Moonset and Sunrise

Sometimes you just have to get up at 5 a.m. to enjoy stuff. This morning's hike up to the Observation Tower on Mt. Tom to watch a simultaneous moonset and sunrise was so worth it. How cool are these photos, just minutes apart. It actually got colder as the sun rose and I had to put my parka back on, but it might have had something to do with the sweat drying from the long climb in the dark.

Quote of the Day

"If you trust yourself, any choice you make will be correct. If you do not trust yourself, anything you do will be wrong." ~ Kwai Chang Caine

Support Hospice!

I'm signed up to walk the annual Step Out for Hospice Walk on Saturday, May 30th along with my family. Please support the fine services that Hospice provides.

My fundraising efforts are in memory of my Mother, BettyAnn Taylor, who passed away on Sunday, March 15, 2009.

You can make a secure, on-line donation at: http://www.firstgiving.com/brianataylor

Crafting with zero time

I've got no time. I don't know about anyone else, but seriously....time....zip....nadda.....no way......nothing....

And yet ......I'm still compelled to scratch out little bits of time to make things.

One Year Anniversary Sale on Etsy!!

December 12 is my one year anniversary on Etsy! It's been a great year, Etsy couldn't be a better site for artists and craftspeople to sell their creations!

I'm marking my quilts down by 20% in the shop until December 22! Yay!

Open Studio & Holiday Sale at Cottage Street Studios

It's the best time of year! It's the busiest time of year. Not only was the Annual Celebration of the Arts Party & Open House on December 4th, but December 5, 6 & 7th mark the 21st anniversary Cottage Street Studios Open Studio & Holiday Sale! It's a busy weekend for me and I'm camped out in the studio for its entirety! Please come by and visit if you are in the area. It's completely worth it if you are into art and handmade fine crafts, etc. Check out the Cottage Street Studios website for directions and a list of the over 30 artisans who have their doors open this weekend.

My studio is #418 on the fourth floor just outside of the passenger elevator. Today was great (Friday, December 5), and I really wanted to count visitors to my studio but just couldn't keep count after a while. I'd say at least 80 people came through in the five hours that we were open today. Tomorrow should be even better given a lot of people were at their jobs today. I ended up selling a lot of my Etsy inventory, and now that I have internet access right in my studio, I was able to inactivate the sold things as they went out the door. Fantastic. I'll be sewing like a mad woman next week to make up for the slack!

See you soon!

Tis the Season.

I've been busy in the sweatshop getting ready for Cyber Monday, if there is such a thing. I'm hoping there is because look at these sweet place mats I'm going to post. You can't buy this kind of color combination at Target, my friends. And that's the whole point of buying handmade, is it not? To get something unique, interesting, and maybe in a way, precious.

This year my family has decided to have an All-Handmade-Christmas. Everyone is baking, sewing, crafting, knitting, and other things, like making certificates to change each other's oil and such. How cool is that?! I'm more excited about this holiday season than I've been in a long time because I just can't imagine what my family might make for me. I've got my list ready and am busy sewing and sawing away to make my gifts.

Next weekend (December 5-7th) is the Holiday Open Studios and Sale at Cottage Street Studios where I have my studio. I've been there painting like a mad woman getting ready for that as well. Don't plan on seeing me until December 8th when I can re-surface and have a social life again. Best of luck to all of my crafting friends and fine arts friends during this holiday season.