The End of the Year Draws Near

  Things have gone well at the Rustic Sparrow.  Mid-month the first space on the east side of the shop, including the window display area, became available.  After some brief soul-searching, wondering if we can justify the additional rent, Doug and I decided to go for it; we moved from the very last space to the very first one!  This was a different-shaped space and the pressure was on to create a display that would entice customers to come into the store, but we were up to the challenge and I think we did a fine job.

  Thanks to a couple of events - a wine/beer/cheese tasting event sponsored by the Downtown Business Association and the national Small Business Saturday, we had a successful November and December - meaning that, at the least, we were able to pay the rent.

  This week I finally made a sign to identify our space and today we hung it up.  What a great feeling that was!  Here's how it looks.

  Things are piling up in my dining room that need paint and some assembly.  Today I worked on 3 birdhouses I've gathered along the way and I really enjoyed pulling items together from the basement and sewing basket to make them a little different.  I look forward to sharing photos of them, although I know I still need to post some photos of my re-designed dining room.  Then again, since the last post,  I needed the barrister bookcase that held my supplies to use in the shop to display merchandise, so it's gone and an interesting art deco armoire from the garage replaced it.  Unfortunately, it's not working as well as I'd hoped and the place is not nearly as organized as I'd like, but that's okay - I'll paint it (the wood finish has been damaged) and off to the shop it will go, to be replaced by something else I'll come up with.

  In other words, I'm still greatly enjoying these opportunities to be creative.  I find myself getting grumpy if I have to put aside my paints for a day or two to take care of other priorities.  And another benefit has been meeting some wonderful other "furniture painters" through Facebook and their blogs.  I had no idea how many women (and some men) like me are enjoying the same artistic outlet I am - all over the world - and they have precious stories of their own to share!