GONE FISHIN' Y'ALL

Creative Times is on break 'til after Dec.27th.

Thanks for being with me this year, dear readers!

Please feel free to browse the archives for good reads.

Stay tune for more interviews, stories, events postings and surprises in 2009!

Yours Truly,
Eleanor

HAPPPY (ALMOST) HANUKAH

Hanukah begins sundown of Dec.21st. If you are not Jewish, perhaps you would like to join a Jewish family in lighting the candles on the Menorah? Very fun and a nice way to be supportive of your Jewish friends this time of year.

Art credit: Serge Bloch for Peaceable Kingdom Press

CREATIVE TIMES IN HIP SLOPE MAMA

Come on over to the Melissa Lopata's amazing blogazine Hip Slope Mama to read my article Ten Tips for Building Community.

CREATIVE TIMES GETS MENTION IN PARK SLOPE 100

I was suprised and pleased to see Creative Times listed in Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn's 2008 Park Slope 100. The author of the list, Louise Crawford, describes it this way: "100 stories, 100 ways of looking at the world, 100 inspiring people, places and things. The list is in alphabetical order. There are no repeats from last year. There are always serious omissions."

TOP FIVE REASONS TO GO TO LAURA ALLEN'S 15 SECOND PITCH WORKSHOP ON JANUARY 19

1. As a Creative Times Reader, you get more than a 50% discount on the workshop: General admission is $40. Cost to CT readers: $15!

2. Laura Allen has helped thousands of people develop 15 second pitches, a tool which leads to all kinds of new opportunities.

3. Laura has a wicked sense of humor. She'll keep you laughing and thinking at the same time.

4. She cares deeply about getting people to connect with work they are passionate about.

5. It's a powerful way to launch 2009.

HERE'S THE FULL SCOOP:

The 15SecondPitch Workshop for Artists and Entrepreneurs

Join Laura Allen, co-founder of 15SecondPitch.com to learn how you can have fun selling in a way that is authentic to you! (Co-Ed workshop)

Monday January 19th, 2009

6:30-8:00pm

In Good Company Workplaces
16 W. 23rd Street (4th Floor) New York, NY

Would you like to talk about your artwork or business without feeling like a sleazy car salesman? It is actually possible to have fun selling using your natural PASSION for what you do!! Join Laura Allen, co-founder of 15SecondPitch.com for a fun, interactive, highly informative 90 minute workshop where she will teach you how to get more sales now using her unique 15SecondPitch System.

Even if you absolutely hate to sell, this workshop can still help you make more sales!

What you’ll learn:

*What the 15SecondPitch is
*Why the 15SecondPitch works so well
*How to create your 15SecondPitch
*How to use your 15SecondPitch to get more sales now

To attend, you must RSVP to Laura@15SecondPitch.com with your full name and email address. Payment in advance required. (We’ll send you payment option details.)

Make sure to mention Creative Times when you sign up to get the discount!

Capacity for the workshop is 20 people, so RSVP ASAP!

Please bring a notebook and bring plenty of business cards too!

A NOTE FROM ADAM ZEISEL, EVA ZEISEL'S GRANDSON

A few years ago, I met centurian and 20th Century Design Great Eva Zeisel. I first saw her on tv, then read about her in the newspaper, then found out that she shared my birthday and also lived in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

After seeing Eva recently out on the sidewalk with a caretaker and a friend, I wrote to her grandson Adam and asked him about how his grandmother was doing.

He sent me this note:

Hi Eleanor,

Eva is feeling 102 years old. She had some pain issues right before her birthday because she fell trying to walk on her own. Things seem to be better because the pain has subsided and she was in good spirits last time we chatted. November/December is a great time of the year because I get lots of opportunities to come to NYC to visit her.

EvaZeiselOriginals.com is still holding strong even in these tough economic times. A true testiment to Eva's work and the legacy that she has built and allowed me to build from. DWR is have great numbers with the black coffee table and my sales are doing very well for the same table in other finishes, especially espresso. Anyways, EZO is great and I'm as happy as ever building and shaping the company. I recently picked up a wonderful PR consultant, Cristina Moniz, and she has done an amazing job getting me into the Boston Globe, Boston Home, NYC Resident, and a few others in such a short time. We have big plans for the new year; new product releases, new business partnerships, and much more.

