Nothing (except possibly copyright) can stir a more lively discussion in a fiber art oriented group that defining art vs craft.

Admittedly much of my own viewpoint has likely been formed with my obsession with all the writings of Ayn Rand – even if my 6th grade teacher said there was no way I could “understand” what I was reading.

Frankly in view of what is going on in our country of late, I have been thinking that not only do I need to, like our Congressional Representative Roscoe Bartlett, need to be giving away copies of the US Consititution, The Federalist Papers, but as importantlyAyn Rand’s novels Anthem ” and “We The Living“.

Aside from the obvious, what Ayn Rand has had to say about Artistic creation and Art continue to inspire me and maybe are really about as close as I will EVER come to understanding the meaning of life.

So what does all this have to do with “Ukraines Got Talent”?

A few days ago, TH sent me a link about the 2009 winner of UGT,
Kseniya_Simonova

If you have about 15 minutes, and quite possibly even those *not* of Ukrainian heritage will need to be armed with tissues, you will need about 10 minutes to watch Sand Art Animation. I doubt anyone with a soul will find it a waste of time even if you don’t understand the language.

Wheat

(HBIH – I have not forgotten)

You already know why Zip Codes are important, because the NINE digit zip code can be used by many Mapping Applications such as MapQuest.com to get driving directions WITHOUT typing in a complete address.

What many of our supplier/manufacturer/distributor friends have not yet realized is how important this added info is to making their “Store Locator” Traveler Friendly and how including the nine-digit zip can aid in that traveler finding a local shop when traveling.

More years ago than I care to admit – we met Harry Newton at Silicon Valley conference where he was also a speaker – his wit and wisdom about the telecom industry are legendary.

Harry Newton’s Telecom Dictionary is now in its 25th edition,; we bought the first at that conference. We are such fans that we, until some recent book divestiture, owned many copies as they were updated, but kept the old for “future reference”.

To the Point, EVEN back then, Harry was stressing that EVERY page of your catalog should have your order telephone number. Today that advice would be your order telephone, your URL AND your Address with nine-digit zip.

Why? Because that makes it EASIER for someone to buy from you. I cannot tell you how many times I have ‘ripped out a page’ because I was only interested in THAT item – only to come back later and find no order info on the page. (Are you all headed for St Charles listening?)

Nor can I tell you how often I have given up in frustration trying to figure out where to find the address and shop hours on ANY of thier pages. Remember search engines do not always index your first/home/main page first – especially if you do not update on a regular basis.

MANY people will print out a web page as a “hint” to give family and friends – so make sure that ALL you info is going to show on that page –

Now, here we are today, with Manufacturer and Distributors doing many inventive things to help their Retailers and especially the Indies “to be found” but they often make it as difficult as possible to find that Retailer… and it is such an easy fix…

If a Manufacturer/Distributor/Self-Publishing Pattern/Chart Author does NOT include at least the FIVE and better yet the NINE digit zip code in each store listing – then the consumer cannot easily use a mapping application to find and visit the shop.

If a Manufacturer/Distributor does not allow search by Town OR State OR ZipCode and as two of the people involved in developing the FIRST find-a-store application we think AND “GREAT CIRCLE SEARCH RESULTS for AREA CODE and exchange (next 3 digits) are also important.

There are enough applications out that that allow the shop to update their own info – why not host one on your site and make it easier for consumers to find and buy from your retailers.

just some things to think about.

Wheat

From time to time there are “interesting discussion about various type of projects.

Recently an opinion about making Shrugs vs Sweaters sparked just such a conversation.

My reply – Well Whose Project Is It Anyway…

… And what is its intended purpose.

IMNHO

IF you think a Shrug is better for your purpose for ANY reason, then that is what you should make.

My Mom likes shrugs and wears them all the time – she just can’t stand a draft on her shoulders AND she like to pull it up “hood like” when she goes out in her idea of Cold Weather (pretty much anything below 75 degrees Fahrenheit (F) aka/ 23.8888889 degrees Celsius. (C)

On the other hand, I like deep cowl neck long body sweaters, sometimes with a down vest over it as a winter coat usually down to about +10 F aka/-12.22 C. My idea of deep cowl neck is not unlike a Shrug or better yet a mobius collar that can either be left down or in really ugly weather, pulled up over my hat for added protections. It also never falls off and lands on the StupidMarket floor or in an icy puddle in the parking lot.

MOST IMPORTANTLY…

NO ONE should EVER Feel Bad about the project they choose.

Other opinions may differ, but

– It is YOUR YARN –
use the best you can afford and be sure that it is appropriate to the project you have in mind

– It is YOUR PROJECT –
take the time to think about the intended use and then make your best decision

AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL

– It is YOUR CHOICE
So NEVER let ANYONE discourage you or diminish your enjoyment of your chosen craft or hobby.

Wheat

No “Day” Job? Oooooh, time to make money with my art/craft (stash/knowledge/fill in the blank).

Seems I have read or been reading this in just about every group, hobby or professional for months and certainly these last few weeks in several of the more active groups.

We all know how much trouble I can get into when I try to respond to “Universal You” although it is pretty much a given someone will take it personally and get into their own snit and a tizzy.

