You wouldn't think today would be a great day in my life. That's because I have a terrible cold, the kind where you have to sleep on your face so everything doesn't drip down your throat, make it even sorer and clog up your lungs.
I slept on an off all yesterday evening, then, naturally, was wide awake in the middle of the night and miserable. What's there to do if you're too miserable to sleep, but get up and tackle something to take your mind off the misery. Or in my case new misery to help convince me that the old misery wasn't really that bad after all.
Misery these days = new website.
I've been struggling. I've struggled with my attitude (I'm still angry at Apple for ditching iWeb), I've struggled with finding a new website program (they're all too fixed for me -- I don't like living my life in a box -- or they're too difficult).
I chose my new one based on no templates, ie I could do it all from scratch, down to all my drawings in Illustrator, everything else in PhotoShop, and to boot it was supposed to be easy.
Only guess what: it wasn't all that easy, and I've struggled and struggled, almost to the point where I thought I can't do this and was ready to quit, yes, pack it in.
But the Apple kids reminded me it's not like me to give up. They pointed out that I conquered PhotoShop (sort of), learned some code (operative word there is 'some'), etc.
So complete with weary spirit, basically to save face with a bunch of 20- and 30-somethings, I've soldiered on.
Last night in the middle of the night I decided, what's to do to cope with the misery of a bad cold? Find a counter irritant/misery and work on it, and right now at the top of my misery scale is a bunch of computer stuff I don't understand.
That's what I did.
Who knows why sometimes the forces of the universe unite at certain times and make life sweet!
Whatever and whyever, that's what happened to me: I rounded the corner today, it finally made sense to me (FINALLY!) and in a matter of hours I finished my navigation bar, drop down menus and all, and constructed enough pages to know for certain that Queendom Website will indeed live on after the demise of iWeb and Mobile Me's hosting service.
Even if I am dripping at every pore and sneezing and coughing and wishing I could chop my head off, it is a grand day and I am full of celebration. Am I dancing around and cheering? Nooo, not quite up to that. Instead I am on my way to steal a small glass of port from DH's supply, then have a nap and hope I feel up to stitching for a while late this afternoon. Celebration enough, and besides that, what's a better way to celebrate than place a needle in one's hand?
A memorable day indeed.
Gay Ann
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The 'Work' in NeedleWork
In my last post I wrote about painting and needlework and I mentioned needlework as ‘work’ for me.
After the post, I received this note:
...your 'work' is most people's hobbies. Nobody pays you to work on MacSoph like you do. And needlework...is also a hobby for most. It is work for you because you enjoy designing needlework.
Yes, you make money doing your work, but do you do it for the money or because you love it?”
Sally
Sally’s post made me chuckle and I decided I would enjoy writing an answer.
Here’s my answer to Sally's post:
The parts I love about my work:
I love drawing and designing and stitching and waiting to see if what I plan works out.
I love fitting all the parts of the puzzle together.
Most of all I love the dream of what the design might become.
What's not to love!
I've enjoyed all the people I've met over the years; even now online, I think of how many people I have met through emails and classes at Shining Needle Society, and in some cases the friends I've made online are thousands of miles away from me, yet here we are, connected by computers and a mutual passion for our needles.
In my E-Week sale last October, to my surprise, I sent patterns to people right round the globe. It is an awesome feature of the internet, how small our world has become.
MacSoph and Little MacSoph, my two MacBooks, have become my nearly constant companions. I love going to Apple University (as DH calls it) and I've decided I have school-girl crushes on the kids, Andy and Cody, who teach me, and I think my tutor Julia is beautiful and clever and smart. I so enjoy learning what these clever, smart, sweet kids teach me.
Most of all, I love the actual stitching. I love that my needle makes me relax and helps the stresses of life recede. My needle allows me to curl up into my own little fantasy world, dream the dreams of creativity and watch them unfold.
All these parts of my job are terrific, but mistake not: needlework is ‘work’ for me. It is my job.
Here are the parts that account for the 'Work' in 'Needlework'
Deadlines. They're self-explanatory. When I was a travel-teacher, my deadlines kept me awake at night.
It's not the same now, but I still have deadlines. I say I will do something, I'd better do it. Consistency is part of any job.
Last fall, for example, in preparation for E-Week, Kate and I got behind. we started on the morning of E-Week Annex Eve, at 4:30 a.m. and we finally finished at 7:30 p.m., Kate at her computer right along with MacSoph and me for the whole time. It was a very long work day for us both.
Instructions. It takes me longer to write the instructions for a piece than it does to design and stitch the piece and correcting the errors that the proofers find is just plain tedious.
Kit Hell and Bead Mania. These days Kate does much of my Kit Hell; I still do the beads.
To understand Bead Mania, you have to have the experience of spilling 10,000 beads.
Right now I have a special brand of Bead Mania: one of the hearts for my upcoming sale has over 100 beads on it.
I have to count most of them into little baggies and keep from spilling them. The first few hearts' worth aren't bad; by the end it can grow very old.
Organization. The bane of my existence. I have too many beads, too many threads, too many rolls of canvas, and way too much paper! I try to keep some order; every year I make it my main New Year's Resolution. I made the same resolution this year, it lasted for 15 days and I've already fallen off the organization wagon (in the last few days I am happy to report that I have climbed back on the organization band wagon; maybe it will be better by the end of 2012).
Mail Jail. Most of my followers know all about Mail Jail, so I don't need to add anything.
Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center. Mark one side 'JOY' mark the other side "WORK'. The lists would be about the same length, but Sally is right: the joys far outweigh the tedium.
Now, next time I spill the beads, or lose paperwork, or simply grow tired of Mail Jail, will someone please remind me of this post?
Gay Ann
After the post, I received this note:
...your 'work' is most people's hobbies. Nobody pays you to work on MacSoph like you do. And needlework...is also a hobby for most. It is work for you because you enjoy designing needlework.
Yes, you make money doing your work, but do you do it for the money or because you love it?”
Sally
Sally’s post made me chuckle and I decided I would enjoy writing an answer.
Here’s my answer to Sally's post:
The parts I love about my work:
I love drawing and designing and stitching and waiting to see if what I plan works out.
I love fitting all the parts of the puzzle together.
Most of all I love the dream of what the design might become.
What's not to love!
I've enjoyed all the people I've met over the years; even now online, I think of how many people I have met through emails and classes at Shining Needle Society, and in some cases the friends I've made online are thousands of miles away from me, yet here we are, connected by computers and a mutual passion for our needles.
In my E-Week sale last October, to my surprise, I sent patterns to people right round the globe. It is an awesome feature of the internet, how small our world has become.
MacSoph and Little MacSoph, my two MacBooks, have become my nearly constant companions. I love going to Apple University (as DH calls it) and I've decided I have school-girl crushes on the kids, Andy and Cody, who teach me, and I think my tutor Julia is beautiful and clever and smart. I so enjoy learning what these clever, smart, sweet kids teach me.
Most of all, I love the actual stitching. I love that my needle makes me relax and helps the stresses of life recede. My needle allows me to curl up into my own little fantasy world, dream the dreams of creativity and watch them unfold.
All these parts of my job are terrific, but mistake not: needlework is ‘work’ for me. It is my job.
Here are the parts that account for the 'Work' in 'Needlework'
Deadlines. They're self-explanatory. When I was a travel-teacher, my deadlines kept me awake at night.
It's not the same now, but I still have deadlines. I say I will do something, I'd better do it. Consistency is part of any job.
Last fall, for example, in preparation for E-Week, Kate and I got behind. we started on the morning of E-Week Annex Eve, at 4:30 a.m. and we finally finished at 7:30 p.m., Kate at her computer right along with MacSoph and me for the whole time. It was a very long work day for us both.
