Exciting times at Deborah Spofford Designs this week.
The “Creative Home” segment was shot live from my studio yesterday. Helen, Mike, and Gary came from the KATU television station around 8:30 to set up all the equipment. Mike pulled his van up in front of the studio and then raised a very tall boom. This somehow allowed him to send and receive signals for the live feed. (I am so technically challenged!!) I have satellite television in my studio so there was a slight delay (about 10 seconds…who knew?) on my television from the actual broadcast. It was really funny to see this. We made tile message boards. You can find the instuctions for the boards on the projects page of my web site.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Sunday, November 16, 2003
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
I just returned from a women's retreat at my church. Wow!! What an incredible experience. It stared on Thursday evening and went through Sunday evening. We were asked to remove our watches, leave our cell phones at home, and we had no access to email while we were there. Can you image? HA!! How often do we get to let go of everything...like time....and just enjoy the moment? (Oh My Gosh! I just looked out side and it is snowing!!!) Talk about enjoying the moment. It hardly ever snows here. Anyway...getting back to the weekend.....It was a wonderful spiritually renewing time for me. If you have an opportunity to attend a retreat I would highly recommend it! Leave those watches at home!! It is good for the soul! As they ....Let go and let God work in you life.
Friday, October 24, 2003
I just finished two woodworking projects for Woodworking for Women magazine. This is a new magazine that will be coming out in mid April 2004. The target audience is the Home Improvement store crowd. The magazine has a great outline that includes organization projects, Mom and Me projects for kids, and other features for the home and garden. Watch for this in April!!!
Creating these projects was a real learning experience. My husband, Tim, has a new wood working shop and was very helpful with these projects. He helped me with the logistical issues and taught me how to use the tools. Its one thing to design a project….but…it is very different when you have to execute the design with wood. The old saying “measure twice- cut once” is very important!
I am looking forward to creating many more wood projects in the future.
Creating these projects was a real learning experience. My husband, Tim, has a new wood working shop and was very helpful with these projects. He helped me with the logistical issues and taught me how to use the tools. Its one thing to design a project….but…it is very different when you have to execute the design with wood. The old saying “measure twice- cut once” is very important!
I am looking forward to creating many more wood projects in the future.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
I just returned from the SCD educational seminar. The buz words for the industry are "connecting", "altered art", and "edgy designs". Connecting is all about making time with friends and family. This is different from cocooning. As one woman put it, "I don't want to sit at home and watch TV with my husband anymore. I've had enough of that, I want to go out and see my friends and interact with people. So....watch for an increase of connecting activities. That may be small dinner parties, group bible studies, crafting opportunities, girlfriend parties, or other gatherings that create opportunities for "bonding".
Altered art is a craze. I think it comes from recycling, reusing, and earth friendly sentiment. I think it also comes from the craze for collage. The idea of "altered art" is to take something old or used and change it (thus the word alter) into a piece of art. This can be anything from an old shoe to a computer or television. There is some controversy about altered books. Should or shouldn't we use old books for altered art? I heard opinions in both camps. Some think that you should not desecrate a book for any reason. Others believe that it is fine to use a book for altered art as long as the book is going to the incinerator anyway.
Edgy design comes from "cutting edge". Something new and fresh. Being on the verge of a new art form. This is what the manufacturers are looking for. What is going to be the next best selling craft category?
The seminar was very good this year. I listened to great speakers and had many opportunities for business networking. The best part was seeing old and new friends. It is so nice to be in the company of other "like mined" people. Like mined in this case means "crazy artist" to my family. HA!! Warnings go through out our house "Watch out Mom is in her "crazy artist mode". AAHHH, don't you love them!!
Altered art is a craze. I think it comes from recycling, reusing, and earth friendly sentiment. I think it also comes from the craze for collage. The idea of "altered art" is to take something old or used and change it (thus the word alter) into a piece of art. This can be anything from an old shoe to a computer or television. There is some controversy about altered books. Should or shouldn't we use old books for altered art? I heard opinions in both camps. Some think that you should not desecrate a book for any reason. Others believe that it is fine to use a book for altered art as long as the book is going to the incinerator anyway.
Edgy design comes from "cutting edge". Something new and fresh. Being on the verge of a new art form. This is what the manufacturers are looking for. What is going to be the next best selling craft category?
