The Bad Thing

The bad thing about rarely blogging is that THEY KEEP CHANGING THE WAY BLOGGER WORKS!  Dang, do they think I'm smart or something?  I have to re-learn it every time.  It's a good thing they have little pictures on here or I'd never figure things out.

 

So!  What's new in your life?  Mine?  It's the same.  I get up.  I go to work.  I run about the shop filling orders, placing orders for more threads and canvases, answering the phone, helping the folks who come in, paying bills, and then?  I go home.  I eat dinner.  I watch t.v. and STITCH.  I go to bed.  And I do it again.  And somehow I enjoy every single minute of it.  :-)

 

You know what would be fun?  If you and I were to change places for a day or two.  Yeah!  You come and run the shop for a day!  Wouldn't you like that?  But what do YOU do?  Do you (ick) drive somewhere every day and work in an office?  Eek.  I used to do that.  Do you stay at home and (yikes) CLEAN THE HOUSE and cook meals and maybe even GARDEN?  I might be able to garden.   Do you get up and go to McDonald's and hang out drinking coffee and talking to complete strangers?  I could do that.  Do you run around doing volunteer work and good deeds for others?  I could do that too - if they weren't HARD good deeds.  Do you go on long vacations to faraway exotic places?  For SURE I could do that!  But really - do you sit at home and stitch?  Because I REALLY REALLY could do that.  Just let me know.  And if this works out, maybe I can start charging people for working at the shop in my place.   Just give me a call to sign up for that exclusive fun time!

 

Talk to you next time!

 

 

MORE COMPUTER TIME PLEASE...

Yes, that's going to be my resolution for 2014.  Make more computer time.  Sounds a little stupid? 

You might note that I last blogged ONE AND ONE-HALF YEARS AGO!  Being over 30 (HA HA HA) I thought that doing an email newsletter and keeping a shop running was enough!  But according to those with more marketing experience than myself, I must immerse myself in Blogging, Facebooking and Tweeting. 

Well I can tell you this.  Tweeting is NOT happening.  First of all, I like to write too much.  Secondly, I'm not really sure how to do it!  I'd rather just keep the tweeting between me and Pipsqueak, my little parakeet. 

Okay, I've been TRYING to FB some more.  But I keep forgetting that too.  Plus it's not as much fun as a personal FB page.  The business one is just so dry! 

So let me just warn you.  If you're unwise enough to subscribe to my e-newsletters, friend me on Facebook at Homestead Needle Arts AND read this blog,  you might end up reading duplicate information.  NOT MY FAULT!!! 

After all, just how interesting do you think my life is?  :-)

HUG ME

Crumb!  I haven't posted in so long they've gone and changed EVERYTHING on Blogger.  Oh well, how hard can it be to re-learn it?  :-)

Homestead Needle Arts is having a HUG ME BAGS TRUNK SHOW this month, June 2012.  These are Made in America bags that you can rely on to carry your stitching (or knitting) for years to come.  Lots of nice fabrics, most zip shut, some have see through plastic pockets sewn into them.  Nice!  They sent a few fancy frame weights with ribbons, ort boxes that include pin cushions on the box lid inside, darling totes with tiny bows, bags big enough to carry a Christmas stocking on stretcher bars, your floor frame and more...you can see all the styles at www.hugmeco.com and choose your favorite fabric and style.  We all love bags I think.

I've been - um - cleaning?  De-cluttering?  Downsizing?  I'm not sure of the right expression.  I opened my stitching room closet to find tons of totes.  Billions of bags.  All of them empty and hanging in the spare closet awaiting projects to fill them.  That's what I like to see.  I don't deny myself a new tote or two if I like them.  While in New York last month I bought a new tote at the New York Library featuring their lion statues in a kind of outline.  Hard to describe but, hey!  I can always use a tote.  Sure enough, I've brought supplies into work with it, and work back home in it.  Eventually it will find some project or two in it.  And a book.  Those seem to go with a good tote.

Happy stitching!

Rude Begets Rude

Gentle Readers...I haven't posted in THREE MONTHS! Horrifying! Knowing such, I asked a friend and fellow stitcher to help me out. She did and we'll refer to her as Name Withheld to Protect the Stitcher...this is so very well put that I wish that I had written it!


Rude Begets Rude

I was asked to be a guest blogger for this episode - and I really didn't know what I would write about until something eye-opening happened this weekend. I'll start from the beginning - so bear with me.

I am fortunate enough to be able to stitch with some wonderful friends and talented ladies on the weekends, and it is an honor when they bring in finished pieces, or works in progress for show and tell. So Saturday, we had five pieces that were shown. Pieces that were remarkable in their fibers, their execution, their finishing, and mostly as testaments to the love of needlework. Each project was deserving of comment and compliment and there were ooh's and ahh's aplenty. With one notable exception.

So-what do you do? Ignore it? We mostly do Don't rock the boat, be the bigger person, turn the other cheek. But we didn't on Saturday. We devised a plan to hurt.

In talking of the plan we were laughing and joking, and really didn't mean it to be mean...but that's what it would have been. Mean. And I am ashamed to say that until someone spoke up, I didn't see that I was planning to be just as rude and hurtful.

Needless to say, sanity has been restored -but it has left me wondering. When someone is rude, how do you handle it? Is it rude to tell someone that they are being rude?

Miss Manners would probably fall back on the "if you can't say anything nice...keep your mouth shut" line, but that does not work in this type of group. We are peers in our unique group. Needlework is more than just a hobby for us; this is an expression of our art. And while we each have enough of a sense of self not to need validation, we do look for appreciation and recognition from our peers.

Why do we choose the projects that we do? We find something in the design that speaks to us. From the whimsical to the heartfelt to the awe inspiring. What speaks to me is not what speaks to you - that's cool. It's like love - not everyone can love a bubble-butt with a lazy eye.

