Lorelle VanFossen
About Lorelle:Holiday Marathon 2009 Ends Successfully…or does it?
Posted Saturday, December 19th, 2009 by Lorelle VanFossen
Whew! Amazing! Another year of the Bitwire Media annual Holiday Marathon is over. Twelve non-stop hours of fun, a little mayhem, and a lot of love for charities and each other.
We at Bitwire want to thank everyone who came out on this holiday weekend to support us by watching the live stream, listening to the live audio stream, and participating through the live chat, Twitter, Skype, and on our blog.
Dave Moyer led the amazing cast of Bitwire characters to cohost the 12 hour event, featuring Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today, DeBorah Beatty of Living a Created Life, Christina Roberts of Aimless Agenda, Lee Sze of Best of the Net, and Lorelle VanFossen.
Our Holympics Competition for the best “ho ho ho” was won by Norm Wright of Beaverton, Oregon. Ethan won for the weirdest holiday story, and Razor70 won for weirdest holiday gift. Congrats to all!
We spoke to a lot of charities including US Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and Family Giving Tree.
It’s always amazing to review the past 12 hours and consider all the topics we covered and all the guests. We began with Dave Moyer and Lee Sze talking about Christmas Trees and decorations, but specifically, “alternative” trees and decorations – not your normal. Christina Roberts and Jonathan Bailey joined the cast of crazies for discussions of weird holiday stories and gifts. DeBorah Beatty and Lorelle later joined the insanity, talking about food, favorite gifts, worse gifts, and memorable holiday moments.
Cali Lewis of Geekbrief.tv stayed for almost two hours, answering questions from listeners and watchers with recommendations for a wide range of tech gifts. John Pozadzides of John Pozadzides of One Man’s Blog and Woopra joined her for an hour plus with a Wealth Nation “on the road” show for the holidays covering money issues and financial decisions.
We had a great chat with Alek about his Web Controlled Christmas Lights and Decorations, one of the most unusual holiday lighting experiences in the world. A annual fundraiser for the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research, Alek decorates his home and connects it all to his website for visitors to control the lights through the site controls and webcam. We talked about how he did it and what visitors enjoy playing around with the most via the web.
DeBorah and Lorelle did an hour on holiday gift giving of handmade crafts, showcasing DeBorah’s beautiful tie-dying with her husband, Rich, joining in on the phone, and Lorelle’s tatting, knitting, and having her way with recycled sweaters. We talked about all kinds and types of crafty gifts, and touched on the struggles to turn a hobby into a business. We even heard a great story of how Robyn Seaton makes her incredible peanut brittle in the microwave, and counts up the 2000 calories!
We spent an hour visiting Christmas in areas of the world that lack a white Christmas, especially in Hawaii with Mai Fee and Ed Morita talking about trees delivered by refrigerator trucks, food, and other social fun and decorations in the islands.
We heard a lot of holiday stories, and actually have a few we didn’t get a chance to air that we might highlight in a future post. The stories were touching, funny, and delightful. Thank you to everyone who took time to call in and let us record their favorite holiday memories.
As if that wasn’t enough, the chat room light up even more after the marathon was over and Dave Moyer and Lorelle VanFossen spent another hour talking via the web cams to people from all over the world tuning in late, or just wanting the party to continue. The live chat continued in the Bitwire Chat Room, with hysterical discussions that began with Dave learning how to string popcorn to how to make Hawaiian style leis out of popcorn and other food groups. Makes us think about adding a “how to make clothes and things out of food” show to our Bitwire Network. Ha!
As usual, anything and everything happened during the annual 12 hour marathon, including a few technical diffiulties, but all were handled with grace and style with everyone pitching in to help, even Dave’s dog, Charlotte, helped to eat the popcorn up off the floor. Well, kinda.
As we put this together, we’re already talking about next year’s Holiday Marathon and the party continues into the night in the Bitwire Chat Room. We’d love your feedback and suggestions for next year. It’s a non-stop party here, so come join us!
We’ll be posting a list of the radio and Internet affiliates rebroadcasting the Holiday Marathon in the next few days, so you can tune in and relive or experience the fun for the first time.
Again, thanks to our audience, our affiliates, and to our Bitwire family, including WordCast, The Aimless Agenda Show, Liz and Lorelle Show, Living a Created Life, Best of the Net, and Bitwire: Behind the Scenes.
DeBorah Beatty and Lorelle VanFossen: The Art of the Handmade Gift
Posted Friday, December 18th, 2009 by Lorelle VanFossen
During the Holiday Marathon this weekend, DeBorah Beatty and Lorelle VanFossen will be sharing stories and asking for yours on the making and giving of handmade gifts.