Instructions. It takes me longer to write the instructions for a piece than it does to design and stitch the piece and correcting the errors that the proofers find is just plain tedious.
Kit Hell and Bead Mania. These days Kate does much of my Kit Hell; I still do the beads.
To understand Bead Mania, you have to have the experience of spilling 10,000 beads.
Right now I have a special brand of Bead Mania: one of the hearts for my upcoming sale has over 100 beads on it.
I have to count most of them into little baggies and keep from spilling them. The first few hearts' worth aren't bad; by the end it can grow very old.
Organization. The bane of my existence. I have too many beads, too many threads, too many rolls of canvas, and way too much paper! I try to keep some order; every year I make it my main New Year's Resolution. I made the same resolution this year, it lasted for 15 days and I've already fallen off the organization wagon (in the last few days I am happy to report that I have climbed back on the organization band wagon; maybe it will be better by the end of 2012).
Mail Jail. Most of my followers know all about Mail Jail, so I don't need to add anything.
Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center. Mark one side 'JOY' mark the other side "WORK'. The lists would be about the same length, but Sally is right: the joys far outweigh the tedium.
Now, next time I spill the beads, or lose paperwork, or simply grow tired of Mail Jail, will someone please remind me of this post?
Gay Ann
Friday, January 13, 2012
My Newest Needlepoint Adventure
My newest needlework adventure isn't a real needlework adventure at all.
My friend Natalie told me that my life is too narrow, that I work and I go to computer classes, and that's about it.
She said I needed a hobby, something that broadened my horizons and got me away from (1) work and (2) MacSoph.
(This is a false dichotomy since work and MacSoph these days are inextricably linked)
On my way home from the Village where I live, I drive by a small shop /artist's studio and one day I stopped by.
To make a long story short, I signed up for a painting class.
Now I haven't painted on anything other than needlepoint canvas for at least 45 years and I remember squat about painting. I mean, in school I took 5 years of Latin (a fetish of my father's) and all I remember now is 'arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris'. Anybody remember this, the first line from the Aeneid? Now why I would remember that one thing after all these years is one of my life's great mysteries.
I remembered snippets of painting also, but not much. Not much more than the painting equivalent of a single line from the Aeneid.
Remember, I decided to do this as recreation, not as a part of work. Well, I lasted less than 2 hours into the first class before I had an idea how to incorporate it into work (aka needlepoint), and I have been painting up a storm ever since.
My teacher is a very sweet very young woman who has a great artistic way of seeing the world, ie she is open to almost anything. Together we are concocting a sunset and it is quite an adventure. I love the idea! I don't know that I love painting: after my first 2 hours I came home with paint from one end of me to the other, and all over everything surrounding me.
I just went to my 6th class and I've made progress. I am back to painting on needlepoint canvas after a beginning on canvas and a segue onto paper, and it is great fun, indeed a bit of a wild adventure for me.
But after 6 lessons, I still have paint from one end of me to the other.
Does anybody know how to paint and keep the paint only on the painting? Or is that one of life's mysteries also?
Gay Ann
My friend Natalie told me that my life is too narrow, that I work and I go to computer classes, and that's about it.
She said I needed a hobby, something that broadened my horizons and got me away from (1) work and (2) MacSoph.
(This is a false dichotomy since work and MacSoph these days are inextricably linked)
On my way home from the Village where I live, I drive by a small shop /artist's studio and one day I stopped by.
To make a long story short, I signed up for a painting class.
Now I haven't painted on anything other than needlepoint canvas for at least 45 years and I remember squat about painting. I mean, in school I took 5 years of Latin (a fetish of my father's) and all I remember now is 'arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris'. Anybody remember this, the first line from the Aeneid? Now why I would remember that one thing after all these years is one of my life's great mysteries.
I remembered snippets of painting also, but not much. Not much more than the painting equivalent of a single line from the Aeneid.
Remember, I decided to do this as recreation, not as a part of work. Well, I lasted less than 2 hours into the first class before I had an idea how to incorporate it into work (aka needlepoint), and I have been painting up a storm ever since.
My teacher is a very sweet very young woman who has a great artistic way of seeing the world, ie she is open to almost anything. Together we are concocting a sunset and it is quite an adventure. I love the idea! I don't know that I love painting: after my first 2 hours I came home with paint from one end of me to the other, and all over everything surrounding me.
I just went to my 6th class and I've made progress. I am back to painting on needlepoint canvas after a beginning on canvas and a segue onto paper, and it is great fun, indeed a bit of a wild adventure for me.
But after 6 lessons, I still have paint from one end of me to the other.
Does anybody know how to paint and keep the paint only on the painting? Or is that one of life's mysteries also?
Gay Ann
Monday, January 09, 2012
Missing Callaway, My Favorite Needlework Seminar
It is January, almost time for Callaway School of Needle Arts, and I won't be there this year. For the first time in 20 years I won't spend 10 days at Callaway.
I've been on a clean-up campaign, a sure sign it is January, for organization is always at the top of my list of New Year's Resolutions. This year 'clean up' includes not only my physical space, ie all the nooks and crannies of needlework and bead stash that overwhelm my house, but also MacSoph. Poor little MacSoph struggles under the weight of too many disorganized computer files and photos. And Queendom Website isn't exempt either. Last count I have close to 650 pages of Queendom Website, past and present.
As I have been deleting MacSoph's files, I have come across all my photos from Callaway, reminders of the good times and friendships from my years there. I was planning to delete many of them. It was my assigned 'clean up MacSoph' task for this morning, but in the end I couldn't do it. Not any of them. Maybe next July or August, but not as my friends prepare to leave for Callaway. It's all too close.
So why did I stop going to Callaway? I retired from travel-teaching last January simply because I couldn't do seminar preparation and online commitments. I had to choose, a tough decision, but in the end I chose Queendom Webstie.
There were lots of reasons for my choices, but one reason was at the top of my list: I felt I could spin a little magic on MacSoph that I couldn't spin in person. I have a little dream of making my own little online community with a drift toward creativity in needlework. I've had the dream for 4 years now and I still hold hope that I will be able to do it.
First MacSoph and I need to build a new castle for Queendom Website. Happily the blue prints for the castle are underway and soon it will be time for an e-hammer and e-nails.
So I will miss Callaway, I will miss the early breakfasts and the jokey classes and the evenings up in our classrooms stitching with friends, but I have to look ahead. More time at Apple University and more steps toward a little dream, that's what it's all about.
That and time for my needle in my hand.
Gay Ann
I've been on a clean-up campaign, a sure sign it is January, for organization is always at the top of my list of New Year's Resolutions. This year 'clean up' includes not only my physical space, ie all the nooks and crannies of needlework and bead stash that overwhelm my house, but also MacSoph. Poor little MacSoph struggles under the weight of too many disorganized computer files and photos. And Queendom Website isn't exempt either. Last count I have close to 650 pages of Queendom Website, past and present.
As I have been deleting MacSoph's files, I have come across all my photos from Callaway, reminders of the good times and friendships from my years there. I was planning to delete many of them. It was my assigned 'clean up MacSoph' task for this morning, but in the end I couldn't do it. Not any of them. Maybe next July or August, but not as my friends prepare to leave for Callaway. It's all too close.
So why did I stop going to Callaway? I retired from travel-teaching last January simply because I couldn't do seminar preparation and online commitments. I had to choose, a tough decision, but in the end I chose Queendom Webstie.
There were lots of reasons for my choices, but one reason was at the top of my list: I felt I could spin a little magic on MacSoph that I couldn't spin in person. I have a little dream of making my own little online community with a drift toward creativity in needlework. I've had the dream for 4 years now and I still hold hope that I will be able to do it.
First MacSoph and I need to build a new castle for Queendom Website. Happily the blue prints for the castle are underway and soon it will be time for an e-hammer and e-nails.
