LJ Idol and Framing - Closing the Shop Meant Making Some Decisions

I'm not a quitter, and I love a challenge (and a great group of competitors and friends), but I'm pulling out of LJ Idol effective immediately. With our trying to close the store this year, and the amount of sheer hours I'm having to put into the shop to make this happen, I simply don't have the time to write a quality piece for submission. I refuse to post anything but my best. So, my post for this week was my withdrawal notification, and I'm quite sad about that on the one hand, and a bit relieved on the other. 

I'm both sad and happy at my decision to pull out of 
LJ Idol. I'm sad because I love the challenge of writing 
to Gary's themes (he's EVIL when it comes to his 
theme choices). I'm happy because I simply don't have 
the time for Idol this time around, and I can't feel 
guilty about that - it's purely a fact. 

I spent yesterday doing a bit of cooking, but then turned my eyes to clearing up the den so that I can set up my mat-cutter and get some of the prints that we have at the shop, matted and ready for framing and sale. I have more than 100 pieces that need a mat at the least, and for many of them I've already got the pre-cut framing purchased, just waiting to be assembled. It'll be fun to work with framing again - I was quite good at it when I had my original store and my Mall of America store. 

There are a lot of components that go into framing 
a piece of artwork for sale. Not every piece needs 
glazing, but many do. Not all require multiple 
mats, but they can make a piece extra special. The 
backing board and dust covers are essential. It's 
a multi-layer cake, in essence. 

Like most people, I had started out working with a local framer nearby, but quickly realized that wasn't cost-effective. At that time, Larson-Juhl, one of the major framing manufacturers, started offering framing classes through their Eden Prairie location. I signed up for that - a week of intensive framing lectures and hands-on practice. We then purchased some rather expensive equipment, and I was off and running. In the long run it saved us quite a bit of money - most artwork needs to be framed to look good on a wall, and I had half of the entire front wall of my Mall of America store dedicated to framed artwork for sale. We also had one room in our original St Paul location dedicated to framed artwork for sale. Both places looked great, and we sold a lot of artwork. 

Larson-Juhl is one of the largest frame manufacturers and 
distributors in the nation. They used to have a huge warehouse 
and factory in Eden Prairie, MN - one of the far Western 
suburbs of the Twin Cities. They offered a five-day 
professional framing course and I signed up for it. At that 
time we were just dipping our toes into selling fine art, 
and we hoped that framing it ourselves would
be a massive price saver. 

In our current location, however, display space fights with Navajo weavings and artifacts of various kinds, and our artwork area is quite a bit more limited. Out clientele is different as well. Here, we have become a craft supply store with beads being our major focus, not Native American art and collectibles. The beads pay the rent - we don't sell a lot of artwork, although we have some really great pieces. But I also have print drawers full of original artwork that needs to be framed (or at minimal - matted) before it can be sold. 

I have a top of the line mat cutting machine that I 
purchased at the time I took the class. It can handle 
pretty much any paper materials I feed into it. I 
also purchased a chop saw for wood if I wanted to 
make my own frames. 

So I'll be spending a lot of time with my mat cutter, my glass cutter, my sheet cutter and my various tools. It's going to take me a bit of time to get my hand back into cutting fancy mats and framing, but I always enjoyed it. So, for at least part of my "days off" I'll be working at home on cutting mats and assembling artwork for sale. Some will be framed, others just shrink-wrapped, but they'll all look great. I'll just have to join LJ Idol for their next time because writing, except in my head, is simply time I won't have until after I've locked the doors of Stormcloud for good. 

The other piece of equipment that I own is this - a glass 
and mat cutting machine. We've used it a lot! It's about 
one-two degrees out of true right now, so I'll need to 
do some adjusting. It's also in a difficult place to work with 
larger pieces of glass, so that may become an issue. 

