Small Business Saturday, November 29th

In recent years American Express has generously sponsored a movement know as Small Business Saturday. Local hometown businesses may sign up and join for which they receive promotional materials to support the event, placement on an online map of supporting business and ideas to encourage people to "Shop Small" on November 29th.

On their website there are ways to show your support for Small Business Saturday (click to learn more) such as by promising to shop small and posting on facebook, and showing you will be there by taking a picture at the businesses and sharing it at #shopsmall.

Show your support for your hometown this Saturday. Look for the signs in the windows, the shop small mats at the front doors and get your free canvas tote at participating businesses in Benson!

Change.

Well it isn't the new year but one can not always wait for January to make a resolution for change. November seems to be just as good a time for new beginnings. Maybe its the change of the season from a busy summer of activity to a slower pace in which there is room for reflection on the last years changes. As for myself there were many.

Last year on November 1st I set out to lose 35 pounds. I succeeded by February and have successfully maintained that weight loss for a year now. In February I met someone new who would by June become an important relationship in my life. My youngest son moved out on his own and my oldest got engaged. And at the end of this year my parents and I will be closing the larger studio know as Swift Weavers in Benson.

Change is inevitable and sometimes bittersweet. When I opened Swift Weavers in 2008 it seemed to be a blessed endeavor, I called it a "God thing." All the pieces fell into place effortlessly. When my Mom and Dad moved to Benson I taught  my father to weave and he began to assist me at the shop. We managed to stay afloat but some circumstances in my life demanded that I return to work full time to support my family. My Dad continued to maintain the shop, handling a large  part of the weaving and the day to day operation. As a person who needs something to do I believe it gave him purpose. I look back now and see that Swift Weavers was not in God's plan for me but for my father. Who knew?

I'd like to thank my Dad and Mom for faithfully keeping the doors of Swift Weavers open for the last 3 years. And while we will be closing the main studio this January we will be retaining a small yarn section in Bugs and Flowers and continue meeting on Tuesday afternoon with the knitters. As for the future I would like to return to blogging on a regular basis, continuing to weave at home this winter and establishing more of an online presence for Swift Weavers.

Thanks to everyone for all their patronage and support for the last six years. It has been a privilege to have met and served you all!

Zentangle Royal Challenge

It has been a few weeks since I have had time to tangle for the Diva's challenge. Along with the royal wedding in Britain it has been prom week in Benson. My son is a junior this year and the job of the junior parents is to plan and put on an Afterbash for the junior and senior class and their dates. It has become quite a production. The Afterbash takes place in the city armory which is a dauting space to decorate, to say the least. Huge, bare and with very high ceilings it is decked out according to theme (Las Vegas this year) in order to house, for one night, 200 plus teens and their parents.
Then there is the matter of feeding and entertaining the prom goers until 4 in the morning. To this end other dedicated committee members come up with lavish food and drink menus as well as a myriad of games to play. Of course ,where there are games, there must be prizes ,and that committee spends an enormous amount of the money raised by the parents to supply some fabulous gifts and prizes for the teens. Everything from lap tops to cash is up for grabs. All in all, it is quite a group effort on the part of the parents who plan, create, decorate, cook, and work all night long to ensure their children are safe and have fun on prom night. And lets not forget that after a long night, these selfless people are back again for cleanup while their offspring sleep! Ah, the things we do for love.
Lisa Burns has provided a wonderful slideshow of the Afterbash at snapfish.com. The login is bensonprom11 @hotmail.com and the password is vegas2011. You can upload your own Afterbash shots or have pictures printed of you and your friends. Enjoy - and thanks, Lisa!
So after our own big event in Benson was behind me, I turned to the Diva on Monday to catch up on the slide shows of recent challenges and to see what the new challenge was all about. Laura provided a slideshow of royal inspiration for tangle patterns. Isn't Westminster Abbey awesome! Wow, talk about pomp and circumstance. There are arches, and chair backs, and braiding, and badges. Columns, and cornices, organs and sashes. Lace sleeves and fascinators, eye candy galore. A person just couldn't wish for much more. So I lay on the sofa, kicked back and relaxed, and tangled my way to Great Britain and back!