The Woodworking Show

This weekend hubby and I hit up The Woodworking Show here in Katy, TX.  It was overall a lot of fun and we had a good time.  There were some highs and lows in my experience for the show. 

Total high, hubby watched the kiddos while I talked up my blog to a bunch of sales reps.  I love you hunny!  To all you sales people, I hope you enjoy my blog and thank you for taking the time to talk with me.

Maben playing under a table.

Total low, the typical thing happened, I am a woman in a man's world.  There were several sales reps that refused to talk to me so long as there was a man within earshot whose attention they could grab.  SHAME ON YOU! 

I expected it.  It's why locally I choose to shop at Woodcraft over other woodworking stores.  The guys that work at Woodcraft have been nothing but super nice to me.  Some other stores have not been as nice.  I think those other places are seriously missing out on an awesome demographic, WOMEN!  There are more and more women DIYers and woodworkers popping up everywhere and so few of us are getting representation, recognized or even any respect in what has typically been and still is a male dominated field.  I am amazed at all the room makeovers I am seeing by all my fellow tool wielding women.  You gals all rock!  I am so happy to be a part of a community where so many women aren't afraid to try new things.  The community of women bloggers who are building and crafting is amazing!

Anyways, I wanted to give an giant shout out to the companies that were super friendly to me.  Mr. Juneau from Bosch tools, Circle Saw, Everyone from Woodline USA, Craft Supplies USA and Sommerfeld's.  You all made me feel like I belonged.  I am a fan of your products and was super happy to be able to purchase from most of you.

Me standing next to my favorite purchase from the show.  I can't wait to find any reason to use it!

12" Dual-Bevel Glide Miter Saw

The new miter saw puts our old miter saw to shame.  I will have to dedicate an entire post later on to all that this bad boy can do. 

Creative Exercises

One of the things I loved about college was all the creative exercises we were given.  Now I will admit I didn't like every single one that we did, but some of the ones I initially hated the most were the ones that inspired me to push myself further than I thought I could go.  Now, I have been out of college for quite a while now and that led me to purchase a book to give me some ideas to get me going when I have hit a rut. 


Creative Sparks by Jim Krause

This is small book with a big impact.  First it's pages are very visually interesting, lots of color, different design styles which appeals to me a lot.  This book is filled with an abundance of advice for anyone thinking about or currently in the visual communications field as well as lots of creative exercises to get the juices flowing.  You can adapt many of the exercises to work for you, your style or medium.  I wouldn't just recommend this book for a visual artist, but I can understand many of the principles in this book being used by crafters, photographers and anyone who considers themselves to be in a creative field.  I mean, who doesn't want a little inspiration when you have hit that wall and don't know what to do next?

This book actually helped inspire me to create this blog, as well as other bloggers.  I actually took a photo of the page that hit me like a ton of bricks.  I wanted to invest in me, my creativity and further my knowledge of how to create in various mediums.  I am publicly making that commitment to myself.  This blog is to show off what I am doing as well as hold myself accountable, because I would honestly like to post at least 4 blogs per week.  That is pushing me to either post something I am working on, something that inspires me, something I want to try, etc.