Author Archive

Lots of ramblings through the mind this week, a good chunk on medical care. Last week I checked into possible vision therapy as a result of losing the vision in my left eye. My insurance would not cover any of it, not even out of network, and the treatment is very expensive. So there is no way I can do this. Now I am already paying a lot of money each month on my COBRA, until Medicare kicks in.

Keep in mind I have always felt like I needed to pay my fair share, and I realize I am lucky to have health insurance. But come on, people, we shouldn’t have to feel lucky. We should be able to access what we need without going broke or going in to bankruptcy….and I know whereof I speak. Every person in this country should have access to affordable health care. I don’t think this necessarily means the government needs to be completely involved, but I think the attitude of “medicine for profit” is hurting the average American.

In line with the previous thought, I am making a effort to try and read more “conservative” blogs to try and widen my views on current issues, as well as be sure what I believe is accurate. This has been a challenge, because I seem to see – and feel – a great deal more vitriol on these blogs. Michelle Malkin’s blog has so much sarcasm that it becomes difficult to plow through to find nuggets. And yes, she seems way more sarcastic than Rachel Maddow, who does have her share of sarcasm, but then there is a footnoted nugget to follow.

Notice I am reading women. I think if I want a truer look at “the war on women,” then I need to read women. This is not a conservative or liberal issue. Women’s rights are being attacked.

Which is just another reason why I get so incredibly depressed, thinking about the amount of evil in the world, and it’s no longer just outside our borders…yes, I have managed to stay pretty darn naive all these years, and this global/national/local evil is coming unrelentingly….

Which is why I lament the lack of good history teaching in the schools, that now brings me to….

…my tutoring session this afternoon, where I am helping a college student prepare for a philosophy test….a class I never had. I spent a lot of time on the internet looking up information to help me understand the topic and then help my student understand what could possibly be asked on a test tomorrow. And all this led to a really interesting hour and a half of philosophical questions on topics in history that would illustrate deontology and consequentialism. From Harry Potter to the movie Black Hawk Down to the killing of Bin Laden – quite an interesting 90 minutes.

To tie this to teaching history in schools, how can we have philosophical discussions and look at morality if we don’t understand our own history, what makes us a country, and how we fit with the rest of the planet? That’s a good philosophical question……

I must say, however, that the philosophy book stinks…..no index, the glossary is worthless, and the table of contents leaves much to be desired. When you are working with a student on study skills, being able to access an index to find information is critical. How can a textbook NOT have an index? This is such a basic skill for any of us wanting to access information from a text and not just the internet. Yes, Google is essentially an index, but its algorithms bring up results based on our previous searches. And let’s face it, not everyone uses the internet, especially if they have spent a LOT of money on a class text. I would think for 80 dollars a book should have an index.

Yeah, the mind is all over the place this week…..who knows where I’ll be next Thursday?

I’ve been sewing a LOT on the commission that needs to be done before I can move on to a couple of other projects. I am finding that setting specific number of times for sewing each day, as well as assigning specific times, is helping me make progress. Hopefully next Wednesday you’ll see the finished commission.

In other work, we’re experimenting with Margot Bianca, a batik artist we met at La Conner. Here’s her Etsy store. We traded a batik for a marbled fabric. Margot will batik on top of cotton that has already been marbled. We are going to marble on top of a piece that is already had wax. Here’s initial results. This first is the original batik and the marbled batik (we just did a small piece). I personally like the effect, and I think we could do some interesting combinations together.

Here’s a close-up of the piece after marbling.

And…since I haven’t been working on Photoshop lately, I just had to play around with a couple of filters – there are a lot of possibilities for art cards…..here’s an inversion.

Here’s a half-tone:

This one is poster edges.

And now for the emboss:

The other batik experiment is with a piece of linen that just has wax on it. I’m still working on ironing out all the wax……For this piece I think the marbling pattern needed to be more complex than just a basic stone, but again, I think there are possibilities.

Now waiting for batting and backing is the very beginning of my “depression” piece….which has a general idea, and it will speak to me as we go along.

This is an unpolished black satin.

Hopefully I will have a bunch o’ stuff next week!

Got caught up on some blogs I do not read regularly, mining them for bits of wisdom. Here’s what I’ve found this week:

From the Blurberati blog, designing e-book covers. Very interesting article about e-books and regular books and their covers. There’s a lot to think about here in terms of presentation and encouragement to buy.

Interesting look at the death of Thomas Kinkade from Fine Art Views blog:

“The death of artist Thomas Kinkade has triggered a ‘barrage of arrows’ from specific circles of the mainstream art world. Notable art critics, ranging from Jerry Saltz  to Paddy Johnson, have taken it upon themselves to offer one last ‘jab’ while, as the saying goes, the corpse is still warm. Their critical hostility, if you will, has revealed a number of contradictions when compared to the usual rhetoric spewed in support of artwork favored by their circles — those ‘power structures’ they adamantly support. In that sense, the passing of Kinkade has offered insight into the mentality of the mainstream art world in general.”

With Dick Clark now gone, it seems a part of my childhood is gone forever. Every afternoon I watched American Bandstand faithfully, read the teen magazines, and wondered at this whole new world out there. These teens were so different from my life, and I so just wanted to dance all the time. Mamacita (Jane Goodwin) has a nice tribute to the man, the icon, and the institution.

In the spirit of trying to change our world and wondering if we ever make a difference comes this amazing story of the savior of 30,000 lives during the Holocaust. Read through and see what we have in descendants of the people saved by Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

And another article for Holocaust Remembrance Day, the life of a 92-year-old who survived the camps and is still a witness. From  the Huff Blog, lest we forget…..

From Generation Q comes “Now Touring: How to Spend Your Summer Vacation.” Loads of quilt museums!!! I’ve been to three of them over the years.

I love flash mobs, and there are some really cool videos on line, but this one is so different……

From Letters of Note comes this letter about the burning of a Maurice Sendak children’s book. “It is Only Adults Who Ever Feel Threatened.”

from Lyric Kinard comes copyright-free images to use in your work. A very handy site….

Here’s a cool tutorial on making bookmarks from See How We Sew, something I intend to do…..after a few other projects…..

Have a great week – let me know what you find on your web surfing excursions!

This is one of those Mondays where you find yourself doing everything on the business but creating. I am slowly making progress in that area, including a new system for scheduling the actual creativity (to a point…) and getting hubby to pick up more of the business loose ends. Making progress…..

From Kate Harper’s blog comes 38 Amazing Apps for Designers: worth taking a look, as there might be something you can definitely use. Web Elements by Visual Lightbox looks intriguing – and might save me some time.

Also from Kate: Free Photoshop Brushes for Designers. Both links take you to the original pages, but it’s great to see all the goodies Kate posts. I’m thinking the Free Floral Brushes from Graphic Design Junction (now I have to figure out how to download…..advice??)

Bamboo Textures in Photoshop – these also look cool….

And….How to be Funny  – excellent article on finding humor anywhere, especially if you are looking to write greeting cards.

Pinterest seems to be the rage, and I have been slowly checking out articles, as I am concerned about copyright. So from SewCAlGal comes Thoughts on Pinterest…..

And…a new spot on line to check out: Tophatter, which is daily online auctions. I “sat in” on one, and it looks like something I want to try…but it’s kind of at the bottom of my list ot to-do’s right now, as there are a couple of commissions that need finishing. Handemadeology put up this buyers’ guide.

The latest I have found was off a link from a graduate student friend who found Pomodoro, which is a new organizing system (new to me, at least). I’m trying it this afternoon, and I’m pleased to report I am getting a lot down for these few hours. I downloaded a timer as an app for my iPad, and I’m liking how the whole system is helping. I downloaded their free e-book this morning (and multi-tasked by reading it and eating some fruit). You could get really in to it, but I like the overall approach, which is not very gimmick-y. If you do use it, let me know what you think.

…and that’s the pomodoro……

  I am so enjoying my yoga lessons….I think I have finally found the exercise that will work for me. Over this week I’ve been actually sitting on the floor for meditation, instead of a chair, as well as doing some other leg exercises during the day. I am managing yoga breathing/meditation each day, and it is certainly starting my day off pretty well. I am concentrating on positive affirmations about restraining the calorie count.

My goal for today was to walk to yoga, which is a little over a mile. I am trying to do my part for the environment. So I’m up earlier, sunscreen on my face, spray suntan lotion on my arms, and regular shorts – I don’t want to walk in black pants, since today is supposed to be the hottest day so far – upper 90s. I get there, feeling oh so proud of myself. Turns out I already have fatigued the muscles, and they really don’t want to cooperate. I am huffing and puffing and doing less than I usually do. Plus….since I am sweating, the suntan lotion is keeping me from holding on to my legs for stretches. I am pooped.

So obviously the walking TO yoga isn’t going to work for a while. When the weather gets back to normal for this time of year (80s) I will try walking home. We worked on warrior one poses, as I am having trouble with balance, as well as a few new tai chi moves. I am finding some interesting things going on with my body. My shorts  are now tight in the abdomen when they weren’t before, and they are very loose in the waist. I am also getting a bit of a “ski jump” butt, which has never happened before. Oh, yes, and perky boobs…..been decades since that happened.

We spent some time analyzing the why’s and wherefore’s. Seems that as my posture has improved significantly, my boobs have begun defying gravity…..that and thanks to a better bra and open shoulders. And as I do more hip opener exercises, my hips are pushing my butt back, so it looks more rounded and “hilly.” Hmmmm…….

I definitely feel better, have regained my long and somewhat slimmer neck, have a waist returning,  have really strong toes, and my knees don’t hurt as much. And I’m down four pounds in the last 10 days. I know it’s mostly water to start, but it’s motivation to keep on going.

   I think I need a day each week where I just ramble….’course, I do that a lot anyway, but sometimes I just want to process in writing what’s swimming around upstairs (was that a mixed metaphor?). I’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks wondering about the state of the country, especially since a good friend is leaving the US for a three-year teaching contract in Vienna, as she is pretty dissatisfied with the direction we seem to be moving. So it was interesting to see this post by Bill Moyers, whom I really respect. It’s all about a change in FCC regulations that would allow public television and radio stations to take advertising money for political groups, in the name of free speech. I love this quote:

“Imagine if you turned on your TV set someday soon and were greeted by Sesame Street, brought to you by the letter C, for “creeping campaign cash corruption.” Perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch, but as the late William F. Buckley, Jr., used to say, the point survives the exaggeration.”

I’ve also become aware over the last few months that for a political science major, I tend to not examine information on line perhaps as closely as I should. Just because something has a liberal label, or is posted by a liberal group, doesn’t mean it’s absolutely and completely true. I need to apply that same rigor as I would to examining a conservative posting. I also am trying to be very conscious when I make a comment to be sure that it is absolutely civil in its questioning.

Perhaps what’s going on in my head – and heart – is the desire to become the change I want to see. Since we know that every individual can make an impact, no matter how small, I need to continue to try and make an impact, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem to me. I have a lifetime of years of seeing the impact I have made in teaching, student by student, so there is no reason to believe that influence stops, just because I have retired.

Along with this has come an increasing awareness and fear of the growing evil that I see in the world. Yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and I have a few columns on next Tuesday’s Top Ten dealing with the Holocaust. I remember when I first heard about the Holocaust, at a young age of ten, from a neighbor. I asked my nana about it, and her curt reply was “we don’t talk about that.” As my mother worked on the maternal family tree, and I learned more about the emigration of my father’s family from Lithuania and Germany, and the Jewish surnames, I began to wonder, but no one ever answered any questions, and I really was too afraid to ask out loud. Now I just don’t know, and will never know. Here’s a Bill Moyer’s “Moment” with Elie Wiesel about whether humanity is good or evil.

One of the most influential pieces of fiction I read at 12 was Exodus, by Leon Uris. I loved that book, and I still reread it at least once a year. My copy is battered, and the cover page says 50 cents, so you know just how old it is. That started my real interest in the Holocaust, and I still read whatever I can get my hands on. One day in the pool at one of the complexes where we lived, I met Gina, a lovely older woman with thinning red hair and a thick accent. We started talking about living in the complex, and I noticed numbers on her arm. She was a survivor. I didn’t know what to say, I was so in awe of her. She wanted to know what I did, and then she mentioned that she and her husband used to go into classrooms every year and work with the teachers on teaching about the Holocaust. She had two grown daughters and several grandsons, but she was losing her spark of life, as her husband had died within the last year. I wanted to talk to her, to say how much I admired her, but I was afraid of prying. She died several years later, just as we were moving from that complex, from complications of pneumonia; she just hadn’t wanted to go to the doctor, and then it was just too late. Gina reveled in life, from Friday night at temple to her grandsons, to the every-day act of waking up warm and well-fed.

