Rough of latest cover idea for my first book due out in August from Storey Publishing.
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Workshop Schedule for 2009
here it is - the thing people have been asking about. The full year of workshops I am offering in the studio. If you have difficulty reading the tiny type (which looked perfectly legible before I uploaded it!) let me know and I can email you an attachment that is bigger.
Soon my site at www.crispina.com will changed up to reflect what I am up to these days. Until then here is the calendar of events.
More to come . . like my book will be out in August! It is coming together and looking great!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Memorable Weekend!
Ben was with us this weekend. I met him in Stockbridge, at The Dolphin Studio, late Friday afternoon. We had a great chatty ride home. Nice to have one on one time with him.
Before Ben’s arrival, I had spoken to Deborah from Storey Publishing - the first sample pages of the book, I am finishing up with them, are ready for my review! We arranged to have them dropped off for me to have for the weekend. The book is called Chop Shop - due out in August - all how to make things using the process I have developed over the last 21 years. It was a TON of work. I did the writing and illustrations and loved the process!
Oh MAN! The sample pages are great! The people at Storey sure know what they are doing! They look better than I could have imagined. It is astonishing to see all that rough work come together in smooth, professional, book-like form! My next task is to read through it and make finishing touches making the illustrations match the copy.
I had to wait til I got home from chaperoning a high school dance sponsored by Youth Alive here in downtown Pittsfield to take a look. I had the pages in my hands for about 47 seconds before I had to dash out the door.
There were a whole lotta kids at the dance held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Every different walk of life and all three high schools in Pittsfield were represented without a hitch. I had a blast meeting some community minded fellow chaperones, getting educated to youth culture, and seeing all those beautiful kids. The chaperones were invited into the ballroom for the Youth Alive performance. The crowd was mighty enthusiastic and exuberant! Youth Alive performers were A M A Z I N G – AND they organized the whole event, selling tickets, keeping lines moving, and being generally responsible.
One kid from Dalton was puking in the bathroom less than an hour into it. He was pretty green. We called 911.
At 8:30 Saturday morning I was in Brattleboro VT for a workshop on being an educated, proficient and productive Food Coop Board Member. CBL101 was the title of the day-long seminar. It was super fun! The presenters were engaging, fun and very informative. I met 19 mostly new, board members from neighboring coops. The day got me jazzed about my recent commitment with the Berkshire Coop Market Board of Directors. I have to add here that Policy Governance is an idea that seems to fit well with the changes we are experiencing in many aspects of culture today.
By 7:30 Saturday night, my sweet hubby and I, were at his company “Christmas Party”. It was held at The Old Forge in Lanesboro where they have over 100 choices in the beer department and great food to go with. We had fun. My brother-in-law works for Chris so my sister Sofie was there and she is always up for some fun. We laughed a lot while maintaining as much composure as expected. Chris employs over thirty people at CESCO plumbing and heating so there was a nice crowd there. We were home in bed shortly after midnight. All the kids were sound asleep and peaceful.
Ben, our dear friend Jayme Hummer, and I went skiing at Jiminy Peak Sunday afternoon. It was a BEAUTIFUL day - a truly fabulous way to end a pretty special weekend. The conditions were superb after a late Saturday night snow of musta been 7 or 8 inches. It was cold and sunny with big puffy clouds streaking across the bright blue sky. Jiminy Peak generates about a third of the power they use with a huge beautiful wind turbine that seems to float above the trees near the summit gracefully gliding through time in silence. Just gorgeous. Made my lungs fill with clear cold mountain air with a sense of comfort sometimes consumed with environmental guilt when alpine skiing. Season passes next year?
Before Ben’s arrival, I had spoken to Deborah from Storey Publishing - the first sample pages of the book, I am finishing up with them, are ready for my review! We arranged to have them dropped off for me to have for the weekend. The book is called Chop Shop - due out in August - all how to make things using the process I have developed over the last 21 years. It was a TON of work. I did the writing and illustrations and loved the process!
Oh MAN! The sample pages are great! The people at Storey sure know what they are doing! They look better than I could have imagined. It is astonishing to see all that rough work come together in smooth, professional, book-like form! My next task is to read through it and make finishing touches making the illustrations match the copy.
I had to wait til I got home from chaperoning a high school dance sponsored by Youth Alive here in downtown Pittsfield to take a look. I had the pages in my hands for about 47 seconds before I had to dash out the door.