So I will miss Callaway, I will miss the early breakfasts and the jokey classes and the evenings up in our classrooms stitching with friends, but I have to look ahead. More time at Apple University and more steps toward a little dream, that's what it's all about.
That and time for my needle in my hand.
Gay Ann
Friday, January 06, 2012
A New Year, A New Castle, and Eight New Needlepoint Hearts
I see that it has been almost a month since I posted on my blog; a month almost and now it is the New Year.
This year promises to be a very busy one for me, as MacSoph and I are busy building Queendom Website's new castle.
Yes, in just about 5.5 months, Queendom Website is moving, and moving is always stressful. I am hoping MacSoph and I can hang together and it will be easier than I think.
For now I am working on the blue prints for the new castle.
And I am working on hearts for my annual February hearts sale.
I did 8 new hearts this year and I played an interesting game in my general classroom at Shining Needle Society: I gave a hint about each of the first 5 hearts: I gave the dominant thread and the dominant color and asked people to use their imaginations, concoct an idea for the heart and vote on one.
They did, and I posted the heart on Queendom Website on Christmas morning.
I took it down on Christmas night -- it was meant as a little present, but I didn't intend to leave it there.
My friend Natalie told me she thought I should repost it on Queendom Website, so on New Year's morning I did just that -- and if you want a peak at it, it is still there:
www.GayAnnRogers.com and click on 'Surprise Heart'.
It isn't made into a heart yet -- Sandy is going to do that in the next month, along with its 7 sisters, and then hopefully they will look super and I will photograph them and add them all to Queendom Website.
........
I didn't intend to make 8 hearts; I intended to make only 5, but in the midst of my Christmas Game on Queendom Website, one of class suggested a set of three hearts with pink roses and pearls, the hearts graduated in size. How could I resist! So that's what I did.
.........
One of the hearts turned out to be of particular interest to my classroom: the one where the dominant color is charcoal. A charcoal heart?
Yes, a charcoal heart.
But that heart is still a secret. We have to have some surprises in life, don't you think?
Gay Ann
This year promises to be a very busy one for me, as MacSoph and I are busy building Queendom Website's new castle.
Yes, in just about 5.5 months, Queendom Website is moving, and moving is always stressful. I am hoping MacSoph and I can hang together and it will be easier than I think.
For now I am working on the blue prints for the new castle.
And I am working on hearts for my annual February hearts sale.
I did 8 new hearts this year and I played an interesting game in my general classroom at Shining Needle Society: I gave a hint about each of the first 5 hearts: I gave the dominant thread and the dominant color and asked people to use their imaginations, concoct an idea for the heart and vote on one.
They did, and I posted the heart on Queendom Website on Christmas morning.
I took it down on Christmas night -- it was meant as a little present, but I didn't intend to leave it there.
My friend Natalie told me she thought I should repost it on Queendom Website, so on New Year's morning I did just that -- and if you want a peak at it, it is still there:
www.GayAnnRogers.com and click on 'Surprise Heart'.
It isn't made into a heart yet -- Sandy is going to do that in the next month, along with its 7 sisters, and then hopefully they will look super and I will photograph them and add them all to Queendom Website.
........
I didn't intend to make 8 hearts; I intended to make only 5, but in the midst of my Christmas Game on Queendom Website, one of class suggested a set of three hearts with pink roses and pearls, the hearts graduated in size. How could I resist! So that's what I did.
.........
One of the hearts turned out to be of particular interest to my classroom: the one where the dominant color is charcoal. A charcoal heart?
Yes, a charcoal heart.
But that heart is still a secret. We have to have some surprises in life, don't you think?
Gay Ann
Friday, December 09, 2011
Christmas Video in Place on Queendom Website
This morning I posted a video I made of sunsets from our window.
I was doing it just for inspiration for myself and DH suggested I turn it into our Christmas card this year.
So I made it into a Christmas card and posted it on my website this morning.
I also posted a link to Vimeo for people who can't get it to play on my website or would like to see it in higher resolution.
So what does a video of sunsets have to do with needlepoint?
Hopefully inspiration and a personal goal for me, and a reminder that the world need not be literal.
I've decided to monkey a bit with the concept of not being so literal and into the New Year will leave the video in place and write a series of small articles called 'A Reminder Not To Be So Literal'. It will make a good follow-up to my series last spring for Beginners for it is the next necessity in the food chain of design.
So what about more traditional Christmas decorations? They'll come too and soon Queendom Website will have all sorts of wallpapers and gifs celebrating the holidays, but I shall leave my video in place on my home page throughout the holidays.
I hope you will take a minute and look at it. It is just a smidgen over a minute long.
www.GayAnnRogers.com
Gay Ann
I was doing it just for inspiration for myself and DH suggested I turn it into our Christmas card this year.
So I made it into a Christmas card and posted it on my website this morning.
I also posted a link to Vimeo for people who can't get it to play on my website or would like to see it in higher resolution.
So what does a video of sunsets have to do with needlepoint?
Hopefully inspiration and a personal goal for me, and a reminder that the world need not be literal.
I've decided to monkey a bit with the concept of not being so literal and into the New Year will leave the video in place and write a series of small articles called 'A Reminder Not To Be So Literal'. It will make a good follow-up to my series last spring for Beginners for it is the next necessity in the food chain of design.
So what about more traditional Christmas decorations? They'll come too and soon Queendom Website will have all sorts of wallpapers and gifs celebrating the holidays, but I shall leave my video in place on my home page throughout the holidays.
I hope you will take a minute and look at it. It is just a smidgen over a minute long.
www.GayAnnRogers.com
Gay Ann
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Unusual Christmas Decorations for a Needlepoint Website
Since October 21 I have been toiling away in what I call Mail Jail from my E-Week Sale in mid October.
I am almost finished! I am down to my last three orders. I can't finish until I hear from three people, so I have parked these orders for the time being and am transitioning into life after E-Week and Mail Jail.
In the immediate future I face two tasks: deciding on Christmas decorations for Queendom Website and stitching and writing instructions for hearts for my small hearts sale in February. They are both tasks I look forward to doing.
.....................
Near as I can figure I started writing on this blog 5 years ago. Laura, then my webmistress, designed it for me and taught me how to post on it. I used to write on it regularly, I even conducted my first E-Week on it, but then when I began managing Queendom Website myself, my blog fell into semi-disuse. About a year or so ago I began writing on it again as it seemed like a perfect place to post op eds and behind-the-scenes-of-Queendom-Website musings.
The very first photo I ever posted on my blog was of a sunset from our window. DH gave me my first digital camera and my sister in law taught me how to take a photo. Later on, after an all-day struggle, I figured out how to take the photo out of iPhoto and post it on my blog. Those were the days before the advent of Apple University in my life.
Sunsets have always figured in my musings here and on Queendom Website. For two years I ended E-Week with a photo of a sunset and call it 'The Sun Sets on E-Week'.
A short while ago Sally B. wrote and asked me for a copy of my sunset photo. I don't have an idea which photo Sally wants, but she gave me an idea for how to celebrate Christmas on Queendom Website this year (thank you, Sally).
With my idea of an unusual Christmas celebration this year, MacSoph and I toiled away and produced my favorite bit of computer work from this year. I was so excited that I got it to work, so of course I can't wait to post it. Won't be long now. It is an usual feature for a needlepoint website, but I am hoping I can tie it all into needlework as the season progresses.
Meanwhile, my friend Lee said she thinks my Elizabeth video has been on Queendom Website for long enough now, so I've changed the home page: a sunset. Actually, two sunsets, one for real, one with a little bit of help from PhotoShop. I will publish them tomorrow morning. They should mark the Sunset on E-Week, but not quite. A little premature, but not hopefully by much.
