decided were not in the proper place. He has given the back door to the garage a fresh coat of red paint.  He has cleaned up the top of his desk. Insert a feminine gasp here.

We humans like to decorate our lives.  We do it in so many ways without realizing it.  It makes us feel happy.  It makes a space a home.  It gives us comfort.  We need it.

We decorate our spaces inside and out with flowers and paint and furnishings and art.  Don't forget the art!    We decorate with people, too.  We surround ourselves with family and friends and co-workers and teammates and others who make us happy and comfortable and feel loved and appreciated. We especially like the ones who reflect who we think we are back at us. I don't think one can survive long or at least, well, without people.

I am sure there are people who live happily in sparse impersonal spaces.  Not me.  Not my friends and acquaintances. We add and add more stuff.  We decorate.

We look at a corner and think a chair would be nice...and a table...and a lamp.  Maybe we should add some books to the table and a plant would be nice.  How about a piece of whimsey and a mirror and some art? And so it goes.  Decorating our space.

Clothes.  Do I even need to go there?  Necklaces, cool necklaces and earrings and how about shoes?  Not just any clothes or shoes or jewelry.  No, it must reflect who we are.  So we decorate ourselves.

Whoever began the concept of blank books, had all of us in mind.  Does anyone ever leave it blank?  Maybe none of us are artists.  Maybe we are all decorators of life.

Edited in answer to Amy's comment:

Decorating can be overwhelming.  I do it one corner at a time.  Somehow it works for me.

The other thing I do is randomly tear out any magazine room or item that appeals to me.  When I have a pile I edit them.  It is funny to see that I always pick white kitchens cabinets, red and white bedrooms, etc.

It reveals what I really want.  Some clippings I put in my house wish book.  It may be years and several house later that the idea has a place in my own home.

It use to be that I spent so little time at home that I needed to come home to my own cozy nest.  Now it is the opposite.  We spend so much time at home that it is important to me that it I am surrounded by just what I like to look at.

Shallow perhaps, but it seems to be very important to me.