When we were in Springfield, MO in May Robert and I stopped at Bass Pro Shops and of course we buy the thing that everyone buys when they go to Bass Pro Shops.
A opossum. Not just any opossum, but a squeaky one for the dogs.
Since then Josie has claimed the opossum for herself and it's 100% her baby. Just about any time I see her asleep somewhere, the opossum is with her. Not always in plain view. Sometimes I have to root around until I find it, but it's there.
Robert and I took a much-needed week off to drive highway 5 from Hot Springs, AR to Des Moines, IA. Highway 5 is special to me, because it was one of the main roads we drove during my childhood. In fact, it's one of two ways to leave Greenview, MO, which is the part of Lake of the Ozarks I grew up in. We learned that Greenview is not listed as a town, even though the sign is still there letting you know you're there. At some point since my childhood it ceased to exist. Or maybe it never existed as a town, and the two hundred or so full-time folks living in Greenview found a way to get one of those official signs.
At some point several years ago Robert and I started talking about highway five, and the next thing you know, we traced exactly where it went. There are many jogs, winding roads, old bridges, old sections, new sections, and we did our best to weave our way through all of it. There were several times we could see the ghost of old highway five when we were on a new stretch, and we would jump off and explore when possible. The coolest thing we saw was an old bridge in Arkansas on an old section of highway 5 and then, when we were just inside IA, we saw that same bridge. Same exact design! I didn't take pictures, because it was too difficult to really capture the old bridges while driving the new sections. But what a full circle!
This was our first trip where we created pins and layers. Our first layer was the highway itself and the subsequent layering included all the stops we wanted to make in or near the highway. It was a lot of fun to work on the map together over the past couple months, and we'll probably use this method again when traveling. We've got our eyes on U.S. Route 50 as the next road to tackle, and it will likely take a couple trips to cover it all.
Here is a picture of our Hwy 5 map:
Other pictures from our trip:
One thing I will say about Little Rock, AR and AR in general is that the people we encountered were particularly friendly and warm.
I stopped at Argenta Bead and the gal there paused what she was doing when she heard I was from KC to text a friend there who knew of a place that sold beads but wasn't necessarily a bead store.
I also found stamps at this bead store, which was a first. I've been buying stamps here and there for a future project, and this bead store had both bug stamps and one bat stamp.
We stopped at a few libraries during our journey. One library in AR refused to sell me a blank library card. This is the first time it's ever happened! While I was unable to get a library card from that particular library, I did see something that absolutely delighted me. Their BSC books were the 80s editions, the very editions I read when I was young.
The best library we visited had something we've never seen in a library before. An aviary! It was donated by the Jaarsma's and houses a variety of birds. Robert did his usual quick walk through of the library and settled into the quietest room. I texted him and asked if he saw the birds. I think he thought I was talking about a display. I looked up the library afterwards and listed in the volunteer duties is aviary maintenance. That has to be one of the most obscure library volunteer jobs ever, right?
Though it was well off highway 5, Robert and I decided to drive into Springfield because we were driving through on a day when Arrow Creative Reuse was open. Craft recycling stores are at the top of my travel list. This one is looking for a new home where they can have both their workshop and store spaces in one spot. I sincerely hope they can continue on. I found a bunch of exciting things and also chatted with the gal working there, who is a crankie artist! I didn't even know such an art form existed, so she regaled me with everything that went into being a crankie artist.
Here's my haul:
We loved the heck out of Des Moines, IA, which is where we spent the last few days of our trip. We spent a day in Pella, which is where we saw the library with the aviary. We also went up to Boone to tour the museum and try out the rail explorers, which is an experience where you can ride a pedal cart along a railroad. We arrived at the museum to discover it was closed. Thankfully a volunteer saw us and gave us a private tour. Robert said it was the second coolest train museum he's seen after the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs, IA. We were so thrilled the volunteer was there and happy to give us a tour. While we waited for our rail explorers reservation I stopped in a bookstore, which had two shop cats, Einstein and Emerson.
I absolutely would love a kitty basket for my convenience!
Sadly, our rail explorers reservation was cancelled due to rain. But that just means we're definitely coming back!