Have an excellent weekend. We'll have thunderstorms on and off throughout the day and maybe into tomorrow. The current storm is passing both North and South of us, and we're in an island of calm, interrupted by rumbles of thunder. The afternoon will be a bit more active - LOL. Be kind, and Slava Ukraini. 

It'll Be a Busy Friday

It's Friday, and a "day off" for me. Of  course, Hubby has things he needs me to do, and I have a stack of things piled on my desk that have to be taken care of - just things here at home, not at the shop. I start the day out with a labs appointment at my clinic, and I need to continue writing and finalizing my story for the current challenge in my writing "contest" or "group". In any case, every minute seems to have at least five tasks knocking at the door, most of which must be completed today, or darned close to completed. 

The mountains of Argentina are amazing - sharp peaks, 
deep valley and amazing glaciers. I love the scenery when 
I'm fast-walking to the two modules that feature these 
peaks. 

I was fast-walking through Argentina today for the entire 45 minutes. Such beautiful mountains, and lots of wild llamas, stunning lakes and excellent waterfalls or melting glaciers. It's a beautiful area of the world, and this is probably as close as I'll ever get to it, but that's OK. I get the scenery without the cold wind and any bugs. LOL

My new Luhxe Travel Bag with detatchable rollers is 
absolutely fabulous. I bought it specifically for my Nile 
cruise (which I don't even have tickets for yet, but it's 
going to happen). I liked the look, loved the fact that 
it fits easily as hand-carried luggage, and the 50% off deal 
didn't hurt either. 

I got my new luggage via UPS on Tuesday. I took it home and unpacked it yesterday. I think this will be wonderful to travel with. I purchased it specifically because it will fit in almost any space, has lots of room for packing my clothing and shoes, and it's sized so that it goes onto the plane with me, not in the luggage compartment. 

So, I'm out of here. It's going to be a busy, busy "day off" today and I have to start out at the clinic for labwork. Oh joy! LOL More blood for the vampires. I only hope I have a decent tech today. Have an excellent Friday, I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Uktaini. 

I Survive To Write Again , Cooking and Swimming - My Life in a Nutshell

I survived the first week of LJ Idol, and am progressing to week 2. I just got the assignment this morning. This one will take a bit of thought, and squeezing writing time out will (as always) be challenging, but I suppose that's part of the fun of the competition. And what a competition! I've got some truly stellar writers that I'm going against here. Everything has to click into place for me to get far this time. 

Week one is now behind me and I'm staring at the prompt 
for Week 2. *sigh* It's never easy to squeeze Idol into 
my schedule, but I at least have to give it my best attempt. 
My fellow writers and friends deserve a quality story 
from me. Now ... what to write???

I made a HUGE batch of my baked fruit yesterday. I bought eight pears and eight apples, and added a large bag of green grapes to the mix. I've never made a batch quite this large before. It took a while to get everything cut up and prepped, and my two professional-grade baking sheets were solidly heaped. I added an extra 10 minutes to the cook time to make sure everything got thoroughly baked through. I have a stuffed side on my side of the refrigerator now! Yippee - LOL. 

I love my baked fruit. I have one container's worth for 
my breakfast every day. This latest batch had 8 apples, 
8 pears, and a large bag of grapes, along with chopped 
nuts and, of course, maple syrup and spices. I adore my 
baked fruit, and usually make enough to take me through 
1-2 weeks. 

It was wonderful to catch up with Aearwen yesterday. Life circumstances sometimes get in the way of our usual Wednesday afternoon chat, but we finally managed to link up again. We don't talk about anything earthshaking - far from it. But it's a grounding for me - a chance to reach out to a friend and share a bit of this and that. Circumstances sometimes cause us to postpone a week, or sometimes two or three, but we always get back to our schedule again. We've been chatting every Wednesday afternoon for many years now and it's always one of the high points in my week. 

I had a lovely conversation with Aearwen yesterday 
afternoon. We've been chatting on Wednesday 
afternoons for several years now. We've gone through 
a lot of life together in those chats. We've never met 
in person, and I'm not sure we ever will. But I 
count her as one of my close friends. 

