Marsha, Remember Form… Copyright Issues Part 2

First, Thank You for all your comments on my first post about this issue.

Unfortunately these posts are typed out…

We are not sitting having coffee or tea and brownies and talking about this in person, able to express and clarify points that may be misunderstood…

I will be trying to clarify my points as I find the time to write a bit more about it in upcoming posts. Remember, I AM in the midst of copyright infringement cases, so I have to make sure not to open my mouth too much. So these posts take more time than normal to write because I write and edit then re-read, write again (and deal with life in between)…

I also have questions and concerns about what is going on in the industry as a whole - bead and jewelry related.

What is right and wrong. What is acceptable, what isn't. Where do the lines get drawn...

I am learning & really trying to think about things as I get into this, and I want to share with anyone that wants to read about it (or maybe even go have that cup of coffee)…

And since it is Self Portrait Friday, I wanted to talk about my work and my inspirations and touch on why I make the work I do and why I feel I have a fighting chance with my copyright cases.

I thought that since I am constantly behind my iPhone snapping pictures of everything...

My Friday Self Portrait Photograph is appropriately this:

Self Portrait Friday: My iPhone and Me...

I am inspired by nature, by textures, colors, patterns, by fabrics, by architecture, there is so much out there to see if you have the time to look…

Playground equipment rust and wear… So beautiful!

I do not travel about with a sketch book in hand these days to sit and look about and take the time to draw. That is reserved for when I am able to sit and draw and doodle out textures and designs from imagery that I have captured or collected by photographs or fragmented memories of things seen.

I have two little kids (9 months and 2.5 years old) - my hands are occupied by them most of the time (not just holding them, but actually doing stuff with them and for them)...

My hands like to be in the garden, feeling the earth, caring for what grows in it and exploring what depends on it… I find peace out there...

I've got a Bachelor of Science degree in Entomology, concentrating in Wildlife Conservation.

I have a Masters degree in Art: Ceramics.

I like to observe, photograph, to interact, to teach, to explore, to laugh, to get freaked out by a passing insect that surprises me or walking into a spider web - ugh. 

To find inner happiness in the small things.

Heck, I even have a blog dedicated to my garden I enjoy it so much…

So is it any wonder that when we moved into this house five years ago - in the height of my business success, with lots of potential garden areas (there were overgrown ones everywhere), I found inspiration in being outside in nature. One time specifically after encountering earth worms that are freakishly large, wiggly, and plentiful in the garden beds here. 

I'm not into touching slimy things that wriggle all over the place, and move faster when you poke at them: and earth worms fall into that "freak me out" category. 

However, they are cool to look at, and I get a kick out of the way they eek me out. I sometimes wonder what people think as they walk by and see me doing the eww, one just wiggled on me jumping move - you know the one… 

You've probably done it too. 

They fascinate me: the way their bodies move, the way their "skin" is somewhat translucent, somewhat iridescent. And all that other cool stuff: like if you cut them in half, they become 2 (not sure about the technical stuff there), you can see some of their organs looking at them from the outside. Since childhood they have been interesting to me in some manner. I've never met anyone that hasn't had a reaction to earthworms, have you?

So thinking about their appearance of segmented bodies, the way they wriggle, their long, slender body I went into the house and did a few drawings - letting my mind fall into what I had seen and watching the lines appear on the page in front of me…

Soon after, I rolled out a slab of clay and started to carve that drawing into it, and a few hours later, hands numb from carving (I carve all at once for a uniform look), I had created a texture plate full of earth worms (see the bottom of the picture below, that is part of my texture plate)...

When I first started making pendants, I had to figure out how to make them faster to keep cost down. In earth clays, it's not the materials cost that is expensive, it's the time it takes to make something and fire it multiple times…

Carving textures like this allows me to cut many pieces from one slab of clay that I roll out on it (see the square commercially available clay cookie cutters - I use them all the time - as do many other clay artists… LOL). And those many pieces I cut out weren't all identical, but they were in fact pretty similar. You get that right - so I could create a catalog for customers to be able to order something and get what they were asking for, and give them something unique at the same time? 

It was a business move on my part (patting myself on the back for figuring that out - it was a "duh" moment in the studio).

There are many steps that follow in order to get the finished pendant to the level of quality I want my work to be at. I don't like my pieces big and chunky and heavy. Thin, beveled edges, glazed on both sides, clean small holes for stringing - that's what I want. That's how my pieces look.

So now look closely at the picture above...

Can you pick out my pieces and the ones I am calling knock offs?