I guess I do need to ramble each week. I hope I continue to revel in life, thankful for all I have, and all I can still do in my life.

Busy week! I’ve been dutifully getting a list made each day, and I am being pretty successful at accomplishing everything. The biggest news….I FINALLY have all the names entered to be able to start the newsletter. Next week it should arrive in your mailboxes….a mere 16 months after the last one. I’ma workin’ on it……

Here’s a couple of pictures of what’s been happening this week. We are waiting on about 10 years of pima cotton to get started on our next big order, as well as a large order of paints. Meantime, hubby is planning to marble some small test pieces for a couple of projects. First up, a piece of linen that has wax on it. We met a wonderful batik artist up at StashFest in La Conner, Margot Bianca. You can check her Etsy store here. We spent a lot of time talking, and we’re going to marble a piece of linen, and then Margot will dye it, and she is going to batik a piece of already-marbled cotton. Should be a lot of fun to experiment. We’ll show results as they happen.

The studio is ready for marbling. We can dry in the garage, but sometimes for pretreating, it’s just easier, especially if there are mostly small pieces, to set up the drying racks in the studio. We sure do know how to maximize space!

And we do recycle, as you can see from the OJ bottles – they are perfect for keeping carrageenan as the bubbles disappear and then get stored in the refrigerator. We always cover up the rugs, even though we are obsessively neat, because the one time we don’t, paint will spatter…..

I am currently finishing a piece for my yoga instructor, as we are bartering: art for yoga lessons. You may recognize the piece….this is the “remains” of my “Shallows” piece, and it is in the process of becoming a triptych. More on that as it gets finished, hopefully by next week.

Still lots of shading, binding, lots of beads so that we have a small stream running through the three pieces. And of course, my lichen……

I’m also trying to start the pattern for the seasons wall hangings. I’ve got the ideas, and potentially the right fabric. Here’s spring….

…and here’s summer…..

I may actually combine the two…it will depend on how it works out.

There’s lots more on the list, including a new book I am starting on tutoring. I need to schedule significant writing time, along with all the sewing. So far, so productive!

I am still so far behind of getting caught up on blogs, even my most favorite ones. But slowly, slowly…I want to enjoy what’s out there!

Really cool shots from this week’s 365 Project. Love the rainbow water drops!!

Cromer High Tide by Paul

As usual, Alyson Stanfield has great advice in her ArtBiz Blog, “Quadruple Your Email Subscribers, and this week is no exception, especially in light of what I wrote yesterday in finally getting to a newsletter.

Now I am certainly behind the time, and this has already gone viral, but what a great story, Caine’s Arcade!

I still haven’t really figured out Pinterest, but I do know that since the TAFA list started using it, the amount of spam I am getting has really increased. So here’s an article I am going to pursue as I learn more about Pinterest.

If you’ve ever wanted to try ATC’s (Artist Trading Cards), here is a blog by Quilt Rat that takes you through the process. Her doodles are excellent.

I have a new guilty pleasure……(that’s how I felt about the ORIGINAL Survivor….), and that’s Fashion Star. I’m finding it absolutely fascinating, both the design and marketing process, and trying to guess which clothes will get a bid. Joan Beiriger’s blog looks at the show from the point of licensing tips.

I love Mamacita and her occasional rants on society and education. Here’s a good one…..

“Back in the day, as George Washington might have said if he’d had to, except he DIDN’T have to because in his day, violent people were dealt with promptly and in a way that mightily discouraged repeat performances, a teacher’s problems consisted of gum, untucked shirts, spitballs, and the occasional talking-back, all of which were dealt with swiftly and firmly.  The teacher was in charge; the parents respected the teacher; the principal usually backed up the teacher, and since decent people were respected back then, the student knew that to be a decent person, he/she needed to shape up or look forward to five to ten in the pen.  At the very least, to be deprived of any further free public educational opportunities, because frankly, those belong to learners, not destroyers.

“Said shaping-up to be done by the student, mind you.  Who else can do it?  Nobody, that’s who.”

Readers of my blog know I love most things zentangle, and now there are zendalas……nice and round. Here’s a couple from the zentangle blog:

Letters of Note always have something of interest from the great and the unusual. This is a letter about writing, from the venerable C. S. Lewis, with advice that definitely stands the test of time.

