Anthology

fleeting/fleeing time

A few years ago I started a tradition of springtime visits to the UW Arboretum.  Given that we grew up in Madison and that my mom is a volunteer guide there, I'm not really sure what took so long.  Classic case of not appreciating what you have in your own backyard. 

Still, I've enjoyed multiple visits to the arb each spring for the past couple years, watching as winter loosens its grip on Wisconsin, greeting first the magnolias, then the cherry blossoms, then the lilacs.  Oh, and taking pictures of the adorable girl in the lovely setting.

I think the first year, I took her in a blueberry dress to see the lilacs, and realized that I could have caught the cherry blossoms if only I'd been a little earlier.  And the next year, I caught the lilacs and cherry blossoms but realized that I missed the magnolias.  So, it's pretty much become a 5-6 visit spring, including a couple bike rides through.

Last spring was a bit of a challenge.  I made it to see the magnolias, but they were a little brown on the edges - was that a late frost as they were emerging?  Something like that.  I managed to get the girl out in time to see the lilacs.  My romanticized view of charming childhood pictures has had to be adjusted a little bit.

For this year, I made my first trip yesterday in the late afternoon with the low angle of the sun shining through the blossoms.  The early magnolias were already a day or two past peak - some of the petals looked rather crumpled, as if they had emerged hastily from their buds in response to the urgent demands of the record warm temperatures. 

Other trees looked bursting with blooms, but some closer examination revealed petals that were already drooping or a little singed on the edge (I'm blaming global warming and making a new resolution to ride my bike more this season).  The ground was already filled with petals.

And I have to admit that I indulge a little vanity with multiple attempts at self portraits.  Thank goodness for the digital camera.  Although it might seem silly, one offshoot of the self-portrait session is that I end up getting even closer to the magnolias than I might otherwise.  In fact, I usually try some configuration of standing behind a laden branch, with my camera arm sticking out at some strange angle.

While I was doing my little maneuvers, standing amidst the profusion of white magnolia blossoms, with the sun shining through the petals, what I was mostly struck with is that sense of fleeting time.  Not my usual sense of "ack! I have to hurry up!" but just a general poignancy or nostalgia, slightly tinged with sorrow which is not my usual reaction when faced with the loveliness of the Arboretum in spring. 

Watching families come to take pictures of their little ones, thinking about how much has changed since the first time I brought the girl a few years ago. 

Looking at the petals that had already fallen and thinking about the very very fleeting nature of springtime (it never lasts long enough in Wisconsin, in my opinion) and the fragility of the flowers, and of life in general.  It depends on the weather, of course, but for a magnolia tree there might be, what? three days? a week at peak?  Such a short time after standing in the snow all winter long.

And, since I had been listening to NPR on the way to the Arboretum, and the terrible tragedy of Trayvon Martin was on my mind, I also thought of him, and of all the other people who have died so tragically young, particuarly the role that guns have played in cutting short so many lives in our country.  What IS to be done?  I don't really know, and I can't help some sense of helplessness in the face of the NRA-machine and the fear and hatred that drives people to even own guns, let alone use them. 

Being an otherwise optimistic and cheerful person, it was a little odd to be standing in such a lovely setting with such feelings.  I wasn't really driven to tears, nor do I think I'm particularly depressed, but I just stood there and looked at the light filtering through the flowers, and felt sad for all the people who would never again have such an experience, and also sad for all the people who are so consumed by their anger and their fear that they will probably also not have such a moment.  I hope we can all do more to work towards a world where more of us get to have such lovely spring moments.

summer inspiration, daze and days

Where to begin? It's already the second week of August and the glads & apples are already at the Farmer's Market (rather on the early side, if you ask me).  There's nothing like children to remind you of how quickly time is going.. especially since they are usually flying around just as quickly as the time itself.  It has gotten much more difficult to get pictures of the adorable girl.  Thank goodness for the digital camera, which allows me to attempt as often as I can, at no cost of printing blurry images (unless I want them).  I've been sorting through photographs (not organizing them, unfortunately) and feeling nostalgic - already Lily has grown so much since those early days!

The month of August is my birth month, which rolls out in a series of lunches and dinners, visiting guests, artful inspiration and more.  In a few days, I will attend an Alternative Photo workshop at Valley Ridge Art Studio with Mom.  I am gathering supplies, making photocopies and transparencies... oh yes, I will share the results with you, don't worry.

