Spring Celebrations

I'm not planning on doing much to celebrate Easter this year although I'm thinking about having my niece over on Saturday to dye some eggs. I think my mother in law is fixing a ham for Sunday and we'll gather and eat some Cadbury Eggs.

For me Easter and dying eggs is more about celebrating Spring and renewal. It's shaking off the gray of Winter and going crazy with some color. I was the one who would wait for my siblings to finish dying their eggs in the proper way and I would then start mixing up the colors and dunking the eggs from color to color. Sometimes I came up with a cool tie dyed effect, sometimes a marbleized masterpiece, and sometimes it was just a big hot mess. Either way I was happy.

I know it's too late to buy these lovely egg creations from etsy to get to you by this Easter but I think they would make lovely decorations all Spring long. Who decided decorating eggs was an Easter tradition anyways? The above egg was Hand embroidered in the style of Japanese Temari balls by Selahestelle. I'm sure she would be thrilled if you gave her an Easter gift of her first Etsy sale. This blue Etched Pysanky Goose Egg by Judij33 is absolutely stunning. It would make a great decoration all year long in my opinion.

If you are planning on dying eggs this weekend I found a few sites that would be super helpful for you and your budding artists. If you want to really master the tie dye egg FamilyFun.com has good directions here to create eggs that will actually look like this. If you want to get really creative DLTK's Crafts for Kids has directions here for everything from the traditional to Rubber Band or splatter painted eggs. Hope you have fun however you celebrate the arrival of Spring.

Exploring Shutter Speeds

I recently discovered the most amazing website for new digital camera users called Digital Photography School. Since buying my new Canon PowerShot A650 IS digital camera over 6 months ago I have been hesitant with it and not sure of how to go about learning all of its capabilities. I've read other sites that talk about different setting and things like shutter speed and exposure but they were way over my head. This site comes at from a newbie perspective and gives you exactly what you need to know without overwhelming you with terms that will just confuse you. Then if you want to read further they give additional lessons on important topics.

One of the first things I read was 4 Reasons Not to Write off Shooting in Automatic which is the only thing I've ever read that reassured me that it was ok to use the auto setting on my camera. So many sites make you feel like an idiot if you just use auto mode but this article actually encourages new digital users to keep it on auto for the first 3-6 months while you get a feel for your camera and learn about framing and develop your eye.

This weekend I took my camera to my husband's bar band show, the Bloolights, at a great venue near our house called M.T. Rockers. It is kind of a dive bar but the lighting is good, the stage is large and has interesting backgrounds, and there is plenty of room to move around and get different angles. I think the other patrons started thinking I was the crazy girl with the camera but I'm all right with that. I explored shutter speed since the guys were in motion a lot of the time and some different settings. If you want to see more from the night they are in the Bloolights set on flickr. The top shot was done in good old auto mode with flash on and is a perfectly fine shot that we could use on their website. It shows Mike on guitar and his brother on drums pretty clearly.

This shot was done in black and white mode with a higher shutter speed which gives it a crisper image that I like. The higher the shutter speed the more it freezes the image is what I learned in this article called Moving towards Manual Settings: Understanding Shutter Speed.

This final image was done with a much lower shutter speed in a vibrant color mode that I like. The lower the shutter speed the longer the image is exposed so it has more time to pick up movement. It gives it a blurred effect which can be cool. Mike says it looks like he lost his arm but I think it's interesting since it shows the movement.

This weekend I plan on exploring Aperture and depth of field as discussed in this lesson. I'm hoping to learn how to do those artsy shots that are always on the front page of etsy with the interesting blurred focus. I'll share anything I learn next week.

Extraordinary Ordinary Women, Inc.

I have been intrigued by Kenya and its culture long before we had a president who is 1/2 Kenyan. St. Louis has a relatively large population of Kenyans and many of them seem to find their way to my office to enter one of our nursing programs. I have worked with hundreds of Kenyans in my time at the community college and I have found them to be some of the sweetest and hardest working people I've ever known.

While blog surfing last week I came across a lovely fellow etsian/blogger named Namaste who introduced me to the organization called Ordinary Women, Inc. Here is their mission:

"Ordinary Women Inc. (OWI) was born out of our broken hearts during our time in Kenya. In September 2004 OWI began providing humanitarian aid and education to those in need and aims to provide a leg up for communities to become self-supporting. Our name reminds us that we are very ordinary on our own and that anything extraordinary happens only with the power from above."

You know when you read about something and you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach that tells you this is something you have to do immediately, do not pass go? Sometimes I push that feeling away but not this time. I signed up to sponsor a Kenyan orphan for $35 a month which covers all of this:

- boarding school (HS) tuition, room and board, bedding, personal effects, stationary
- family and placement supervised by a qualified social worker
- nutrition and basic health care
- school uniform, clothing, bedding, & mosquito net

Unlike many programs 100% of the money you give goes directly to the kids. Here is what it says on their website about the incredible need in Kenya:

"Largely because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic taking the lives of the adult generation in Africa, a staggering number of children are literally left to exist and fend for themselves on the streets. They resort to scavenging and stealing or even worse to merely survive. Hungry and abandoned, with no one to ever comfort them, they are vulnerable, lonely, afraid and sick. With limited government welfare and "safety net" programs as in the US, limited access to get a basic education i.e. required uniform cost, no foster care, and no moral training, what kind of a society will this create for the future? Having seen the conditions first hand it is not overly dramatic to state that this is truly a tragedy of humanity!"


