Wednesday, August 31, 2011

A New Adventure

I am very excited to share a new venture in my life! That is of producer. I have produced a Film Noir Short called Battery Row. It is premiering tonight in Sherman Oaks California. It has been in the works since December and it has been a crazy wonderful experience. I have never produced before and I jumped at the chance when James Rhodimer asked me to be a part of his project. He wrote, directed, shot, edited and is the mastermind behind the whole film.  I am filled with all sorts of nerves and excitement as we get ready for our big night tonight! It is going to be a big ol' party and a fun evening shared with friends new and old. Wish me luck! :) I even have a VERY small cameo at the end. You can check out the trailer at .......... http://brashstudios.com/blog/index.html    ENJOY1

Tuesday, August 23, 2011


Why a picture of a hamburger you ask? Welll, besides the fact that I love a good hamburger.....regular, no cheese, extra onions please. Five guys is my favorite, yes, even better than In-n-Out (please don't shoot me), although this next story did not come from me passing a Five Guys. I would have totally stopped. LOL

Driving down a street in LA the other day I passed by a burger joint, the banner they had hanging along side their building said, “just about everyday we hear this is the best burger I have ever tasted”. It made me think of my little hand and footprint business. Everyday that I am working with my customers I hear, “ I wish I would have done this when my baby was younger”. I hear this  ALL the time. Even if the baby we are making impressions of is only 4 months old. I always smile and say well, your baby is only going to get bigger and in the grand scheme of things your baby is still really little. But, I do know what they are talking about. There is something about a tiny newborns impressions that are just different from an older infant. Those little tiny newborn prints are just so precious. But so is the impression of a chubby one year old or a long fingered two year old or even a 15 year old who was made to have some impressions by mom. :) No matter when you have your children’s impressions made he or she will only get bigger with time. It is never too late. 


If you have not tasted the heavenliness that is Five Guys, you are missing out. Come on all you In-N-Out lovers, I dare you!

Monday, August 22, 2011

You is kind. You is Smart. You is Important.

When I was in 4th grade I had a very traumatic (for me) experience. I was a very shy, quiet, good child. I tried to always do what was expected of me. I hated to make a scene and I NEVER wanted to get into trouble. Truth of the matter is, I still hate causing a scene, I'm still quiet and shy, and alway trying to do what is expected of me. I guess I will always be working on some of those things.
Anyway, I digress.....In forth grade I had a teacher named Ms. Sweeney. One day she called me to the back of the classroom. I followed her scared to death, having no idea what this was going to be about. I quickly tried to think if I had done anything wrong. Had I cheated on something? NO. Had I made someone mad at me? NO. Had I talked when I was supposed to be listening? NO. In Ms. Sweeney’s hands was a stack of my school work. I still had no idea what this was about. I was shaking in my shoes. Ms. Sweeney proceeded to show me my work and tell me that my handwriting was terrible and if it did not improve she was going to send me to the priciple’s office. I was mortified. It was all I could do to hold back the tears until she couldn’t see me anymore and then the levy broke. Tears and lots of them fell. Being sent to the principles office was one of the worst things that could happen to me. I was a good kid and only “bad” kids got sent to the office to see the principle. I couldn’t believe that I was being lumped into the same category as those “other” kids.  Those are the thoughts of a very innocent 9 year old.

After that horrific moment I remember spending countless hours (or so it seemed) practicing my writing each evening in my Dad’s big brown chair. I tried so hard to get my writing to improve. It must have because Ms. Sweeney  never sent me to the principle’s office BUT she also never told me that I had improved. The strange thing about this particular story is that it affected how I felt about my handwriting forever, even to this day I worry that my handwriting is not as good as it should be. When I was in Junior High and High School I would cover my handwriting as I wrote because I didn’t want anyone to see what my handwriting looked like. I would write and rewrite my papers over and over in hopes that I would have pleasing handwriting. Thank heaven for liquid paper and erasable ink pens! Remember erasermates? Do they still sell those?
I tell this story for many reasons. One being that whatever we tell our children they will remember. I am thankful that this is the worst thing that I remember being told that was bad about me. What if I had been told I was dumb or ugly or a pain or not good enough? I get teary eyed just thinking about it.  Thankfully I had parents who told me wonderful things about me. 
One of my favorite parts of the book The Help is when Abilene is telling little Mae Mobley.....”you is kind, you is smart, you is important”. It gets me every time. We all need to tell our children these things. Everyday.  Let those thoughts be what fills their little heads as they grow. Let them know how wonderful and important they ARE.
The funny ending to this story about me and my terrible horrible no good rotten handwriting is now written on the impression plates that hang on many walls through the world. :)   Yay!!!!!! Maybe Ms. Sweeney scared me into having really good handwriting OR maybe my handwriting was never really bad to begin with!!! I’m going with that one. :P

