The Company Of Good Friends....
Despite the fact that I have a few loose ends to tie up before we leave for Charlotte, friend of ours across the street invited us to join our meals together for supper. We brought over the fresh corn on the cob that we bought at the market this morning as well as BBQ’d chicken burgers and they added their food to the list as well. All of our children played well together which gave the adults a much needed and much appreciated chance to chat. That is what being in the company of good friends is all about. What a nice release from the pre-trade show crazies!!! It was just what I needed to distract myself from the cross checking that I do before a trade show... wondering if I have everything covered... wondering if I have all that I will need once I am down there... wondering if I will forget something important...
Funny how so many people think that once you are a “recognized” designer that you have helpers and people that take care of you, organize you etc. How far could they be from the truth!! Most designers create designs because of this overwhelming need to get an image or an idea out of their head and onto graph paper or into floss and fabric. It literally does not let you go until you serve the work. Why else would we create something that is SO vulnerable to being copied and shared? If we did not love bringing a design into the world and watching what people would think of that particular combination of floss and fabric, we would not be doing what it is we try to do... To risk anything creative... from creating an image or story to bringing a new life into this world, is to be open to possibilities that you have yet to dream. That is where the magic truly lies... and that is what keeps us trying to create that next design.
Taking a break from creativity tonight to just enjoy the company of really good friends was wonderful!
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Friday, August 05, 2005
Getting Ready For Next Week...
Well, we’re down to the crunch getting ready to leave for the show next week in Charlotte. The new designs are back from the printers, packed up and ready to go with us. The models are safely bundled in bubble wrap and I even found a new hard shell case to replace the one that Air Canada busted on the trip home from Nashville back in February.
Looking at some of my older models from a dozen years ago, I can see where some of them will have to be reframed eventually. Shipping things down to shows or off to trunk shows does put far more wear and tear on the frames than if they were to hang safely on a wall, but this is, after all, what helps sell the designs.
Isn’t it fun when you are stitching something, to see how much better it looks in real life than in the photo on the cover of the pattern? No matter how often I juggle with exposures, check colour levels etc. before taking designs to print, you just cannot completely capture that sparkle and magic that slowly evolves before your eyes with needle and thread. No wonder so many of us get hooked!!
Now that the trade show stuff is at least mostly under control, I can work on the website tomorrow and get that up to date...
Well, we’re down to the crunch getting ready to leave for the show next week in Charlotte. The new designs are back from the printers, packed up and ready to go with us. The models are safely bundled in bubble wrap and I even found a new hard shell case to replace the one that Air Canada busted on the trip home from Nashville back in February.
Looking at some of my older models from a dozen years ago, I can see where some of them will have to be reframed eventually. Shipping things down to shows or off to trunk shows does put far more wear and tear on the frames than if they were to hang safely on a wall, but this is, after all, what helps sell the designs.
Isn’t it fun when you are stitching something, to see how much better it looks in real life than in the photo on the cover of the pattern? No matter how often I juggle with exposures, check colour levels etc. before taking designs to print, you just cannot completely capture that sparkle and magic that slowly evolves before your eyes with needle and thread. No wonder so many of us get hooked!!
Now that the trade show stuff is at least mostly under control, I can work on the website tomorrow and get that up to date...
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
It’s Never Just One Thing....
Last night was a late one, going over several forms that I’ll need to make copies of once I arrive in Charlotte, making the changes to the Evening Fairy design that I’ll be handing out to shops that place an order there and trying o sit comfortably in our old office chair. It just wasn’t the right height for the new desk and by this morning, my hands were sore. So today was also the quest to find an office chair once we were done painting the nursery at church.
Every now and then I am reminded in a rather obvious way that I am just built on a different scale. Almost every chair we tried had the back support in the wrong place, wouldn’t go high enough, didn’t bring the armrests up to the right height, even on full extension etc. We finally found a model that was fairly adaptable and comfortable, but they didn’t have the black version in stock at the store nearest us. Having just redone the colours in the office, I ended up sounding like such a picky artist when I told the clerk “I just can’t buy the burgundy version because it will clash with absolutely everything in the room!”
