Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday and WHAT a great day! Started out the morning with the news that we made the "ShopTalk" blog on the Washington Post! Here's the link! http://voices.washingtonpost.com/shoptoit/2009/04/off_the_beaten_path_falls_chur.html Feel free to leave comments about how you like the new space. Thanks to featured merchant, Chris Novak of New to You. Aren't familiar with New to You? You gotta go, elegant high end consignment shop with "you won't believe it prices" for their designer wares. The dress collection that they have in house at the moment just makes you happy it's spring! www.newtoyou.net
Other big news is that center studio upstairs is rented. I was contemplating making it a vintage shop but realized that upstairs needs to be "all artists, all the time". We have two of the smaller studios left, tell the world! I want to get a full house before June, if possible.

We sold six pieces of art yesterday! Three to a brand new customer too. HOW exciting!

Then I headed home to dinner with my and my sister's family. I am still whirling under the influence of my husband's chocolate ganache cake. Birthdays are one of the days I am glad Bob went to culinary school!

Happy Birthday to Sue, too!

Deborah Conn & "Red Herring" at First Stage!

Talk about a double feature! Bob & I took the family to see "Red Herring" at First Stage in Tyson's last night and had a blast! Didn't know that Northern Virginia had a theatre? You don't know what you are missing! No tortured ride downtown with 30 dollar parking,just a straight shot down route 7 to an amazing space that has been carved out of an industrial complex.

Red Herring was part love story, part murder mystery,part spy story and all well acted play set in the 1952 McCarthy era.

Tickets are only $25 and the show closes the 26th so see www.1ststagespringhill.org for all the details! While you are at the show you can see Deborah Conn's one woman show. It's astounding in its skill, variety & breadth. I am particularly taken with Debby's monotypes. Go to www.StifelandCapra.com to sign up for her last watercolor workshop of the spring!

Klara Sever has brought in 2 new sculptures for Father's Day. Scope them out the next time you are in!

A Traditional Easter Breakfast!

Happy Easter!

After an historically appropriate gloomy Friday & Saturday, Sunday dawned bright and sunny! We had our traditional Easter Breakfast(!) and then went to services at the tardy hour of 11 (www.viennapres.org), then headed back to the 'hood for the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt.

Our mischievous neighbor waited for the kids to find his annual sneaky standard ploy, the "crazy, how did that get up there?" Easter egg. This year's egg was hanging from fishing line twenty feet in the air. How he got in and out of there without being seen is beyond me!

It takes a lot to get me to buy anything but I couldn't resist Christine of Society Hill's Cross pearl ring for my Easter outfit. Isn't it awesome? Christine is in studio three or four days a week and I have the key to the case if you see anything you can't live without!

Blessings to you and yours-

Love those...PEEPS?!?!

You might think it was our freshly painted new venue,Linda Morgan's awesome art dolls, or the continuous tours of the new artist studios but to some of the younger fans of Stifel and Capra, it was the Peeps! It IS close to Easter after all.
The rest of the crowd, however, had fun checking out my funky new revolving tacky jewelry cases for my tremendous, tacky, terrific vintage jewelry. I just LOVE hearing the the chuga, chuga,chink, of the goofy bicycle chains that run the things. What a hoot!

Jane, Sandi, Concetta, Vicki, Lori, and Heidi debuted their working studio/gallery spaces this last FIRSTFriday. They had lots of well-wishers toasting their success! We had a FanTAStic crowd; I don't think there was much of a crumb or a libation left to tidy at the end of the night. Cathy from Joie de Beads revived me Saturday morning with a humongous plate of doughnuts and Bellinis to enable us to finish cleaning the next morning. Nothing like a little fat, sugar, and champagne to get you motivated (?).

Thank you to EVERYONE who came out to celebrate our big move. Your support really reinforces that committing to the big thing will be a good move, rhetorically as well as literally. A thousand thank yous.

April 3rd - FIRSTFriday in our new space!

Linda Morgan of Purple Cat Studios brought in her latest collection of art dolls. Linda's whimsical dolls will be featured at our First FIRSTFriday celebration in our new location, tomorrow Friday from 5 to 8pm. If you can't stop in on Friday night, remember we are now open from 10 to 5 on Saturdays as well!

You can park across the street at the post office after 5 o'clock on Friday night, so grab a friend and come see what's new!

Check out the other community "happenings" at www.firstfridayoffallschurch.com.

LLLLLoooooovvvveee that sign!

I feel SO legitimate. Marshal and Preston Signs www.prestonsigns.com did a fantastic job fabricating my sign. LOVE it! DId I mention I think it looks great?
I had fun making baskets for two Falls Church related auctions this week. They are both Art & Soul baskets (naturally!) and contain art & accessories from the shop. Thanks to Cathy Soltys of Joie de Beads for contributing bling above and beyond the call!

