Plans & Projects......

So, with the exhilaration of Miniatura over, I must now turn my thoughts to 'what next'? Not in any existential 'meaning of life way.......but in a much more practical and prosaic 'work-related' way.

There are already a number of pressing items on my 'to do' list, the least enticing of which is preparing the end of year accounts for 2007-08. All being well, I will embark on that task next week, unless something more fascinating turns up, like catching up with the ironing, or scraping algae off the patio.

Then there are the two workshops I'm running for the Kensington Dollshouse Festival next month, for which the preparation is already well in hand. Although perhaps not so well advanced as it might be.
As I have also been accepted as a showcase exhibitor at KDF this year, I will have to design a small display which should be no bigger than 1 cubic foot which will be exhibited in a glass showcase for the three days of the Festival.

Beyond that I have a blank slate, which is rather exciting, liberating and scary all at the same time. Normally, at the beginning of the year, we produce a programme of one day workshops to run throughout the year, so I have a basic framework to hang all the other work-related stuff on. However this year, with the prospect of having to prepare for Miniatura, not to mention KDF, we decided to delay any decisions on a workshop programme, which in the event, was very wise.

We have tentative plans for a new series of workshop packs to be accompanied by a DVD video tutorial. Having already successfully uploaded a few tutorials onto our website, we are now painfully aware of the technical difficulties involved in producing a good quality video. These difficulties also extend to mastering the presentation software as in order for the tutorial to be 'user-friendly' it has to have 'chapters' to allow students to move back and forth through the various sections. The whole process is time-consuming and often frustrating and involves lots of trial and error.

Actually, if I'm honest, it's been mostly error, but we learn more with each tutorial.

Then there's my new online toy shop, which I've been 'toying with' for the past few days. If I could only discipline myself to spend an hour a day on it, then it should be ready to go live in a few weeks and it certainly needs to be ready in time for KDF.
However I have identified the need for some further planning before I go any further with Zen Cart, which I hope will save me a lot of possibly wasted time in the future. This may sound like prevarication, and I hold up my hands to that in many areas, but in this case I have to rein in my natural tendency to just get stuck in and 'do stuff' without thinking carefully about what should go where. I've got all the jigsaw pieces but I need to find the picture first to see where they should all go.

If that makes sense.

Plus there is the small matter of my long-neglected toy shop, which was the impetus for starting this blog in the first place.
The new basement is still in kit form, and I'm determined not to start it until I have the shop itself finished. It is tantalisingly close to completion but I just can't find the time or the energy to kick-start the final push.

So having just articulated all of the above, it is now startlingly clear to me that I should not be resting on my laurels, but cracking on with it all.

Onwards and upwards................

Philosophical musings........

There's been far too much whimsy and nonsense on this blog lately. It's time to address more weighty matters such as some of the great unsolved mysteries of life.

Like........why am I here?

As I approach my 50th birthday, which somehow feels much more of a milestone than any of my other 'decade' birthdays, I find myself musing on what I have achieved in my life.

For example, in personal terms, I have two grown-up children, which could certainly qualify as an achievement, although admittedly not a very exclusive one.
I have a circle of very good, close friends, with whom I can laugh (and sometimes cry) and generally share life's ups an downs.
I have a loving partner who understands me better than I sometimes give credit for.
I've come to terms with a life-limiting illness with what I hope is good grace and humour, with only the occasional 'howl at the moon'.

In professional terms, I am engaged in work which I love (mostly!)
I've been able to spend the past quarter of a century learning and developing my craft then honing my skills in making and teaching.
I've passed on my hard-won knowledge and experience to hundreds of students, many of whom I now count as friends.
My miniatures have found homes in collections all around the world.
I've built a business which though small, is perfectly formed and provides us with a comfortable living. We won't be retiring to Barbados any time soon but we don't need a fortune to make us happy.
Best of all, every day, I get to do what I enjoy most. And it doesn't get much better than that.

All in all, I'd say there were many more positives than negatives.

So bring on the next decade.............

It's a small dog's world..........

Imagine small dog's delight this morning, when into our inbox popped a message from Jilli Dog, thanking her for her kind words on the blog and for being such a fan!

Yes really!!

Not only that, she also received advance notification of Jilli's new videos, which will be filmed in Italy later this year.
Such is small dog's enthusiasm that she insisted I share just one more item featuring her pin-up.

This is more in by way of an interactive game for those seeking major displacement activity. Just visit the following website

http://idodogtricks.com/index_flash.html
(you may need to cut and paste the link into your browser)

It's pretty self explanatory but you have to guess what tricks Jilli Dog can do and type your guesses, one at a time. There are at least 15 commands, and in the spirit of investigative blogging, small dog and I spent quite some time earlier today finding every single one of them.

Small dog will send a prize to the first person who emails me with the complete list.

Enjoy!

Small dog presents.........

If you can't indulge in a spot of displacement activity on a cold, snowy April Sunday afternoon then there is no justice in the world.

