Craft Anarchy

I Love Fluevog Shoes!

2011-07-11T15:41:00.000-06:00

I'm rocking a funky bright red pair of John Fluevog mary jane shoes today, and decided to add John Fluevog to my twitter. And then got caught up in browing the beautiful shoes on their website. An hour later, I discovered their open source adverts. They put an open call on their website to designers to design a poster for a specific new launching shoe.

This makes sense - who better to advertise for them, than devoted fans? Why spend gobs of money on advertising when there's bound to be hundreds of graphic designers who would love the chance to take credit for designing one of their advertisements? I love the concept of bringing the company and the consumer together. If you win, you get the bragging rights of claiming you designed their ad. You also get a $1000 credit to their store. They get awesome ads, you get fame and shoes. It's win/win.

I looked at two styles that will be launching soon - both with a due date of August 31, and figured this will be my summer craft project. I don't have a LOT of spare time, but this shoe spoke to me, and I've practically got that money spent. The shoe I'll be designing an ad for is the On Course Portside shoe. It's funky and linear and will be the first pair I purchase with my money once I've won. Check it out: http://www.fluevog.com/code/fc_briefs.php?brief=20 (link goes to the design brief in case you want to be my competition for the ad)
Here are some other submissions: http://www.fluevog.com/code/fc_gallery.php?brief=19

May the best design win!

New Craft Project - another blog??

2011-07-10T13:41:00.000-06:00

Okay, I know you think I've too much to do. You ALL have told me this. And despite quitting my second job, and limiting the number of committees and boards I sit on, you all STILL tell me that I'm way too busy. And now I have a new blog. Don't fret dear and faithful readers (all two of you!) I still love you and will post every few months or so still on the wonders of my world. But I've decided to write a blog all about the print industry. It's an effort to become the social media guru of Leduc. I am on FaceBook, my business is on Facebook. I am on Twitter, my business is on twitter. I have a blog, my business now has a blog. And besides, I spend more time on work, so it makes sense that I blog about work. And quite frankly, I still have a LOT to say. I NEED more ways to say it. So here it is. Please check it out for insights and updates in the print industry. It's a culmination of my entire life's work. Validate me. Please.
http://mmpleduc.blogspot.com/

And when you're bored reading both of my blogs, check me out on FaceBook: www.facebook.com/AlanaGueutal
I'm also on twitter: @MissG1978

I am a FanGirl! I am a GeekGirl!

2011-06-15T23:23:00.000-06:00

I was at my "super professional" business group - of which I am the president, and started talking to a fellow member about my love of comic books and how I'm enjoying the sheer number of super hero movies coming to theatres this summer. He seemed surprised that I was such a geek girl. Really? Are people surprised to hear this? I have pictures of me with batman and wolverine (yum!) and I love comics and games. He seemed so surprised, that I couldn't help but open my briefcase to reveal a copy of Portal 2. Hardcore geek, y'all. I'm amazed to find out that people don't suspect I have this side to me.

I have such an impressive geek side - this post is dedicated to GEEK CRAFTS! Namely star trek. Check out the awesome star trek knit crafts. Makes me want to break out my needles. Knit one, purl two... Check out the awesome details - especially in the dolls. You can literally tell who they are by the faces! I want a set to live on my bed!! Yep. Super geeky to the core.

Short skirts, long jackets

2011-05-12T10:38:00.000-06:00

This winter had been so long and so cold and so depressing. I'm certainly glad to see the sun, and even on not so warm spring days, and days where the wind is blowing, I'm so appreciative of the sun and lack of snow, I can barely contain my smug satisfaction. Ha, winter. You thought you won, but you didn't. So there. Nah.

I decided to honor spring and summer and fall this year by wearing as many skirts as possible. It's skirt weather, damnit, so I'm going to indulge! And when I'm not wearing skirts, I'll be wearing shorts or cropped pants or skorts, or anything. My part time job demands I'm in pants, but for the remainder of the time - unless weather is REALLY NOT permitting, I'm going to my best to bare my legs and toes and enjoy what time we have in NOT winter as possible.

That started the first day of spring. I was in a skirt and sandals and was up to my ankles in slushy snow. And I froze my toes happily, knowing it would only get better from there. And I have. In addition to the five long skirts I have, I also have five short skirts, and have purchased two more. (even shorter than my existing ones) And I have several pairs of shorts and capris, and a couple of dresses. Dressing like summer has certainly lifted my mood, and my outlook, and I can't wait to sit out on my porch swing with a summery drink and sit in my skirt and swing.

Ah, summer. Come hell or high water, I'ma gonna enjoy the hell outta you! <3

I have Clout, but not Klout...

2011-05-11T13:50:00.000-06:00

Do I care about my online presence? No, I really don't. I facebook, I blog, I text when absolutely necessary. My company twitters. (or is that tweets?) My company has a website and facebook page. Same with my rotary club. My networking group is connected through LinkedIn. But I don't find myself particularly web savvy. I've forced myself to become a bit more technologically integrated, especially FOR my business. I don't care about how I personally look online, but I want my company to always be there in your hearts and minds.

So I'm learning the ways of social media. Sigh.

I recently read a newspaper article (newspaper. it's old skool!) About this new website that gauges your online popularity. Your online clout, if you will. So, I snuck on to see what my rating was. You have to use twitter, so I used my business twitter account. Guess what? Klout rating of 10! (I have no idea what that means, in reality). Then, I realized that was judging my business on its clout, and not mine. So I bit the bullet, signed up for twitter, checked out Klout and ... surprise! According to this website, I not only don't have a Klout rating, I just don't exist! O.o

Seriously? Am I going to let a website dictate my worth to me? I am a well known and respected member of my community. I am involved in charities, I volunteer, involved in business and personal and have been a long standing member here even before I owned a business. No Klout? I don't care. I guess I'm going to have to be judged on my work as a business owner, my work as a volunteer, and human member of society, and be judged based on my clout. Not my Klout.

No Klout? No prob.

Holy Shit, Dudes! It's an actual CRAFT!

2011-04-30T21:24:00.000-06:00

Yeah, so sue me. This craft blog is supposed to be about crafts and crafting and I've been a whiny bitch lately. I've also had a beer and 3/4s, so I have a bit more of a potty mouth. Like you're super offended, right?

I just had to share this awesome craft with you. There's lots of companies and individuals selling these, and I think it's about the most awesome thing in the world since glow in the dark dinosaurs. Especially in Canada where it's nasty cold 8 months out of the year, and the rest of the year you can probably get away with it because we're camping, beer swilling white trailer trash, and this is sort of the thing we dig. Ya dig? Pair this up with your snowboarding gear in the winter and shorts and a wife beater in the summer, and you're set to rock. No need to ever do your hair again. That's it. I'm officially shaving mine off. I'm finally going to make good on my promise...

I digress. Enjoy this awesome craft...the beard-toque. Canadian Awesome. Better than a scary belaclava, and warmer than a hat and scarf combo. I'm going to commission one just in time for the summer camping season. Yeah, like I have time to actually make one myself. And like I have time for camping...

http://www.beardowear.ca/

http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=beard+toque&filter[0]=handmade

Crafting My Life ... Part 976

2011-04-30T21:11:00.000-06:00

Some people tell me that i'm a workaholic. And that's really not true. I just love money. A LOT. Is that so bad? People don't like admitting that money is important to them, and say they work their jobs because they love them, and money isn't a motivator. And while it's very Very Important to Love your job, saying it's not about the money is a bald, monkey faced lie.

You need money to pay your mortgage or rent and your vehicle and gas and your bills and for food and without that, you'd be homeless, hungry and smelly. Money IS important. How much you need vs how much you have is personal preference. And I have a lot of things to pay and pay off, so therefore, it's important.

I have two jobs that I absolutely love. Loving your job is important, but one day off a month is hard. So when I get time off, I want to REALLY FUCKIN' ENJOY IT. I have a lot of leisure activities that I love, but none that I obsess over, so I don't ever feel like I'm neglecting anything.

Lately, it's been about golf. I've been doing a lot of business while golfing, and I found to actually enjoy it, which is even better. Enjoying it and doing it a lot makes me want to get better at it, and a trip to the driving range is quick and cheap.

Tonight when I got off work, I had a beer, changed into some comfy clothes and hit the range. Smacked a few balls, worked on my consistency and enjoyed some exercise and my own company. I can't remember the last time I spent some time alone with myself. Usually, I'm rushing around or trying to cram some social visits in or spending time with my daughter, before heading to bed early so I can wake up early and go to work. I LOVED my alone time. I got home, put my feet up and had a beer.

No, I'm not a workaholic, but loving money and working so much has allowed me to appreciate time off and how special my own company is. I had forgotten myself and taken myself for granted. It's high time I take myself on a date and rediscover my love for me.

Saying Goodbye Part II

2011-04-27T17:55:00.003-06:00

I learned more than just five things in the past year. Maybe the lessons weren't as prolific, but each year I post all 10, so here's the other five.

6. Give gratitude. Really give it and mean it. Some days some of the only things I was thankful for was that I was alive. Sometimes I was thankful for the ability to cry on my friends' shoulder. I made a point to say out loud three things daily I was grateful for. It started when my daughter's father died, and I've kept it up because it made me feel really good. Other things I've been thankful for over the past year:
- amazing friends I can count on
- the sunshine on my face
- freedom to think and dance and do whatever I want
- for a comfortable bed and a roof in which to sleep on it
- grateful for the terrible, no good, very bad days because without them, I may not appreciate all the little (and big) things in my life that I love.

7. Understanding others' perspective. Last year I resolved to really listen to other people, and not just politely wait until they're done talking so I could speak again. I found that by listening to others - and really pay attention and understand what they have to say, I gain valuable insight to their perspective.

8. Learning new things. I got a new job, I learned new skills, I dusted off long and forgotten ones, became a valued member of a new team, learned (and am still learning) how to say no gracefully, learning how to be a better leader when I need to learn to be patient and obedient. And in learning these new things, I started seeing myself in a better light.

9. That I can't control life. The only thing I can control is how I react to life. I refuse to waste any more life on negative feelings - like anger and hate and jealousy and fear. I will adapt and survive, but if I don't have a positive attitude, then it won't matter what life brings me, it'll all suck.

10. That not everyone that comes into your life is meant to stay there forever. You will form special bonds with certain people that will last your entire lives. But most often, people come into your life quickly and then leave it just as quickly. Sometimes you learn the lesson they were meant to teach you right away, sometimes you learn it years later and sometimes not at all. You may be sad about their leaving, you may sometimes even be happy or even how you wish some people would leave your life, since all they do is make you miserable.... It may leave you confused and hurt, or not. Remember that the time you have with people is a gift because everyone is brought into your life for you to learn a lesson from. And regardless of how happy or sad you are to see people leaving your life - the way they touched your life is a gift and you should be thankful for the lesson they gave you. Say goodbye gracefully and with an open and humble heart and vow to ensure the next people that come into your life are touched in a positive and special way.

The Art of Saying Goodbye...

2011-04-26T23:56:00.003-06:00

So part of cleaning up and organizing my life has been getting my emotional baggage in order. Shocking, I know - that one as level headed as me even has emotional baggage in the first place, let alone enough to need organizing. I sarcastically digress...

I've learned many things in the past year, and am grateful for the hard lessons learned. As I move forward in my life, I know I will be happier for it.

1. Letting go of grudges. In the past year, I've been wronged. Seriously dissed. And I have every right in the world to be pissed off at the world and not given an ounce of forgiveness. And yet, I have given forgiveness. It wasn't even asked of me, but I gave it. And despite still feeling like I have been wronged, I give up on feeling angry and petty and am instead nice and happy and cheerful. And not even in a passive aggressive way. That simple act of forgiveness has given me more joy than I can explain. Try it one day. I promise it will make you happy.

2. Admitting fault. It's so hard to believe that I can even be wrong, right? But rather than trying to explain that there was a REASON I was wrong, and that I had good intentions, or that I had the right idea, I've given up on trying to explain myself. I've just been accepting that I'm wrong, shutting up and listening how to not do it wrong again.

3. Accepting help. This is probably one of the biggest lessons I had trouble learning. As far back as I can remember, I've done things on my own and my own way. If you don't like it, get OUT of my way... There is art and grace in turning down projects, and accepting help is NOT the same as admitting defeat.

4. Shutting up. I'm not known as a terrible gossip, but everyone at one time has been accused of sharing information that wasn't theirs to share. I've become so much better at not running off at the mouth (helped by the fact that there is no one at home who cares to listen to me anymore). Whether it's been collectively as a group shutting up about a sensitive topic, NOT speculating about something, or just simply not insisting on sharing my worldly knowledge with everyone I meet. I'm learning that I can, and contrary to myth, I will not explode. There is no dignity in gossip.

5. Life is short, so enjoy it. So many people say it, so few actually live it. Last year I buried someone far too young to die. And while it makes you hold your loved ones closer and say you love them for a while - try doing that every day. So instead of holding that grudge, instead of fighting with your spouse or child or boss or best friend, instead of passing on that piece of juicy gossip, admit your faults, accept help that is offered and live with that joy in your heart.

It's been hard applying all of these lessons as often as you can, but I experience more happiness and joy when I do.

Spellers of the World, UNTIE!

2011-04-24T19:22:00.003-06:00

So after my last post of explaining why I've been absent, and promising to write more, even if it's not craft oriented, I promptly got lost in life and forgot. The few fleeting moments when I would remember you, dear readers wasn't with guilt and angst, it was filled with "oh yeah, I used to write, didn't I..." before my mind drifted off to sleep. Right before sleep was when most of my actual thinking has been occuring as of lately. Which is about 2.4 seconds each night. Mea Culpa. I've been busy. I've been stressed. I just haven't made the time for things that have been really important to me and I'm sorry. Writing is so cathartic that I just can't ignore it anymore.

My life has never ceased to be interesting, and these days even more. And if anything needs my attention to help heal and move on, it's my life. Maybe being a bit self-centered will help me through the issues I've been facing. Make me see how wonderful it really is when I can't see it, and make me understand things I'd been confused by. My life is in rapid change mode right now, and it has never let me down. I said a long time ago, that my biggest want in life is for my life to be interesting. And boy is it! I'm buckled up, and ready...set...go!

Hope and Terror

2010-11-22T00:07:00.005-07:00

I had a friend recently comment that I should turn my craft blog into a graphic design blog, or an entrepreneur blog since I'm doing more working than crafting. Ha. That's true, but all the good graphic design blog names are taken. And besides, this is craft anarchy, where there are no rules. That basically means I can blog about whatever I want to. That's my way of saying I'm about to rant about work. Again.

I recently was paid a visit from the president of the Chamber of Commerce (ooh - pause for dramatic effect) who sat down with me in a Closed Door Meeting. He asked if I would be his president-elect for his term as president. Which means I'd be the next president. Bewildered blink. I asked if he was sure. He gave me a thoughtful reply of why he chose me. After our lengthy discussion of what it would mean - my commitments and duties - he left asking me to give him an answer by Monday. Not exactly the way I wanted to end my Friday, with a bunch of heavy thinking for the weekend. After discussing it with my husband and business partner, my employees, my friends and family, I'm still not sure what my answer will be. I'm flattered, to be sure - but ego is not the right reason to do anything. On the other hand, the benefits both to my personal growth and to my business is huge. It sort of scares me, and that's one big reason i'm considering it. Being a mom and taking over a business are just two examples of things that terrified me and turned out to be the best things in my life. I have been considering all my current obligations - work, family and the other organizations I have become a part of that all depend on me. Do I have the time to commit to this? I have the potential to be the BNI president next year. I'm the president elect for Rotary which means I will be the president in a year. I can spend the next two years preparing myself for the time expenditure after my experiences being president of smaller things. Maybe these are great stepping stones and learning experiences preparing me for Chamber Presidency. I feel greatly underqualified - especially considering the depth and breadth of the knowledge and experience of the past presidents for over 75 years. But my peers have picked me for these tasks because they believe in me. Maybe they see something in me that I don't.
I recently had a close friend comment that what drew her to me was my charm and charisma. I have a very hard time describing myself with those two words. She was flattered and amazed that I reciprocated her feelings and we've been amazingly close friends ever since. Even despite the fact we live in different provinces we're very close. Perhaps it's time I stopped believing what I've told myself for years. Time to stop believing the lies fed to me by an abusive first spouse. Stop believing the stupid playground bullies and poisonous people I was too eager to listen to for far too long, and start listening to myself. To start telling myself that I am capable and worthy and special.
That's a hard pill for me to swallow, but it's clear that I need to start believing in myself the way others do. I owe myself that much. Respecting myself will be a learning curve. I don't know when the last time I felt worthy was. And a lot of work will have to go in to this. Taking care of my body through eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep and spending time with the people who nourish my soul. Christmas is a perfect time to start this when goodwill towards men and the peace and joy of the season is at its height.
I was sure that owning my own business would change me and help me grow as a person, but I didn't realize how dramatically it would happen. I'm honored to be chosen to represent my business community. I'm honored to take on this responsibility for the only community I've ever known. The more I think of it, the more I realize this is a path I'm meant to take.
I hope I do a good job, I hope I don't let anyone down, I hope to learn many new things, I hope to cherish the experience and gain many new friends. I hope to continue to grow. I hope.
Isn't hope wonderful?

Gingerbread Disaster...

2010-11-15T00:50:00.006-07:00

It's been a pathetic craft year for me this 2010. I didn't carve any jack o lanterns, all my cards have been store bought, and I have gone to the craft store ONLY three times, and ALL of my purchases are sitting in their original bags and in their original packaging. Le Sigh! I have about four new halloween stamp sets untouched even.

Therefore, I was excited this year at the prospect of making a gingerbread house for the LINX Gingerbread Gala! They have locals make gingerbread houses and auction them off for charity. I did it last year, and my house went for $100! I was so looking forward to out-doing my efforts from last year. This time, I consulted an engineer, home made all the gingerbread... And ran out of time and bribed my husband and daughter to make it while I was working. Work, work, work...

I was hoping to come home and help put the final touches on the super impressive chalet. I was on the phone saying I was coming home, when the first cave in happened. My daughter threatened to sue the construction company, as there were some gingerbread men fataly wounded in the accident. My idea when I got home was to turn it into some sort of famous (or famous looking) ruins the following day. Yeah, that went over like a lead balloon. What it DID end up looking like was a tent city put up by hordes of homeless gingerbread men. Sorta like what Edmonton looked like in 2006 and there was a gigantic tent city errected by the working homeless. Too late to do anything else, and unfortunately too late to back out (as it was only an hour to the start of the event). I whipped up a tent card on the computer, and voila!

The Fabulous Tent City of the North Pole

As work piles up at the North Pole for the upcoming Christmas season, Santa runs out of room in his workshop & tent cities pop up for relief workers (dwarves, fairies & trolls) who've come from all over the world to help with the large demand this Christmas...

It almost looked like I intended to make it look that pathetic. Please note the gingerbread man holding a cane - he escaped the initial disaster with only life altering and debilitating injuries...

The president of the Chamber of Commerce said my gingerbread village looked nicer than his most recent trip to a third world country, and if I wanted to make it really pathetic looking, I need to add gingerbread men pooping outside, and well, to be honest just lots of outdoor poop.

I'll keep those suggestions in mind for next year.

Oh, and what did my gingerbread village fetch in donations? $10. My thanks to Cindy for purchasing it and taking it home, allowing me to avoid the shame of carting that monstrosity back with me.

On the upside, the Gala was so much fun, the food was amazing, the company even better and I got to see the most glorious giant velvet elvis painting I've ever seen. Good times.

Lest We Forget

2010-11-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

As a child growing up, the importance of Remembrance Day was one thing that was emphasized to me. It was important in the schools I went to, important in our family, and the importance was never lost on me. But to a child who has never seen war, or who has never had soldiers in her family, I often wondered what I was supposed to be remembering. Learning the history, honoring those who fought and paying homage to the ultimate sacrifice was what I did, but what was I to remember?

I heard on the radio today that more teenagers and young adults are treating this day of respect a lot differently than the youth of my generation because the youth today actually have a concept of wars. Friends and families have gone off to fight and some haven't returned, which puts the day into a different light than it did in the 80's and 90's.