Meanwhile, I've also been drooling over the work of Jamie Heiden, whose work I saw at the Art Fair Off the Square.  A friend informs me that is mostly the effect of Photoshop, which strengthens my intentions to learn more about that .. hopefully in the new year.  Apparently I'm in a photography mood.  Jamie Heiden has a Blurb book, which really makes me want to get back into that.  I have several artsy books that I am working on, and would like to make a few photo/story books.  Sigh.  Sometimes it seems like it would be nice to have a little more leisure time to work on such projects.  The series of key photographs that I took turned out nicely and I'd like to frame some of those for the shop.  Oh, and I get easily sucked into looking at photographs on Etsy and getting all sorts of ideas for photo shoots.

In other inspiration, the Craftacular is coming up in a week.  Anthology is a sponsor but does not have a table... all the better to shop!  Sachi and I are making plans for morning scouting and a noon lunch on the east side of town.  I haven't been able to attend for a little while (since I've been tending the shop during previous events) so I'm looking forward to seeing what crafty goodness everyone has gotten up to.  Then there's Renegade in September. 

Although September has been quiet the last couple years, we overcompensated this year.  A few days after Renegade, we are heading up to Minnesota for The Creative Connection Event.  This is our first time vending out of state, at a non-Craftacular event so it's a little nerve-wracking.  We're busy making things and planning what we will take from the store.  Unlike the Holiday Craftacular, when we could just walk a few blocks back to the shop to restock, we have to figure out what we're taking before we hit the road.  For the people who continue to comment that our store is too full and overwhelming, they might be happy to come and visit Sept 15th-18th, when part of the store will be away.  But don't worry, we aren't clearing out completely, and Pamela and Mom will be tending the store so we will be open (just on slightly reduced hours).  Of course, we are also looking forward to shopping other people's booths and seeing what else is going on in the crafty world, maybe even meeting Amy Butler!  I went to school in Minnesota and thus have several friends living in the Twin Cities so I am also looking forward to some dinners in good company, as well as shopping in the area.  So much to do!

Now that I am not in school and not around many people who are in school, summer doesn't have to end so abruptly at the end of August.  I'll grab a quick trip to the beach in August, but am also looking forward to yet another in September - going across Lake Michigan on the ferry to visit relatives, see the Chihuly exhibit, and walk along the beach on the other side - all the better to see the sunSET over the water.  I need to stockpile some books for reading on the beach though.  I'm looking forward to The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, but am not sure that I want to read that, or any trashy vampire novels, while I am camping alone in August.

We hope you are enjoying your summer days!

for those who travel and those who stay home

(one of our story pictures - the text says, "when days start wearing the same face, a road trip is in order.")

Seems like summer is always a busy time of journeying.  Sachi has filled the window with items to take on your trips (journals, passport covers), items to commemorate your trips (posters, books) and items to send back to those who didn't come along with you (postcards, stationery).

We have souvenirs for those who have traveled from afar, including some great postcards and magnets based on vintage images.  And mementos , and art supplies for your travel journals too.  Or, why not consider booking an altered address book appointment and bring in your travel ephemera to make into a travel journal?

We just received some fabulous map wrapping papers based on vintage maps.  They come from Minnesota, even though their focus is decidedly not Midwestern. I'm a map person for sure - they conjure up memories of looking at maps with Mom - tracing our fingers over the possible routes.

In addition to maps of Chicago, San Francisco, Manhattan and US roadways, there are constellations and great retro images of Paris street scenes and a Paris department store.

 
The "New Yorker's view of the world" is quite entertaining.  I've put in a request for Great Lakes/Midwest so hopefully he will keep his eye out for something along those lines.