Don't scroll down yet - it's like seeing the answers on a test. 

I tried to put in extra line spaces to help.

The ones with the Earth Worms texture?

Which - I must say - is a unique texture in itself.

And yes, is copyrighted by Marsha Neal Studio, LLC.

The ones that are not created in my studio are crossed out in the above picture.

Now here is another picture that my friend snapped with her phone in the gift shop in Colorado of a knock off pendant necklace with the Earth Worms Texture pendant.

Ok, wait… This one - it's different right - because someone went in and removed the lines from my drawing… Is it different enough? I would have to argue firmly NO. 

It's still my Earth Worms design - the outline anyway.

And yes - my flower design, cluster spirals, frog eggs, urban grid, and many more...

Why No? 

Well the technical stuff on taking a piece, or a picture of a piece and making a mold or copy can get a little boring (see the beads-of-clay blog if you want to learn technical insights on making clay beads - it is an invaluable resource). 

And I am tempted to actually make molds myself & photograph the steps in detail to give my lawyer even more technical evidence on how it would be done to help our case. Heck, I think it would be funny to do a bead challenge to see how many of my clay friends would want to do it too just to prove the point about the ease of making a mold from someone else's finished piece. 

Something being easy to do does not make it right.

I shouldn't even have to type that...

But just at the surface level of seeing pieces, take a look at this series of pictures for a quick general idea.

Scale is about the same.

Color is similar (again - it's a glaze - not a unique special to me thing - I am not claiming to have made up "green translucent glaze").

And you can see how the texture was removed.

You know it was removed because the actual carving is deeper (higher relief) but the outline is the same.

And if you look at the group shot a few pictures up, there are various sizes, but scale remains the same which means the mold was made from one of my larger pendants.

Oh, the molds that are used - and how they have to botch up a perfectly clean design by making molds from glazed pieces. Ugh - the loss of detail. So not pretty...

Ok, now before you continue to say: Marsha, move on, make new stuff (that is obvious by the way, and will happen as soon as inspiration is let free again and I get enough brain cells built back up after birthing 2 kids)… I can't do everything all at one time and actually have a semblance of a life outside of "beads". Because really, my life does not revolve around making art.

I don't have a point to prove.

I make beads because I like doing it…

I like making them for people to use in their beautiful jewelry designs…

I love the colors and textures of the designs and the glazes…

I am quite fond of their individual unique qualities that each firing offers...

I have to say that I made the decision to hire a lawyer after I got the many (many!) various pieces in hand, and into my studio and the similarities were astounding - definitely my actual designs.

I'm more amazed that they would just make copies, because clay is one of the easiest materials to make things from and make it somewhat unique… I mean - really?!

And it really started to hit me after I had customers come up to me at a show or email me to see if I had earrings that matched the pendant they picked up at a bead shop on vacation "because you do have ceramic pendants too, and this looks like it would match" (hello - that is because it is my design, but not my piece…).

Because over the last 8 years I made sure to make a name for my business within the bead industry by putting a ton of money & time into print advertisements, website design, and redesign, printable catalogs, new stock, new designs (again, my own drawings & texture plates), new glazes, time traveling, away from my husband, missing family events because of selling at shows, establishing relationships with customers, figuring out how to run a business and keep it afloat in a recession, teach people about what I was figuring out through Beads of Clay (our great wonderful family of clay bead makers!), then deal with some major personal losses and changes in the last four years…

I am not just going to sit here and let this just pass me by and lose any rights that I have to something I have created. This is a business. This is not a one of a kind super expensive piece of artwork that is going to hang in a gallery somewhere. 

I make and sell porcelain pendants & beads. Why would someone that doesn't realize the difference pick an $18 piece vs a $2 piece? Why would I let someone come in and just take everything I have worked hard for? I don't even allow people that buy from me at wholesale to sell regular priced individual retail pieces more than $.05 under my retail price to avoid undercutting and competition and the de-valuing of my work. I ran into an issue years back with an online store doing this, and I refused to sell them any more work. The foot went down then too...

I do not dwell on this. I do not spend my days doing nothing but mope about this situation. I have worked hard to distinguish my line of work in today's industry before this current huge boom in technology took over… By creating my own texture plates, documenting dates, copyrighting my designs, made it very easy for me to make the decision to hire my lawyer, and to give her information at the drop of a hat so she can use it to defend my work and have these knock offs removed from the market.