So, I've got a little actual, real, computer work that I still have to do before heading over to the pool. It's going to be a VERY cold dash in and out today - low 60's for our outside temps. Once I'm in the water and moving, it won't be as bad, but I'm already dreading the in/out. Out lifeguard, Beth, actually wears one of those computerized heated vests underneath her lifeguard jacket. I don't blame her at all. She's out there for hours at a stretch and if it's cold, that's not fun. 

We all love the length of the outdoor pool - that Olympic 
size makes for a great workout. But ... on days like today, 
we're not fans of the run to the water and the run out of the 
water back into the building. That hot shower after my swim 
will be VERY welcome today - LOL. 

Have a truly excellent Thursday. Tomorrow I'll be back on the treadmill and I'll be hoping that our outdoor temperatures are closer to what the end of June and early July actually should be. Enjoy your day, spread some joy wherever you go and Slava Ukraini. 

The Pool, Friends and Video Chats

It's cool outdoors, and yesterday was also. That makes for pleasant gardening, but cold runs in and out of the outdoor pool. We'll all be complaining about the run back and forth today again, because we'll all be shivering a bit - especially on our way out of the pool and back into the building. That hot shower after the swim will be wonderfully welcome today. 

We have quite a crowd of people waiting for the YMCA doors 
to be unlocked at 5:00 am daily. The majority of those people 
are here for the outdoor swimming pool. It gets super crowded 
later on in the day, but the 5:00 am groups are pretty structured 
and I usually only share my lane with one other person. 

I awakened early (my alarm was set for 3:00 am), and decided to just stay up. It's a laundry and cooking day and it's going to be a VERY busy one, so settling into my morning meditation earlier wasn't a problem. If I'm super exhausted and time allows (and I'm in the mood), I can maybe grab a quick nap this afternoon. But I doubt I'll be inclined. I'll be dragging by the end of the week, but there's nothing unusual in that. 

I'm sleepy, and I'll regret having awakened 
before 3:00 am later today. But, I have a 
ton of stuff to do today, so I won't have any 
time to complain. 

I think Aearwen and I are back on schedule for our weekly chat and catch-up this afternoon. We went for several years with very few interruptions, but the past six months with my cancer and various health things for her and her family in California ... well, our schedule has been interrupted more often than usual. It's not like we chat about anything earthshaking. We just see where the flow takes us and talk about this and that - daily life and mundane things. But she's another of the friends I hold dear whom I've never actually met in person. It's one of the marvelous things about the internet and the various communities that it has fostered over time. You can make friends that you hold dear, interact with them regularly, but never actually meet them face-to-face. Quite remarkable. 

I have quite a few online friends whom I've never 
met in person, and quite a few other online friends 
whom I've only met in person a few times. I cherish 
all of my friends, they enrich my life and pull me out 
of my daily rut. Whether I'm interacting in an actual 
conversation or just passing notes back and forth 
online, they are cherished. 

I'm sure you also have online friends with whom you communicate regularly, but who you've never met in person. That would have been impossible in my youth. The closest you could come to something like this would have been a pen pal. I had a pen pal who lived in Alaska for about six months or so, but I really dislike writing - I'm a keyboard kind of person. And it's really not the same, is it? The internet gives us almost immediate feedback, and if we want something more immediate, there's always the phone or a face-to-face on the screen. I don't face time often, preferring to chat over the phone or in text, but I have done so in the past and I'm sure I will be on-screen again in the future. It's a fact of our current life styles in the USA. We can face-time with dear friends from around the world quite easily. 

I got used to doing weekly video chats while I was 
starting my WildFit food program. I prefer to use 
the laptop for video chats - the phone is just too small 
of a screen. But I have had video chats on my phone 
with my dear friend Shruti who lives in India. It's always 
a joy to hear from her. 

