What Would Olivia Do?

I've had a lot of fun playing around with designs for fans of "Guiding Light" and adding them to my Zazzle shop. This week it was announced that the extraordinary Crystal Chappell will be moving on to "Days of Our Lives" this fall. In honor of her character on "Guiding Light", Olivia Spencer, I designed this:

My Life is a Soap Opera: Olivia Mug by donnapool
View other Otalia Mugs

Eden Riegel Charity Auction

Last fall I had the privilege of attending a luncheon for Eden Riegel (Bianca Montgomery on All My Children) along with about 30 or so other fans where we auctioned off some items autographed by Eden to benefit the Much Love Animal Rescue shelter in Los Angeles. We had so much fun with the auction that we ran out of time and decided to auction off the remaining items on eBay someday. Round One of that auction finished last week with a little over $200 as the result and Round Two has just begun.

This time, the money raised will go to support Eden's latest endeavor, a half-marathon to benefit the APLA (AIDS Project Los Angeles). Every penny of the winning bids will go to Eden's fund for this worthy cause.

Featured in this auction is a Teddy Bear I sewed by hand, signed by Eden Riegel. This is the only one that will be offered during this auction. Three of my bears were auctioned off at the luncheon last fall and I even got a couple of special orders from other luncheon attendees. What can I say, my bears are cute and cuddly and made with love! We could have offered more but my fingers can only fly so fast, so they are by definition, limited edition items. The bidding just began yesterday and already this little cutie is up to $100!

Tonight I added an additional note to the description of that listing: the bear is wearing a special one-of-a-kind button pin bearing the logo I designed for the Luncheon With Eden.

See that very special Teddy Bear and all the items currently available, just click here.

Save the Light Rally NYC 5.22.09

I've made no secret of the fact that I watch soap operas. I keep the TV on while I'm doing my artsy craftsy thing every day and my soaps keep me company while I work. A few years ago, when I was stuck in the house with a sinus infection and feeling particularly isolated, I looked around on the internet and found a way to connect with other soap fans on message boards and my life has been enriched as a result.

I now have friends all over the world, many of whom I've met in person at fan events or when they vacationed in my area. I've even made some of my teddy bears to be autographed and auctioned off for charity at a luncheon for Eden Riegel in October of last year.

So when I was contacted by organizers of a very special event, I was delighted to do what I could for the cause. Fans of Guiding Light will be joining together for a rally in New York City on May 22, 2009. The organizers of this event found me because I'd made some buttons for "Team Otalia", the fans of the love story of Olivia and Natalia on Guiding Light. These buttons had been mentioned by some soap reporters who covered a fan event at Universal Studios. It was Andrea Berry of eLife magazine who remembered those buttons and told the organizers of the rally how to find me. I put together some designs and now, you can get your buttons for the rally here.



This show has been on the air for 72 years (first radio, then TV) and was recently canceled by CBS. I just started watching this one a few months ago and was immediately hooked by some of the best writing and acting I've seen on daytime TV in years. Like millions of other fans, I am hopeful that the show can find a new home on another network.

Guest Writer

I have a friend who does a lot of writing for his own blogs and others around the internet and he asked me to be a guest writer for one of his blogs. StarterTech.com does a great job covering some basics about technology and the internet and if you could use a few tips about such things you really ought to bookmark that one.

I'll be writing a series of articles about working with video. This one is about editing a video to be uploaded and shared online using youtube or vimeo or other video sharing sites. There are many different ways to do this and I've written about just one. If you'd like to share your favorite tips or sites on this topic I hope you'll leave a comment. I'd be glad to pass them along in my next article.

Here's my article on StarterTech.com:

http://www.startertech.com/2009/04/21/how-to-transfer-old-videos-to-your-computer/

For Natsumi

While our Japanese exchange student was with us we began to see signs of Spring. It looked like our daffodils might bloom before she left. Each day we would tell her, "Maybe you will see them bloom while you are here." But it didn't happen. Until a couple of days after she left.

So here, Natsumi...these are for you:

Cultural Exchange

I've clearly been away from this blog for far too long! Now that I've had a couple of weeks to think about it, I want to tell you about our Japanese exchange student, Natsumi.

It started with my daughter's interest in anime and all things Japanese. She took Japanese language classes at the local community college during a couple of summers and eagerly joined the Anime Club when she got to high school. When plans were made for a few students to go to Japan and for Japanese students to come here in exchange, a Japan Club was established to sponsor this activity. My daughter helped teach her fellow students a little of the language as they made plans for the trip. Her experience in Japan last summer was unforgettable, and not really my story to tell, so I won't.

A couple of weeks ago, we were honored to be a host family for a student from Japan, Natsumi. She stayed with us for one week and quickly became another member of the family. Attending school with my daughter each day and joining us in all our activities, we tried to give her a little glimpse of life in America. She helped me make a few pocket mirrors and pack up some Etsy orders. She always offered to help with meal preparation and clean up. She watched a little American Idol and played some Wii and had a fun afternoon of karaoke at a friend's house. She even got to meet Big Sister when she was home from college one afternoon.

Natsumi represented her country and her family well and we have missed her! The morning they left was a teary one as all the host families and students gathered at the bus on the school parking lot. Posing for photographs with new friends, autographing t-shirts in English and Japanese, and hugs and hugs and hugs and finally...goodbye!

Thank you, Natsumi. I'm glad you came to our family.

Carnival Time!

I've participated in several of the Etsybloggers Blog Carnivals and they're always fun. I enjoy the challenge of the suggested topics but sometimes I find I'm distracted by other things as the deadline approaches and don't get my submission in on time. Not this time!

The topic for this one is about why you opened a shop on Etsy and what you like about being an Etsy seller.

I blame my daughter for all of it. She's The Pink Samurai on Etsy and you really ought to take a minute to check out her shop and her blog. She's grown up watching me work as a freelance photographer and dabble with other artsy stuff. She's been a great tester of my child-safe plush toys like my teddy bears and puzzle balls, too. She started an Etsy shop and soon encouraged me to do the same. Together we learned the ropes about running an Etsy shop and we still compare notes.

One of my favorite things about running an Etsy shop is all the wonderful people I've met. Many of my customers have become my friends, returning for repeat orders. I've gotten to know a great group of other moms through the Etsymom and CafeMom Street Teams. I'm learning more about the arts in my area of the country through the EtsyCREST Street Team. And, of course, the Etsyblogger teams has helped me learn the ins and outs of blogging and kept me writing.

This month I've been the Featured Etsyblogger and the Etsybloggers have really outdone themselves. I've been so encouraged by all of these bloggers that I decided to share them all with you. Go see what they've been saying about me:


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