So I just wanted to share a bit more of my journey into understanding copyrighting your work in today's world. It's nuts out there… And unique one of a kind ideas are rare. But there are still rules and regulations to follow, even for something as small as a pendant (those little things add up). And in a world that is so lawsuit happy, you have got to protect yourself and know your rights.

I never thought I would be dealing with something like this in my life. I always think "well, better be safe than sorry and do it right - just in case". And then pray to come out of it with a fair decision and no bad karma… 

It was not me that decided to make a mold of someone's work and have it mass produced and distributed around the world. 

Someone did that to me… 

To my business...

And I am letting my lawyer deal with it…

I'm just backing her up with the details and proof…

And with that being said, I have wasted enough of my evening on thinking about this…

I hope I explained my unique situation well enough to give you better insight and thoughts about making your own work "yours".

Another post will possibly follow in a few weeks.

I will be traveling unexpectedly somewhat last minute to visit my FL family then head strong into the rest of my house/studio organization before the holidays hit.

I want this winter for making all kinds of new stuff…

Endless possibilities are hopefully on my horizon…

Thanks for stopping by!

I appreciate all the feedback...

Photography Help! If you have suggestions...

Ok, if there is one thing that frustrates me to no end it's this...

All the same piece, different lighting - frustrating!

Proper lighting for photographing one's work is starting to drive me a little batty…

This Hibiscus Flower Cutout Pendant in Stormy Night Sky would SO like to be listed up on Etsy, along with a number of other pieces (see picture below) just out of the kiln, but I'm hitting a wall with trying to do some quick photography to reveal the truest color of the actual piece without my hand in the background and all the bright spots from the lights.

Cutout Flowers, Hibiscus Flowers, Leaf Shapes, colored loops, smaller sizes, new glazes from glaze tests.

I have tried natural lighting, overcast days, different backgrounds, I have a white pop up tent for photographing things to sell through pictures online, a digital SLR, a point and shoot, and my iPhone.

So now I think I need to figure out what kind of light bulbs work best for shooting indoors, within that cloud tent, with my digital SLR. 

Any suggestions from those of you that may have a similar setup with shooting glossy pieces? What kind of light bulbs do you use with your digital camera? And do you use light sources that point away from the cloud tent, or should they be pointed directly onto it?

Just thought I would ask before jumping into the internet to search out some ideas and running more tests for my setup.

I even spent this morning getting my "basement office" area cleared out to set up a place for taking pictures. It gets too frustrating trying to work in 5 different areas of the house on different things. "All in one place" is my current mantra for my studio organization (I think this would count as like day 7 or something if you have been reading my blog about it). I've been squeezing the organization in as I can.

The new office area went from this:

Before...

To this:

After...

See… there is a floor under there and some cabinets & counter top to work on…

Now to run to pick up some shelving for the area to the left and move my shipping area and Etsy pieces up here…

Then there will really be flow and hopefully less frustration which leads to more motivation!

Then I can get this feeling of "I still have to work on that too" out of my head and make room for creativity and inspiration…

Thanks Jenny for the - business stuff up front motivation - I needed that 2nd set of eyes and another brain to look at the areas I am dealing with (and frustrated about) and hear what I was saying, then pull it all together for me in a way that will allow me to get going with this all. 

You gave me my starting point… THANKS!

Marsha, Remember Form… Copyright Issues Part 1

There are days where my professor's voice from college resonates in my head:

"Marsha, I know you really like working with testing glazes, but you need to remember form as well."

I did not realize how much those words would stick with me throughout my life this far… 

I will try to remember my "form" as this person I have become and want to remain. 

And right now, in my life as an "artist", my life work revolves around making clay pendants for Marsha Neal Studio, LLC - my business. The name I chose to use to make my work "professional" and to be able to deal with all the legal stuff & taxes.

There is so much going on right now in the world with technology at our fingertips…

With these blogs, websites, pages, groups, etc as constant interaction and stimulation. 

There is so much to see, so much to be inspired by, so much to learn about.

I am a teacher and scientist at heart. 

I love to learn about things, and share those things.

I get excited about stuff, and can't wait to tell someone about it…

I like to figure things out by working with my hands…

I am going to be writing a bunch of blog posts about my lessons I have learned by working as an artist in the current bead industry. 

There are things I am confused about. 

There are things I am angry about. 

There are things that need to be cleared up - even if it is for my own sanity… 

I need to get some things off my chest. 

They are weighing too heavy upon my head and in my heart...

My heart gets heavy after receiving emails with pictures attached like these…

(Thank You!!! for sending them to me and for getting a piece for me - will be sending to my lawyer!)