As for the hearts? They are coming along. What a joy to have my central task be stitching right now. A joy indeed!
Gay Ann
I am almost finished! I am down to my last three orders. I can't finish until I hear from three people, so I have parked these orders for the time being and am transitioning into life after E-Week and Mail Jail.
In the immediate future I face two tasks: deciding on Christmas decorations for Queendom Website and stitching and writing instructions for hearts for my small hearts sale in February. They are both tasks I look forward to doing.
.....................
Near as I can figure I started writing on this blog 5 years ago. Laura, then my webmistress, designed it for me and taught me how to post on it. I used to write on it regularly, I even conducted my first E-Week on it, but then when I began managing Queendom Website myself, my blog fell into semi-disuse. About a year or so ago I began writing on it again as it seemed like a perfect place to post op eds and behind-the-scenes-of-Queendom-Website musings.
The very first photo I ever posted on my blog was of a sunset from our window. DH gave me my first digital camera and my sister in law taught me how to take a photo. Later on, after an all-day struggle, I figured out how to take the photo out of iPhoto and post it on my blog. Those were the days before the advent of Apple University in my life.
Sunsets have always figured in my musings here and on Queendom Website. For two years I ended E-Week with a photo of a sunset and call it 'The Sun Sets on E-Week'.
A short while ago Sally B. wrote and asked me for a copy of my sunset photo. I don't have an idea which photo Sally wants, but she gave me an idea for how to celebrate Christmas on Queendom Website this year (thank you, Sally).
With my idea of an unusual Christmas celebration this year, MacSoph and I toiled away and produced my favorite bit of computer work from this year. I was so excited that I got it to work, so of course I can't wait to post it. Won't be long now. It is an usual feature for a needlepoint website, but I am hoping I can tie it all into needlework as the season progresses.
Meanwhile, my friend Lee said she thinks my Elizabeth video has been on Queendom Website for long enough now, so I've changed the home page: a sunset. Actually, two sunsets, one for real, one with a little bit of help from PhotoShop. I will publish them tomorrow morning. They should mark the Sunset on E-Week, but not quite. A little premature, but not hopefully by much.
As for the hearts? They are coming along. What a joy to have my central task be stitching right now. A joy indeed!
Gay Ann
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Of Queendoms and Castles in My Needlework World
I have been toiling in what I call Mail Jail for the better part of a month now. Mail Jail is the process of mailing out orders from my once-a-year E-Week Sale.
I am almost finished; I am down to the last dozen orders and then I have to repair all my mistakes. I should imagine it will take me till the end of the week after Thanksgiving and I will be able to fold up my Mail Jail tent and transition into Life After E-Week Mail Jail.
This morning I established an important date on my website: January 15, 2011. It is the date by which everyone must report any errors in their orders. After January 15 I will not make any corrections.
Why am I being so strict about the date this year? Because MacSoph and I have a daunting winter and spring ahead: we have to build a new castle for Queendom Website and then we have to move. Remember what moving and remodeling are like? I believe that moving and remodeling are two of life's most stressful activities, and I am not sure that our e-move won't be almost as stressful.
A new castle for Queendom Website. Stress aside, I am looking forward to a new look and a new program. For a long time now (more than a year) the kids who teach me at the Apple Store have been telling me that Queendom Website has outgrown iWeb and I need to move, so they don't see the demise of iWeb as a tragedy for me.
Still it is a daunting task and I am properly timid and apprehensive about the road ahead.
How will MacSoph and I soothe our nerves? MacSoph can sing now (at a late date I discovered iTunes) and I am hoping she will sing to me while I stitch. My great temptation of course is to stitch a castle as a commemoration of Queendom Website's move.
Hmmm, a castle. Not a bad idea. We'll see.
For now, it is important that my followers help by checking their E-Week orders and making sure they have everything. For details see my postings in Mail Jail on Queendom Website: www.GayAnnRogers.com and click on Mail Jail on the yellow navigation bar. Remember, January 15 is but a little over 2 months away. And maybe by then Adobe will have my prograph out of beta. Maybe.
Gay Ann
I am almost finished; I am down to the last dozen orders and then I have to repair all my mistakes. I should imagine it will take me till the end of the week after Thanksgiving and I will be able to fold up my Mail Jail tent and transition into Life After E-Week Mail Jail.
This morning I established an important date on my website: January 15, 2011. It is the date by which everyone must report any errors in their orders. After January 15 I will not make any corrections.
Why am I being so strict about the date this year? Because MacSoph and I have a daunting winter and spring ahead: we have to build a new castle for Queendom Website and then we have to move. Remember what moving and remodeling are like? I believe that moving and remodeling are two of life's most stressful activities, and I am not sure that our e-move won't be almost as stressful.
A new castle for Queendom Website. Stress aside, I am looking forward to a new look and a new program. For a long time now (more than a year) the kids who teach me at the Apple Store have been telling me that Queendom Website has outgrown iWeb and I need to move, so they don't see the demise of iWeb as a tragedy for me.
Still it is a daunting task and I am properly timid and apprehensive about the road ahead.
How will MacSoph and I soothe our nerves? MacSoph can sing now (at a late date I discovered iTunes) and I am hoping she will sing to me while I stitch. My great temptation of course is to stitch a castle as a commemoration of Queendom Website's move.
Hmmm, a castle. Not a bad idea. We'll see.
For now, it is important that my followers help by checking their E-Week orders and making sure they have everything. For details see my postings in Mail Jail on Queendom Website: www.GayAnnRogers.com and click on Mail Jail on the yellow navigation bar. Remember, January 15 is but a little over 2 months away. And maybe by then Adobe will have my prograph out of beta. Maybe.
Gay Ann
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Today is the Final Day of E-Week Annex, so I am looking ahead
It's the last day of E-Week Annex, the part of E-Week where Kate's Corner sells the supplies for the designs I've sold at E-Week this year.
It's the last day of Annex and therefore the last day of E-Week 2011. Kate will be in Mail Jail for some time to come, for that matter so will I. I think it will be a month more before I settle all mistakes etc., but I have made a great start, and whew! Queendom Website will at least in part return to normal.
I always look at the end of E-Week as the beginning of the new year on Queendom Website. That's how it feels, and I am looking forward now. People have already started asking me, could I bring back this or bring back that next year at E-Week, when am I going to sell something else, what will the new mystery be like, etc. etc. Well, I don't know the answers to any of these questions yet. It's in the future, that's what I know. I don't have to decide right now.
Top of the list this year is moving. Remember, Queendom Website has to move into its new castle and I have to start construction very soon. Indeed I have a busy year on Queendom Website, constructing a new home for us.
My target day to move is in June. It will take several days to move, or so the Apple kids tell me. I want to be all ensconced in the new castle by the Summer Solstice so that we can have a 'longest day of the year' party to celebrate the move. And if it all happens well, there will be a couple of surprises along the way.
We'll see how it goes.
meanwhile, farewell to E-Week Annex this afternoon, farewell to E-Week itself, and a big thank you to Kate for doing all of Kate's Corner this year.
Gay Ann
It's the last day of Annex and therefore the last day of E-Week 2011. Kate will be in Mail Jail for some time to come, for that matter so will I. I think it will be a month more before I settle all mistakes etc., but I have made a great start, and whew! Queendom Website will at least in part return to normal.
I always look at the end of E-Week as the beginning of the new year on Queendom Website. That's how it feels, and I am looking forward now. People have already started asking me, could I bring back this or bring back that next year at E-Week, when am I going to sell something else, what will the new mystery be like, etc. etc. Well, I don't know the answers to any of these questions yet. It's in the future, that's what I know. I don't have to decide right now.
Top of the list this year is moving. Remember, Queendom Website has to move into its new castle and I have to start construction very soon. Indeed I have a busy year on Queendom Website, constructing a new home for us.
