Politics and Other Scary Stuff....plus a new Crafty Throwdown Challenge

O.K.  I simply CANNOT help myself.  I gotta talk. I have been trying to will myself to silence.   I have tidied the house, organized the studio, walked around the garden and played with my dogs...the standard "Go To" activities when I need to Find My Center.  It didn't work...I still have the anxiety sitting in my gut like a bowling ball.  The kind of anxiety that comes from watching the world burn around me while everyone else seems focused on inanity like the Oscars or Lindsay Lohan.  The kind of anxiety that generally acts as a precursor to an intense political spew.   

 It is going to burst out any second now, so if you are going to be offended, please scroll quickly to the bottom of the post where I will be announcing the details  of our next Craft Challenge.

Alrighty then---you have been properly warned.  I am not your average Crazy Right Wing Zealot.  I couldn't care less who you love or what you smoke. I am Jewish.  I have a pierced nose and chickens running around my yard.  I am an artsy gal who is happiest listening to my IPod while working in the studio.  I make a concerted effort NOT to talk about current events in this blog because I don't want to offend anyone.  Ever.  I lost a reader the last time I talked politics and it made me feel awful.   Truth is, though, I feel worse when I coast along as if I am not seeing what I am seeing.  

Consider the sad and pathetic decline of the talented Charlie Sheen.  I used to be an occasional watcher of Two and 1/2 Men.  I thought it was entertaining, if somewhat on the edge. Sheen plays Charlie Harper, a morally bankrupt playboy. The show became less amusing to me as Sheen's descent into addiction and mental illness started to come to light.  It felt kind of gross to giggle at a fractured human playing a fractured human, so I just kind of lost my taste for the show. 

Charlie is clearly bent on self destruction and the media is all over it.  We all know that this is going to end badly (remember Anna Nicole Smith?) yet the cameras are hell bent on capturing every pathetic morsel for our viewing pleasure.    I cannot turn on the television without seeing yet another tragic videotape of a wild eyed Sheen telling the world that he has "Adonis DNA" and that his two porn star live in girlfriends are "Goddesses."  Police finally removed his toddler sons from his care---about damn time.  Of course, the toddlers' Baby Mama, Brooke Mueller, is on her own Drug Rehab Merri-Go-Round.  What a world! Yup, we are getting minute by minute updates on the esteemed Mr. Sheen, but how much have you heard about a hero named Shahbaz Bhatti?  

  

You probably won't hear much about the recently murdered Shahbaz Bhatti and that is truly a shame.  Mr Bhatti was well known in Pakistan,  home to 180 million people, all but 5% of whom are Muslim.  Bhatti was a Roman Catholic--and the only Christian member of Pakistan's Federal Cabinet.  He was a high profile opponent of the nation's "blasphemy laws," which impose the death penalty on those found to have insulted Islam.  Not surprisingly, Bhatti's views were unpopular with Muslim extremists and he was recently shot down in a spray of bullets.   Al-Queda and the Taliban have claimed responsibility for his murder.

Bhatti knew that his life was in jeopardy and recorded a videotaped message to be released in the event of his death.   A somber but determined Bhatti noted that he was willing to die for his principles, while seeking justice for his community, rather than to compromise his values.

The video is powerful stuff.  Bhatti's strength of purpose humbles me.   He was a hero--a freedom fighter---and his story is one that should be heard. Is your media source of choice covering it?  No?  I am not surprised.  This nation is being fed pablum by a media intent on keeping us distracted. 

Charlie Sheen, anyone?  

Do the Media Gods think that we are not interested in the truth?  Do they think we cannot handle the truth?  The truth is not partisan and it has no agenda---we just have to be awake enough to start looking for it.  I have never understood those who hide from reality.  I may not like it, but if I know what it is I can develop a plan to deal with it.   I used to work for a serial philanderer.  He didn't even bother to make up good excuses for not going home.  I remember asking him about it...I was young and incredulous...and I will never forget his words.

