Ah, the crispness of fall in the air. The change of smells in the season, the briskness of the mornings, the chill of the evenings....... these are things I bring to mind as I walk the dog in temperatures of 100 at night...... memories are great, aren't they?? My memories of Fall make it possible to imagine what most of the country is experiencing. My mind says it's time to start making gifts, get ready for the holidays and family celebrations. My body says, as I pull on shorts and flip flops for the 230th day in a row, shall we have hot coffee today or iced? Is it too late in the morning for hot at 9:00 a.m.?
Yes, I am still in the Phoenix area... can't whine about sun every day but must admit, I do miss those smells and the change that occurred in my brain when I lived where there are 4 seasons. To that end you'll find Apple Dunkin' attached as this month's design. If this doesn't conjure up images of the Fall season then not much will around here.
Since the last missive things certainly have changed haven't they. There is a very real concern over the state of our existence here in the United States. I conducted a chat on EmbForum last week with the economy as the subject. We discussed what everyone was doing to combat the situation. Some of us live in areas that are highly depressed and some are in areas that are still seeing booming sales. The biggest suggestion for all embroiderers was, find new ways to bring in business. If you are concentrating in a specific area, stretch your wings and expand what you offer. Of course this is a double-edged sword........ if you stretch that means different product has to be brought in which means an outlay of precious resources. If you don't stretch then one risks seeing the business go flat by virtue of not using those resources. Some people are fine staying the course as their clientele is sustaining the usual purchasing trends. The bottom line here is, there is no magic wand, no right answer that fits all. Each of us is facing our own personalized situation, sort of like a weird monogram on a purse made just for us. I wish there were an easy answer, a soothing one for those who are really feeling the effects now. As for me, I am choosing to stay the course and not alter my plans to bring out a bag line. I've got the product on site so to turn away from debuting it would be poor business. I'm keeping the nose to the grindstone on this.
I had planned to have the bags debut today (Friday, October 10) but have not been able to reach that goal due to dealing with things on the economic front. However, I am not going to be much behind either. This weekend will see me stitching as previously planned. The bags are made of hemp as it's a sustainable product. I've one that I carry and have fallen in love with. I used another hemp bag from this company for 2 years previously and was very impressed with its durability which is why I decided to carry these products myself. The bags will have designs that are not available for sale as stock designs so they will be truly unique and one of a kind items. I'm doing Vegan bags, Reiki bags and just generally cool bags, things that speak to me as a designer.
Last month Jim came home for a few days from his temporary spot in Oregon. As he took care of our furry family members, I headed to Sedona and finished my master Reiki class. The class was very fulfilling and I'm grateful to have completed it with the teachers I had begun with. Jim and I had a few days together before he headed back to Oregon where he remains on the hunt for suitable housing for us. Seems we are facing a Mecca for landlords right now as there's a massive amount of people who want to rent but the right home is there for us. It's just not made itself known yet. We are hopeful that it won't be much longer before we are both under the same roof in our own nest.
On a digitizing note, many of you know I have a company now called Busy Head Creations. The site is www.busyheadcreations.com. This company was put together so anyone needing custom digitizing could have it done within 24 hours or so and the designs are available for download 24/7. I'm pleased to announce a 20% off sale for 2 designs, now through December 31, 2008. You'll need to enter this code: BHC-7K9KJN. This will allow you to order 2 custom designs at 20 percent off the regular price. We output files to nearly every format possible. Each design is stitched out on fabric similar to what you will use the design on and you'll see an image of that stitch out when your design is delivered.
Speaking of digitizing: the design you are receiving this month, Apple Dunkin', is comprised only of a run stitch. I did this in one sitting and there are no breaks in the thread. It's all one segment. Run stitch work is my favorite medium. When you think about it, that's all any embroidery really is - just run stitches. They may be put together as satins or as fills but at the end of the day, it's just one stitch being directed to become a specific pattern via the software. Lately I've been working on a design that is all run stitch work but looks like satins. I'm placing each stitch exactly where it goes. The reason? To create a look of hand embroidery, something that is timeless and evokes thoughts of true craftsmanship. It's time consuming and extremely rewarding to be doing work of this nature. It also makes me appreciate the auto tools on designs that do not call for such intensity... and it reminds me of how much easier it is today to digitize with these tools than it was for those who blazed the trails on digitizing to begin with. My hat is off to the early digitizer. I feel it's a full circle for me. I learned from old-school punchers, people who did one stitch at a time, but I began when software had made the digitizing job easier. It is hard to say if I'd have had the patience to stick with digitizing at first had it been required to do it one stitch at a time. Now, I'm purposefully choosing to do the work one stitch at a time and thus have gained extreme appreciation for the way it had to be done in the past. By creating designs this way, it also helps me to continue learning about the nature of thread in relation to fabric. It's very rewarding.
I hope this letter finds each of you well, at peace with the situations of today and maintaining the sense of well-being that we all need right now.
