Category Archives: General

yikes

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somehow that title from yesterday- getting there- seems like it is laughing at me today. No more wide open spaces-

In the middle of the day yesterday it all seemed so sad. I was pulling down the old studio, packing things enough to be ready for the boys that were scheduled to move it downstairs. Now I am feeling overwhelmed with the challenge of making it workable again. It is probably a good thing that I am going away for a bit. Hopefully, when I get back, I will be able to approach the room with fresh eyes and ideas.

I am not sure if I will be back to post before I leave on Sunday, so it might be quiet around here for a week or more. Then again, who knows!

getting there

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the continuing saga of the studio…

On Monday afternoon I declared the fixing up part of the project finished.

On Tuesday morning we started rearranging furniture. I live in the kind of environment where gridlock was a serious worry. By the end of the day though, some serious obstacles had been moved out of the room and the main pieces of studio furniture were in.

This is the room on Tuesday morning-

Futon sofa on the right. Blanket box under the left-hand window. File cabinet. That is what needed to go out.

Doors closed and doors opened. Nice closet. I didn’t repaint the closet, but I washed the walls and ceiling. Can you see how fantastic the door looks with the frosted glass? Still lots of tools and supplies in the room.

And, here is the room this morning (Wednesday).

From the hall-

Flat file and two desks in place- sort of. I bought the flat file back in March. I am planning to organize all my various threads in it. The large desk is now down from the (old) studio. The small desk was one that my son used for years.

I found the perfect storage rack on Craigslist. It is deep- 24″- metal and, it has wheels!

The file cabinet is still in the room- well at least the shell of it. The drawers are now in the attic. I will work around it until it can be carried up by someone other then me or Ben.

And here is what the door looks like from the hall, when it is closed-

I am going to hire a few hours of heavy lifting tomorrow and hopefully get most of the bins, books, babies, bolts of cloth, bobbins, buttons, bobbles… and all the other letters of the alphabet, downstairs. Then the reorganization. Hopefully, I will get back to serious work in the first week of August. My middle son is coming home from the west coast tomorrow and will be working as my intern until he goes back to school in Minnesota in a month or so. Oh, and in the midst of all this, I am going to Orlando, Florida next week to help my sister-in-law at CHA…

Okay, deep breaths!

going along 2

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There have finally been some nice sunny days after many rainy ones and that means that Ben and I head out for a woodsy spot to look for mushrooms. We haven’t had much luck finding any, but it is always a good excuse for a stroll in the woods. Lately, our favorite spot is bordered by a cemetery and I’ve been studying the headstones.

I always notice the unusual names- Adeliza

Amaryllis- (remember in the Music Man?)

Asaetta-

I guess A names were popular for girls in the 1800’s.

There were a number of graves with oak leaf motif- something I haven’t noticed before.

The willows are more common-

The lichen on this one is beautiful. And on the bottom, the inscription says- Noble, Wise and Generous. I think we would all like to be remembered for that.

I love this one- great image and great name-

Ben had better luck finding mushrooms without me.

going along 1

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I’m way behind- here is the market report.

The market was last Saturday- it was one of those “paying your dues” kind of events.

Can you see where my tent is set up? Right next to the bus stop? Air quality, poor.

And it was windy. I’ve never experienced a windy market day. I think it might be worse then rain. I am going to have to do some booth redesign to address it.

I met some nice people and had some great conversations. Surprisingly, several people who were very enthusiastic about my work- so I assumed were interested in art and/or craft- had never heard of Etsy. My being surprised might say more about me then them.

I won’t be showing (in person) again until October, when I will be at the South End Open Market with Boston Handmade.

I still have room in my next tiny world class on 8/13. Email me, if you are interested. More info here.

classes- taking and teaching

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woo-hoo! I made a flag in my class today!

I’m going to put it in my booth at the show on Saturday!

I’ve had three classes so far. The first 2 days we tried out photoshop and today we worked in InDesign. The first 2 days were totally stressful. There are 3 middle-aged ladies in the class and then a whole bunch of teenagers. I know nothing about photoshop. Apparently a beginning class doesn’t actually start where I am. The teenagers already seem to know it all and never ask any questions. The 3 others (us) are the ones squeaking “help?”. I moved my seat today so that I was sitting next to someone else who is equally clueless- then I can grab the teacher every time she is near my neighbor. Today went better- I an working on a calendar.

I will be teaching another Tiny World class here in Arlington on Thursday, August 13. All the info is the same as here except the date. Email me at mimik@pobox.com if you’d like more info or would like to sign up.

show report

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finally! My show report- I am sure you were all holding your breath, right?

This past Sunday I was at the South End Open Market with my Etsy street team, Boston Handmade. I feel as though I passed some test because I survived my first rainy set-up. Real life doing an outdoor market. Here is a photo of the booth- mostly ready. I used a tent and thank goodness I had the sides, but the water pooled on the roof and dripped through in places. My banner got wet but survived just fine.

The rain poured down all through the set up time, but mostly stopped by 10:30 or so and crowds started showing up around 11.

I had a great day. My sales expectations were low since my prices are a lot higher then casual impulse buying. I sold a few things- that sweet yellow swaddled baby and one tiny world- both to repeat customers. The people who sell and the people who show up to buy are cheerful and enthusiastic. It is always fun.  I know that if I approached things differently, I would sell better.  If I want it to work for me, I need to go regularly and then people would get used to my work and the prices- that is how it works for me on Etsy and my blog. I just don’t have the energy to focus on both live markets and the internet marketing right now. And so, everything is in my Etsy shop.

The highlight of my day was a surprise visit from Kristin! I knew she was going to be in Boston for a job and I am so glad she found the time to come to the market. I haven’t seen her in 2 years! Hurray for internet friends!

Here is our Boston Handmade sign, before things got going in the morning.

Next show- Boston Handmade Marketplace on July 11 in Union Sq. Somerville. Guess I better get back to work!

summer show schedule

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I will be showing my work at the following places in the next few months-

Sunday, June 14- Boston Handmade will do a group appearance at the South End Open Market.

Saturday, July 11 (raindate Sunday, 7/12)- Boston Handmade Somerville Marketplace in Union Square.

Saturday, July 25- Boston Handmade at the Concord (NH) Arts Market

Sunday, Oct. 18- Boston Handmade at the South End Open Market.

little guy 2

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I’m getting over the plaid but still thinking about images of boys in the 50s and 60s. Here is the first little guy. I was also inspired by the cover illustration on this book– Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino.

Thanks for everyone who volunteered to test the pattern. I have now moved onto phase 2 of this pattern thing! I will let you all know when it is customer ready.

patterns- a survey

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wow, wow, wow!!! I am so thrilled by the response to the pattern on Purl Bee– from now on she will be referred to as purl girl. This is totally inspiring me to do my own pattern. A couple of things about me- I get overwhelmed and so thinking about doing a pattern suddenly seems enormous with too many decisions to make. And, I get easily discouraged- if I make a pattern and it’s a flop, I probably won’t try again.

So- I thought it’d be fun to do a survey. What pattern should I try first. The choices are- tiny world, kitty, tiki pillow, or sweater baby.

all of these would be doable by someone with basic sewing skills- nothing fancy.