Then of course I needed a drawer organizer since I haven’t had a drawer in a desk in YEARS, and that led to getting an extra little slidey tray... surely we do that all the time in a stitching store! It’s never just one thing!
Nick is upstairs stitching on a project for me and I must go thank him, so until tomorrow...
Last night was a late one, going over several forms that I’ll need to make copies of once I arrive in Charlotte, making the changes to the Evening Fairy design that I’ll be handing out to shops that place an order there and trying o sit comfortably in our old office chair. It just wasn’t the right height for the new desk and by this morning, my hands were sore. So today was also the quest to find an office chair once we were done painting the nursery at church.
Every now and then I am reminded in a rather obvious way that I am just built on a different scale. Almost every chair we tried had the back support in the wrong place, wouldn’t go high enough, didn’t bring the armrests up to the right height, even on full extension etc. We finally found a model that was fairly adaptable and comfortable, but they didn’t have the black version in stock at the store nearest us. Having just redone the colours in the office, I ended up sounding like such a picky artist when I told the clerk “I just can’t buy the burgundy version because it will clash with absolutely everything in the room!”
Then of course I needed a drawer organizer since I haven’t had a drawer in a desk in YEARS, and that led to getting an extra little slidey tray... surely we do that all the time in a stitching store! It’s never just one thing!
Nick is upstairs stitching on a project for me and I must go thank him, so until tomorrow...
Less Than A Week...
A week from now we’ll be in a hotel in Bangor, trying to convince the girls to grab a few hours sleep before a very EARLY flight to NY and onto Charlotte. The new office is all tidy! Except for one box of papers that have yet to be filed and sorted, everything is in its place and I am just getting the last things ready to take with me (forms etc.) I’ve learned now to find a Kinko’s or Office Max down there and pay US$ to avoid lugging the already printed forms with us on the plane. Suitcases can only handle so much!
I have to work on the website tomorrow night, but the design for Evening Fairy got some tweaking tonight when I came up with a perfect sub-line. The chart has the caption “Evenings are meant to be Magic” and I suddenly modified the design to include a box of chocolates and the words “especially if they include chocolate” beneath the big text! While this chart is a special gift for shops that order from us in Charlotte, it will be up on the site in December, so don’t worry!!!
Tomorrow morning I have to take a break and head over to church where the girls and I are going to team up with another family of 3 girls to help add a bit of fun to the nursery. It was repainted and repaired this spring, but the colour is a bit.... boring, so we’re going to paint 3 sheep (and do the fleece with sea sponges and paint for a nice texture) on the main wall that you see from the door. Along the side wall, we’re going to paint a vine that has various sizes of hand prints in different colours as the “flowers”. Since the girls tomorrow range in age from 10 to 3, I think we’ll have a good variety of sizes. I wonder how much paint will end up on them instead of the walls??
A week from now we’ll be in a hotel in Bangor, trying to convince the girls to grab a few hours sleep before a very EARLY flight to NY and onto Charlotte. The new office is all tidy! Except for one box of papers that have yet to be filed and sorted, everything is in its place and I am just getting the last things ready to take with me (forms etc.) I’ve learned now to find a Kinko’s or Office Max down there and pay US$ to avoid lugging the already printed forms with us on the plane. Suitcases can only handle so much!
I have to work on the website tomorrow night, but the design for Evening Fairy got some tweaking tonight when I came up with a perfect sub-line. The chart has the caption “Evenings are meant to be Magic” and I suddenly modified the design to include a box of chocolates and the words “especially if they include chocolate” beneath the big text! While this chart is a special gift for shops that order from us in Charlotte, it will be up on the site in December, so don’t worry!!!
Tomorrow morning I have to take a break and head over to church where the girls and I are going to team up with another family of 3 girls to help add a bit of fun to the nursery. It was repainted and repaired this spring, but the colour is a bit.... boring, so we’re going to paint 3 sheep (and do the fleece with sea sponges and paint for a nice texture) on the main wall that you see from the door. Along the side wall, we’re going to paint a vine that has various sizes of hand prints in different colours as the “flowers”. Since the girls tomorrow range in age from 10 to 3, I think we’ll have a good variety of sizes. I wonder how much paint will end up on them instead of the walls??
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