There were a whole lotta kids at the dance held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Every different walk of life and all three high schools in Pittsfield were represented without a hitch. I had a blast meeting some community minded fellow chaperones, getting educated to youth culture, and seeing all those beautiful kids. The chaperones were invited into the ballroom for the Youth Alive performance. The crowd was mighty enthusiastic and exuberant! Youth Alive performers were A M A Z I N G – AND they organized the whole event, selling tickets, keeping lines moving, and being generally responsible.
One kid from Dalton was puking in the bathroom less than an hour into it. He was pretty green. We called 911.
At 8:30 Saturday morning I was in Brattleboro VT for a workshop on being an educated, proficient and productive Food Coop Board Member. CBL101 was the title of the day-long seminar. It was super fun! The presenters were engaging, fun and very informative. I met 19 mostly new, board members from neighboring coops. The day got me jazzed about my recent commitment with the Berkshire Coop Market Board of Directors. I have to add here that Policy Governance is an idea that seems to fit well with the changes we are experiencing in many aspects of culture today.
By 7:30 Saturday night, my sweet hubby and I, were at his company “Christmas Party”. It was held at The Old Forge in Lanesboro where they have over 100 choices in the beer department and great food to go with. We had fun. My brother-in-law works for Chris so my sister Sofie was there and she is always up for some fun. We laughed a lot while maintaining as much composure as expected. Chris employs over thirty people at CESCO plumbing and heating so there was a nice crowd there. We were home in bed shortly after midnight. All the kids were sound asleep and peaceful.
Ben, our dear friend Jayme Hummer, and I went skiing at Jiminy Peak Sunday afternoon. It was a BEAUTIFUL day - a truly fabulous way to end a pretty special weekend. The conditions were superb after a late Saturday night snow of musta been 7 or 8 inches. It was cold and sunny with big puffy clouds streaking across the bright blue sky. Jiminy Peak generates about a third of the power they use with a huge beautiful wind turbine that seems to float above the trees near the summit gracefully gliding through time in silence. Just gorgeous. Made my lungs fill with clear cold mountain air with a sense of comfort sometimes consumed with environmental guilt when alpine skiing. Season passes next year?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Crafting a Business
Hey! Did you see the new book out from Country Living editor Kathie Fitzgerald? The title is Crafting a Business – Making Money Doing What You Love. It is a collection of 28 fine ladies who have innovatively created jobs they love. I am featured on page 80.
Funny that I find myself crafting a new business, - one with a solid plan and preparation and milestones to check along the path. It feels completely fresh to be formulating such a thing. The company I founded and have been associated with for the last 21 years morphed from my college senior-project into a company with 40 employees within 2 years. Many wonderful lessons, people, challenges and successes were all important parts of the mix. The resounding issue in my memory is that there was never time to plan – now I have that! Wow!
May 1, 2008 is my first official day of lay-off. The thought of free time is sooo exciting to me!
Once I have a chance to delve into that time, of no work, the vision of my ideal job will become clear. It will be my mission to formulate a plan to achieve the goals set forth in my next few weeks. It is exciting to think about time to do just that. . . think.
Can you tell how excited I am? The last time I had a summer off I was thirteen years old!
In the meantime collecting unemployment is completely new to me. I wonder how that all works?? One thing is certain, and that is, that I won’t be bringing in the income I am accustomed too and will need to supplement.
Anyone out there interested in signing up for some hands-on learning workshops? I am setting aside Saturdays in June to teach – here in the studio. Class size is limited to 6. Each week will focus on a different project. Here is the tentative schedule:
June 7 – Adult size zipper hoodie cardigan
June 14 – Kids size zipper hoodie cardigan
June 21 – Big Wreaths
June 28 – Flowers
Workshops will be held from 10-4. A healthy lunch will be served. The cost is $200 – all materials included.
Email me to sign up. Also let me know if there are other things you would like to learn.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Do It Yerself
For literally years my friends at Storey Publishing have been wanting me to make a book. I say make rather than write because, as it comes together, there are lots more illustrations than words.
The book is written as a making tool with guidance on how to create all manner of items by hand using wool sweaters as raw material.
Now that I have been offered the opportunity to take a break from my extra-full-time job running the production recycling company that made Crispina wares, I will have time to focus on getting a great manuscript together. The writing part is due to be finished within the next month - but that doesn't mean you will see the finished product anytime soon. I am learning that the publishing business takes longer than I had imagined.
Rather than making you wait to see what is all about, check back here for updates spelling out different projects. I welcome feedback and help being sure my how-to steps are clear and there is interest in each of the projects outlined.
Is there interest in small and affordable workshops held in the my Pittsfield studio focused on individual projects from the book?
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