It was just about the most relaxing trip a person can take. Each morning I stayed in bed reading as long as I liked. We went swimming almost every day, and one day twice because the pool opened at 5AM. We met interesting people, explored all the places the interstate swoops past, and absorbed the long stretches of quiet. We even had a few good meals. I stocked up on my overnight oats thinking hwy 5 probably wasn't a place for anyone avoiding dairy. And though I was right sometimes, there were a few places we loved. The Root Cafe in Little Rock, AR is at the top of the list. Though Italian is typically a no-go for me, the bruschetta at Bambinos in Springfield, MO is one of the best things we'll ever have the opportunity to eat in our lives. It's magical. The fact that even Robert enjoys it, and he normally can't stand cold/raw tomatoes says everything. Also, Goldie's Bagels in Columbia, MO is comparable to our KC bagel shop, Meshuggah. And unlike Meshuggah they've got bottomless coffee and oat milk.
I think we're ready to dive back into work and school and anything thing else life throws at us (within reason). But I know I'm already thinking about the next road trip, ready to begin the planning, which is almost as exciting as the trip itself.
My second art fair was a lot of fun. We had the tiniest bit of wacky weather, but mostly it was blazing hot with zero shade. Our biggest takeaway was that I needed a sun umbrella for my chair.
The best thing about the Mulvane art fair was our booth neighbor, Andrew Batcheller, an artist from Joplin, MO. I'll unabashedly talk him up here. His work is instantly stunning, and if it isn't enough that it immediately captures your attention, it's the kind of art that also sneaks its way in. I'm one of the lucky and sometimes unlucky people who remember my dreams. I wasn't surprised at all that Andrew's artwork snuck its way into my dreams. He was also incredibly kind, funny, and personable. It was really special connecting with him during our weekend together.
After packing up everything from the art fair we spent a lovely evening with a poet friend of mine, Carolyn. Here is one of her poems. She gave us a tour of her remarkable home and garden, and we were stunned by the beauty, love, and attention she gave to everything she touched. Walking her vast garden was comparable to a stroll through a botanical garden. Her garden was even featured in Better Homes & Gardens once upon a time, and she is a national flower arrangement champion. I know her through her poetry, and even though it is transportive, it only touches upon all the pieces that comprise her as a person. It was such an honor to spend time with her and get to know her better.
Every fall the hedge apples visit like some kind of vibrant, squiggly, smelly aliens, and I'm always so overjoyed by their presence. I feel such kinship with these sticky balls of fluorescence.
If hedge apples had a group name, it would be a squiggle. Storm drains are the perfect place to find a squiggle of hedge apples. Grass, fall leaves, and other foliage can easily hide hedge apples, but storm drains are a perfect backdrop for them.
Last fall I could no longer resist the temptation of the chartreuse calling to me from one of our many storm drains where I live. So I sat with them.
I took a lot of pictures. I looked at all the shadows of each picture and noticed that there was a world of colors living just inside the shadows, and that the shadows were everywhere.
It took me a while to figure out a hedge apple method that clicked with me. I initially laid out the tiny pieces with no color underneath, and it just didn't work, so I added a layer of paper underneath the tiny pieces. I divided up the hedge apple colors into three categories of light, medium, and dark, and those shadows stayed consistent throughout the four pieces. The background leaf litter shadows changed with each collage. As for the leaf litter colors, I went effing wild with them. Every tree that ever existed lives above that storm drain (at least in my imagination). I've never had so many different paper tubs out all out at once!
I settled on four different collages and spent a lot of time precutting the hedge apple slivers. Each time I worked with the hedge apples I started the journey by cutting more slivers. By the fourth piece I was so over it! Naturally, the fourth one is my favorite, mostly because I saved the cranberry shadows for the last one. If it weren't for the excitement of cranberry shadows, I would have heaved the last one in the timeout pile with exceptional force.
About a week after finishing all the hedge apples, I found myself looking at a 24X24" blank wooden canvas I had on hand, and I could already see the giant hedge apples taking shape in the wood grain. So who knows. This may not be the last of the hedge apples.
In all the chaos of ordinary life things, I haven't mentioned how much fun Robert and I had at the Artfest art fair in Springfield, MO. I had a lot of wonderful conversations, was inspired on so many levels (art, poetry, people watching, booth setup, overhearing conversations etc.), and sold a few things.
Robert filling up the water weights in a gas station bathroom (he has a funny story about this):
Last minute hardware additions in the hotel parking lot 😆:
I especially loved the conversations with people who said my art reminded them of their ancestors' and/or family's artwork. I remembered two of these techniques, Kumihimo and Huichol beading, both of which I looked up later and was totally gobsmacked by. There are so many beautiful techniques and art forms out there. I will never know them all!
Robert and I also walked away with a few things to work on. The biggest thing that needs to change is naturally the smallest thing. I printed all my artwork tags on business card paper, and after putting them up, they all promptly fell to the ground overnight and also every time we had a breeze. I also had two tags for almost every piece of art, because I decided to include QR codes to the item's blog post where I talk about the process and/or share progress pics.
