The Good and Bad of 2009 !

Where to start....this year has been hard in so many ways, with pockets of wonderful tucked in........and since I am a person that usually sees the glass half full......I try to look on any bad parts as making the good so precious....
It is not easy changing your whole life around.People expect you to follow the same path you have been on for so long....change is scary , but also it opens you to such possibilities that it makes you forget that you really are an old fart !....well maybe that is a little harsh, but until 2000, I was just in my own little world painting for one shop , and oblivious as to what was happening in the trade.....
when you start making changes, it is like a snowball effect...people that I had had a relationship for years , took offense...how dare I go my own way...sometimes people feel that an artist is a possession...no ambition to stretch...
when you do what is best and fair for yourself, you really do find out who values you as a person and not just the last canvas you created.....
In the space of one year there is not one aspect in business that I have not made major changes... a new distributor Dream House Ventures, new shops to paint custom for .....the prime shop being The Needlepointer in WA...what a shop ! ....my husband ,becoming a part of the business...and our whole world revolving around my business.....I have come into contact with some of the nicest ladies this last year......these shop owners are the backbone of the business....
the editor of Needlework Retailer, Megan....she really loves the trade and I hope in the future to write an article about being a needlepoint artist ...it is a part of the trade that seems to go unexplored.......yes everyone sees the end product...but it is a very tedious time consuming process to turn an idea into a well executed needlepoint canvas....
the richness of what is available in fibers, just blows me away....like night and day from when I started in 1972..........
of course there is always the sad part that can't be brushed aside...losing a family member...and yes. our dogs are just that...they add so much to my studio life...each puppy has been raised in the studio...chewing up paper, paint pots, and very expensive paint brushes...I have even lost the occasional needlepoint canvas...they like the sizing....we are in pursuit of a puppy now, because
all our dogs have always been raised with dog brothers or sisters...Squiggee is lost these days...she spends way too much time waiting for her sweet Bubbles to come back......I wish !!!!....
but soon we will be consumed in puppy poo and all that goes with it......we have laughed and recalled so many stories about our dog children since Bubbles died...over the years they have added so much to our family life...each one being so different....
our favorite puppy story...
one purely uneventful Monday morning, I was vacuuming in the bedroom while Squiggee was loose following me.....when I started back from the other side of the bed.....I vacuumed up a pile of soft puppy poo before I could stop the machine...it was like nothing you can imagine....... one of those things that I just couldn't handle....in defense, the rug is a dark brown and Squiggee had just been out and did a big poo...so it was unseen and unexpected......I got a large garbage bag and put the poo end of the vacuum in and sealed it up and decided that it would leave it for my husband to deal with when he came home that evening from work.....this is what my husband really excels at...he seems to know when it is important to take charge and he did... the vacuum had to be taken apart and cleaned...he didn't grumble he just laughed and said this kind of thing only happens to me.....I do have a way for making the bizarre happen.......if I had been single I would have just thrown the vacuum out....really...!!!
a special kiss kiss to Margaret, Donnelle and Georga Dee...for the great models they have worked for Squiggee this year...and of course my most wonderfullest finishers, of Stitchery Square....Michelle G and Michelle S...they have given Squiggee a very polished professional look...my extended Squiggee family....What's The Point,in Dublin Ohio...The Needled Canvas, in Marrietta Georgia...... The French Knot, in Raleigh, NC.....The Needlewoman East, Falls Church, VA...Waste Knot , in Arlington, VA...Kelsey's Needle Krafts, in Placerville, CA....Pins and Needles in Princeton, NJ....Absolutely Needlepoint, in Cincinnati, Ohio and lastly...The 3 Kittens Needle Arts, in Mendota Heights, MN.... we here in Squiggeeland love new people...we hope our extended Squiggee family increases in 2010...what fun !

So all in all I guess I am really blessed...with a husband that will work for me, and is my biggest fan...Squiggee, my little sweet Boston and a group of friends & colleagues that make life so rich......
Seeeeeeeee I can be sweet !...not just the Queen Bitch I feel it requires to take care of business these days...I have become a little hard and driven...I always was... (not my fault...the Irish/Scottish mixture that rules my heart and mind).......it has just been put the test this last year....come to think of it...my glass is just overflowing....
xoxoxoxox
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