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.

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!!

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!!