My plan is to make laminate tags this time on the laser engraver at work and figure out a way to squeeze in the QR code so everything is on one tag. That way when someone buys a piece of artwork they have something more durable if they want to look up the QR code later and not some tag that got super soggy from falling to the ground despite multiple hooks and gorilla tape. I am still trying to figure out how to secure the tags to the walls. I'm concerned the laminate tags will still keep falling if there is any wind. I may need to tie them up with something durable instead of hooks.
It's nice to have a takeaway that's manageable. I have another art fair coming up the weekend of June 7-8th in Topeka, KS. The only thing that's changing for this fair are the tags. Everything else we want to do will wait until fall if I'm accepted to the fairs I've applied for. When I applied for the Topeka art fair, I knew I wanted to reach out to a writer friend of mine who lives there. During the pandemic my monthly poetry group started meeting virtually. Even once it was safe to meet in person again, we stayed virtual because one of the members of the group moved and we also gained two out-of-town writers who were friends of other writers in the group. One of these writers that I've been meeting with virtually for the last few years lives in Topeka. It's only an hour away, but we never get around to going there. After the art fair, Robert and I are going to officially meet her in person and check out her garden, which is legendary. It's going to be a wonderful weekend!
Last month I decided to do something brave and apply as an artist for a show/project that I've been a part of as a writer in the past. This show is in Columbia, MO at the Columbia Art League gallery and is near and dear to my heart. They pair up 35 writers with 35 artists and they spend a couple months interpreting each other's work. I have been accepted three times as a writer. This year I decided to apply as an artist for the first time, and one of my pieces was accepted. I received the poem that I'm interpreting, and I couldn't be more pleased. The piece I submitted for interpretation is an embroidery piece with flowers and a tangle of wild grass. The poem I'm interpreting is about prairie grasses. Seriously! When I haven't been working on finishing up a couple collages for the June art fair, I've been making these absurd prairie grass drawings with lopsided birds. I finally have three pieces of fabric and a few beads picked out. It's going to be a wild journey.
Work is still a lot, but I can now do so much more such as build trophies, plaques, and other things without assistance. Customers and their stories are my favorite part of my job, but I also love the accounting side of things and pretty much anything to do with production. I have no issues with stopping everything and building 70 trophies for a rush job while I listen to an audiobook. Love it.
I love not knowing what someone is going to walk in and hand me - an old blue croquet ball, a horseshoe from a Clydesdale, a rubber chicken wing, a broken pig figurine from a trophy, a Precious Moments bible (haven't seen one of these since I was a kid), buck antlers, a dagger, bowling pins, an ancient matchbook so worn you can almost see through it. We recently had someone ask to personalize the tiniest of lapel pins. We have a scratch engraver but no jig to hold something like that, and nobody wants to lose a hand holding it, so that was out. We had some time to think, so we did. Finally, it came to me that we could stick it in a piece of styrofoam so it lays flat so we can UV print on it (UV printers can only do flat items).
We are almost done with all the building updates, but it's been busy and kinda wild some days with our everyday workload in addition to end-of-the-school-year orders. Also, we had just priced everything in the showroom, and now price changes are slowly trickling in thanks to the tariffs. Thankfully, we chose to use price range stickers, so there are some items that are still in the right range even with the tariffs.
We also had our first official UV printer job with a handful of others starting to trickle in. Our biggest task for the UV printer is making jigs for future orders, which are these pieces we custom cut on our laser engraver that will hold multiples of the same item such as medals. Our first official sand carving job is due in less than two weeks, which is very exciting. Once we get going on the sand carver I am going to be going to a lot of liquor stores to let them know we are officially in the bottle engraving business!
I am eager to share all of our before/after pictures around the shop, but we aren't quite finished. Robert and I are hoping to put together more shelves this weekend, perhaps even the rest of them, and then we can officially organize products again, which will be a thing of beauty and so nice to have everything in its place.
For right now, Margo is the most beautiful thing at work (she has no trouble convincing others of this). She has a few fans now who come in just for some golden therapy. Occasionally I'll be with a customer and there will be a squeal of delight. Next thing I know, Margo is at their side. She's a pretty smart cookie. She doesn't come out for every customer interaction, but if she does, she'll sit right at the entryway to the back, smiling and wiggling her whole self. If there's a squeal of delight or someone calls for her she will go to them. If not, she's been doing a good job staying right at the entryway. Occasionally, she comes and sits in the entryway without me noticing. I'm always so tickled when I hear that squeal of delight before I even register Margo is there.