And for some reason, this end of July seems keenly like a time of transitions and endings (and beginnings too, of course).  We especially want to say fare well to our mailman who is retiring and to our upstairs neighbors Tyler and Nancy, who've been neighbors to Anthology from the beginning.  They've seen 2+ years of our growing and changing (as well as that of Lily).  When I mentioned to Lily that they had known her since she was a little baby, she said to me, "Everyone knows I was a baby."

a token of nests left behind

Maybe it's the weekend's foggy weather, but I've got San Francisco on my mind.   When Anthology was just a gleam in two sisters' eyes, I spent an enjoyable week visiting my uncle in San Francisco, taking pictures of the angels in the Oakland Cemetery, meeting with Goo and C & E, seeing Robear's amazing chandelier collection (ever thought of having a chandelier over your kitchen sink or bathroom? he has), shuffling sheets of paper at Flax, filling in my altered travel journal, getting my "bitter sweet" t-shirt from Scharfenberger at the Ferry Plaza market, visiting inspiring shops like Nest and Castle in the Air and various paper stores.  After patiently touring me around the city, listening to me talk shop (literally - complimenting other people's shops, complaining about my current shop job), one memorable luncheon my uncle said to me, "I think it's time that you open your own store.  Now."  Even though this was something I've been talking about for several years, this was a big push.  In our family, his corporate experience makes him the business expert and such words from him carry a little more weight than other friends and family (not that their support and encouragement wasn't critical but they were less aggressive about telling me what to do).

Of course, I think it was another year before everything conspired to make me take the leap, but my uncle certainly started the teetering.  It's been on my mind as I have been gathering products for the graduation and Mother's Day window - thinking about birds and nests, flight and safety, memories of things we leave behind on the journeys that we take and things that hatch after careful tending. 

There's something about simple repetitive tasks that lend themselves to such meditations.  Over the weekend, in addition to winding yarn, I've been winding wire and making the sweet little wire bird's nests that we are incorporating into jewelry.  Sachi's planning a little tutorial over Mother's Day weekend so you can come in and make your own that Saturday.  She's been making necklaces and earrings; I've been enjoying the pairing of stamped charms with the sweet Vintaj bird charms and nests.  One of my favorites remains Sachi's little series of drawings - stones, twigs, birds... and nests of course.  There's something comforting about a nest, but there's also this tinge of nostalgia for all the moments that have passed. 

i'm sure there would be pictures...

If I hadn't left my camera at my parents' house a few days ago.  To make a long story short, somehow I've ended up carrying only the bare minimum around with me for the last couple days.  Usually there's a larger tote with the yoga clothes, fig newtons for the adorable girl, camera, sunglasses, calendar, etc.  But for the last couple days I've just had my keys and my wallet.  I'm not at all a minimalist so I'm not sure why the situation is going on as long as it is.  There have been several occasions that I've wished for my camera.  Wait, was this going to be a short story?  The short story is that there are no pictures with this post.  I really don't like blog posts without pictures and if you are of the same mind, you might as well just stop reading now.  But I thought I should say something.  I've been so negligent lately.  That's what I get for thinking badly of people who can't post often to their blogs.  Karma, I tell you, it gets you sooner than you think it will.

So, where was I?  The month of November has been much more pleasant than October.  Not only does that make me happier personally (it was really depressing to think that the next nice weather we would have would be sometime in April), but that makes the store busier.  People are starting their holiday shopping but they are also just out and about enjoying the sunshine and the fall colors.  There are still some leaves clinging to the trees, though I am also enjoying the emerging bare branches. There's something so poetic about bare branches silhouetted against the sky.

My parents' have made the move to their new house so I've been helping a little with that, though I need to spend a lot more time unpacking some boxes.  I tend to hang my artwork within a few days of moving so I was glad when Mom went ahead last week and started hanging things up, even though there will be some painting done sometime down the line.  I think everyone is getting settled into new places and new routines and all in all, it feels totally right.  I am really glad for a Facebook friend's suggestion that I take pictures of the old house.  I had several photo sessions and it was a good way to work through my emotions and to say farewell.

I finally had a chance to take care of some paperwork, including cleaning out my email sent messages box last week.  I do periodically find those messages useful so it's something that I might not do for 8 months. It was an interesting reminder of everything that went on this year.  A good first step in the Christmas-letter-writing process, which really should begin soon.  I remember times when I used to everything written and addressed before Thanksgiving and would just sit around waiting a week or two until it wasn't too early to send them.  It will probably be a January project this year, though I must be careful not to expect too many things for January.  We will be gone for a week to southern California for the craft & hobby trade show, as well as some beach vacation time.  And I'm always busier than I think I'm going to be, and consequently get less work done.

