CGOA Thursday

Thursday morning started with a breakfast for the buddy's and the newbies.  Kate Steinke headed up the committee to pair a newbie with a buddy that has been to conferences before.  She did a fantastic job!! Kudos to her!!  She made crocheted flowers for everyone, Yellow ones for newbies and Blue ones for Buddies. It was great because you knew instantly who everyone was and if you had a question you could easily find a buddy.
    I had my first class; Crochet socks with Karen Whooley.  It was a great class.  I learned lots and now I am going to go back to Yarn Harbor and teach from Karen's book, I can't believe I am crocheting socks.  You can see more of karens wonderful patterns or join her sock of the month club at her blog.   http://krwknitwear.com/

I got home and I immediately started working on a sock to be sure I remember everything I learned.  I have one done and the second started. Karen gave us a copy of one of her new sock patterns in class and I also started that one in Patons stretch sock yarn.  Soon I will have two new pair of crochet socks. I realized it is not easy to take photos of your own foot.

Stay tuned to hear about the rest of my adventures at the CGOA Chain-Link 2011 Summer Conference..........

Wedding Anniversary

Michael & Jo'Elle

As I thought about what to write for today I decided I needed to take a quick break from the CGOA conference and talk about Michael.  Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary.  He gives me the foundation I need to soar to great heights.  I think back to the 20 year old kid that I was I can hardly believe how far I have come.  I am now a wife, mother, business owner, teacher, designer, etc. I could really go on and on but the one constant that has kept me grounded in reality, even when my head was in the clouds has been Michael.  Without his enduring strength, guidance, support and unwavering love, I would not be the woman I am today.  Simply, I need to say to him I love you and Thank you!  


As I looked for a photo to put here I realized I do not have any of just the two of us. I had to crop the kids out of this, I need to reconcile that.

CGOA Conference Day 1

 So I just got back and recovered from the CGOA chain-link 2011 conference, which was held in Minneapolis MN.  I figured when it was right in my backyard I really had to attend.  I took some fantastic classes which I will tell you all about and I met some wonderful people. Whom I will also tell you all about. OK day 1 was Wednesday, it was Professional Development Day (PDD). The description of it was as follows; If you are thinking about teaching crochet, already a teacher, sell your patterns, or an aspiring designer this is the day you do not want to miss. Well, come on, did that scream my name or what?  So I signed up not really knowing what to expect.
The day started at 8:00 am so Michael drove me to MPLS, to be sure we got there on time we left home at 4:00 am.  Yes! You read that right, I did not even know there was a 4 in the AM. I met my roommate, whom I had only conversed with via email, I called her in the lobby and she was sitting about 30 feet away.  I stowed my multiple bags, you know I don't go anywhere lightly, in our room and got set for PDD. 
       First on dais was Ellen Gormly, she spoke about how to bring your work from ordinary to extraordinary.  She also talked about how there are two types of work, the show-stopper, you know the ones, they are on the covers of the magazines and people stop you where ever you are and say WOW.  She also talked about the project makers, these are the patterns we write that get made over and over.  She told us it was ok to write the project makers and submit them for review.  It opened my eyes quite a bit.  I realized I write a lot of these type of patterns but never thought about submitting them because they were so everyday.
     Next up was Margaret Hubert. She spoke about how she got her start in the business and what she has done to continue a long and successful career.  I also won 1 of her books during a prize drawing.  I can't wait to start a new bag. You can NEVER have enough bags.
Last up to speak was Vickie Howell, the new spokesperson for Caron Yarns.  She has just launched a new line of yarn called Sheep(ish), you should go check it out. She discussed what social media can do for us and why we need to be a part of it.  We need to be on Facebook, Ravelry, Blog, Websites, Twitter, Flickr, and the list could go on.  I am glad she went last because by the time she was done, my head was spinning and I was completely overloaded.  I went back to my room and was not sure I really belonged in this world.  I talked to Micheal and told him everything I had just learned and he asked "when will you have time to crochet?"  I was wondering the same thing!!!!  There was more to the day but it will have to wait, for now go check out these sites:


  Ellen Gormley has a fantastic blog and great books for sale see her at: http://www.gocrochet.com/
Margaret Hubert has a blog you really do not want to miss:
http://margaretshooksandneedles.blogspot.com/ 
Caron Yarns has a wonderful website http://buy.caron.com/  as well as a great blog by Cari Clement http://blog.naturallycaron.com
Vickie Howell also has a great site and blog to check out: http://vickiehowell.blogspot.com

And...... She is back!!!

