Two Shows in One Weekend: The Aftermath

So…I still feel like I am recovering from two shows in one weekend. Glitterfest and the Bernardo Winery show were both scheduled together. Oy…

This doesn’t happen every year. Only maybe once every three or four. No matter how you slice it it’s stressful.

I finally got my mojo in gear about a month beforehand and created like a maniac right up until the very last moment. Thursday night I packed my car for a Friday set up at the winery.

Cart full of junk

My husband helped out and we set up my booth plus a friend of mine who vends in the tent next door. Took us the better part of three hours to get it all together. Then home again, home again…only to unload the car and reload the car for Saturday’s Glitterfest.

More junk

Saturday we divided to conquer the show world. Boys to the Winery and girls to Glitterfest.

Glitterfest Girls

I have to admit I don’t have many pics from the Winery this time. First day the boys took maybe one picture and day two I spaced completely. Whoops….but both were a great success. Crazy to do but both worked out well.

And even with all the planning, making, and stresses it was over in a flash! All of a sudden it was Monday and all that was left was the mess!

...and more mess with junk!

Thank goodness everything is pretty much put away now. But I’m about to do one more show…so some things are still hanging out here and there. Last in person show for the year will be at the Irvine Fine Arts Center in Irvine California…maybe I will see you there…???

Until next time,

Susan

 

Decisions, decisions, decisions…

One of the things that keeps me from this blog is always some kind of decision. What should I talk about? What will anyone be interested in reading? How much should I show? Maybe a peek, a tutorial, a personal look at something? This goes on for long enough, and enough decisions are made on everything else, that I never get into the blog at all. Anybody else have this problem?
Addiemenose1
Then there’s always the “to do” list. Finish designing the stuff on my desk, prep for this weekend’s show, run errands, get change at the bank, order supplies, fill out your calendar, re-arrange your desk, mail out your orders, check social media, schedule social media, delete 900 e-mails, try to put out a newsletter, do tomorrow’s to do list, etc, etc, etc…
Then there’s the family “to do” list…collect all the laundry, call the Doctor, cook breakfast, go grocery shopping, wash the dog, advise child #1, clean the bathroom, wash the car, take a shower, drop the kids at sports, call your Mother, sweep the floor, wash the other dog…ad nauseum..
Gigantic bears at Costco
Gigantic bears at Costco
…you get the picture. More decisions. On everything.
But do you see “write on the blog” anywhere? Blog doesn’t show up, does it?
Not first…or in the middle…or at the end. Too many decisions and I can’t decide where to put it.
Sooo….time to make one more decision…what the hell am I finally doing here? Well…I guess I decided it was long enough. That I needed to try this again.
For how long and how often? No clue and I don’t know.
What will I bring my self to write about? Well…art…creativity…daily life stuff…basically I will be winging it and post things that tickle my fancy dependent on what day it is.
So about those decisions…I think I just made one.
To quit.
Until next time,
Susan

Wild Wonders

cheetah1

Just a quick reminder that some of my pieces are made for, and of, the creatures of Wild Wonders. Isn’t that face up there wonderful?

From their website:

Welcome to the world of Wild Wonders, Inc. where kids and adults can “tame” their curiosity for “wildlife.” Through live interactive programs and tours at our site or yours, our wildlife educators and our 150 animal-ambassadors will take you on a dynamic adventure you will not forget. Our goal is to excite the public and foster a desire to preserve and learn about the wildlife and the important role they play in the planet we share.

In order to help support their journey I get to make wearable jewelry pieces from their wonderful collection of critters that are Wild Wonders!

Mix of Critters

Zoo items that you purchase from me either in person or from my online shop section “The Art That is Wild Wonders” sends 20% of the profits back to the zoo! (click on the word “shop” at the very top of the page and all the sections will show up, then click on “The Art That is Wild Wonders”) If you happen to be visiting the zoo in person they have a gift shop area and anything you purchase of mine donates 50% of back to the critters!

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Do you have a favorite animal that isn’t shown? If I can get a picture then we can make a custom piece for you…drop me an e-mail lets chat about it!.

Take a moment and peek at their website for special events or to make a reservation to visit!

Until next time,
Susan

 

Arc Planner: My Daughters Point of View

Hi! Hello! I’m AdaLee, and I’m writing a guest blog post for my mom about our Arc Planner!!

Recently my mom and I both started to get more organized and we got ourselves an Arc planner organizer and notebook.

AddiesplannerAddiesplanner

The Arc planner is disc based, not three-hole-based, which means that instead of the normal three-hole rings, they have 11 discs as the binding. We both have a faux-leather cover arc filled with dividers and paper and what nots of our choice.

Addiesplanner (1)

Mine happens to have normal three-hole-punched college-ruled paper, graph paper, and even some blank paper. Since these papers are not already compatible with the Arc because of their inferior three-hole-punches, the Arc planner has a punch system that makes pretty much any kind of stationery into something that can be put into the arc!

arcplannerpunch2

I love this thing. I honestly do.

I had a super lame three-hole binder that had d-shaped clips instead of the default O shaped or C shaped ones normally in three-hole binders. What the meant was that papers in the binder would be incredibly difficult to maneuver without putting unnecessary stress on the punched holes. This resulted in a lot of torn paper, including some that was (or would be) important to class.

Addiesplanner (6)

 With the arc, I can now not have to worry about any paper tearing too much, for the way the Arc punches the paper that fits in it, individual papers put under too much stress simply pop out.

 Addiesplanner (4)

No worries. No damage. Just pop them back in again and
***ta da!!!*** you’re all good!!

On top of that, having to repunch and reformat all of the paper that I put into this thing requires me to be more organized about my schoolwork. My failed organizational days are gone!

Thank you Arc!!

 

 

 

Arc Planner: What Is It?

So I would bet by now that you’ve seen some edition of the Arc Planner System from Staples around the interwebs…no?

I’m here today to give you a peek inside my own and how I got into it.

So I was wandering around Staples looking for nothing in particular when I happened upon this Arc planner system. I looked it over for quite awhile while my daughter shopped elsewhere and decided to try one notebook. Just to see if I liked it.

I comes with blank lined sheets. (you can see two Arc planners in this picture because one leads to two leads to three…you get the idea)

Plain Arc Pages

They are hooked together with these multiple discs. Normally they come with small discs which I knew immediately wouldn’t be enough so I bought some larger ones from the Martha Stewart collection that also has a few disc based items.

Large Discs

I also prettied up the edges of the pages with colorful washi tape.

Washi Tape Galore

 I also made a can of goodies that I knew I would want to use with the planner. Things like colored pens, large and small post-it notes, graph paper post its, mechanical pencil with eraser. (yeah, I know. I’m getting obsessive) And it’s portable so I can take it from room to room as I jot down thoughts and ideas.

Can O'Goodies

Then, because enough is never enough, I designed some pages for the Arc planner as well as made some downloads from the internet work for it too. This meant that I take trip number two to Staples and buy the punch plus additional inserts. Now I knew what I would do with it I could better accessorize it…ha!

Triple Pic of Supplies

Yes…there are page dividers, pages with pockets, some of the post its are heavier paper and make great tabs.

I designed my own calendar.

My Calendar Design

That’s right…just use the punch to put holes in the side and it fits right in! This is on legal paper so I just folded it over so it wouldn’t stick out.

I also used Passion Planner weekly calendars. (if you haven’t seen a Passion Planner you really need to) You can only see the beginning of the weekly version here on the left side. The right side is a sheet I designed so I could have all my Etsy product notes available. Now I can photograph, jot down measurements, prices, and whatever else I need to know when I’m putting items into my shop. All on one page.

Passion Planner page 1

Passion Planner Plus

 Here’s the other side. You can see with the Arc planner punch I did both sides of the Etsy sheet. That way if I’m not finished, but the weekday has changed or I printed another copy of it on the reverse, I just flip it to continue. No fuss, no muss! No more ugly rings to wrench open…and how many times have you had a ring binder close on your finger? Ouch! Never again.

And here is the illustrious Arc planner punch!! Yes…that’s a plastic page cover and it will punch for you! Any kind of paper you want can be customized for this system.

Arc Planner Punch

 So there you have it! Now I have the book shown here, a custom recipe book you can see on January 7 over at the Cre8ive Klatch blog, my daughter will be here posting about her Arc planner on Thursday January 8, and there are some great posts by fellow artists and friends.

Lori Leissner of Leissnerart shows you her intro book planner here and her creative idea for tracking her health here.

Cindy Jones Lantier tells about how she was hooked into the system here.

You might be next to catch the Arc planner bug!!

Until next time,

Susan