And on another note, from James Thurber, comes this delightful letter, quite the counterpoint to C. S. Lewis.

Let me know of cool stuff you find on the web this week!

It’s been a week since we got back from Seattle, and we’ve been busy doing a lot of catch-up and ordering of more fabric and paints. There were quite a few lessons from the event, most of them good ones.

First, we didn’t make all our expenses, with  the cost of the trip. But we did make enough to cover all the supplies (fabric, paints, bags, etc). We knew we’d be going for a vacation, so there was a certain amount we wanted to be able to make – at least the cost of preparing the stock, which we did. But we had a fabulous time. You can check out pictures from the StashFest here.

Second, next time we will bring up more than just cotton. We had originally planned on other fabrics but were talked out of it, since this show was being geared specifically to quilters. Out specialty fabrics that we did bring went very quickly, with lots of requests for more.

Third, bringing all the quilts (even though we worried about them being stolen from our car) was excellent. One of the results is we need to bring up a lot of unpolished satin next time, as that is what all the big art quilts were made from. The traditional quilts were a hit, as people could see how small pieces of fabric could be used in traditional blocks.

Fourth, we did get a good mailing list, and now I am really committed to getting out the regular newsletters. I set people up as a separate group, so when StashFest rolls around next year, they can get separate emails.

Fifth, I definitely have to get a garment from marbled fabric for me to wear at shows. That’s another whole audience to reach.

Sixth, lots of good connections, including two new commissions. We really loved talking to people, and the article from the National Quilting Journal was great to show the marbling process. There definitely are some things to change in the overall portfolio set-up.

Seventh, we had a chance to go through the quilt museum, and there were two great exhibits. Larkin Van Horn curated one called Deep Spaces, with some really gorgeous pieces. Carol Taylor had her “arc-i-texture” series, and I enjoyed seeing some of the other things she did with that technique. If you get to the area, check out the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum. The building is amazing, and the people are just great.

And there’s probably lots more, but the marketing is ramping up again, so I definitely plan on capitalizing on our first really big event!

So the Etsy shop was on hiatus while we went to Seattle and back. I’ve added lots of new fabrics in cotton and basically restocked the store. Now, we have had some movement within the store. Certainly more this past year than totally since I opened the shop. But I feel like there is so much more I can do. I need to get the links done to my TAFA (Textile and Fiber Arts list) profile, and just generally think about how I can market this. By the end of the month I expect to have silks and some other specialty fabrics in the shop.

Ebay has been great for small pieces of fabrics and remnant bags. In fact, remnants have been the big seller on eBay, so we’ll keep it that way. I will use Etsy for the specialty fabrics, and the fabrics that are more expensive. This is one of the ways I feel we can specialize, and at the same time differentiate product. I need to do some reading on getting an Etsy store to be productive, so that is one of my goals for the rest of this month. By the end of May I want to have a couple of pattern kits in the store, complete with fabric. I have two of the samples made, and I am ready to start writing the pattern, as well as complete the remaining two samples. That’s my May goal.

I have sold a couple of small quilts in the store, so I should think about increasing a few of those, especially around the holidays. Speaking of holidays, I have not been able to take advantage of buying for specific days…and Mother’s Day is coming up. I need to think about how to incorporate that.

All that said, here’s a look at the fabrics waiting for you and your projects, be they quilts, wearable art, or applique. Perfect for that creative person you know!!

  One of the interesting side-effects of our stay in the N0rthwest was a new appreciation for the color gray. I have a limited number of grays in my stash, and we have one gray color of paint we use in our marbling. We used to have six or seven when we used Ceramcoat paints for marbling, but since they changed formulas, we’re not happy with the pigment. So we get by with the one gray. Using only the one gray has caused us to see how that color can change when mixed with other colors, so we really can achieve some differences.

But after two weeks of gray and rain, there are so many shades of gray! Part of me wants to go out and start buying a lot of gray fabrics, which I really might have to do. Yellowed grays, blue-grays, green-grays. There are so many distinctions. For years I’ve always loved all the spring greens that happen once a year, and my stash reflects that. We were able to see a lot of that on our trip, and many of the places and trees reminded us of New England.  But I had never really focused on gray as its own color with all the variations. By the second day in Seattle, I could look out at the water and mountains and count probably ten different shades. Then I became really attuned to looking at the differences.