I enjoyed an inspiring night out to see Carmen with Mom, and then this week, a last-minute outing for Flamenco Vivo, which was a really great performance.  Dance with live music is a treat for me, and there were a few moments when I was busily figuring out how I could modify an awesome flamenco dress into something for myself.  Perhaps that will be my treat for my 40th birthday party.  I thought I'd make everyone wear polka dots, or would that be too dizzying?

In addition to being busier with customers, many of our artists have brought deliveries for the holiday season: storybook coasters from Naomi, bottlecap necklaces from Emily, hand-dyed slips from Michelle, felted critters from Lisa, sock monsters from the other Emily, felted baskets from Donna, mirrors from Jen, notecards from Alisson. Not to mention other shipments like more fun notecards, recycled book journals, Christmas wrapping paper... LOTS of stuff to find space for!  The office is a little crazy, despite two attempts to enforce some order.  And I need more drawer space. That's a chronic condition.  I did spend time this week and rearrange the store.  There have already been sales of some of the moved items so it feels like the moves have already been rewarded.  Now that we have a little table of Christmas items (don't worry, we won't play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving!) that means things have to crunch even more.  

Sachi and I have been diligently restocking as well. Sachi made another batch of resin pendants with some new images: books, shells, pears.  We are having lots of fun putting the pendants on the silk ribbons.  Well, I just love the silk ribbons no matter what; I like the color and charm and their flexibility - I've been having lots of fun with the ones that I made myself, trying a different grouping of ribbons with every outfit.  Sachi has also been making her Madison photo snippets and button bracelets.  For me, this week has been a terrace chair extravanga: button frames, bracelets, photo snippets.  Not to mention that we've had a lot of commissions for custom photo charms so I've had plenty of opportunities to play with ICE resin. 

I'm also working on a 2x2 book swap for the guild that I'm a member of.  I'm making several editions of a mini Alice in Wonderland book because I'm hoping to persuade other people to swap with me.  Now that I've finished up the blurb 2x2 book, I see how many fellow artists' books I don't have in my collection...  And, oh yeah, speaking of blurb, I'm working on Lily's second year book.  It might not be done in time for Christmas at the rate I am going, but it has been fun to work on that.  She has changed so much over the last year! It's pretty amazing.  I find now that I am an aunt, mentions of aunts/nieces/nephews resonate more with me - I'll find myself thinking, 'oh, that will be me in 20 years' when someone talks about taking their niece on a college visit.  

And what else?  Oh yeah, the CRAFTACULAR!  Coming soon!  The volume of emails has definitely dropped off so that's a good thing.  It was a pretty time-consuming task there for a while but now most of the details are worked out.  We're getting a flyer printed for the day of, there were posters and postcards to distribute.  I'm pretty excited about it, even though I probably won't get to see the results of the work.  It's the Saturday just after Thanksgiving and hopefully the weather will be fantastic and lots of people will come downtown for the holiday open house and Mom and Pamela and I will be so busy at the store that we won't be able to stop over and see Sachi and Deandra and Jen and Naomi and Jermoe and everyone else.  There was already a nice write-up in the Sunday 77 Square section of the newspaper and certainly a lot of people that I've talked to have been excited about it. 

The time has just been flying by.  Every Friday, Sachi and I marvel that yet another week is gone.  But things are good and busy and happy, even if the list of things to do doesn't really get any shorter no matter how much I accomplish.  On Facebook, people have been posting things they are thankful for, in honor of the upcoming holiday.  A friend started posting a list each day, which has been a fun challenge.  There's so much that lists quickly gets long.

changing seasons, catching up

Time is flying, or swinging?  But it's still October, right?  I think I've finally managed to catch my breath!  This summer was so crazy; I was so tired I was near tears for most of August, and it took me well into October to finally feel like I could face the holidays.   But now I'm ready.  I've been slacking a bit but Sachi declared that it's time for both of us to get ready for Christmas.  To that end, I have been very productive this last week: made butterfly button bracelets, scrabble tile necklaces, scrap paper packs, mini fabric button bracelets, glass square pendants, epoxy necklaces, Madison photo snippets. 

I even made a cupcake costume for the adorable girl for Halloween.  I was inspired by the Pottery Barn catalog, but we found wide wale corduroy at the fabric store so I rigged up a litle cupcake bottom from that.  The top is a multi-layer felt cape of pink and red, with ric rac for trim.  There's a headband too with a cherry on top. 