Regards,

Adam Zeisel

Eva Zeisel Originals LLC, President

"CARE FOR SOME CHANGE?" - AN ARTICLE BY BARBARA WINTER

Below is a great article sent out recently by Barbara Winter, one of my earliest inspirations for becoming an entrepreneur:

Doug is a transplanted Iowan who has kept his Midwest sensibilities and friendliness. He's also my favorite clerk at the post office which I visit everyday, but it had been weeks since I'd managed to connect. This morning, however, I won the postal line lottery and had a chance to catch-up. I asked him how he'd been and he sighed and said, "This has been our most difficult year ever." Then he added with a smile, "I know 2009 is going to be much better."

Plenty of people will be looking back at 2008 and coming to the same conclusion as Doug. It has been a year full of challenges and change. I happen to believe that many people are going to look back at 2008 and realize it was the year they began laying the foundation for living an amazing and creative life.

Why don't we all know that as it's happening? Changing times are often chaotic times causing many to feel confused and powerless. Those who resist surrender any hope of serenity, while those who understand and embrace change are seeing abundant opportunities. Since change is a constant, whether we approve or not, which position makes the most sense?

If you'd like to change the world or change your life or even change one tiny aspect of it, then you need to understand that change comes in two different packages and it's important to tell them apart.

There's Imposed Change which is the kind we can do nothing about. Taxes get raised, fashion designers insist we stop wearing willow green, or road construction slows down our travel plans. Imposed Change is most difficult to handle if you don't allow yourself to have options or insist on being inflexible or are committed to preserving the status quo.

On the other hand, there's Instigated Change. That's the kind that we think of as improving our lives because we have chosen it. Instigated Change happens after we pass through the preliminary steps that get us ready to take action. It's not necessarily any easier to adjust to Instigated Change than it is to Imposed Change, but it's ultimately more satisfying when we do adjust.

"I was always waiting around for someone to fix the world," confessed singer John Denver. "And then I realized that if the world was going to work, it was up to me." The day that you take responsibility for instigating positive change is the jumping off point for self-liberation. It's the day when a shift for the better happens and you discover that Embraced Change comes bearing gifts.

LOOKING FOR TEN SCHOOLS

I am looking for 10 schools - public or private, in Brooklyn or Manhattan - to which to donate my services as a professional organizer. The purpose of the donations is to raise money for school auctions.

My services are for parents who wish to de-clutter and set up user-friendly organizing systems for home offices, filing cabinets,closets, children's rooms and more. My motto: less clutter equals more room for you and your family!

Each donation will consist of 3 hours of my services.

To contact me about this offer , please email ETraubman@aol.com

Please note: I will be selecting 10 schools; after your initial email to me, I will contact you only if you fall within that 10.

SOAP IS DOPE

I mainly walk down the streets and into the stores of SoHo to gather visual inspiration.

I'll walk into Dean and Deluca not to buy but to see how gorgeously they display everything from cheese to bread to soap.

Everyday objects, when grouped together, are works of art.

A NEW CHILDREN'S BOOK ABOUT EDNA LEWIS

While on duty as a cart-walker at the Park Slope Food Coop, I had the good fortune of meeting Fort Greene author Robbin Gourley. I'm excited about Robbin's new children's picture book, Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie.

Here's Houghton-Mifflin's description:

Long before the natural-food movement gained popularity, before greenmarkets sprouted across the United States, Edna Lewis championed purity of ingredients, regional cuisine, and the importance of bringing food directly from the farm to the table. She was a chef when female chefs---let alone African American female chefs---were few and far between, and she received many awards for her work. With lyrical text and glorious watercolor illustrations, author/illustrator Robbin Gourley lovingly traces the childhood roots of Edna's appreciation for the bounties of nature. The story follows Edna from early spring through the growing season to a family dinner celebrating a successful harvest. Folk rhymes, sayings, and songs about food are sprinkled throughout the text, and five kid-friendly recipes and an author's note about Edna's life are included at the end.

LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND: A GORGEOUS POST FROM MIDNIGHT COWGIRLS

Elizabeth Palmer of Midnight Cowgirls wrote this post. I wish the whole world could read it:

Hey there; so it's been a while. It feels like the world has shifted a little bit since my last post, doesn't it? Tom and I were out on election night and got to be in a crowd of people at the magical moment when the race was called. We were both overwhelmed with emotion; I truly have never experienced anything like it. Hope was in the air. People were crazy with joy all along Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. Us too!

Today my dear friend Buffy passed along a blog post by her good friend Tamie.

"Times are hard for so many people right now. It's the economy. It's loneliness. It's the way that we don't get received in the ways we ache to be received. It's the way we're separated from the people we love. It's death. It's fire. It's so many things.

It's time to clean the spare room and dust off the tea set. It's time to overcome our fear of the phone. It's time to write the letters we've been waiting for months to write. It's time to get serious about encouraging each other.

Here is my challenge, to each of us: let us work hard on loving each other right now, on encouraging each other in extra and special ways. Bake cookies for someone. Give someone a hug. Do something small but extraordinary, even if it feels like it might put you out there just a little bit more than usual. Trust me, my friends, the people you know need this encouragement more than you think they do."

- From the owls and the angels - full post here - you should read it. Beautiful writing.

At our house lately, things have been rough in lots of ways (loved ones ill and hurting, financial worries, too much to do and too little time - the usual suspects), and yet somehow, life has never felt sweeter.

For the past few months, I've made an effort to focus on all the wonderful parts of my life and to be at peace with just exactly how things are - to know, and really believe, that everything I have is everything I need. I think I've loved my husband more than ever before - I'm savoring every small thing he does that makes me happy. I'm noticing when he looks good. I'm giving him an extra-long kiss just because. I'm taking time to cozy up to him in bed at night, to feel his heart beat and listen to him breathe, instead of just collapsing on my side of the bed and passing out. It feels amazing. My heart feels bigger, our home feels more peaceful, and Tom and I are loving each other more every day. We'll have been together for ten years this winter, and it's amazing to realize that our life together can just keep getting better. And the kids - I don't even have time right now to go into it. Their chubby curves, their rosy softness, their ineffably sweet little-kid smell, the funny and wise things they say, the fierce love that grabs me hard and knocks me down on a daily basis. I am so lucky. So lucky.

May you find the joy in your life and ride the current of change and hope that is in the air. Life is sweet, my friends.

BROOKLYN'S DREAMWEAVER

Meet Cynthia Alberto, founder of Weaving Hand.

Weaving Hand is "a weaving and fiber art studio that celebrate the international & communal art of weaving through classes and special events for both children and adults."

Cynthia [...] "is an artist and teacher. She is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technolgy (FIT) in New York City, where she studied textile surface design with a specialization in weaving. She has exhibited her work around the world and is the recipient of the Dan River Weaving Award, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, Peters Valley Craft Center Art Educator Scholarship, Museum of Arts and Design - Open Studio Artist, LAND - League Artist Natural Design Gallery and Studio - Resident Artist."

Studio Hours

Monday - Friday: 11am - 6pmSaturday: 11am - 5pm

Sunday: Closed

Address & Phone

320 2nd Street (bet 4th and 5th Avenues) Brooklyn NY 11215
718.369.0222

Text taken from the website of Weaving Hand.

TEN TIPS FOR NEW AND ASPIRING BLOGGERS

A friend with a new blog asked me for advice and these are the tips I drew up for her:

1. Let passion be the magnet. Write about what you are passionate about without worrying too much about your readers. Your passion will show up in your blog, will keep you going, and will attract people.

2. Use compelling images - pics of people's faces are great - to accompany text. The images will draw readers into the text.

