FIELD TRIP! McKay's Used Books

 As summer reaches it's zenith, I have grown tired of listening to my son cursing his computer battling not so ancient virtual, digital foes.  Yeah, yeah, I know he is interacting with his friends, and yes, yes, they are problem solving and creating brave new worlds.  But screen time makes the teenagers in my house slack jawed and belligerent. A fascinating contrast and it was time to break the spell.

 So I dragged both of my charming offspring to McKay's Books in Manassas. I love this place.  It's not fancy but it is as big as a Target store and filled with aisles after aisle of blessed books.  I picked up a stack of creativity and art books (plus 3 PD James mystery hardbacks for 3 bucks apiece). I gave them $30 apiece to spend and they both walked out with a stack of books 2 feet tall.

And when we got home? My son headed straight to the hammock with his paper treasures, disregarding the siren call of the screen.  Makes me happy.

Happy Birthday to me!

 The only advantage to working on one's birthday is that (if you are lucky) the house is reasonable clean.

 Dinner (and the world's best chocolate cake) are on the table and

all hyped up on sugar everyone in the family is game to show me some teeth along with the birthday love! xo

c'est fini

 Thought you would enjoy seeing the boys complete!

 Even more fun?  You can slide a favorite photo into the threads that are holding the photo down and make yourself or a loved one the centerpiece of the collage!

cool, eh?

works in progress - take 87

 Last Friday the lovely Lolita and I got together for side by side work along (if her name sounds familiar Lolita's previous session was the one I had to scratch because I flipped off the porch and mangled my foot.)

 We had fun, talked a lot as we went along (normal!) about styles, personal sticking points and procrastinations.

 On this lovely Easter Monday, my mission is to finish some of the 15 half done things I have (see previous post).

 start some more and get some laundry done!  We had 18 at table for supper yesterday.

 Blessings indeed.

handsome fellows that deserve to be showcased, don't you think?

Putting yourself in position

The good thing about my studio?  I have a beautiful dedicated space to make art. With more "found" collage materials than I will EVER use in my lifetime.

The bad news? It's on a separate floor so it's easy not to get "down there"and actually work on the many half done projects I have cooking.  I have had a rough week/month to the point that multiple friends have chastised me and asked me if I have actually MADE anything this month.  Answer no?

Tried an old trick today.  Set the timer. Half an hour on email, half an hour on work, half an hour on art. Repeat cycle.  Actually got some work done, 3 loads of laundry and an hour of "arting" in when I got a call from an out of town friend asking if I was free for lunch.

 

Because I wasn't over booked (for a change!) we got to sit outside and Judy treated me to a crab cake sandwich sitting on the new outside patio at Dogwood Tavern. A welcome respite.

Even better, tomorrow is my make up class from a couple weeks ago when I cancelled after falling down my steps, so get to play tomorrow too!  Wish me luck actually loading my truck...

Best Recommendation

I was standing behind the shop counter yesterday checking my email AND texting a customer when a client walked in the door.  After a hearty greeting and an inquiry as to whether they needed my assistance I went back to my communication after laughing at the fact I looked like one of my teenagers (except that I didn't have earphones in!).

It really is sort of astounding today how many ways of communicating there are.  When I open the shop in the morning, I turn on the open sign, tie balloons to the sandwich board, and prop open the front door.   I ALSO check my email, answering machine, and social media feeds.

On the outgoing front, we send newsletters, make phone calls on land lines and mobile phones, send emails.
The shop also networks with community organizations, contributes to worthy causes, and sponsors student art shows.  We pray for press coverage to reach people we are not connected to spread the word so we can stay in business!

Did you know Stifel and Capra also has a Pinterest Page, Facebook Page, Website, and Twitter feed and an Etsy site?  Although all of these methods are fun and creative and introduce us to amazing people guess which one of these has the highest retention rate the experts say?  Still, hands down?  Recommendation of a friend.

Sometimes the old fashioned things are the best-

Thank you.

Cowabunga!

When I was a team leader in my past life (as a corporate recruiter) I would occasionally have to sit down with a colleague and help them focus.  "What's the problem?" I'd ask? "Oh my gosh, I have a million phone calls to return, 2 million things to set up, I'm not sure which of my candidates is going to get an offer, so and so is mad at me, and I feel like my head is going to explode." she said.
"So, what's the problem?" say I.  Deafening silence and incredulous look from said colleague.