Remembrance Day has been put into a new light for me now too. I now have a concept of what it feels like to be part of a nation sending soldiers off to fight. I have a concept of what terrorism looks like, and how easily freedoms can get taken away. And through my much larger network of friends and colleagues, I now have friends who have fought and who still fight for those freedoms. And it's a much more meaningful Remembrance Day when these friends can tell me their stories. A much more meaningful day when you lay a wreath in memory of someone, more meaningful when you can recall fond memories of your friends who are now off in a foreign land for your country. I've always observed this day solemnly, but now it has a significance that only age and time can provide. And I am thankful for that.

Today, I started my day with the ceremony in my hometown. Saw the colourguard marching, my nephew in his uniform, people I knew marching down the aisle. Laid a wreath at the end of the ceremony and observed the moment of silence at the cenotaph. Afterwards, I headed to my local Tim Horton's and had coffee with some friends, two of which had been soldiers in the British Army and one, a peacekeeper. Laughing and joking with these people has made me put this day into a perspective I never had before. From now on, when I think of remembrance day, I will think of these faces and be more grateful than ever before that I am free. I will remember.

Thank you.

Fate and Destiny? Confessions of a Cynic...

2010-11-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

I think I grew up as the worlds most cynical child. Having my siblings subject me to torturous routines of playing games that were terrible, and most would require me being gullible enough to believe them (time and time again) that THIS time they would play nice. Riiight. Things like the game called "Kidnap" that would have them locking me in the shed. Nice game. They'd also play a game that would entail me drinking "potions" made of water and dirt and dandelions to make me invisible. And then, they would convince that that since my clothes were not invisible, i would need to take them off to walk around the neibourhood. Don't even GET me started on the game called Haunted House. That one drove our babysitters to tears.
Yep, I got cynical REAL fast.

Therefore, it was no surprise to me that I became the kind of young adult who did not believe in "One True Love", or "Soul Mates" and I would smile and be slightly jealous of those who did. That type of faith to me was amazing, but untouchable by me. On Valentine's Day, the one who would become my first ex-husband (and only ex husband thus far) claimed I was his soul mate and his one true love. I smiled and rolled my eyes. My second husband was not to fall to those illusions. Ever practical, pragmatic and with the mind of a scientist, he claimed there was no such thing. Ah! Blissful music to my cynical ears! You choose your best match with the options presented to you. If I never came into his life, he'd be just fine. No proclamations of me "completing him" or "changing his life". And this has suited me wonderfully. Who needs that when you're happy with who you're with? No - fate and destiny just wasn't a concept that fit me.

I have been singly career minded since high school. After thoughts of becoming a teacher, then a biologist, then a photojournalist, then a writer, I settled into thinking about becoming a graphic designer. It was a field I fell in love with, and every step I took brought me closer to that goal. Taking classes in high school towards that end, a year off of school to raise the funds for post-secondary, a graf com diploma, and an entry level position designing ads for a newspaper. After getting as far as I could there, I became the graphic designer for a small print shop. I love it. I hated it. I went from part time designer to full time designer, to manager to operations manager before my boss and the owner told me he was selling the shop. I took the plunge and decided to try to buy it. It wasn't without it's challenges. It wasn't "easy", but things seemed to fall into place whenever they needed to, and eight months later, I was signing legal documents proclaiming me as owner.
And now two years later, when the shop is doing well and is moderately successful (after a rather soul crushing economic downturn) I've used the phrase more than once that owning the shop "was meant to be".
What? Those words from a hardened cynic? But it's true. I feel that I am finally, after 32 years of life am in the exact place I needed to be. The place I was (ick) meant to be, and destiny had been preparing me for. How odd to have that concept fall into my lap after so long of not believing.
I am still a cynic. But I do believe that there are things in this world I was meant for. Owning this shop is one of them. Being Kat's mom is another. If I had lived my life the way I was trying to, I wouldn't have had a child at 20. I probably would have decided to skip the whole parenting thing, and it was never a goal of mine to be a business owner. Are you kidding? No way would I ever have planned for those things. But they are two of the things that make me happier than any other thing in the world. And I cannot deny that fate and destiny had a hand in those things.

So, do I now believe in a one true love, or a soul mate now that my eyes have opened up to the concept? Let's just say that I will remain cynically hopeful.

The Spider and the Fly

2010-10-31T20:24:00.000-06:00

It is a Halloween tradition that after the trick or treaters are gone, and before the scary movies start up, that in a hushed tone, in a darkened room I read my favorite spooky poem...

The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt

Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to show when you are there."
Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."

"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!"

Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, " Dear friend what can I do,
To prove the warm affection I 've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome -- will you please to take a slice?"
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "kind Sir, that cannot be,
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"

"Sweet creature!" said the Spider, "you're witty and you're wise,
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I've a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,
If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you 're pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."

The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.
Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
"Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple -- there's a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue --
Thinking only of her crested head -- poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour -- but she ne'er came out again!

And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:14:00.001-06:00

So, the results from my halloween costume crafting are in! Enjoy the pictures, and have a spooktacular halloween! Bwahahaha...

My sister (darth maul) won the prize for the best female costume, and my good friend (emperor palpatine) did the makeup. Congrats!

Halloween Costumes...Update!

2010-10-26T01:32:00.000-06:00

I was just about giving up on being Dr. Horrible for Halloween. Sigh. Awesome costume idea wrecked by lack of time and funds. BUT my spirits raised ever so slightly when I found a Howie style medical lab coat at Incredible Comfortable Uniforms in Edmonton. So, it's not exactly the same, but close enough for me under time and budget constraints. BUT without the white gloves and welding goggles, I couldn't possibly be the infamous doctor. Just a weirdo in a lab coat. I was about to give up and go to the Halloween store and pick a random, boring costume up when I found myself near a Princess Auto. Welding gloves? Goggles? Check and check! Yay! And both for under $10! I LOVE that store! So now, I just have to spray paint a pair of rubber boots white, get my messy blonde wig, and I'm set! I tried on the whole costume today, and it's a passable Dr. Horrible. Yay! I also found Kathleen her black gloves and black t-shirt for her Captain Hammer costume, so it looks like we're set for Halloween! Yay! I'll get pictures up on the blog soon, but I'm so excited!
Now all I need to do is get Michelle her Penny wig and find some thrift store funky clothes, and the trio will be complete!
If anyone is stuck for what to go for - I do need henchmen:
Moist - regular clothes, just coat yourself with Petroleum Jelly and you can be my evil moisture buddy!
Bad Horse Henchmen - dress up as a cowboy, complete with requisite cowboy mustache and voila! You're a Bad Horse Man!
The Purple Pimp - the costume is just how it sounds
The Pink Pummeller - Pink mask, pink boxing gloves and a black T-shirt with two pink Ps on it facing on it facing the opposite direction.
Captain Hammer Groupies - Easy-peasy costume. Wear anything plus a monochromatic t-shirt. I can supply the hammer faces for the t-shirt! (bonus points if you have a dry cleaning slip or a slip of someone's hair!)
You can also be: Fury Leika, Professor Normal, Dead Bowie, Fake Thomas Jefferson, Tie Die, or Snake Bite (it's the evil posse)

Stay tuned for pictures! Happy Halloween!!

Answers Part Deux!

2010-10-17T13:50:00.000-06:00

Okay, here's the answers to the last half of questions in So You Wanna Be a Graphic Designer! I hope you learned a lot from the last post, and will learn even more, since these are less known (but still should be common information for anyone who's posing as a graphic designer!)

7. Name three page layout programs.
Like the last two questions about programs, there's a huge variety of programs out there. I will list the most common and industry standard programs.
- Adobe InDesign. Adobe merged this with PageMaker, which was very popular for a long time, but with the emergence of the popularity of more versatile page layout programs, was changed into InDesign.
- QuarkXPress. Industry standard and my favorite.
- CorelDraw. I beta tested this, and it's come a long way. Can be used for vector illustration, page layout, multiple page documents, and what we use at my shop mostly because it's most cost efficient, talks well to other programs and works best with our Computer to Plate machine.
- Publisher. Okay, I'll receive a lot of flack for this one, but honestly, it's so widely used by the business universe that we have no choice but to print from it. I'll leave the rest of my critiquing about this horrible program at the door.

8. What is DPI? LPI? And the difference between the two?
- DPI stands for Dots Per Inch and is probably the most familiar and most misused measure of resolution. It specifically refers to the printed dots (from a printer, imagesetter or press) that are used to make up an image. The larger the dots, the lower the resolution of the printed image. The smaller the dots, the higher the resolution of the image. DPI is calculated using the number of dots across a linear inch. A screen that has 100 DPI is a much lower resolution than one that has 600.

- LPI stands for Lines Per Inch and is also used to measure the resolution of printed halftones by calculating the dots in an inch. The lower the LPI, the lower the quality of the printed image. The higher the LPI, well, you get the idea. Standard presses will print at approximately 120 LPI. That's the standard we use at the shop (we make adjustments depending on the length of the run, the type of paper, and the actual image that is to be printed.) Newspapers usually run at 85 lpi and magazines are around 133 to 140. The higher the LPI, the less noticable the dots are.

LPI and DPI are a physical measurement of the number of dots on a printed page. When doing graphics on the computer (like Photoshop) dpi is often confused with resolution which is different. Computer graphics have a resolution based on pixels, not dots per inch.

9. What is dot gain?
Dot gain refers to what happens to an image once it's printed on paper. Since paper is absorbant, and when ink is printed on the paper, the paper sucking up the ink leads to the dot growing slightly in size. Think about what happens when you drip a drop of water on your counter top, and then when you drip water onto a paper towel. What happens to the dot of water? The water on the counter will be a bead of one size, the paper towel drip will have been absorbed into the paper towel, and appear larger. Newsprint being low quality and very absorbant paper has a high dot gain. It's one of the reasons a newspaper will be printed at a relatively low lpi. The amount of dot gain must be taken into consideration by the designer, so that the final printed design won't appear too dark or blobby. The newspaper that I worked at previously had a dot gain of a whopping 30%. That meant that screens that were printed at 70% darkened up to a full solid by the time they were printed. Compensation for this was to over-lighten your designs, never design using a heavy screen, and use as few halftones as possible. Print shops have a relatively low dot gain. At our shop, it's about 15%. We find we have to lighten half tones quite a bit to avoid losing resolution, and changing the dpi or lpi aids in that depending on the project. The paper we use is a much higher quality as well, so less ink is absorbed into it, resulting in a lower dot gain. Graphic designers should always get familiar with their printer, and print only at places they are familiar with so they can compensate for dot gain while designing their product, and the most savvy designers will request printing at a specific dpi best suited to their project.

10. What is a bleed? What must you do to ensure your design bleeds properly?
Bleed is the term us printing folk use to indicate when color runs to the very edge of the page. Printers and presses can't print bleeds, because grippers (the fingers that pull the piece of paper through the machine) need to hold on to the very edges of the paper, and printing to the extreme edge isn't possible. In order to get a full coverage look, we must print on a larger sheet size and then cut the paper down to the finished size. Proper bleed allowance (depending on the shop) is a minimum of 1/8" of bleed past the trim area of the design. Bleeds look really nice but are also more expensive because larger paper must be used in the printing, and more time required in cutting the job to it's final size. Bleeds may also require special care, like metal plates, slower running time and more ink, which all add to the cost of the job. I can't count the number of times I've had designers in with their finished artwork that has no bleed allowance. It's very frustrating, especially since when you explain their design doesn't bleed, they all look confused.
What you must have in order to ensure your design bleeds properly is a minimum of 1/8" to 1/4" of "bleed allowance" where the design extends over the finished areas of the design. The file must be saved to the larger size (not the final size of the job, but the size including the bleed allowance) and crop marks must be properly placed so that the production team knows where you want the job to be cut to.

11. What is a gutter?
The inside margins or blank space between two facing pages is the gutter. The gutter space is that extra space allowance used to accommodate the binding in books and magazines. The amount of gutter needed varies depending on the binding method. In saddled-stitched publications the amount of gutter, as well as the outside margins are adjusted to allow for creep. Not to be confused with an alley - which is the space between the columns of text on one page. And it should not be confused with margins, which are the blank space between the edge of the finished document and where the text and graphics on the begin. Bleeds can ignore the margin, but in addition to a 1/8" to 1/4" bleed allowance, most printed designs should leave a 1/8" to 1/4" margin before the design begins. That's a whole lotta unused space! And most designers ignore those rules completely. Which leads to text being cut off, or an unbalanced, uncentered look to the finished product. Which designers will blame on the printers, leaving us shaking our heads.

12. What is production ready (or camera ready) artwork? What must it have to qualify as such?
Production ready (or camera ready) artwork refers to a file that has been completely and properly set up, ready to be put on the press, or printed digitally. All colors have been made properly. Cmyk designs should have no spot colors. A spot color design should have no extra colors or be in CMYK (all which means, color separations are done properly). Resolution should be correct for the method of printing, bleed allowances and margins should be set up properly AND crop marks be applied. I would say that less than 10% of all "production ready" files I receive are actually production ready. And that falls to the responsibility of the graphic designer.

So you should all be more informed of the responsibilities of a graphic designer. You have a lot of work to do! And please stop blaming the printers when your design doesn't go according to your plan - it's in your hands. If you submit a 1" x 2" 72 resolution design with no bleed allowances or margins to be printed at 3.5" x 2" for a business card, you will get a grainy, incorrectly cut, non bleeding card, possibly with the text cut off.

Did you pass the test? I hope so, now get designing!!

Answers!

2010-10-17T11:11:00.000-06:00

So I'm sure you all had time to write down your own answers to the quiz from last post. Here are the answers. How many did you get right? Some of the designers that come into my shop got zero correct, so if you answered even one question right - congratulations! You can call yourself a graphic designer! (well, not really, but that's what the kids are doing these days...)

1. What is the difference between a vector file and a raster file?

- Vector files use geometry such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygons, which are all based on mathematical equations, to represent images in computer graphics. Since they are mathematical formulas, all vector files have infinite resolution and their sizes can be blown up or shrunken indefinitely. Vector artwork can also be referred to as "line work".

- Raster files (or bitmaps) are images that are on a grid. (Like graph paper) each box has a color applied to it, which makes up the picture. Resolution is dependant on how many boxes make up the picture. The higher the resolution, the smaller the boxes. Raster files have a limit to how much they can be enlarged - the larger you make the picture, the more you can see the boxes. The higher resolution the image, the larger the file size.
Vector files can be converted to raster files very easily, but raster files cannot be saved into vector. A multitude of "trace" programs are being developed and used these days. While there is a place for them in the industry, they should not be viewed as a substitute for designing. Like any software, knowing how to work the program to get the best results takes skill and learning, not only how to use the software, but what types of files you can use these on, and what type of result you should get.

2. What is RGB color? CMYK Color? Process Color and Pantone (PMS) Color? What is spot color?

- RGB is the color scale used for light emitting devices (like computer monitors and televisions) Red, Green and Blue are the "primary" colors used to create all the colors you see on your screen (even white, black and yellow). We do not print colors in RGB (that would be quite the challenge, trying to print black and yellow on the press using only red, green and blue!)

- CMYK Color is the closest to the primary color wheel you learned about in elementary school. The letters stand for Cyan (blue), Magenta (pinkish), Yellow and blacK. Using these four colors, we can print a vast rainbow of colors. It's definitely not infinite, but it's the most common process for photographic reproductions. Newspapers and magazines use CMYK or Process color most commonly. Laying down varying shades of Yellow, then Cyan, Magenta and finally Black in a fine dotted pattern make up a full color picture. The dotted pattern is sometimes called a "moire" (more-ay) effect. If you pick up a newspaper or magazine and examine the photos very carefully, you can see the dots of individual color that make up the picture. The smaller the dots, the better quality a picture you are going to get. Newspapers typically use a larger dot pattern because of the lower quality of paper they print on, and to compensate for dot gain (more on that one later!)

- Pantone Colors (PMS for Pantone Matching System) is the most widely used color system in the world. Named for the corporation that invented it - Pantone Inc. in Carlstadt, New Jersey, Pantone is a standardized color reproduction system. By coming up with formulas for mixing each of the colors represented in the system, all printers everywhere can come up with the same result for that color, regardless of what press prints it, or who mixed the ink. Pantone is more comprehensive than CMYK color, because instead of using four colors during the printing stage to get the desired color, you mix the color ahead of time and put that on the press, so it's only one color. Pantone also allows you to get colors CMYK doesn't allow, due to the mixing of white or white based inks (you can't have white in CMYK), or metallic and fluorescent inks. Using a "chip chart", or a pantone number, a customer would specify the color they want, the press operator mixes it, and prints that color exactly. Pantone has also put out "chip charts" on different types of paper, as what kind of paper an ink is printed on will greatly affect its look.

- Spot color refers to the use of one specific color in press production. You may have CMYK color PLUS a pantone color (if the client wants a pms color for their logo, or have a metallic ink in the finished product). CMYK plus a pantone color is a FIVE color design. If you want to use just one or two pms colors only, that is a one or two spot color design. Saying "spot color" just lets the production people know it's something other than black or CMYK.

3. Name three programs for designing vector art.
There are really too many to list, so I'll put the ones most traditionally used in the print world. And the lines are being blurred more and more. Programs that were once print only and web only are now dual purpose. Raster programs and vector programs are being intertwined, so you can use one program for all. The catch is in the capability of the operator (or designer).
- Adobe Illustrator
- CorelDraw
- FreeHand MX
- SerifDraw Plus
(Adobe InDesign gets an honorable mention, as well as QuarkXPress)

4. Name two programs for designing rastor art.
See above for explanation... Too many to list - listing most common, intertwined programs, etc.
- Adobe Photoshop
- PhotoPaint
- GIMP
- PhotoBrush

5. What is a pdf?
A pdf is a Portable Document Format, and is an open format for easy document exchange. It was created by Adobe in 1993. I remember working in the industry when pdf became the standard. What exciting times! It didn't matter what program created the file, or what type of computer, anyone could open the file, look at it, print it, use it! In 2008, it was officially released as an open standard - officially changing the face of sharing files as we know it.

6. What is Adobe?
Adobe Systems Incorporated is a software company based out of San Jose, California. It is a COMPANY, and NOT a software! The company has created industry standard software such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Acrobat. So, saying you've created a file in Adobe is like saying you're browsing the internet using a computer. Interestingly enough, Adobe got their name from the term adobe - which is a brick that is used for building that is made up of natural material like sand, clay, dung, straw and then dried in the sun. So the software company used the name of a building material for the name of their company that gives us computer building material.

So how did you do so far? Get any correct? Learn anything? I will be posting the next half of the answers this week, so you still have time to do the test if you missed any...
Happy designing!

So you wanna be a graphic designer?

2010-10-16T16:32:00.000-06:00

When I went to school to be a graphic designer, I already had a very good base of knowledge to work from. Three years of Vis Comm in high school, knew how to burn plates, take apart a press and clean it, knew some design programs already and had some knowledge of layout on screen and off. A lot of what I learned in college was building on the foundation of what I already knew. I was probably farther ahead than some of the students who came into the program with less than me. But I think it's fair to say that when we left, my graduating class and I had mostly the same knowledge of graphic design after graduating. Maybe our design abilities differed, but we had the same facts going through our cranium.

I just cannot say the same for designers coming out of schools today.

And maybe it's not their fault. Or the school's fault. As a member of the graphic designer's guild of Canada, we talk about coming up with different certifications for different classes of designers. PGD for a Print Graphic Designer, a WGC for a Web Graphic Designer, MGD for Master Graphic Designer and so on. That way, there will be a professional accredation to specify what we can do, and a governing body making sure we adhere to those rules. Then, if you're looking for a web designer, it's easy to weed out the print designers who just wouldn't be the best fit. And so on.

Problem is, most schools aren't differentiating between the two, and the waters are getting muddy. I've had to explain relatively rudimentary graphic design concepts to professionals working in the field today who call themselves graphic designers. These people shouldn't - at the very least - be working unsupervised in the print industry. Which leads to the question - who is hiring these people? Do they have a design background? Are they choosing candidates with the best skill, or prettiest portfolio? Do the candidates themselves know they're not applying in the correct industries? It's probably a bit of all of the above. The people hiring for the position aren't in a position to be print experts themselves, and are trusting that the people applying for the job know, when that's not the case. Frustrating goes around in a circle, and the end result - the printer (often me) is left cleaning up the mess.

