I'm back!

It was a long holiday season, but I'm back.  Right now I'm mired in paperwork getting ready for tax season,  always a good excuse to completely clean and re-arrange my studio and office.  

Time to regroup.  

The best all-around show I did was the Indie Garage Sale in Utica NY.  It was a 2-day show the last weekend before Christmas and it was by far the best and well-attended.   Many of us were situated in separate boutique-like shops, so it gave an upscale feel to the show.  That's my booth right behind the window with the light green tables. 

I had a wonderful holiday.  This was my tree, and a great tree it was!

Well, Ok I lied.  We went to NYC for a couple days. 

So this is really the tree:

Believe me, it was better than the Charlie Brown tree we had last year!

Wilbur got some new clothes (but he's more interested in the edible goodies)

Carla and the animals had a good time.

We feasted  

 

Christmas buffet





and partied 

and a good time was had by all

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Crazy week and the Pumpkin Festival in Norwich NY

Last week was insanely busy!  I finished an order for a customer who drove up here to pick up her order on Thursday.  Her husband and 2 adorable dogs came with her and they were a joy!  We had a wonderful meal, then relaxed in the hot tub, and they left first thing Friday morning for NYC with probably close to 300 lbs of candles. 

As soon as they left, I started loading the car for the Norwich Pumpkin Festival. 

The show was held in Norwich NY Friday 10/29 through Saturday 10/30.  Friday was set-up starting at noon, so I got there around 12:30.  As I was driving out of my driveway, I saw my street lamp had been knocked over, presumably by the landscapers who mowed my lawn that morning.  

Maybe I should have taken that as an omen, because it was rainy and blustery all afternoon as I tried my best to set up my tent and display on the street.   Both coats I had taken got wet as well as my feet.  I actually went to my car, took off my shoes and socks and sorta dried them out with the heater going full blast.   I finally got set up, but since I was on the street, the back was a lake, so I set my chair on the side. 

Saturday was Much nicer!  A brisk fall day, but no rain.  I was prepared with my winter coat, extra socks and shoes and my insulated and waterproof Timberlands which are 30 years old and have never let me down. 

So on to the pumpkins.  They were all lit and at night they were just amazing. 

Dog custumes!  They were the best.

 And scarecrow competition.

It was a great festival!  Even if it wasn't all handmade. 

I'll probably be back next year.  See you then!

planting, Juilliard trip, mailing list, laundry, newly redesigned website

Well, hello again. The weather has been fine, and during this business downtime, I'm busy working on my yard and planting the shubs and trees I recently bought from the county co-op. That's about 35 bushes and 15 trees plus some perennials. Most have been planted and I'm hoping they survive. I bought Butterfly bushes for along the driveway, American Cranberry bushes to plant along the road and across the yard for privacy, and some shade and native trees.

I also started hanging my clothes outside to dry in the sun. There's really nothing better than the fresh scent of sun-dried clothes!

I'm excited to announce my new website, totally redesigned with an whole new look.  What do you think?  http://dewonapetal.com/  I also started a mailing list for my infrequent newsletter for new products, upcoming shows and general news. By no means will I spam your inbox with useless emails, so don't be scared. I won't be doing regularly scheduled emails right now and will only send an email if I have something important to relay to you.   Sign up for our newsletter

In other news, I made a trip to the city recently to see my daughter perform at Juilliard in Dialogue of the Carmelites.  It was stunning.  And I got the grand tour of Juilliard.

http://opera.broadwayworld.com/article/Dialogues_of_the_Carmelites_to_Perform_at_Peter_Jay_Sharp_Theatre_421_20100310

Peter J. Sharp Theater lobby:                                    New wing, staircase

hallway, Drama Dept

Warming up

Lobby

After show party

Memories, memories, keep them close.  Til next time...

Spent the past few weeks rebuilding my website, not by choice

A couple months ago, I bought an external hard drive to save all my pictures and files since my computer was pushing 10 years old.  I knew it was going to die soon, so I thought I was doing the right thing, saving all my business and personal files and a few thousand pictures. 

So the computer did die, and I think it was fully infected with worms and viruses and what have you.  All our protection was even infected we suspect.  So we went out and bought a new pc that day and destroyed to old infected hard drive.   So I go to use my external drive on the new pc and it suggested I put a password on it, so I did and confirmed it twice (it's an easy password).  Right after that, the new pc stopped recognizing the password, so all the files and pictures I had saved are now inaccessible.  Rest assured, I have consulted many teck geeks and stores, and have called Western Digital many times, to no avail.  There is no way to reset the drive or transfer the data.  My only choice is to reformat the drive if I want to use it again, but that's not even an option.   Every day I remember something else that is on that drive and it makes me ill.  It's important to note that the new pc also corrupted the password for the router too, but we could fix that. 

So you see, I had to rebuild my website since I couldn't update it without my web files.  And pictures.   I've managed to lift pictures from here and there to rebuild the site.  It's been a major pain in the rear, but on a positive note, I think it's the best looking site I've ever built!  http://dewonapetal.com/

I've also started a newsletter which I intend to use infrequently for important announcements only.  I hope you'll consider signing up for it.  I promise you won't get daily or even weekly emails. 

In other news, business is a little slow right now, so I have time to work on other projects like getting my garden ready, planting shrubs and trees, and doing some business bookwork.  A couple major projects are in the planning stages right now.   I'm also working on a new line of Essential Oil candles, so I'm pretty excited about that.  The summer show season is fast approaching, so I hope to be out and about to meet my customers soon. 

I recently vended at the Indie Garage Sale in Utica NY which was a huge success.   Shows can be a lot of work, but the effort is always worth it when I can meet my customers.  I tried a new table set-up this time, but I still need some taller display shelves.  And eventually, I'll need to buy an outdoor tent, preferably with sides for upcoming outdoor shows. 

So things are good.  Need some candles?