Hazelnut Cottage

Merry Christmas (Late)

So Christmas came and went this year in a blur...first I was so busy with orders (a good thing!) and trying to make sure I shipped everything out on time so as not to disappoint anyone and then one of the kiddo’s got sicccckkkkk (and now THE MAN). I am sorry to admit that Christmas shopping somehow then, got smashed into 2 days of guerilla type warfare alongside fevers, hacking coughs and worse (use your imagination).

And before I knew it, Christmas was gone. It was over.

I am kinda sad about it.

What I wanted to do was have lots of free time to just be. To just enjoy my family. To shop leisurely amidst all of the Christmas music and decorations (hey, here in Hawaii you take what wintery Christmas stuff you can get!) and take my time picking out just the right thing to bless those important people I love. To watch movies in my favorite ratty old cotton nightgown. To paint my toenails red.

What I really wanted to do was to celebrate advent and really focus our energies and our celebrations towards the coming of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. To savor Him.

You know?

But somehow instead, I found myself on Christmas eve sitting in the trunk of our SUV holding a cup under the chin of my bigger little one, trying to get him out of the air conditioning and night air from the Christmas Eve Service we tried to attend; wrapping gifts after that into the wee hours of the morning and being so grouchy about how everything turned out that I missed the magic.

Just thinking about how (and if) it is possible to do things differently next Christmas...and in general, how to balance my daily life of family, work, relationship with God so that my life choices reflect my true priorities.

Ack. So, maybe I AM BERT.

Sigh...perspective. I am so grateful for my family, that I have people in my life to ache over when they are sick. Grateful that I truly celebrate Jesus for coming into our world—into my life—in a thousand ways throughout the year. And grateful for this community I have surrounding me, upholding me, reflecting  God’s grace to me.

Etsy Find: De Beaux Souvenirs

This french studio has THE most wonderful handwired yummies. Hard to describe, but I am just absolutely drooling for these. Have a look:

Cage for Little Bird 10 x 3         $180

Blue Bird Cage 18.5 x 10  |  $186.00

Wire Sphere Lamp Allons a la campagne...  | $235

Chic Wall Lamp French Linen  |  $85

Do you see what I MEAN?! I am in love. Sigh...Such a beautiful mix of rustic elegance and whimsy. I am especially drawn to any kind of lights; lanterns, lamps and such, and these are just so unique!

I am Bert

So I stumbled upon—and took—the “Sesame Street Personality Test” (oh the WAYS I find to distract myself from working!).

And I am Bert.

I find myself a bit offended that I am Bert, or uh, at least I am Bert according to the conclusion of the TEST. I mean, BERT?! Of all people! I mean—Of all muppets!!! Bert is odd. Bert is kind of a nerd (lovable, but a nerd nevertheless). Bert wears those strange bowling shoes (hi Mike!). I mean, Bert?! Sheesh. Couldn’t I have been Big Bird or Harry Monster or Cookie or someone else?

I mean, what’s so odd about the ziplock bag of wet mashed up egg cartons in my fridge? Huh? I ask you now!

Here is what I discovered about myself:

Now, I really just had to laugh...first at the questions on this short test, as well as the resulting summary. Most of it is too true!

...uh, I don’t know about me being “just a little evil” tho'. I mean, not like I’m plenty evil, oh, well, you know what I mean. Oh, and I most certainly am NOT a neat freak by anyone's stretch of the imagination.

But the rest of it seems shockingly spot on!

Go ahead! Take it! C'mon! You know you want to :)!

Which Sesame Street Character are you?!

On “Way Closing…”

“Ruth replied, …‘I’m a birthright Friend, and in sixty-plus years of living, way has never opened in front of me…But a lot of way has closed behind me, and that’s had the same guiding effect.’ Parker concludes,…there is as much guidance in what does not and cannot happen in my life as there is in what can and does—maybe more.” ~Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

So, after this last craft fair/trunk show tonight, I am learning to look at the way closing behind me...craft fairs are not for me! At least not here in Honolulu, Hawaii! Egahds! Yikes! Sheesh! Yeech!

The 2 recent public craft fair/trunk shows have been learning experiences for sure…and for the time being at least, it is becoming clear that these venues are not where my peoples are at! So much work for such little return leaves me feeling completely drained and quite honestly, depressed! It is an awful feeling to sit there hour after hour—fiddling—while person after person walks by your booth or looks at your pieces, smiles and then leaves. Sigh.

But, there is a glimmer of light in the midst of this darkness. Because of these experiences, I realize that for 2009, my efforts are best spent increasing my online presence and expanding my wholesale accounts both locally and abroad. And I’ve met a few really wonderful people (hiya Christina! *waving!*) and made a couple of important contacts these last couple of weeks.

And because of disappointing sales at these venues, I find myself completely and utterly thankful for the Etsy community of artists I belong to and so grateful for the busy season I’ve had lately, and all of the business I’ve had online ever since I opened up my Hazelnut Cottage shop on Etsy in 2007.

A surprising bit of perspective in light of these past few difficult weeks…

So! Anyhoo, I’ve ONE MORE trunk show thingy on Monday, December 15th. A few of the ladies from  The Artist’s Way group have decided to rent out a small space at CoffeeTalk in Honolulu and throw ourselves a trunk show! At the very least we hope to hop over to Smiley’s for a quick pedicure after a yummy snack at Covenant Books!

Here’s the info. Maybe I’ll see ya there?! And maybe it will be fun, and not so painful?!! Oh, one can only HOPE!

The Winter Art Soiree 2008
CoffeeTalk (in Kaimuki Town)
3601 Waialae Avenue
Monday, December 15, 2008
11am to 8pm
(all 5 artists will be present from 4-8pm)

Trunk Shows and Such

I always knew there was a reason I didn’t like doing trunk shows and craft fairs...so much work! Ha, ha. But seriously, the set up for this was brutal because until it was actually set up, I had never done it before—it existed only in my head, and in a little sketch in my notebook!

Add to that, the (hot!) afternoon sun and—the REAL reason it was such unpleasant physical labor—is because my butt has been glued to my work chair for the last 3 weeks and the only exercise I’ve gotten is to the fridge and back. Ha.

 

 

 

 

! Just 2 more trunk shows to go and then a nice holiday!

What I Find I Must Do NOW

So, in addition to making as much inventory for the upcoming trunk shows as humanly possible, and in addition to having to CLEAN MY HOUSE for this weekend's homeshow and all of the other nutso stuff I do in my daily life and you do in yours, I have this sudden urge to completely 're-do' my studio space.

The gears are in motion.

My space is an absolute, total and complete mess. Here, I will show you one teensy tiny piece of the chaos, but please, say you will still respect me in the morning.

And it all started simply because I decide to buy two of these...

...grey felt bulletin boards.

and now, I find, I need a wallspace for these babies.

Which means a complete and total upheaval. Ugh. Man. I’m trying not to do it. I’m trying to talk myself out of it. But I bought a 15" power strip, juuuuuussssttt in case. (I am sooo excited!)

Geeze. I gotta get a life.