I reminded them if you feel like you are skiing down the mountain with no poles, it's probably because you are about to take a big leap forward. 

Today I am 

Tagging and inventorying 162 items I took out of a house on a house call

Trying to make plans to actually watch the NCAA tourney

Putting a second coat of finish on a table top

Needing a better way to organize our Client Wish List

Working the numbers for a corporate art deal

Being sad for me & happy for her that Cathy is retiring from her jewelry business

Still cleaning up after the Food & Beverage Show for Bob's Best

Regretting NOT working on my art +sigh+

Sneaking breaks to read Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point"

Trying to book consignors

Needing to thank Anna for painting that table

Wondering if it is going to snow again

Wondering if I need to go back to the doctor after falling down the stairs

Stacking up bills to pay

Not calling my mother back

Not cleaning the shop

Trying to slog through my email

Dragging the laundry downstairs wondering why it is not cleaning itself

Wishing I could repave the parking lot (the winter has been brutal!)

Excited that I have leads to call for Bob

Wondering what are in those bins in the shop basement

Wondering what are in those bins in my studio

Wishing I was rearranging the furniture

Loving that I am never bored

Changing Hats

 Yesterday I took off my gallery owner/consignment shop manager/occasional artist hat and put on my supportive spouse hat.  I tied on an apron and went to be the "Booth Babe" or in my case the "Stifel who can stick to the point and not tell just tell stories" with Bob at the 2014 Virgnia Food and Beverage Expo.

 We were pretty happy with our booth set-up.  And with the smell of Bob's famous Pork BBQ and Apple Pie filling the air (happily we were next to people who were not cooking!), we were very popular in the "smellavison" category as well! .

 Folks were really intrigued by all of the applications Bob's Best has.  Everything from meat to veggies to dips to dessert was covered and covered well.

 The Easy as Pie mix was a big winner because no one had seen a product like it before!  What was surprising to us was the fact that we wasn't just retailers that were interested in it but caterers and institutions too. Easy -as-Pie coming to a school near you?  We even had a query from a gentleman that wanted to know how fast we could drop ship him 500 pies.  When I explained that we were only selling the pie MIX ans not the pie, he was visibly disappointed.

Maybe something to look into... Time to go write my follow-up letters.

Survivor Guilt

I remember when my friend Anna told us she was starting a blog and the group of church ladies I was with was like "O that Anna, is this like when you tried out for America's Funniest Housewife?"  We barely knew what a blog was.  Anna riffed on family life incognito until she outed by the horror of a parent's worse nightmare.  Outliving your child.

I don't see Anna as often as I'd like to because I am a self employed working artist/wife/mom/shopkeeper/house cleaner/laundress.  Lame excuses.

My boy and Jack were the same age & in the same Sunday school class. Anna and I would meet for lunch and commiserate about our quirky, passionate, intelligent , funny sons and wonder why didn't we get them together more often.

Yesterday would have been Jack's 15th birthday.  I am honored Anna still takes my calls.

We need to get together more often.

Small Details

Some times small changes make a big difference. I found these graceful figurines but I wasn't thrilled with the paint job on them. (If you are I apologize in advance for what is about to happen.)

 It took 2 coats of CeCe Caldwell's Simply White paint and a coat of brush on satin finish but I think that they look more elegant now.

 What do you think?

I am been busy getting ready for yet ANOTHER first for the New Year.  I and 2 other CeCe retailers are exhibiting and demoing the paint at the Expo Center in Chantilly this weekend.  Oh and tonight we are having out Client Appreciation evening!  I gotta work on my pacing!

What a difference a day makes

Now that my husband and I are both full time retailers the concept of "family vacation" over the Christmas holidays is not the stereotypical traveling  over the river and through the woods to relatives for holiday feasts.  After I take a couple of days to clean and glean the shop of holiday detritus, we head out as a family of 4 to the beach.  The place that soothes ALL of out souls. 

We chill out, do some POWER PICKING for the shop and generally relax, eat out and check out all of the groovy Delawarean Christmas Light Spectaculars.  I try to work on my New Year's Resolutions.  Well, not so much resolutions, but plots & plans  long term for the for the business, family and personal goals.   

Of course it might have been smart to have checked the weather before we headed for home yesterday.  We had furniture strapped to the top of our SUV so we had to hustle to attempt to get ahead of the storm that was sweeping down the coast.

I love the fresh start of the New Year and a stunning blanket of snow seems to fit in with that fresh beginning.