The seminar was very good this year. I listened to great speakers and had many opportunities for business networking. The best part was seeing old and new friends. It is so nice to be in the company of other "like mined" people. Like mined in this case means "crazy artist" to my family. HA!! Warnings go through out our house "Watch out Mom is in her "crazy artist mode". AAHHH, don't you love them!!
I finished the marathon!!!!!! Yippee and what a thrill!! Thanks to everyone for your encouraging words. It is hard to describe the feeling as you cross over the finish line. Of course the best parts are the start and finish. HA!! All six of my friends finished and what fun it was to have so many families cheering us on. My husband and daughter met me at mile 20 with a banana, encouragement, and a smile. Tim walked about two miles with me and then I knew I was home free!! Getting past the 20 mile point was a great boost. I knew after Tim left that I would finish the walk and come very close to my goal of five and one half hour finish time. My official time was 5:35 and 47 seconds. What a great experience!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Wow, where has the time gone? The end of Summer flew by with a visit with friends from Virginia. What a great time we had exploring the Northwest!!! We have only lived in Washington for two years and it was really fun to finally see some of the sites that we have had on our “list of places to visit” since we moved here. We visited Mt. Saint Helens, the Columbia Gorge, and of course the Oregon Coast. God has truly blessed us with the incredible environment that we live in!!
The kids went back to school and I was off to Florida for a conference. I attended the International Retail Design show in Miami Beach. This was another one of those “personal development” opportunities for me. I learned about visual merchandising and store design. What an interesting industry! During one of the classes, we teamed up with other designers and dressed a store mannequin. Have you ever done this? Well…it is not as easy as it looks. They are very heavy and they are ……well…stiff! They do not bend in the places that we do….making it difficult to get pants and shirts on them. It ended up being a fun activity….but it was funny because there were body parts everywhere….wish I had legs that looked like those! HA!
I am currently working on a couple of fun magazine projects, a special scrapbook for Fiskars, a showcase for SCD (Society of Craft Designers), a presentation on “creating a display”, and of course the Marathon. I mentioned before that I have been training with friends for the past year to walk the Portland Marathon. It is just a couple of weeks away and I liken it to the last few weeks of pregnancy. LET’S JUST GET IT OVER WITH ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!
Well…back to work….
The kids went back to school and I was off to Florida for a conference. I attended the International Retail Design show in Miami Beach. This was another one of those “personal development” opportunities for me. I learned about visual merchandising and store design. What an interesting industry! During one of the classes, we teamed up with other designers and dressed a store mannequin. Have you ever done this? Well…it is not as easy as it looks. They are very heavy and they are ……well…stiff! They do not bend in the places that we do….making it difficult to get pants and shirts on them. It ended up being a fun activity….but it was funny because there were body parts everywhere….wish I had legs that looked like those! HA!
I am currently working on a couple of fun magazine projects, a special scrapbook for Fiskars, a showcase for SCD (Society of Craft Designers), a presentation on “creating a display”, and of course the Marathon. I mentioned before that I have been training with friends for the past year to walk the Portland Marathon. It is just a couple of weeks away and I liken it to the last few weeks of pregnancy. LET’S JUST GET IT OVER WITH ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!
Well…back to work….
Thursday, August 7, 2003
As part of my “Professional Development” goals for this summer I enrolled in a one day (8:30 -5:00) PowerPoint class. Now….I am not a computer geek so this is not what I would consider to be a “good time”! I have had PowerPoint on my computer forever and I have messed around with it a few times, but…I really have had little reason to see what it can do.
One of the strong motivating factors in learning this particular software is a pending presentation that I volunteered (what was I thinking?) to give with my friend and colleague Ed Smith at the SCD seminar in October. There is nothing like a pending “opportunity” to motivate action. Sometimes we need a push to get us going.
I just returned from the class and I have to say it was really fun!! The teacher was excellent and I learned so many new things. I might even be able to teach my kids something. Okay…maybe not! Immediately after I got home from the class my daughter started quizzing me about what I learned. I think she may have taken the advanced class…HA!! Well, anyway…. I am very excited about my new found knowledge and I can’t wait to put it to good use. I can see many creative opportunities for this application in the future.
On a side note...If you have been wanting to learn something new (like ....drawing, floral design, watercolor, knitting, etc..) or if you need something to get those creative juices flowing, check into the community colleges in your area. They usually offer a wide range of art classes that are relaxed, inspiring and very educational!
