Failure Is Not An Option (or My Hero, Princess Lasertron)

Happy 2011!

I was originally intending to post about Robot In Bloom's news for the new year, when I read this excellent post by one of my design and business heroes, Princess Lasertron (aka - Megan Hunt).




I'll admit, I wasn't brave enough to write about this failure when it happened, but Megan's blog post made me realize that I should share my negatives, especially if they turn into positives!

For those who don't wish to read the entire post (thought you really should), here are a few excerpts to give you the gist of her "failure" story...

I can’t stand mistakes, I can’t tolerate them, but I believe that anyone who claims they don’t make mistakes is not cut out to own a business. The challenge is to be quick to recognize your mistakes, acknowledge them, and find creative ways to correct them.

...

Over 70 hours of painstaking custom work–for brides, no less–lost in the mail and never delivered ... The right thing to do is refund their money for the flowers they never got to use and enjoy, and it hurts me a lot. It’s the first time I’ve ever had this happen, and what makes it most frustrating is that it was completely out of my hands.

...

There is a lesson here and I hate that I had to learn it the hard way. I hate it. I am still sick about it. But the best thing to do is to talk about it transparently and show how mistakes and accidents can happen in any business, and show compassion for the customers who are hurt by the errors.

After reading that Megan - craft business goddess - has problems occasionally, AND was brave enough to write about them, I just had to comment. Usually I just admire her work from afar, but this time I left this comment and I wanted to also share it with my readers:

A similar thing happened to me recently and it truly broke my heart. I create paper flower bouquets for “offbeat” brides and I have the same issues as you – once the package leaves my hands, it’s up to the USPS, etc. to make sure it gets there safely. For one of my brides, her shipment of 80 Oriental poppies showed up with about 40 of them squished beyond repair.

I panicked when I heard the news, but I was really proud of my initial reaction… Immediately, I knew I had to remake and ship the flowers because that’s what’s important to me. Yes, there’s too much expectation of “perfection” on wedding days, but it’s my personal goal to make sure each of my customers gets exactly what they were expecting whether it was my error or not.

It was really cool to find out that, in a crisis, I practice what I preach and that my heart is in my business for the right reasons!

So, yeah... Sometimes you surprise yourself in a crisis, but I think it's an even better feeling when you're NOT surprised at your reaction!

Have you ever had a business take really good care of you? Have you ever had really crummy service? Tell me about it below! I'd like to learn from others' mistakes and make sure it never happens to my brides!

Side Project Fun (or New Bionic Buttercup Gems)

Remember how I told you guys about my second Etsy shop, The Bionic Buttercup?

Well, I thought I'd hopefully brighten your Tuesday and post some of my favorite, quirkiest items from my shop!

Like this mirror haunted by a little girl...




this animal cell necklace...




or this altered landscape painting...




Have a unique Tuesday!

Rally to Restore Sanity (or Finally!!!)

This weekend, I attended the Rally to Restore Sanity.





In all honesty, I'm brimming with desire to post, but I'm not sure where to begin... The rally was an incredibly positive and unique experience that I consider myself lucky to have been a part of. My husband and I went into it (like many people, possibly including even Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert themselves) not sure what to expect.

We don't have cable, but we used to. And when we did, we were huge fans of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report... I don't even remember how I first heard about the rally, but I do know that I immediately HAD to attend. We bought plane tickets before even seeing Jon's "call to reasonableness" video online.



A wee bit early for full leaf-change.


This was a rather unreasonable act for me and Josh because we almost never splurge on anything or make a decision that quickly. But we did it. I don't know why we were so eager. Was it just an exercise in personal spontaneity (Yep. I know.), or was it a reflection of how completely fed up we are with the loud, obnoxious attention that loud, obnoxious extremists are granted by the media at large?

In the weeks leading up to the rally, it seems like America was wondering the same thing: is the rally just a comedy show for anti-establishment slackers who want to thumb their noses at the immensity of the problems in our country? Or is it a serious political movement and a loud message to the media and government that we're not gonna take it anymore? And when I asked myself what I was hoping to get out of it, I came to realize that what I wanted changed from moment to moment. Finally, I just resigned myself to, "Hey, at least I'll get to breathe the same air as Jon and Stephen, and that's pretty cool."





We got on the plane on Friday and found six other passengers in our immediate vicinity that were headed toward the rally, too! My hopes definitely rose. I mean, honestly, I haven't met many people in Houston whose favorite activity is exploring their own beliefs and encouraging others to do the same. So, yeah, I was thrilled!

We got a better idea of how many ralliers were there while riding the DC Metro, but on Saturday morning a quick peek at the morning news showed the National Mall filling up four hours before the start time. It looked like we weren't the only people who believed in... well, something...