My target day to move is in June. It will take several days to move, or so the Apple kids tell me. I want to be all ensconced in the new castle by the Summer Solstice so that we can have a 'longest day of the year' party to celebrate the move. And if it all happens well, there will be a couple of surprises along the way.
We'll see how it goes.
meanwhile, farewell to E-Week Annex this afternoon, farewell to E-Week itself, and a big thank you to Kate for doing all of Kate's Corner this year.
Gay Ann
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
My Mailing List for Needlepoint Designs
Isn't it always the way it happens: E-Week hasn't been closed for 2 weeks yet and this morning I received a number of emails asking please could people buy my patterns.
The answer for now is 'no, my sale is closed'. Why don't I open it again? Because right now I am maxed out, I can't handle any more orders.
The best I can offer is to add people to my Mailing List for future sales. If someone is on my mailing list, she hears from me only 3 or 4 times a year, right before or during a sale of my needlepoint patterns.
So, for example, the next time someone will hear from me is in February when I traditionally sell needlepoint hearts right around Valentine's Day. The next time after that will be probably in April, May or June when I have promised a new geometric mystery (similar to Mystery with a Little Bit of Glitz, Glittering Diamonds and Mystery in a Corner).
This June will be a big time for me: I will transfer to a new website on or near the Summer Solstice, as Mobile Me, my current server, goes out of existence and iWeb starts to fade. It will also mark the fourth anniversary of Queendom Website (my website) and I was thinking of having a small celebratory sale then.
In the summer I will teach my Elizabeth 1, a Portrait, in the summer, and then it will be time again for E-Week 2012.
If you are on my mailing list, you will hear from me about each of these events. Otherwise I will be silent and not clog your inbox.
If you would like to be on my mailing list, write to me at GARRogers@earthlink.net.
Gay Ann
The answer for now is 'no, my sale is closed'. Why don't I open it again? Because right now I am maxed out, I can't handle any more orders.
The best I can offer is to add people to my Mailing List for future sales. If someone is on my mailing list, she hears from me only 3 or 4 times a year, right before or during a sale of my needlepoint patterns.
So, for example, the next time someone will hear from me is in February when I traditionally sell needlepoint hearts right around Valentine's Day. The next time after that will be probably in April, May or June when I have promised a new geometric mystery (similar to Mystery with a Little Bit of Glitz, Glittering Diamonds and Mystery in a Corner).
This June will be a big time for me: I will transfer to a new website on or near the Summer Solstice, as Mobile Me, my current server, goes out of existence and iWeb starts to fade. It will also mark the fourth anniversary of Queendom Website (my website) and I was thinking of having a small celebratory sale then.
In the summer I will teach my Elizabeth 1, a Portrait, in the summer, and then it will be time again for E-Week 2012.
If you are on my mailing list, you will hear from me about each of these events. Otherwise I will be silent and not clog your inbox.
If you would like to be on my mailing list, write to me at GARRogers@earthlink.net.
Gay Ann
Saturday, October 22, 2011
E-Week Annex is on my website!
We have a special treat again this year: E-week Annex, with all sorts of Supplies Packets and goodies to go with my designs from E-Week.
Kate's Corner has put this all together and it is an impressive array of offerings. Kate really did her homework and she has even found some of the threads no longer in production, for example the Medici wool for Golden Acorns and the Marlitt for Tuxedo Heart. The supplies aren't unlimited but indeed there are many Supplies packets available.
This is the second year that Kate has constructed E-Week Annex for me and I am grateful. I don't think I could have done the work, yet people have always asked about the convenience of one-stop shopping for my designs.
So thank you, Kate, for coming back again and helping me!
Gay Ann
Kate's Corner has put this all together and it is an impressive array of offerings. Kate really did her homework and she has even found some of the threads no longer in production, for example the Medici wool for Golden Acorns and the Marlitt for Tuxedo Heart. The supplies aren't unlimited but indeed there are many Supplies packets available.
This is the second year that Kate has constructed E-Week Annex for me and I am grateful. I don't think I could have done the work, yet people have always asked about the convenience of one-stop shopping for my designs.
So thank you, Kate, for coming back again and helping me!
Gay Ann
Friday, October 21, 2011
Stitching Elizabeth: a video about my needlepoint Elizabeth 1
Yesterday E-Week, my annual sale of patterns from my archives, ended. Whew! Finished for another year! I made it through!
I like to end E-Week each year with a small treat and this year I made a small video of slides of my needlepoint design of Elizabeth 1. I used photos of my Elizabeth and the Elizabeths of my students from Callaway Gardens School of Needle Arts last January, along with photos of Carole Lake, Michael Boren and me and portraits of Carole and me masquerading in portraits of Elizabeth.
A fitting way to end E-Week this year. www.GayAnnRogers.com, to see it.
My portrait of Elizabeth 1 made a mystery appearance at E-Week this year. When she was unveiled, it turned out that she will become a class at Shining Needle Society next summer. Kate, director of Shining Needle Society, our online school, will open a room very soon and we will hang out in that room until the class starts.
Why so long? To acclimatize and ready ourselves for the class. We can chat and stitch and enjoy all things Elizabeth and stitching in there. I am looking forward to it. A place to relax.
Meanwhile, I face Mail Jail, that is, mailing the orders from E-Week.
I sent off the first batches of patterns to the print shop on Wednesday afternoon. I expected to have them back yesterday, but the print shop hasn't called me yet to say they've finished printing them. Soon as they finish and I pick them up, I will start mailing them. I imagine it will take me close to 6 weeks, maybe even 2 months, to mail them all.
So farewell to E-Week for another year.
Gay Ann
I like to end E-Week each year with a small treat and this year I made a small video of slides of my needlepoint design of Elizabeth 1. I used photos of my Elizabeth and the Elizabeths of my students from Callaway Gardens School of Needle Arts last January, along with photos of Carole Lake, Michael Boren and me and portraits of Carole and me masquerading in portraits of Elizabeth.
A fitting way to end E-Week this year. www.GayAnnRogers.com, to see it.
My portrait of Elizabeth 1 made a mystery appearance at E-Week this year. When she was unveiled, it turned out that she will become a class at Shining Needle Society next summer. Kate, director of Shining Needle Society, our online school, will open a room very soon and we will hang out in that room until the class starts.
Why so long? To acclimatize and ready ourselves for the class. We can chat and stitch and enjoy all things Elizabeth and stitching in there. I am looking forward to it. A place to relax.
Meanwhile, I face Mail Jail, that is, mailing the orders from E-Week.
I sent off the first batches of patterns to the print shop on Wednesday afternoon. I expected to have them back yesterday, but the print shop hasn't called me yet to say they've finished printing them. Soon as they finish and I pick them up, I will start mailing them. I imagine it will take me close to 6 weeks, maybe even 2 months, to mail them all.
So farewell to E-Week for another year.
Gay Ann
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
E-Week, my annual needlepoint sale, is almost over
Only a few hours till E-Week, the annual sale of needlepoint designs from my archives ends.
This is my 5th E-Week Sale. It doesn't seem possible that five years has passed since I first thought up the idea and sold patterns on my blog. It was before the birth of Queendom Website.
This year's sale had its very smooth moments (my Early Morning Sales went off like clockwork) and its rocky moments.
The rockiest was when MacSoph, my trusty little MacBookPro crashed. I think she'd had enough of it all and just decided not to boot up.
After about an hour she'd had enough rest and she was back, but she didn't want to connect with our online network.
About a year ago one of my Apple tutors had told me that he thought I needed a second computer to back up my whole system, and he was so right! Little MacSoph, my other laptop came into service. It's a bit disjointed but I'm surviving.