We'll see if she actually wears that.

The leaves have been inspiring to look at; I do love the changing seasons here in Wisconsin, though it seems like autumn got real cold rather fast.  But at least that's an excuse to wear my striped hoodie from Charlie & Sarah with the camera silk screened on it. 

Besides working on my list of projects, thinking about new projects (thanks to Valley Ridge Art Studio for the resin inspiration), placing Christmas orders with vendors and artists... Oh yeah, the Craftacular! 

Now, don't get me wrong, I am excited about the Craftacular.  I feel like it is a really important event to have and am committed to be a co-host, even if it leads to my being committed...  Let's just say it's like a full-time job all on its own, except that I'm not being paid and that's on top of the other full-time job that I'm doing.  On the whole, most artists are appreciative but of course everyone wants to make sure that they have a successful event so there are lots of questions to answer and some hands to hold.

Yesterday I was feeling very cranky and then suddenly I realized that aside from anything else, between the Craftacular, a 2x2 blurb book that I am editing and a collaborative art journal swap that I'm coordinating, I am working with over 100 people - trying to get them to reply to my emails, making sure information is correct and complete, trying to motivate without scolding or nagging...  That's a lot!  As I was stomping crabbily around yesterday I realized that I felt a lot like those New Zealand sheep dogs, trying to run like crazy to get the entire herd to move as directed.... all the more so when Ann pointed out to me that it is to be done without barking or biting.  Hmm.  What exactly is an introvert like me doing in this situation?  What was I thinking?!

And THEN, as if there wasn't enough already, we are entering into the countdown of the final days of my childhood home.  My parents will be moving next week so my apartment is a jumble of boxes that I had to take from my studio which was at their house, not to mention other odds n' ends from childhood... a box of old art projects, a box of school papers... There has to be some good art project for those.   There are emotions as well to pack up and move around but after one week of feeling overly emotional, I've been able to look forward to what lies ahead.  Having my sewing machine at my place has already been very handy, and my parents are clearly ready for a new location and a smaller house.  It's still very close compared to other people so the change is rather minimal.  I'm sure I will accidentally take the bus to their old house a few times (it's just two stops past my own bus stop).  I went with the adorable girl to see thier new house and she was already excited about the park that's around the corner. She informed me that Elmo lived in the yellow house across the park.  AND there was a dresser on the curb in front of the new house.  6 narrow drawers.. .. why, just last week I was commenting that I needed another dresser for the store!  Sweet!  I had to ride facing backwards in my brother-in-law's car, holding onto the dresser while we drove downtown, but I've already fit it into the store and filled up the drawers.  My sister says I am like water, able to expand to fill any space...  It is nice to have a little more storage space going into the holidays.  The store is really filling up!

I've been taking pictures around the old house.  Eventually they will be part of an altered book.  I have a book that is cut in the shape of a house so I'm planning to put in pictures and text. In all my spare time... So much had been packed up and really, so much about the house has changed since we moved in 20 years ago, it was tricky to find views that were quintessential to the house.  I think I need one or two more times around the house to get pictures; I think I've forgotten to take a picture of the bathroom floor, which is the same green tile as when we moved in.  Despite all the changes and the chaos of packing, I managed to get some really interesting/good photos so I think this is going to be a really lovely book.  Here's a picture from yesterday's rainy morning.

Gallery Night and other news

Tomorrow night (Friday) is Gallery Night around town; various galleries are hosting exhibit openings, serving wine and cheese.  It's always a fun event and we are happy to participate once again this year.  I know, some people pop their heads in and look puzzled, "this isn't a gallery..."  But considering how many artists (and crafters count too!) that we have in the store, I don't think it is such a big stretch.  My sister even has her M.F.A.   In the process of moving from my parents' house, we've found several boxes of Sachi's work from art school.  I'm still trying to persuade her to let them see the light of day.  But there are some new (to Anthology) drawings and prints of hers that we've set out.  And we have watercolors

by Amy Park who is a New York artist, formerly of Madison and Little Luxuries.  Earlier this week I stayed late into the night (not that late, but late enough that Officer Cindy wasn't pleased to know that I was walking home from the bus), fueled by the Diet Coke that I had with dinner, and rearranged a lot of items in the store.  It was overdue. 

I even got out the ladder and rearranged what was hanging on the wall, including hanging the newest quilt that I just finished up, made specially for the store. 

I tried to make things look a little more artsy.  Whatever that means.  I also put mostly Laura and Sachi creations on the front table.  Often I get the feeling that people don't realize that the people behind the cash register are actually making much of what's in the store.  There's still a little white space left, but not too much.  I have an ongoing debate with myself since I like it FULL, so that every time you look, you see something different, but I know that some people come into the store and are so overwhelmed that they can't focus... and I think it is a bigger part of the general overwhelming nature of the world we live in today.  And yet, I can't usually bring myself to tone it down any.  But Facebook friends pointed out that people can't buy white space... 

In other news, we finished out the month of September with a double-digit increase compared to September 2009.  In these days of fractional percentages of corporate sales reports, it is definitely rewarding to know that we continue our growth as a new business.  I know our consignment artists will see a smaller check, but September does tend to be a quieter month for us in the transition between summer vacation ending, school starting and the upcoming holidays.  Truth be told, though it took me all month, it was nice to actually catch my breath before the holiday season starts.  Summer was pretty crazy.  Crazy good, not crazy ugly, but crazy nonetheless. 

In other news, the week has been busy with new arrivals.  We got these great notecards in from an Appleton artist.  I love sewn paper.  We've made necklaces out of some of Kim's pendants so we have a nice assortment of necklaces hanging from the branches.  I made my list of things that I should make between now and Christmas and it fits on one page.  I do need to make Madison photo snippets and terrace chair button frames and was going to do so before Friday night.  We'll see what happens tomorrow. 

September?! seriously?

I mean, really, I cannot believe it is already September.  Luckily my birthday is at the end of August so I usually count September as a month for celebrating as well.  Still, all these children are going back to school and Lily will be turning two (which makes me feel nostalgic for all the other children I've taken care of starting when they were two.  Now they are in high school and college and Lily will be there soon enough!) 

In the retail world, September means Christmas, placing orders, planning windows, making lists and checking them twice.  It's a little different for us because most of our items do not come on a slow boat from China.  We can put in our requests to our various consignment artists, but many of them are also gearing up for the fall/holiday season of craft fairs.  Meanwhile my own list of things to make is quite long on its own.  How nice to have so many projects to choose from and to be in demand: origami crane ornaments, scrap paper packs, magnet picture frames, magnets, button bracelets, mini notebooks, Madison snippets, aprons, knitter's pockets, fabric rolls, necklaces, notecards, fabric pennants.  And I would like to come up with some sort of Christmas ornament something or other.  At least I've finished the altered book for the Wisconsin Book Festival, and for next year's exhibit at Overture.  Now I need to come up with a project to work on for the Madison Area Open Art Studios.  Oh, and work on the journal swap.  I can't remember what book I'm supposed to work on next.

But this is all just more of the same old same old.  I'm really writing this post so I can show you the progress that I made on cleaning up my studio.  Ultimately, all this has to be packed and moved but I wanted the packing to be nice and organized so I spent a lot of time upstairs at my parents' house last night, sorting fabric into top priority piles that have to be moved with the sewing machine to my house, and other things that can be packed and moved to the sewing room that will ultimately be at my parents.  The realtor is taking pictures and listing the house on Friday so I have a couple more evenings to pack and clean up.  The studio is a funny shape to photograph, but, especially for you fabric people, I have to share the shelves of fabric.  Who knows what their arrangement will be in their new home, but I certainly have been fortunate to have the space.  Each cubby fits a quarter-yard-wide piece of fabric, sorted by color, of course.  And as for the rest of the studio, mmm..... no pictures.  There are still piles and then piles that got put away so no other view is that indicative of my studio space. 

I fantasize about the studios in Where Women Create - with high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling shelves or cool vintage type drawers or card catalogs but that is not on the cards for me anytime soon.

Still, here's the result of last night's work.  Ta da! Notice the clear floor.  It doesn't usually look that way.  And, you can't see it, but the banister is completely cleared off.  Usually there's a wall of fabric hanging from it.  Goodness, but I uncovered a lot of projects last night!