Got the Asthma Blues....

Oh, not me. I'm fine. It's my son.

He gets severe asthma when he gets a chest cold, and well, he has a chest cold. Therefore, asthma. I could not control it with peak flow meter readings and nebulizer treatments as I usually can, so he had to pay a visit to the doctors earlier this week. The result? He doesn't have bronchitis, just a chest cold. However, this cold is making it difficult to get control of his asthma, so he has to take a 5-4-3-2-1 course of steroids (prednisone). We started them Tuesday evening and his peak flow still isn't where it should be as of last night.

In turn, my staff meeting this past Monday has been all in vain, I think. I have not been able to tackle barely anything on the list, and I become frustrated! But then, I stop and think of how many jobs I got in so much trouble or actually fired from because of missing days due to my son's asthma. I then remember that I work for myself now and that I can always work double time next week to catch up. Then the frustration turns to gratefulness as I realize that I can take care of my son the way I am supposed to without fear of getting scolded or being put on probation when I get back to work. My priorities in life are God #1, husband and children #2 and then work is #3, and since I have been out of the mainstream work-force, I can actually uphold those priorities. I guess I need Jacy to have a bad bout of asthma every once in a while to remind me of that!

The One Woman Staff Meeting?

If you have ever been to a staff meeting, you know how ridiculously boring they are. So why, in my right mind, would I purposely subject myself to a staff meeting? And how can I do it when there is only one of me? The answer is simple.

In any business, it is imperative to hold staff meetings at least monthly. This makes all departments accountable for their responsibilities. How is a one-woman-business any different? Sure, there is only one of me, but don't forget how many hats I wear. Production Manager, Marketing Manager, Accountant, Sales Team...the list could go on. Even though it is only me, I am still responsible for all of the jobs that come with those titles. What keeps me accountable?

A weekly One Woman Staff Meeting. I "report" on the progress of production, inventory and purchasing; what marketing efforts have been installed and what results they produced. How sales have been and how I intend to increase them. How the yearly budget is holding up and review of current financial statements. I know it can be so easy to overlook, but have you ever heard of a business that did not have a staff meeting from time to time? They are so important for keeping everyone on the same page. Even if it is only you and a bunch of hats. The meetings don't have to take much time, either. Mine usually lasts 15 - 20 minutes tops. This time is spent reviewing the things I mentioned above, drawing lists of things to do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis and brainstorming for new ideas.

Really, what have you got to lose? Try holding a staff meeting weekly for your business. You would be surprised how much more organized you will be by the next month!

Custom Order...

Before Christmas, I had a customer contact me about making her a custom order. Her request? A button corsage for her mother to wear to her upcoming wedding. Well, this was such a new venture for me as I mainly work in jewelry and only dabble in fabrics and fibers for fun. She was so thrilled with it, she had me create another one for the mother of the groom! Of course, that one is not pictured, but it is slightly different with enough similarities to make it match. Hmmm...

I had so much fun creating it that I just may add them to my product line. See how cool custom orders can be!

D-Day...A Little Early

First of all, really take a look at this photo. The men are in the Higgins boats approaching the beach. Now, take a look at the actual beach. Gaze for just a minute at the hell they were heading for. Totally unexpected of the hell that was really waiting for them. Sheesh, that's crazy.

What made me think of D-Day today? Two things:

1. Not having my computer all day (still waiting for my adapter cord)
2. A historic broadcast.

I collect as many sound files as I can of World War II. The majority of them are American music and both approved Grundfunk music of Germany and forbidden music not approved by Goebbels. But I have a sweet little collection of news and commercial files from America, Germany and England (British). To make a long story short, I got a hold of a grouping of sound files before Christmas with the intent to wait until June to listen to them: 24 hours of programming on CBS radio on D-Day! What a sweet find! I simply could not wait any longer and have been listening to them.

What has struck me the most? Hearing the detailed accounts from journalists who were in the planes during the parachute drops. Knowing what is going on at those beaches. Knowing that at that exact moment, these kid's mothers were listening to these same reports totally clueless that their sons were attending and witnessing all of this, as well as being slaughtered in the operation. It was a secret operation, don't forget. For the first hour of the sound files, the American radio thought all the transmissions from Germany about Allied forces showing up on the beach were a trap or deceit for Americans and didn't believe it. Not until they finally got confirmation from the war department that Americans are in fact storming the beaches of Normandy.

