Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Adding More New Items


MJ and I designed illustrations to for my Pet shop of the old ones stories last yr.

This yr I'm using the illustrations to create cross stitch patterns. The first offering will be the illustration of the little fluttercat Cinnamon.

I will be adding these patterns soon.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Saturday the 14th


Saturday the 14th... After my post yesterday about ventriloquist dummies and clowns, I thought I'd be a big brave girl and watch this killer ventriloquist dummy movie Mike brought home called Dead Silence.

I made it through the credits... I met the 2 main characters. The dummy got delivered by an unknown person... The girl plays with it and mentions the evil doll maker. She puts the dummy down and it's mouth drops open on it's own.

I get up and put on a Hogan's Heroes Dvd. I lasted all of 4 and a half minutes.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Friday the 13th is Scary?

Okay, it's another Friday the 13th...

Sorry, this is not something that scares me. The number 13 has always boded well for me.

The things that always scared me were people and things that seemed false or pretended to be human like clowns or ventriloquist dummies or even mannequins.


Take clowns for example... did you know that during the middle ages traveling acting troupes used performers in white face and motley clothing as the devil figure in the religious cycle plays? The characters pretended to be sweet and kind but had an evil agenda.

Fear of the pseudo human like a ventriloquist dummy... hmmm maybe that can be traced to stories of wizards giving life to dolls and such that will do their masters' evil bidding. I remember movies like the Devil Doll really scaring the daylights out of me. In that movie, an evil magician trapped his victim's consciousness in a ventriloquist dummy.

Movies and shows that portray clowns and dummies as the frightful things I believe them to be don't bother me too much. I think that's because the clowns and dummies aren't pretending to be nice. Check out Killer Clowns From Outer Space http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dns3RKkgko
or the Canadian tv series Puppets Who Kill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaWltRP8s8c I always knew clowns could suck the essence out of you with crazy straws and that puppets had homicidal issues.

The number 13 will never be something I fear when there are clowns and pseudo human dolls with evil agendas just waiting to do something terrible....


BOOO!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Pre-Holiday Sale































I just wanted to show some of the fun things in my shop that will be on sale until the 18th. Everything in the shop is 30% off.


I have cthulhu monsters, beaded jewelry, plush cats, wrist cuffs....all kinds of fun things.

Oh, and if you want a custom piece, best contact me now so I can get it finished in time for the holidays.

Monday, November 2, 2009

The Buddhist Business Owner-Using the Eight-fold Path to Guide your Business -Right Effort









To put Buddhist teachings into practice, a special type of gradual effort is needed.
It is much too difficult to put all Buddhist principles into practice perfectly at once. People who try to do this will probably give up in days.
Instead, you need to make small improvements, one at a time. Then, once an improvement has become a habit, adding another improvement till you are living more and more of the Buddhist life by habit.

For instance, an improvement might be to remember to do a kind deed every day. To keep this up till it becomes a habit is enough to keep anyone busy.

So right effort is about making improvements gradually but then keeping them up forever. It is about making improvements at a pace which is easy enough for you to keep up. It is like a long-distance runner, who deliberately runs at a slow pace which it is possible to keep up for miles. It is the opposite of a sprinter, who can run very fast during a short race but cannot keep this up for longer.

Right effort also means paying equal attention both to doing more good, kind things and to doing fewer harmful things.

Right effort can also involve praising yourself and rewarding yourself for progress in following Buddhist teachings.


http://www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/eightfold-path.php#top

Make yourself a list of things you want to improve about your business. Here are a few things you might be thinking about as you grow your business.

Are you concerned about the origin of your supplies? Are your customer service skills up to snuff? Do you manage your time well enough so that your family doesn't feel neglected? Do you want to be a "green" business?

Set realistic goals for yourself. Take your time and change your business plan gradually. If you're worried about the supplies you're using, research more cost effective suppliers whose business practices are in line with your personal beliefs.

If the family is feeling neglected, set up special family times or if they want to, involve them in simple tasks that will help you with your business or household tasks.

Make gradual changes in what you do and you will find it much easier to run a more people and environmentally friendly business.

The lovely piece A Sense of Zen can be found in the Etsy shop Hey Harriet http://www.etsy.com/shop/HeyHarriet