So, I've come up with a handy dandy list of questions an interviewer hiring a graphic designer should ask them. You don't even need to know the answers - just if they don't know, or can't answer one of these questions, you're better off continuing the search.

1. What is the difference between a vector file and a rastor file? Give specific examples.

2. What is RGB color? CMYK Color? Process Color and Pantone (PMS) Color? What is spot color? (And you thought there was only primary colors that made up the color wheel! tsk tsk!)

3. Name three programs for designing vector art.

4. Name two programs for designing rastor art.

5. What is a pdf?

6. What is Adobe? (I swear, if I ask one more graphic designer what file their design is in, and they answer with "Adobe", I'm gonna hit my head with a piece of adobe!)

7. Name three page layout programs.

8. What is DPI? LPI? And the difference between the two?

9. What is dot gain?

10. What is a bleed? What must you do to ensure your design bleeds properly? (if they say cut deeper, RUN!)

11. What is a gutter?

12. What is production ready (or camera ready) artwork? What must it have to qualify as such?

I'll have the answer to these questions in a later post. And I know, I don't have all the questions - these are just the ones that I have to answer on a regular basis. Frustrating, I know. So, all you graphic designers - grab your pencil and take the test! Fun for the whole family!

Craft projects on the horizon...

2010-10-10T00:34:00.000-06:00

Wow! Halloween is coming up and the geese are getting fat, please put a penny in the old man's hat!
Wait. Different holiday. Oh well.

I've finally got a few projects to blog about! Yay! Last year, I read a post on FaceBook about The Spirit Of Giving. The idea behind this is you tag your friends in the post, and the first five to respond will get a home made gift from you! Yay! Awesome, right? Miscellaneous crafts flying around in real life, getting the chance to make weird and wonderful things for people living far away.
Well, that was in November, and if you look at the calendar, it's October. I have a month to finish my projects. I was at Michels today picking up the rest of the craft supplies (on sale for only 60 cents each! W00t!) And soon I will be posting my pictures from the projects. In the interest of keeping my gifts secret until my friends get them, that's all the information you get. But, be assured, I'm crafting right now! YAY!

I still want to get the button maker so I can make pieces of flair MY style. Awesome quotes from movies and things people say to me. Invisible pink unicorn buttons, Flying Spagetti Monster buttons... That'll be a couple hundred dollars, but maybe I can find a sugar daddy who will buy me one... (hint hint to all you rich men out there looking for a lady to spoil!)

Also, Halloween is coming up! I'm usually crafting way in advance to make my costume as authentic and awesome as possible. Last year, I went shopping for HOURS for my Old Gregg costume (from The Mighty Boosh) and all my costumes are home made and awesome.
This year, I'm running out of time! I know I can't simply buy my costume (there are a few online boutiques selling this costume for over $100, but this costume just isn't available in regular stores) and I don't have the time to get out my sewing machine and make it from scratch the way I want. Arg! So I'm probably going to do a watered-down version of the halloween costume. Sigh. I need more time for Halloween. I also need to run to a dollar store to pick up stuff to decorate the office. Too much awesome-ness, too little time. I need: a Howie style hospital gown, white rubber boots, white elbow length protective gloves, steam punk goggles and a short, blonde, messy wig.

I also have to make Kat's costume still. At least that's easier. Black T-Shirt, round hammer logo, black gloves and work boots.

So stay tuned for craft awesomeness and Halloween costume pictures! Yay!

What are YOU Thankful for?

2010-10-09T13:40:00.000-06:00

With the recent awesomeness going on with the shop and my professional career, it's easy to feel thankful this Thanksgiving. But I remember when I didn't feel so blessed, and it took a lot of thinking to come up with what I was thankful for. I was thankful for things like alcohol to dull the pain. Thankful that at least I wasn't a slave in a third world country, thankful that I wasn't living in the dark ages. If those are the only things you can think of to be thankful for, I feel for you. I was there once.

Being thankful is an art. When my daughter's father died earlier this year, our grief counselor had us write a gratitude journal. We both had to come up with five things everyday we were grateful for. It's such a worthwhile exercise to make a point every day to see the good in even a shitty situation. Some of them were a bit on the sad side, some funny, and some really showed me the endurance my daughter's spirit. Here is our list of things she was grateful for in the worst period of her life.

Things I am thankful for by Kat
1. I am thankful for teachers who let you cry in class.
2. I am thankful for friends who don't try to cheer you up, but just hold you and let you be sad.
3. I am thankful for sleeping. I didn't know being so sad was so tiring.
4. I am thankful for music. It can let you forget anything.
5. I am thankful for Twilight. Jacob is so cute.
6. I am thankful for breathing. Maybe tomorrow I won't be so sad. I want to keep breathing to find out.
7. I am thankful for cookies. They are awesome.
8. I am thankful I won't have lice again.
9. I am thankful for being able to say goodbye.
10. I am thankful for my mom.

What are YOU thankful for?

I'm not bragging, but ...

2010-10-06T22:15:00.000-06:00

I'm not one to brag. I don't think I have an ego bigger than my fist, let alone one to swell my head. True, I've leapt fully into the sales, marketing and PR positions at work, but that's because I'm the owner. I have pride of ownership, of building something important to me, and that comes through in the way I present myself and my business. But I've also tried to be the kind of person to always give credit where it's due. If anything is successful - a function, a business, one job with our shop - it is because it has had the tireless energy of someone, or many someones behind it. I've been in a wonderful position to work only with the very best. To hire only those whom I really respect, and find joy in working with (even with working with me is less than a joy sometimes! lol)

I've been incredibly busy lately. The shop has also been really busy lately. The two are probably factors in each other. I've been blessed enough to be able to pursue the business relations, positions and projects that mean a lot to me. And it's showing in everything our shop produces. I'm feeling really good about things, and things are looking up.

I'm not one to brag, but in bragging these accomplishments (and excuses for not blogging or crafting) I'm really bragging about the fabulous people who surround me and make me a better person. I was once told that savvy people surround themselves with people who are better and smarter than themselves, so that you are constantly being encouraged, challenged, and have the expertise of these people at hand. I've strived to do that, so thank you to everyone who has to put up with me regularly. You were chosen to be in my life because you're amazing. I hope you all know that.

They say if you want something done, give it to a busy person. I used to think of that as a kid and scoff - right! These are the last people who should be doing more. But the more I do, the more I realize I can do more, and want to. All you need is organization, passion and a touch of insanity. So these are the things that have been taking up my time.

Our shop has just celebrated it's second year anniversary of being owned by me! Yay me! It's taken a lot of borrowed money, too many hours to count, a lot of (real) blood, sweat and tears - more than I care to admit. It's taken a lot of people believing in me, encouraging me, working for me for free, working for me for real, and we seem to have outlasted this "recession". Thank heaven! And thanks to everyone who had a part in it. Especially our customers.

We're on the cusp of celebrating our TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of being open! Wow! And I've been with the shop for most of those years. And that has taken more patience than anyone will ever know. I'm glad I hung in there.

The shop has just won the Consumer's Choice Award for Business Excellence in Printing! Yay! For the second year in a row! Double yay! Chosen by our business peers and print customers, this says a lot about our quality, dedication to customer service, and our staff. Thank you.

I was just elected to the Chamber Board of Directors! I'm so thankful to be giving back to the community I grew up in, and to the business community who supported and encouraged me. I'm honored.

My daughter just won the Citizenship Award at her middle school. And Honors. I'm raising one heckuva decent kid. Thanks to the universe for her, and for everyone allowing me to balance work and time with her. It's paying off.

We have continually for the past three months hit new sales records for those months, and are on track to continue to do the same. Consistent marketing, hard work of me doing sales, our staff doing an awesome job, and the industry getting back into gear. They are all pieces to the puzzle of success. Maybe one day we'll stand back and look at the picture and toast it with a glass of wine.

Since becoming a business owner, I have:

- Joined a BNI group - networking at its most regimented. They have taught me how to critically listen, tell people about my business effectively, and introduced me to a wealth of experts I would not have gotten to know any other way.

- Joined a Rotary club. It's my selfish need to be a part of a service group. To give back completely selflessly in an effort to balance my pursuit of success. I love this group of people. They have taught me about service above self, instilled integrity and values that did not have a label in my head before. They're like minded people I enjoy spending time with. And we're on a mission to help the world.

- Joined two Chamber of Commerce's. Leduc and Devon. Any successful person needs to know what's going on in their community. The chambers allow me to do that, be involved in my communities, and learn things I never knew I wanted to learn about until I learned them. The chambers also represent me in the business community. Which I didn't know was valuable until they helped me before I realized I needed them to help.

- I was also nominated and elected to serve for two years on the Leduc Chamber Board of Directors. It's an honor to be elected - by my peers and fellow business owners to speak for them, work for them and serve the board that helps us all.

- Joined the Downtown Progress Association. A group of owners with businesses in the heart of Leduc. We talk economics, marketing, beautification, enrichment of the downtown core. Our aim is to increase business in "historic downtown" by encouraging consumers to "shop Leduc". Our group is now being used as a model for similar groups world wide.

- Joined the Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Association. It's like the DPA, but for this entire region. Bringing in business from all over the world like China & Germany, discussing trends in oil and gas, and initiatives to help grow the region into a diverse place to do business, it helps me keep a finger on the pulse of Alberta, which is invaluable to know. We network with a vast array of business owners, and discuss topics that affect us all.

- In September, I was made an official Ambassador, and part of their team. I was given this honor for my work in encouraging economic growth in our community.

- Been a proud mom of an active eleven year old. Balancing work and being a swim parent, swim practices, homework help, swim meets, cuddle time, and helping raise her into the fine woman she is becoming. Like my parents did with me.
I've also been able to watch an inordinate amount of time watching television and finished Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. Twice. If you want something done, give it to a busy person? I think I have some time in there for something. Just let me get my beauty sleep first.

And you thought we wouldn't notice...

2010-09-11T16:54:00.000-06:00

Coming from a family of artists, and having my own creative ideas and designs (physical, visual and musical) out in the world myself, I've always been very interested in copyright, plagerism, intellectual property issues. And being the owner of my own print shop brings home the issues in a very real way.

As a designer who has actually had ideas and designs stolen myself, I'm very interested to be a part of a community who works against intellectual property theft. People sometimes just want to be acknowledged that they were ripped off, some want legal action. It's very frustrating. This website is a small drop in the ocean, but it makes me proud to be a part of a creative community who values artistic integrity, intellectual property, original ideas...

Please visit http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/ it's a look at all the issues that designers, artists and the like face today. The internet has a lot to do with it, made creative collaboration ... and theft much easier. How do we combat this problem? I wish I knew.

Enjoy the read!

Welcome to adulthood...

2010-09-06T13:45:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid, adulthood was marked by specific milestones. The obvious was turning 18, getting a full time job, completing your education, buying a car, moving out and getting your own place. Possibly getting married and having kids. These obvious marks of growing up. Just like how you stopped being a baby by learning to walk and getting out of diapers.
But as I grew into teenagehood, I took note of more subtle markers of becoming an adult. A real grown up. It meant you had your shit together, and were actually responsible and productive member of society. A warped view of how I saw responsibility through my teenaged eyes by my the example through my parents and other grown ups. Or adults who weren't necessarily there yet.

In my head, you became endoctrinated into being a Real Grown Up when you got a savings account. It meant you were planning for the future, you were thinking ahead, setting goals (which is HUGE in my world) and you were moving forward. At the time, I had no concept of what type of savings account, just having one was awesome.

Getting a loan. That meant that not just you and your mommy and daddy thought you were responsible, it meant business people thought you were responsible too. Wow. What a concept. They'd give you money, and know you'd pay it back, and not fret at night about whether you were using it to buy video games or booze. Nosiree, if you had the trust of a bank, you were well on your way to becoming a grown up.

Paying your taxes. I knew that when I was 18, I'd have to take my packette sent to me by the government, take my T4 and "get my taxes done". At the time, that meant my mother (who I had seen doing my brother's taxes) would work for about fifteen minutes filling out the required boxes, and then she'd send it in the mail, and w00t! Taxes done. That's not what I'm talking about. Becoming an adult was when your taxes got so difficult, you'd reconsider doing them yourself. It's when you had numerous slips, boxes of receipts that you'd pour over, stress about, calculate and then re-calculate and possibly argue with your spouse over. Get into a heated argument over and mutter swear words under your breath. Yep, that was a pivitol moment when you became an adult in my head.

Having your own health care. Not only was 21 the age when you could gamble in Vegas, it was also the time that I was to be kicked off my parents' health care plan. That meant that I not only had to have just a job, but I had to have one that supplied me benefits. That meant I had to have education to get a decent job that would give me benefits. That meant being totally responsible, and making my own dentist appointments. Truly adult behavior.

Not only did you get kicked off of mom and dad's health care plan when you got to be 21, they also kicked you off their vehicle insurance plan. That meant if you wanted to drive, you had to be able to afford a car. And then afford gas. And THEN afford to pay some business guy money to allow you to drive a car! Gone are the days of borrowing mommy and daddy's ride for your Saturday night and then bringing it home with no gas. Nope. Insurance meant you were becoming a grown up.

Watching the news. Growing up in my house usually meant dinner was ready by 5:00 or 5:30, which meant after dinner was M*A*S*H, and then the news. Reading the paper in the morning, watching the news at night meant you cared about society and world events. It meant you knew politics and had an opinion about the world. I believed in this so much that on Wednesdays when I had to wait half an hour after my piano lesson to wait for my sister's piano lesson to be done, when my piano teacher asked me what I wanted to watch, I told her I wanted to watch the news. In my cable-less house, I had three channels, and here I was being offered a virtual cornucopia of television pleasure, and I chose news. I would hear her exclaim to her parents and sister that I could watch anything and I chose to watch the news. That seemed to impress her, and made me feel important. Yes, watching the news made you an adult.

Not sleeping in. I always hated sleeping in as a teenager. No, I LOVED sleeping in, but it represented wasted time and meant that I was lazy. My parents would get up at 6:00 am every morning before work, and on the weekends by 8:00 am. They'd drink their coffee, read the paper and had a productive morning before I stumbled out of bed by noon. I always used to declare that when I was no longer a teenager and required more sleep than an adult, I'd wake up early and get lots of shit done too.

Taking care of your parents. It meant you lived long enough to have your parents become old enough to need taking care of. Growing up, we lived - sometimes part time, but towards the end, full time with my dad's dad. It meant that you had your shit together enough to be able to handle this responsibility as well. I loved living with my grandfather. It meant rolled up kleenex balls, watching him make tea, orange marmalade on the table, watching him roll hand-rolled cigarettes and cuddling with him while he smoked his pipe. I saw this as one of the most loving gestures a kid can make to his parent. It also meant sharing a different generation and view point with your children. Showed them compassion and love by example. Yep, living with your parents was a big role in becoming an adult.

Having a will. That meant that you had stuff, like an estate. It also meant you had people. A spouse, children, dependant adults that needed taking care of in case of your untimely demise. It meant you cared for these people enough to care what happens to them when you die. That's big time grown up shit.

Getting a financial advisor. My parents had a financial advisor, and I never really knew exactly why. I guess I never really asked, or maybe I did and the answer was so boring I didn't remember or understand. To me, it just meant your finances were so complicated that you needed a professional to help you manage them. Their financial advisor was a nice enough but odd man with a bad toupee (the only man I know who wore them) who smoked pipes and cigars and drank scotch. My parents were usually very pleasant to see him, but often we would hear arguments and my parents would get very tense during these home-meetings. But, to require these services, must mean that you're very grown up.

These were just a few markers I saw - beyond the obvious of what it meant being a real grown up and not just being a legal adult. These were what you did after that, and it sort of stuck with me as I've grown up and passed out of my 20's. I have reached a lot of the markers myself. I pay taxes, have my own insurance and health care. I have a rather large loan that I'm grateful the bank still has faith I will pay back. I got my first will when my ex husband died without one. I get my news from the internet, but I still sleep in. And thank god my parents and in laws are all well enough to live on their own. But until recently, my finances have been "whatever". I haven't planned anything, with any real plan. I had an RRSP (cashed in when we bought the business. I still get statements showing my balance of $0.00) I have an RESP for my daughter. I have a savings account (with $3.77 in it) but I finally decided that my finances are complicated enough to hire someone to help me sort out the mess. Wednesday, I pass through one of the most pivotal markers of adulthood. It took much prodding to get my husband to agree, and in the end I just made the appointment and told him about it afterwards. I get to sit with our new financial advisor (who is a charming gentleman who does not have a toupee or smoke cigars) and see what kind of mess we've made, and how far away adulthood will seem. Maybe after this, I'll stop sleeping in...

Subliminally Yours...

2010-08-30T12:14:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid, my mom had a book in the house called Subliminal Seduction. A book about subliminal advertising that had glossy photos in the middle of the book showing how an ice cube in a whiskey advertisement spelled out the word "SEX", how the camel's hump on the pack of Camel cigarettes looks like a breast. It was a mentally titillating book.
Whether or not it works, whether or not it's intentionally placed there by corporate giants looking to brainwash the masses, or just bored artists and graphic designers is for the experts to discuss doesn't matter to me. Hidden images exist, and I love finding them. It's like the grown up version of "spot the 10 hidden images" on the back of Highlights magazines when I was a child. Google "subliminal" to get yourself started. Then you'll be searching every ad for hidden meanings, messages and images. Just like me. (Can you spot the hidden image in the above image? Look really closely, and if you need a hint, the picture at the bottom of the post.)

Distinguished Beards

2010-08-27T13:18:00.001-06:00

Recently, I heard about friend's teenage son being told by a stranger to shave his facial hair. When his mother told the woman to mind her own business, the stranger shot back "I'm only trying to help the boy be all that he can be!" What is this? The army?? Since when did facial hair make someone be LESS than great?

And so what if the beard doesn't suit the face? Teenagers have little to no decision making power in their life - let them have choice over their hair! Color it purple, grow it long, shave it off... It's HAIR, it'll grow back, or can be cut. Chill.

The history behind beards and religious affiliations behind beards are fascinating, but I'm not here to philosophize. The history behind beards is long and storied (playoff beards being one of the most common reasons men today grow them) There are so many beards to choose from: fu man chu, Van Dyke, goatee, soul patch, full beard, neck beards... I don't care, they're all awesome. And after I went searching for a list of the most awesome beards in history, I couldn't find the list on the whole of the internet. So started my quest. I want awesome beards, and I want them now. So I've been busy compiling a list of awesome men in history ... who have beards. Add to the list! Rate them! I need your comments!! (By the way, I know there's awesome mustachio'd men in history too, but this is just for the beards...)

Sigmund Freud
Abraham Lincoln
Confucious
Ernest Hemmingway
Vincent Van Gogh
John Lennon
Jerry Garcia
Charles Darwin
Brigham Young
Cat Stevens
Chuck Norris
Kimbo Slice
Blackbeard the Pirate!
ZZ Top
Salman Rushdie
Grizzly Adams
Leonardo Davinci
Ned Kelly
Brian Blessed
Robert E Lee
Moses
Al Borland
Bob Ross
Bam Bam Bigelow
Thomas Swann
Kenny Rogers
Michael Gross
Johann Strauss II
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
Col. Sanders
Sebastian Cabot
Jesus Christ
Santa Claus!

This list is far from complete. Add your two cents! Your pictures! Your own beards! I have a desire to complete the internets best bearded list!

Logo Design Update

2010-08-06T13:06:00.000-06:00

No, I haven't forgotten my logo project. I've been diligently working on it betwixt real work and relaxing and wasting time on the internet. I've been about to post part deux to my time waster series, but I've been too busy wasting time.

BUT just to keep you all updated on the logo design, here is contact sheet #2. Enjoy - and please send your own suggestions or thoughts (keeping in mind, this is being designed by committee). I hope you enjoy the progression...

Internet Time Wasters

2010-07-31T01:40:00.000-06:00

I'm seriously a master of procrastination. I'm busy as heck at work, and I get home and find a million things to distract myself from the things I really need to do at home. Like housework, the laundry, washing dishes and sleeping. I have a bunch of websites I go to on a regular basis that are wonderful, informative, fun and awesome. And then there are some that are total timewasters that keep me from accomplishing anything. Including sleep.

