PA Guild of Craftsmen show in Wilmington

One of my favorite Craft Shows:

The PA Guild of Craftsmen

will be here in Wilmington, DE in just a couple of weekends!

July 25 & 26, 2009

I can't tell you how much stuff I've bought from artists at this show...

Not to mention how much stuff has sneaked it's way into this house from this show over the years...

I have a group of friends that usually try to get together for lunch and some crafty shopping during this weekend, and I'm hoping that it comes together again this year.

This year there is a contest for giving away some free admission tickets & a $65 gift certificate! And I'm hoping that I can get my hands on either!

If you are going to go or would want to go, check out the blog for details on winning!

Wish me luck!!!

PA Guild of Craftsmen show in Wilmington

One of my favorite Craft Shows:

The PA Guild of Craftsmen

will be here in Wilmington, DE in just a couple of weekends!

July 25 & 26, 2009

I can't tell you how much stuff I've bought from artists at this show...

Not to mention how much stuff has sneaked it's way into this house from this show over the years...

I have a group of friends that usually try to get together for lunch and some crafty shopping during this weekend, and I'm hoping that it comes together again this year.

This year there is a contest for giving away some free admission tickets & a $65 gift certificate! And I'm hoping that I can get my hands on either!

If you are going to go or would want to go, check out the blog for details on winning!

Wish me luck!!!

Will there be another dotcom bust?

Many people believe that the markets follow a 10 year (8 to 11 years to be exact (sic)) cycle… Internet as a business had seen the bust in the late 90’s – 2K. This means, it is about time that the bust reoccurs.
The last few years have seen a rapid expansion of the Internet, especially what we call the web 2.0 explosion with Social Media riding the wave. Most of the new age Internet businesses have come to life with Venture Capital funding, and low on strong revenue model. I am not sure of the numbers – but almost all of them are not making any profits… so how long will the good times last?
As the business cycle model goes after every expansion comes crisis. In today’s world all the publisher (especially the online social media companies) are vying for the limited time a person has on hand… It is today more about share of clock, than share of wallet they are after. For every MySpace – you have Orkut, FaceBook, Hi5, and many more…
What is happening is that the time spent by the user online is more or less plateau, while the options offering him/her the same online experience and engagement are increasing... As is the wont of people – they would have an initial enthusiasm for something new, and soon their interest wanes away… once they find that there is nothing new the website would offer to them from the previous one..
The end of the last dotcom bust gave rise to the Web2.0; the players that successfully overrode the last bust phase are now strong players – ebay, amazon, google, etc. If there is a bust, only the strong will overcome and most of the me too players would fade away…. And soon the internet market would see the rise of web 3.0

Cheers

Will there be another dotcom bust?

Many people believe that the markets follow a 10 year (8 to 11 years to be exact (sic)) cycle… Internet as a business had seen the bust in the late 90’s – 2K. This means, it is about time that the bust reoccurs.
The last few years have seen a rapid expansion of the Internet, especially what we call the web 2.0 explosion with Social Media riding the wave. Most of the new age Internet businesses have come to life with Venture Capital funding, and low on strong revenue model. I am not sure of the numbers – but almost all of them are not making any profits… so how long will the good times last?
As the business cycle model goes after every expansion comes crisis. In today’s world all the publisher (especially the online social media companies) are vying for the limited time a person has on hand… It is today more about share of clock, than share of wallet they are after. For every MySpace – you have Orkut, FaceBook, Hi5, and many more…
What is happening is that the time spent by the user online is more or less plateau, while the options offering him/her the same online experience and engagement are increasing... As is the wont of people – they would have an initial enthusiasm for something new, and soon their interest wanes away… once they find that there is nothing new the website would offer to them from the previous one..
The end of the last dotcom bust gave rise to the Web2.0; the players that successfully overrode the last bust phase are now strong players – ebay, amazon, google, etc. If there is a bust, only the strong will overcome and most of the me too players would fade away…. And soon the internet market would see the rise of web 3.0

Cheers

Will there be another dotcom bust?