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Product Shot

Creating a Ceramic Hand and Foot Impressions Training Course has been a very fun project and also a TON of work. I am finding it is kind of an ongoing process, a process I am loving. I have loved collecting the parts of the whole that have come together so nicely. This has been an 11 year work in progress up to this point and I am so very happy with the point it is at now. With the help of James Rhodimer, and all of his artistic insight, we have really created, what I feel is a wonderful valuable program. Here is shot from the photo shoot we did today. I am proud to say that I actually took this shot and I love it. Now to get in the hands of others who want to start their own business. :)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Me, Jane and Marilyn

Grauman's Chinese Theater and the hand and footprints that line the entryway are a world famous tourist destination. How could I, a hand and footprint specialist,  ;)  not take a few photos with a few of my favorite people?!? I am lucky enough to be near Hollywood each month and have taken a few trips to visit the wonderful crazy amusement of all things at Graumans. It is amazing to think of all the millions of people who have placed their hands in the hands of some of our favorite movie stars. I have to admit it was really fun to do as all the tourists are doing and place my hands in a few of the hands of those that have gone on before me.  Each month while in CA I spend time in a house that Jane Russell lived in back in the 1960's soooo I had to take a photo with my hands in hers. So here I with Jane and Marilyn......only 58 years separate these two pictures. The photo of Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe was taken in 1953 while they were promoting their movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The photo of me was taken in 2011 promoting.....hand and foot impressions. :)

Monday, August 15, 2011

Don't forget to make ceramic impressions your animal friends! All of them. :)

I love making impressions of our little fury friends! I mostly get to make impressions of dogs but every once in a while someone will ask me to do, how shall I put this, an unusual animal. :)  One family in particular had 5 animals they wanted impressions of........two dogs, one hampster, one lizard, and one guinea pig. This was the result and I love it. I hope they do too!

Friday, August 12, 2011

The Lovely Elizabeth

I came across this video on youtube today and just thought I would share. It is so fun to see how we have loved capturing our handprints for so long. I love this short clip of Elizabeth Taylor. Enjoy!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Life is Good

I had no idea the excitement and new opportunities that would come from the creation of my new Ceramic Hand and Footprint Training program. It has been a fun journey from the beginning and it continues.  I am still making little tweeks and adjustments for my training program, always a work in progress, but it is fun to experience the energy that is coming from this project. My desire to help others has lead me to meeting some amazing people. I want to create a little network of people like me and it is my hope that by creating a positive experience for others to grow.....  good things will transpire. Each person who starts this business starts for different reasons. I know I had my reasons and it is fun talking with other women and finding out their reasons. I realize I have so much still left to learn in this life and I know that right now I am on a good path of learning. Little signs along the way help me know life is moving in a good direction. Life is good. xo


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Three Years Later....

Here is a funny story for you. (All two of you who read my blog).  LOL   I had a customer call me the other day to pick up an order. Strange or funny, not typically, happens all the time.  The strange thing about this particular customer was that she was calling about an order she place 3 years ago! It was a funny conversation as you can imagine. I think she was a bit embarrassed to be calling about an order placed so long ago but calling non the less. Shortly after we made the impressions of her baby boy she moved to Arizona. I had called many times to remind her of her order and even offered to ship it out to her. She said she is back and forth between Utah and Arizona and that she would rather not have the impressions shipped. After about a year I just stopped worrying about it and tucked her order away in my little graveyard of impressions that have not been picked up yet. Hard to believe, but sadly I have a little box full of impressions that just never get picked up. I have never had the heart to just get rid of these cute little forgotten about prints, so there they sit and wait. Thankfully for this mother and cute baby boy his impressions were waiting to be reunited and must have seemed even cuter and smaller as THREE YEARS had passed and the baby was no longer a baby anymore. That is the best things about these cute ceramic keepsakes...........they get cuter and smaller with time as your baby keeps getting bigger. But my advice, don't wait three years to pick them up. Enjoy them now!

*picture ~ not the baby who's prints I was talking about. Just FYI.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

A pet peeve....

I make a lot of phone calls during the day. Mostly for my business. I am returning calls to schedule appointments, answering questions, calling customers to tell them their order is ready, etc. (BTW - that is not my pet peeve.)  My pet peeve has to do with the answering machine silicon sally recording thingy. After all these years of dealing with answering machines and cell phone devices WHY on earth do we still need to be told so specifically what to do after the beep! Not only after the beep but how to leave a number or press the pound sign when done etc. etc. etc. It drives me crazy! LOL There are days when I will make about 30 calls in a row and I leave many messages and each time the phone goes to let me know the person is not available I can pretty much repeat verbatim what is being said by the little person inside the phone!!! Ahhhhh......it is silly crazy to me. There, done venting. I will still call all of you my wonderful customers. But wouldn't it be great if when a person does not answer the phone it just went.....BEEP. I think I know what to do now. :)

Monday, August 8, 2011

A good lesson and kinda funny too.