My textures - my hand carved textures…

From doodles and drawings in the margins of my notebooks...

My every piece made by hand - here under my vision…

Many designs have been taken and are being reproduced without my knowing it…

Somewhere not like this…

(Below is a piece of scrap drywall where my porcelain clay shards are resting until they are dry enough to go into the kiln for their first firing).

I want to let you know that these posts are not directed at any individual or situation…

Legally I do not want to step on any toes. I do have a copyright lawyer helping me deal with some knock off situations that are currently on the rise. 

Please let her deal with things…

I have to keep reminding myself that - that is why I hired her…

If you see anything suspicious while you are out and about, take pictures and send them to me with information such as store, brand name, price, sku, date, etc. And I will pass it on to my lawyer…

These blog posts will be based on my experiences on decisions I have made. 

Things I thought about, think about, and things that help me to make better decisions when I am in the studio making work. Things that maybe give me a fighting chance at battling the person or company(s) that are having these made and imported…

Things that maybe you need to hear or pass onto someone that needs a good smack upside the head. 

Or someone that you just think needs to read a little about this.

Let's face it:

The bottom line is this…

If you see something and think to yourself or utter to your friend: 

"I could make that"

Then proceed to try to remake it - even something remotely similar… 

STOP YOURSELF RIGHT THERE! 

Really… Think about it…

It's like I hear my husband tell people on phone conversations for work (we both work from home): "Everyone is a genius in hindsight". Meaning you can look at something or situation after it is completed and have all kinds of ideas. But can you come up with something or deal with a situation the right way - the first time, on your own?

You can be inspired by someone's work…

You may even use the same tools & products as someone - there are a lot of things commercially available, and there is often overlap...

But you don't make the same something as someone else - especially not someone's original design!

As I can I will post more about my cases if I am allowed…

Let me say for now, that Marsha Neal Studio, LLC pendants can be found through bead shops listed on my website. 

If you see a piece with my design on it, and it's not in my retail price range ($10, $14, $20), then it is either:

1. A discontinued actual item from an online retailer (such as ArtBeads.com, FusionBeads.com, etc)

or

2. A knock off

I want to find out who is having these made...

And yes - I am going to let go of "form" for a moment…

I need to let this out:

 

Mr. Whomever you are…

You are not only hurting me on an emotional level,

You are destroying a business I have worked SO hard to build up…

And the jewelry designers and bead shops that I have worked hard with since I first started making pieces… you are hurting them by making cheap crap that people can't tell that it is not mine until it is in their hand and they see the inferior quality. Or selling to those that do not know better…

You deflate me and my feelings of self worth…

You are making me fight every bit harder to prove to the people in my life that depend on an income from me that I can in fact can show an income.

You have crossed the line. You have messed with the wrong woman and her lawyer…

And let my situation be a lesson to those of you out there.

Don't rip off other people's designs, no matter how "easy" it may seem to make…

Try your best at making something your own, even if it is using something old or a borrowed technique…

Your style and design will shine through…

If you think your work is looking too much like someone else's then push yourself harder to take it to the next level…

And talk to each other…

Critique each others work…

Ask questions - think about the answers…

Thanks for letting me rant a bit.

I will be posting more about these issues - not related to my specific cases until my lawyer says ok, but to issues that seem to touch on the "gray area" a lot...

Self Portrait Friday: Tolerance...

There are some days where my hormones seem so out of whack…

That I have way too much coffee…

That I am itching to just jump out of my skin…

(need to have more physical activity - maybe kickboxing would be good)

I love this cat. I hate her attitude…

She bites people. She hisses at my kids. She poops on the floor (mental thing - automatic cat litter scooper scared her - like 10 years ago - now she thinks pooping is going to make something come up and bite her in the butt). And now she has started to pee on the floor in the basement. My studio is in the basement. We have teeny tiny windows (none of which open easily or without lots of pain in the butt effort). Can I just say that the ammonia is burning into my brain and making me furious… This is the second carpet in the basement. Some days I'm ready to "take her to the farm"...

But then again… 

maybe not…

There are so many sides to this…

For now, we deal, we clean & clean…

We replace carpets…

But I tell you what… 

The first time she bites one of my kids, that's it…

There will be no more "we need to talk about the cat"…

Because she will be wearing out her welcome - big time…

If she were a dog - she would not be getting away with this.

They don't have the luxury of "having an attitude" and running to hide and sleep all day to avoid human contact unless they are hungry…

They don't bite people many times and draw blood so often and get away with it...

What does this say about me as a person?

I think it puts me right in the middle of things.