A man arrives this afternoon to see to MacSoph and try to convince her she needs to go back online.
If he succeeds, then I will end E-Week with a treat. I hope people will stop by and see it tomorrow morning. It is just a small treat, complete with music and all. A fitting end and a bit of calm to a sometimes frantic week.
Is it really all over?
No, for Annex will start in a couple of days, but this time the hassle is Kate's as she begins to live in Kit Hell and Mail Jail. She has been such a huge help to me and I hope to lend a bit of help and support back. Kate is gathering together supplies packets for many of the projects I've sold at E-Week.
And after Annex?
Time to stitch all the stuff! I plan a rigorous year of stitching in my general classroom at Shining Needle Society. If you would like to join us, membership is free, just write to KateGaunt@aol.com.
Be prepared to wield your needle in the next year, till it is time again for E-Week. Yikes! I have to tell you that I have already received a number of requests for next year's sale! Happily I am not thinking about it yet. I have a whole year till then!
Gay Ann
This is my 5th E-Week Sale. It doesn't seem possible that five years has passed since I first thought up the idea and sold patterns on my blog. It was before the birth of Queendom Website.
This year's sale had its very smooth moments (my Early Morning Sales went off like clockwork) and its rocky moments.
The rockiest was when MacSoph, my trusty little MacBookPro crashed. I think she'd had enough of it all and just decided not to boot up.
After about an hour she'd had enough rest and she was back, but she didn't want to connect with our online network.
About a year ago one of my Apple tutors had told me that he thought I needed a second computer to back up my whole system, and he was so right! Little MacSoph, my other laptop came into service. It's a bit disjointed but I'm surviving.
A man arrives this afternoon to see to MacSoph and try to convince her she needs to go back online.
If he succeeds, then I will end E-Week with a treat. I hope people will stop by and see it tomorrow morning. It is just a small treat, complete with music and all. A fitting end and a bit of calm to a sometimes frantic week.
Is it really all over?
No, for Annex will start in a couple of days, but this time the hassle is Kate's as she begins to live in Kit Hell and Mail Jail. She has been such a huge help to me and I hope to lend a bit of help and support back. Kate is gathering together supplies packets for many of the projects I've sold at E-Week.
And after Annex?
Time to stitch all the stuff! I plan a rigorous year of stitching in my general classroom at Shining Needle Society. If you would like to join us, membership is free, just write to KateGaunt@aol.com.
Be prepared to wield your needle in the next year, till it is time again for E-Week. Yikes! I have to tell you that I have already received a number of requests for next year's sale! Happily I am not thinking about it yet. I have a whole year till then!
Gay Ann
Friday, October 14, 2011
E-Week's Early Morning Sales
Tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday mornings, at 8:00 a.m. California time, Early Morning Sales begin on my website, in connection with my annual sale of designs from my archives.
It is exciting! On my website are 8 windows for each morning. If you click on them now, nothing happens.
If you click on the first one at 8:00, it will open and a special offering will be behind it.
A different window will open every 15 minutes till all 8 windows are open.
Some of the offerings are for limited numbers, some for everybody. Some are returning designs, some are new designs, and new this year: a small twist on a very popular sewing case.
It is lively and quick paced and it stirs up life on E-Week's Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Only once a year; I hope you will come and join us.
Gay Ann
www.GayAnnRogers.com
Remember, 8:00 a.m. prompt, tomorrow morning!
It is exciting! On my website are 8 windows for each morning. If you click on them now, nothing happens.
If you click on the first one at 8:00, it will open and a special offering will be behind it.
A different window will open every 15 minutes till all 8 windows are open.
Some of the offerings are for limited numbers, some for everybody. Some are returning designs, some are new designs, and new this year: a small twist on a very popular sewing case.
It is lively and quick paced and it stirs up life on E-Week's Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Only once a year; I hope you will come and join us.
Gay Ann
www.GayAnnRogers.com
Remember, 8:00 a.m. prompt, tomorrow morning!
Friday, October 07, 2011
My Needlepoint Mysteries, their variations and colors, and E-Week
So many of you have asked for me to bring my geometric mysteries back in my E-Week Sale.
This morning a person ( I don't know her name, she didn't sign her email) wrote to me and asked if the patterns contained all of the colorways I show in my galleries on my website, www.GayAnnRogers.com.
The answer is no.
Those examples were from stitchers who stitched the mystery when it was first new.
Sadly I have lost the stitchers' names. If I don't have their names, I certainly don't have their threads and colors.
When these mysteries were new, they arrived on stitchers' doorsteps without any color or line guides.
The pattern includes instructions like this:
Choose a Watercolours or other overdyed thread suitable for 18-mesh canvas.
Choose a canvas to coordinate with the Watercolours.
Choose a pearl cotton approximately the same color as the canvas.
Choose a light value that harmonizes with the Watercolours.
Choose a dark value that harmonizes with the Watercolours.
Choose a Kreinik braid that contrasts.
I just made these up to give an example of how I write mysteries.
This is a long roundabout way of saying, the many examples on my website are for inspiration but the stitcher will have to decide on her own colors.
One of the good parts of my classroom at Shining Needle Society is that stitchers may have help from their fellow stitchers in the classroom . For example, if several of you are working on the same mystery, you might help one another. Or you might ask advice of the other members of the classroom. If you would like to join Shining Needle Society and my classroom there, membership is free.
Just write to KateGaunt@aol.com. Kate is the director.
OK, why would I do this to you? Why do I want you to grapple with colors instead of my giving them to you and letting you zone out and stitch.
I'll answer the question in my next post.
Gay Ann
This morning a person ( I don't know her name, she didn't sign her email) wrote to me and asked if the patterns contained all of the colorways I show in my galleries on my website, www.GayAnnRogers.com.
The answer is no.
Those examples were from stitchers who stitched the mystery when it was first new.
Sadly I have lost the stitchers' names. If I don't have their names, I certainly don't have their threads and colors.
When these mysteries were new, they arrived on stitchers' doorsteps without any color or line guides.
The pattern includes instructions like this:
Choose a Watercolours or other overdyed thread suitable for 18-mesh canvas.
Choose a canvas to coordinate with the Watercolours.
Choose a pearl cotton approximately the same color as the canvas.
Choose a light value that harmonizes with the Watercolours.
Choose a dark value that harmonizes with the Watercolours.
Choose a Kreinik braid that contrasts.
I just made these up to give an example of how I write mysteries.
This is a long roundabout way of saying, the many examples on my website are for inspiration but the stitcher will have to decide on her own colors.
One of the good parts of my classroom at Shining Needle Society is that stitchers may have help from their fellow stitchers in the classroom . For example, if several of you are working on the same mystery, you might help one another. Or you might ask advice of the other members of the classroom. If you would like to join Shining Needle Society and my classroom there, membership is free.
Just write to KateGaunt@aol.com. Kate is the director.
OK, why would I do this to you? Why do I want you to grapple with colors instead of my giving them to you and letting you zone out and stitch.
I'll answer the question in my next post.
Gay Ann
Notes on My Needlepoint Colorizations
I am beginning to receive quite a few queries about my colorizations and whether all Colorways are included in my patterns.
When I include the colorways, I specify in the description of the pattern, for example I included with Summer Solstice Geometric the original colors and the blue-green colors and the light blue and silver.
I do not include the ones for the examples I posted on my website this morning.
I have two comments to say about them:
first, I think you could email the colorization to your favorite shop and ask them to pull the colors.
Once you have the pattern, you could send them the threads and numbers in the pattern so that they would have a guide to go by.
I am sure that Pat Duggan, for example, would be happy to help you with the task.
Second, I am rather hoping that you will use the colorizations as inspiration and grapple with pulling them yourself.
It is a bit of learning and a bit of a stretch and a bit of growth well worth your while.
