Snow Day...

...today in Wisconsin (and Minnesota, and Iowa, and apparently a bunch of other places). It started out as the tiny pellet snow and continues to get icier as the day progresses. Now that the ice is turning the top layer into a crust, walking (and driving I suppose) is becoming more and more hazardous. Crash and I have been back from our evening walk and are warmed up again nicely. It will, however, take some time for the boots to dry off. Thank goodness I have more than one pair of boots!

I love when snow is on the ground--especially for the evening doggie walks. The illumination provided by the snow is a special bonus for us...it certainly improves my "iffy" night vision...and I would assume also improves the theoretical grayscale vision of dogs. Of course, I prefer the soft fluffy snow, but I've never been in control of the weather.

The "Girls Night Out" event mentioned a couple of days ago in this post went well. Again, the sticky note packs were quite popular (I'm glad I created more). I'm hoping that these will take off as a saleable item on Etsy, too, and with a couple of initial orders already, that might be the case. I'm promoting them like crazy on their online forums. Of course, "promoting like crazy" is a relative term...I'm looking for discussion threads that are actually relevant. These would make great stocking stuffers or gifts for teachers. Heck, even some teenagers might find them to be a fun addition to their backpack. And, yes, business folks who bring work home with them might like to add a pack or two to their briefcase. I now have 17 designs listed in the Sticky Note Pack section over on Etsy.

What to say today?

It's a wind chilling Thursday here in Wisconsin. The locals are struggling with the isolated television coverage for tonight's Green Bay Packers football game. I'm preparing for tonight's Girls Night Out event at Indigo Coffee & Tea. Crash, the dog, is reclined on the floor next to me with a tennis ball in his mouth--hoping that he'll get some more play time in before he goes to his crate-based den for the rest of my workday here at home.

Crash is starting to turn into a much more mellow guy than when he first came home with me in August 2006. He's a beautiful German Shepherd rescue dog who spent quite awhile as an abandoned dog in an apartment in Milwaukee. As a truly emaciated guy, he was brought into a foster home that worked really hard at getting his physical health back in shape, but his mental health wasn't great and his manners, well, he didn't have many. As a nearly full-grown 2-year-old, he was mouthing things (like my arm) as though he was still an itty bitty furball. He was completely unaware of things around him (hence his name change from the foster name of Malachi to Crash), and had to be led to the water bowl to get him to drink. Everything was too much stimulation for him. The TV. People (especially men). Dogs. Bikes.

I honestly didn't think we'd make as much progress as I now realize we have made. The first 6 months were really difficult, but eventually we learned enough about each other to work through the toughest times and reach understanding. Two of the best things that have worked with Crash are ample exercise time and for me to learn how to act as the alpha dog to a dominant dog who had been master of his own domain for such a long time. Plus, learn to be the alpha dog even on days when I feel vulnerable, tired, or ill.

I know that I used to practice these things when my son was much younger and living with me...but I also know that upholding the alpha position day in and day out is extremely stressful for me, and with outside stressors on top of that, I know that I lost the alpha position from time to time, and sometimes for extended periods of time. Now my buddy Crash can deal with a lot of things, but this summer as a guy rode his bike out in front of my home as he was running a dog on his leash, Crash still perceived this triple combo as a bit of a threat. But, relatively speaking, barking for a minute at something that is a known trigger is soooooo much better than a 5-minute anxiety attack.

Thanks again to Crash for bringing a little bit of spark back to my life and for challenging me back from some extremely difficult and depressing times. I think he's got a bit of Bittersweet spirit in him...

Yippee--I Finished a Website Design today!

I love it when something gets "finished." Yes, of course, a website is NEVER finished, in that it is meant to be a dynamic entity that will reflect the changes of whatever it represents. However, putting it out there in virtual space still offers a bit of excitement and leaves me feeling a sense of accomplishment.

The website is for Indigo Coffee & Tea, a local Fair Trade coffeehouse and gallery where I also display eclectic pieces of my art. I've mentioned them in this blog a number of times...and, since having artwork over there has been a positive consignment adventure for me, as have my interactions with the owners of the shop, how can I NOT do whatever I can to promote them?

: )

Designing for the holidays...

Today was the day to design holiday cards, so I pulled out a design that I've been noodling with for about 7 years or so. It was great to see the piece grow from a sketch into a final product, which is now available from my CafePress shop as regular size greeting cards and notecards. Notecards are also available locally from Indigo Coffee and Tea and at the 28th Annual Holiday Craft Boutique.

Black Gold - Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Will be shown at Indigo Coffee & Tea at 300 South Main Street in Verona, WI at 7 PM on Friday, May 11. Visit the new coffee house, enjoy a cuppa (insert divine beverage here), see the lovely art, mingle, and watch the movie. Learn more at www.blackgold.com.

Sold! Burst of Energy...

A square version of Burst of Energy just sold this morning at Indigo Coffee and Tea, a local coffee/teahouse that also contains gallery and gift shop items, and the owner of the shop called me to let me know that it sold--gotta love good communication! Now I have to decide which of my square items to put up there as a replacement...

Side note: information about the first Etsy WIST (Wisconsin Street Team) meet-up has been posted

Quick solutions...

Sometimes innovation is due to necessity. I found that the shelf that I had over at Indigo Coffee and Tea was a little smaller than I expected, and the location was not amenable to the earrings that I was hoping to display. So, with a little bit of sawing, drilling, and glueing, there is now a sweet little earring tree placed on the countertop over at the coffeehouse ready for their opening day on Monday, April 2.

And if you want to build a quick earring tree for foldover earring cards, just pick up a couple of things at the hardware or sundries store (or root through your existing supplies): two wood screws, some 1 x 1 square wood (I used a foot length), 3 foot dowels about a quarter inch in diameter (I made 6 branches about 8 inches long each from 2 dowels with leftovers), a wooden plaque (I added a photo frame around the plaque) to use as the base, wood glue, and some cork (or felt). You'll need a drill and a drill bit suitable for a pilot hole for your wood screws and one that's the same size as your dowel, and some kind of saw to make 90-degree cuts. First mark you foot-long 1-inch stock 1 inch, 3 inches, and 5 inches from the top (centered to the 1-inch width), and then rotate the stock a quarter turn and mark at 2 inches, 4 inches, and 6 inches from the top. Drill holes the size of your dowels straight through each of the marked locations on the face of the stock where you marked. Use a saw to create either 6 equal dowel lengths (8 inches) or 2 each of 3 graduated lengths (8, 10, and 12 inches), or be even more creative with 6 different graduated lengths (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 inches). Begin assembling the tree by inserting each of your branches through the drilled holes (adding a touch of wood glue to the drilled hole before inserting the dowel or to the dowel itself before positioning it in it's final location). Flip the trunk of your tree upside down and drill pilot holes for 2 screws in the what will be the base. Drill the same configuration of holes in your wooden plaque base. Screw both screws flush or countersunk from the bottom of the plaque base through and into the tree trunk base. Two screws will help prevent rotation... Glue cork or felt to the bottom side of your plaque base, allow the glue to dry, and you've got a lovely jewelry tree!

Of course, I shoulda taken a photograph of the tree, but I need to build a couple more, so as soon as they're built, I'll add photos here!

Coasting to Indigo

I've finished the staining and finishing processes for my coaster sets, one of the first set of items I will be featuring in the gift shop of Indigo Coffee and Tea, a new coffeehouse here in Verona, WI. I'm quite pleased with the Procion MX dyes I used to stain the boxes. There's some color variations, but they add character, so all's good!

There are four sets, examples are shown throughout this blog. I've thoroughly enjoyed putting the final touches on these boxed sets of coasters--after fretting about a number of the details regarding the boxes. The container boxes that I selected for these sets have a recessed box top, perfect for display of the customer's favorite coaster right on top of the box. My biggest concerns for displaying these items in a store was that potential customers would want to open the boxes and see the coasters within, so I fashioned a "strapping tape" and fabric ribbon temporary closure.

As a last minute addition, I selected brass corners for all 8 of the corners on each box. I'm pleased with how the corners add a little more character and shine to these stained boxes, especially when all 4 coasters would be in use and the box empty.

Voila! Abstract Coasters a la Edna M. Kunkel. : )