I loved working with the orange felt so much, I jumped right into another felt piece. Every so often I need to grow some variation of a rainbow. Rainbows feed my soul. I occasionally like to create some off-the-wall rules just to see what color gets a little carried away. It's an effective way of surprising myself, but occasionally I have to fiddle with the first draft so to speak in order to soothe any moments of imbalance.
It's for sale on Etsy.
I am a little behind sharing my latest pieces, so my next few posts will be all about my artsy fartsy stuff.
I knew I was going to use an ungodly amount of baubles for this piece, so I used a ridiculously thick and soft piece of felt. Any time I hit a snag, I pretty much had to say the hell with it, and move on. There were no backsies due to every single stitch being gobbled up by the felt.
This piece has already sold, but I took some pretty snazzy shots for prints, so it will live on in different ways.
My niece, Autumn picked out a jar of buttons for me during one of their family trips, and a few are in this piece.
This is for all you I Spy fans. Autumn's buttons are the fuzzy red one (something I would have never looked twice at but am now obsessed with finding more), an orange umbrella, and a red star. Can you find all three?
I cannot keep up with life at the moment. There's a lot of chaos - the good, the murky, the unknown. A lot of creating what I think is a rhythm, but within days I'm scrambling to once again to try out another rhythm. It feels a lot like it did way back when I was clawing my way through my undergrad degree while cobbling together enough money to pay for it with half a dozen jobs. This time around I'm a little more set in my ways or at least the idea of having a set of ways.
My spring classes are almost over, and I will have a small break for a couple weeks before my summer class. Library work is still very much an intrinsic part of my being. I get through entire days now where I don't mourn the loss of my job as a youth information specialist. I'm honestly just too busy. I have two semesters left of my degree, and it will be both a relief and another loss, even as I gain something that could be used as a bridge to that part of myself if I choose to use it later.
I still feel like I'm floundering at work some days as a business owner. The gal I work with, J, started humming the muffin man one day, and I had to chuckle at the hilarity of it. The two worlds of the library and a personalization business briefly collided. Not that I ever sang the muffin man during my storytimes! I so enjoy working with J and the work we do. I thought Robert was one of the best teachers with the most patience, but J almost has him beat. I only recently discovered that instead of winging it and trimming later (which still works best sometimes) when I cut metal for plaques, I can measure first and may not need to trim later. Imagine working with someone who is so slow to these realizations! But J is patient with me as I learn the work. Robert is patient with me as I learn the accounting. And we have all learned the new laser and sand carving machines together. Next week we learn how to use a UV printer. The building updates are almost complete too. My hope is that by the end of the summer I know a little bit more, and we are dividing up the production tasks more equally. I think this will go a long way with feeling like I am contributing and less like I'm gobbling up so much time learning everything.
I was accepted for two upcoming art fairs, which has taken up a surprising amount of time and space in our house as we prepare. These will be my first solo fairs. I not only have a few new pieces, but also prints! The first art fair will be in Springfield, MO, which is a very special place for me. The second will be in Topeka, KS, which is closer to home. I'm excited to learn more and soak up all the art energy.
My experiences with family recently have been in the toilet, so I won't dwell too much on that. I also have not written anything other than papers for months now. Writing has always been a challenge for me, and recently it's been hard as heck. I sit down to write, and I usually just cry it all out. I think the only other time my brain has been so taxed was when I fought my way through math in college. And I can't think of another time when my brain, when not focused on all the learning at work, has been so preoccupied with what feels like a losing battle with my longtime pal, the serenity prayer.
I think my current plan is to ride the waves of chaos until mid-summer or so, which is when it sounds like I may have some time to take a step back and take a deeper look at things. It's so important to me to take time to reflect on all the special moments in life, and I recognize I've struggled to do that for several months now. Hopefully, I can get into a rhythm mid-summer or so. For now, it's enough to embrace everything that's blooming at the moment and let go of staring at the dirt where I know dozens of bulbs have been planted over the years.
My plan was to attempt weekly posts until the chaos settled, but that is currently too lofty a goal.