Here’s just a few examples.

The Crocker Museum in Sacramento. Glorious Victorian home.

The bridge at Deception Point on Whidbey Island, in the rain (of course) and few snow flakes, with some grayed greens.

It’s interesting that after a while I didn’t even notice the lack of sun…although I was very glad to see it reappear while going down the Oregon coast. Speaking of the Oregon coast….

Wild, wonderful, and rugged.

Along the beach road in Alki, part of Seattle.

One evening at sunset, looking to the west from Alki. A lone person paddling something by standing upright.

Klamath River rest area before heading into Oregon.

Snow……

So does this mean I choose my vacations based on a color I want to study? Hmmmm. Would love to hear your examples of realizing the range of one particular color.

Oh my goodness, life is busy! We returned on Monday from StashFest, a benefit for the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum, with lots of new momentum and ideas for the business. I’ll be addressing some of the marketing issues and challenges in a later post. For right now, there are lots of new things in the works, as well as some current projects to finish.

We have two commissioned orders awaiting us. One has gone in the mail today to England, and the other is awaiting fabric and paint to arrive. On my walk this morning, I set myself the task to come up with what my “spring” and “summer” designs would look like for my seasons quilts. The marbled fabric is all ready to go, and I now have two specific designs in mind. This was a little trickier than fall and winter, because I still wanted to keep the log cabin basis for the new quilts. I’m hoping by the end of May to have the two new quilts finished and the pattern pretty much ready to go. Then I can consider the marketing for the kits.

I have a commissioned piece – a three-part triptych – that will pay for my yoga lessons, so I want to get that completed by this weekend. I have several small quilts that I am going to take apart and requilt, based on what I am learning with this year’s free motion quilting challenge. April’s lesson, about creating your own stencil, will solve my problem about wanting to do snowflakes for an old holiday quilt. I’m looking forward to trying this. The three quilts that I have requilted were all big hits at StashFest, as they were god examples of how marbled fabric can be used in traditional blocks. And I had LOADS of great feedback on how wonderful my quilting was. Yay me!

Now that I have installed Quilt Album software, I need to start putting in my quilts, especially since as I am traveling more, I can create an album to show at any time. This ties in to the portfolio we took with us to StashFest. We were able to show the article about us and the actual process through pictures, examples of Bernina garments that used our fabric, and other interesting patterns we had. The portfolio needs some updating….need to get that on the to-do list.

I really want to get to the DVD on quilting various marbling patterns. I need to perhaps start with just a couple of tutorials, and then let that determine where I go from there. As my quilting skills increase and improve, it will be interesting to see how that transfers to the marbled fabric.

Mainly I want to do a lot of sewing, designing, and quilting. So many ideas in my head! Hopefully next week there will be actual pictures to show……

Ooooh, yeah, a great time was had by all on our trip to Seattle and back. 4000 miles on the car, loads of pictures, great friends, and lots of new connections. So here’s our top ten, in no particular order….

1. The Redwood coastal range. Majestic just doesn’t completely describe it. And driving through a tree…..

2. Alki Beach in Seattle. You have walking and bike paths around the whole peninsula tip.

3. Ferry rides – to Whidbey Island and Vashon Island. Great mode of transportation. The workers had to wake up one commuter. I can see where you could easily fall asleep! Loved Coupeville and talking with the guy running the coffee shop on the wharf. Having the sun come out and see Mt. Rainier.

4. Oregon Dunes coastline. Hey, the east coast has dunes, too, but NOTHING that big!

5. StashFest was a huge amount of fun, and the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum is spectacular!

6. Driftwood! So much, all over the place, and great textures.

7. The Seattle Aquarium…and the sea otters, and colorful coral, and a diver feeding the fish…..wonderful place.

8. Pike Market – so much fresh food! So this is what a farmer’s market should look like, not the anemic ones in Tucson.

9. Seeing friends.

10. Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. Judy Chicago, studio glass, an interesting take on the Terra Cotta warriors, and great prints. What an amazing Victorian setting.

Loads and loads of pictures, and I really enjoyed taking video of some of our adventures….have to figure those out, though, but on the iPad the trip is a joy to view.