So many times, for me anyways, you read about the overwhelming needs and start to tune out. It's like information overload. What could I possibly do? Well, this organization told me exactly what I could do. I could put $35 a month aside, the cost of a nice dinner for 2, and give a Kenyan boy a chance to go to school and have a better life. I know exactly where my money is going, to Brian. And I will be getting a picture and updates about him regularly. I can send him letters and gifts if I want to and create a connection with his world.

I'm no Angelina Jolie and I can't go around the world making a difference, but I'm glad to find a way to make a big difference in at least one person's life.

Social Networking Sites vs. Blog Directories

Last month for some reason I got a wild hair and started joining blog directory sites like they were going out of style, which in reality they pretty much are. It seems the blog directory is being replaced by social networking sites for finding information on-line. Directories are still a decent way to get links to your site to build up your page rank but it can be a tedious process to join them so you have to way the cost vs. the benefit to you and your site. The above necklace by CouchObjects lets the world know you love your social networking sites.

The DMOZ, the open directory project, is the gold standard in directories and appears worth the effort if you can get in. I have applied but it is reviewed by experts in the field so it takes some time to hear whether you are accepted. It is a true directory and is the most comprehensive attempt to organize the web there is.

The other true directories that I applied and was accepted to relatively quickly are BlogRankings and Blogged. I like blogged and have done some searches with it as they index just blogs by topics.

There are other directories that are a combination of directories and social networking sites. We all know the true social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These sites are all about building a community and networking with like minded people. You can share pictures, make friends, and promote yourself and your business. The directories that are also creating ways for bloggers to connect are the ones that are most useful for promoting your business. Not only will they give you a link to boost page rank but they will also give you and your business opportunities to be discovered by new eyes.

Blog Catalog is the most popular of these sites that I have discovered. There is a great community of bloggers here that can be searched, befriended, and can be a good promotional tool if fully utilized. I haven't fully tapped into what I want to use the Catalog for but I think there is more potential here than many other sites. Technorati appears to be a similar site and has potential as well for networking opportunities. Fuel My Blog and Blog Hub are two other similar sites I joined when I was in my directory joining frenzy but I haven't explored them much yet to see what they can do for me.

There are also several crafting directories that I have joined partly for exposure and to develop links. Crafty tips Arts & Crafts Dirctory is the one I'm most impressed with. It isn't huge yet but it is very well organized and the editor reviewed my blog quickly and actually sent me a personal e-mail with suggestions and her thoughts on my blog. I also submitted to the Recreation and Hobby Directory and the etsyBloggers ring as well as a few others that I haven't heard back from yet.

Bust Magazine, which is one of my absolute favorite reads, just started a directory called the Girl Wide Web which is very cool. I submitted and was accepted to it very quickly. I have been wanting to explore their directory more to find some new favorites. There is also BlogHer that is just for women bloggers to connect and network. I have not found this site to be very intuitive and I have struggled to find my way around but I'm sure if I give it a little time I'd be fine.

There are some other social networking communities that are a cool way to connect and can be used for promotional purposes as well. I don't suggest just treating them for promo though as you don't want to be seen as a spammer. I think there has to be a balance between you as a person and the business. Even though I join them under my business name I at least attempt to inject some of the real me into each site I join.

The most interesting of these for me has been Indiepublic. I heard about it a long time ago but had never taken the time to join. It really is a great community of indie designers and supporters of the handmade movement. It has brought me more chatter than any of the other sites I've joined by far. There is also We Love Etsy and I just discovered a new one called MyCraft that looks interesting.

I'll cover the social bookmarking sites in another post. If you want to explore this topic further the blogging maestro TimothyAdamDesigns has a tutorial for $8 called Handmade Blogging Essentials which covers these topics and many more. I just bought it today and will do a review of it once I've taken it all in. If you have some other directories you swear by please share.

Sweet New Knitters

A few months ago Mike told me that one of his friends in the science department was sponsoring a club called Empowering Women and they were learning to knit. I really wanted to go in and work with the girls but it would have required taking quite a bit of time from work. They found a woman from a local yarn store to come in and show them the basics and started making scarves to donate to a local homeless shelter for teenage mothers. I spent a long weekend whipping up some scarves for them with machine washable yarns to add to the donation. I got a very sweet thank you note from the girls and hadn't thought anything of it since.

Well, my husband forwarded me an e-mail that got sent out to all the employees in his school this week with pictures of the girls learning to knit and a great plug for my shop. I've already noticed a jump in views this week and I checked my google analytics and well over 20 people have come to the shop through Kirkwood's server. Here is part of the email, which brought me a smile:

Upon hearing about the club’s plans, Paige George, wife of science teacher Mike George and proprietor of Lenox Knits, spent a weekend knitting away and contributed seven beautiful scarves to the cause.