So, have an excellent Wednesday, I'll be cooking like crazy - my side of the refrigerator needs some serious love. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Today Is a Gift, How Will You Use It?

Back to the swimming pool today, and it's a perfect day for it. It's not super hot (although those are excellent days to get into the water), it's not storming, and I think it's a perfect day for the water. Of course, I always think it's a perfect day for the water on my swimming days. But being outside, watching the sun rise over the pool water ... that's a bonus that I truly love on my summer swimming days. It's getting toward the end of June, and our first month in the outdoor pool is ending in a few days. But, we'll have two more months ahead of us. Whoot! 

We all love our outdoor pool. When we have two lifeguards, 
the water aerobic people can meet in the diving well, where 
they chat for their time, while exercising. The rest of us can  
take the swimming lanes and pack those (on some days, it's 
really packed). Because I'm there at 5:00 am, I often only 
have to share my lane with one other swimmer. I don't circle 
very well - I'm a slower swimmer. 

I hope you enjoyed my LJ Idol story enough to vote for it. I'm up against some powerful writers this time around, some of whom have become good friends over the past two competitions. I always hope that my writing will speak for itself, but truly, you can never know. I got a lot of compliments on my tale of the Scottish brewery, but compliments don't always equate with votes, and it's the votes that really count. Still, I did the best I could and I'm pleased with the tale I wrote. 

There's nothing quite like thunderstorms on the 
Great Plains of the USA. In these areas, where you can 
see for miles and miles, you can also see the clouds 
and their dance with the winds. It's spectacular and 
quite frightening at times. Mother Nature at her most 
volatile. We get storms like this throughout the nation, 
but not in the open areas where you can see them for 
miles and miles ahead of you. 

I'm hoping DH will allow himself a day in the garden today. No guarantees, he might come in to the shop and work in the art storage area instead. But, I think it's going to be an excellent gardening day and we don't get a lot of those. Usually they're broken up by thunderstorms, wind, or horrid heat. The heat is down a bit, we're not expecting storms today, it might be a perfect garden day for him. I'm already turning over recipes in my head since tomorrow is a house day for me, and except for feeding my hummingbirds, I'm not really coming up with a concrete plan for tomorrow. I'd better do some thinking on that - LOL. 

Every day we awaken to experience another 24 hours 
on this planet is a gift. Enjoy your gift today, and spread 
some joy among those with whom you interact. 

So, not a lot to say today. Not every day is monumental, but every day is a gift. I'm grateful to share the gift of this Tuesday with all of you - my readers and friends. Spread some love and friendship today, and let's leave small bits of happiness and friendship in our wake. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Monday, It's Muggy and It's Hot - What Else is New? LJ Idol?

Happy Monday. It's the start of a new week of trials and tribulations. Guaranteed. I need to get going on getting items matted and shrink wrapped, but the time available for this is minimal, at best. I may have to start going in for several hours on Sunday mornings just to get everything moving. That won't make me super happy, but it might be exactly what it needs to be. 

I'm feeling crunched for time and time is most 
definitely NOT on my side. There's too much to 
do and too little time in which to do it. 

Chickie brought me a Denver Broncos horsehair woven keychain. It's fabulous. I've never seen one like it and it took some serious skills to get the emblem onto it. I'm seriously impressed. I'll try and take a photo of it to share with all of you. It was crafted by Don Town at the Montana State Prison. Many of the Native Americans in that region of the country work in horsehair, But this took some serious skill. 

The Denver Broncos logo is tricky, and the fact that this 
horsehair artist was able to put it onto the keychain 
twice is exceptional. I'm totally in love with this gift 
that Chickie found for me. Truly excellent! 

The weekend was hot and muggy and horrid. I don't like it when we have humidity that's as high as yesterday was. It's a never ending sweat fest when the temps are high and the humidity is high. It's what I don't like about Florida, Georgia and the other Southern states. It's not fun putting on clothes after your morning shower and feeling like you should be right back into the shower in an hour. 

