Bird on the Sill

The past few days these birds have been tapping at the window, fluttering about, making the rounds of each of our office windows. Obviously a male and female, I'm assuming they are hoping to nest nearby, and see their reflection as competitors for their high-rent choice - multiple trees overlooking a "pond." (I think it's street run-off, but that's not very appealing...)

Yesterday, the male spent a good amount of time outside my window. I know he couldn't see me, and I know he couldn't see the red stress ball on the window sill, but it still was quite the sight - orange breasted bird, red stressball, and fuchsia blooming rhododendron!






Here's his lady friend. She tapped a bit, too, but mostly she sat in the rhodo and preened.


I took the photos with my camera phone, so they aren't the best. When we figure out where the actual nest is, I'll take better pix.

Think Pink Dolls

I have all my goodies and creations from this last weekend unpacked - kinda. I put away most of the pens, pencils, glues, hemostats, etc. - kinda. I put all the dolls on my work table, squished in around all the other things going on. Here's an overall picture of my so-called work table:

This shows what I've finished so far on my Barbara Willis doll:

And here's the EPB doll (she has a Bob Hope nose and a Jay Leno chin!):

From Karen Shifton's class:

And from the Patti Culea class:

I met a lot of great people, and was even able to put some faces to online names I've known for some time. One of the vendors was from a local bead shop (I bought some fabulous fluorite beads from her!), met Kate Erbach, Ellen Haytas and Li Hertzi, and made a connection with a local doll club. One of the best parts, for me, was that a mother/daughter duo who were there for a "bonding weekend" adopted me. I had someone to sit near in classes and at lunch, and I am almost falling-down grateful. I have such a difficult time going into these situations where I know no one, asking if I can sit near someone during lunch, etc. I am always miserable when I'm in that situation, though I can sprinkle a bit of mental courage dust, and force myself to go into the meeting/class/etc. Just in case you're reading this, Cassie & Susan, Thank YOU!

Having said that, I could easily become a cloth doll class junkie! I learned much, was inspired more, and have a whole new perspective on a couple of things. Oh! And the other thing I learned... Don't you just love those fabrics by Heather Bailey? Who among us hasn't bought a bundle for a special project? Do you know EPB was selling bundles of Heather Bailey fabrics, besides all her patterns and DVDs? And...have you caught on yet? Heather Bailey and EPB have the same last name! Duh...of course they do...they're related! I never made the connection between EPB and her daughter-in-law.

OK...before I "hit the hay" here, when's the next class???!

Overload!

There have probably been times in my life when I've had more on my plate, but right now, it's hard to remember when. AND...many of the recent events (all except one, as a matter of fact!) have been pure pleasure, so even though they've added to my work and stress level, they've been about good things.

I just completed the two and a half day event "Think Pink, It's a Girl Thing," which was a wonderful doll gala held here in Ohio. I was able to attend all the social events, AND take four half-day classes from the much admired dollmakers EPB, Patti Culea, Karen Shifton, and Barbara Willis. I learned so much, and even some techniques that were not new to me were so much more understandable, because I saw them in action. I cannot believe how exhausted I was at the end of each day. I haven't been in that intense learning environment for some time, plus I went into the session not knowing one single person, other than having shared a couple of emails with folks, which is always stressful for me.

I really hadn't fully recovered my routine from Gen's visit and the Ohio soapmaker's gathering when we had a shake-up on the job, which caused some tension and drama in my life. However, that's behind us now, and we're getting the wheels back on there.

The Third Ever Herbal Soap Swap occurred in the midst of all this, and I shipped out 22 boxes of heavenly soaps a week ago. That's always a fun event, although it becomes a bit physical - making sure each box gets a full complement of soaps, none of them their own. Then packing, sealing, labeling, shipping. Thank heavens I have my Oldtimer to help me sort and hoist.

Things have been so busy, I haven't even posted the newest products to the Oldtimer & Lily site: glorious pistachio oil and new, organic (refined) shea butter. The soapers are going to love it - as soon as I let them know it's there!

Right now, the treehouse is littered with unfinished cloth dolls (and my brain is littered with ideas for many more), I have two round robins waiting for me to do my bit and move them along, fabric cones (ala Ruth Rae) are arriving for a swap I'm hosting, and I have some specialty soap orders! My daughter and Baby O will be here for a visit soon, too. Guess I better get off this computer and get to work! Photos soon, I promise.

The Best Day of the Year

Happy Birthday, "Oldtimer." I love you.

A Favorite Photo

When I was going through some boxes recently, I found a slide that was an old favorite. I brought it along when we went to NC, because I knew our friend Earl King had the equipment to scan slides. He sent it to me today, via email. Even if it wasn't of my son and me, I'd think it was a really sweet photo.

This was taken just about a week before Chris' first birthday (that would be July of 1976). That means I'm 25 years old in this photo...oh, to be that young again, LOL! Can you believe those yellow pants?