Think about that for a little while. What every soldier involved in that conflict saw and experienced that day.

The Dirty Downstairs Studio...and computer woes...

Wouldn't know this was a studio, would you? Told you it was bad. The problem with this studio is that everyone decides to dump their crap in it. Ooooh, that get's me so mad! There is my son's drum accessories he is not using, my husband's tools and junk he is too lazy to walk over to his work bench, all the left over Christmas wrappings and boxes that things came in the mail. My step-daughter's junk in boxes and bins along the back wall. I mean, it's not like they don't have their own place to keep it in, and yet, here it sits in my studio. It's never ending.

Yea, about that. It's my work table. Too bad there's no room to work on it!

Oh, and let's not forget about the treadmill that everyone just had to have that sits in the middle of my studio floor!

Well, my laptop AC adapter crapped out today (I'm currently using my husbands), so I will be without a computer during the day until the new one comes in the mail. Therefore, I shall be using my daily computer time down in this studio cleaning and organizing. Perhaps by the weekend I will be able to share pictures of what it SHOULD look like and what it WILL continue to look like.

I apologize that I will not be doing much dropping and blog-surfing this week. I simply refuse to give up my evenings unless it is for a show the next day or a back up of custom orders. When you own your own business, you really need to maintain lines of demarcation of when you will have your personal time. Even when you love your job, you really must get away from it lest it become work :)

Learn Something New in 2010!

So every new year, I set a goal to learn a new technique to add to my repertoire. The year before, it was metal working. Last year it was tatting. This year I am really stretching my creative abilities by learning something that takes much more patience than tatting:

The Art of Millinery

Why millinery? Well, for several reasons:

1. Who doesn't simply adore those cute little hats from the 30's and 40's?
2. It satisfies my urge for nit-picky finely detailed sewing.
3. I can incorporate some higher-end buttons on the pieces I create.

I'm not planning to getting into big hats like cloches or brimmed hats, but the cute little half hats and small hats adorned with beads, laces and feathers...with the addition of sweet little buttons! I learned felting a couple years ago and finally have a use for all that wool that I carded sitting in boxes in the basement.

I am in the process right now of sewing a canvas poupee to stretch the felt over for the hat bases. I would love to have a wood hat block, but have you seen the prices on them?! What if this little venture doesn't work out and I'm stuck with a $200 hat block that I will never use again? The best option was to make a poupee. So, we will see what happens. Perhaps it will work enough to warrant purchasing a wood hat block in the future!

So, spill it! What new technique are you planning to learn this year?

My dear friend, Duni from Lovely Purses has tagged me, so now you get the spill on a bunch of useless information about me that almost crosses the line of stalker-dome! But it's fun, so here goes:

Your hair burgundy.

Your favorite food anything Bavarian!

Your favorite drink any peppermint tea blend (Stash tea has such an incredible variety).

Your dream/goal to keep working my business successfully until God takes away the use of my hands.

Your hobby collecting books, reading and researching World War II.

Your fear attending the funeral of one of my children (It's a Meyerhoefer curse - my generation hasn't seen theirs yet).

Where were you last night watching Jawbreaker with my daughter, then retreat to the bedroom to finish reading C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters.

Something you say all the time "Really? REALLY?"

Something you are not miserable.

Wishlist item Nikon D700 DSLR camera (yea, right!).

Last thing you did drop my kids off at school - the roads were terrible!

What are you wearing grey Aero comfy pants, black and grey Fair Isle sweater, fuzzy comfy socks. Yup, I work in comfortable clothes!

Your pets Herr Lukas (dog), Miss PennyKat (obviously kitty), Bruce (columbian shark), and the crowd in the saltwater tank: P. Jammie (pajama cardinal), Tiny (pajama cardinal), Tony (black clown fish - his wife Anne the orange clown fish died this summer), Prince William (royal gamma), My Brother Darryl (blue chromis - Other Brother Darryl died this summer) and finally Benny (engineer goby) and the Jets (the crabs and shrimps).

