Sarah*n*dipitous

More like Velma

It's a hard truth when you just know in your heart of hearts you won't be Daphne.....but thinking about it, I would rather be Velma. For those of you I have totally lost, I am talking old school Scooby Doo Cartoons. Being a product of the 70's but living all my school years in the 80's, cartoons played a big part in my younger years. So, all my friends fought over who would be Daphne because she had the cooler clothes, the better figure and well, Fred, hello....every girl wanted to be her.....except me. Velma always figured it out, she was the smart one and deep down I knew that once Daphne got old and lost those looks of hers, Fred would trade her in for the smarter one anyhow....they are the ones, afterall, who had stuff to "fall back on". It was always a funny scenario because I actually was a Ms. Michigan (petite) when I was 19 and went on to compete in the National Contest and was in the top 3 before our pageant was halted due to labor issues (there was no winner that year although my Mom thought I would have won it all...bless her. I was geeked about being in the top 3). I remember feeling out of place but kept my thoughts on winning college scholarship money rather than the superficial and downright irritating....nothing is worse than a room full of catty and snarky Daphnes. I learned so much at that pageant about people and myself overall but, it wasn't until I was diagnosed with Thyroid Disease 5 years down the road and my weight packed on that I figured out what it all meant. It is easy to say looks do not matter when you are thin or better than average looking. For me, I was always an athlete- to some degree, I still am albeit trapped in a larger size. Health and nutrition are very important to me and I am very conscious about what I put into my body and how much exercise I get however, it still does not change the fact that I am on the heavier side- it's a reality I have come to accept. There in lies the rub. My lifestyle choices are healthier than most thin folks but the people who see me, would never guess that. What is on the outside doesn't always tell the full story. I teach many girls who believe with every ounce of their being that being thin and pretty is the end all be all to having popularity and success...and they are killing themselves in the process. If you took a peek at the innards of a supermodel, you may be surprised to see that they are not as healthy as the airbrushing and make-up led you to believe.

So where am I going with this. I had a lady the other day tell me that she doesn't allow herself to be in the picture. Her scar is harsh, no doubt about that but, I reminded her that the twinkle in her eye and the fact that she SURVIVED that car crash and walked away to tell about it makes her a walking, talking, flippin' miracle. Her eyes welled up when she said she wondered what people would say when she was gone and thought it would be better that she have the "old" pictures of her in the album because they were more pleasing. I asked her about what she has been doing after the accident- she said working in the burn unit and helping kids....I asked her if she would have ever thought to work with this group of folks had the accident not occurred. She said probably not. Can you imagine what she would have missed out on had she not been able to understand and communicate with those folks- a non-burned and scarred person would not have had the relationships she had or impacted the lives that she has through her experience. I asked her if she saw those folks as ugly or not worthy of being in the picture..... we always judge ourselves more harshly I suppose. I believe with every ounce of my being that we are each unique and not like everyone else for a reason. We need contrast to help us define whatever it is we are pondering at the moment. The world sees us in superficial and temporal terms but history remembers us for the things that we do and the lives that we touch. Sure some folks may remember that Daphne was easy on the eyes and had a keen fashion sense (things that revolved around and benefited her) but they will never forget who solved the mystery and used her powers of deduction for the better of all mankind. Your projects, your scrap pages, your cards, your art should be ways for you to share your talents and that quirky voice and perspective only you have with the world. I mentioned to my student, "you know, I noticed your scar and even wondered how you got it for all of a nano-second but, I did not focus on it until you brought it to my attention.....I was more interested in what you had to say....."

Just a thought to think on. And yeah, this is a real VW in our area...I so want to paint one of our cars- how cool is this? My children are in my corner on this one too so, it's only a matter of time before I can sway my husband :)

Defining Orphaned- A Call To Action!

The various boards have been lit up with discussion about the Bills being visited ( click here and here to read them both in their entirety) that deal with copyright and abandoned/orphaned works.....

My friend Claudine mentioned a bit on her blog and directs you to one of our industry's Copyright Legal types- both of which can help add insight to the issue... and Tim has even chimed in as well...which should immediately get your curiosity up as to why so many well known folks are making a mention....

Here are my thoughts.

Being a History buff and well versed in Constitutional "stuff" (thank you to my Parents and Grandparents) I think the distilled version about how I feel about the two bills being presented regarding Orphaned works is, "What a load of bunk!". Our Country is based on laws for the people and by the people. The intent of our Founding Fathers was to cut through the legal speak and unfair laws that excluded the public and make them active participants in the governmental processes of our Republic- how far we have come. These Bills will make obtaining a copyright and protecting your published works something akin to a forced fun test you are required to take in order to earn a living (and oh yeah, you have 1 day to study for it, it is in a foreign language and there are no study guides......)