Hello world.  Yes those of you who get the rss feed are shocked, I say shocked to be receiving this.  Lets just say life kinda threw a few curve balls into my family this past 6-8 months. I think we have dodged and weaved through it. Life is moving along at a manageable pace and we are all doing well.
   I just spent a fantastic week at The Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) national conference in MPLS MN.  It was fantastic!  I learned soooo very much and I got re-energized.   I am now going to be off and running in 3 directions at once as per my normal speed.  I do however plan to be more organized in my adventures. I have so much to share in the coming days.  More about the conference I promise.

Painting, Painting, Pain......ting.

     I write this after my 2nd straight 8 hour day of painting at the studio.  It is coming along very well but I am soooooo sore.  I have bruises on both sides of my shins from leaning on the ladder and I don't think I can raise my arms above my head for the rest of the night.  The good news is ..with every hour spent; it is a step closer to being done.  Some of my wonderful clients gave me a christmas bonus and I think I need to spend it on a good massage!! I will however, wait till I am done painting. Tomorrow I have to do the second coat on the ceiling. Since I am vertically challenged that means several more trips up and down the ladder. Whoo-Hooo!! 
      I had to put things on hold for a few weeks before christmas so I could finish making all the presents.  I decided this year because we were low on cash to make presents for everyone instead of purchasing them.  I have figured out, if I gave everyone on my list a $20.00 gift certificate to somewhere I would have spent a lot less money.  Oh well the time and thought are what counts.  I made a total of 65 presents.  1 Quilt, 3 knitted items and 61 crochet items. I justified the money spent on yarn this way; I spent about 90% of it at Yarn Harbor.  That accomplishes two things, first it is supporting a local business and second if Kathy does well then it keeps me in a job which helps to pay for my yarn addiction.  See it all works out in the end.
Time to wash out the brushes and drag myself home so I can return in the morning to start all the fun again. 

Happy New Year!!

2011 Really?? WOW How did this happen?  I am sure I did not get any older but somehow the year has flown by.  I am furiously working on the new studio to get everything finished for the Open House in a couple of weeks.
New Years Resolutions.......... Well to start I will do a much better job at keeping my blog updated!  I know I have said that before but, it will seriously help that my new building is going wireless this week and I will actually have a connection to the interwebs.  Whoohooo!!
I have not forgotten about the book.  I have been writing and testing new patterns.  I have 12 completed and 5 in process and a few more rattling around in my head.  I even wrote a knit pattern!!  (Somebody stop me I am crossing over to the dark side!!)
I could ramble on about all the usual new year resolutions; spend less money, exercise more, eat right, blah, blah, blah, but we all know 1 week from now I'll blow it so lets be more realistic.

My words of wisdom for your new year are this:

 If you dream, It will happen.  Take time to believe in 6 impossible things everyday before breakfast.  I do!

 (OK, so the fact that I don't eat breakfast shouldn't change the idea.) 

Happy new year to all,

may your dreams for this year come true!

Press Release for Dynamic Massage & Bodyworks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jo’Elle Galo
Dynamic Massage and Body Works
301 West First Street Suite 303
Board of Trade Building
218-310-9883

Joellegalo@hotmail.com

GRAND OPENING

Dynamic Massage and Body Works moves to the Board of Trade Building
Jo’Elle Galo, CMT and owner of Dynamic Massage and Body works will celebrate the Grand Opening of her new studio on Sunday, January 23rd from 11:00 -3:00 and Monday January 24th from 11:00 to 6:00. Come in and enjoy free chair massage, and Paraffin hand wax. Enter the drawing for a free hour massage and receive 10% off any appointments scheduled during the grand opening celebration.

Jo’Elle Galo, Certified Massage Therapist in the Twin Ports since 1999, has relocated Dynamic Massage and Body Works to Suite 303 of the Board of Trade building. “I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring comprehensive massage therapy services to downtown Duluth”.

In a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere Dynamic Massage and Body works offers 30-120 minute massage appointments, chair massage, Escalon Relaxation, Deep Tissue and Pregnancy Massage, Hot Paraffin hand treatment, Lymph Drainage Therapy, Trigger Point Release, Stress Release, Diabetic foot massage, Hot Stone Therapy and Muscle Fatigue Release treatments.
The benefits of massage include increased circulation, lower blood pressure, reduced stress, pain reduction, accident and injury rehabilitation, medical maintenance and supports overall well being.
Visiting Dynamic Massage and Body Works could be the first step to a healthy life style.