Making gifts by hand has been around longer than Santa. While not around as long as Santa, DeBorah and Lorelle give gifts developed hundreds, even thousands of years ago, before there even was a Santa! See the gallery at the bottom of the post for images of the artwork and handcrafts of DeBorah and Lorelle.
DeBorah Beatty is a life coach and consultant and host of Living a Created Life podcast on Bitwire Media and her Living a Created Life blog. She is also a master tie-dye artist.
For many years, she and husband, Rich, have created phenomenal artistry with tie-dye with their Rainbow Factory on scarves, clothing, purses, bags, jewelry, and art work. They work with overlaid dyes, fabric paints, creating traditional and original dyed patterns that dazzle the eye and spirit. Her work is not limited to fabrics, but covers a variety of media, mixing and matching as her artistic eye directs.
Her love of artistry has also led her to teach workshops and training programs to help develop artistic skills, including art programs and day camps for kids in Walla Walla, Washington, and for adults in Washington and Oregon State. In an interview with American Apparel, she explained:
“There are so many kids who are into art and can express themselves best through that medium. But because of cutbacks in school budgets, are classes aren’t available anymore to many children,” DeBorah Beatty explains. She adds that art is a universal way of communication and is particularly helpful for children with special needs: “Some kids are learning disabled and art allows them to function ‘normally’ in a school setting. Also, children need to express themselves in other ways than just language.”
For her, crafts are a way of self-expression, but also a process of educating and sharing.
Lorelle VanFossen is known mostly for Lorelle on WordPress, helping bloggers learn how to blog and work with WordPress, and travels around the world giving keynote presentations and training workshops on blogging and social media, so her favorite hobbies are ones that are very portable. Called a geek and diva of web tech, her heart sings most when playing with fabric, yarn, thread, and the camera.
She is a long time nature and travel photographer, and you can see examples on Taking Your Camera on the Road along with her husband, Brent VanFossen. She also loves to play with the 17th century lace making technique called Tatting, taught to her by her husband’s grandmother VanFossen. She learned how to knit from her mother a few years ago, and has made scarves, hats, washclothes, and a variety of beginner projects as gifts. She’s also experimented with sewing and quilting from time to time.
A long time novice at doll making, Lorelle loves to experiment with all kinds of media to make dolls, from knitting and fabrics to sculpture. Unfortunately, almost all the gifts she makes she gives away immediately, onto the next project.
When I work on a project, I hold the person I’m making the gift for in my head and heart, thinking about them, their life, our friendship, how this might make them smile and recall our lives together, too. For me, the magic of creating handmade items is the giving, not the keeping nor selling. People tell me all the time that I should sell my crafts. While that works for some artists, as a businesswoman, it would take all of the fun out of it to turn my craft into a business. And I wouldn’t think about the one person I was making this for. I’d have to think of the many.
Join Lorelle and DeBorah as they share their tips, techniques, and ideas on handmade gift giving, and asks for your stories on your favorite crafty gifts this holiday from 1-2PM PST during the Holiday Marathon.
Call (toll free): 888-334-4248
Email: studio@holidaymarathon.com
Twitter: @holidaymarathon
John Pozadzides: Bringing Financial Health to Your Holidays
Posted Thursday, December 17th, 2009 by Lorelle VanFossen
Ever wish you could sit down and pick the brain of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch, Bob Gross, or Meredith Whitney? How about John P.?
John Pozadzides is the CEO of iFusion Labs, the parent company of the popular real-time web analytics program, Woopra. He was recently CMO of Layered Tech, and founder of HTMLHelp.com, and former Vice President for SAVVIS Communications and GTE, and also happens to be a master bladesmith, welder and Direct Metal Artist, chef, computer expert and world traveler. When he has a little time left over, you can read up on his latest antics and brain explorations at One Man’s Blog.
One of his latest projects is Wealth Nation with Cali Lewis of Geekbrief.tv, a podcast exploring business and financial issues to help you achieve “that balance in life with truly makes you feel ‘wealthy’.” Recent episodes and stories include ‘The Secret Millionaire’, Liz Jackson, Rules and Tips For Working With Family, More Creative Advertising, and interview with Las Vegas News Anchor Dave Courvoisier.
On Saturday, December 19, 2009, Bitwire’s annual Holiday Marathon brings John in to talk with Dave Moyer, Lorelle VanFossen, and you, about your financial health during this tough times, and to prepare you through the holidays and beyond. This is the time to ask your questions about how to start a business in tough economic times, how to rethink your current business and personal financial strategies, and other tips and techniques to help you on the road to wealth and success.
Join us to talk to not only a rich and successful entrepreneur, but someone dedicated to helping you achieve your best financial wealth. Join John Pozadzides from noon to 1PM PST during the Holiday Marathon.
Call (toll free): 888-334-4248
Email: studio@holidaymarathon.com
Twitter: @holidaymarathon
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