We believe in a lot of different stuff!


We followed the masses to the Mall and found the most distinctive crowd ever. It's incredibly rare to have hundreds of thousands of people in the same area and have them all act right, right? Well, not these folks. I've never seen so many people NOT pushing, NOT shoving, NOT jockeying for position... Most people actually said, "Excuse me" if they had to scoot in front of you to get to where they were going! And we were packed in like sardines. It was like rock concert/subway rush hour proximities. No one smelled bad. I only saw two people smoking (and they were on the outskirts of the main crowd). People even allowed shorter people they didn't know stand in front of them if they couldn't see!
It was astounding!

At one point, there was a large sign that was blocking the view of me and many people around me. The guy behind me shouted, "Hey! Guy with the big sign about bears! Can you lower your sign please?" And he did, and we all shouted "Thank you!" No animosity necessary....

Can it be? Are these my fellow non-extreme 80% of the nation? Are they really out there?

It seems so.


From The Atlantic

In a way, the rally was a failure in terms of "rally excitement" because it was full of people who don't really like to clap along to songs, or shout things back at performers who ask you to shout things during their songs. But, like I said, that's MY kind of people and they're awesome!

There were a handful of people that didn't keep with the spirit of the rally. Some chose to dress as teabags or in general ridiculousness, while others made signs that specifically attacked certain political figures. I wondered if these few individuals were unable or unwilling to understand the point. Maybe it was just a Halloween thing.

Then again, it was the leftist organization MoveOn.org who were the douchebags who brought those annoying beach balls (printed with the website name) and unreasonably bounced those around the crowd. Seriously guys, no one likes those.




Another thing I noticed about the crowd was the diversity... Not just racial and ethnic diversity, but also age. My 20-year old cousin drove down from Massachusetts for the rally (sorry I didn't meet up with you, Becky!), and apparently the very elderly Mexican-American man I sat next to on the subway flew in from Seattle. It was great to see that sanity is not the property of one segment of the population.


The Roots were great, the funniness was funny, and the mood was incredibly positive. There were some stand-out moments for me - like when "America's most reasonable-seeming man", Law and Order's Sam Waterston came out and read a fear poem by Colbert, and when Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) and Ozzy Osbourne had a song battle with their respective types of "trains", only to be settled by the O'Jays and their superior "train".

The signs were the real stars in a way. They covered a large breadth of humor from the silly:



to the satirical:



to the ones so simply true, they make you laugh:




All in all, the rally was a huge success and an essential show of positivity for America, all accomplished while walking the fine line of satire and silliness achieved every weeknight by the Daily Show and the Colbert Report.

Jon Stewart did an amazing job of summing up the goals of the rally himself, so please watch this unedited video of his speech.
It's really wonderful and it echoes my final thoughts of the day.

Back to School? (or Back To Cool!)

Here are two arrangements from my irreverent "booze series" I've created to sell at The Dalla Flea on Saturday, September 11.

A pandering ode to Texas:





This one is perfect for a college kid going back to school...



Especially if he's Axl Rose.

Great Day Houston (or Doot-Doot-Doot!)

Whew! Today was a long and awesome day!

For those who prefer their chases to be cut to, here's the video from today's Great Day Houston on KHOU, channel 11 (in the 4th largest city in America!)


Love that freeze frame!

My segment starts at -4:35, but I urge you to watch all of it because Roxy and Lora are awesome!


Soooo, backstory: In case you've missed all my crowing for the past 2 days, you might be interested to know that I was a guest on today's Great Day Houston episode featuring "designing women" in the Houston community.



Ahhh, the hustle and bustle of live tv!






In 3... 2... and *point*


I kind of have a million things to say about it, but also I think the video speaks for itself. I was nervous, but not as much as I thought I'd be... It was really really fun and Deborah Duncan is possibly the easiest person to talk to on the whole freaking planet! I gave her one of Roxy's pins and a small bouquet of daisys after the show, and she said she'd be interested in having us back before Christmas!



Me and the wonderful Ms. Deborah Duncan


Also, go Etsy Houston! Represeeeeent!

[I have a picture to put here of me, Lora, and Roxy, but it's right before the show and we look terrified!]

So, I guess keep it tuned to channel 11 for further updates!

Robot In Bloom Paper Flower Jewelry Debuts Today! (or I Finally Updated My Etsy Shop...)

In a minor flurry of activity, I updated my Etsy shop today to include a few pieces of paper flower jewelry I've been working on...

Enough talk.
Pics or it didn't happen!