Here are some of my favorite timewasters (in no particular order). I am not responsible for your lost productivity. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Sushi Cat. My daughter found this site about two years ago, and I've since listened to the bizarre japanese music, and her truly weird descriptions of the game. And then I finally tried it. Damnit, the game is ridiculously addictive, and makes me crave sushi. God damn you, sushi cat!!
http://armorgames.com/play/5379/sushi-cat

The Sleep Talkin' Man. I blame my sister from S'toon for introducing me to this site. It's a man. Who talks in his sleep. And his wife records him. And then puts it on the web. It's truly bizarre and hilarious. And you can get t-shirts with your favorite sayings on them. "Doo... Doo... Do you want to eat me? Hmm? Gobble me up? Chew on my hindquarters? Do you? WELL COCK OFF YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU'RE NOT TASTING MY MEAT! Fucking eat something else. I'm as tough as leather. Grrr. (sigh)" Yep. It's bizarre on an awesome new level.
http://www.sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/

Not Always Right. Horror stories from the customer service industry. If you've ever worked any sort of customer service job, you'll love this site so much you'll cry.
http://notalwaysright.com/

Letters from an Asshole. They're letters. From an asshole. Or more like an asshole baits stupid people from Craigslist and Kijiji. They're so funny, my sides hurt from laughing. Stadiums are for PUSSIES!
http://www.dontevenreply.com/

Awkward Family Photos. Just like the ones in your photo album. Only not your family, so you can laugh. And be thankful your mother doesn't know how to work that scanner she got from Best Buys.
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

There's more, but I gotta go, sushi cat is calling to me...

The Amazing Adventures of Koala Man

2010-07-28T12:46:00.000-06:00

Sleeping in a tree. Probably pissed. What an embarrassment to superhero-kind.

Makes you kinda sad, don't it?

Thanks to The Sleep Talkin Man for my inspiration: www.sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com

I love it when a plan comes together

2010-07-26T19:42:00.000-06:00

One of the design projects I eluded to at the last post was designing a book cover for an ebook written by friend Krista D. Ball. She posted on Facebook "who wanted" to design it, and I think I nearly tripped over myself to respond!

After a quick back and forth about size, color, theme, style, I suggested I be able to read the story before beginning on the cover. (I thought it was a bit cheap of me to ask, but she also thought it was a great idea!) I read the book, and my mind went into overdrive sketching out ideas. I had about a dozen sketches on paper before I started refining them. I always do my personal favorite first, and then branch out from there, ending with a contact sheet of fonts and logos. That was the case here. It took me about two hours from concept to finished design I was happy enough with to present. I am used to several back and forths, using the concepts I've come up with, adding, removing elements, redesigning elements, scaling, rescaling and scrapping the whole thing for something entirely different, but in the end, only ONE edit was required - the author's name in a different font. Are you kidding me? That's it?! I was tickled, and before the end of the day (heck, almost before NOON) I had the entire artwork package off to her, and my artwork was up on the website with her book. Talk about a project coming together!
I am very lucky to be able to take on design projects I'm passionate about on the basis of what I want to do, but in this case, it came together much easier than usual. Like it was meant to be. I love it when projects seem to be constructed by divine intervention. Because others sometimes seem like they came from hell...

Please see my first few drafts of the book cover. Inspired at the author's suggestion to draw style themes from retro horror movie posters, I came up with these designs. I love them all (they're like my children) but the first one (my favorite) was chosen. Awwww! Thanks Krista! And please please please check out the link to the ebook here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19781 and buy the book! It's a great story - an ending I didn't even expect!

Holy Projects, Batman!

2010-07-20T20:57:00.000-06:00

Summer's here, and mother nature has gone on holidays! That's what it feels like. It's been hot. It's been sunny. It's been raining nearly every single day! Now the mix of sun and showers have the farmers excited. I don't think I've seen canola grow that high in ... well, ever that I can remember! I also hear reports of crops being washed away, including friends' flower and vegetable gardens. That's a shame, but it also gives me a small shiver of delight for being lazy and not putting in a garden this year. Ha ha ha, such a rotten shame!

True - I'm not crafting like I would want to, and my photo projects aren't happening. However, I am working on a few things. A few things that has gotten me pretty excited.

One day at work while discussing that it is the 50th anniversary of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, we listed all the favorite classic books we read as kids and adolescents. Notably absent from the list: The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. This had to be fixed! My graphic designer found a copy, bought it and brought it in. I'm currently halfway through the book, and really enjoying it. Made me a bit sad, however when my sister brought up the point that she's eager to re-read it to see if what she got out of it as a teen, and what she gets out of it as an adult will have changed. I'll never get that chance. Sigh. But, for Summer Project #1, it's a huge success!

I also am helping a fellow Fish & Game member redesign the club logo. It's a rather interesting story that begins with my mom actually designing the first (and current) club logo. I'm quite proud to be carrying on the legacy and updating the logo. See the contact sheet below for our first round of sketches. We want to show that the club is about nature, recycling, conservancy, respect for nature, education etc and not just fish and wildlife (and the hunting and fishing of). I hope we're on the right track. Please let me know your feedback!

And lastly, I'm working on my favorite project of the summer! I'm going to keep this one shrouded in a little bit of mystery, but it's also a design project. I suppose I'm finding the fun of design again after 13 years of newspaper ads and clip art logos. It was nice to have a break (by being a business owner) but I'm glad to get my arse back in the saddle and do some design projects. Luckily, as the owner I'm able to cherry pick!
The project I'm working on is fun. A bit of campy, retro fun! I already have a half a dozen designs done, and even though they're "not there" yet, just the freedom to be able to design something completely and totally my own way is refreshing. It's being done as a favor / fun project for a friend. Man, I need more friends who have more design needs! LOL I'll post those designs when I have them up.

My thrill of the design came rushing back to me while our shop was designing a hero card for a local race car driver. (Who happens to live in my small town. Who happens to be a teen. Who happens to be a friend of my daughter's. Who happens to be a Make a Wish Child) And they had an event at the Make a Wish Foundation fundraiser, and she was going to be signing autographs and needed hero cards. After our designer did some proofs, I nearly BURST with anticipation of being able to "try some of my own designs" for the one simple reason that I was inspired. And with that project, I'm finding the joy in design the way I found joy in music and crafting. And yes, Mario Bros.

Whatever you do, may you do it joyously!

Projects Undone.

2010-07-05T16:34:00.000-06:00

After my leisurely four days off (it was marvelous, thanks) I started to feel a swelling of things left undone after my time off. I certainly crammed as much fun and rest as I possibly could, and managed to get all my housework done too. What more could I ask for?

Apparently a lot.

While taking my daughter on her shopping excursion this weekend, we stumbled into a bookstore. We spent more time in the bookstore than the clothing store, which made my nerdy heart happy. I'm glad I'm raising a beautiful AND smart kid. And in there, my book wish list grew! I have the list of books that I REALLY want to read, books I'd love to have the time to read, and all other books fall into the category. I'm never so lucky to always be reading the top of my wish list, but the good thing about it is that it never shrinks in size. There's always so many excellent books out there. And just setting foot into the bookstore, and my list did grow some more.
And I'm more and more interested in my daughter's interest in books and clothing and music as she gets older, and her book choice is much more interesting too! She was eying some Christopher Pike volumes that are being re-released. I remember reading those in Junior High! She started reading Buffy the Vampire Slayer novelizations, and was also very interested in VC Andrews. Oooh, a literary bug after my own heart! Makes me glad to know that I won't be the only one reading and re-reading some of my old favorites on the bookshelf downstairs. Ahhh!

But the little outing showed me that I still have too many things to do, and projects to tackle, and the genuine bliss of my time off has now paved the way for me to get some things done. And so, in true obsessive compulsive fashion, I've compiled a list of projects I would like to finish (or at least start) this summer:

- Read 'Catcher in the Rye'. Did you know that 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is now 50 years old? I will be reading this as a tribute to Lee Harper, but one good read deserves another. I've never read 'Catcher', and this is the summer to do it.

- Zombie Cross Stitch! OMG! I saw this in the bookstore this weekend. Super zombilicious! The creator of the kit also does a craft blog. I'm intending to try the kit out for size, and then make my own patterns.

- Get pictures framed. This is just a preliminary to the main event of getting my photo albums in order. Once I get my favorite prints framed, the rest will go easy right ... right?? It's a long overdue project!

- Finish Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. It's more of an obsession than anything else. Sad.

- Start work on the patio. I'm thinking of taking out all the grass to the one side of my walkway, putting in rock and wood chips, moving the firepit to this area, and having a cool rock patio. It'll happen. It just has to.

- Fix the bunny holes and other renovation issues. Nuff said.

- Read my wish list of books:
Chuck Palaniuk (part of my obsessive personality is to overdo things. Since I love Chuck, I must read all his books. It's obsessive, but I really love his writing.) I've yet to read: Survivor, Pygmy, Tell All. Must complete the collection...!

That's it for the summer. Part of me is sad that I didn't start any of these on my time off, but I think my mind is really glad I took the mental vacation. I needed it. Now the rest of the summer can be about work and serious relaxation activities! Once I get going on my zombie cross stitch, I'll definitely post pictures. Oooh, how exciting!

Dog Days of Summer?

2010-07-03T04:19:00.000-06:00

Well, it didn't take long for summer to catch up with my familia. One day into her summer vacation, my darling daughter "forgets" to put on her sunscreen and ended up with a first degree sunburn. On her face, arms, chest and back. Blisters everywhere! My hubby and I were in the middle of a formal dinner with foreign delegates (ooh, very Bond-like, no?) when we got the call, and hubby goes racing out to take her to the hospital, leaving me to enjoy the five hour concert alone. Such a shame he missed it.
In addition to my daughter having to stay out of the sun and chlorinated water until she healed, our summer vacation plans were slightly derailed. We had a camping trip planned for the only sumer vacation we were to have (making Canada Day into an extended long weekend) Kind of sad that we call four days off in a row a "vacation". But regardless, our camping and boating had to be cancelled. Also, her swim meet. And we couldn't get out to enjoy the Canada Day festivities either. Disappointment all around.
But we're determined to make the best of a bad situation. Forced to stay inside during such gorgeous weather, we've been busy with our relaxation. And as I told my hubby - "I feel like cleaning the house from top to bottom right now, so I can enjoy these four days inside in spotless solitude...but I'm not going to". Yep, I'm not worried about having the house in order, just that we enjoy our time together as a family. We've managed to keep ahead of the dishes, so we can prepare each meal in relative order, and the table is remaining tidy to eat meals and play board games. We've played Yahtzee, Monopoly, Scrabble, Chattabox (don't ask), Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot (again, don't ask - the most fun thing about that game is saying the name. Oy.) and lots of video games. Lots of family-time. I've made pancakes even! How domestic! Except for the not cleaning part. I'm letting four laundry baskets of laundry sit in the living room and mock me.
My daughter and I went to the LATE night showing of Eclipse. We had to go to the late show, so we could keep out of the sun. What better way to go see a vampire movie? And it was not as bad as I was bracing for. And, we get to see Bella kiss Jacob in such a way that poor, kiss starved wives everywhere could coo silently to themselves, and feel a slight adrenaline rush. Oooh! The excitement! And we have plans to do a girls day out shopping. After her slumber party guests leave, and before her special friend from Millwoods arrives to celebrate her birthday, since he won't see her on the actual day. Yep, we've crammed as much fun in there as possible!
I've even had lots of me-alone time. I've read a couple books, played way too many computer games, written a bit, but no crafting, sadly. Closest thing to crafting I've done is silk screen wedding napkins two weeks ago. And since my ever-loving hubby has refused to come to bed, I've had the entire bed to myself the entire time! Wheee! Not that I don't love sleeping beside him. He's not a bed hog, OR a cover hog, and really nice to cuddle to, but he claims he just can't get to sleep until he's so exhausted he can't move. Which means he falls asleep on the couch, and no love or money can move him. Seriously, if you wake him to try to get him to go to bed, he shouts expletives at you. Not pretty. I do without the verbal abuse and enjoy the bed to myself. When I actually go to bed, that is. I've seen the sun come up, AND go down, and slept very little on my mini va-cay. I think it's the lack of stress. Or the lack of work. I really appreciate our employees coming in on the weird Friday to allow us to have this needed time off. Last time I had any more than two days off in a row was LAST Canada Day, and the time before was a year before. One of these days, I'm going to take a REAL vacation. With or without my hubby. Even if it is a home-vacation. This was really fun. And relaxing. And no unpacking too. Yep, this was so needed.
Now I just have to figure out what to get my darling daughter (who has everything) for her birthday. And then find the time to buy it and wrap it. But I think I'll worry about that tomorrow. It's almost five in the morning - time for me to get a few hours of sleep.
YAWN
I love vacations!

Jesus is Coming... Look Busy!

2010-06-23T12:53:00.001-06:00

So, I'm taking a summer OFF of crafting. If it happens, it happens. If not, I won't be disappointed. Hope you craft blogfans aren't too sad. I'll still post inane ramblings, but I'm going to be very busy this summer. Working out in the pool, working my business, volunteering, going to swim meets (one nearly every weekend!) And that's in addition to yard work, house work, work work, and having an active tween and hubby. And if that's not enough, I'm going to give some much needed attention to my Wii and some books I've been dying to read. Ahhh, summer!

I won't have any problems "looking" busy when the second coming happens. Maybe it won't be busy doing what the Lord wants me to be doing, but at least I'll be doing it honestly.
Why am I worried about the second coming this summer? According to a poll from the Pew Research Center For The People and The Press/Smithsonian Magazine 40 per cent of Americans believe Jesus will return before 2050. The percentage of Americans who are Christian ranges in the 75 to 84% mark, which means that's a whole helluva lotta Christians that are believing He's (going to be) Baaaack! Which means that's good enough for me. If you believe Stephen Colbert, if enough people say it's true - it IS true, then that's a lot of truthiness happening. I'm glad to be busy when the almighty comes down and brings his everlasting awesomeness to us heathens.

The poll shows us interesting insights, worries and hopes of the average American. I dunno what that means for us Canucks, but it's still interesting to think about. Here's some other American opinions the poll revealed:

• 71 per cent believe cancer will be cured by 2050.

• 81 per cent believe computers will be able to converse like humans.

• 68 per cent of those under 30 predict a world war by 2050.

• 53 per cent say ordinary people will travel in space

• 42 per cent say it is likely that scientists will be able to tell what people are thinking by scanning their brains.

• 89 per cent believe a woman will be elected US president by 2050.

• 86 per cent say it is at least probable that most Americans will have to work into their 70s before retiring.

• 41 per cent say Jesus Christ will return within the next 40 years.

• 63 per cent anticipate the demise of paper money

• 61 per cent say almost no one will send letters by 2050.

• 31 per cent expect the planet will be struck by an asteroid.

It looks like the next 40 years will be very busy! So I know I'll be busy when Jesus comes, as long as earth isn't hit by an asteroid first.

Reasonable People...

2010-06-21T19:05:00.000-06:00

This weekend my next door neighbor redeemed himself. He came over to explain that our shed has no eavestrough and as a result of this rainwater runs off our shed roof onto his flower beds destroying them. He realizes this is HIS problem, but has a solution. He will help us move the shed a few feet off the property line towards our house. We share the labor - everyone's happy.
So, why is this news? Well, if you remember a few posts back, I had problems with neighbors doing less than neighborly things that caused us property damage. Why now the sudden change in behavior? Guilty conscience? Actually thinking? OR maybe he read my rant online. Probably not, but this coincidence is too juicy not to bloviate about. But maybe he did see it, and the error of his ways. (Unlikely).

I'm the type of person who wears her heart on her sleeve. Online and in real life. I may not be as out-spoken, for fear of insulting people without being present to explain. I may be more outspoken for times I feel too timid to actually speak up, but I live by a general rule: I never say or put anything online that my parents, grandparents and children would be upset by. Or anything that I would personally be embarrassed by if they saw it. I think it's a good rule to live by. Enter the virtual world where people feel bullet-proof, and say and do things that they wouldn't dare IRL. Bullying, stalking, cheating, scamming are some of the things that regular joes are doing under cloak and dagger of the internet. They are acting under presumed anonymity. A very false pretense. What happens if or when your anonymity falls away to reveal to the world your secrets?

I recently had an encounter that drove home that point to me embarrassingly enough. An acquaintence from real life started to read up on my blog, my facebook and various other weird profiles I had online. Nothing in them is shocking, surprising (or to me - even interesting) but this person from real life found my online self and began acting different around me. Excuses to see me started cropping up. Making sweeping generalizations about me (despite actually knowing the real me) and choosing to see what they wanted to see based on random information I allow strangers to access. This lead to a VERY awkward conversation, and several more lighthearted conversations after the fact. I'm glad we can look back on this and laugh.

Maybe this person thought they were seeing a more private side of my life, they thought I was admitting things online to the anonymous world, and they were in on my secret. But what about being online is provocative, sexy and seemingly anonymous? What is it that makes people feel bullet proof, and able to open up to strangers? I understand finding a common bond through internet groups and websites that can eventually hold a friendship together. But to cyber stalk a person looking for extra tidbits of information about them seems backwards, and it's happening more and more these days. (Ever "facebook" stalked? Ever googled your name? Someone else's name?)

In the end, if this person had forgone the entire "online stalking" thing and came up to me and said "hey, I think you're cool, let's do coffee" that would've been much more receptive than "hey, I saw your pictures of your last halloween party, and that you're a member of the 'I Love Tim and Eric Fan Club' and I wanted to know if you'd like to dress up like Tim and Eric with me while eating candy in the dark'.

That's just plain weird, right? In a world of online connectivity, it was nice to see a real person actually reach out and touch another real person when they weren't in front of a computer. I'm glad they reached out and touched me. I have a friend I never knew I had, and someone else who loves Tim and Eric too. I'm just old fashioned, but some things are better kept on-line, and off line. Cyber stalking is one of them. And if you ever want to real life stalk me, please don't judge me while I'm dressed up like Eric Wareheim and am eating bonbons in the dark. And don't post about it online. Some things just shouldn't make it to the 'net.

***Some interesting footnotes:
Yes, I love Tim and Eric of "The Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job". If you haven't seen it - please do.
I DO love dressing up. For halloween, or I pretend it's halloween. Last year I was The Old Gregg from a British TV show called The Mighty Boosh. Check that out too.
For a safer way to view dirty secrets, check out www.postsecrets.com or post your own!

Guest Post from Krista D. Ball, author

2010-06-15T09:23:00.000-06:00

I had the fortunate opportunity to ask author Krista D. Ball about her writing. She has recently started writing full time this past year. From the perspective of the DIYer, it's fabulous to see people chasing their dreams with such gusto! Here's what we discussed:

1. How long have you been writing?
My parents bought me a typewriter for my 13th birthday. I haven't stopped writing since.

2. What and who has influenced your writing?
I've been asked this question several times and I have yet to have an answer. I have many different authors that I like. There have been lots of people who have encouraged me. However, I can't say that there was one person that stands out in my mind.

One event, however, does. I turned thirty and had a crisis, realizing that I had spent most of my life either having someone else dress me or angsting over whether or not a guy liked me. I had barely written. In my teens, I thought I'd have a book published by 27 (just in time for my high school reunion, of course), wearing a mink fur coat (ewww), and wearing dark sunglasses. Putting aside the asinine and stupidity of all that (it takes an average of 6-8 books before you can support yourself off just the royalties and you still need to keep writing), I still wanted to be a writer.

So, during the midlife crisis and half a bottle of vodka, I said to myself, "Self, shit or get off the pot." I'm not sure which option I associated with writing, but I decided I needed to get serious. And I did.

Normally, I'd say at this juncture that it was the bottle of vodka that changed it for me. But considering the reputation writers have for being alcoholics, it's best to leave that part out.

3. So many DIYers say they “never have enough time for their projects” But everyone knows that we’re all given the same hours in the day, it’s all in how you organize them. How much work has it been to organize your life to make time for writing? What sacrifices have been made? Any delightful discoveries about your now career path?

I'm still figuring out the entire day organization thing. Right now, I'm gearing up for the release of my novelette, Harvest Moon (October, 2010) and that's consuming a lot of time that I would have been writing. I was good at balancing work and writing; I'm less good at balancing working, writing, and marketing. I'm still learning, though.

The largest sacrifice is that I don't do as much as I used to. I see my friends less, I go to movies less. There are shows on TV that I've never heard of, let alone seen. My house is messier than what others would prefer, and my step-kids think their lives suck because they have to do chores. We eat more take-out than I'd prefer, but we're all tired at the end of our days.

