Friday: I was ready to place my order! All ready to get going on the fabric designs I’d started. I was filling my cart up with all the proofs, fabric samples and color maps I could find. But then I stopped for just a minute. There were some nagging questions my brain had been asking that my shopping self had been ignoring. A few important “what ifs…” “whys..” and “how in the hells…” So for a minute I allowed those questions to surface.
“What if I’ve really chosen the wrong colors?” (ok, proof the colors in Photoshop! Ooooo…not good. I know I need to calibrate my screen, but, ugh!)
“Why is anyone going to buy my fabrics?” (Um. Ah. Ok, they’re not. Shoot.)
“How in the hell am I going to proceed?” ((have a glass of wine.) Gulp.)
Now there were two ways to proceed, as I saw it.
1. Tell brainy me to “Shut Up! You worry too much!” and proceed with my purchase (knowing full well I had no defensible explanation to give my husband).
2. Let shopping me look around for used books instead, while brainy me takes a few steps back to contemplate the following….
First: What am I doing again? As I peruse Spoonflower, the online fabric design shop I love, love, love, I have to admit that my designs, so far, aren’t quite fabulous enough. I know they will be eventually, but right now, not. So that angle needs more time.
if you want to see some of the fabulousness that abounds on Spoonflower. Also, click the “Like” button over there on the left to follow me on FB. Eventually I’ll post updates there instead of on my personal FB page.
Second: And then what? You can buy yards and yards and yards of fabric just to admire it. Yes you can. However, most people expect to use the fabric in some capacity and it’s my job to get some ideas out there so people know what the possibilities are. “Stripes!” I yelled. On the inside. Birds and Stripes. Do you know how cool stripes are?! Check out Malka Dubrawsky and Kaffe Fassett for only the littlest taste. Stripes are amazing. Do you need my stripes? I dunno? Do I need them? Maybe?
So not only am I suffering from some deep confusion and only a little self-doubt I’m also easily distracted (had forgotten about Flickr until just now while I was looking for those links up there, and btw, everything Malka does is off-the-map awesome).
“Stripes!”
Yes, I did manage to gather some really neat ideas to showcase the fabric ideas swirling around me! But, time, time, time. I’ve planned a little too aggressively here. I expect something will be in my Etsy shop by Friday, but I still don’t know what.
What about the Birdie cards? I’m working on getting just the right combination of paper and ink/paint. Right now I’m using Arches cover stock which is not designed for what I’m doing. It is for letterpress (should I learn that too? Where can I find a press? Of course I spent time trying to answer these questions). But it is totally awesome. I just need to find something magical to go with it…..Or I will ditch it for another paper. Or I will keep it all and explain that this is art. No, wait, it’s Art. I have a few more days to decide how I feel about it. I am hooked on the block printing though. While I love how much computer-y stuff I’ve learned so far, creating something with my hands is much more fun/rewarding/spiritually uplifting.
Oh, and the tooth fairy purse for Ellen, I have a design in my head now, thanks to some helpful suggestions from FB friends. It looks like this:
And another bird idea, embroidered on felt. I’m glad I’m typing this all down here. Maybe I should make myself a list….
So I’ll be here all week wringing my hands trying to decide just where to start. I will continue posting photos without much explanation during the week and try to sum up at the weekend!
SewShaz 