Some would tolerate it until no end…

Some would have taken her to the farm a long time ago…

Sorry. My children take priority.

Stop biting, hissing, peeing and pooping outside the litter box and we will be ok…

Ugh!

If she could only understand...

First Attempt At Self Portrait Friday

Blogging and participating in blogging events helps keep me motivated to try new things.
Something I find helpful when working in a home studio and not socializing as much as I'm used to.

I've admired Andrew Thornton's posts for his Self Portrait Fridays (of which he has taken a break from).
The origination of the Self Portrait Fridays comes from Nina Bagley's Blog: Ornamental

 Looking at myself in the mirror, I don't recognize the person that is standing there…

But maybe in a photograph I will...

 Where has this person that I am seeing come from?

 I find that I am rarely in front of the camera.

Somewhat because I'm not happy with my outer appearance.

And I am usually the one with the camera in hand.

So I decided to finally just sit down and take some pictures...

 I can feel the smile - and what that looks like because that one thing I am rarely without...

 And the rolls of fat that have accumulated over the last 10 to 15 years…

I hate the feeling of them, of the sweat accumulated there in the summer…

I loathe summer because of it.

Well, fat sweat and mosquitos...

 But even those, albeit uncomfortable to feel - the fat, not the smile… 

Make me who I am…

At least on the outside...

I am going to try to look inward and take pictures to express that...

The fat is what happens when you become a shell of yourself when overwhelmed at what life throws at you. 

Good (like real Italian food from a family that loves to eat… and eat… and eat)

Bad (losing my mom to Leukemia 3 years ago)

Both Good and Bad (my work selling well = lots of sitting work = bad eating habits & less exercise)

So now is the time for me to look at this person I have become and figure out what in life she wants…

It is a time in my life of great change and many things happening...

Chloe painting. Summer 2010.

I want to paint…

I should take lessons from my two year old daughter on that one…

I actually think I might!

Chloe painting the wall tile at Longwood Gardens.

She adores painting - with anything!

And she is so much like me… 

in the little details and quirks…

And I am so much like my parents… 

qualities of both…

And she is developing the sense of humor & whit of her father…

And he is rubbing off on me a bit too - at least the laughter part…

Dave allows me to smile and find happiness within myself…

He is such an amazing person…

I hope by finding out who I am, and who I want to be - I can help him do the same…

Or at least give him the tools he needs to relax and enjoy life a bit more...

September Second Saturday BOC State of Your Studio 2010

Beads-of-Clay Blog is hosting the 2nd Saturday State of Your Studio Monthly Event…

So here is my blog contribution:

We all have places where we create…

My creative space is undergoing a massive gutting, organization (re-organization implies that it was once organized), and "flow" improvement…

I have almost the entire basement to myself (5 years now) and it looks like this:

Well, technically, this cluttered area is my "upstairs office" from the extra bedroom, which is now being used as a bedroom - so I moved it to the extra space in the basement that will one day become Chloe & Riley's "basement hangout area" or something like that… We'll see about that!

This area in the back part of the basement "the clay studio part" will also be changed.

The litter boxes used to be under that table. 

But they have been moved! 

Thank Dave for that brilliant but simple idea (after me complaining that I wanted to vomit every time I walked into the studio).

The busy side of things. This actually has a bit of a flow to it right now.

It has to really… 

Something does - right?!

Ah, my clay tool area.

I used to know what play things I had here, but it's been years since I just sat and had fun with clay…

It's always working on some pieces for orders.

We'll have to change all that (find time to play with clay - see what happens!)

The bead storage, potential jewelry making area.

Also functions as Silk storage area, packing & shipping area…

Home to the water heater & house air flow unit as well.

This area needs serious re-organization for flow.

Then maybe I can start to use those bazillion beads in those shoe box bins…

This is the main side garden hill where I go to "weed the garden" and find my thoughts.

It is second on my list of "find my thoughts" places only to when I am sitting, glazing beads for hours on end (which happens in the basement clay studio), with "relaxing" music playing.

This is often how I find my hands these days…

A little dirty from wiping the soil off of them after weeding, planting or watering my garden…

And sometimes, inspiration from the ground below (acorns fallen from my friend Anne's tree).

Thanks for stopping by my studio today.

Don't forget about my Honoring September chance at a giveaways this month…

My Marsha Neal Studio FaceBook Fans get an extra 20% off their items in the Marsha Neal Studio Etsy shop and the Marsha Neal Studio website shopping cart through Sunday, Sept. 12th (become a fan for details if you want in on the sale).