Owning a business is a lot of work! Especially since I am learning everything. Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed Robert keeps telling me I'm doing a good job for somebody who is trying to jump on a moving treadmill that's also on a moving train. This is about the best analogy for my situation. We went to the APA (Awards and Personalization Association) Conference the first week of February, which was SO overwhelming in so many ways. But we walked away purchasing some much-needed equipment - a sand carving machine, UV Printer, and a new Laser. Whew! I have been learning about our current laser, which will continue to be primarily used by J, who is our graphic designer and engraver extraordinaire. However, I plan to learn everything there is to know about sand carving and uv printing, so I will be involved in a lot of training. We are also making some exciting updates to the shop itself - updating some areas, adding storage, and modernizing our showroom. All this and I'm still learning the business itself and accounting.
My personal life has been chaotic as well. Robert and I moved my dad up to the city and have been working on getting him into a permanent place. Holy paperwork, prescriptions, and phone calls! Taking an active role in his care and needs has been challenging. He's very stubborn, has a lot of issues especially with mobility, and finding that sweet spot of autonomy he deserves but without falls or other scary happenings has been difficult. I'll keep you all posted on the journey.
One of Robert's sisters and her fiancé just moved to the city too, so suddenly we are flush with family.
One of the two classes I'm taking this semester has been confusing and overwhelming, but I am enjoying my other class, which is Librarianship in Prisons. Completing my degree is important to me, but it also feels very weird. I will finally have the degree at the end of this year but may never have the word librarian in my job title. While working on my business cards with J, we were puzzling over what my cards should say. I really feel like an elf in Santa's workshop but I also spend a lot of time on the backend of things like accounting. It's the first time in my life I've had to come up with my own job titles.
At the end of January my brother Scott and his wife welcomed a new member to their family, Grant, so I have another nephew! I couldn't lead with the most exciting thing though, could I?
I bet y'all want some pictures from the past month, so here we go!
Our winter has been particularly hellish. I was a member of various tennis clubs for fifteen years. In 2019, when I had my yearlong battle to mend some herniated discs I ended my membership, and I haven't been back. January 2025 is the first year since 2020 where I missed an entire month of tennis due to shitty weather. An entire month! Thankfully, the first couple days of February were beautiful. I told Robert the two most beautiful words were empty and dry. It took three parks that day to find a court that was both empty and dry, and it was glorious.
Just after landing in Las Vegas for the APA conference, all the lights went out at the airport and someone had to manually open the train to let us on. However, the airport did have generators for the most important things. Can you see the slot machines glowing in the dark?
Currently we have a Trotec laser at my shop, and it's been amazing, so that is what we purchased for our next laser. You can make a lot of things in the laser, including these cool patches for your shoes, which is what their salespeople were wearing. I also really liked this wall of trotec art.
Margo and her boat. Having my dogs with me pretty much all the time has been one of the biggest blessings in the past six months. They bring me so much comfort, and we have so many fun adventures together.
Josie and her bed, which she lets us use sometimes.
Some mega exciting pictures of a small part of our backroom. The first picture is the before picture. We finished out some unfinished walls and added storage. Everything from the ceiling to the floor is 40 years of adjusting the space to make it work over the years.
We have unearthed some very weird things:
* Florescent lights connected to power strips in the ceiling.
* Drywall tape used as trim. Fancy!
* 23 trashcans, 6 filing cabinets, at least 20 space heaters/air purifiers, and 11 office chairs were unearthed
* Cords that go to absolutely nowhere hanging all over the place.
* A door and some two by fours were used to make a desk (not a bad contraption so we still have this).
* The heating doesn't cover one third of the showroom or part of the eye doctor's office next door (thus so many space heaters).
* The refrigerator and microwave both plug into a power strip that leads to one of the restrooms (so many powerstrips). The fire inspection lady (Margo's new bosom friend) has told us this is called daisy chaining. If you ever see a pamphlet for fire safety where they show you pictures of what not to do, I'm pretty sure many of the pictures come from us. You're welcome!
* The back doors don't seal and the cutest snowdrifts have been living just on the inside of the doors all winter. Hell, it can't be a fire hazard with our cute little snowdrift buddies, right?
* False walls, cork boards, whiteboard, and pegboards that looked completely innocent on the front, but with backs absolutely chock full of spiders and nests so thick, they were beginning to build skyscrapers, urban green spaces, and their own transit systems.
We are so thrilled to get some walls!
All of our items that are ready for pickup are now in one spot with some custom shelves. Look how the bottom allows space for taller items!
I keep finding really old stuff. We were holding on to items customers didn't pick up in the 90s. No joke! This has been the oldest find so far - an unopened burn cream tube from a first aid kit with an expiration date of 1987. Robert joked that at least burns aren't something we need to worry about.
Margo really needs you to know she's the most important part of this post, so the post is ending with her.