Creative Chaos

I'm at it again...auditioning fabrics and making a mess. I do love playing in the fabrics, though. It can amuse me for hours - mixing, matching, analyzing... It's an illness, I tell ya.





PS - Anyone need one of those sidewinder things - you know for filling your bobbins off the machine? I found out after I got it that it's not compatible with my Viking.

Hope

Spring!

Daffodils and hyacinths push from the ground
Forsythia bursts forth
Lilac buds grow daily
Fish babies appear

Sweet Genevieve & The Walk

Above, second from the right, you will see my youngest daughter, Genevieve. She and three good friends did the Susan G. Komen Walk last year, on a chilly, chilly day, departing from the Mall of America. (You can tell they are all well-insulated under those t-shirts, can't you?)

This year, they've expanded their group, with a special focus on the family of one of Gen's dear friends - both of his parents passed away within the last three months, and one sister is battling cancer right now.

This is a link to her "give" page:
http://www.active.com/donate/komentc08/GJohnso568

I'm hoping that she can pass her goal - I know she did more than this last year. It's a tough year financially for all of us, but if you have just a little extra to spare...it would be so appreciated.

Have I mentioned lately how proud I am of each of my children? I am so very, very lucky that they are all dear, passionate, and intelligent human beings AND the two in-law children are also great additions to the family. (And I'm here to tell you, it was LUCK, not skill, on my part.)

Give Away at O&L

We're hosting a give away at the new blog. Follow the link for your chance at a goodie packet.

Originality, communication, and other issues

I woke this morning, feeling troubled. One of my favorite lists erupted yesterday, with some comments becoming heated, others placating, and leaving the sour taste of behind-the-scenes conversation. It's so difficult, this flatness of the written word, coupled with the eagerness to get out there, to communicate with others of a like mind, the need to drink in a feeling of community, and the wish to feel we are part of something, we share and share alike, and it is appreciated.

Frankly, I'm ignorant of the ways of those who steal other's ideas and pawn them off as their own. I don't understand the jealousy that is sometimes generated by the creation of a stupendously, movingly, beautiful piece of art. I mean, I know it's out there - I know that the theft of ideas, patterns, formulas, and that horrible jealousy of others' original thought DOES occur - but I have always, always believed that there are more who are appreciative than jealous, more who are giving than taking, and I get blind-sided every time this kind of issue occurs. I find such joy just knowing that I live in the same world where someone can create such beauty, how could I turn it ugly with jealousy and competition?

It's happened to me in the past, I know. It happened a lot, both during the establishment of my soapmaking business and the opening of our brick & mortar store in 2001. Although I will probably never forget the woman who had the store next to ours, the one who paraded around town as some sort of lost southern socialite, and announced to our mutual customers that she knew for a fact that I didn't make my soaps, and she had located the maker of the soaps and was also carrying the same ones, I don't expect people to act like that. That one shop owner alone "got" me a couple of times, hurt me severely, and deliberately went out of her way to impact my business. The same is true of another shop owner in that small town. Despite the wild and varied number of gift supply sources, he would come under the guise of friendship and commiseration, and then "lift" the sources I had worked so hard to find. It was so unexpected to me, that it felt as though I'd been thumped in the back, had the wind knocked right out of me, and then I felt further betrayed when I found that the town's regular customers had lined up and taken sides. It was ugly. It convinced me that I wasn't cut out for retail work, and it broke my heart. I thought I was making a difference, that I was providing joy and hope and outlets for artists - and I was - but that angered some people.

What causes the kind of heart in that fellow shop-owner that, when asked "Isn't this store beautiful?" the response is "YES! And it makes me sick!" followed by storming out the door? How in the world can you create beauty, set a lovely table, make a window vignette, when your soul is cancered with jealousy? And when you do your best to copy that neighboring vignette, right down to the cluster of tea cups on ribbons suspended in the window, do you really feel any joy over what you've created? Is your sole source of joy that little voice that says "I showed HER! I made something that looks exactly the same, she thinks she's so smart..."?

So now I find that this occurs in some quarters of the online art world as well. The tempests have been there before, and I've known of them, but I forget them. My heart wants to believe that those creativity thieves, those who have nothing original of their own to claim, are an infinitesimally small minority...and once again, the tempests, and the name calling and the soul scorching catches me by surprise and leaves me saddened.

As an aside, I know the friendship manipulators are out there too. I saw it way back when I was a sysop for INN - the people who pretend to be someone or something they are not, the people who stir the pot and sit back and watch the cat-fight. I know they are out there, but I also believe you can only hide your true nature for so long, and that your personality does come out in your writing eventually, and so I will continue to hope for the best in the development of my cyber pen-pals, as well.

I believe in online friendships, and support, and community, and a meeting of the minds. I think that all we can generate and create is magnified by a meeting of the minds, and I hunger for those meetings. I want to believe the best in people, no matter how many times I'm proven wrong, or I swear my soul will fry and wither. I don't want to waken feeling this saddened again; I will focus on the beauty and joy and thought-provoking discussions I've found, and do my best to nourish and support.

PS - See my reading list there, off to the right? Read Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral, and remind yourself of all the things that are wonderful about real girlfriends.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Apothecary jars - a birthday gift from my daughter.

I've recovered enough from the flu to once again putter about the house and enjoy my nest-making.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I woke this morning to a frigid, monotone world, with one of the dogs barking outside, but finally, thankfully, the wind quieted. I thought we would all blow away yesterday, the wind was so fierce. The kitchen window has frosted over, so I have no clue what the outdoor thermometer says, but the Weather Channel says it is five degrees above zero, with a wind chill of -10.

When I was a child, probably the year I was in second grade, I woke on my birthday to a sparkling world of icy crystals covering everything. It had been foggy, or slightly misty, during the night, and all the moisture in the air attached to tree branches, dried weeds, telephone wires, creating a glittering glass-like world. My mother told me that the outdoors were all dressed up for my birthday, and of course I believed her!

My daughter and granddaughter arrived last Wednesday evening (after a horrific ordeal of a travel/flight day) and have been in cahoots with Oldtimer for celebrating my day. It's such a treat just knowing that they are snugged up in the guest room. So far, Baby O and I have painted and colored and played in the button dish, and I haven't had to go to the office since Thursday morning. It's delightful.

I found my email full of birthday wishes today, and now I'm off to prepare for my other birthday event - my annual mammogram! What a way to celebrate, huh?

Soap Blog Post

New post on the mystery of soap ash on my soap blog, here:
http://oldtimerlily.com/blog/

The face...

Okay then...
You asked to vote, you asked to see the face, and here it is - along with the current hair options. Leave a comment, please, telling me which you like best.

Mohair locks in mint green

Marabou feathers in bright green

White Tibetan lamb

Black Tibetan lamb with white tips

Remember that the Tibetan lamb will be cut into a wig shape and applied to the head. The white could be made to have green tips, too. Or can you think of another option? Please leave your "vote" or suggestion as a comment.

The Button Jar

My brother and I are six years apart in age - he being the younger. Besides our age difference, we have many other aspects - personality, interests, appearance - that could not be more un-alike if we'd been born into separate families on different continents.

As children, he wanted to be with me and my friends whenever possible. As the big sister, I didn't want him trailing around with me, and I didn't want him playing with my toys - he had a tendency to cause damage to my dolls, or to tell me the "right way" to play with them. My father always said "Tim would be your best friend, if you would just LET him." I couldn't see it. There's a huge difference between a 10 year old and a 4 year old when it comes to play-time and interests.

We also bickered a lot. He teased me mercilessly, and I squawked. He spied on me and my friends, and I squawked. It was endless...our poor mother used to say things like "Why don't you just throw each other down the basement stairs and get it over with?" Of course, that shocked us enough to stop for an hour or so.

There were a few activities in our lives where we did get along. Occasionally, our mother would let us play in what was then a button box. This was a large old tin box, with a floral chintz print painted on top and bottom - navy blue with small flowers. My brother and I would spread a blanket on the living room floor, and sift through the buttons, sometimes playing "bank" or "store" and other times just sorting out our favorites.

When our mother passed away we were charged with dividing everything absolutely evenly between us. There was little or no conflict between us on the division; as a matter of fact, my Oldtimer said he'd never seen anything like it - both my brother and I went so far overboard trying to make certain the other person had things they wanted, to be absolutely fair, you could hear us saying "you take it, no you take it..." for days.

There were only two items in all of our mother's belongings that became issues (and I use the term "issue" lightly). One was the button jar (she had given up the tin in favor of a very old blue canning jar years before), and the other was an ornament Lolo LOVED that she had made of clear plastic medicine cups, dipped in gold glitter and formed into a ball. Neither one of us wanted that blasted medicine cup ball, and tried our best to foist it off on the other. And both of us wanted that button jar. Ultimately, as the "girl" in the family, I prevailed on the button jar - after all, as the "boy" in the family, he got our father's WWII medals.

Later, when discussing the button jar, I found that my brother wanted it because it contained so many happy memories for him of the times we got along, and the times we played together. His comment touched me deeply, and though I still have the jar, it is even more meaningful to me because of his remark.

As to the medicine cup thingy... I won - or so I thought. I simply forgot to take it to my house every time I worked on emptying Lolo's apartment, and ultimately, my brother couldn't leave behind something she loved so dearly. Of course, when Oldtimer & I married, despite the notation on the invitation of "No Gifts Please," my brother showed up with a very large, square, gift-wrapped box. Inside was the medicine ball decoration.