Time after Time, those who have had some or great success talk about the work involved and then are blissfully ignore – their extremely hard earned experiences banished into archives instead of worked on Needlepoint Pillows you have to look at every day.

Want to “teach” or “author”

So here is what may not have been said FIRMLY enough

IF one takes a realistic look at those who are supporting themselves with ONLY their art – well unless you are very lucky or already well established in the teaching/publication circuits – let’s just say that don’t you think a WHOLE lot of other people are thinking like you?

A “rant” about discount coupons that radically reduce the earning of a teacher, while maintaining the benefit to the sponsoring shop is just such a perfect example of a teaching what not to do and frankly for any one purporting to be in the BUSINESS of (fill in your area of expertise) to even be in this position is well beyond my ken.

The situation described? Well the teacher agreed to accept a PERCENTAGE per student and then the Shop, in order to fill seats gave out 50% off coupons. The shop continues to get not only the same, but the greater advantage of the sales generated by the excitement of the class (and efforts of the teacher), the teacher hardly got enough to cover their expenses much less make a living.

How to avoid this?

At the very least a better written agreement SHOULD have safeguards regarding Teacher compensation.

There should be clauses in the WRITTEN Teaching Agreement for a MINIMUM for UP TO X number of students and so much per student there after to a MAXIMUM.

That WRITTEN AGREEMENT, should include a clause giving the jurisdiction where disputes will be resolved and of course much more.

Please don’t bombard me with all the trite and untrue concepts of why it is good to give away your services. Unless one is also the seller of the profitable items, those misconceptions just don’t hold up in today’s environment (and I am not at all sure they did as recently as 5-10 years ago)

WRITTEN AGREEMENTS are what protect you from the insidious effects of such discount coupons imposes without your consent by the class promoter (LYS, Event Promoter, etc)

You, as a teacher or author or artist are alimited resource NOT a mass produced item that can be duplicated no matter what the demand.

Be professional and invest in the resources to protect yourself.

A well written contract/teaching agreement is more powerful then an AR-15 to defend yourself from the robbery without a gun of an unreasonable arrangement.

You can decide, as I did a decade ago, to teach basics primarily for the love of the craft and not expect to be compensated for much more than your expenses or peripheral benefits (i.e., demoing a technique and selling the tools or supplies directly)

Or, as the ranter said accept that you “need to find a real job”

HTH

Wheat

One question asked fairly often has to do with fulling, felting and other things that result in color smudges, runs and as mentioned today at Crochet Partners – Murky colors – Last weekish, it was a Quilt Thread bleeding conversation in QuiltArt group

Really the question has two “sections” how to prevent this from happening, and what to do when it does
Next, now is as good a time as any to give another Tuesday Tip aka/ Stock Answer for often asked questions

If you are having this problem consistently or hope to prevent it in the future – there are several things you can try. The easiest precaution and sometimes the antidote is use something like Carbona Dye Grabber in the first (has soap) run thru the felting process – well to be honest, it is the only one I have found which works consistently well – Its box is picture to your right.

Carbona Dye Grabber

This might be a good time to disspell the age old solution, Lemon juice probably will NOT work – yes, it gets recommended all the time for everything from clothing to beads and sometimes seems to help… So let me repeat LEMON JUICE is NOT really a solution ot the Color Run problems. Although some will continue to claim it words for them. And, yes, some will believe it works for them so as a libertarian – they are equally entitled to their opinion.

Lemon Juice no longer usually works for Fabric/Yarn/Fibers is that the the “traditional” lemon juice/citric acid originated BEFORE Polyester and the EPA did not exist back in the day when this method was first (possibly centuries ago) stumbled upon. Today’s dye formulations are often not responsive to the “lemon juice” method of dye stabilization.

Almost any fiber will, at the first washing or two, “leak” a bit of color – that is not all that abnormal for a small amount of “color blending” and in fact that is often one of the “charms” of felting, the merging/melding of colors.

It really becomes a problem in felting when the yarn used has not been properly finished and so has far too much excess/loose dye. And, there are colors (Blacks – Red – Jewel Tones – and others) that are more likely to be a problem. Ask any Counted thread person about Running Reds …

Happily there are some products out there that can/do help and are easily available.

As a person whose close predominates with Red, Pinks, Black, Denim and other Darker colors, I use these all the time. It also helps to “train” children and others to use them ALL THE TIME. As any wife, mother, gi or college student doing their laundry for the first time… Failur to sort is just asking for trouble – however if the situation requires, well, Dye Grabber can save a heap of unhappiness.

Carbona Color Run Remover

For your already completed projects or are guy who did not intend to have pink jockey’s but did need to get that great Red Sweatshirt clean, it may be worth giving Carbona’s Color Run Remover a try. It has especially worked well for me if I had not yet machine dried the fabric (felt, cotton, wools, whatever – a QuiltART List acquaintance recently saved a wonderful project where some Red thread had “run” (even before washing) It also seems to work well on pretty much any plant based fiber.

Hope this helps keep your colors less murky, whether felting or laundering

Wheat

NOTE: I do not sell these products (but I probably should and will have to look into that for my e-tail store http) Nor, do I receive any benefit other than a free sample package at a trade show (CHA) 5 years ago. Although If they offered me a few coupons, I would not refuse