Wow, I am so far behind in reading blogs….and I know I will no sooner get caught up then it will be time to leave for our trip. Ah, well, I’ve installed Google Reader on the iPad so I can follow along on the trip – I just haven’t quite figured out how to copy and paste URLs…..So how am I approaching this surplus of back blogs? I started with all the blogs with two or less entries. Got caught up on those and found some great eye candy. Next up will be purging the political blogs that have 50 entries or so….all they will do is make me irritated………

Anyway, from the 365 Project, more stunning photography – this site is always a delight! I love this pic:

Early Morning Fog by marlboromaam

A clever take on technology not working…this time at a TED talk. Be sure to follow the link for the story behind the story.

And if you liked that, here’s “Gotta Share – The Musical,” again breaking out at a conference.

From Sarah Ann Smith  and Art and Quilting in Camden comes a FABULOUS resource of EYE CANDY….NGA Images – thousands of images from the National Gallery of Art. And Sarah is right – MAJOR timesuck here!! And along with that comes The Art Project powered by Google….even more from the best museums in the world! Oh my! Here’s just a snippet of a screen shot….

…and you can set up your own collections…..Impressionists, here I come!

From Alyson Stanfield and the Art Biz Blog, comes some help on dealing with the new Timeline feature on Facebook – an opportunity for artists. “Tell the story of your art career on Facebook.”

I have missed not following Cool Hunting each day – they always have really interesting things. Here’s Metamorphabets.

“Viktor Koen takes pictures of renaissance rapiers in museum corridors. He hordes images of salmon steaks, microscopes, beheaded dolls and nautilus shells. From the thousands of archived shots, the Greek typographical artist composes unique alphabets from layers of objects.” Doesn’t that sound so cool?

And this last image led me to another blog, one that is political, but with a great message: You Don’t Make Peace with Your Friends from the Daily Beast. I encourage you, regardless of your political leanings, to look beyond to the message of peace.

Also by Emily Hauser, and closer to home: What is White Privilege? Let there be an arrest in the Trayvon martin murder.

Need some help designing a badge for your blog? SewCalGal – the amazing woman hosting the year-long free motion quilting challenge – has great instructions up on her blog. I’m headed to them when I’m back from Seattle.

And finally, from The Best Article Every Day comes 58 OMG Facts.

Have a great week!

Interesting post concerning a shopkeeper who had her Etsy store taken down unexpectedly. I too got a similar survey saying I had potentially violated some of the principles of Etsy. I answered their questions and emailed it right back, and I never heard anything else. I don’t even remember at this point what it was about. After reading this article, I’m glad I took the time to search through policies and look at the fine print.

Our Etsy shop is inactive right now, as we are involved in a major fiber presentation (StashFest) and all our product is with us, not in the shop. I plan to rebuild the shop with lots of new fabrics once we are back and done with special orders (we have three commissions awaiting our return).  We’ve had a domain name since 1997 – in fact, when it comes to e-commerce, we are really “old-timers.” There are a lot of good points in this article about understanding and handling your own business.

Our problem has been a problem with our email connected to our web address. Evidently we get blackballed every now and then….our email address is considered spam periodically. We usually stumble on the problem after not too much time has gone by and can arrange through our host to get the problem taken care of. I find it interesting that this happens. We were hit one time with a major spam attack, at least a decade ago (seems like it was the cube iMac we were on when it happened…). Cox has blocked our domain a number of times, and we have had to work around their services. They can’t give us a reason why they have blocked out address, and after it happens a couple of times, we have to find a way around it, which we have done, so there are usually no problems.

But I think the major point in the article was not to rely on only one outlet for selling your wares. Interesting, because there are times when I am convinced we are just spread too thin, and yet there are places we can expand. Interesting conundrum. As I’ve mentioned a number of time sin the Monday blogs, you can spend a lot of time doing your marketing; it is key to find your niche, understand the marketing/business strategies you are using, and still find time to make your art – do what drives you creatively.

All that said, I am ready to hit the bed (it’s Saturday night as I type this) and hopefully not dream about all the things that can go wrong with this show that we’ve been working so hard on for the last four months (not including the unexpected move we had to make). Hopefully we made enough lists that we haven’t forgotten anything critical. In fact, the first thing packed in the car was all the marbled fabric and the quilts. If you’re in the Seattle area, StashFest is a fund raiser for the La Conner Quilt Museum, the weekend of March 31 and April 1. Stop by and say hi to me and hubby and Marble-T Design.