Having been the victim of stolen intellectual property, let me tell you folks, it hurts to see others capitalize on your ideas. It is a hard thing to swallow knowing you are eating Ramen Noodles while they are jet setting in the Vineyards but, it happens. The object here is not to let it happen again. Artists lull themselves into thinking that there is a sense of community and that the existing laws will protect their work. How wrong we are to believe such niceties. Under this new legislation, pictures of my 4 year old daughter picking flowers innocently could be swiped by some unscrupulous individual to be used in ads for mail order brides or some creepy fetish site. You think I am exaggerating. Let me share with you a story.....

I posted a picture of a row of baby cows not too long ago (I am not posting them again because, this has become quite a mess).... these silly cows refused to let me take their picture and I ended up with a line of cow backsides. The picture was funny. The tagline (the few words I used to label my picture for my own personal reference on my computer) said cow butts.... having been a criminal justice student back in the day, you can only guess what type of site that picture ended up on. Because this is a family friendly site, it was on a site that was not family friendly- enough said, end of discussion.

The fact here is folks, we are at a pivotal time in history, a time where we are truly at a crossroads. The Freedoms we hold dear here in the United States are not the same Freedoms enjoyed by others around the planet. The internet is an amazing place with an array of voices and motives. How would you feel having your precious family pictures used against your will and at the whim of a company with more resources than you and  an expensive legal team that knows how to manipulate the system to their favor, opening stealing your property, your intellectual property for their own personal gain?

Any person desiring to earn a living through their own creations must take action...not later....NOW. Click HERE to have your voice heard.

MegaMeet revisited

Well it must have been a great show.....my voice is gone and my hands are still an odd greenish blue color for the time being :)

Seriously, this year's event was wonderful. I had so much fun learning from all the folks who came to class. Thank you all so much for putting up with the bad voice and the Mic fading out and dying there towards the end......my children are geeked that I STILL cannot yell at them to clean their room.....

I  would not have been able to get through classes without the help of Fran Tuttle. She is one of the best Teacher Assistants (TA) around and as always, she made me look far more organized than I actually was. You ROCK my friend!

The big news from the show floor was that Judi Watanabe ROCKS! I am always geeked when she and Rob from JudiKins come to town. The folks I talked to during the show had fun in the booth and learned a ton from the demos she did non-stop throughout the whole three days....so there it is, stamping most definitely works in the scrap world! Actually, I met up with more card makers this go around than in any other year previous and, they use stamps. In terms of paper, I was also impressed with Rusty Pickle's new lines- got to love the black and white!

All and all, MegaMeet was all we have come to expect from our area's BEST scrapbooking show. See you next year!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all those Moms who wipe noses and fixed scrapped knees, to all the Grandmas who spoil them rotten and send them home, I wish you the best.

To my Mom, Mom-in-Law, Step-Mom, and Grandmas (yes I still have 2 Grandmothers!!!!)

Thank you.

MegaMeet

'Twas the night before MegaMeet and all through the house,
I was scurrying here and there and starting to grouse.

I could not find the supplies that I needed and the floor was a mess
my husband just kept kitting, each one done is thankfully one less.

I look at the clock and think "That so can't be right"                                                  exactly when did morning displace and get rid of night?

See you all in a bit at MegaMeet bright eyed and bushy tailed!

Old Architecture

Foundations are important. If you want to have a successful business, you absolutely need to have a strong foundation; a well thought out plan. I always find it so interesting that new construction seemingly takes days to put together. I mean, look at something like Extreme Home Make-Over. These are not shoddy by a long shot but, they are not like the Castles in Europe or the Colosseum in Rome that took lifetimes to complete. These are the kinds of buildings designed to withstand centuries not decades.... the facade on new construction is beautiful but, I always wonder whether or not the glue on the faux laminate is dry or not. It reminds me of many folks in the creative industry that fly in over night and have what seems to be amazing businesses....I always wonder what the winds of change might do to them especially if the wind was abrupt and forceful (like a change in trends that leave them on the outs)? Could they weather it or would they be blown away? Depends on their foundation I suppose right?

I think all too often we think just because we have a good idea and a burr in our bonnet that we are instantly going to be successful. I have great ideas everyday but, once they are down on paper and I start to think about the logistics, some of them become rather silly and impractical. The point is, if you truly want to make a living working for yourself from the studio, you have to ask yourself all those tough questions before you open for business. This is a kin to shaping the rocks and creating the mortar of your foundation. By doing the tough stuff first (how are you going to pay for this, where are your customers going to come from, what kind of insurance are you going to need, where are you going to sell this stuff.....) you will sift out the bad rocks- the weak links and the things that could make your business unstable, unproductive and unprofitable. Once you get these things taken care of, you can be assured that your foundation will be able to withstand hardships and weather storms in the future.

Farewell to Scrap Tales

So, prepare yourself to see this bigger sized gal heave up onto her soap box......now.

I have long been a proponent of our smaller stamp and scrap stores. Do I shop at the big box stores....um, yes I do however, I appreciate the unique and wonderful treasures that are not always feasible for a larger, more "broad brush" type place to shelve. I tend to spend more of my dinero at the smaller places on random hard to find things than the common stuff I can easily find in the big stores. It a kin to looking for boutique handmade type items at Wal-Mart, does not happen. I buy the cool things at the small stores and the Tide or something at the big store. Both serve their purpose.