Friends lots of them all over the world! Very few local super-close ones :)

Missing someone my brother Gregg - died of melanoma cancer in 2005.

Something you're not wearing ummmm shoes?

Your favorite store any fabric, beading or metals supply store.

Your favorite color black and yellow.

The last time you cried My step-son's (Dave) father's funeral just before Christmas. Dave's parents had him late in life, so they are much older. His father was sick, but beat so many things that the doctors never thought he would. At the funeral, he gave a little speech in which his last sentence will forever be ingrained in my memory: "...and now I'm left dealing with something I thought would never happen."

The last time you laughed watching Jawbreaker with my daughter last night. If you did not see this movie, you absolutely have to! Wickedly funny (stupid catty high-school betches!).

One place that you go to over and over either my studio or my library.

Where do you eat at home. I hate eating out...everyone puts garlic in everything and I'm allergic to garlic!

So, there you have it...more info about me than you probably wanted to know!
Too keep it in the spirit, I'm passing this on to four blog friends:

Katherine of The Queen Speaks
Paige of Lenox Knits
Gayle of This Artists Journey
Rachel of Huggermugger

Why I Got Absolutely NO Work Done on Monday...

It's Because of the Warmie-Things!

Warning**** this post turned into a tutorial!

Please tell me you know what a warmie-thing is. It is one of those little pouches made of fabric that is filled with either cracked corn, rice or buckwheat in which you toss in your microwave to heat for various reasons: to warm up, to put on a sore muscle or to alleviate cramps. We have one warmie-thing in the house. Mine. We used to have more - each kid had their own. However, as hard as kids are on their stuff, theirs eventually developed holes. What comes out of the holes? Whatever is inside, of course! All over the place!

On Monday, I needed a warmie-thing real bad for the latter reason. Well, my son uses the warmie-thing to warm up after eating slushies. He also has this annoying habit of forgetting where he puts it. So, after an hour long hunt and being so unsuccessful in finding it, I decided to retreat to the studio (nice and clean, now) and make a warmie-thing. But not just one...three...so the kids will leave mine alone once again.

Here's how to make your own warmie-thing:

First, I start by cutting a piece of muslin to construct the actual warmie-thing. I cut the fabric so that it folds in half lengthwise. After folding it in half, I sew a seam along one short end and the long end to make a tube with one end sewn. Clip your corners. Turn the tube right-side out and sew a 1/8" seam along the edge you have just sewn. This serves as a reinforcement so that the seam doesn't split and stuff doesn't fall out everywhere. Now, for the filling. I use cracked corn from my local feed store. It is super cheap and doesn't tend to smell rank over time as rice does. Besides, it kind of smells like popping corn when you warm it and who doesn't like that smell?! You can use buckwheat or flax seed (which I believe holds the heat the best), but it can be pricey and you are going to need a lot!

Pour 1/2 cup of cracked corn into your tube. Fold the fabric over the lump of corn inside and place on your sewing machine. Gently fold the fabric back down to lay flat and sew a seam going perpendicular to the short edge. This creates a little chamber to hold the corn, otherwise it will all gather at one end. Not cool. Continue to do this for the remainder of the length of tube. My warmie-thing has 9 chambers sewn into it. When you are doing your last chamber on the end, simply fold the fabric end over twice (as if you would with a bag of potato chips) and sew a seam on top of it. You can refer to pictures above.

Now you have your warmie-thing! However, you may want to make a cover for it if you used muslin. The other option is to make the actual warmie-thing out of calico instead of muslin. I prefer to use muslin and make a cover for it for two reasons: 1) the cover reduces the wear on the warmie-thing which reduces the chance of a seam busting or other tears and 2) should you develop a tear, anything that spills out of the bag will stay in the cover. No mess! It is a matter of preference, really. A cover is not necessary.