He laughed--honest to God, he laughed--and he looked me in the eyes and told me that his wife did not want to know.  He said it was easy ... "Who are you gonna believe, Honey?  Your lying eyes or your loving husband?"

She believed her loving, cheating SOB of a husband every single time until he finally left her for his flavor of the moment.  Weird, huh?  Yet, here we are...yucking it up over Charlie Sheen in all of his ridiculousness.

Chaos in the Middle East.  A National Debt that will lead us to ruin.  A country that seems to be rewarding the Takers and punishing the Doers. Yup, the world really does seem to be burning around me.  What does it look like from where you are sitting?

Whew.  Sorry 'bout that.  I probably shouldn't say this stuff out loud but I can't always get to the Edit Button before I spew.   We seem to have lost our way as a nation and that just sucks.  I am tired of the Charlie Sheens and am looking for more Shahbaz Bhattis.  We have to take a stand for what is right---regardless of the politics. 

Hey!  My stomach doesn't hurt anymore...thanks for listening.

IN OTHER NEWS...........

The FIBER EARRING CHALLENGE is now closed. We got some FANTASTIC entries and the photographs will be sent out for judging this week.  Winners will be announced the week of March 14.  Good luck, everyone!

THE NEXT CHALLENGE:

 In an effort to get my own little world feeling warm and fuzzy, I would like to announce our next craft challenge, but this one has a twist!   I will still send out the supplies for free, and you will still get to make whatever you want with the goodies pictured above.  

The Twist?

I have set up a new Etsy Shop under the name CRAFT WARRIOR.  It will be officially "live" in the next week or so.  Each participant must be willing to donate their piece to be sold on the Craft Warrior site with ALL PROCEEDS going to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.  The Special Operations Warrior Foundation provides full scholarship grants and educational and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions and immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families.

Additionally, each participant must blog/tweet/or otherwise promote the challenge.  Bottom line:  the more folks buzzing about it, the more money we will raise!

This challenge is limited to 8 volunteers. We will draw names on Monday, March 6 and the piece must be sent to me on or before April 15, 2011.   Shoot me an email if you want play!  

IN THE STUDIO:

I am back to felting these days.  I just finished another fiber cuff which features a 30mm Swarovski button as the focal.  The cuffs have inspired me to create some embellishment kits which will include hand dyed velvet, scrim, ribbons and more.  Look for them soon!

Meet Cooper!

Thanks for all of the name suggestions for the new pup.  We went with Cooper.  He is a doll, albeit a constantly filthy dirt ball of a doll!

 

Politics and other Scary Stuff

WARNING:  THIS IS NOT A TYPICAL "Crafty Retailer" POST.  I am violating every marketing rule ever written, but I am going to do it anyway.  Yup...I am a rebel---a middle aged outlaw----and a  fairly intense human.  I have always "pushed the envelope" and sometimes it works.  Other times....not so much.  In any event, the middle of the road is a place I rarely travel.   I have a tendency to speak my mind even when it works against me.  I have been that way ever since I was a kid.

 FLASHBACK:  6th grade Student Council elections.  After a "primary" it had come down to me versus Jimmy, a cute hippie boy that I was crushing on.  The 25 students in my class were told to write the name of their candidate on a slip of notebook paper.  Crush be damned....I was on pins and needles as the teacher counted the slips.  Yippee!   I won the vote 18 to 12! 

  Oops.  25 kids, 30 ballots.  

Chicago style politics in Sarasota, Florida, circa 1972.   I debated whether I should remind the teacher that there were only  25 kids in the class.   What to do?  What to do?  Gee whiz....I really wanted to be on Student Council!  What to do?  What to do?  Of course, the safest bet was to keep my 11 year old  mouth shut.  After all, I didn't do anything wrong!  I didn't bribe my classmates to cast more than one ballot.  It wasn't my fault that the teacher couldn't count! My stomach hurt.   Despite a brief wrestling match with my conscience,  I ultimately pointed out the obvious and we voted again.  I lost by a wide margin.  Paybacks are hell.  But ya know what?  My stomach didn't hurt any more.  I didn't have a crush on Jimmy anymore, though.