So what happens when there are no more little boutiques dotting the landscape? The world becomes a bit duller and the spectrum a bit more condensed. You no longer have those fantastic rich hues you'd find in the big box of coloring crayons rather, you have the small standard 8 pack of colors...catch my drift here. I know that the big box stores are cheaper, that they have better sales, and the lure of the 40% coupon but, think about this long and hard, where do they have to scrimp and save to make all that available to you? They pick manufacturers that can produce mass quantities at the cheapest prices not the ones who make small batches of handmade things. Do you want your art to look like everyone else's, your paper selection be reduced to only those manufacturers who caught the eye of a buyer or who could get their costs down enough to earn a spot on the shelves? I am not for a minute discounting the fact that big box stores are fun places to shop- I shop frequently and enjoy every minute of it however, I am saying, you as a consumer CANNOT expect a small store with limited resources to compete on the same level that they do. You cannot demand that they honor others coupons, that they keep the same stuff on their shelves (because it costs them more to do so- they pay a higher price because their volume is lower), and that they have one of everything. Collectively, we need to embrace the smaller stores and support the fact that they are unique and have different items available and, be willing to pay a bit extra for that service.....I say service because it takes a lot to bring unique things into a store. A lot of time and expense goes into research and travel to find those hard to find items. And, having folks who actually know how to use those unique items comes with a cost as well.... Sure you can buy a Cricut for cheap online or via the television but, who is going to teach you how to take care of it and all the cool things it can do? Someone who plays with it daily and is passionate about it.....Folks, let me tell you, if a small store is willing to make the investment to buy something to take up valuable space on their shelves, something made them giddy- something sparked an interest and got those wheels in their head turning.... their own personal muse was inspired, you have got to believe that they are going to want to share that inspiration with you.

So here is the gist here, what happens when we lose a small store? A group of customers is left without a place to create, a place to be inspired, a place to have fellowship with other self-proclaimed addicts. Our whole industry suffers. These people are no longer surrounded by folks giving them the 1-800-justify to buy this or that or to try out this new technique or that cool lay-out..... no, they tend to buy less overall and move onto different hobbies and even the big box stores begin to take notice. I have seen many stores quietly exit this year, some have been more painful than others to accept because they were my *home* stores. Today, I got word that one of my favorite stores in Michigan is closing. Scrap Tales has always been a destination- sporting well over 12,000 square feet of incredible stuff to get all giddy and dream delusions of grandeur about, it has welcomed some of industry's finest to teach.....go check out the stairwell to see their signatures!

Scrap Tales will be closing on June 1st. I hope that folks get a chance to go over there to say goodbye to Sandy and Linda and the gang- they are going to be missed in a HUGE way!

Book Is Done

I must say, writing a book is one massive, daunting, exhausting and insanely exhilarating process. I just sent the box of the projects destined for Bluegrass Publishing and I have never been so scared in my entire life (except that one time I nearly burned the house down- that was an issue too).....5 months of work is in that box and I am just trusting it to FedEx to get it there in one piece and the art nestled inside safely.

I am really proud of this project. I think I may have mentioned bits and pieces here and there about this book but, now that it is down and scheduled for a Summer release, I feel more at ease about discussing it a bit.

It is for teens. Teens that want to make a difference in the world by using everyday materials to make their art. I had an amazing conversation with my friend Kathy Cano Murillo not too long ago (I have such a deep respect for her and I cannot tell any of you how appreciative I am to have her in my world)....I digress...I had this amazing talk with her and she, like I, grew up making things...being crafty and using what was on hand to create. I am hoping that this book helps kids realize that creativity is about the stuff in their heads, not the stuff they buy.

It is weird, I have so many hopes for this book- not like you think. I think many folks who go into business for themselves automatically think that because they got the necessary paperwork in to open a business means that they are in business and folks are going to seek them out to buy their stuff...not true. Same with books. Just because you write it does not mean folks are going to buy it. I really hope people buy it. Not because I will earn a commission, but because that commission will allow me to put more art materials in the hands of kids that under normal circumstances would never be able to have those supplies or classes.

I see the crazy amazing things my children and their friends create using the stuff in my studio and I cannot help but wonder what it would be like if all children had access to those same materials- what kind of world this would be, what amazing discoveries could be made by those children who were allowed to work with their hands early on. Art breeds creativity, creativity solves the world's really hard problems.....without that conceptual thinking and ability to explore, we are crippling our children's ability to be effective problem solvers. If you give a child a roll of duct tape and tell them to build a bridge that can hold 200 pounds, they WILL come up with some interesting solutions.....not all of them will work or be remotely safe yet, they will be ideas they can learn from and file away in their heads.....you never know when that kind of info could come in handy (a 25 foot ladder made completely out of duct tape that held 10 highschool seniors at band camp is a PERFECT example....that is all you need to know)

So, now, the real work begins. I just wanted to say thank you to Julie and Linda for everything ahead of time.