I try to balance that with making routine. I try to see a good friend of mine every other weekend, even if it's only for a couple of hours. My partner and I go to the off-leash park every Sunday morning with the dog. I have a vegetable garden. These aren't loud, screaming events like when I was twenty, but they are cheaper and I know where I am when I wake up. I see these as positives.

4. Do you have any other hobbies? Do you find the need to do more hobbies since you’re now writing more time? Or do you just never have spare time (like the rest of us)

I don't have a lot of hobbies. I crochet whenever I watch TV or a movie. Lately, though, I've barely worked on my blankets. I also garden. My goal is to eventually grow enough produce to feed us through the winter. We might starve to death this winter.

5. Where do you do most of your writing? Do you have an office? Do you like to take your laptop and go?

I have an office. Lately, I've found myself practicing sleeping down there, so I've taken to working on the kitchen table. I've just had so much work to do that I could easily spend all of my waking hours in front of a computer. I don't want that, so I try to work around my family as much as I can.

6. What is your favorite unwinding activity after you’ve spent a long day writing?
What's the rating on this website again?

7. What is one of your favorite children’s books?
"Once Upon a Lifetime" by Danielle Steele. I almost never read children's books. I hated the kids books they made me read in school. My parents weren't readers themselves, so they didn't buy me anything beyond Christian books and that wasn't until my teens. So, I was reading adult books at the public library when I was quite young.

8. Tell me all about your current project.
I am finishing off my science fiction novella, Road to Hell. Captain Katherine Francis risks being labeled a traitor to bring an end to a bloody war that her side is losing.

I want to thank Krista for taking the time to talk to me today!

This is Krista D. Ball’s debut novel. Her short fiction work can be found in Absolute Xpress Publishing’s Flash Fiction Challenge, The Country Connection, and Bards & Sages Quarterly. Her non-fiction can be found in Magickal Ink and Merge Magazine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f8AeNY1khY

Coming Soon...

2010-06-14T09:16:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I will have a guest blogger in the Anarchy! Krista D. Ball will be joining me tomorrow, answering questions about her DIY project, and how she's turning that into her career!
Stay Tuned!

Pet Identity Crisis!

2010-06-11T13:27:00.000-06:00

Ever think your dog ever acts like he's human? Or at least WANTS to be? Ever have a kitty that acts like a dog?
Pet owners since the beginning of time have attributed behaviors and characteristics of other people and animals to their beloved. My own bunny even acts like a cat or a dog depending on his mood. (Or even a pig with all his grunting!)
But pet owners in China have started a new trend of pet-fashion that's one step up from doggy boots and parkas, and one step away from crazy!

Asia seems to be on the cutting edge of trends, and this one is no exception. A non-toxic, but possibly embarrassing dye is applied at the dog groomers to make your beloved spot or rover look like any number of exotic animals. (Tiger and panda are pictured here) And takes several weeks to wash away. Ever think it may catch on here? I'm not sure if animal rights groups would stand for this, and it's a bit too much of mistaken identity for my liking...

Still it's cool, and who HASN'T wanted (even just a bit) to walk a tiger down the street, and give them a lick on the cheek!

Coming up next week: Guest blogger! Krista D. Ball weighs in on her DIY project and perhaps gives us all a tip or two on fighting off those pesky zombies!

Wedding Dress Blues

2010-06-06T16:34:00.000-06:00

Well, it's a gorgeous day outside and my yard looks like a JUNGLE! Darn! I looked up yard and garden crafts, and sadly, everything looks way too ambitious for me! I'll be happy if I just mow the lawn, put away all the crap and get rid of our junk heap. SIGH. My yard project of building a fire pit and patio has to wait yet another year. Oh well. It'll happen, or by the time we've paid off this house and move, I'll hire someone to build me a gorgeous yard. Then I can blog about crafts in my beautiful space. Ahhh. Until then, I gotta get out and mow. So this is going to be a quick blog.

As I was internetting the blogosphere, I came across this site. Technically a DIY site - which I love. A guy had the unfortunate experience of waking up one morning to find his wife packing all her stuff, and moving out. What did she leave behind? Twelve years of marriage, two kids and her wedding dress. When he asked her if she wanted the dress, she said he could keep it - and do whatever he wanted with it. Which prompted him to wonder what a single guy would do with a used wedding dress. What follows is a blog of what a single guy might do with a wedding dress.

The blog is insightful and humorous, and touching and poignant in some ways - something that has caught even the author off guard. He openly admits he started the blog with the thought of publishing a funny picture book eventually. The fact that it's gotten so much attention is surprising. The fact that he's used it to heal his heart is even more so.

What I like about the blog - especially after my bitter divorce. Is that it has never put divorce or his ex wife in a bad light. If he has any anger towards this woman, it's not known to his readers. It's a testiment to healing, and being creative. While this is certainly crafty, I find myself a little sad that I already donated my dress to goodwill and not being able to test these uses out myself. Really, I'm glad I did rather than ruin the hell out of it, and I'm done my grieving and healing from my first (failed) marriage. But I'm sure you could do any of these 101 things to any article of clothing that has its own ghosts.
Enjoy!
http://myexwifesweddingdress.com/

Good fences make good neighbors.

2010-05-31T12:09:00.000-06:00

I love living in a smaller community. Except when I was a teenager, and couldn't wait to move to The Big City. But now, am grateful for having a community. Devonians are good people and it's a great community to live in. We've lived here for six years without a problem. Until now.

I like to believe that we're decent neighbors. Sure, our lawn isn't perfectly manicured. We don't plant pretty flowers, or have the most gorgeous house on the block, but we also don't host all night parties, blaring music until three in the morning, dropping beer cans on the lawns down the street. We don't have roaming cats and dogs, crapping everywhere, getting into fights and into your garbage. We don't have noxious weeds in our yard, spreading everywhere. We don't store a year's worth of garbage beside our house. There are no dead animals on our lawn. We're not dealing drugs out our back door. We're quiet, keep to ourselves, and are pleasant to everyone.

But I'm tired of dealing with stupid, inconsiderate people. If they're not doing the above mentioned atrocities, then they're trampling into our yards - destroying our property to re-side their garage, they're hacking down our trees causing permanent damage to the branches - splitting them right down to the trunk and leaving the branches in our yard to deal with. Or they're coming into our pet's enclosed run to do whatever they please. They complain to the Town about the "lack of maintenance" on our lawn or for not shoveling the walks fast enough in the winter. I had an incident on the weekend, where a neighbor of ours was willfully blocking the alley. I waited for 15 minutes before honking and attempting to drive away before he verbally assaulted me, and physically assaulted my truck.

What the HELL is it with people in my town lately? They have become (or have always been?) self-serving, self centered creeps! Why is it so hard to be courteous? Inform your neighbors of your intentions. Ask for their help, or their assistance. I would gratefully have helped move our stuff out of the way so it didn't get damaged during the siding project. I would have been pleased to help trim our tree with them - it probably wouldn't have gotten damaged that way. Whatever happened to neighbors talking to each other, informing each other, checking up on each other? My grass wasn't mowed promptly? My sidewalk not shovelled? Don't call the Town to issue a formal complaint - come on over and talk to me. And I'll do the same for you. You may find out the reason it took so long to shovel the walk was because of a death or an illness. But here I am assuming my neighbors are reasonable people, when they clearly are not.

Maybe I grew up in a time that will never come again - where neighbors knew each other. You had block parties, and had coffee with the people in your block. Even on farms, they helped thy neighbor - even one miles away. My grandmother (who died over 60 years ago, and whom I never met). Was SUCH a model of neighborly love, that those that remember her are STILL trying to pay back their debt to her through her children and grandchildren. If you go to visit one of her neighbors, they will treat you like royalty. They said she was the first one on hand when anyone ever needed anything, whether for a cup of sugar, first aid, or a mid-wife. She is the reason my neighbors rallied around my grandfather after she died to help raise his children. Isn't that was neighbors should be? Or at the very least offering a common courtesy and the bare minimum of politeness. I guess that time is long gone. And I'm sad because of it. Not that I want my neighbors to be my best friends, but because that common courtesy is what I want in my community.

But now, until these people move, I can't wait to build a giant fence and forget they exist. I'm not going to afford them the same respect they will not afford me. Maybe they've been turned off by the few assholes they've had the misfortune of living beside, but I'm now soured on them. Do good fences make good neighbors? No - but they make living beside these poor neighbors a bit more tolerable.

Gramma's little shop of horrors...

2010-05-30T13:28:00.000-06:00

I'm a crafter, I'm a huge geek. I love it when those two worlds collide! I found these little crafts of awesome on the Art of Science website (http://discovermagazine.com/photos/03-the-bizarre-and-brilliant-world-of-knitted-science) and fell in love. I can only imagine some 90 year old gramma in the nursing home working on one of these. Oops, oh dear, I made the liver a bit too big and the intestines are clearly in the wrong place... To me, this craft is full of win.
Oh, and check out the other pieces on the website. Things like a knit sweater complete with the periodic table of elements, a knit dissection of the human brain, a mobius scarf, the great barrier reef in knit form and more.

The pictures here belong to Emily Stonekings. Thanks to her for allowing me to post pictures of her awesome creations. Please visit her Etsy page here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyHedgehog and buy stuff.

Craft Must Have #2

2010-05-27T12:39:00.000-06:00

Sure, so I can probably fill my entire blog with a wish list, but the Imprintor is really special. And so is the next thing on my wish list. Again, it will allow me to craft while making money. How awesome is that?! Follow your heart! Find a job that allows you to do what you love! And then incorporate MORE of what you love into what you do! Seems like a recipe for success for me.

Other than trying my hand at silk screening in my high school Visual Communications class, I had no interest. Why? The process was long, messy and complicated. And it just didn't hold my interest. When I first found out about Gocco, I didn't start off as being super enthused. Silk screening? I thought I crossed that one off my list! But after seeing the machine in action, seeing the projects and its versatility, I changed my mind in a hurry! Now that I'm firmly bitten by the silk screening bug, it doesn't take much to get me going.

My husband and I were walking through Micheals Craft Store in Edmonton. He was there to help me with my halloween tombstone decorations, or something similar. He's ALL into crafting with powertools. And he doesn't call it crafting. That's not manly! When I spotted this wonderful little machine: Yudu™ Personal Screen Printer. It is advertised as such:
"The Yudu™ screen-printing system is the easiest, cleanest way to let everyone know who you are—and how you see the world. Don’t settle for what everyone else is wearing or spend hours futilely trying to find a t-shirt that expresses the real you. With access to a computer and an ink-jet printer, you’ll be able to create and print your own designs not only for t-shirts or other apparel, but also for home décor, art prints, posters, cards, schoolwork, and much more! With this revolutionary personal screen printer, you can let your voice be heard today, no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Unsilence yourself today with the Yudu™ Personal Screen Printer."
Unsilence myself?! Yes! Let me scream my identity from the mountaintop! Or, my t-shirt. And again, I can see myself making MONEY with this beauty! It's so shiny! And purple! And the accessories - oh my! Oh my is right. Like all other craft obsessions I am known to get into, this one comes with many many many accessories, which all cost money. Darn. But I'm saving up. I just don't know what I'll get first - the Imprintor or the Yudu.

Tell me about YOUR favorite craft or craft machine or hobby! I want to hear all about it!

Alana's Next Craft Must Have

2010-05-20T23:39:00.000-06:00

Okay, I know I've said that about a million times. "I would be the happiest crafter in all the world, if I just got (insert item du jour). I said that every time I walked into a craft shop as a kid, and especially when they had sales. Fimo! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fimo Oh, how I loved that stuff! I would make beads until I didn't know what to do with them anymore, I made intricate designs in a jelly roll of the stuff, and cut it into slices and smoosh it onto glass jars that would light the room when you put a candle in them. I would spend hours with my sister making seed bead necklaces (mine never were as beautiful as hers). Melting chocolate sculptures and cake decorating kits and learning to sew. Every new craft I fell in love with would come with an entire barage of tools of the trade. Yes, the craft world is my oyster and I just need to get inspired, and then a bank loan.
I said that with the Gocco Printer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJzkhfWwrXM after a friend of mine introduced me to this ingenious Japanese silk screen machine. She made cards, and wedding invitations, and I fell in LOVE. It didn't hurt that I worked at a print shop where I could order any of the marvelous papers we had access to!
It was after I graduated from college that I realized the most awesome thing ever would be to combine my love of these things into a money making venture (okay, I figured that out in grade six also when a friend and I started a "company" selling bracelets made out of that plastic lace that was marketed as "Gimp". But that didn't work out, and our working relationship ended when the afternoon recess did).
I was doing freelancing graphics for friends and family. I used my Gocco Printer (a birthday present from my craft-savvy mom) to make wedding invitations, napkins for parties and other things for profit. I started selling Stampin' Up (I ate up all my profits in personal sales). If I worked at a craft store, I would have to explain to my husband why I never brought home a paycheque. So being able to combine my wedding invitation side business with the print shop I own is great. Sure, I might swear when I'm madly silk screening wedding invitations at midnight to meet a deadline, but it allows me to craft at my job, and I love it.
So while at an industry related trade show in Las Vegas, I discovered this wonderful machine. It can print on pens! It can print on mugs! It can print on GOLF BALLS! Stress balls, shot glasses...Anything your heart desires, this machine claimed to be able to do. And it wasn't enough that they had all this information on it - they actually had a demo model of the machine - they were showing people how easy it was to do and ... step right up and TRY the thing! In the exact same way I fell in love with other craft projects, I fell in love with this. The Imprintor. Sure, I was impressed, but with the purchase of the shop fresh in my mind and on my pocketbook, it was a look but don't touch prospect. Sigh. But while cleaning up my office, I discovered the brochure, and checked out the website and fell in love again.
Meet my new love interest the Imprintor: http://www.imprintor.com/
I figure I can turn heavy duty crafting into even more money, and have a blast doing it. Who wouldn't want a machine to make their very own golf balls? Shot glasses for that special ladies night out? Stress balls that can tell you where to go and how to get there. Nevermind all the clients I can sell promotional products to. I can see spending the first batch of supplies on me and my own personal projects. Now if I can just convince someone else that it's fun so that when my arm gets sore (and it WILL get sore) they can take over for me...
Anyway, that will remain on my wish list for the time being, but you'll never know when things may change and you get a pen from me saying "You stole this pen from Alana's office". Ahhh.
Have fun crafting out there!

Ultimate Craft Project

2010-05-11T10:58:00.000-06:00

I haven't yet blogged about my "Ultimate Craft Project EVAR" and I'm thinking it's high time to do so!
I love crafting, and more specifically D.I.Y. projects. Why buy anything prefab when you can do it yourself? From DIY dinners and desserts, home projects, gardening, crafts... It's so much more interesting to do it yourself and make it your own. I've DIY my own wedding invitations and napkins (twice!), clothing, furniture, sushi, bathrooms... the list could go on.
I admit, I'm often fantasizing about projects I want to do, things I don't have the time or the energy for (and yes, I admit I would have the time if I was more organized or more motivated to do so). But it's still fun thinking about.
My ultimate DIY project - my ultimate craft is my shop. It's been over a year and a half since ink was put to paper officially and made my husband and I proud (and tired) owners of the print shop I'd been running for years. The scars have healed, emotional wounds are no longer throbbing with pain and anger and I feel compelled to write about it. Now the war wounds we received from the purchase of the shop isn't what I want to discuss, but it's just enough for you to know that when I say there's our blood, sweat and tears in our shop - I mean it literally as well as figuratively.
For a gung ho, DIY craft chick such as myself, owning my own print shop is the most ultimate in DIY. I get to make everything! From boring forms and books to really fun and funky business cards, stickers, wedding invitations, napkins...oh my! And we do it all ourselves. From the graphic design to the preparation for printing, to the printing (digital or offset) to the bindery (cutting, gluing, stapling, coiling, booking etc). It's my proudest testament to my love of DIY. We do have a few things that don't get done "in-house". And that's okay. We can't do EVERYTHING, but what we do, we do really really well! Why, just today, we finished DIY labelling a few cases of BBQ sauce. DIY BBQ sauce?! Yes! That's how awesome my "biggest craft project ever" is. And the best part about it? I get PAID to do this! And I get to spend my days getting paid to DIY with my family and my friends. How awesome is that!

Ambigrams!!!

2010-04-23T23:48:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the few people brave enough to rant about a bad job experience on my blog. I received many more to my email from brave souls who just didn't want to chance being outted on the internet. I promise you will all remain anonymous! And anonymous user posted this gem: www.notalwaysright.com A collection of customer service gone wrong. It has kept me in stitches since it was posted. Thanks, anonymous!
But the winner of my mini contest is...Esoterica! Thanks for the post! Please email me your preference - vice of your choice, or dinner date with me! (I know what I'm hoping for!)

And now for the long awaited post of ambigrams! You know, those uber clever designs that look the same front to back, or flipped left to right or upside down. They're like pallindromes, which I am also obsessed.
There are so many more. Rock band logos are very famous ambigrams. ABBA, Aerosmith, Blacksmith, Nine Inch Nails to name a few. And corporate logos like Xpedx, New Man, Edge, Truce Vodka, Delaurean, Wachova just to name a few. Tom Hanks helped bring ambigrams back in vogue with The Davinchi Code and the Oh-So-Mysterious secret society the Illuminati and their Oh-So-Mysterious logo that's (gasp!) the same EVEN WHEN YOU FLIP IT UPSIDE DOWN! And when they made the second movie Angels and Demons, they just had to do a repeat performance. I spoke to a tattoo artist who has tattooed this logo more than any single other design. Wow. Favorite ambigram subjects are like Yin and Yang. Opposite sides to a whole. Life and Death. True and False. Love and Marriage (ha, I'm just kidding, it's actually Love and Hate) War and Peace, Trick and Treat, Yes and No. And pairings of words that go together. Like Hope and Faith. Peace and Love. Graphic designer John Langdon (http://www.johnlangdon.net/) has made a career of designing logos that are ambigrams, and for a nice fee will design one for you (very often for weddings). It's one of the most difficult thigs for a graphic designer to do, and I've often questioned why. To make words perfectly symmetrical, you have to add so much "extra" stuff like flourishes, or use text that's harder to read, and to me, the message of who the company is gets lost in the wow factor. But any business owner may tell you that anything that gets you remembered is a good thing. I tried for weeks to make my name into an ambigram. Shouldn't be too hard - my name is very nearly symmetrical as it is. But, I've run out of time and patience, and couldn't wait another minute to post this entry. Sorry!
So rather than listing out each graphic, and talking about it, I'll just post my favorites here. They're self explanatory. I'd love to have more pictures, but my blog just isn't playing nice. And at the end, a wonderful example of ambigrams in real life. It's one of my favorite movies, and the cover contains one of my favorite design elements.
Happy designing!

To Blog or Not To Blog...

2010-04-07T00:06:00.000-06:00

That is the question. Truly. I've been a bad, bad blogger and I apologize. My goal was to write once a week. And even though I've been insanely busy, I actually HAVE been writing once a week. Not necessarily publishing it, however. Especially since a lot of what I've written has the tone of an exasperated five year old. Mostly because I'm crazy busy with my largest craft project ever (my print shop). And also because what I've been writing is not really craft or design related. That shouldn't really matter since this is craft ANARCHY where there are no rules. But still. I'm a bad, bad blogger.

I've piqued your curiosity with suggestions of blog entries such as:
Alana's Font Rant
Ambigram Candygram!
MORE Logomania
Wedding Invitation BLISS
Nerdy Valentines
And MORE! (And they're coming! I promise!)

I've teased you with wonderful posts, only to disappear for two weeks with no explanation, and no cool posts like Michelle Wieler's post about her travel contest.
SHAMELESS PLUG - go visit her blog and then go VOTE for goodness sake!

Mitch_travelbug's Submitted Video - Travel Contest | BestTravelJobEver.com

And yes, I've been doing a great number of wedding invitations, which have all turned out fantastically. I've taken pictures of all of them, and they WILL be ready to blog about soon. But a few brides have left me in tears. I'm on redesign #3 with one bride. I'm ready for desperate measures on this one. Any ideas on how to deal with difficult clients?