My stomach hurts now.  It has been hurting for months.  The political nightmare we are living is making me nuts.  I can usually deal with the tumult by gardening, felting, crocheting, or some other crafty endeavor.  Those  are my "thumb suck" activities and generally work to soothe me.  It isn't working.  I hate making people uncomfortable....I am in sales for God's sake!...so like most rational people I try to monitor my public speech in an effort not to offend anybody or ruffle any feathers.  I will go for months keeping my most controversial thoughts under lock and key....doing deep breathing exercises and praying for restraint all the while.

But you know what?  I feel as though I am going crazy...kind of like Alice after having fallen down the rabbit hole!  The country is changing...right before my eyes.  I am screaming in my head.  I want to ring some sort of an alarm, connect with kindred spirits, etc.  but  all I see around me are folks watching Reality TV and eating cheese doodles.  

This is bigger than politics...it matters little whether you consider yourself on the Left or on the Right of the political spectrum.   We are fundamentally changing the country.  Is it for the better?  We are approving entitlements that we cannot possibly afford and are obstreperous in our refusal to accept the fiscal reality facing us.  Where is our common sense?  I see a country that is morphing into an entity which is unrecognizable.  Something that is markedly different from the America I grew up in.    A country that is starting to look more Socialist than Republic (note:  we are a Republic, NOT a Democracy).  Am I imagining it?  Does anybody else see what I see?  Is anyone else getting a little nervous?

QUERY:   Does my concern make me a Racist Right Wing Religious Nut? 

HELL, NO!    

I am ever so weary of the politicians who try to pigeon hole me!

They do it to scare people and it is MARKETING BULLSHIT. It is not reality so why do so many people buy into it?  I mean, I am sure that there are tobacco chawin' gun totin' bigoted right wingers out there, but I don't have any in my social circle.  Frankly, I don't even KNOW anyone like that!

I am not Christian.  I am not rich.  I am not racist.  I do not want Roe v. Wade overturned.  I am a middle aged Jewish artist with a belly button ring and a hankering to get my nose pierced.   My daughter is trying to talk me into getting a tattoo with her when she turns 18. "C'mon, Mom!  It will be a bonding experience!"   I might actually do it if I can find a part of my body that is completely hidden and  resistant to sagging.  I haven't found it yet. ...

But I digress.....

I do not care what color you are, who you worship, what you smoke or who shares your bed.    My son's girlfriend has plans to move in with him in a few months.  No sweat.  I lived with my husband before I married him.  We have been married for almost 26 years.   We consider it our responsibility to be charitable...we recently paid for a young Filipino girl's education.    It wasn't in our budget and we had to sacrifice to make it happen but we thought it was the right thing to do.   She had been kicked out the the World Vision program because she got pregnant.  She needed a future...a plan to support herself and her child.  We could help.  So we did.    Get it?  I am a child of the 1970s.  I don't want THE MAN keeping me down. But I don't want him propping me up, either!   Does this fit the media image of  a political conservative?   Nope....and yet that is also part of who I am.  I am an unrepentant CAPITALIST.   I have spent the last three years working like a demon to pay down debt I incurred because I made poor business decisions.  My problem, my responsibility.  I did not ask for a bailout or public assistance.  I love the Constitution.  I believe that the men who wrote it were divinely inspired and I am more than a tiny bit troubled by our politicians, their vision for the future, and the impact on the country I love.  I cannot know what is in the president's heart, but his philosophy appears to differ markedly from my own.
 

[OMG!  Did I really just type that out?  For the whole world to see?  I hope I used my invisible ink!]