Many people believe that the markets follow a 10 year (8 to 11 years to be exact (sic)) cycle… Internet as a business had seen the bust in the late 90’s – 2K. This means, it is about time that the bust reoccurs.
The last few years have seen a rapid expansion of the Internet, especially what we call the web 2.0 explosion with Social Media riding the wave. Most of the new age Internet businesses have come to life with Venture Capital funding, and low on strong revenue model. I am not sure of the numbers – but almost all of them are not making any profits… so how long will the good times last?
As the business cycle model goes after every expansion comes crisis. In today’s world all the publisher (especially the online social media companies) are vying for the limited time a person has on hand… It is today more about share of clock, than share of wallet they are after. For every MySpace – you have Orkut, FaceBook, Hi5, and many more…
What is happening is that the time spent by the user online is more or less plateau, while the options offering him/her the same online experience and engagement are increasing... As is the wont of people – they would have an initial enthusiasm for something new, and soon their interest wanes away… once they find that there is nothing new the website would offer to them from the previous one..
The end of the last dotcom bust gave rise to the Web2.0; the players that successfully overrode the last bust phase are now strong players – ebay, amazon, google, etc. If there is a bust, only the strong will overcome and most of the me too players would fade away…. And soon the internet market would see the rise of web 3.0

Cheers

All In One Place - Almost

I've had a Eureka moment...

It seems like one of those fleeting thoughts over the years has finally knocked hard enough to penetrate my often thick skull...

Here is the background:

4 years ago:

Move into larger house because business is really growing & taking over the townhouse.

And we are planning on starting a family at some point anyway... so why not?

3 years ago:

Production really going, have 3-5 fellow artists helping me out with making pendants.

Main clay studio located in basement, glazing area & office in extra bedroom upstairs.

2 years ago:

Major production slows down, plenty of stock built up.

Stop doing as many shows myself.

Mom gets diagnosed with Leukemia in Jan, passes in Sept.

Pregnant with Chloe late March, born in Dec.

1 year ago:

Spend most of my time figuring out this mom thing...

Decided to put Chloe into school around Sept because she seemed to be getting bored with me after a few hours, and I was getting frustrated because I had no time to get anything done with the studio or business.

Needless to say, she LOVES school and goes 5 days a week now...

I would feel guilty for not having her go to school to socialize and experience all that she is right now...

Present Time:

My Eureka Moment... Get it all into ONE PLACE!

Simplify things...

Organize things...

Everything has it's place - it is time to help find that place and get it there...

And I mean NOW!!!

Here is my bisque stock that is now in one place - one set of shelves in the basement studio:

(THANK YOU DAVE!!! My late night elf that moved this all to the basement for me when I fell asleep last night... What a great husband!!!)

This bisque stock had been in the following places at any given time

(no wonder why I was wasting brain power trying to think about where stuff was!):

1. Glaze room (in bathroom: waiting for rinsing, in bathroom: being dried, on shelf, on floor, on table, in bin, in small to be glazed cup, in baggie, and many more places...).

2. Main House (which room? sorted or not sorted yet? still in bin or in baggies?)

3. Basement (in kiln, in bin, on table, in baggie)

Now it is all in one place. I get the pieces out of the kiln and can put them into their bin.

No more lugging stuff upstairs into the house to get lost in the "to-do dimension".

This next picture is all of my glazes on a new set of shelves that I picked up from Lowes a few weeks ago, and finally got to putting up.

It took me 2 days of many trips down 2 flights of stairs to move all those pints of glaze into the basement studio.

It feels good though - all in one place!

I really wanted to paint the walls and possibly floor before doing this move.

But when I was at Lowes looking at all the paint colors, nothing moved me.

I was about 9 weeks pregnant though - and was having major issues with morning sickness (the all day kind) and being SO tired all the time.