It is a funny thing owning your own business or maybe it is true with whatever you do for a living, but along the lines of learning a thing or two over the years, this one, makes me laugh.......now.  DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY!!!  I have loved my little hand and foot impressions business. I have put my heart and soul into running a good company, being kind to my customers, taking pride in my work and trying very hard to keep all that I do organized and put together. AND at times....I guess I have taken myself too seriously. I am glad that I can now laugh at this story. :)

 One day, after I had been in business for about a year or so, I was at a boutique displaying my "darlingwonderfulperfectbeautiful" "everyonewantsone" impressions. Or so I thought. I had created a cute table with all my sample impressions arranged just so. I was so proud of my set up. As it goes, customers (or should I say potential customers) come up to my table and look at what I have to offer, ask questions and if all goes right I make impressions of their little ones. Well, this one day, a lady approached my table and picks up one of the little foot ornaments I have displayed. She holds it out for me to look at and she asks "what is this for?" I smile and say it is a cute little ceramic foot impression, a keepsake. It can be used as a Christmas tree ornament, a gift for a grandparent or a cute memento for you to hand on a peg and remember your little one forever. I was just trying to help her see the many many many ways to use and appreciate this little foot. :)  She looks at me and says with a stone cold face "why on earth would anyone want something like this?" I was totally speechless. I just looked at her and thought she was going to start laughing and say "just kidding". She didn't. She just kept starting at me. Me...speechless, not sure what to say.  It NEVER dawned on me that there would be someone that would not think this is the cutest thing ever. Once I gathered my thoughts together and tried not to look completely deflated, I told her that many people like to have one made to capture a little moment in time of their little one. I shared how fleeting time is and babies only stay little for a little bit of time. Whatever I said wasn't working. She just placed the little sample down on the table, hmmmffft, and walked away. There I sat. Not really believing what had just happened.

From then on I realized that even though I take great pride in creating my impressions and I know many people love and cherish the little impressions they receive, it is not for everyone. Ahhhh, it is good to learn lessons. I learn more and more everyday and I am thankful for weird, quirky, and funny stories that keep me grounded in my impressions.


Sunday, August 7, 2011

A quiet day...

Sunday, always a nice quiet day and a bit different from the rest of the week. I actually went on a beautiful hike in the California hills today. It ended at a waterfall. I love that. What is it about water that is so soothing and peaceful? Now I am feeling relaxed and peaceful myself and now thinking about the upcoming week and what lies ahead. I will be doing a lot of on line marketing of my handprint training, trying to get the word out.  I can't wait to help other moms (or anyone, for that matter) experience what it is like to run their own business.  As this chapter in my life opens and begins to unfold I find that there are more experiences and people who are coming into my life at the right time.  Each corner I turn I find there is so much to learn. It is fun and exciting.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

A FIRST!


I had an appointment the other day and after 11 years of business I had an interesting "first" happen. I have done many impressions and had so many fun and wonderful experiences over the years. I could share, and probably with, many many stories. But the other day I made an impression for a new mom's baby...not too surprising, the surprising part is I had made an impression of the mother when see was a young girl (not a baby). Yes, she is a young mother but it was so fun to have had that happen. Crazy. I never really thought I would be in business long enough to have something like this happen. So much fun!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

A Good Happening

I love when an unexpected wonderful happening happens. This evening I had two hand and foot appointments scheduled. My first appointment was a bit late and my second appointment was a bit early. This used to really STRESS me out when I first started my business. I was so worried about keeping everyone entertained and making sure everyone was taken care of. But, I have learned a thing or two over the years of working my little business and that is to just let things work themselves out. Tonight was a good example of that. While working with my first appointment I welcomed in my second appointment....great grandma, granddaughter and new baby and had them sit down in my family room which is part of my studio room, just off to the side. I kept working with my first customer, a repeat customer....a mom bringing her 4th baby to me. :) Anyway, what was so fun about his evening is we ended up sitting a visiting for awhile. We were just talking about babies and kids and life. Sometimes it is just the right mix of people and the conversation just flows. It felt so good to know they seemed comfortable in my home and relaxed enough to sit down, feed and change their babies and visit for awhile. I love that part about my business. I get to have talks about amazing things. I hear very personal stories sometimes. I love the connection I have with most of my customers. I am very thankful to do what I do and I look forward to the moments when unexpected wonderful happenings happen.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Handprint Training

I am still in the process of moving some of my old posts from my other blog back over to my good ol' blogger site.  So here is another little preview of my Hand and Footprint training program. Things are looking good for the future of helping other moms create a business of their own, like mine. If you know anyone who may be interested please don't hesitate to send them my way. I have loved my business for 11 years now and I want to help others enjoy the benefits of working at home, creating a wonderful product, and also learn a bit about business. Cheers! xo