A new quilt design in the works - blues and greens
Wow. It has been a rather slow month. A slow month that happens to coincide with I&S signing a new commercial lease for 5 more years at 30% higher rent. Don't get me started. Yes they can do that (our old lease had no 'options') and no there's not much we can do about it. But we do get to stay in our beloved Younghusband building which we've worked hard to preserve as a creative hub, and provided the increased rent doesn't see our fellow artisans being replaced with accountants who want "funky" office space, we're grateful to be staying here.
But back to things being slow. It's funny, if you ask other small business owners how things are they'll mostly say "fine, fine" until you tell them you're going through a slow patch and then they'll confess "oh me too!". Not everybody wants to admit when times are a bit tough, but sometimes they are! The peaks and troughs are just part of small business. The tricky part is not letting it get you down, and maintaining the confidence that all will be fine in a few weeks. There's an art to that, I reckon. One that I haven't quite finessed, but I am trying to stay a bit zen about it all. The other tricky thing to balance is how much you talk about these kind of things. On one hand there feels like immense pressure to maintain a facade of confidence and all-is-well-ness, but on the other hand I really hate the pretence and not being able to be myself. There's enough lofty standards splashed all over blog-land at the moment. I think I'd rather be the one saying "hey it's not always great"... I'm not always very good at doing that.
Anyway, the good side of a protracted slow patch is the opportunity to get things done. There's the long list of to-do's that I've been putting off, but there's also a host of things I haven't had the quiet brain space to even conceptualize. I've finally managed to find a bit of that calm, quiet head space, and am now feeling quite inspired & full of new ideas. Silver lining and all that.
Above and below are some pics of a little something I'm working on. A design and instructions for a new quilt, that looks quite random but actually has an easy to follow pattern & instructions. AND, it can be made with whatever combination of printed and plain fabrics you like. More on that soon!
But back to things being slow. It's funny, if you ask other small business owners how things are they'll mostly say "fine, fine" until you tell them you're going through a slow patch and then they'll confess "oh me too!". Not everybody wants to admit when times are a bit tough, but sometimes they are! The peaks and troughs are just part of small business. The tricky part is not letting it get you down, and maintaining the confidence that all will be fine in a few weeks. There's an art to that, I reckon. One that I haven't quite finessed, but I am trying to stay a bit zen about it all. The other tricky thing to balance is how much you talk about these kind of things. On one hand there feels like immense pressure to maintain a facade of confidence and all-is-well-ness, but on the other hand I really hate the pretence and not being able to be myself. There's enough lofty standards splashed all over blog-land at the moment. I think I'd rather be the one saying "hey it's not always great"... I'm not always very good at doing that.
Anyway, the good side of a protracted slow patch is the opportunity to get things done. There's the long list of to-do's that I've been putting off, but there's also a host of things I haven't had the quiet brain space to even conceptualize. I've finally managed to find a bit of that calm, quiet head space, and am now feeling quite inspired & full of new ideas. Silver lining and all that.
Above and below are some pics of a little something I'm working on. A design and instructions for a new quilt, that looks quite random but actually has an easy to follow pattern & instructions. AND, it can be made with whatever combination of printed and plain fabrics you like. More on that soon!
Pressing those seams...
Quilt top complete - mustards and neutralsxx
10 comments:
Sorry to hear about your rent increase - there's always a balance in these things but 30% is a lot and I feel like thats a big chunk for a small business to add to its rent
The quilt top looks beautiful
I worked in retail for many years and August was always the slowest month of the year...so is it a seasonal low perhaps? Christmas and summer are coming!
Yep, a general slowness across the board from what I hear...hang in there, you are loved.
hello, I read your blog for 3 years or more and I really love your designs. I feel sorry for uncertainty, etc...I send to you a lot of energy from France!
Thank you for posting this! As someone just starting out with a small business I'd rather hear more realities like this. Why not share in the struggles as well as the successes. You never know what you can learn from others good and bad :)
Such wonderful honest posts of late. And I love this quilt. Will you sell it as a kit too? The colours are Devine.
Love you!!!!! xoxox
As a fellow heart-on-sleever, I appreciate the honesty. And I reckon you're right about that Art of the Zen thing (types the freelancer who is married to the artist)...
eugh - if only us creatives all had millionaire sugar daddies feeding our careers :( I feel your pain but LOOOVE your quilt :)
hugs.
thea.
(spoonfulzine)
I always love your honesty. I wish everyone was more honest. Its a bit like "how are you"... "great thanks" when we should be able to say "today I feel like crap"! 30%? Do your landlords read your blog!!?! You guys should get an "integrity discount". Big business are rarely eligible! hang in there xo
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