One of the strong motivating factors in learning this particular software is a pending presentation that I volunteered (what was I thinking?) to give with my friend and colleague Ed Smith at the SCD seminar in October. There is nothing like a pending “opportunity” to motivate action. Sometimes we need a push to get us going.
I just returned from the class and I have to say it was really fun!! The teacher was excellent and I learned so many new things. I might even be able to teach my kids something. Okay…maybe not! Immediately after I got home from the class my daughter started quizzing me about what I learned. I think she may have taken the advanced class…HA!! Well, anyway…. I am very excited about my new found knowledge and I can’t wait to put it to good use. I can see many creative opportunities for this application in the future.
On a side note...If you have been wanting to learn something new (like ....drawing, floral design, watercolor, knitting, etc..) or if you need something to get those creative juices flowing, check into the community colleges in your area. They usually offer a wide range of art classes that are relaxed, inspiring and very educational!
Friday, August 1, 2003
I survived the 16 mile walk last weekend and I am off the hook for the 18 mile walk scheduled for this weekend because we are going camping!! I’m planning to hike in the woods on Saturday but I may be too busy eating smores! HA!
A lot of new things are happening at Deborah Spofford Designs; a new studio, a new web site, and a new logo. My logo was designed by an up and coming young woman named Katie Berggren. Katie is a talented illustrator and graphic designer. You can visit her web site at www.kmberggren.com. I met Katie at a meeting for women entrepreneurs. She made a presentation about her business and I was so impressed that I hired her to design my logo. You can find my logo at the top left corner of my web page frame. I sign my work with the initials djs (the j stands for Jean) and I add a swirl over the j instead of a dot…pretty original don’t you think! HA! So….when we were discussing ideas for a logo this seemed like a natural fit. Thanks Katie!!
I have had many “personal growth opportunities” this summer with my computer. I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about creating and maintaining a web site, I am taking a class to learn PowerPoint and Photoshop, and my newest “growth opportunity” is to learn a new email system. AAAHHHHH!!! What was wrong with the old system? I knew how to use it and I was perfectly content to use it forever! One of these days I think my head might explode from all of this new found knowledge! My daughter, Abbey, who is twelve, asked me why I was taking a class to learn PowerPoint. She said “Mom, I can teach you how to use PowerPoint; I use it all the time”. How did these kids got so far ahead of us? Well, the good news is that I have an “in house” tutor for my homework!
I think we need to celebrate our little accomplishments in life and this week I am celebrating. I successfully uploaded information to my web site ALL BY MYSELF!!
Have a good weekend everybody!
Return to www.deborahspofford.com
A lot of new things are happening at Deborah Spofford Designs; a new studio, a new web site, and a new logo. My logo was designed by an up and coming young woman named Katie Berggren. Katie is a talented illustrator and graphic designer. You can visit her web site at www.kmberggren.com. I met Katie at a meeting for women entrepreneurs. She made a presentation about her business and I was so impressed that I hired her to design my logo. You can find my logo at the top left corner of my web page frame. I sign my work with the initials djs (the j stands for Jean) and I add a swirl over the j instead of a dot…pretty original don’t you think! HA! So….when we were discussing ideas for a logo this seemed like a natural fit. Thanks Katie!!
I have had many “personal growth opportunities” this summer with my computer. I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about creating and maintaining a web site, I am taking a class to learn PowerPoint and Photoshop, and my newest “growth opportunity” is to learn a new email system. AAAHHHHH!!! What was wrong with the old system? I knew how to use it and I was perfectly content to use it forever! One of these days I think my head might explode from all of this new found knowledge! My daughter, Abbey, who is twelve, asked me why I was taking a class to learn PowerPoint. She said “Mom, I can teach you how to use PowerPoint; I use it all the time”. How did these kids got so far ahead of us? Well, the good news is that I have an “in house” tutor for my homework!
I think we need to celebrate our little accomplishments in life and this week I am celebrating. I successfully uploaded information to my web site ALL BY MYSELF!!
Have a good weekend everybody!
Return to www.deborahspofford.com
Friday, July 25, 2003
Good Morning! I am training to walk in the Porland Marathon with a group of friends that are known as the "coffee ladies" or the "Java Jewels". Part of our group was on the trail at 6:00am this morning. It is a good thing that I have friends to do this with because I would never have the dicipline to do it myself! Who really wants to get up at 5:30am? One of the benifits to getting up so early is that the weather is very cool at that time. And...really the best part of the whole thing is the fun conversation that we have while we walk. Time just flys when you are solving the worlds problems!! HA!! This weekend we are going to walk 16 miles! I hope I survive!
