random bits

Oddmall two weekends ago was a bit of a bust for me, although I did meet some great people and take a few custom orders, so it wasn’t a total loss. But I ended up with a lot of inventory that I had planned on moving along. It’s been hanging out in my cases waiting to be photographed and listed, but today is the first day I’ve really had time to make progress on that. I’ve got about half the photos done, and hope to list a couple of things over the next few days before hitting it pretty hard next week.

Part of what’s taken up my time was a slew of custom orders, one of which was a big wholesale order. See? Lots of little domes:

Nearly 100 in all.

In addition, I got some great new lowercase stamps and have been busy doing custom name pendants using these beautiful new stamps. I’ve ordered another set in a different alphabet, too, and those should be in next week. Lots of whacking with hammers going on around here these days!

Other than that, I’ve been working on a few editing projects and doing some serious gardening work. And trying to figure out how to cram more hours into a day.

quick & dirty art

February’s office painting binge left me with pretty but bare walls.

We have larger plans for the office, including nicer — and matching — file cabinets and desks, some additional shelving, and some great art. For the moment, though, there are higher things on the priority list, and I was looking for an easy and inexpensive way to add a punch of color to the walls without resorting to posters or some generic print from Target or Marshall’s. Etsy was of course my first shopping choice, but the items I liked in the size I wanted were out of my price range (as well they should be), and I’m just not ready to make that commitment yet.

So, my first instinct was to seek out a big, bold fabric that I could stretch over a frame and hang, like a Marimekko print. But I wasn’t finding what I wanted at the fabric stores. Then inspiration struck as I was in the scrapbooking aisle picking up some stickers for this weekend’s etching class: scrapbook paper.

Scrapbook paper comes in an insane range of patterns in standard 12 x 12 inch size. Most of it is scaled small, with tiny repeating prints, but if you can get to a dedicated scrapbooking store (we have an Archiver’s at the mall nearby), you can usually find some that have big prints in bold colors. I dug around in the discontinued bins and found all these patterns for under $1/sheet, except for the one I ended up using in the office, which wasn’t on clearance but was still only about $1.75/sheet.

I found frames made specifically for scrapbook pages at the local craft supply store (Pat Catan’s) for about $8 each. They are aluminum and come in black and regular aluminum color. They also had wooden ones and acrylic ones, but I liked the quality and look of these better. (The photo is of the insert only because the photo I took with the insert in the actual frame as I was unwrapping it didn’t turn out, and I couldn’t find a product photo online in a short amount of time.)

If you can’t find scrapbook frames, Target carries an album cover frame that might work. It’s a little bigger than the standard 12 x 12 scrapbook page, but you could put something around the edges to take up the extra space, like strips of coordinating paper.

Most scrapbook paper comes with a border on one edge that carries the UPC and manufacturer info. Some of them are perforated; others you have to cut. My paper cutter is of course 1/2 inch too small to handle this size paper (I still lust after one of those huge wooden guillotines we had in elementary school), so I cut carefully along the line with scissors. It doesn’t have to be super-perfect; the frame will cover the very edge of the paper (unless you are using an acrylic frame, which you’ll be able to see through).

The aluminum frames are very easy to open: just push down on the clips and slide them to the side. Take out the backing, remove the paper insert, put your scrapbook paper in there, reassemble, and voilá: instant art! I chose to use three sheets of the same pattern in three frames because I had to fill up a big space. I considered using three coordinating prints, but my brain was a little too frazzled that day to find three I really liked together.

At the scrapbooking store I found just one sheet of this pretty blue print, so although my intent was to just liven up the office, I couldn’t resist getting this and another frame to put a little something above my bedside table.

The real beauty of these is that they are so easy to change out and the paper is so cheap. When I get sick of what’s in there, I can change it out with something else. And when it’s time to get some real art, these will do nicely to fill in some of the smaller areas we have.

the view from my desk

Finally, a pretty, sunny morning to take a shot of the view from my desk.

I planted the daffodils last fall, and I think I’ll be adding quite a few more this year.

All that scruffy grass back to the property line just in front of the pine trees in the background will eventually be going away and replaced with groundcover of some sort. Grass just doesn’t do well there, being in shade most of the time and on the north side of the house.

I’d like to expand the flower bed out a bit too and fill it with pretty things (if I can find some the deer won’t eat), since I spend so much time looking at this view.

Sproing!

For me, spring is not officially here until we have some daffodils. Mine started blooming in the past couple of days, and next week should be really spectacular.

sneak peek

I’ve been hard at work on some new designs in and around all the other projects I’ve been working on so far this spring. I’m not ready to list any of it quite yet, but thought I’d give you a sneak peek to see what the future holds.

seasons

Spring, finally. Officially at least, even if it is still 30-something degrees out there. One lonely crocus peeked its purple self up through the grass the other day, but before I could get back out to take a photo, some critter came along and munched it, so it will just have to live in my memory as proof that spring truly is here. Such is life on the edge of the woods.

I always associate spring with lightening. Not a misspelling of the flash followed by thunder, but just a sense of everything feeling lighter, less weighty, airy and bright. Cleaning out and shrugging off the old and tired. Emerging from a shell, vulnerable perhaps, but full of possibilities.

It’s that time of year when I go through things: closets, paperwork, stored boxes. This year especially, when I’ve worked so hard to reevaluate my time and energy obligations and have experienced some real growth in both of my businesses, it is especially liberating to shed things that no longer matter, that serve only to remind me of times when things weren’t quite so good. And to make room for the new.