The complexity and colors of George’s scarves re-inspired the amateur knitters who were becoming frustrated with the time it was taking them to knit just one scarf. After several club meetings simply devoted to the task, the ladies in Empowering Women experienced pride at the completion of their scarves and pleasure in donating items on which they worked so diligently. Club Treasurer Jasmyne Dozier commented, “It’s so cool that we are learning a new skill AND helping people. This is a skill we can use the rest of our lives!”

Kirkwood Knittery is located at 10724 Manchester Road in Kirkwood. The Knittery sells yarn and other tools of the trade as well as offering classes. Hand-knitted items can be purchased from Paige Lenox George online at www.plenox.etsy.com

I really hope they continue to love their new skill. It's so exciting to see young people embrace this ancient craft with such enthusiasm and find joy in making something with their hands. They have inspired me to do more charity knitting next year as well. I certainly didn't expect such a great promo out of it but I was happy to have it. I may actually look into donating some items to raffles and charity auctions next year to some schools.

Literary Geekism - Facebook tag for the Literary Crowd

This tag has been circulating among my Facebook friends this week and since I was up at 2:00 a.m. last night unable to stop coughing long enough to fall asleep, I thought I would do something productive with my time. I was actually an English major many moons ago although for the past few years I have rarely put my needles down long enough to read much, unless you count stitch pattern books that is. As a kid growing up on a farm, with few playmates near by and not really liking the outdoors much I found quite a bit of refuge in reading. I devoured everything that I could find over the summers, whether it be Zane Gray paperbacks from my father, Harlequin Romances that I snuck away from my Mom, and I would make regular visits to my Nana's attic to go through her boxes of historical novels and old books with well worn pages.

I saw this tag referred to as a modern day parlor game in a comment which I think is appropriate. It is kind of like sneaking a peak into your friend's book shelves. Sometimes I'm surprised by what I see sitting there, sometimes I feel stupid and unread, and sometimes I come away with something I must read immediately.

1) What author do you own the most books by?
D.H. Lawrence

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
The Catcher in the Rye

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
not really

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
not ashamed to say Mr. Darcy.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
Anne of green Gables

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Again with the Anne of Green Gables

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
My well intentioned mother in law insisted that I read The Shack.

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Revolutionary Road, no I haven't seen the movie. The other would be my friend Brian Katcher's young adult novel Playing With Matches that I reviewed here.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
Man's Search for meaning by Frankl

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
I really can't say, since I don't keep on those things.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Any anthology by Sedaris

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Can't believe what they did with Running With Scissors.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I really can't recall at this moment.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
Harry Potter.

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
Slaughterhouse - Five, I barely made it through.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
1920's interpretation of Two Gentlemen of Verona

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Always had a thing for Russian poets.

18) Roth or Updike?
Updike I suppose.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Definitely Sedaris

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare

21) Austen or Eliot?
Absolutely Austen

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
My Mark Twain exposure is very slim for growing up in Missouri.

23) What is your favorite novel?
Fear of Flying, Erica Jong, helped me to embrace my feminism impulses as an 18 year old and still resonates today for me. Second would be The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, cliche but true.

24) Play?
No Exit, Sartre Hell is definitely other people...

25) Poem?
You Might as Well live by Dorothy Parker has been my mantra at various times

26) Essay?
A Room of One's Own

27) Short story?
Rape Fantasies by Margaret Atwood.

28) Work of non-fiction?
NoonDay Demon: An Atlas of Depression


29) Who is your favorite writer?
probably Atwood

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
I have to agree with my husband's answer: Toni Morrison, although I do respect some of her work, particularly Beloved.

31) What is your desert island book?
my leather bound Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy set, would help me to accept the absurdity of the situation.

32) And ... what are you reading right now?
a history and philosophy of the Mayans, it's called something about why the world is going to end in 2012 but I'm reading since we'll be touring the ruins in a few months.

Top March Droppers

With so much craziness going on with Entrecard the last month I thought I would take a moment to thank all of my fellow dropping addicts. I was worried that I was going to lose some of you if they had gone through with the plan to charge us for rejecting an ad. I'm glad they changed their mind and most of you have decided to stick with it. I will say that my entrecard stats have been wonky ever since the blog update. I just reinstalled the widget and I hope that does the trick. It's been saying that I have had 0 click throughs from my widget all week. This is clearly not the case and I'm wondering if it's something wrong with my widget or what. Don' t try to say that last sentence fast...

Thanks to all my droppers in March and here are the top 10:

Dropper # of drops Youniquely Chic 31 My gypsygoods 31 A Rose By Name 30 Alteredevents 30 Silver Sachet 29 The Beadings and Buttons of Randomcreative 29 The Frugal Housewife 29 Three Fates Design - Beaded Jewelry 29 DJ Tammy Squels 28 Confessions of a Psychotic Housewife 27