3. Shine the spotlight on other people - on their accomplishments, talent, and expertise and create LINKS to those people and their enterprises in the text. People love to be seen and mentioned and it will keep them interested in your blog!

4. Go for LINKLOVE (I think Tim Sanders coined that term.) In the right hand margin of your blog, create a blogroll - a list of other blogs and websites that you like. Ask other bloggers/website owners if they want to reciprocate the linklove.

Creating linklove will drive traffic to others and then back to you. It's the law of Karma, baby!

5. Write from "flash" insights or from experiences you had 5 minutes ago. Sometimes the recent, fresh stuff that is not too thought-out is the most compelling.

6. Vary the format of your entries. They can take these and other forms:
* Lists (people love lists)
* Quotations
* Passages from books
* Announcements of your or other peoples special events.
* Q and As with others / mini-interviews
* Quick "spotlight bios" with pics of people you feature

7. A newsy, personal tone is inviting and helps people feel like they are part of the world you are writing about.

8. Use blogger etiquette. If you quote another blogger or use a photo, credit that person and provide a link back to their site. (I will often email and ask them permission.)

9. Tag your posts, and do it by subject. Tags get picked up by search engines, which drive traffic to your site. I highly recommend signing on with Outside.In

10. HAVE FUN!!!! Let your blog be a passport to adventure.

THESE LADIES ROCKED THE CASA

This morning, I jumped out of bed at the crack of dawn

to attend an event in Midtown called "Are You Ready?"

What a powerful way to start the day - walking into a room

of women who were there to make their career dreams a

reality, women full of hope and positivity instead of the gloom

and doom that saturates us these days.

The event was hosted by these ladies:
Judi Rosenthal, Senior Advisor with Ameriprise Financial;

Maggie Mistal, career coach and radio host; and Laura Allen,

Co-Founder of 15SecondPitch.

Each of the three women spoke about how she was had

personally achieved her own career dreams, and how she

had worked with her clients to do the same. Particularly

inspiring were their stories of how they had worked together

as a team to back each other in going after their goals.

The hosts passed out postcards to each participant, asking

us to write down our Big Dream.

After the panel was over, I had a blast walking around the

room and asking other people "So what is your Big Dream?"

So much more interesting than the drier-than-toast "So what do you do for a living?"

Through the power of story, these three ladies gave the rest

of us examples of how it is possible to have our big hopes

realized by being clear about what we want, by having a strategy

in place to get it, and by turning to each other for resource and support.

THERE WAS MAGIC ON THE WAY HOME

Walking home from Fort Greene in the fog, I found
Bond Street to be filled with magical holiday lights.
The contrast of the brick and concrete agains the
greenery and sparkle made the scene all the more beautiful.

AND THERE THEY GO

Last weekend, I worked like a caffeinated monkey to put the finishing touches on my holiday cards.
I put them all in a STRAND bag and carried them over to the corner mailbox.

It was a great feeling to send the notes out into the world, continuing the tradition I started in 1999 of writing down highlights from the year and sending those to friends, family, and clients.

For folks who want to send holiday cards but feel overwhelmed by the task, the key is this: start early and use the "swiss cheese" approach. Start looking for stationary in November. (I choose something that is festive, but non-religious.) Address envelopes while you are watching tv or listening to music. Do all the other parts in 30-minute increments.

Or, as an alternative, consider sending cards after the New Year, when things are mellow and people can use a post-holiday madness pick-me-up. A Vlentine card always makes someone's day!

GET HELP WITH YOUR HOLIDAY TO-DO LIST

Imagine the relief of having an extra pair of hands to help you navigate the holidays.

For a smoother, easier season of celebration, I assist you to…….

* Select, wrap, inventory and mail holiday gifts

* Send holiday cards

* De-clutter and streamline closets, pantries, kitchens, children’s rooms, home

offices. (Make room for guests, gifts, and the New Year!)

* Set up customized filing systems that reflect your priorities for 2009

* Set personal and professional goals for 2009

To chat about your holiday needs, call professional organizer Eleanor Traubman @ 917-499-7395