All summer and fall long (as long as fall has been, ie not long) I have been trotting down to our local needlework shop and pulling the colors to match my colorizations. Sometimes I can't find exactly what I did, but I find something close enough. If I can't find anything in a particular line of threads, say in Vineyard silk, I try pearl cotton or silk (figuring I will use multiple ply) or floss, or some other thread that catches my fancy.
Rarely is a design such that ONLY one thread in ONLY one color will work.
One of the reasons for studying color this way is to gain the confidence to find alternatives.
After all, needlepoint is our way of slipping into a imaginative world and playing with visually satisfying colors and textures.
Part of the joy is finding the exact way you see it in your mind. To do that you have to be a bit flexible and flexibility comes with confidence.
That's one of my purposes in leading my Shining Needle Society classroom. I want people to gain the confidence to try.
If you would like to join Shining Needle Society in general and my classroom specifically, membership is free.
Just write to KateGaunt@aol.com. Kate is the director of Shining Needle Society.
If you have any opinions about my colorizations, good or bad, I would welcome them, either posted publicly here or directed to me personally in an email. GARRogers@earthlink.net.
This post is long enough.
I have a couple of other issues about colorizations and my mysteries. I'll be back in a while and write another post.
Otherwise these will become so long nobody will ever read all the way through them.
Gay Ann
When I include the colorways, I specify in the description of the pattern, for example I included with Summer Solstice Geometric the original colors and the blue-green colors and the light blue and silver.
I do not include the ones for the examples I posted on my website this morning.
I have two comments to say about them:
first, I think you could email the colorization to your favorite shop and ask them to pull the colors.
Once you have the pattern, you could send them the threads and numbers in the pattern so that they would have a guide to go by.
I am sure that Pat Duggan, for example, would be happy to help you with the task.
Second, I am rather hoping that you will use the colorizations as inspiration and grapple with pulling them yourself.
It is a bit of learning and a bit of a stretch and a bit of growth well worth your while.
All summer and fall long (as long as fall has been, ie not long) I have been trotting down to our local needlework shop and pulling the colors to match my colorizations. Sometimes I can't find exactly what I did, but I find something close enough. If I can't find anything in a particular line of threads, say in Vineyard silk, I try pearl cotton or silk (figuring I will use multiple ply) or floss, or some other thread that catches my fancy.
Rarely is a design such that ONLY one thread in ONLY one color will work.
One of the reasons for studying color this way is to gain the confidence to find alternatives.
After all, needlepoint is our way of slipping into a imaginative world and playing with visually satisfying colors and textures.
Part of the joy is finding the exact way you see it in your mind. To do that you have to be a bit flexible and flexibility comes with confidence.
That's one of my purposes in leading my Shining Needle Society classroom. I want people to gain the confidence to try.
If you would like to join Shining Needle Society in general and my classroom specifically, membership is free.
Just write to KateGaunt@aol.com. Kate is the director of Shining Needle Society.
If you have any opinions about my colorizations, good or bad, I would welcome them, either posted publicly here or directed to me personally in an email. GARRogers@earthlink.net.
This post is long enough.
I have a couple of other issues about colorizations and my mysteries. I'll be back in a while and write another post.
Otherwise these will become so long nobody will ever read all the way through them.
Gay Ann
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
MacSoph is in Mourning
One day many years ago DH said to me that we had been invited to hear a presentation about a new computer system called Next.
At the time we were two of probably 15 people who watched and listened for a couple of hours as Steve Jobs told us about his new ideas and system called 'Next'.
Little did I ever dream that day of the impact that Next would have on my life. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, Apple incorporated the ideas of Next and today MacSoph, my little MacBook pro, is really a Next MacBook.
Today MacSoph is in mourning because her father has died.
The impact that Steve Jobs has had on my own life is incredible. I have gone, in the last year, from traveling and teaching needlework, at my height on the road a week or two out of every month, to life creating a website and teaching online.
Instead of time on an airplane, I now spend so many of my hours learning to use MacSoph and working on Queendom Website. What a change it has been, none of it possible for someone like me, had Apple not made a computer so easy to learn to use, and had it not made a program like One to One lessons to teach me how MacSoph works.
Thank you, Steve Jobs, and thank you, Apple. I will do my best to study harder, learn more and carry on loving Apple.
Gay Ann
At the time we were two of probably 15 people who watched and listened for a couple of hours as Steve Jobs told us about his new ideas and system called 'Next'.
Little did I ever dream that day of the impact that Next would have on my life. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, Apple incorporated the ideas of Next and today MacSoph, my little MacBook pro, is really a Next MacBook.
Today MacSoph is in mourning because her father has died.
The impact that Steve Jobs has had on my own life is incredible. I have gone, in the last year, from traveling and teaching needlework, at my height on the road a week or two out of every month, to life creating a website and teaching online.
Instead of time on an airplane, I now spend so many of my hours learning to use MacSoph and working on Queendom Website. What a change it has been, none of it possible for someone like me, had Apple not made a computer so easy to learn to use, and had it not made a program like One to One lessons to teach me how MacSoph works.
Thank you, Steve Jobs, and thank you, Apple. I will do my best to study harder, learn more and carry on loving Apple.
Gay Ann
Monday, October 03, 2011
Monday, 9 Days Till E-Week
This morning on my website I posted the third of three galleries of my work.
My first gallery is of all the mysteries I've designed and stitched over the years.
They aren't mysteries any longer because people can see what they look like, but originally people bought them with little idea what the pattern would be and took me on faith as the pattern unfolded.
I discovered early on that a mystery was a great chance to offer small options to encourage a bit of creativity, and that's what happened. If you look at various examples of my geometric mysteries, they vary greatly, particularly 'Glittering Diamonds'. Over the years I have seen examples I don't recognize because of the way the color interacts with the pattern. It delights me and I am hoping to do more of them.
The second of my galleries features all 10 of the designs I have made incorporating cameos, from a very large sampler to small ornaments and hearts. I think cameos are so pretty and romantic that for a long time I was very caught up in making needlework to display them. Before now I have never gathered together all of them in one place. It was fun to see.
The third of my galleries displays six of the large samplers I have made over time and sold at previous E-Weeks. All of them were projects I taught at National Seminars for EGA and ANG and of course for a favorite job at Callaway School of Needle Arts.
These samplers include some of my most industrious work.
Aside from these three galleries, I have a large gallery displaying my Elizabeth 1 Portrait and the portraits of Elizabeth from my students at Callaway last January. I am amazed at how much each Elizabeth has her own personality, reflecting of course each student who stitched her.
I plan to keep these up for a couple more days as I prepare for E-Week, my annual sale of patterns from my archives.
E-Week begins bright and early this year on October 12.
This year's E-Week is a trifle different. In the past the patterns have always been from my guild days, projects I had taught at past seminars. This year I have stitched 11 new designs just for E-Week, a first for me, but a harbinger of E-Weeks to come, I hope.
I see more samplers in my future, both large and small, lots more sewing cases, some new figures (I still have Bess and Mary to write) and who knows what else. As the spirit moves me. It is the genuinely best part of life right now, that I can stitch as I wish.
Hope you will stop by Queendom Website to see all these galleries:
For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com
Gay Ann
My first gallery is of all the mysteries I've designed and stitched over the years.
They aren't mysteries any longer because people can see what they look like, but originally people bought them with little idea what the pattern would be and took me on faith as the pattern unfolded.
I discovered early on that a mystery was a great chance to offer small options to encourage a bit of creativity, and that's what happened. If you look at various examples of my geometric mysteries, they vary greatly, particularly 'Glittering Diamonds'. Over the years I have seen examples I don't recognize because of the way the color interacts with the pattern. It delights me and I am hoping to do more of them.