I was overwhelmed by the colors, unsure of what I wanted to be surrounded by every day to feel energized and not irked by the color scheme. Painting to me is such an expression of emotion, I did not want to paint just to paint because I know I'd want to change it when I was feeling better...

So I will hopefully find inspiration sometime next summer when baby #2 is about 6 months old and is joining his/her sister Chloe in school...

So I've got a bunch of other stuff to move into the basement studio, but it takes time. And I told Dave I would take it easy today because I shouldn't be doing heavy lifting being pregnant and all. So I am finally able to catch up on some of my blogs...

Hope all is well!

I'm feeling a bit more energized and more like myself these days - let's hope it lasts!

All In One Place - Almost

I've had a Eureka moment...

It seems like one of those fleeting thoughts over the years has finally knocked hard enough to penetrate my often thick skull...

Here is the background:

4 years ago:

Move into larger house because business is really growing & taking over the townhouse.

And we are planning on starting a family at some point anyway... so why not?

3 years ago:

Production really going, have 3-5 fellow artists helping me out with making pendants.

Main clay studio located in basement, glazing area & office in extra bedroom upstairs.

2 years ago:

Major production slows down, plenty of stock built up.

Stop doing as many shows myself.

Mom gets diagnosed with Leukemia in Jan, passes in Sept.

Pregnant with Chloe late March, born in Dec.

1 year ago:

Spend most of my time figuring out this mom thing...

Decided to put Chloe into school around Sept because she seemed to be getting bored with me after a few hours, and I was getting frustrated because I had no time to get anything done with the studio or business.

Needless to say, she LOVES school and goes 5 days a week now...

I would feel guilty for not having her go to school to socialize and experience all that she is right now...

Present Time:

My Eureka Moment... Get it all into ONE PLACE!

Simplify things...

Organize things...

Everything has it's place - it is time to help find that place and get it there...

And I mean NOW!!!

Here is my bisque stock that is now in one place - one set of shelves in the basement studio:

(THANK YOU DAVE!!! My late night elf that moved this all to the basement for me when I fell asleep last night... What a great husband!!!)

This bisque stock had been in the following places at any given time

(no wonder why I was wasting brain power trying to think about where stuff was!):

1. Glaze room (in bathroom: waiting for rinsing, in bathroom: being dried, on shelf, on floor, on table, in bin, in small to be glazed cup, in baggie, and many more places...).

2. Main House (which room? sorted or not sorted yet? still in bin or in baggies?)

3. Basement (in kiln, in bin, on table, in baggie)

Now it is all in one place. I get the pieces out of the kiln and can put them into their bin.

No more lugging stuff upstairs into the house to get lost in the "to-do dimension".

This next picture is all of my glazes on a new set of shelves that I picked up from Lowes a few weeks ago, and finally got to putting up.

It took me 2 days of many trips down 2 flights of stairs to move all those pints of glaze into the basement studio.

It feels good though - all in one place!

I really wanted to paint the walls and possibly floor before doing this move.

But when I was at Lowes looking at all the paint colors, nothing moved me.

I was about 9 weeks pregnant though - and was having major issues with morning sickness (the all day kind) and being SO tired all the time.

I was overwhelmed by the colors, unsure of what I wanted to be surrounded by every day to feel energized and not irked by the color scheme. Painting to me is such an expression of emotion, I did not want to paint just to paint because I know I'd want to change it when I was feeling better...

So I will hopefully find inspiration sometime next summer when baby #2 is about 6 months old and is joining his/her sister Chloe in school...

So I've got a bunch of other stuff to move into the basement studio, but it takes time. And I told Dave I would take it easy today because I shouldn't be doing heavy lifting being pregnant and all. So I am finally able to catch up on some of my blogs...

Hope all is well!

I'm feeling a bit more energized and more like myself these days - let's hope it lasts!