This is how I made my covers:
I chose fabrics of interest for the recipient (my son's is camoflague, my daughter's is music notes and instruments, mine is those cool fishies!). I doubled my fabric right sides together (not on the fold) and laid the warmie-thing on top. Using a chalk pencil, I marked the fabric an estimated 1/2" further than every chamber seam as it lies on the fabric. Doing this will ensure your cover is a little bigger to accommodate the warmie-thing but not so big that it is swimming inside the cover. After you have totally marked it, remove the warmie-thing from the top. Cut the fabric on the lines you just made. At this point, I finished the fabric on one end (so be sure to accommodate for this. I basically cut the cover 2" longer than the actual warmie-thing. I then folded the edges on one end separately and seamed them down. Dang, I wish I would have taken pictures while I did this! Place your pieces right side together again and sew a 1/4" seam around the remaining three edges. Clip your corners, turn right side out, press and slip your warmie-thing inside. Tada!

Two extra things I did: I made my hemmed end to fold like a pillow sham. For ease, you can just make it like a regular pillow case. I then tacked that end lightly with button thread to keep the warmie-thing from slipping down into the tube. You may still want to do this. That way, if the warmie-thing slips inside, simply grab the tacking on the one end and shake down. Your warmie-thing will settle inside as it should be.

Finally, here is me showing you how long mine is. I apologize for the picture - it is so dark and dreary here in New York and I am using the mirror in the kid's bathroom (which I am embarrassed to say is soooooo dirty!)

So, there you have it. Now you know why I didn't get any work done on Monday. I spent all day in the studio making three of these! The worst part? By the time I was finally done, my cramps subsided :(

Now, go make a warmie-thing...just keep them away from your kids. You may never see it again!

The Clean Studio!

Okay...as promised, here is the clean studio! Products left from the Christmas rush reside on this shelving system. Clients will come to my house, come up to the studio and shop right from the shelves. Many times they will become inspired by something to which I allow them to paw through my buttons and beads selecting desired colors and such. I will then make their piece for them right before their eyes. I have one particular client that does this on a regular basis. Just before Christmas, she came over announcing that it was her daughter's birthday that day and needed something special for the day. I promise you, she left happy with her daughter's birthday present!

This is where most the bead work and sewing gets done. I have the treadle machine stand to the left (the original head is in the basement) and put my regular sewing machine away when it is not in use. When I am not sewing, it usually serves as a laptop stand for my music files to fill the studio! The desk is an old computer table, but the sliding component under the top where you would normally put your keyboard makes a perfect beading board. If I'm not finished with a project, I simply slide it away and fear not for anything getting messed or damaged! My bead stash is stored to the left on the wall and in sliding drawers on the table top.

And, of course, the tools, more beads and misc. stuff. The basket is buttons that have to be sorted and put away.

Now, for the button area. The dresser stores my personal button collection. This is the collection that gives me pleasure and would rather die than use them for work! I'll do a post about this later. On top of the dresser is jars and jars of work buttons. These are mainly plastics sorted by color, wood, shell, celluloid, Bakelite, vegetable ivory, and fabrics. My rhinestones are stored in a small wood box on the floor to the right of the dresser.


Closer view of my jars. I love them because they remind me of an old-time store with jars filled to the top with candy!


To the left of the dresser, you will notice a grey metal box. This is an old, old button sales box I picked up at a button auction years ago. The box is full of buttons to use for work including glass, black glass, ceramics, metal, horn, rubber, shell, wood; all sorted by size. The above picture shows the size of the drawers when they are pulled out. It took me literally forever to sort all these buttons as you can imagine!


one of the drawers...


another drawer...

Now, for the closet. In the closet, I store my fabrics, embellishments, jewelry wire, batting, trims....tons of stuff.

This closet is completely jam packed. To hid it when company needs the bed, I made a curtain from light blue vintage print calico fabric in which I have tied back right now.

And, of course, the dresser is filled with my fabric stash! I receive lots of comments about how much stuff I have. Please understand that this is the culmination of years of collecting this stuff (garage sales, estate sales, button auctions, mom's stash reductions and the many trips to Joann Fabrics or Hobby Lobby!) All of this used to reside in boxes in the basement until I finally got to the point in my business where I needed an actual working space to keep this stuff from infiltrating the rest of the house. I can't think of a more fun addiction than to crafting stuff!