Every project I see, I learn from. From use of colors and textures, to interpretation of design and execution in finishing. These pieces are part of the needleworker. Whether it's a charted piece or a painted piece, we give time and energy to our working of the piece. So, as a fellow needleworker, if I could find NOTHING to say (like that would ever happen), I would celebrate the work, the time, the energy, the joy of completion of the needleworker. All pieces are wonderful because they continue the heritage of needlework.

So I think I feel sorry for the person who has nothing to say. You are missing out on the best part of these groups - celebrating the art: of the craft, of each other, and of ourselves.

An Artist is Born! (cough, cough)

Today I took a painting class. That wasn't the really stunning thing though. The really stunning thing was finding out that I qualify for Senior status. Oh yeah, me. As if. I'm sorry, I'm not being mean. There's nothing wrong with being old, older, elderly or ancient. However, I have it on good authority that I'm MIDDLE-AGED!!! Now I find that 50 and older means you can take SENIOR CITIZEN CLASSES at Continuing Education places! Well, okay, I won't complain. It's NOT like I GOT A SENIOR DISCOUNT or anything because I DID NOT! I was NOT offered a senior coffee, a ride from the parking lot, a helping hand across the road nor a cookie. I WAS made to SIGN IN at the senior center as a non-member (phew!) and forced to donate 50 cents because of my non-member status. Okay, they didn't force me but those little old lady eyes scared me into it! Anyway, onward to the class. I'm sure this is furthering my education in art so I learned to paint following one of those guys that shows you how this works on his canvas and you replicate it on your own. What I found out is that: 1. Being a JUNIOR senior is fun (yes, I came up with that idea myself, again, see paragraph one.) 2. Senior citizens have sharp senses of humor. 3. Guys hang out at these places, giving us old ladies a sense that there could be men in the future should our spouses leave us high and dry. 4. I was the only one who had to exit the room quickly at one point because I was laughing hard and I was NOT wearing Depends. I'm not saying anybody else WAS, I'm just saying that I feared for my underwear! 5. Having a day where somebody else is in charge of the teaching is a really good thing! 6. Yes, I will do it again. If you see badly painted canvases entering the shop, I can tell you one thing - they're NOT mine! Stitch on!

Where did the time go?

Dear Stitchers,

Hope you weren't holding your breath waiting for a post from me! After all I noticed it's been 6 months so you probably figured I stuck myself with a needle and never recovered. SO not true! Life got in the way or something like that.

But here I am to tell you ... ARGH! I have too many projects to stitch! (Take a deep breath Theresa. You can do this. You must do this. All these stitchers are depending on you to show them the way!)

Let's put it this way. I'm in the midst of Rainforest Crunch with my ANG Chapter...well not really the midst. I think I'm on the 4th block. Last night I realized it's going to be a really tight fit because some smarmy shopowner took it upon herself to take the 11" piece of canvas that wouldn't sell when you need 12". Then she forgot to take that into account when she started 2" in and 2" down. (sigh)

Next, I'm on star #2 of Oh My Stars. One of the girls in the group (okay, woman but doesn't girls sound better?) - FINISHED HERS. How unfair is that? We just started in February supposedly. I mean not to be rude but come on! It's just not polite to make your local shopowner look like a loser. ;-)

Next I'm still STITCHING THE "THING" of the month and the ad for it is coming out this WEEK or so in Needlepoint Now. I guess that should make me finish them, right? I'm happy to say I think I have 2/3 of the 11 pieces done. What's 2/3 of 11 anyway? Okay, maybe a little less than 2/3. Whatever.

So saying, NO PICTURES TODAY. You don't want me to repeat my computer problems to you. Let's just say I have all that kind of thing going on too. I suppose I could take pictures with my phone and then figure out how to upload those but that would require more thought processes than I can handle today.

Today I'm trying to price all these new canvases that just found their way here. Good night, it's 3/17 and these are from the January market! And I have MORE orders not here yet. Don't ask ME what happened. Soon I'll have to start calling and asking what happened to my order. After all, June is just around the corner and I'll go there and not order all over again. Yes, I said "NOT ORDER". I say it before every market. Then I go and see all that beautiful stuff and something shuts off in my head and...there I am again.

Enjoy your stitching and don't even THINK of gardening yet!

Reading, Stitching and Zombies

There was a stitch in today at the Homestead and we were talking about books. Who among us does not love to read? Out of the 5 of us there, it turns out 1 of us does not love to read (gasp!) The other 4 of us do! (and you gentle reader? Obviously you do!)

Anyway, the 4 of us were vehemently - well okay - agreeably but loudly - discussing books and happily confusing each other by talking all at once when ONE of us thought that SOMEBODY was referring to those books called something like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Our famed and favored eldest member struck that one down with a simple "I don't like zombies" much like you or I would say "I don't like vegetables" and went hurriedly on to explain what book she was reading. My stitching neighbor and I went into paroxysms of mirth over her zombie comment and I had to ask if she like vampires to which the answer was "No I don't like any blood suckers." What? Do they really exist? Besides mosquitoes I mean.

I suspected at this point I had had FAR TOO MUCH CAFFEINE AND SUGAR but honestly, now that's it's late at night and the caffeine and sugar is gone from my system, some much more serious questions come to mind like

... do zombies stitch? And if so, at Halloween do they stitch people in various normal poses? And what about vampires? It seems to me that vampires are a vast untapped market for needlepoint customers. Does anybody out there know a vampire itchin' to be stitchin'? Don't even tease me about werewolves for pete's sake! How would they hold a needle? Honestly, I'm not THAT stupid!

So saying, I must sign off and go dream about...a normal life. :-)