– Jane
· · · Jane’s Thread · · ·
My Dyeing Days & Others on Whidbey Island
It all started in April with a Facebook message from a friend, Patti King, whom I hadn’t seen in 30 years. I’ve known Patti since our kids were in elementary school together in Connecticut. She wove rag rugs the same way I decorated eggs – at a museum quality...
Your Reinvention Refresh
The long-anticipated highlight of the past month was a trip to Atlanta for the Design Influencers Conference. Heeding warnings about flight delays and cancellations, I left a day early and spent an extra night at my destination. To fill the time, I contacted two...
Welcome to My Newly Branded Blog!
As I've re-designed my business to feature my art as well as my entrepreneurship and writing, I want to share with you monthly what I'm working on and what's inspiring me. A quick re-cap of July to set the stage for August: I was in full recovery mode after hip...
My 8th and Final Website (she says…)
My first website ever, created with my good friend Kathy Leeds, was done in 1999. She insisted I needed a web presence (what's a web?) and coded the entire thing herself. As websites took over our lives, I've hired a variety of pros to update and re-design me. I...
I Knew Something Great Would Happen
I arrived at the D&D Building in NYC this afternoon armed with a large tote bag filled with pillows not knowing exactly how this adventure would go. I had committed to take images of my handmade designs in decorative settings and thought the D&D Building...
What Can You Celebrate?
While so much has changed and been taken away from us since March 2020, I'm reminded of a mantra I heard many years ago that has helped me navigate these surreal times: "Focus on the doughnut, not on the hole." Here we are, 20 months later, still masked up, albeit...
My Form of E – Thank You, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
I read the obituary for Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi this morning and recalled how influential his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience was for me when I read it in the early 90s. The Times article linked to his 2004 TED talk which I also watched today. It...
This Is Not Goodbye
I'm not going away, entrepreneurially speaking, but I am shifting where my energy is being directed these days. If you've been following me, and I know what an amazingly loyal readership I've been privileged to address since 2008, you've read about my baby...
My Most Difficult Client
Let me describe her to you. She would like my constant attention and feedback. She needs more reassurance and affirmation than our thrice monthly commitment allows. Even though I preach otherwise, she regularly compares herself to the competition and comes up...
Client Testimonial for My Custom Throw Pillows
How easy is it for you to ask for help? In my experience, it used to be a deal-breaker. I'd rather struggle along solo than risk rejection. What I've come to understand is that I am able move on from rejection, and still be okay. But more important, when I do...
I Almost Spent $199 on Vegetable Peelers Today
It's been years since I've walked a trade show at the Javits Center, but the NY NOW promotions caught my attention earlier this summer. What used to be separately the Gift Show and the Stationery Show have been fused together and re-branded. I attended it this...
What Fills You Up?
There were so many marvelous and unexpected outcomes from my Wilkes Barre adventure last week that I wanted to share a few with you. Because, like George Carlin said: “Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.” I...
How I Got to 1000 Followers on Instagram
My inner critic is whispering (hah!) in my ear, "Anyone with 2000 or more followers will never read this and wonder why you would even mention such a meager following." So, I just gave her an assignment while I write to you. Way back when, 1000 followers was a...
A 10-Hour Blind Date
Following one lead after another, which I do, I was introduced to Melanie Falick, the author of Making a Life. During a phone conversation in early June, she described a friend of hers who lives near Wilkes Barre, PA, who has the most extensive felted wool...
An Unfavorite Activity Made Easier by Hawmi Guillebeaux
I used to be so afraid of rejection that I'd rather let go of a goal or vision than hear the word, "no". On closer examination, most of my requests have been granted, but asking still doesn't come easily. Consider the acronym for fear, which is at the root of my...