And, of course, we can't forget the infamous bed! I made the headboard out of plywood cut in an art-deco design (the pillows kind of hide it). I lined it with super thick synthetic batting and covered it with a sage green suede cloth that is pulled tight and stapled to the back. I made the quilt out of an old vintage quilt top my mother picked up at an antique shop. I used a light blue backing and wool batting, then hand-quilted around all the Dresden plates, hand-quilted a rope pattern on the blue strips and tied a bunch of french knots in yellow embroidery floss on the crosses in the middle of the Dresden plates. As for the throw pillows, I took some of the left over sage suede cloth, cut them into large circles and appliqued old doilies on top of each other on the top of the pillow. Sew them together, fill with polyfill and Bang! Coordinating throw pillows!

Well, if you have lasted this long in this post, I commend you! I apologize for the length, but it is so picture-heavy!

So now, get in your studio, take some pics and write a post about it! I would love to see your studio, too! Show me where you indulge in your creative splendour!

The Dirty Studio!!!

So, here's what it looked like before I spent an entire day putting things away and organizing. Please forgive the blurry pictures. I think I was shaking when I took them in dreading anticipation of how I was going to clean this room up! Oh, about the bed. This was originally a guest room. As you all know, I am a big 40's fan and World War II buff. When one of the bedrooms freed up as one of the kids moved out, I was destined to make it a guest room *slash* my personal World War II retreat with war time decor. Well, I need somewhere to sleep when the hubby has bad snoring nights! I painted the walls 1930's french country colors (cornflower and pale yellow) and since I could not find a reproduction 1940's wallpaper that I could afford, I painted one wall the blue color and stenciled on a wallpaper pattern in a darker blue. You can kind of see it a little bit behind the jewelry display. I collected lots of 1940's stuff from prints to magazines to decorative glassware and books published in the late 30's / early 40's (even some German books in that beautiful gothic type-print. More about the German stuff later). Well, when it came time for me to make a studio to keep my stuff in and free up the rest of the house, I had to use the guest room (more about the spare-room fight later). I am hoping eventually I can turn it back into a guest room, but for now, I find many hours of solace cranking my 40's music and creating!

Lots more messes....

and messes.....

and messes! In fact, I avoided it for most of my Christmas vacation as I was so overwhelmed with the amount of work I was facing! You know how the Christmas business rush is. Just when you think you have a grip on things, several more custom orders come in! The sad thing is that I haven't even touched the studio downstairs! Yes, I have two studio's. The upstairs studio (this one on the second floor) is for jewelry and sewing. The downstairs studio (in the basement...don't worry, it's a finished basement, well, sort-of) is my painting, metal working and book / journal creating studio. The place I don't care if I get paint, chemicals and adhesive all over the floor! Plus, there is running water down there which I don't have in the upstairs studio.

At any rate, it is totally spotless now. Tomorrow I will post pictures of the clean studio. Later this week, I'll show you why I got no business work done today and then I'll get into the German thing and the spare-bedroom fight further!

Now, go clean your studio!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go!

Yup, start of a new year, start of a new week. After two weeks vacation and the busiest part of retail life, it's back to work.

To be honest with you, while I enjoyed this time off, I am sort of glad to get back to work. Sure, I need to have my staff meeting so every department is on the same page (even though I am the only staff!), but I am kinda craving getting back into the grind. I actually spent some time over the vacation cleaning my studio. You wouldn't believe how messy it was. I'm thinking of posting the pictures tomorrow, so if you are curious, come back tomorrow to see the destruction!

I need to close my books for 2009 and plan for upcoming pieces. Towards the end of the year, I was reviewing ideas to branch out my market and if you make a visit to my Etsy shop, you will see that my categories changed. Sure, I love to make jewelry, but my interests have been branching out to other areas, too.

So, as you get back into the grind again, is it something you look forward to? What is your most favorite task? Least favorite task?

Happy New Year!!!!

Here's to a wonderful 2010! Thank you to all the readers of this blog for all the support in the last year, even when I was at times AWOL trapped in this thing called life!

Cheers to you!