Trendy Pink Paper Flower Ring




Ivory Gardenia Ring




Pretty Pink Paper Flower Ring




Orchid-Colored Paper Rose Ring




Lime Green Paper Poof Dangly Earrings

Frogs!!!! (or Post-Tadpole Distraction)

I ask you this:





How is it possible for me to get any work done today when these adorable baby frogs are hopping all over my rainy back patio??






So cute it hurts!

Side Project (or My Ridiculous Art)

So, I'm not totally done with this project, but I can't wait to share it with you...

This past week, my husband, Josh, and I have totally redone our apartment. We deep cleaned, donated boxes and boxes of things that we no longer need, and got ourselves organized. We also rearranged some furniture which (to me) warrants new artwork on the wall! (Any excuse, right?)

My goal was "ridiculous Victorian" and I opted to paint precious portraits of ridiculous things...

I started with some wooden ovals,




penciled in some rough sketches,




mustered all of my rudimentary Bob Ross painting technique and applied it to portraiture!




Taa-daa!







This is my new favorite thing I've ever made for the house, and these little vignettes are going to hang on the wall behind our tv.

In the interest of full disclosure, Josh drew the Ninja Turtle (Donatello, our favorite! He "does machines"...)



All of Josh's 5th grade practice had led up to this momentous tour de force... I'm absolutely blown away by it! Doesn't it look authentic??

Also, we still have one more large oval to do, but we can't decide on what it should be... Any ideas?

Rose Glamour Shots (Stop And Ogle The Roses!)

I just took some shots of the roses I'm working on for The Artisan Market, and thought I'd share...











Oh, and don't forget that once the Robot In Bloom Facebook page reaches 150 "likes" (formerly "fans"), I'll pick one of you to win 6 of these classy blooms!

You may now continue your Thursday.

Artisan Market, VIDA, and Earth Day (or Boldly Going Where No Robot In Bloom Has Gone Before!)

Guys, I'm soooo excited!

The awesome ladies of VIDA Events and Marketing have asked me to participate in a new art and craft event in Houston - the Artisan Market!

VIDA is the up-and-coming marketing team of Carmen Fraser and Brenda Boral. One of the thing I love about their philosophy is that they not only want small business to thrive, but they also seek to do it in an eco-friendly way! They recommend going green for the environment AND for cost-saving measures like reducing the amount of paper your business uses. For example, you can fax a document to the client's computer instead of printing and then faxing. Easy, right?

Anyway, the Artisan Market will be my very first craft show-type thingy and I have a LOT to figure out...

The outdoor market is Saturday, May 22 from 11:00am to 4:00pm at 1740 Sunset Blvd. in Houston (West University area). There will be all sorts of artists and crafters and plenty unique, beautiful things to buy.







So, for the next month, I'm going to be making more flowers than you can shake a stick at, getting banners printed, buying a really big table, and generally spazzing out -

Wish me luck!

Or, better yet, come by and see me in action at the Artisan Market!

Adieu, Roaring 20s! (or Guten Tag, Dirty 30s!)

I turn 30 in 10 days.

It's nice being born toward the beginning of a decade. It makes it a lot easier to remember how old you are...

In honor of my upcoming milestone, I want to do one of those year-end recaps bloggers and 13 year old LiveJournalers are (were?) fond of. But I'm gonna do it about my 20s.

There's a lot of time I wasted and wish I could salvage from those years. Is it possible to get a decade do-over? A mulligan?
I suppose not.

Time cycles on.





Anyway, here goes...

1.What did you do in your 20s that you’d never done before?
Oh my... lots of things. Most importantly - I fell in love and got married.


2.Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Um... this doesn't really fit my decade theme, so I'll say that I achieved vastly different goals than I assumed I would have achieved by 2010/30. And, yes, I have goals for my 30s, too.


3.Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sister. Twice.



4.Did anyone close to you die?
My grandmother. I was quite close to her and it was weird how easy it was for me... No regrets, I suppose.


5.What countries did you visit?
Pathetically, I've still no use for my passport. I was supposed to study in England for a semester in college, but things didn't quite work out. That's the closest I've come.


6.What would you like to have in your 30s that you lacked in your 20s?
Enough money, self-assuredness, and peace.


7.What dates from your 20s will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 1, 2000 - Y2K and tending to/bonding with my future husband
September 11, 2001 - Duh
December 20, 2003 - Graduation from the University of Florida
December 26, 2003 - Moving to Houston
Early 2005 - The night my future husband told me how he felt
March 15, 2008 - Wedding day!
Summer 2009 - Quitting my lame job and branching out on my own to start Robot In Bloom


8.What was your biggest achievement of the decade?
I think if you look back at the dates I remember, you'll see a few.


9.What was your biggest failure?
Not to be obtuse, but trusting the wrong thing and not trusting myself.


10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing hospital-worthy. Well, I had my wisdom teeth out, but whatever.