And new pieces are in the Etsy Shop…

Not sure if they would spark any inspiration for the Art Bead Scene's September Challenge since they are a little more Art Nouveau than Art Deco…

Wish I was a little better at jewelry making.

Maybe I'll get into that jewelry area before the end of the month and will whip something up...

Day 4: Flurry of Events

I swear I am SO all over the place, yet concentrated at times…

Today my Marsha Neal Studio FaceBook Fan page hit 200 fans - so I am doing a special sale for that cool event from now through Sunday on my Marsha Neal Studio Etsy Shop and my Marsha Neal Studio website. If you want in on it (20% off your order), sign up as a fan & use the code!

Keep in mind that your purchases will count towards the Honoring September Event going on until the end of the month too…

I just uploaded some of my new Art Nouveau Porcelain Decal pieces to my Etsy Shop Porcelain Decals Section. You can also request the other sizes listed. I just haven't had the time to list them all yet, and won't have the time today...

Then there is the October 24, 2010 Beads-of-Clay Bloggers Open Studio event (got all those things done - all the detail background stuff - pshew!)

And now off to shower, get Chloe and head to Longwood Gardens for a bit of mother daughter fun times! What a day...

Day 3 - Crazy Running & Friends

Thursday was going to be interesting from the start…
It was going to be a weight watchers meeting then off to see some friends for brunch that I haven't seen for about 5 years…

With the discovery of the deer tick on my belly yesterday (leaning over plants to collect seeds must've been how it got there) - well, it just got crazy. I won't go into details - it was just one little thing after another, and another that just makes you exhausted by day's end (I crashed before Chloe last night at 9:30).

Can I just say: you know you are in the presence of amazing and interesting people artists, when your jaw just drops upon entering their home because they have put so much of themselves into their home and you immediately feel all the energy there and want to just soak it all into yourself and work from it…

That was Anne's house and garden!

I had a great time hanging out with the girls - we caught up, toured Anne's house, laughed together, and ate some wonderful food. The perfect way to spend a late morning…

I could have taken tons of pictures of all the amazing areas in Anne's house. I loved: "this is my arts and crap room". I'm going to use that one… Dave will get a kick out of it.

I snapped a few pictures here and there…
I was too occupied and overwhelmed visually to take it all in and get the camera out.
Yes, even the little rug in her bathroom was inspirational (see the background pattern too? Wow!)

I just tried to soak it all in and pull some of her artistic sense out of it all…

We had a little running joke about me blogging for 8 blogs and the technology I had (iPhone) with me. Dolores asked: What kind of Begonia is that? I said: I'll take a picture and post it on my blog to see if we can get an answer… So - Do you know what kind it is?

Hope you are having a wonderful day…
Let's see what I can get out of Day 4 today…

I think later, Chloe and I will be going to Longwood Gardens for their "Honey Harvest" this evening to learn about honey, bees and flowers. A little one on one time with mom… Can't wait!

Day 2: ADHD Type Day

There are those days where there is SO much going on it is hard to figure out where to start and where to stay put. Today was one of those days for me...

To start off this post: a picture I came across of my pop-pop and me in a bin from the garage.


It was Spring of 1977, I was right around 2 years old...


Little Marsha & her dad... (love my dad!)


My dad & siblings (Top: Jerry, Terry - my dad. Bottom: Janet, Garry)


An earlier photograph of my Grandma & Pop pop.
So many cool things to look through (that box into the attic for over winter going through...)


So at the start of day 2 this is what the garage looked like...


This was the area I planned to tackle... (of which - the back corner was cleaned out, but that was all). The landscaping crew showed up to fix our drainage & runoff issue...


Not too bad when compared to this (above).


A tiny 2.5" tomato from my neglected planter...


Decals for an order & some extras...


Oh, look a dragonfly on the screen door...


Drainage of downspouts to front, soil replaced & rocks added (extra for me to design with too).


Ten minutes to pick up kids...


Hit snooze once (they are playing with friends & having fun!)


At home - Riley is so intent on mastering this toy's features now. Must be all the exploring he is doing at school on those different toys...


A walk with the family after dinner & admiring a few gardens along the way...


Chloe wanted to play with the broom a bit...


She was all over the place with it... She was playing with her shadow too - very funny to watch!

Also fit in some weeding, seed gathering, studio clean up (moving a few small things around), kiln loading, and just found this:



Guess I'm going to the doctor for some antibiotics for Lyme's Disease today...
-- Pictures Taken With & Posted From My iPhone