The first basket is for the Falls Church City Schools Fundraiser. www.auctionforourschools.com











And the second one is for the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce annual Gala.
www.fallschurchchamber.org

I also make baskets for birthday, wedding and shower gifts. I enjoy making them; do let me know if you'd like me to put together one for you!

Signs of Spring!

The daffodils are out! Along with the crocuses, hooray! The hyacinths are next. I don't have THAT many in my yard, but the ones I have do smell divine. It's a good thing I didn't have to plant these, otherwise it would look a little bare out there like it does at the new shop. I am still in painting mode, ugh. Maybe I SHOULD have hired it out. I am getting a teeny bit tired of cutting in I MUST say.

We had a super week last week. Lots of people poking their heads in commenting on the changes. Scoping out all of the new merchandise... Of course I had to change my spiel "All of the art on the walls is by local artists" to "all of the art on the FLOOR is by local artists". *sigh* I have everything up BUT the art. Eeek! But it will all get done. Eventually. I was happy to see some old friend faces come in this weekend is well. My biggest fear is that my existing clients won't make the big 2 block trek down to see me on Farmer's Market Day. But so far so good.

Another big sign of spring is the deafening roar of my neighbor's antique roto-tiller. Yup, Saturday was "till the garden" day. Full of promise, eh? And mighty fine organic veggies to come!

And the honor goes to...Sandi Parker!

While I am STILL unpacking, Sandi Parker is hard at work in her new studio at Stifel and Capra! She has been working on a series of sports related paintings to exhibit as a collection. Her latest is a kinetic skateboarder showing off a trick! I think it is quite the trick that Sandi has been working with the chaos around her! We have three studios left to rent so if you know an artist that needs studio space, tell them to call before it is too late!

I will say that the place is coming together; it looks GREAT! For now we are keeping our existing hours, Monday through Saturday from 10 to 2, or by appointment with special posted night events. Come September we will be expanding to at least 10 to 5.

Stop in and see!

It's not pretty, but we are in!

I felt like a queen for a day (thus the Queen mum hat!), moving went soooooooo smooth! We had lots of help packing and moving merchandise (THANK YOU to Beth, Bob, Laurie, Allison, Lenore, Mary, Sonja, Phil, Cathy, Cathy, Debby, Howard, Bob,Olivia, Nancy, Robin, Glenn, Melanie, Samantha and everyone else that helped).

Kevin and Ramon at Two Guys and a Truck http://www.twoguysandatruck.com/ did a great job of getting all of the furniture over. Frankly they were a LOT more careful than I would have been!

I have everything unpacked and it is in large drifting piles all over my new space. Give me one more day to organized goodies and then PLEASE do stop in!

Verizon in its infinite wisdom can't move the phone for another week so while I mutter and look for alternatives, please call the shop via my cel if you need to reach us! 703-407-0770.

Lisa Rodriguez has openings in her upcoming Thursday class (See Feb 20th post for great examples of her teaching prowess).
It's the Colored Pencil Portraits Class. Only $60 for a two hour workshop. Learn techniques to draw from photos in color, achieve correct shading, texture and skin tone. Surprising results and enjoyable technique.
Thursday's class WILL be in the new space so come check it out!

Joie de Beads Boutique Open for Business!

Cathy Soltys has been working HARD. Not only is her space looking lovely and ready to receive clients, she has brought a new lot of lovely new merchandise to the store as well. Here is a glimpse of what Cathy's new studio looks like. She is having a "Sneak Peek Opening this week, Wednesday & Friday, from 10 to 2. For more details check out her website at http://www.joiedebeads.com/ .

As for me I am still painting trim - but I will be working in our present location manning the "Supah Sale" Wednesday through Saturday from 10am to 2pm. Just call me if you need to make an after hours appointment!

Smooth as Glass!

If you can judge a man by his tools, Ric was the number one man in the 'hood over the weekend! Every time ANY one had an issue or needed a more clever way to handle something Ric would quietly say "Well, I might have something back at the house that would take care of that problem..." Got to tell you, you could have set up a cabinetmaker's shop by the time we was done, I think! Thanks Ric! And thank you to my stalwart family - Husband Bob, dad Bill, sister Robin, and brother-in-law Glenn, neighbors Bob & Phil and the a fore exalted Ric for getting the floor down. It looks great. Really elevated the character of the room. I have started painstakingly painting the trim. We will see how long THAT takes!

Ashleigh's instinctive design prowess was in full swing this weekend as well! My dyslectic self is intimidated by fitting tile but she jumped right int here with a short tutorial from her contractor Bob and help from her family of men.

Doesn't the floor look FUN? Just like her merchandise!

We had a busy weekend between the floors and the "supah sale". The sale is STILL ON, the more you buy the less we have to move, the more room we have for new merchandise! So come one, come all! Make an appointment if you can't stop by between 10 am & 2pm. We are happy to open up!