11.What was the best thing you bought?
Well, I want to say something wedding-related, I guess... but probably my DBA. And these sunglasses.




12.Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My husband is the greatest person on earth. He is excellent every day!


13.Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Hm....... I will plead the 5th on that.


14.Where did most of your money go?
Flying to Houston. Living expenses. Moving in and out (and in and out and in and out and in and out...) of apartments. Buying goofy things from the Dollar Store. Craft supplies.


15.What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Moving onward, upward, and getting lots of support. Also seeing Paul McCartney live in concert. And the NKOTB reunion concert.


16.What song will always remind you of your 20s?
Yikes........ I'm gonna have to go with a seemingly random song and say, "I Don't Know Much" by Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt


17.Compared to this time last decade, are you:

Happier or sadder?
Happier. By far.

Thinner or fatter?
Shhhh....

Richer or poorer?
Richer.


18.What do you wish you’d done more of?
Positve thinking. Being brave.


19.What do you wish you’d done less of?
Sniveling. Wasting time in detrimental company.


20.How will you be spending Christmas?
Probably flying home to Florida again?


21.Did you fall in love in 2009?
I fall in love with Josh every day.





22.What was your favourite TV programme?
Of the decade? I'll have to say 'The Office' and 'So You Think You Can Dance'


23.Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last decade?
Hate, schmate. I've merely moved on.


24.What was the best book you read?
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, the Harry Potter series, a Dorothy Parker collection, Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions


25.What was your greatest musical discovery?
Of Montreal, Lady Gaga, Eminem, the Grass Roots (Actually, I've always known who they were, I just didn't know all those songs were theirs), and Shocking Blue


26.What did you want and get?
Love, support, independence, a job I love


27.What did you want and not get?
Total satifaction


28.What was your favourite film of the decade?
Fight Club


29.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I don't really remember any of my 20s birthdays


30.What one thing would have made your decade immeasurably more satisfying?
Not sure... probably the total satisfaction thing.


31.How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
"Screw this. I'm gonna wear what I want to wear. Who cares if people think turquoise and purple are too loud??"


32.What kept you sane?
Josh. I don't know what I did before him.


33.Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Lady Gaga, I guess? She inspires me to be more individual and not to worry. She also seems to really care about her fans and what she does.


34.What political issue stirred you the most?
I'm stirred by quite a bit. I prefer not to discuss it in public, though.


35.Who did you miss?
My grandmother. My BFF Val.


36.Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009
Life is too short to waste time in a job you hate!


38.Quote a song lyric that sums up your decade
"Colors of the world, spice up your life! Every boy and every girl, spice up your life!"
Which, come to think of it is from the 90s......

So I'll go with, "Why-oh why-oh, why-oh-why-oh-why-oh, are we so in denial when we know we're not happy here?"

Diversions of a Vaguely Halloween-ish Nature (or More Coveting)

Stupid Houston flooding.
I wasn't able to go to the Finao Playdate last night and I'm quite upset about that.

The radar looked pretty much like this last night - the blobs were about an inch or two to the left, though.




To help relieve my disappointment in missing out on last night, I'm browsing on Etsy.


Now, I ask you, have you ever seen a more gorgeous hat?



Made by Baroque and Roll, purveyor of various glamorous head-things.




I also found this excellent alternative to wallpaper, by Byrdie Graphics.






And who doesn't need a good pair of spats? (And a reference to Skeksis?)



Spats of all kinds are available at Straight Razor Slasher Designs.




And, finally, a subtle crow fashioned from an old vinyl record, by Prefectly Random Designs.




Have a lovely Halloween weekend, kiddies!

Friday Kvetching (or Weekend Dreaming)

I'm really looking forward to the weekend!

This week has been a rough one - dropping a chunk of cash on lawyer services, continued wrestling with my site's HTML, and perpetually watery eyes because certain plants have decided to propogate their species lately.

On the bright side, though, I got my new business cards a lot earlier than I thought (exciting!), tonight's episode of Star Trek: TNG is the one where Data and Lore hang with Dr. Soong (goofy!), and our latest Netflix shipment looks promising - The Wrestler, The French Connection, and Breaking Bad: Season 1.

In the meantime, I'll let you greet your weekend with pictures of amazing cut paper artwork by Michael Velliquette.

Incredible!













Please go to his website. Those pictures are just the tip of the iceberg!

Color Your World (or My Apartment Definitely Needs Therapy)

I'm totally plotzing over the entries in Apartment Therapy's Room For Color 2009 contest.



Oh, how I'm dying to paint a room so boldly...



In my current apartment living situation, I'm quite prohibited from indulging in the world of creative wall paint. Hopefully, I can change that soon.







"Contractor Beige" is the worst, don't you think?