The Time Has Come

I can’t take it anymore. This godawful beigey-purply gray on the office walls has got to go. Now. I will not spend one more week looking at this horrible depressing color. I am putting on my crappy clothes right now and I’m going to move the stuff away from the walls and start in with the primer. Enough is enough.

Friday Roundup

Now that my December–January workstorm is over, Friday is becoming a catch-up, retool, miscellaneous-stuff-doing kind of day. And I like it. I’m purposely avoiding nonessential work and focusing on taking care of little personal to-dos and things around the house. I’ve been at it for a few weeks now, and it seems to be working well. I imagine this will all fall apart the next time I get super-busy, but in the meantime it’s been great to be able to get to those little things that just never seem to get done otherwise.

Cleveland Handmade Featured Artist:
Susan Hale

Photographer Susan Hale is this week’s Cleveland Handmade featured artist. You can read my interview with her here.

25 random things

Okay, okay, enough already! I’ve been tagged by eleventy-million people for this, so here you go.

1. I do the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle in ink. It usually takes me about two hours over the course of a day or two, and I can usually finish it, although sometimes I have to take a peek for a hint with the longer clues if they’re particularly punny or otherwise nonstandard (like using whole words in one space). This does not make me better than anyone else.

2. Photography was my first artistic love, although I’ve dabbled in all kinds of arts my whole life. I still love to take photos and am looking forward to getting a spiffy new DSLR in the coming weeks.

3. I took up ceramics after I graduated from college because I needed to find a class to take so I could continue to qualify for student health insurance. (I had a temp job at the time with no option for insurance, and the cost of the class plus the cost of student insurance was still cheaper than what I could get out in the real world.) When I moved to Hawaii, I starting going to the studio at the community center that was down the street on Thursdays, then added open studio Fridays. Then I lucked into a great studio situation at Iolani School, where I really thrived and did some cool work, if I do say so myself. There was a period of time when I was throwing pots and plates three nights a week.

4. When I moved back to Ohio, I looked for a good studio situation, but couldn’t find one that met my needs. They were all too time limited or way too expensive. Because I needed something to do, I ended up taking a beading class at Bead Paradise in Oberlin, which led to my taking metals classes with Susan Lenart Kazmer, both of which led to the work I’m doing now.

5. There I times I think I should have listened to Mr. Skalski and pursued genetic research. Then I remember that I never would have made it through the chemistry.

6. I just finished writing a book with two other authors, both of whom have much more experience than I with such things; I’m usually on the other end of the process. I learned a lot, and I hope to do it again. It thrills me that my author contract has a right of first refusal clause, which means that the publisher will at least look at my next book, whatever it is. In this business, half the battle is just getting someone to look at it.

7. I love to take classes and workshops. My dream is to do one of the big, well-known, week-long artist retreats someday.

8. I have a bit of a lead foot, but I’ve only ever had one speeding ticket, which I got when I was 17. I had to go to juvenile court for it. I don’t go nearly as fast as I used to anymore.

9. I love the smell of coffee, but really don’t like to drink it, except on very rare occasions — usually at a banquet or wedding or some other place where there is no real alternative. I also don’t like beer.

10. If you had told me five years ago that I’d be living the life I’m living now, I probably would have pulled a muscle laughing.

11. I am ridiculously sentimental.

12. When I get angry, I cry. It’s a weird, hardwired reaction, and it doesn’t do me any favors. I’ve been battling it all my life.

13. I am completely out of touch with current movies. I used to be a contender in the Oscar pool every year, since I likely had seen all but a few of the nominees, but between the cost of going out to the movies, the seemingly endless annoyances of rude people in the theater, and the convenience of Netflix, I’m down to just a few theater outings each year. Given recent previews, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on much.

14. I am having a very hard time coming up with 25 things.

15. The one thing I miss about commuting crosstown to work is NPR. Listening at home is just not the same.

16. I only recently purged my closet of some clothes I’ve had since college. I’ve never been much into fashion, but I’m trying to make a little bit of an effort.

17. I’ve been to 32 U.S. states. I’d like to see the other 18 sometime.

18. I took a year of yoga in college. I wish I would have kept up with it over the years. I’ve recently started up again, and it’s amazing what a difference that hour makes in my body and my attitude.

19. If I had my way and we didn’t care about eventual resale, I would limit the grass in the yard to one small patch in the back and plant the rest of it in gardens and groundcover — if we could find enough stuff the deer would leave alone.

20. Almost all of our neighbors have a lawn service, but I don’t mind cutting the grass myself. They all probably think I’m nuts.

21. I love to cook. Because of a sensitivity to MSG, I’ve had to learn to cook from scratch, since so many packaged foods contain MSG. I think I’m pretty good at it.

22. I really enjoy being able to connect people. But I am a terrible (romantic) matchmaker.

23. I loved school. I rarely stayed home sick because I was afraid I might miss something. When I worked at University of Hawaii, I took a class in oceanography just for the hell of it. It was amusing when the TA, probably at least 10 years younger than I, asked me if I intended to major in oceanography because I was doing so well in the class. Someday I may go back to school, just for fun.

24. I would much rather talk in person or via e-mail than on the phone most of the time.

25. One of the things I enjoy the most about Waikiki is the catamaran rides you can catch off the beach. Great scenery and super cheap. (I prefer the one with the red and yellow striped sail.)

(I’m not a meme-passer-on-er, so if you want to participate, feel free to post your own 25 random things. I will not threaten bad luck or other impending doom if you fail to do so.)