Phil Napala - Renaissance Man

We in the 'hood have always called Phil Napala the Renaissance Man, what else do you call a rocket scientist that is a gourmet cook, musician and photographer? Well, we need to add teacher and wall painter to the list! In exchange for his superlative job teaching his Principles of Digital Photo manipulation class last week I "let" Phil help me paint some upstairs art studios in our new space on Monday. Now, mind you he hasn't even started working on his own dedicated studio yet... A thousand thank yous Phil!

These two shots are what his two students were working on went they went out the door. Pretty amazing for two hours, eh? I thought so! Kathy thought so too,

here's what she had to say - "In a short time, Phil Napala gave us effective tools to use to produce impressionistic representations of our favorite photographs. He shared his simple, but effective secret for how to spot a good photographic opportunity, and then showed us some basic tools in Photo Shop Elements that he uses to produce his most incredible art. I am so excited now, and feel well-equipped to progress on my own using the principles he taught in the class. I hope to be there for his next session, to get his critique and further instruction."

Phil IS teaching more later in the session , so let me know if you are interested in attending!

PS The Shops & Studios is over 65% rented. We have 5 gallery/studios spaces left. If you are a positive, talented artist that would like to be part of this new enterprise, please contact me.

Falls Church Arts Opening TONIGHT!

The Falls Church Arts all member show and sale's Opening Reception is Friday February 27th from 7 to 9pm at Don Beyer Volvo, 1231 W. Broad Street in Fall Church. This is a fun event that really showcases the talent of the City's many & varied fine artists. The show continues through the month in their new Pearson Square location. Please see www.fallschurcharts.org for details.

Interim Markdowns have been taken on many items in anticipation of our move; come check out the deals before the "Supah Sale" Starts!

Let the good times roll!!!

Happy Mardi Gras! As you have probably figured out almost every holiday (Arbor Day, Talk Like a Pirate Day) is a reason to celebrate in the Stifel house hold! Bob makes jambalaya and his famous flaming Bananas Foster and we sit around drinking wine debating whether we should give up anything for Lent. Bob, being raised Catholic usually does, me the "unenlightened" Presbyterian, usually doesn't. That's not actually true in the past few years as a family instead of giving something up we have been trying to DO something new. They say it takes 30 days to make a habit so the 40 days of Lent would make a great head start on a healthy habit. I will say the clean bedrooms didn't last long last year, though. I think my Lent Habit will be something terribly basic that I am horrible at , like drinking enough water or stretching my bad back every day...
I got the second coat of paint on a good chunk of the main room downstairs yesterday. I am SO pleased with how it looks! I can't wait to have all of the nuetral work done so I can play with the accent wall.

Star Pupil - Star Teacher!

Lisa Rodriguez's "Draw from the Inside Out" Portrait class was fascinating last evening. In just two hours Lisa explained how to capture a likeness from the bone structure to the flesh. Lisa has a very laid back informative style where you don't realize how much knowledge she is imparting until you think back on it or you are waving your hands around in the air, trying to explain it to someone else! Karen proved a VERY apt pupil. She hasn't tried her hand at a face since high school art class - Look what she accomplished with just one workshop!

Lisa will be teaching again at Stifel and Capra. Please see the Event schedule on my website to get more details!

Coming soon! (Thank you Cathy!)

The Internet can be a wonderful thing! I opened up my inbox this morning and there was an email documenting a painting purchase from a gentleman in Washington state. I just love it when technology works! I think he is our furthest afield patron, although I have a client in Oregon as well. Amusingly, I am from Washington and he is from Philadelphia. Go figure!

My other Internet happiness this am was receiving my new banner. Doesn't it look great? Of course there is a foot and a half drop off on the front end of the porch so I had to nail it in by leaning ever so carefully around the pillars while Cathy steadfastly held the ladder and handed me tools. Afterward I am thinking, "what would she do? CATCH me? Ha! I'd flattened her..." So, plenty of points for bravery!

I am putting together the "which day are we doing what" schedule, so drop me an email if you were serious about helping. Even for an hour, every little bit helps. And Thank You.

PS - I had a cancellation on the semi-private portrait class Lisa Rodriguez is teaching at the shop tomorrow evening. It's from 7 to 9pm and $60. If you'd like to sit in, call or email me asap.

Just a WEE bit of spackle.....

Here is the PRETTY part of what got done at the new space this weekend! Cathy's Joie de Bead boutique is shaping up beautifully! She won't think this shot of her collapsed on the floor is so beautiful but is MUCH more flattering than the rear end shot of her on her hands and knees that I could have posted. Don't you agree?

Cathy has worked so hard in her space she shamed me into doing COPIOUS amounts of spackling today. And when I say a lot I mean ALOT! Wheeeew I am tired. I was all gung-ho to get in there and paint tomorrow as it is Ashleigh's day in the shop but I suddenly remembered I am slated to speak to 3 lunch shifts of Middle schoolers during the local City's "Career Week". Good thing it dawned on me what day it is.....