The second of my galleries features all 10 of the designs I have made incorporating cameos, from a very large sampler to small ornaments and hearts. I think cameos are so pretty and romantic that for a long time I was very caught up in making needlework to display them. Before now I have never gathered together all of them in one place. It was fun to see.
The third of my galleries displays six of the large samplers I have made over time and sold at previous E-Weeks. All of them were projects I taught at National Seminars for EGA and ANG and of course for a favorite job at Callaway School of Needle Arts.
These samplers include some of my most industrious work.
Aside from these three galleries, I have a large gallery displaying my Elizabeth 1 Portrait and the portraits of Elizabeth from my students at Callaway last January. I am amazed at how much each Elizabeth has her own personality, reflecting of course each student who stitched her.
I plan to keep these up for a couple more days as I prepare for E-Week, my annual sale of patterns from my archives.
E-Week begins bright and early this year on October 12.
This year's E-Week is a trifle different. In the past the patterns have always been from my guild days, projects I had taught at past seminars. This year I have stitched 11 new designs just for E-Week, a first for me, but a harbinger of E-Weeks to come, I hope.
I see more samplers in my future, both large and small, lots more sewing cases, some new figures (I still have Bess and Mary to write) and who knows what else. As the spirit moves me. It is the genuinely best part of life right now, that I can stitch as I wish.
Hope you will stop by Queendom Website to see all these galleries:
For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com
Gay Ann
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Elizabeth 1, a Portrait: my needlepoint design
This morning Queendom Website came alive with portraits of Elizabeth 1.
On my home page is my own version of Elizabeth 1; 'inside' are portraits worked by Carole Lake's and my students at Callaway School of Needle Arts last January.
When I first thought of making an exhibition of Elizabeth 1 portraits, I worried they might all look the same, but surprisingly (considering they were worked from my pattern) they each have their own personalities. I have had a great time clicking through the exhibition and seeing all the variations of them -- it has been a delight!
To see the Elizabeths, travel to my website:
www.GayAnnRogers.com
and click on 'Elizabeth Exhibition'.
And enjoy!
Gay Ann
On my home page is my own version of Elizabeth 1; 'inside' are portraits worked by Carole Lake's and my students at Callaway School of Needle Arts last January.
When I first thought of making an exhibition of Elizabeth 1 portraits, I worried they might all look the same, but surprisingly (considering they were worked from my pattern) they each have their own personalities. I have had a great time clicking through the exhibition and seeing all the variations of them -- it has been a delight!
To see the Elizabeths, travel to my website:
www.GayAnnRogers.com
and click on 'Elizabeth Exhibition'.
And enjoy!
Gay Ann
Monday, September 19, 2011
A Book for Thimble Collectors: American Silver Thimbles for sale
For a long time I've been promising to post a sale of my book, American Silver Thimbles.
I did so this morning on my website.
Quite often people write to me with all sorts of thimble queries and I try to answer them as time allows. Over the years, at the top of the list has come the question: 'do you have any copies of your book at a reasonable amount of money?' Finally I decided I have read this too often, so I typed 'American Silver Thimbles' into a book query on Amazon.com and had quite a shock.
The cheapest copy I found was $255.00, the most expensive $350.00.
It was then I decided I had better sell some copies, so I posted them at the book's original price of $47.95 plus $6.00 priority shipping. I am hoping that fledgling thimble collectors to whom I have long promised copies will be able to have a copy now.
American Silver Thimbles is valuable in this sense: it is a record of American silver thimbles from 53 collections at what I think of as the height of thimble-collecting frenzy more than 20 years ago. At just about the height of the frenzy, I visited many remarkable collections, shot so many rolls of film, then stood in a dark-room converted from a bathroom and processed and printed all the photos for the book.
So many of the collections have since been broken up that I look back and think to myself it was a great time to shoot so many thimbles. I doubt I could assemble the collection today.
..............
After I wrote American Silver Thimbles, thimbles were at their height. Good ones were scarce and fetching all-the-time higher and higher prices.
I had never been a singularly devoted thimble collector; I had bought them, but only as one of many needlework tools, and when they continued to fetch higher and higher prices, I gave up looking for them.
For the 20 years that followed my book, I transitioned into teaching needlework full time, and I more or less forgot about collecting thimbles.
Then last November, when I was surfing eBay for interesting auctions to post on my website, I came across some remarkably wonderful American thimbles for auction. I followed along through the Christmas season and was amazed to see the high quality and relatively low prices of the thimbles that 20 years ago had been so sky high in price.
And guess what: I became interested in thimbles all over again. I am at heart a contrarian when it comes to shopping for antiques. I don't believe in shopping for things when they are at the height of fashion.
Last Christmas I began looking back through American Silver Thimbles and just for fun, I began ticking off the thimbles I'd found on eBay. I had a great time! It was just like visiting old friends who has slipped out of my life for a while.
Of course I bought a few of them. I think my favorite finds were two: I bought the Liberty Bell thimble at a fraction of its former price and I bought a very rare Untermyer Robbins thimble of two lions. Finding any UR thimble was, in the old days, a happy occasion; finding a highly decorative one a joy indeed.
An old hobby renewed. Now I look every week to see if some interesting thimbles turn up.
And now I am hoping maybe a new generation of thimble collectors will be inspired to enjoy these tiny little treasures.
Gay Ann
I did so this morning on my website.
Quite often people write to me with all sorts of thimble queries and I try to answer them as time allows. Over the years, at the top of the list has come the question: 'do you have any copies of your book at a reasonable amount of money?' Finally I decided I have read this too often, so I typed 'American Silver Thimbles' into a book query on Amazon.com and had quite a shock.
The cheapest copy I found was $255.00, the most expensive $350.00.
It was then I decided I had better sell some copies, so I posted them at the book's original price of $47.95 plus $6.00 priority shipping. I am hoping that fledgling thimble collectors to whom I have long promised copies will be able to have a copy now.
American Silver Thimbles is valuable in this sense: it is a record of American silver thimbles from 53 collections at what I think of as the height of thimble-collecting frenzy more than 20 years ago. At just about the height of the frenzy, I visited many remarkable collections, shot so many rolls of film, then stood in a dark-room converted from a bathroom and processed and printed all the photos for the book.
So many of the collections have since been broken up that I look back and think to myself it was a great time to shoot so many thimbles. I doubt I could assemble the collection today.
..............
After I wrote American Silver Thimbles, thimbles were at their height. Good ones were scarce and fetching all-the-time higher and higher prices.
I had never been a singularly devoted thimble collector; I had bought them, but only as one of many needlework tools, and when they continued to fetch higher and higher prices, I gave up looking for them.
For the 20 years that followed my book, I transitioned into teaching needlework full time, and I more or less forgot about collecting thimbles.
Then last November, when I was surfing eBay for interesting auctions to post on my website, I came across some remarkably wonderful American thimbles for auction. I followed along through the Christmas season and was amazed to see the high quality and relatively low prices of the thimbles that 20 years ago had been so sky high in price.
And guess what: I became interested in thimbles all over again. I am at heart a contrarian when it comes to shopping for antiques. I don't believe in shopping for things when they are at the height of fashion.
Last Christmas I began looking back through American Silver Thimbles and just for fun, I began ticking off the thimbles I'd found on eBay. I had a great time! It was just like visiting old friends who has slipped out of my life for a while.
Of course I bought a few of them. I think my favorite finds were two: I bought the Liberty Bell thimble at a fraction of its former price and I bought a very rare Untermyer Robbins thimble of two lions. Finding any UR thimble was, in the old days, a happy occasion; finding a highly decorative one a joy indeed.
An old hobby renewed. Now I look every week to see if some interesting thimbles turn up.
And now I am hoping maybe a new generation of thimble collectors will be inspired to enjoy these tiny little treasures.
Gay Ann
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