For 2014 

I Resolve

to fix what is broken

express my emotions more freely

eat more salad

&

to regain my sense of the ridiculous.

How about you?

When it rains, it pours

The Answer by TW Stifel

Creativity shows it's head in a lot of ways running a consignment shop/art gallery/vintage shop.  Just getting through the day is a constant juggling feat, ESPECIALLY during the holidays!  I am frequently non-plussed when I will by a category of things and then they don't sell and I ask myself "Why, oh why, did I buy 27 decanters (or butterfly pins, or china St Bernards)? and then miraculously and weirdly they all sell and then folks come in ASKING for china St Bernards or a crystal decanter and I am out of stock.   

Imagine by TW Stifel

I also tend to sell art in clumps.  I won't sell a piece for weeks and then BOOM! I was thrilled in the last week of December when all 4 of these pieces PLUS 3 prints left Stifel & Capra and are now proudly hanging in someone else's home. 

Judy by TW Stifel

People often ask how an artist can part with something she has made.  For me, at least it's simple.  I make art because I love to create to problem solve, to capture an emotion or idea.  I enjoy sharing with the person that is viewing my work, EVEN if they don't experience the same emotion that I did when I made  the piece.  And if it moves them to actually invest money in it so that they can enjoy it themselves that helps me buy more paint, do more treasure hunting and seek out new artistic problems to solve. 

Brooklyn Bound by TW Stifel

And it is CERTAINLY cheaper than therapy.
Thank you to my patrons throughout the years. You inspire me to keep creating.

Weird being on the other side of the coin-

It's been an event filled week around here.  After our awesome shout-out from the Washington Post Express I got the news that an interview I did a little while back with Karen Merrill Berg got published yesterday on her blog, Redoux Interiors.  As a former recruiter it is quite odd to be on the receiving end of the questions but Karen made it lots of fun.  Turns out we have lots in common (tall moms with more ideas than time) so it was actually hard to stay on point.  but we managed it, somehow!

Karen is an inspired DIY'er and is generous enough to share her tips and techniques like rebuilding this farm table and painting out cute buckets (with CeCe Caldwells paint, naturally!) to transform them into Christmas ready decor.

After basking in all of the nice comments on Karen's blog and Facebook, I got the good news that a health screen I had been sweating came back clear and THEN I found out I won a contest naming one of Cece's newest products. I was advised at this point to go buy a lottery ticket, but I feel like I have already won.

This morning brought me concrete examples of Stifel Excess. Back to piles of paperwork, piles of dishes and amusingly enough PILES of ornaments.  Mae West said "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." 

Better get cracking before I go grocery shopping for our FIRSTfriday reception tonight.  5 to 8- stop by if you are in the neighborhood!

Commuter Cover Story!

 Now here's some exciting news! S&C Creatives score 9 out of 22 mentions in the Washington Post Express cover Story yesterday.  Yippee!!!  Am so excited for them, and Stifel & Capra.  Thanks again to Cathy for steering the editor our way.

Small Business Saturday IS Thanksgiving!

I just have to say that Small Business Saturday feels like Thanksgiving II to me.

So many old customers came in today JUST to tell me how much they like what we've built and how we are their favorite shop.

Of course because the parking lot was full that made new customers pop in to see what all the fuss was about.

I feel truly blessed.  Now back to work! We are open until 6!

Weaving it all together

if only it was this easy to see the light sometimes

 I am pretty proud of my colleagues.  I was having a chat with a co-worker, oh She That I Have Been Threatening to Get Together With And Actually Work on our Blogs and we decided to sit down and brainstorm about marketing ideas.  We picked a date and time, threw it our there to our retailers and son of a gun, everyone showed up.  4 weeks in a row.  AND in that 4 weeks we conceived of a community shop hop, planned, printed, passed out, promoted collated, explained, exclaimed and ran a 14 business promotion and Lord have mercy, people came, had a blast and visited places in out neighborhood they had never seen before.  SO proud we pulled it off. And the best part? had fun doing it.

patching things together is NEVER this clean

 That said, STILL feel like I am piecing things together to try to make it all happen.  Juggling commissioned client work, consignments, art and family time, chasing down friends so I don't lose them, freaking out over IT issues and health care benefits, staff schedules, laundry and carpools, weddings and funerals, medical appointments and tax returns.  Hmmm, wait a minute.  Isn't that life?  Mine at least.

this reminds me of our creative collective