 We all look at the world through our own individual lenses.  My perspective is my reality and your perspective is your reality.   I totally get that and I would love for you to share what it is that you see.  Do you think I am crazy?  It is totally possible...tell me where I am wrong.    Please give me some facts to support your position.   Are we on the right path?  Will the road  we are on lead to something good for your business?  Your family?   How do you see it?  Are you shocked?  Chagrined?  Asleep? Are you educating yourself?  Following the congressional votes?   Let's open a dialogue, here.  I am a kind, compassionate human.  I don't fit society's stereotypical image of a conservative.   I do not want sick children to go without medical care or poor old people to eat dog food.  Similarly, it is probable that you don't fit into the box society has created for "typical Obama supporter," either.  Let's talk...maybe we will all learn something.  You can be anonymous if you wish.

Allrightythen! 

Too much information?  I am still the same gal ... now you know just a bit more a bit  more about me.  I hope that  you don't have smoke spewing from your ears.  I hope your brain has not exploded.   I really hope that we can still be friends and share a blogging good time and that you will continue to read my tutorials and buy stuff from me despite my gauche breach of political correctness!  My brilliant business major son urged me not to hit the send button  because he thinks that it will be my self destruct button...but a gal has to do what a gal has to do and I have faith in you, dear reader.

Keeping it real is kind of scary....but at least my stomach doesn't hurt anymore.  

 

EMBEDDED CUFF TUTORIAL, Part II

It is finished!  The piece is finally finished!  I love my new cuff bracelet and I hope you do, too.

I was delighted by the response I received to Part 1 of the Embedded Crystal Cuff tutorial and I have finally finished the piece.   I was originally looking forward to making a camouflage themed cuff, with lots of greens, browns, and black.   However, once I got the base felted, I couldn't seem to get moving on to the embellishment stage.  Every time I looked at the  piece, my hands and heart remained uninspired.  Bummer!  However, I have learned over the years that I need to go where inspiration takes me, so I decided to forget about the project for a while, leaving it to ruminate in the back corners of my addled brain.  A  KILLER FIND at a local estate sale, combined with  a peak at Kelly Burn's use of chain on the cover piece of Bead Unique magazine, got my creative juices flowing again.

I snagged a wonderful assortment of sewing embellishments at an estate sale last week...including a BAKELITE belt buckle!  YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY!  The lacy bits got me thinking.....Kelly's chain usage got me ruminating....and soon I was on a roll!

LOOK FOR THE TUTORIAL TO BE POSTED ON FRIDAY, MAY 6.

We are still waiting for a few slowpokes to get their photos in from the April Craft Challenge, but the ones that we have gotten have been pretty darn amazing!  We will have pictures of all of the projects as well as information about the creative process and the identity of the artists posted on the website by the beginning of next week.

Each participants received the kit pictured below---at no charge:

What a delight to see the varied and disparate collection of pieces!  Here are just a few examples of the stunning  submissions that we have received so far:

Pamela Maxfield, the talented owner of Bello Modo and her right hand employee, Shelly Haas crafted this incredible piece at right.

I found the asymmetrical quality of the piece very appealing.  The fiber flower packs extra punch with the addition of the Hot Fix Crystal Rock.  It is a statement piece that is a real show stopper!

Hannah Rosner of Good River Gallery did the incredible cuff bracelet pictured at left.  Hannah is an incredibly talented artist who seems to possess an unlimited bag of talents.  Be sure to check out her blog post on the piece, which details her creative journey!

Barbara Howard used our components and seed beads to paint the incredible picture highlighted above.  She actually embroidered the piece on a leather shirt!  Barbara had this to share about her piece:

My theme is the famous Foot Prints in the Sand. I used taupe pearls as the foot prints, the Swarovski squares for my camp fire on the beach, The Iron on Swarovski’s as the rock in the water, The Swarovski rings and gold pearls and seed beads for the sun and its rays.

Brand new felter Linda Ratka impressed me with her sophisticated hat!  It is nuno felted and hand sewn...truly a visual feast!

I first met Linda when she participated in the Nuno Felted scarf workshop that I taught for Swarovski this year.  Linda has clearly gone on to bigger and better things!  Way to go!

Thank you to all who have participated!  We have a new Challenge kicking off June 1....stay tuned for the details!

COMING NEXT WEEK:  Frugal Marketing Ideas for the Financially Challenged Retailer.