But with all that going on, and things at the shop going quite mental (or they're making me mentally exhausted at least). We actually have customers hanging out at the shop A FULL HOUR before we open and TWO HOURS after we close - all expecting service! They've apparently been stalking us and know when we come and go. Hey people! I love you all, but do you know the reason we're here two hours after closing time? Because we need to get stuff DONE!

I know I'm sounding like a five year old again - I warned you about that earlier. But rather than continuing this wonderful (and much needed rant) I wanna know what YOU think:
How do you deal with a difficult client? Ones that pushes the boundaries of respect. Ones that expect return emails past eleven o'clock at night. Ones that come in hours before open, and hours after closing. Customers that give impossible direction for an impossible job, or completely redesign the whole entire thing eight times before cancelling the job altogether. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!

Write to me your favorite work related disaster story, or how you dealt wonderfully with a really difficult client and how it turned out fabulously in the end. I'm tired of hearing myself whine, and goodness knows you need a rant once in a while!

The BEST story or incident to be posted here will receive:
- My most sincere condolences and or congratulations
- A deep understanding of where you're coming from
- A drink-date with ME! Live and in person! (Or if you're far away, I'll courier you out your most favorite vice, be it candy, chocolate, coffee etc)
- The glorious prize of having your own personal rant on my blog for all to see (okay, everyone will have that, but it's still special, right?)

Entries will close whenever I do my next post. Good luck to all, and rant away!

Seven Phrases Designers will Always Hate

2010-03-14T13:04:00.000-06:00

I love doing what I do. I have six years as an ad designer, three years as a freelance graphic designer and seven years as a catchall graphic designer, I have run into all types of design work, and all types of clients. I love to think of myself as a "beautifier of things", and that my work matters. Helping clients get recognized, helping clients establish a brand, helping clients make their business successful. My body of work has run the entire design gammut, and no matter what I've done, in what capacity, there are several "dream" clients that you love working with, always take constructive suggestions, and others well, they have their own ideas about what graphic design is and utter phrases that just make designers everywhere run screaming from their chairs. I will try to accommodate all clients, no matter what their budget. I pride myself on giving a good product whether they have lots of money to spend, or if their budget is on a shoe string. But regardless of cost, those few suggestions pop up, and I for one am sick of hearing them. Just because I feel the need to rant - I've heard three of these in the last week alone, and I am hoping that if just one person sees this, and changes their ideas, or even just one idea, designers everywhere can breathe a little sigh of relief.

In no particular order, here's my Top Seven Phrases Designers Hate to Hear:

#1 There's too much white space
Arg! Sometimes they don't word it like that - they may say "there's too much empty space here" or "there's room where we can put more text or another picture in". And they're wrong! Too much space (we designers call it white space) is a good thing! It gives balance and order to a piece. And depending on what it is we're designing, more space is a good thing.
Business cards don't need to have all your products and services crammed onto it. You're going to be sending out marketing materials, right? You have a webpage right? Your sales people are going to actually TALK to people about your company right? Right?! You don't need to cram that info in there. It just makes it harder for people to see your company name, your telephone number, your NAME. I've seen my share of business cards that I had to look at for five minutes before figuring out who I was supposed to call. Your business card should be simplistic - a basic form of communication. Keep it that way.
If the design is a newspaper or a magazine ad, you want to keep the information to a bare minimum also. Clients tend to think that since they are spending "so much money" on a print ad, that they need to cram as much information into the ad as possible to get as much for their money as possible. Less is more. Since you're counting on the viewing public to see the ad, stop for enough time to read it and want to call you, you want to keep it simple. Make it eye catching. Make it easy to read. Give them a hook for them to want to call you. If your ad is crammed up with text and graphics, they may not even see it. If they do, they may not be patient enough to read a paragraph or two, and you may give them more information than they want, and no reason to call you. Always leave them wanting more! Keep is simple, short and you'll ensure you get bang for your buck. Promise.

#2 Make the logo bigger
Another one to make us designers scream. Sort of similar to the one above, but this time, the client is happy to have minimal information. They still just see the white space as the enemy. Make the logo bigger! They cry. Make my address and phone number larger! Make sure my tagline is more visible! They've gotten the whole "less is more" philosophy, but not "whitespace is your friend". They've even gone so far as to suggest to you that you should "make everything bigger". And you want to yell and scream at them that it's impossible to do that, since there's just not enough room. And you either cry yourself to sleep after eating a tub of ice cream, or you try as hard as you can to tell them why that doesn't work, and when they don't agree, you cry yourself to sleep after eating a tub of ice cream, or lastly, you do what they request, jamming everything together, logos touching letters, no leading or kerning space and after they approve it for print, you cry yourself to sleep after eating a tub of ice cream. Seriously, those are the ways this situation plays out. Sometimes clients listen to you. I actually have a few books that I pull out when dealing with a difficult client that teaches the concept, and sometimes it works. Often though, the client doesn't care, and we all know that the client is always right. Right?

#3 Black isn't a color, right?
Forget what elementary school teaches you about color and prisms and all that jazz. If it requires ink to be put on the page, in a print shop, that's a color. It may be considered a "house" color and is the least expensive option, it's still a color. To say that you only want a "one color design" please accept the fact that it will be one color. Or to say that you want a one color design with green and black, you will be met with confused looks from your designer. Yes, black is a color.

#4 Is white a color?
Usually said by the customer confused with this revalation that black IS a color! Wow! Does this mean white is? Or isn't? So confusing!
Again, forget your color theory from elementary art class. Is white a color? That depends. Is the design going on white paper? Then no, it is not a color. It is the color of the stock. Yes, we can make it look like a black design with white writing, but honestly, if it's black on white, it's one color. If you're printing on a colored paper (like blue for example) and you want white lettering, then yes it's a color. Remember the rule of thumb: if we need ink to put it on paper, it's a "color". If it's the color of the paper itself, then it's not. Consider if white WAS a color, and you wanted a one color design. We'd be selling you blank sheets of paper. And if we did that, we'd be a paper supply company and not a printer.

#5 I don't have a logo - can I use this clipart?
This can reduce me to tears. Why wouldn't you have your own logo? There are companies online offering pre-designed logos, there are designers out there who would love to get to work on something for you. Our own shop has logo packages from only $100. Only one hundred dollars for something unique?? You can contact a design school and have students "practice" designing for you, and at the end you pick your favorite, and you have a logo! There are so many ways to do design on the less expensive, and we still have people using clip art.
I'm not saying that clip art is bad, or cheezy or cheap. I'm just saying there are flaws with clip art you will want to consider before just going with it.
- Clip art is non-proprietary. What that really means is anyone can use it. Any designer, person or company who owns that clip art gallery can use that clip art for anything they want. My favorite example is the spa that used a gorgeous, curvy clip art woman for their spa logo looked in horror when a strip club opened only a few blocks away using the same exact clip art for their logo. Not only did it cost her several thousands of dollars in reduced business by customers who were confused, but it cost her several more thousands of dollars in having to suddenly design a logo and reprint ALL her marketing materials, letterhead, business cards etc. AND her shop sign.
- Clip art isn't designed for logo use. Who cares? You may ask, but before you choose a clip art logo, make sure you ask these questions:
how many colors is the clip art? If it's full process color, get ready to shell out big bucks for all your printing. Full color is more expensive than one or two color printing. Ever notice how most logos are only 1 or 2 colors? This is by design, not accident.
Ask if the logo is vector. Whaaaa? Vector is a certain type of graphic (without getting too technical) that can be increased in size indefinitely because it is expressed in mathematical formula. The opposite of vector is rastor. Rastor is what we call files with extension names like .bmp, jpg, tif to name a few. These graphics are designed on a grid, and when you increase the size of these graphics, you can see the grid pattern showing. You may hear it referred to as "bitmapping". If the clip art is a high enough resolution, you may not have a problem with it, but once you try to use the clip art in a situation where it's too small for the application - look out, it'll look bitmappy and crappy. It's worth shelling out the few extra dollars to ensure your logo is vector.
- Ask who has access to the clipart gallery. If it's a Microsoft Office clip art gallery - be prepared for everyone and their dog using the same images in their memos, powerpoint presentations, and everything they can get their hands on. If it's a more exclusive clip art gallery - such as Metro, which is only available to certain design houses, and includes a steep $1000 per month subscription cost. It's a little safer to assume that less people will be using the same graphic.

#6 Use Chicago or other silly fonts
Or any other non-design font. I've had my friendly arguments with non-designers about the use of appropriate fonts in design. It's even been suggested to me that "in the right context" some fonts are okay. And while ANY font can be appropriate "in the right context" you will find that designers will cringe when you request certain fonts. Or too many fonts in one design. Or all capital letters in a script font. Or they suggest the use of a system font. Hell, fonts can be a whole new posting altogether. So rather than take up real estate by listing font issues, I'll just say that fonts are a touchy subject with designers. Heed their advice. More on this to come...

And now for the last one...
#7 I like (this company)'s logo. Can't I just use theirs?
It may seem like a too-obvious one, but unfortunately, I get this all the time. It's not usually with large corporations, but a small window cleaner may like a logo from a window cleaner they know in Ontario. Or a small gym who wants to take the Nike logo, turn it purple and have their catch phrase as "We Can Do It". And while us graphic designers may cringe and scream at the idea, our clients honestly don't know why this is wrong and bad. Why confuse yourself with another company? Why not try to differentiate yourself? Being unique will set you apart in the crowd. Being unique will let people remember you. Logo stealing is not only illegal and immoral (imagine if you spent the millions of dollars to come up with the Nike "swoosh" only to have hundreds of companies steal your idea - wouldn't that make you mad?) You want to be known for your individuality. You don't have to spend a million dollars, but spend just a few, and you will reap the benefits. Trust me.

There's about a hundred more phrases that designers hate to hear, but rather than go on an ill-tempered rant, I've shortened the list. Hopefully it may educate some people, make some designers laugh, and given everyone else some food for thought. I will blog about fonts soon, but next week, I touch on a favorite and illusive design concept: the ambigram. Mysterious and clever, I will blog about it, and may include attempts of my own. Oooh the suspense!
Enjoy your week!

Logos I dislike...

2010-03-06T14:26:00.001-07:00

I'm not in any way, shape or form saying these logos are bad or inefficient. Lots of them are well known and have served their purpose well. I'm saying I personally don't like them, and while it's true that rules are meant to be broken - these logos definitely break the rules, and not in a good way. Don't pick on me for disliking these logos, it's just my lowly, personal opinion.

So without further ado, here's the logos I'd love to see redesigned:

Fabricland
I've heard through the design grapevine that an actual designer did this logo. Whether under bad influence from the client, or whether the choices that were made were done so on purpose, it leaves several things to be questioned. Now the font is uninspired, but when your audience is the crafty type, this logo does seem homey and "crafty". But why oh why oh why is that "R" yellow?! It doesn't make sense to me! Perhaps that was on purpose. Give the audience something to question and they will remember you. True. The company even seems to acknowledge the oddity of the logo since they held a contest a few years back asking customers to write in, and give their theories as to why it's yellow. And in all their "new" marketing materials, the yellow is gone leaving the logo in only red and white (oh, how Canadian, eh?). So whether it was on purpose, or by accident, this makes my top choice for ugly logos. And yellow and red? Really? That just screams "cheap" to me. But that's just my opinion...

Kudawara Pharmacy
I'm not sure where this pharmacy is, and I must confess I've only seen this logo on the internet as a poorly designed logo. What were these people thinking when they designed it? I can only guess. Some people theorize it's one person "helping" another (think heimlich maneuver). But my theory is it's not supposed to represent people at all. Just unfortunate juxtapositioning. Nuff said.

MegaFlicks
I really don't need to say why this is a bad logo, except that it looks frighteningly similar to a logo of a current client (who I won't mention here). Just a note, people - please look at your designs from the eyes of someone who has never before seen your logo. Many modern fonts run letters together, and if you have an "L" preceeded by an "I" - just beware. And if you're in it for the shock value, well...STOP IT! It's just tasteless.

Kids Exchange
A kids consignment store is a great idea. How much wear and tear DOES an average 6 month old go through? This is just another example of why all capital letters is bad, and why running words together without spaces is bad. Sigh. See above for those two examples as well. I can only hope this is a very old photo, and they've since corrected this mistake, or have changed their name. I can only imagine what kinds of mistaken identity and possible arrests have been made due to this error.

Computer Doctors
Again, I'm not going to go into detail why this is bad. It just is. Sometimes some bad designs are done SO badly, I can't tell if they're done by accident or on purpose. In this case I believe it's the latter. Sigh. Reminds me of the recently recalled Tinkerbell & Friends toy. You don't remember this? Read about it here: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10131.html
Now the bad design choice of the toy has absolutely nothing to do with the recall, but look at the rosebud toy. Scroll down on the page, I'll wait... What does that toy remind you of? I think the people who sculpted that toy must be very bored with their lives.

United Way
This is a very well designed logo. I like the United Way and the good work that they do. We should all support the United Way. My aversion to it is something my sister said to me when we were kids. She said the logo reminded her of blood squirting out of someone's wrist, and the little person dancing in it. That dark imagery of her overactive imagination has always haunted me, and I've always thought they needed to change at least the colors. And they have. Let us never see this logo in red again. Amen.

Sinclair
The logo itself is clever. Where does oil come from? Yay! It's clever, and it's unique. There's just something unsettling about puttin' dead dinos in your car. Weird. But then again, I never grew up with Sinclair gas stations. Up here in Canada, our gas does not mix with humor. Wait. Lemme re-phrase that...

Best Pals
Now I can't find this logo yet. I thought I saved the packaging from years ago, and all internet and dollar store searches turn up empty. I hope this means this that this logo has finally been laid to rest. Not to be confused with the Best Pals rag dolls (which are very popular in the states). This was a dollar store version of a plastic baby doll, complete with blanket, bottle and cheap ass diapers. It came in a sickly saccharin pink box with their Best Pals logo emblazoned on it. Only thing was, the logo lettering all ran together to make it appear to read "BESTIALS". Which I'm sure you all agree is a very bad image for a baby doll. If anyone has the logo, or a package with this logo on it - please send it to me so I can put it on my blog. It definitely deserves to be here.

That's all I got today, I try to be as positive as possible with my critiquing. Me not liking a logo has absolutely no bearing on how effective it is, or how wonderful the company may be. I've certainly designed some absolute stinkers of logos in my years. Maybe I'll put them all up here for the internet to laugh at some day. But until then, keep looking for the beauty things. There's a whole lotta ugly to make up for!

Logomania!

2010-02-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

Continuing my logo inspired posting, today I want to discuss negative space logos. Their elegance is their simplicity. Their effectiveness is in the hidden messages you will find within my favorite ones. I love logos that you have to look at and understand what they are for before you see the real message behind it. In that, the most simplistic logos are often the most complex. Hidden messages also work on another level - when you "get" the secret message they convey, you feel smart, you feel special, and you feel like you were included in this inside joke. They go a long way to making the consumer feel great about your product or company, and more likely to consume whatever product or service you are selling. I've done a few negative space logos in my time, and several more that were rejected, because the company wanted a migh resolution raster graphic - something like you'd see on a webpage, or they themeselves didn't "get" the message. Those customers frustrate me. When creating my logos, I generally make sure the logo can simply put into a one, two or three color version, full color - making sure there's enough "play" in the logo to ensure that it COULD be put into a dynamic full color, fully animated version for television or internet as well as a black and white and greyscale version. Yes dear readers, a LOT of planning and thought goes into even the simplest logo. Ever wonder why even the most wealthy companies only do a two color logo? Too many colors is too confusing, too expensive to reproduce offset, and too busy. Think Telus, any sports teams, FedEx, Amazon, UPS, 7-Eleven... the list goes on. Simple logos, simple color schemes. It's done for a reason, folks. There are a few exceptions to the rule. Like Google for example. Since they are a mainly online company, they can get away with having a very multi-colored logo as their main logo. But note - it can easily go into a fully animated vector, a black and white or greyscale version easily. Another reason companies may opt for a full color logo is easy. They're rich, and want you to know it.

So what exactly IS a negative space logo? Just in case I didn't explain it very well - I have a tendancy to do that, so why exactly do I have a blog? They say those who can't do - teach. Well, I can't teach, so what does that say about me?

I digress. I thought I should give an example (a very famous one) of a negative space image.
It's a vase. Or is it two faces looking at each other? It's both! And an example of negative space. The negative space around the vase forms the faces. The negative space around the faces form the vase. I've loved these images since I was a child, which may explain some of my fascination with logos that use this technique.

Now for some of my favorites:
FedEx
A very simple logo. Two colors, big, block lettering. What's hidden? Those of you who know about the "hidden" image are nodding your heads already. To some people, it's not even hidden at all, and some people will always have a hard time seeing it. Look between the E and the X. It's a forward moving arrow! Telling us all very easily and simply they are about moving forward. Moving their cargo, their service, their technology... Very well done, FedEx. And the nice thing about it is they use "Ex" for all their different services and offshoots of the company - always, always indicating to us that they are always moving forward. Nice.

This next logo I have never had the pleasure of seeing in person. I'd love to have the chance, but I love the logo the same. It's the Taiwan recycle logo. At first glance, I see a box that is made up of arrows showing movement inside the box. And look again, the entire image's negative space, you see arrows pointing out of the box. Showing the complex idea of recycling - taking something old or used and turning it into something useful. Almost every recycling logo has the use of arrows - usually pointing around in a circle, showing how you can endlessly recycle, but I especially love this one. The only thing I don't really like about it is how it looks vaguely like a swastika. Glad they didn't turn the logo 45 degrees...

Via Rail. Notice how the negative space between the letters suggests train tracks.

I love this one because it is whimsical. I have never had the pleasure of hearing the London Symphony Orchestra play, but I love their logo. At first glance it looks simply like brushstrokes spelling out the letters LSO for London Symphony Orchestra. Look again, and you see a very whimsical conductor wielding his baton. Very clever.

Honorable mentions:

Ireland's Unifil logo. They use the color scheme of their flag and the images of doves to make a negative space dove to illustrate their message of peace.

Hartford Whalers. When I was a kid, I had no idea what a whaler was, but I loved how the whale's tail completed the W, but it wasn't until I was older that I realized the negative space showed the H for Hartford.

Girl Scouts of America. The shape is a four leaf clover, inset with images and negative images of girls' faces.

I could go on for ever. There are so many examples of this, it would take me forever to show my favorites, but instead, I'll direct you to a favorite website of mine that shows many more examples: http://www.logodesignlove.com/negative-space-logo-design
And for the same examples shown here as there, no, I did not steal any ideas, just showing you my favorites from ones I have seen and loved. There are some very, very clever ones on his website, but many of the ones on his website I personally have not spotted in nature. See if you can spot all of the hidden messages, letters or symbols. Then, leave comments telling me about your favorite negative space logos - or just your favorite logos in general.

Next week: my least favorite logos and why. Ooooh! Isn't the suspense killing you?

Logos ... they're a craft, right?

2010-02-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

Unbeknownst to some, I used to own an online logo company. The now-defunct www.offtheracklogos.com sold pre-designed company logos for an off the rack price. For a design fee, we custom designed the logos to fit your company name, colors, etc. It was cool. And our logo was a drag queen. Awesome. We merely took the logos we designed for clients that were scrapped before they got farther than the drawing board. After two of us doing designs for many years, we amassed so many, we wondered what to do with them, and voila - off the rack logos was born! Due to lack of funds, and online theft of ideas and logos (other companies cropped up overnight with a larger marketing budget than us, that stole the idea, stole some of our logos, and even stole our drag queen!) It was a fun idea that sold some logos and gave us experience.

Nevertheless, I've always been fascinated with logos. From the time I realized The Bay's logo was a "B" and not an animorphous blob, or the time I made the connection that the Calgary Flames logo was a flaming C and the Pittsburg Penguins logo was also a P. (My brother had a hockey team logo banner, in case you were wondering about the amount of hockey references) I imagined an intelligent, mysterious presence behind their mystical shape. The art of creating an entire identity, wrapped up in a neat package has always caught my imagination. If you really get into it, logos - now mostly symbols of companies, products, organizations, countries... have been around forever. Their origins come from ancient history. They are used to associate a complex idea easily.

I'd love to share some of my most favorite ones with you.

Toblerone. The delicious triangular Swiss chocolate synonymous with Christmas and duty-free shops in airports is known by their logo - a distinct line art of the Matterhorn. It was created in 1908 by Theodor Tobler and Emil Baumann in Bern, Switzerland. To this day, it is manufactured solely in this I imagine magical town. (Actually, it's not a town at all, it's a huge, thriving metropolis - the fourth largest in all of Switzerland) It is allegedly named after a bear that the duke who founded the town had killed, and is known as the city of bears. Which is the reason for the hidden image in their logo. I hadn't noticed it for years, but it's been there since 1908, when Tobler and Baumann trademarked the logo. Did they mean for it to be a hidden image, or did they hope everyone would see and understand? It's like an inside joke - you don't get it at first, but when you do, you suddenly feel clever.
Can you see it? Look closely - "hidden" in the Matterhorn is the city's namesake.
Whether it was intentional or not, logos that work on different levels like this make me happy.

This next one was definitely thought up by nerds! Eighty20 is a marketing firm in South Africa. The fact that they are a marketing firm means that for sure they have to have a clever logo. I was pondering one day why they have the different colored squares in their logo - what possible meaning that might have. Did they like the colors? Is it code for how many people founded the company? Is it mimicking an office building? As I was pondering this logo, our computer tech was walking by and remarked how clever - and simple their logo was. I turned around inquisitively and asked for an explanation. What he said has given me new respect for the amount of thought that goes into many of these logos. "dark squares are “1’s” and light squares are “0’s”. It’s binary code. Top squares= 1010000= 80 Bottom squares= 001010 = 20"

I'm not going to make an impassioned plea for simplistic logos, or black and white only, or ones with hidden pictures and meanings. I like what I like, and all clever logos are clever in their own way. Share some of your favorites with me - I'd love to know what you think.

Next week, I'll share my most favorite negative space logos. They are the most simplistic, complex and surprising logos out there.
Have fun logo-ing!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day! This is the day set aside by the Roman Catholics to honor martyred priests named Valentine. Which somehow became this over-commercialized flower and chocolate and diamond whore-fest we know and love today! Aw, doesn't that give you warm tinglies?

We don't take V-Day too seriously around our house. Like I've mentioned in previous posts, if I get chocolate, I'm a happy bunny, and yesterday my sweet baboo did just that. AND flowers! Tulips and peanut butter cups. Aw! The kiddo made us a treasure hunt for her Valentine's gift for us. Follow the clue type stuff. The clues were very cute: "Go to the place you spend most of your time weekday mornings after you're awake". The bathroom! "Go to the place you spend most of your time weekday evenings" the couch! I'm so predictible. And I'm okay with that. But the tranquility of today is the exact opposite of what happened 3 nights ago, when my daughter (past bed-time, and past the closing time of any stores here) announced "oh, I forgot - we have a Valentine's Day party at school tomorrow and I need 33 valentines for class-mates". Argh! So, I began kamikaze craft #1 of the new year. 33 hand-made valentines. Yay. I often love being "forced" to craft, because lately it hasn't been happening organically, but after a very long day, and on my favorite TV night, with my back screaming at me, I wasn't really too excited. A hasty survey of my craft area revealed a few exciting things: 40 already cut and scored black sheets of card stock - perfect size for cards, 20 already stamped and already cut out cute kid themed pictures. From there, I vowed to make quick-and-easy personalized valentines for the whole class. Here we go.

I took the black card stock, and stamped a cute heart background stamp in white. Very school-chalk board sort of thing. Do they still use chalk boards in schools?
Then I took the class list and typed the entire thing out in a word processor, cut out each name and attached the name to the card with a heart shaped brad. While I was doing this, Kathleen was finishing the other 15 stamped images, and cutting them out. Some for boys, some for girls. I glued these to the outside of the valentine, and my daughter began signing 33 gold stickers. I knew we wouldn't be finished before she dropped from exhaustion, so I figured if she signed stickers, I could finish each invitation as she slept, but all would be personally signed by her. Having each invitation personalized meant no envelopes for time savings! The final step was to use the signature stickers to hold candy in place on the inside of the valentine. Ta dah! 33 personalized, candy holding valentines in under 2 hours! I documented as much of the process as I could, but then got tired and totally forgot, so no finished pictures of the cards. Oops. But they were gorgeous, and very appreciated by the kids. I think it was the candy.

So today, we are all spending the day exactly how we would want: Hubby is on the couch with chips and dip watching Daytona, kiddo is going to her gramma's house, and I am getting together with a couple of friends for some much needed personal time. Yay for Valentine's day! So you all enjoy your happy heart and love day, and know that I love you all!
alana

I'm Twitterpated!

2010-02-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

I remember that word from years ago, as a child watching Bambi and Thumber in animated harmony grow up together and find love. Twitterpated. Love. Ah! www.urbandictionary.com defines it as "the flighty, excited feeling you get when you see the object of your affection". Never before has Urban Dictionary been so poetic. Seriously, you usually get hormonal teenagers trying to describe bizarre and impossible sex acts. Sheesh.

What an appropriate time to be twitterpated - St. Valentine's Day is just around the corner - and while I don't really celebrate it at my house - it's usually an excuse to buy everyone the chocolate that you know they love and wouldn't otherwise buy for themselves. If I'm exceptionally lucky, I will get no sugar added Purdy's hedgehogs. But I digress. Even though Valentine's Day is just not celebrated with much pomp and circumstance around here, the idea behind the day gives me warm fuzzies. Ahhh. So why am I so twitterpated, besides the warm fuzzies and prospect of chocolate a few days away? Minuteman Press has finally come into the new millennium. Yes, that's correct - we are now on Twitter. I'm starting to feel old, and new technology is starting to scare me, and Twitter with it's own language and often banal postings from attention whores, and such instant connection wasn't something I thought I wanted, let alone needed. I had never even ventured onto a twitter page for any reason at all until one of our employees got it in her head that Minuteman Press Leduc needed one. "Just one more form of media" and "another way to inform customers and potential customers" were phrases that were discussed as I sat - half distracted by the mountains of work I had yet to work on. How am I going to have the time to Twitter? I wondered as I absent mindedly scrolled down my FaceBook page. I agreed it was a good idea, and completely forgot the conversation. The next day, my wonderful employee broached the subject - "you know what I mentioned yesterday that I would do...?" was her tentative question. I flicked my wrist and shrugged a shoulder. "Meh" was my response. I was expecting her to explain why it wasn't done yet, and I wasn't overly concerned about it. I was about to say "it'll be done when you get to it". I don't really expect my employees to work on work after work. I may be a slave driver, but I'm not mean! And as I lifted up my head to reassure her that all was well, I came face to face with our Minuteman Press Leduc Twitter page. Whaaa..?! I spent half a day confused, another half a day decyphering its bizarre language. Retweet? Sounds like "retreat" as spoken by Elmer Fudd. But retreat I did not (unless you consider the word to mean "to treat yourself again"). I twittered, tweeted and conquered - hooray! Okay, I've tweeted twice, and I still don't know the lingo, or who's following and who's a follower, and it's mostly confusing, but I must admit, it does seem like an efficient way to get news out fast about products, services and promotions at the shop. And once our employee links several organizations to us too, I'm beginning to understand why this is such a good tool. But it still makes me feel old. Now get off my lawn!

So now I can twitter about being twitterpated this valentine's day on my blog, my facebook and on my website. With all this connectivity, where's the privacy? Where are the days of multiple accounts and false profiles? Is internet stalking even a thing anymore? Or is it just that everyone in the world is guilty of it? Maybe I'll spend valentine's day at home with the curtains drawn. But I won't forget to twitter about it later. :)

Whine!

2010-02-09T23:26:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot the existance of my blog for many reasons. I thought it was a self-centered act that I was midly (okay, not so mildly) obsessing over. And then I decided to leap head and heart first (brain to follow later) into buying my own business. Since owning the business, I've had too much to do actually RUNNING the business to worry about silly blogs among other things (other things such as actually having a life, for example). And lastly, this is a craft blog, and I just didn't have time to craft - let alone blog about it. I could have blogged about crafts I want to do, crafty people I love, but hell, I had a business to run, and a life to ignore!

But I'm back now, business (mostly) under control thanks to awesome employees and awesome customers, and I just need a place to rant. Be prepared for less crafty things to blog about, more art and graphic design type stuff I'll be putting here because really, it's all related.

Welcome back, me!

BUSY - ARGHHHH!

2008-09-04T16:27:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm back from Vegas (ah, please, hold your applause. lol) And it's what I predicted: a LOT of work. So much learning, my brain is nearly full, a lot of NOT sightseeing, a moderate amount of celebrity sightings (Kim Kardashian, Cher, Tom Green...) and a lot of free alcohol. C'est la vie, non?

But now that it's September, things are really winding up (or is it winding down) with the shop. Things are so close, I can barely stand it. Today seemed like a fairly monumentous day for me, but in all reality, little tiny steps have been taken towards this for about five months now. Guh. I can't wait for it to be over and done with. But the shop is getting busier and busier. It's really insane right about now, which is nothing but good news for now and the future. XD

I've managed to catch some paying craft orders, which makes me very happy I can justify the craft spending and FORCE myself to take the time to craft. I'm just quite puzzled with my new invitation order. She seems to want everything except the kitchen sink thrown in - and very crazy, loud colors. I may need someone to help myself or the bride edit some things. Simple and elegant cards are more my forte. Maybe what I need to do is swap projects with Amy - she's super fantastic at these fabulously colored, multi faceted projects, and I like the simpler things... Which is what sh's working on at the moment also. The biggest issue I'm having is how to attach the see through vellum to the card. She doesn't want ribbon, or brads, or eyelets. And if we glue them together, you can see through the vellum. Gah! I should get back to the drawing board. Literally. She wants a silk screen of sea shells all over the invitation. I really need to get practicing drawing...

Leaving on a jet plane...

2008-08-13T13:10:00.000-06:00

Well, today is the day I fly off to vegas for a Minuteman Press convention. It'll pretty much rock. I hope. Except for the heat. And the crowds. And the sore feet. But other than that, if I have to be working somewhere, it might as well be in Los Vegas for a while. So, I won't be around for a while. Like I was around much anyway. ha ha. I will hope to find something nifty or crafty or *something* I can post here. Hopefully it won't be all work, no play. And hopefully I won't lose my fortune on the penny slots. (crosses fingers) So wish me luck with the heat (I don't do so well in the heat). And I hope to be back blogging soon.

Long time no post!

2008-08-08T09:43:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been over a month since my last post, and though I've been super busy, there's NOTHING NEW! Eep! How can that be? Well, it's not exactly true, let me summarize my month:

My super special secret project I've been hinting at is almost finalized! Yay! A few select people who are "in the loop" know about it and I can talk freely with them. That's been a huge relief. I still want to wait until things are more final before I say much. And by that, I mean I want to wait until I have more signatures on papers and our lawyers are satisfied. But needless to say, it's been progressing at the rate satisfactory to us. Every day more gets done, and I'm beginning to feel like my brain has been replaced with a business zombie. I don't think I'm obsessed about it, but it seems to be one of the few topics of conversation I'm capable of. Duh.

The radio station is still in limbo. Not that it's a bad thing. (see previous posts for info on said radio station). We had the CRTC hearing the first week in June. I think it went well. And at the end they said "thank you for participating, we'll get back to you on our decision whenever the hell we feel like it. Oh, say end of August. Or maybe September. Hell, don't be surprised if we don't let you know until October." And by "letting us know" they actually mean no person will ever call us or contact us with the information. We must look every day on the CRTC website, where they post all the information on an obscure link. Niiice. I guess that's the government for you. So nothing new, please stop asking me. (ha ha, I keed...)

My daughter continues to be a force in the swimming pool. She was a consistant medal winner throughout the summer at her tournaments (two bronze medals, two silver, one gold) and then she had regionals. Well, if my heart could've burst with pride, it would have. I was trying ont to let her get her hopes up because all the best swimmers in the region come out for this meet. We were not expecting her to get to the finals, but she did just that. Qualified in ALL her races (four of them, no relay) and then in finals: three first place finishes and one second place finish! OMG! She was crying, I was weepy eyed. A great mother/daughter moment! This means she's going to the provincials in ALL her events! Yeah! Unfortunately, I will not be attending the provincials. I have a conference I have to go to that's been booked for a year. So I will be spending my second year wedding anniversary AND my daughter's provincial swim meet alone in Las Vegas.

And for every weekend that has not been a swim meet (nearly all of them were) we've tried to camp, boat or relax, and none of that has worked out yet. Not even one little tiny craft! Eep! Although tonite I'm going to sit down and craft a really cool card I had an idea for. It's a corset card, and will be for my sister in law's wedding tomorrow. She's doing a really cool medieval themed wedding (the cake topper is a dragon!) Totally awesome! So I'll get that card done, and will post pictures to prove I'm really still alive. LOL So a wedding this weekend, vegas next weekend, then august is half over! I'm gearing up for quite a few craft projects soon though. Wedding invitations etc. I'm looking forward to September for several reasons though. My special little project will be finalized, which will free up my time...

Other than that, I wanted to let all of you know that the new Stampin' Up! Catalogue is finally here! Yay!! It looks awesome! Please let me know if you want to buy one ($13 each) Or get one FREE (host a party) Whoever books a party with me in September will get a FREE stamp set in addition to the catalogue! If you are a lot like me and don't have any time for a party but still would like to browse a catalogue or place a catalogue order, please contact me!

Have a fun August, keep crafting, and I'll see you all back in September!
ciao!

Finally! A Craft to Post!!

2008-07-03T08:34:00.000-06:00

Well, after my very cranky post yesterday, I'm glad to be posting a much happier note today. :) I de-crankified by complaining and bitching to just about everyone, and finally got it out of my system. And then to make a newly happy me even happier, my friend emailed me the pictures of her chip and dip set! :)

The chip and dip set is ceramic. I went to Crankpots on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton. They're a pottery store that has all unfinished pieces. You pick the piece you want - each piece has its own price - and then for a $20 studio fee you can sit in their shop and paint the ceramics. If you're not done, you can come back and finish it later. Once you are done, you leave it there to be fired in their kiln. I've gone there a few times now, and it's a lot of fun. The pieces I've painted are painted in Hot Tamale Red and Rawhide Brown. I decided to keep it really simple and paint it in two colors that remind me of my friend. I painted the platter in all brown, then painted the edge with the red, and painted a heart in the middle. I painted the dip cup all red on the outside, and then brown in the middle, to provide a nice contrast. Once I was done painting the colors, I bought a special paint called "blooming crystals". It's full of hunky chunks, and once you put it in the scorching heat of the kiln, the chunks melt into the paint, providing a "bloom" of color overtop your base color. I decided to paint all the brown with a blooming color called spiced banana. It had brown and yellow small flecky crystals. It sort of reminded me of banana bread. I really like how it turned out (especially because I had no way of seeing the finished product before Tabitha received it!) I like how the crystals can be seen over the red edging and red heart. I made sure to coat the red extra well, so you can't see the brush strokes, but I decided to do the exact opposite on the brown parts - I made sure to leave obvious brush strokes to give it a more authentic and rustic pottery feel. I'm glad she loves it, I'm just going to have to paint myself one now! I'm terribly addicted to going to Crankpots now. It's a lot of fun, and best of all, it's a quite place away from home that I can sit, relax and craft. Hmmm. I wonder if I can play hooky from work to go...

Bitchy!

2008-07-02T17:46:00.000-06:00

That accurately describes my mood lately. Bitchy. I don't even feel like I just came back from a four day vacation. The vacation itself was lovely! We camped out at the family farm, got a lot of boating and tubing in, the weather was glorious, and we had lots of fun away from all the craziness of real life. But, bright and early this morning reality came pounding back with a vengence. Arg! Even though I was slathering myself with SPF 50 sunscreen several times a day throughout the weekend, I managed to burn myself to a lovely lobster red. I tried toning down the redness with a self tanner, but that only managed to make the red more intense. And it hurts! Like a sonofagun! At least I know THIS pain is quite temporary. Everything else seems to have no end in sight.

I don't know if it's the hot and humid weather we're having lately (don't get me wrong - I LOVE the sunshine. Seeing the sun, and getting to enjoy the nice weather is great) but it's TOO hot for my liking, and it seems to make me and everyone else grumpy. I had to deal with unhappy customer after unhappy customer at the shop today. Sigh. Everything seems to be going as smoothly as the warts on a witches nose lately. The employees are restless, I'm restless, the owner's restless. The project Rob and I are working on seems no farther along than two months ago. Hurry up and wait. Hurry and wait. Wait. Everything seems to be in limbo, and I'm sick and tired of it all. Sick and tired is absolutely right. I've caught every single bug going around - and caught it twice. When I haven't been dealing with respiratory infections, eyeball infections, pnemonia, colds, flu bugs, I've been stuck with a mysterious runny nose, and a complete lack of energy to do anything. I thought the weekend away would recharge my batteries, but all it's done is clog all the problems into a shorter time frame to fix. One day back from my vacation, and I'm already ready for the weekend.

I was supposed to go to a pen turning class at Lee Valley with a friend tomorrow, but due to lack of registrants, it was cancelled. Yuck! I really wanted to make my very own pen (all my friends know me as the pen whore) I guess I'll just pile that up on the list of disapointments. :(

Lucky I managed to squeeeeeze in a small craft project for one of my oldest friends' wedding. Tabitha. I've known her since grade 6 and due to a lucky twist in fate have gotten back in touch with her this year. I got down to Crankpots in Edmonton and painted a beautiful ceramic chip and dip set. Or, at least I think it's beautiful! I couldn't get it fired in the kiln in time for the wedding, so I let her know when it was ready for pick up, and she let me know today she got it, and loves it. I can't wait to see pictures of it so I can post them here! It's been the only real craft project I got in for the past several weeks. I'll post pictures as soon as I have them. That, and her kamakaze wedding and my vacation has been the only real fun I've had in a while. (sigh)

I'm hoping to get back to the gym. My doctor has had strict instructions for me to avoid public places like gyms and swimming pools until I've been symptom free for at least a week. I can't wait to get some schedule of normalcy again. I want to lose some of this excess weight in hopes that's been making me feel tired and run down. I go for my assessment today. Hopefully the prognosis isn't too grim. But, I just won't think about it. Just close my eyes and leap.

And because it makes me happy, I have posted a few pictures from my awesome weekend. Enjoy!

PS - I swear I'll get pics of me modelling my merkin and tassels soon - as well as some of my new hats. I {heart} hats!

Hair!

2008-06-24T09:11:00.001-06:00

I haven't blogged in SUCH a long time! It's been so busy, with my projects that I've been doing. I've started stamping a recipe book that I thought would be my "fun summer project". Uh huh. If it gets past the stage it's currently at, I'll be surprised. And amazed. Right now, I've got about 30 recipe cards with the lines stamped on. And that's about it. I still have to ... well, do everything including figure out what recipes I want to put in the book, and write them on the cards. Forget about assembling everything! Sheesh!

But I did partake in one of my favorite crafts last week - changing my hair! Maybe it's not traditionally a craft, but it is pretty awesome! In my life I've had my hair a multitude of colors (brown, blonde, black, red, cherry red, blue, green, purple, yellow, orange, fire engine red, and a combination of all of those.) And my hair has been all lengths (including almost bald thanks to an oopsie that had me chemically burn the hair off my head - right before Christmas! hee hee...)
So just this past week, I finally got sick of trying to grow it out, and got it cut into nifty layers including bangs! I haven't had bangs in forever. They're side sweeping, covering my left eye and they're driving me NUTS! Oh well. It looks good. I got my hair dyed jet black (my favorite color for my hair for the past two years) with cherry red "panels" of color chunked in. This will keep me happy until I'm sick of it next. However long that will take.

Other than that, my summer has been filled with playing catch up. Rob and I are still working on our secret project, which is less time intensive, but still taking a lot of time. And that leaves no time for anything else. One day a week we're furiously cleaning the house because we haven't had any time to do it any other day. The weekends are a wash because Kathleen is in swim club, and every weekend is a tournament. She's doing really well. She's got a whole bunch of "beat my time" ribbons and has won first, second or third in nearly most of her races, and even took home gold (for best overall) at one swim meet, and a bronze at another. I'm so proud of her, and she loves it, which makes giving up every weekend worth it, but it still leaves us with NO TIME! Ahhh! I figure I can rest when I'm dead. That just leaves me with one problem: when am I gonna get time to do my crafts?!

Busy busy busy busy...

2008-06-03T08:50:00.000-06:00

I've had some pretty awesome stuff I've been wanting to blog for a while, (I've found the BEST repent sinner cards I have been DYING to post pics of) but unfortunately I've had so much to do and such little time. Not even one evening of crafts have been squished into my crazy busy schedule. :( (sigh)

I've got my own personal crafts, some 3-D boot shaped party favors to make, wedding invites to finish, pants to hem, a whole house to clean, I must get over all my infectious illnesses so I can be cleared to go back to the gym so I can feel guilty about NOT going to the gym. Work has been super crazy busy, and THEN I get a call yesterday asking me to testify at the CRTC hearings! Eep!

If you don't remember (or have started reading my blog more recently) I had posted a few months back that my boss had put together an application to obtain a broadcasting license for am FM station for the County of Leduc. It's this big, huge, long and technical process just to put the application in, and then if it's accepted, you have to appear before a panel of experts who ask questions, point out problems, clarify facts in your application. Well, that was yesterday, and I was asked to appear and speak on behalf of my boss. I was honoured to be asked, and excited to be a larger part of the entire process, so I went. It was a really interesting day. I got to see how the process works, see other applicants pleading their case, and answering questions. I got to speak about the research done and programming. I feel a bit bad about not answering more questions, but if I did, I would probably be feeling bad about saying the wrong thing. Heh. So now it's a waiting game. Wait for their decision. It's only a few months away...

Nippleicious!

2008-05-19T15:36:00.001-06:00

I've had a very busy week! I've had birthdays and anniversaries and parties and out of town visitors! Oh my! But that also means I have awesome things to write about this week.
Wednesday was my big 3-0 birthday! I had not been stressing or worrying about "no longer being in my 20's" even though I think that's what the mainstream media wants you to believe. I think there's a certain grace and elegance to aging. And I was certainly sick of hearing "you're ONLY in your twenties?" I dunno. I think a certain amount of credibility goes with you when you've got wisdom and experience (aka age).
Despite not being very worried about my big day, I didn't want a giant birthday, so I opted for my usual wednesday night karaoke, and invited friends and family (and strangers) to come out and help me ring in my new age. It was wonderful. Lots of people I love showed up, and I got some amazing home made gifts! Two gifts stood out, and they're the subject of this post:
Nipple Tassels.
What is it about getting older and wiser? I've always been very secure with myself and I like to think I'm fairly confident, so it was hilarious to get not one but THREE pair of nipple tassels! Hooray for older, sexy and confident women! Of course, these were to go with my new fuzzy, glittery merkin that was a present from Amy. (please go to her blog at http://themadstamper.blogspot.com/ I have learned a lot from Amy who I lovingly refer as my Craft Guru. She's awesome to the power of ten!)
She made set #1 of the nipple tassels. Hers were made with purple sequins with a border of pink sequins glued to fabric shaped in a cone. Long white tassels dangling from the center complete the look. They match wonderfully my blue and green merkin she also made. (merkin is a public wig that became a fashion accessory for hookers in the 15th and 16th century. When a hooker had an STD, part of the treatment was shaving the pubic area, so if a potential customer realized she had no pubic hair, that was a tip off that she was 'dirty' so the wig was created so that the hooker wouldn't lose business after treatment. Now merkins are making a come back as "outerwear" for clubbing, and berlesque shows)
Set #2 was made by my sister Cindy, who although wasn't able to celebrate with me, she made some awesome nipple tassels. This pair, was created by forming foampaper into cones, and then gluing fine pink blue and copper glitter into a heart shaped pattern with copper colored tassels glued in the center.
Set #3 was given to me by Cindy, but made by her friend. These are very traditional pasties with gold sequins glued onto the foam cone, and red twisty tassels glued in the center. I love them all, and can't wait to try them out!

They're a quick and easy craft project! Adhere the tassels and merkin using eyelash glue, spirit glue or double sided tape, hold (hold firmly, but don't press too hard) while glue is drying (between 5 and 10 minutes) then shimmy and shake! I will get pictures up eventually of me modeling these wonderful creations, but until then, you can admire these pics.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T20:58:00.000-06:00

This post may be coming just a tad too late, but I thought it would be fitting to write a little something for all the mothers out there. Happy Mother's Day. You are all appreciated, and all special to a lot of people. Even if sometimes you don't feel appreciated. You are.
I could write a long and gushy note about the power of motherhood, and how special moms are, but I think you all know it in your own special ways. So, to all the mothers, grandmothers, mother stand-ins, give yourself a pat on the back, and know that you have changed the lives of so many.

And being a mom myself, I couldn't be more proud of moms everywhere, and am honored to have so many in the ranks that have done so much. Happy Mother's Day!

Star Trek Beaded Bliss

2008-05-06T11:23:00.001-06:00

I don't know if this counts as "art", or as "crafts" or both. Or does it even matter? American artist Devorah Sperber creates wonderful works of art using Star Trek as her subject matter. The sheer amount of work that goes into her pieces boggles the mind. Her works include beads strung on mono-fillament, pictures woven with chenille stems (or pipecleaners, in lay terms), spools of thread hung on wires, and then hung. Some require special viewing. I would like to explain, or describe her work, but no words I put to it seems adequate enough. Or maybe I'm just too high on Dayquil.
Check out her website, and especially the Star Trek link http://www.devorahsperber.com/ It's awe-inspiring for geeks and non-geeks alike.

Doesn't feel like May...

2008-05-01T10:27:00.000-06:00

Today is May Day! Grab a ribbon and dance around the ol' Maypole! Traditionally it's the celebration of winter's end, but on this grey and wet day, I'm not so sure it's really over at all. We've had rain, sleet and snow this week, and the weather fortunetellers aren't sounding too optimistic. But, I love May Day partially because it signals the exact two week mark before my birthday. A birthday that I'm fairly excited about despite it being the big 3-0. What's the big deal about it anyway? The awkward teens are over, your insecure and partied out 20's are behind you, and when you're 30, you have things mostly together, you're secure, confident and it's when things really start to come together! So many exciting things are starting to happen to me and in my life, and I can' help but think experience has a lot to do with that. Besides if I got all upset at this birthday, how the heck am I gonna react to my 40's?? So while I'm not depressed about my birthday, I AM depressed about this weather. When are we gonna get some SUN?

May Day is steeped in many traditions. A primarily pagan celebration to mark the end of winter, christians "sanitized" the holiday after they brought Christianity to the pagans. But now it's sort of an excuse in much of the world not to work. Mostly Europe and Australia. It's become "Worker's Day" or "Labor Day" and celebrations range from Catholic Masses at midnight, to marathons, a drink-fest, a day honoring the monarchy, parades, feasts, and Scotland has a mass midnight skinny dip - which is totally awesome! You can even get lei'd in Hawaii for Lei Day. In France, young men give sprigs of Lily of the Valley to their romantic interests, who accept the flower with a kiss. That's a sort of romantic idea, especially because that flower is the official flower of May. Let's just not bring up that Lily of the Valley is traditionally used in funerals. M-kay?

So while we suckers have to work here in North America, let's not forget our pagan or christian roots, or if you're just looking for an excuse to miss work, drink, feast, kiss, get le'i'd, skinnydip, run around, or dance merrily around a pole - or all of the above - celebrate May Day if only to forget about this crappy weather, and to kick off the countdown to my birthday!

Last Spring Class

2008-04-29T22:20:00.000-06:00

My last spring craft class was a hit! We made all sorts of wonderful paper lanterns and decorations to deck the halls in preparation of spring. We'd had horrible snow over the last couple weeks, and I for one had been getting some serious spring fever! Oy... But yesterday and today were warm with no snow in sight, so I'm just going to forget that there's sleet and snow in the forecast for the rest of the week and weekend. I really don't want snow this weekend. We've got so many things planned for outside... Like the bottle drive for K's swim team, the rodeo and fair in Leduc, and the parade (where I will be handing out balloons for the rug rats...) Nope, it just *can't* snow...

Enjoy the chinese lantern pics. I'm excited to begin work on my own craft projects for the next month or two...

Embossing Projects!

2008-04-25T01:42:00.000-06:00

Here are some of the pictures from the embossing class. All supplies are Stampin' Up! It's a shame you can't see all the pretty, shiny, happy details in these pictures (and we did about eight projects - not all of them are pictured here), but it was a really fun class, and we all ended up with embossing powder and glitter all over our clothes, hair, and my house. I've been finding glitter for days now. You know it's been fun when the cleanup takes a long time! I think we all honed our embossing skills quite a bit! All the techniques we used can be found on the Stampin' Up! website at www.stampinup.com

Tomorrow I have my final spring class - the Crop-A-Dile class! I've got tons of fun projects planned, most of them to celebrate spring in your house - and out!

Ceiling Cat is Watching You...

2008-04-23T20:09:00.000-06:00

Nearly everyone I know is familiar with this internet cliche. If not, do some googling and you soon will be acquainted. For everyone else... Ceiling Cat is now available in CRAFT FORM! Yay! My friend TwystNeko introduced me to this wonderful paper craft, and now ceiling cat watches me craft... I'll admit it's a little creepy, but there's far worse things he could be watching...

Holy Helium, Batman!

2008-04-17T13:07:00.000-06:00

As far back as I can remember I've always wanted to (and always thought it would be super cool) have my very own helium tank. I think every kid has similar thoughts. You can do so much with helium and helium balloons! Kids fantasize about filling entire rooms with them, inflating enough to lift you to the moon, inhaling the helium to sound like cartoon characters (and although I don't endorse this - it IS a common thought among kids).

So guess what I get to pick up tomorrow? A helium tank! Seriously! I'm so excited, I feel just like a little kid...

I'm going to blow up balloons for a trade show, and then for the Leduc Rodeo parade :)

No time for real posts

2008-04-15T11:27:00.000-06:00

I apologize... I haven't been a good blogger. :( I have been all work and no play, therefore, no updates on *my* crafts. I've been doing a fair bit, but no time for pictures and uploading. I've got all the samples from my embossing class - which was a success, and I can't wait to share the pictures with you, but until I get less busy, or God puts a few extra hours in a day, or I can evolve to require less sleep, you'll just have to make due with what I got.

Which today, is a friend's website. She is amazingly talented, and has an artistic viewpoint very different from mine. Her images are beautiful and thought provoking. I'd call her a digital artist, creating all her designs (on her website) through digital media. And she has a blog that I think most people can relate to. Please enjoy: http://kinetickarma.com/

And I'll be back soon with pictures of the embossing class projects. But before I can get those to you, I'm going to have to make all my samples and cut materials for the Crop-A-Dile class on Friday. I have nothing prepared so far, and only tuesday and thursday to work on it. Wish me luck!

Getting on my soap box...

2008-04-10T09:18:00.000-06:00

HELP SUPPORT A NEW LEDUC RADIO STATION!

Okay, so it's not a 'craft' per sey, but I'm using my 'circle of influence' to get the word out on a project that I've been working on for 18 months! My boss - Mark Tamagi has put in an application to the CRTC to apply for a broadcasting license for am FM radio station for the city of Leduc and Leduc County. The application has been approved, however the frequency that we've asked for (102.3FM) has been requested by someone in Edmonton trying to start ANOTHER Edmonton station. We want, we NEED that one since it's the only frequency to reach all of Leduc County. And it would be pointless to have a Leduc County station that does not represent everyone in the County. SO... We're asking everyone who wishes to show their support for local radio to sign a petition, or write a letter of support. Our goal is to have so many letters of support to show the CRTC that this is a desired service. We would like 1000 letters of support and 5000 signatures on the petition by April 28. View the application at Minuteman Press at Leduc, or go to the CRTC website at www.crtc.gc.ca If you would like to offer your support, send me an email saying you support CRTC application # 2007-0994-1 for an FM Radio station. Email them to me at smitygirl~at~hotmail.com with your name, address and phone number. Please know your information will be used in strictest confidence. Thanks for all your help! It's exciting to be a part of something so groundbreaking! And the most exciting part is yet to come... I'll keep all of you posted on details as they emerge!
Alana

Love, Robot

2008-04-06T12:42:00.000-06:00

I just got back from our last ski trip of the year. Jasper was beautiful this time of year! I only wish I brought my camera to show you some of the beautiful sights we saw. And, I am appropriately tired and sore. :)

So, without having any new crafts yet (though I hope to get to my craft room today) I had to search for something crafty to blog about. A few weeks ago, me and a friend decided to try out Crankpots on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton. It's a ceramic store and everything in it is not painted yet. You choose your piece, your paints and paint it yourself. Then, they put it into the kiln for you, and: voila! Your very own one-of-a-kind masterpiece! I chose a robot. I can't wait to go back and paint some more things. Maybe a set of coasters, each one with a homestarrunner character on it...
Enjoy the pictures of my 'bot. I've lovingly named him Love Robot. Not to be confused with a Love-Love Monster...

Have a good Sunday everyone, and remember my craft class on Friday is embossing techniques. I've got about five or six projects, and there's room if you are interested in attending.

First Craft Class a Success!

2008-03-29T09:27:00.000-06:00

Wow! Thanks to everyone who came to the first craft class of the year! We had so much fun crafting paper bag scrapbooks! Everyone's projects turned out gorgeously - and all were so different! I love seeing the wide variety of ideas that come out. I always walk away with such great ideas. Great job everyone!
Next class is the embossing technique class April 11 at 7. Hope to see you all there!

I am an idiot...

2008-03-28T17:08:00.000-06:00

So I totally screwed up and booked our last ski trip of the year at the same time the embossing class was scheduled. D'oh! So, it's been moved to April 11 @ 7. I hope you can come - I've got LOTS of awesome projects planned.

So, here's an updated class list etc.

- Crop A Dile class April 25 at 7.

- Photobox class will be cancelled if there is less than two people signed up. March 27 @ 2:00 pm (there is currently nobody signed up)

- The Magnetic Photo Holder class has come and gone, but if there is enough interest, will be rescheduled.

- Everyone invited and welcome to attend! Last minutes are okay too just call ahead so I have a chair to put you in!

- If you have an idea for a class, a technique you would like to learn, or are interested in becoming part of a monthly stamp / scrap / craft group - please let me know!

Thinking of Hosting a Workshop?
Hosting a workshop is fun & easy! Invite your family & friends to your house, and I will come over demonstrate some crafts! Everything I show becomes yours to keep! Your guests will also get to try techniques and do projects for them to take home! At the end of the workshop, you and your guests will have the opportunity to purchase items seen during the demonstration (or anything in the catalogue!) The more orders that come in, the more free stuff you get to pick out! This is a fun way to spend an evening with your friends, and earn lots of free craft stuff!
See me anytime during the class, sign up and get an extra free gift (you will receive at your party). You can also schedule a workshop anytime by calling or emailing me.

FLOWERS!

2008-03-27T01:09:00.000-06:00

I have it on pretty good authority that we Albertans are having a nicer winter than a lot of the rest of the world. Not to rub it in, but we're pretty smug about that, since we are the ones in winter-hell. But spring has sprung, the grass is almost-ris. I wonder where the flowers is? Wonder no more. I finally have the flowers I've been promising you!
This was created with all Stampin' Up! stuff. And at a mass-crafting rally at my house, we created hundreds of variations on this theme. But this was my favorite, so I'll share it with you. Something about the combination of blue and orange that make me nostalgic...Oilers? No. Can't guess? This was the color of the bathroom in my house growing up! Yay for color!

And here's a teaser for my next entry: MORE FLOWERS!

Happy Bunnday!

2008-03-25T23:31:00.000-06:00

Okay, so it's not a craft, but these are the cutest pictures ever, and I had to share them with you.
Our little family includes a very sweet, loveable and mischevious rabbit named George. He's a brown French Lop, and we loved him the minute he hopped into our lives. We like teh bunniehs.
And with Easter just passing us by, the number of bunny pictures floating around is truly amazing. I would like to share with you my favorites.
And if you want more cuteness than you can shake a stick at, please visit www.cuteoverload.com for more bunnies and kitties and doggies ...

Happy ... er ... Easter?

2008-03-25T23:14:00.000-06:00

Yeah, so I've been sick with respiratory infections, pneumonia, and I've caught a terrible case of Packratitis. Yep, it's bad. Causes me to be in a near catatonic state while playing the game. Irritability and irrational behavior surface, and a tendancy towards obsessive compulsiveness.
So I really don't have a *good* excuse to my absence, the only thing I can offer is: pictures! Yay! These are on an Easter theme, and don't start bugging me that easter is over. I know, I know, but it was unusually early this year, and it still FEELS like it. So there.
Now enjoy the pictures of our annual egg-stravaganza.

Kathleen made a Ukranian Pysanka this year at the Ukranian Village, and Rob and I made the usual eggs dipped in food coloring method. I was as acutely artistic as possible, and he made all his eggs an hommage to his family. Aw...

Craft Classes!!

2008-03-13T13:50:00.000-06:00

I don't know how many people actually read this, or how many people OUTSIDE my normal realm of contact read this, but I figured it just can't hurt to advertise my craft classes here too. All my classes are $10 (supplies extra) and I have room in all that are listed here. Come out for good company, crafting and a drink or two.

March 28/08 Paper Bag Scrapbook Class 7:00
We will be using ordinary brown paper bags to create beautiful scrapbooks. (Please call in advance to order your simply scrappin' kit for the class. Also bring scissors, glue and any of your own supplies/paper/embellishments that you would like to use for the scrapbook.)

April 4/08 Embossing Class 7:00
We will be learning about five new embossing techniques to beautify your own projects. No supplies are needed for this class.

April 25/08 Crop a Dile Class 7:00
Let us demystify this wonderful embellishment tool. Learn how to use all the different settings to make 5 unique and beautiful projects. Bring your own scissors and glue.

Anyone interested in signing up for any of these classes can email me at agueutal@gmail.com or leave a comment on the blog.

Still Sick.

2008-03-10T11:51:00.000-06:00

This is one of the longest illnesses I've had in recent memories. Which sucks on so very many levels. By the time I actually blog my craft flowers, real ones will be growing from the ground...
Since I don't have any real energy to blog today, I'm going to point you in the direction of my craft mentor - Amy. She's so talented in so many ways, and I'm a richer person for knowing her. Check out her blog - it doesn't accurately showcase exactly how talented she is.
http://themadstamper.blogspot.com/

But I'm going to go crawl to a corner, and continue coughing up a lung. Wish me well... (coughcoughcough)
a

Crafts of another color...

2008-03-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

So I was just diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection and laryngitis. Fun. At least I get to nosh for the next two weeks on freezies, pudding, jello, popsicles, lollipops and gingerale without guilt (take THAT, diet!) Which means I've had next to no energy to craft, which is especially poopy since my cousin has been sending me such amazing ideas through email.
And I've had no energy to blog either, which means the giant backlog of wonderful blog themes continue to just sit there. I promise - flowers will be coming soon. After this crappy weather, and how crappy I've been feeling, I can't WAIT to blog about some pretty flowers.
But until then, I'm coming up with a cheap cop-out: pointing out another wonderfully crafty friend of mine - TwystNeko. He's all kinds of creative, and his passion is balloons. You should totally check out his stuff: www.balloonaday.com. And if you have a couple hours to kill on a Monday, he does a webcast where he makes balloons LIVE on the internet on request. Too much fun.
Enjoy!

artblog

2008-03-03T22:40:00.001-07:00

Phew! What a day - I was out all weekend long with a nasty virus, and got well *just* in time to vote. Did you vote tonite?
I actually had a tiny bit of time to do some of my very own personal crafting - on my skin! I love the whole art of body modification. The history of, cultural aspects, the plain ol' beauty of it. I went back to the place where my first ever piercing was done - Ritualistics. And in a plain blue room littered with fake zombie parts hanging from the ceiling, by a man with horns, I commissioned my very own private piece of art.
Yes, it hurt.

Tomorrow - flowers!

Welcome to the World!

2008-02-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

Eh. Attempt number. Oh, I'd say about five for blogs I've attempted. This one - I promised myself - will be different. It will be. It has to be. I have interesting, relevant things to say and show, and I will do that here.
I'll have crafty links, and post pictures of all the different creative things I'm going to be up to. Photoshop, papercrafts, sewing, knitting, rubber stamping, card making, silk screening - not just mine, but the whole world of craft is my oyster...
Once I figure out what the hell I'm doing. But in the mean time, here's a picture of a zombie.

Zombies R0X0rzzz!