I'm not really much of a fan of hot and muggy 
weather. My plants, I suspect, were quite pleased, 
however. My tomatoes are growing like weeds. 
My peppers are a bit slower. 

My LJ Idol story is up and I'd appreciate a read and a vote if you're so inclined. It's a crowded field right now - a lot of extremely talented people. I read through everyone's entry and cast my votes over the weekend, but I was sparing with those votes. I graded each piece as I read it, and only voted for those which received my highest grade. It will be quite a culling, we have a LOT of writers (there are 37 of us this time around) who ended up joining us for this go-round - some of whom I've competed with in the past. There are some super talented writers in the group. I've got to bring my "A" game for each challenge. (The story is here - https://erulissedances.dreamwidth.org/1118554.html and the voting is here https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1185269.html. I hope I merit your vote if you enjoyed my story, and there are some other magnificent entries as well, if you're down for reading through the list of competitors. 

So, I'm out of here. Breakfast, work, home, dinner, sleep and tomorrow ... the pool! Much cooler than the treadmill was this morning - LOL. Enjoy your day! Slava Ukraini. 

My LJ Idol Story is Up and a Bit of This and That

I succeeded in writing, editing (always the most time-consuming part) and posting my first entry into the newest LJ Idol competition. I don't quite know how I was able to steal the time to write it, and I can only hope that I can continue stealing time as needed to continue in the competition. I do love writing to a theme, and I'm always challenged, which is what makes it so much fun. When voting opens I'll give all of you a link, whether it's just to read or (if allowable) also to vote. 

I love the challenge of writing to an arbitrary theme, and 
our Dungeon Master chooses some really good ones. The 
theme this time was "Quality". If you're interested in reading 
what I wrote, check out
https://erulissedances.dreamwidth.org/1118554.html

I made a mash-up of two recipes yesterday, totally by mistake. I needed to add two pounds of ground beef to my cabbage recipe and I knew I had cooked that in advance. I thought it was in two containers, but it was actually in a plastic bag set off to the side in the refrigerator. So, I made my second recipe with the first one (a multi-bean chili) that I had made on Wednesday. No matter, it actually tastes pretty good. I added some of my powdered chili peppers from last year's crop, and it has just the right amount of *zing*. 

I've always been against paying dues to a lobbying 
organization, but getting it for free ... well, that's another 
thing entirely. I went ahead and joined, and I'll see if 
it was worth the $0 after my first year - LOL. 

My friend Claire (Chickie Mama) is always telling me that I should become a member of AARP. I'm not fond of paying dues to them, but AOL, )my old and dependable AOL which I still use after more than 30 years), offered me that benefit at no charge for two people. So, JTAP and I are now members of AARP - LOL.  I'll have to read through the paperwork and find out exactly what they will do for me besides lobby Congress (a hopeless task for any organization these days).   

It took a ridiculously long amount of time to get the 
"smaller" watermelon cut up and ready to eat, but at 
least I've got that mess out of the way and can enjoy the 
fruit. I do love watermelon, but it takes a lot of time to 
get it prepped for eating (unless you are eating slices, 
and we rarely do that). 

DH had brought home a "smaller" whole watermelon on Wednesday and it was taking up valuable countertop space. So I also took the time yesterday to get that cut up and into the refrigerator. I'm relieved to have my counters empty once again - I only have two very small ones and having a huge green fruit taking up one of them wasn't making me super happy - LOL. 

I'm totally relieved that the large shipment of crystal 
beads arrived in good condition into the hands of my 
customer. Now I can breathe for a bit - until she decides 
she wants some more colors, that is! LOL

Oh, and the large Swarovski Crystals shipment I was sending to California? It arrived earlier this week and all is well. Dana's got her crystals to play with, and I can breathe a little easier. We learned a lot with that order, and I'll be much better prepared if I get another customer who wants large quantities and a lot of subtotals. Life is a learning experience, after all - LOL. Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini.