Looking for something crafty to do this weekend? Why not participate in the kwerenerdesign Color Challenge? Head on over to her blog for all the deets, or if you're not interested in playing along, you can always just skim through all the great eye candy.

Lost in Ribbons

A few months ago, I stumbled onto the a blog post by Nichole Heady with Papertrey Ink. She posted photos and information about her new home studio. To my delight, she posted lots of specifics, which is going to make it so much easier for me to use many of her ideas for my space as well.

So far, I've taken two steps in this process. I've purchased the white photo storage boxes (thank you 1/2 price sale at Joann's). Yesterday I began the tedious, task of organizing my ribbon. ALL. MY. RIBBON. Between my shopaholic tendencies and Kristi's generosity, I have more ribbon than I know what to do with.

To get it organized, Nichole recommends wrapping it around old-fashioned clothespins, sorting by color family and storing in great glass candy jars. Here's a photo of how she displays/stores it in her studio. It's so pleasing to the eye, and the best part is that you always know what you have and it takes up much less space than spools.

Last night, I sat down on the couch with a grocery bag full of loose ribbon, 60 clothespins and a box of straight pins and got to work. I like having mindless work to do while I"m watching TV. I thoroughly enjoyed the season finale of LOST and filled up all of the clothespins I had. Still lots more ribbon to convert, but I'm very excited about the progress.

It's been four long years

I've been waiting for this for four years. The return of Sex and the City. I lived for my summers with Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. It was a big part of my single-girl life. I loved hosting season premiere and finale parties each year for my girlfriends. It was always so much fun!

I've got tickets for 7:30 tomorrow night (gotta love Fandango) and I can't wait. Meeting Lisa for dinner and then we're off to the theater to get caught up on the lives of the fab four in Manhattan.

SPT: Something New

OK - So I know I am breaking the rules here... Lelly, please forgive me, as there is no S to go along with the PT. But, there is something new that I am beyond excited to share.

I've listened to this song, like 100 times already (I was able to download it last week) and I can't wait for the entire album to be released.

For those of you who are fortunate to live close to NYC, don't forget these guys will be performing live on Rockefeller Plaza on Friday morning for the Today Show.

How Rude!

I've been contemplating this post for a few weeks now. The rudeness of *some* people just astonishes me sometimes. When I first started thinking about this post, I was hesitant to put it out there, because I don't want to give my customers the wrong idea. 99.9999% of my customers are incredible. It's the .0001% that send me over the edge.

I just don't understand how people can be so nasty. Do people just feel like the internet and email give them license to be a jerk? So, I throw this out here into the blogosphere hoping that my great blogging friends can help validate my feelings - or tell me I'm out of line (either way, I just needs some perspective).

Scenario #1:
I received an email reply to a promotional email. This person took the opportunity to express that they were completely dissatisfied with my company, that it takes too long to get product, there is no order confirmation and that if I'm not going to respond to emails, don't post my address on my website. WELL... this bothered me. A LOT. So I spent a considerable amount of time to write a response. I had never received an email from this person before, she selected the slowest delivery method offered by the USPS and her spam filter may have blocked the confirmation email. Her email was very harsh, and I could understand somewhat because she had been sending emails about her order (to the wrong address), but she never apologized for her hurtful comments. I'm a big girl, I can take criticism, when it is warranted, but I do take offense to someone making mean-spirited comments and not following up with an "I'm sorry" when they realize they had made a mistake.

Scenario #2 (has happened on a couple of occasions):
A customer ordered a product, received it and emailed to say there was a printing error and DEMANDED a replacement be sent immediately. Granted, I make mistakes - more often than I like, and on those occasions, I always get a replacement out quickly. But, in this situation, it was the customers who made the spelling errors, not me. So I email them back apologizing that it isn't right, but that it was printed as specified in the order and that if they wish to have it re-printed, they would need to place another order online. On every occasion... no response. Maybe I'm over-reacting, but I would at least expect a quick - I can't believe I made such a mistake. Is that too much to ask?

What finally prompted me to post about this is all the hub-bub going on over at creativity, musings and such. I just don't think people realize how powerful their words can be... in good ways and bad. It is okay to have differences of opinion, in fact it's good to have differences of opinion. It's okay to share those differences... but not in ways that are hurtful to someone else.

It just seems to me that in this electronic medium, *some people* tend to make hurtful comments that they would never make to someones face. The anonymity of the web allows us all to be a bit more open than maybe we would normally be with relative strangers, but that shouldn't give anyone the "courage (read: cowardice)" to lash out with venomous words.

The rules of common courtesy and mannerly behavior should be followed in every situation. I don't think there is ever a valid excuse for being rude or disrespectful. There is ALWAYS a better way to get your point across.

Thoughts?