I am typing this from my new studio. I am offically "moved" in because my computer is up and running. Thanks to my family and all of their work, we can say the stuido is finished! I am looking forward to many creative hours in this new place!
I am also very excited to have my web site up and running. My son, Tucker, has been the creative and technical mind behind the site. I have learned a lot about creating a web site and luckly... Tucker has been very patient with me while I copy files and paste them in the wrong places, save things in the wrong format, and try to learn the lingo! I like to think of a "server" and a "host" as someone that brings you food! HA! Anyway...Thank you Tucker! You have been great!
The biggest discovery that I made recently about a web site is that it is never really "finished". There are always changes to make, new stuff to upload, and constant updating of information. Well...so much for checking that off the list.... So...check back often for new projects and information about the creative industry!
I am typing this from my new studio. I am offically "moved" in because my computer is up and running. Thanks to my family and all of their work, we can say the stuido is finished! I am looking forward to many creative hours in this new place!
I am also very excited to have my web site up and running. My son, Tucker, has been the creative and technical mind behind the site. I have learned a lot about creating a web site and luckly... Tucker has been very patient with me while I copy files and paste them in the wrong places, save things in the wrong format, and try to learn the lingo! I like to think of a "server" and a "host" as someone that brings you food! HA! Anyway...Thank you Tucker! You have been great!
The biggest discovery that I made recently about a web site is that it is never really "finished". There are always changes to make, new stuff to upload, and constant updating of information. Well...so much for checking that off the list.... So...check back often for new projects and information about the creative industry!
Thursday, July 24, 2003
I just returned from the ACCI (Association of Crafts and Creative Industries) trade show in Chicago. It was a whirlwind trip. I arrived later Thursday evening than I had planned because they had closed the Chicago airport because of bad weather. I heard it was "really" bad. Hail the size of golf balls.
I actually walked the entire show this time. My favorite place is the "New Exhibitors" area. I met some very nice people and even met someone from my own town...she lives in a neighborhood very close to my home. What a small world!
Scrapbooking is still the main focus of the "craft" world at this time. Personally...when you have seen one paper you have seen them all. If you want to be in this arena, you must find a niche! One that I noticed was a vendor selling military "stuff". They had stickers, papers, and other embellishments for all the military divisions.
I found it most interesting to look at all of the metal, acrylic, and fabric embellishments that were being shown. Those are things that can be added to any sort of design, not just a scrapbook page!
I worked in the Fiskars booth most of the time. My job was to teach people how to use the ShapeCutter. I just love that tool!! Fiskars has a new letter template...Letters-4. It is a little more whimisal than the other letter templates. It was fun to visit with the store buyers and teach them how to demonstrate the ShapeCutter in their stores.
The show ended at 4:00 and I was at the airport at 5:00. My flight was delayed out of Chicago (although we beat the storm this time) and I almost missed my connection in San Francisco. Lucky for me, the pilots were also late arriving from Seattle so the connection was running late. Anyway...I got home at 1:30am....AAHHH!!
I actually walked the entire show this time. My favorite place is the "New Exhibitors" area. I met some very nice people and even met someone from my own town...she lives in a neighborhood very close to my home. What a small world!
Scrapbooking is still the main focus of the "craft" world at this time. Personally...when you have seen one paper you have seen them all. If you want to be in this arena, you must find a niche! One that I noticed was a vendor selling military "stuff". They had stickers, papers, and other embellishments for all the military divisions.
I found it most interesting to look at all of the metal, acrylic, and fabric embellishments that were being shown. Those are things that can be added to any sort of design, not just a scrapbook page!
I worked in the Fiskars booth most of the time. My job was to teach people how to use the ShapeCutter. I just love that tool!! Fiskars has a new letter template...Letters-4. It is a little more whimisal than the other letter templates. It was fun to visit with the store buyers and teach them how to demonstrate the ShapeCutter in their stores.
The show ended at 4:00 and I was at the airport at 5:00. My flight was delayed out of Chicago (although we beat the storm this time) and I almost missed my connection in San Francisco. Lucky for me, the pilots were also late arriving from Seattle so the connection was running late. Anyway...I got home at 1:30am....AAHHH!!
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