Yesterday I had a blog all written and ready to publish. It was a quarter of nine my time and I was feeling good because I usually post by about nine fifteen. I was ahead of the game and it was a great way to start off my Monday.
Then in the blink of an eye – POOF!!!! Our power went off. It remained off for nearly five hours. I knew the post was lost.
I do pretty well in power outages here. They don’t happen frequently (usually less than once a year) but on a bright, sunny day without weather interference, I knew it would be a while before it was back.
In our little place here, we also have our water pump dependent on power. That means you get a bit of water after it goes out, and then you are stuck. I think that is the part that is more bothersome than anything, as we have to remember to keep some extra stored. I looked in the closet where I kept my gallon of water and it wasn’t there. Keith had tossed it out, saying it was ‘expired’. (I didn’t realize that water expired) While he and the neighbor went to town to do an errand and check things out, I filled my largest pot about halfway and headed out to the grill in my jammies. I warmed the water and brought it in to wash and it worked fine. Life went on.
I spent the morning tidying up what I could and I even began a new embroidery project. As I went through my wonderful supplies, I couldn’t help but feel great about my job and my life in general. While our place here is small and my life is somewhat simple, it is filled with many beautiful supplies to create with. That is all I need. I am happy.
I settled down and began embroidering, knowing I still had several hours of daylight to do so. The day would not be wasted. Everything would be fine. Around 1:30 the power returned, and I continued with my day. I still had a couple of orders to print and I had to get to the post office with the large batch of weekend orders that needed to be posted.
My blog however was gone, as I knew it would be. But even that was not a crisis. You all got along without me for another day and I am back. Life is 'normal’ again.
I had a tremendously busy and productive weekend. On Saturday I spent the day cutting the many orders that I had for wood pieces. I love that part of the 'job’ as scrolling at my saw with my music in my headphones is truly a 'happy place’ for me. I love creating the wood pieces for my customers, too. I like the personal touch of knowing that the pieces that I cut and sand here will be sent all over and turned into wonderful, treasured pieces. It may sound corny, but I take care with each piece and make sure it is cut, sanded and packaged carefully. I want the painters to open the box and be able to just paint, without any further prepping.
I am sad at the high cost of shipping, but there isn’t much I can do about that. I think that is why it is so important for me to be so diligent in the items that I send. I want them to arrive and my customers to say “It is worth it."
Besides cutting, I was able to finish up another wonderful piece by designer Lynne Andrews. This one is called ”Christmas Time“ and the pattern is available on Lynne’s site. (You can click the name of the pattern to take you to the product.) I saw this pattern and I thought it was fabulous! I ordered it right away.
While Lynne’s rendition of the piece was for a large ornament (about 7” in diameter) I wanted this to be something on a more grand scale. So I created a wood piece that is 16" in diameter. I also double beveled the cuts so the inside sunk in a bit, and then more in the middle. This made it really look cool:
I re-designed the top as well. I wanted my piece to look like an old fashioned pocket watch. As a final added touch, I included a metal chain and fob on the end of it. This really made it look nice! Here is a photo of the finished piece:
I am really pleased with it.
Here is a picture of me holding it so you can get a better idea of the size:
The circular part is 15.75" in diameter. I think it is a wonderful and fun piece, and didn’t take too much time for even a slow painter like me to complete. I even added some sparkles on the holly leaves – just for some shimmer:
It is amazing to me how such a wonderfully simple design can come out so detailed:
I am offering the wood kit on my site here: SLDPK120 - Large Timepiece Painting Surface. The wood kit includes the 15.75" round double beveled piece, the top piece and the fob. The chain is not included.
I want to apologize in advance for the shipping costs, which may seem a bit much, but they are as close to actual cost as we can get. The box that the piece is shipped in is 16" square and 4" high. The size is large and this is why it is costly. What many customers have been doing is ordering several at once (with friends or for gifts), or with other wood pieces as the cost to ship several is very close to that of shipping just one item. The cost per item for shipping naturally drops as you add pieces in.
I plan on creating several more pieces using this fun surface. It is really something that I thoroughly enjoyed creating, and it was something that was a bit out of my comfort zone. But that is how we learn, isn’t it?
I spent the rest of the day catching up and I hope to spend today drawing. I have some more new designs to work on and I can’t wait to see them come to life. I really want to thank all of you that ordered wood pieces in the last couple of weeks. I have had a great time making your 'future heirlooms’ and I am excited to be so busy in this area of my business. It really makes my life fun.
Today is another beautiful and sunny day here in Nova Scotia. Barring all disasters, I hope to accomplish a lot. I wish you all a wonderful day as well.
Happy Tuesday to you all!
via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/132934986069
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