Small dog has emerged from beneath her cosy duvet and has been surfing the net, admiring the exploits of her favourite online dog. She's a big fan of Jilli.

So here, for your delectation and delight, small dog presents.............

Zen and the art of website maintenance..........

I'm feeling particularly virtuous today, as not only have I caught up with my casting shedule, I have also been getting to grips with my new online shop facility, which should have been live on miniature.net two months ago.

Having successfully completed the basic template last December and input information on my little toys, how they're made etc, I have been putting off the hard bit, which is getting to grips with the intricacies of Zen Cart, which is the shopping cart thingy.

Back in January I dutifully printed out the basic manual, which runs to 20 pages so it's not that basic. I then carefully filed it in my project folder, fully intending to work my way through it systematically, step by step, in conjunction with the test area on the website. Needless to say, our eleventh hour admission to Miniatura rather put everything on the back burner, which is where it has stayed until this week.

A few days ago, in preparation for making an exploratory foray into the bowels of Zen Cart, I carefully bound the manual, using my new thermal binder (an impulse buy on Ebay, ahem) This precautionary measure was to ensure that it would remain in pristine condition and prevent it becoming dog-eared and possibly tear-stained.

So it is all lovely and crisp in its shiny new binder with a wipe-clean cover.

Lovely and crisp and ever so slightly intimidating.

I am sure that in the fullness of time I will become completely au fait with 'product attribute options', EZ pages and sub-category images. That the mysteries of multiple categories, discount coupons and 'read only' settings will become clear to me.

Today however, I am cock-a-hoop at having successfully entered my first 'product' into the dedicated shopping cart interface facility.

With a picture and everything.

Of course it's not live yet........I will need to have more than just one solitary item available to purchase and a bit like ebay, the whole listing process is not a speedy one.

Nevertheless, having carefully followed the instructions in the manual, I am now confident that I can at least create categories and enter product listings. So all in all, I'm counting that as a result.

I must not, however, become complacent, for I now need to move on to much more complicated matters, involving newsletters, workshop pages, site maintenance and the aforementioned mysterious and scary 'attributes', about which I am completely clueless.

Still, Rome wasn't built in a day, and I'm sure that if I stick with it and follow the manual carefully I'll have a new shop front live on the net in no time at all.

Yes indeedy.

So there's probably no immediate urgency to get this keyboard upgrade either..........

A Winter's Tale............

So it would appear that my assertion that spring has sprung was a tad premature. As I write this there is a veritable blizzard blowing outside so winter has returned with a vengeance.

It's hard to believe that on this day, just a year ago, we were sweltering in 70 degree heat on a campsite over the Easter weekend. I even got sunburn on my nose......in April! Today I'd be more likely to get frostbite, which is equally unattractive and has the added potential of my nose falling off.

Small dog was scheduled for her 'spring trim' today but is currently snuggled up under her duvet with a definite 'don't 'sturb me' stance to her ears, so she has been granted amnesty till the temperature rises.

Still, it's vairy purty outside, and getting whiter by the minute..........


Weather update........ an hour and two inches of snow later.

Call the Humane Society..........

Now, before I go any further, I must stress that the following can in no way be referred to as displacement activity.

Displacement activity can only exist when the activity in question, displaces another, usually more urgent and useful activity.

So, browsing for doggy birthday stuff on the net, late at night, with small dog's enthusiastic cooperation most certainly does NOT come under the heading of displacement activity.

I found the following among the usual offerings of doggy birthday parties, with pampered pooches in party hats running amock and starting arguments with each other. Much like human parties in my experience but I digress.

I feel that it should come with a disclaimer. It is NOT meant to be amusing. Banish all thoughts of laughing at the poor creature. The dog is obviously traumatised and instead of joining in the general hilarity, the off-screen onlookers (or should that be perpetrators?) should be calling the Humane Society, RSPCA or any other animal welfare organisation to offer it post-traumatic stress counselling. Its party, where it was forced to model some particularly ill-advised birthday presents, represents all the very worst aspects of the 'party experience'.

I feel genuine empathy, as the scenes evoked painful memories of my own 'birthday party horribilis'. 42 years ago but as fresh and distressing as if it was yesterday.

I too was dressed to the nines with, (and I remember this with forensic clarity) shiny new silver shoes with sparkly buckles.

I too was the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons.

I too had to be physically removed, shaken and traumatised, after the fattest boy in my class at school executed a flying leap during a party game (it may have been the Hokey Cokey), which flattened me, and left my little silver sparkly shoes sticking out from under his great bulk, twitching slightly, reminiscent of the ruby slippers after Auntie Em's house fell on the Wicked Witch of the East.

I too remember the resounding laughter of my so-called 'friends' ringing in my ears, as bruised and battered, my dignity in tatters, I was led away even before the ice cream and jelly.

Painful, painful memories.

So, you will understand if the following strikes a very personal chord with me.
Being a sensitive soul, I know you will understand the very palpable distress and refrain from sniggering, smirking, giggling or any other unseemly displays.

I thank you.........