by carmen | Nov 16, 2011 | Uncategorized
John and I tore down Circle Craft on Sunday night. What can I say…The show was awesome, amazing even. By far the best show I have ever had. I’ve got to be honest with you. I was nervous. The show basically doubled the number of vendors in the fibre category this year and there are only so many shopping dollars to go around. It could have gone either way. I’m so glad that old and new customers made their way to my booth.
So what do you do on a Monday after two weeks of shows?
You got it–pet your cats, sleep in for an extra few hours and get back to work. The inventory for the next show is not going to knit itself, hmmm, or can it?
I have some pics from the show which I hope to post over the next few days. I also have an inbox full of custom orders. I am starting on those tomorrow. Yep, I need to spend some time at home. My stress cold sore managed to hold itself back until Monday morning (so I didn’t scare customers out of the booth). Whenever I run low on inventory my body flags me with the same cold sore. Unfair and disgusting.
To Toni, Paula, Pearl, Monica, Jean, Nancy, Jennifer and Lea —-from the bottom of our hearts —John and I thank you for all of your help before, during and after the show. We are the luckiest people to have such amazing friends.
by carmen | Nov 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
……nervous breakdown in six.
Hope to see you there! Booth # 223.
by carmen | Oct 19, 2011 | Ramblings, Uncategorized
What can I say ab0ut Whistler? It was the best finale to a market ever. So many people stopped to buy, request custom items or just say “see you again next year”.
John and I have always felt very appreciated at this market and count many of the locals as friends. Basically meaning, yes, you aren’t rid of us yet. We will visit you in the winter and annoy you and borrow your spare rooms and well —-you get the picture.
However, no rest for the wicked and we jumped right into the Apple Festival the following weekend with John doing his own thing at Kitsilano Market on Sunday. Awesome. This festival is probably my favourite of the year. Claire is always beside me with her wonderful hand made cards and when it’s not busy (which isn’t often) it gives us a chance to hang out and get caught up. I never leave without a huge bag of new varietals to try out…The weather, again, perfect and well what a way to send off the season. Now it is the biggest freak out of all, but what, wait for it——WHAT? no freak out at all.
- My yarn order came in when promised.
- I am finally getting my woolie winder and a new Lendrum.
- Jennifer has given me her remaining rovings as she is heading to India for 5 months.
- The studio is full of willing friends all stamping, tagging and reskeining.
- At the end of the month we are taking over another space in the studio and will soon rule the world.
- Toni, Kristen, Pearl and Karen are awesome —just saying.
I should be completely overwhelmed, but several people have my back. I feel it, I know it and I am secure in the knowledge that what I make will sell and what I run out of will be ordered. I’ve never been happier with my designs, opting this year for a cleaner more polished look. Gone is the wacky art yarn, replaced by something you will ache to knit or weave with. Yes, finally coming into my own.
Hadiya is still w
ith us for a few more days. We’ve finally decided to put her down. We’ve selfishly kept her with us long enough and how could we do anything else?…Look at this face…
I just realized while posting this picture that a lot of the carding I have done this week has been a lot of oranges…..Hmmmm. We were treated to her having a mad run around the bed trying to grab at some skeined yarn the other day. Flicking it with her mitten paws and flossing her teeth with what she was lucky enough to catch. Probably her last play time.
I’m going to miss finding wet sections of yarn running through my hand when I’m knitting. We’re staying at home today for some final cuddles.
by carmen | Sep 2, 2011 | Uncategorized
……..I did not spend my day as planned. While I thought I might put my deadlines aside for a few days, I ended up spending the afternoon helping a friend with her deadline for a special project. It was also great to see that there are deadlines all around me and not all mine! That adventure went into early evening, I worked on a hat and fell asleep on the couch….the best laid plans…
Back to the world of making magic, or Once Upon a Green Screen….
I just have to say this once. Okay, possibly I’ve said it 500 times already. Robert Carlyle is an amazing actor. For the number of takes to get the scene down, he was perfection for each take.
There were several opportunities for me to adjust the props, speak with the actor and view the filming from over the director’s shoulder. One screen gave us the scene as we saw it staged and the other screen gave us the Disneyfied version with walls and books and staircases —–just amazing to see it all come together.
I think it took about three hours to film the scene and a lot of it was with me prepping the wheel and fibre fluffing. I can hardly wait to see this when it debuts in October and see how long the scene actually is and how much of it ends up on film.
My one heart stopping moment was on the 3rd take wherein the actor said and I quote “I like spinning”. Insert sexy Scottish accent here.
Life gets a little dull after this moment, I have no guarantees of future film work. However this is the 4th production I’ve worked on since moving out to BC, so who knows.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for the call, from the studio or from Robert Carlyle….sigh…
by carmen | Aug 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
We are home from the Folk Festival and it was an amazing experience. The drive was spectacular with great weather in both directions. We had pit stops in Revelstoke, Golden and Banff and enjoyed them thoroughly.
The Festival was physically rigorous with long work days, moquitos that were the size of small cars and a definite lack of sleep prevailing. But on the plus side, we met the most amazing people.
I only got to spin on the first day of the show. It was logistically difficult to spin as the ground wasn’t level for more than a square foot and it was hot—-spinning in the heat was a new experience for me —-blek. Lots of knitting happened though, new designs started seeping into my mind and well how can you not be inspired when you are in such a great space?
There was no time to put together a meal, so it was a lot of late night grazing. Edmonton has awesome places to eat. Boun Thai had us going back more than once and we found a Lebanese restaurant that was insanely wonderful. With that being said, it was nice to get home to our first home cooked meal in a week.
There are so many more shows on the books this year. It’s going to be my toughest production schedule yet—but this is thrilling to me. I have the full support to make this happen which makes me blessed and even more motivated.
I took a half day off this morning to sleep in and cuddle with the kitties, but the knitting has my full attention as well as catching up on the Torchwood and True Blood episodes I missed while out of town. I’m sure it wouldn’t take much convincing to get Kristen into another Dr. Who marathon at the studio…..
by carmen | Jul 30, 2011 | Uncategorized
Things that went wrong:
- Phone ran out of juice, therefore could not call myself to find it. Showed up a day later under a pile of unfinished hats.
- Lost lid for water bottle I bought last year for Filberg to replace the water bottle that I lost. Loved that bottle.
- Items shipped took many hours to recover, but made it in time for show.
Things that went well:
