All These Adventures

I know that I am way, way behind in blogging. It has been here waiting for me to know what I wanted to say.
I spent this spring cursing the weather for being such a curse, cursing and parting with the full-length mirror that was apparently a source of negative energy that I was taking everywhere that I vended.  I feel like I have gotten realigned with myself and the universe that I serve.  It is good.
I am looking forward to my first time as a vendor at Hillsborough's Last Fridays event on May 31st.  I think it will be a very good venue for GKR, and I will like not having to arise before dawn to get somewhere.
On that note, I plan to get up at the crack of dawn on June 1st to do the Durham Craft Market.  I feel like the first of the month is when people have a little money to spend, so I am going to focus my crack of dawn events to coincide with that fact.  I am learning about the business end of being an artist and how to maximize my chances of producing income so that I can continue to do what I love.
I have also had a few other reckonings lately.  The most significant would have to be that I am presently farm-sitting at my former home and I brought a bunch of dresses to work on while I'm here.  Turns out that there is not an ounce of my creative juju in this house for me.  It has all been relocated.  I can't make anything here but a mess.  So I am making ribbon strips for some bows that I have to have ready for a wedding next weekend.  I think I can't hurt them too much, and if it turns into a mess, I will set it aside until I return home.
GoodKharmaReThreads is the best thing that I have ever created.  I love what I do and feel love going through me into what I make when I'm working.  It is most beautiful.
I will definitely post some pictures with my next blog entry.  I am not on my computer and so I have limited access to my files.
I will definitely show off the bows after I finish them.  I have never made bows, so it is its own kind of adventure.  I have to be a very lucky person to have so many wonderful adventures within my art.
I will go now....have farming things to tend to...more to come this week.  Until I blog at you again, may your days be filled with peace and light.

Is It Spring Yet?

I tell you what, I have had enough of this winter....and it has not been a 'bad' one, but more like a rollercoaster of cold rain and wind and a day or two of fake spring, then back to cold rain and wind.  Not the best climate for a person like me...but I don't let it get me down for long....

I have been working on some clothes....
finally!!  I know that these photos aren't the best...I am using my phone,  as my separation from my husband didn't include custody of the camera (it was not a good camera anyway, and so no worries!!).   
So the dress in the middle of this picture looks completely awful, and is very, very cute when on a shape...I promise!  I was just in a hurry to get proof that I had indeed been doing something productive...silly! I know!
The black dress on the left is a plus size, as is the turquoise tunic on the right.  I plan to make plenty of plus size creations this year.  I feel that it is a niche that needs filling with some attractive and original fashions that don't look like feed sacks and don't make the wearer look bigger or like they are wearing a feed sack.  As I hover in the 'in-between-sizes' place, between plus and regular (sounds like I'm talking gasoline!) I can appreciate the need for flattering clothing of all sizes.  I have alot of ideas to try out, and a whole closet full of raw material to choose from.  

So I just really wanted to let the world know that I'm back in business, back in work, have rejoined the world, etc.  I will be working as much as is humanly possible to prepare for the first day of the Durham Craft Market 2013, which is Saturday, April 6th.  I hope it will be really spring by then....
And here is my latest creation...sorry for the picture quality...it is a dark aubergine linen with a removable belt (could also be used on the head as a scarf or wrap).  The large applique'd piece was lowered before I sewed it on (pinned in picture) because I felt it looked too close to waistline with belt on.  So the picture did serve to show me what I needed to change.  And this is also my sewing cubby, in my studio-bedroom combination.  I am quite fond of my new workspace and living space, too.  It feels so like home and I get great joy from watching the gazillion squirrels in the yard party down every day.  They are wild and funny and drive the cats just crazy! which is also fun to watch!  
I will be posting again this month with some more new fashions and hopefully some bags as well.  I took all of my 'new' bags to the Karma Boutique a few weeks back, so I have many bags to make before April 6th....which I will try to get to this coming week...so stay tuned!
Most of all,  may peace (and the force) be with you...

Kharma Meets Karma...All of It Good....

I had the pleasure yesterday of taking some of my creations down to Sanford, NC, to The Karma Boutique.
I met the shop's owner, Diann, and her wonderful son and adorable pooch as well.  It was wonderful to see someone merchandising other people's art as well as her own in such a cool setting.  I am so proud to have my pieces there and hope that folks down there will appreciate my art.
It was certainly a meeting of the Karmas, too.  It is so awesome when you feel at home with someone you've just met, and feel the good vibes from the people that come in to shop and from the place itself.  And she said the same thing about me and my things.  I hope it will prove to be a long and fruitful relationship for both of us.  It was definitely 'all good'!!
If you find yourself down that way...be sure to stop in at The Karma Boutique and then after you have shopped please head over the RR tracks and keep going straight until you see Yarborough's on the right.  They have diner food and about 15 to 20 flavors of homemade ice cream....banana pudding, chocolate malt, birthday cake, nutty coconut, and a whole bunch of others...all so creamy and good you won't be able to stand it...but you'll eat it anyway!!
And now, as the realization hits me that I just left 24 items at The Karma Boutique...I better get back to work...I have a whole lot of sewing to do....I will keep you posted on the new pieces I make as we all get ready for spring!

peace to you....

Unfolding of Purpose

My last post was at a very profound point in my understanding of the practicing of what I preach....more lessons in the ways in which the Universe works - for us, against us, with us, without us, and through us, sometimes running over us or maybe tripping us up at an opportune time. 
I have had a huge, really huge change in my life and lifestyle - I have separated from my husband of 29 years - and I have had to take a good look at the world around me and try to see where and how I fit into it.  It has been a very positive experience so far.
I think the one most important and positive thing has been getting reconnected with a dear friend that I had kind of lost touch with...we would see each other at stores or stoplights and pass and repass...but we have been family for 12 years or more.  The interesting part of this reconnection is that it came directly from my inept attempts to help by putting those items on ebay a few weeks ago (as discussed in my last post).  She was the one person who responded to the listings, as she wanted to purchase one of the bags I had listed and then removed. 
By the time we got a chance to get together for a visit and a little wine and for me to deliver the bag she wanted to buy, I had moved out of my home and was staying on another friend's couch.  Well, the universe opened up and put us in each others' paths for a reason...I needed a new home, and she had a downstairs apartment.  She needed to get rid of a huge amount of hoarded but valuable stuff, and I knew exactly how to do that for her. 
I now have a wonderful new home, private or unprivate as I want it to be at any given time.  We are making headway cleaning out and cleaning up and starting to chip away at the 75% of her stuff that she would like to get rid of.  It is wonderful here...I am so very happy, and I am finally moved in and sewing again, getting ready for the dtown Market, getting ready for the DCM that will begin in April, getting things done, and smiling while I'm doing them.
So GoodKharmaReThreads is open for business again...relocated to Chapel Hill, NC...and it has new room to grow as do I....
 I realize that I have a long road ahead of me....and that my business has a long life ahead of it...and we are one, GKR and myself.  It feels good...
I will be back posting some pics of my new digs, new workspaces, and new items I've been working on....sorry that I had to drop out for a while but it was necessary...we begin again...and we are surrounded by love and peace and goodness...let these things wrap around you and hug you and know that good times are ahead....be back soon...I promise!!

My Lesson About Karma...

I have had occasion to think about the subject of karma and how it works versus how you would think it works....case in point:
I wanted to raise money for a particular charity that rescues horses, as they have recently been and are still currently taking in and taking care of 10s of 20s of starved animals...
I donated several items and put them on a non-profit auction site and began advertising this on facebook to generate interest...100% of the proceeds to go to the rescue organization.  nothing was happening after a couple of days, so I thought, wow, what can I do?  So I decided that I would revise the listings to include free shipping to try and entice people....nothing.  
I tossed and turned all night about this, and got up this morning with a better understanding of what was happening....
1.  this was never personal, though I was taking it personally
2.  nothing good ever comes from whoring out your work, your art
3.  I was accomplishing nothing so much as hurting myself and my karma, 
    certainly not helping the rescue organization.  
Now this may or may not have been the 'right' thing to do, but I have removed the listings, removed all of the facebook references, and called it a day.  I will send the rescue organization some of my profit from the market I will be participating in over the coming weekend.  just a donation from me to them, not from any type of fundraising.  
From now on, I will make specific pieces for specific auctions or causes, hand them over, and let the rest take its course.  I am an artist, not an activist.  I can't make people care about something they don't want to care about or even know about.  I have to change to and keep to the proper rules of karma from now on, and I will.  This little experience will be a reminder for me.  The order of things is the order of things, and it isn't negotiable.  It is what karma is all about.
Now, I will get back to what I do best, and get busy in my studio!!
Much peace to you...

May the Karma Be With You...

Well, the Durham Farmers' Market had invited the Durham Craft Market's vendors to set up during the market yesterday (just a two hour market, 10 am till noon).  The weather looked like it would be good and so I decided to go, and I talked my friend, Dawn, aka FireWithN Pottery, to go, too.  She had not made much at the previous week's Holiday Market or at an event that I helped her with the weekend before that, so it was kind of hard to convince her.  I told her that my husband and I would help however we needed to, as she has a ruined knee and is in pain all the time (will be having knee replacement surgery next month).
She was already at the park when we arrived, and had not been able to finish setting up....as she was talking to a nice older couple that bought several pieces of pottery from her, her second customers of the morning, even though it wasn't even 9:30 yet.
We started unpacking and setting up, and she finished with her customers, and turned to me...she was thanking me for convincing her to come out, as she had not been able to pay her insurance (she is a veteran on disability and fixed income).  She called and paid it over the phone while I was still setting up, and I could feel the load being lifted off of her shoulders.
So we set up, and an hour passed, and one of my favorite customers came by with her pooch to say hi and we were able to hug and wish each other safe and happy holidays, etc.  And a few other dear folks came through, sharing warm bread, telling little stories...just a wonderful morning!
And in the last half hour of the market, I had my one and only sale of the day, a top that I wore occasionally (free advertising) and decided to bring along at the last minute.  I felt that cool connection with the customer, knowing that I would see her again, and that she would spread the word about what I do.
It was a good bit of setting up and taking down and unloading and loading and time and gas and on and on....it was exactly the day I was supposed to have...and I was just grinning as I looked over at my friend, most of her pottery packed up, when a couple came by and found the perfect gift for someone dear to them, a pretty blue coffee mug....grin, grin, grin!!  And peace to you....

Last Market of the Year...

Well, the hoopla is over for now.  With the exception of a fast trip to Durham to set up during this coming Saturday's Farmers' Market, I will only be selling on-line and to the local people that know how to get in touch with me.  That is okay, at least for now, because I'm tired.  Saturday we had a good, though not great, turnout for our DCM Holiday Market.  I did pretty well, better than some, worse than others, but it was worth my time and trouble.  I toyed with the idea of going back this coming Saturday for another Holiday Market put on by a different group, but in the same location as ours.  It sounded like a great idea at the beginning of the day, and not so much at the end of the day, when the exhaustion came knocking.
Funny, though, I still haven't fully discounted the option.  I will see how I feel on Friday, or even Saturday morning.  That is the extent of my ambition at the present time.
I will start next season as the holiday/special events chairperson for the craft market.  I have no idea what I'm doing but somebody had to do it, and I already saw a huge amount of room for improvement - assigned spaces in lieu of first come/first served - as the two most represented groups, pottery and jewelry, were mostly clumped together, rather than spread evenly throughout the room, so I don't think individual vendors were given the browsing attention they would have had they been evenly distributed around the market.  I want to change this....some will like it, some will not, but I think I have a valid point and one that is of benefit to all of us, including the customers.
Another thing I will be responsible for is coordinating art/craft demos on the 3rd Saturday of each month at the Craft Market.  I think this is a great way to sell, capturing the attention of the passersby and in some cases, allowing input to make something 'just for them'.  It also is a chance to show the customers just how much thought and sweat and love and skill goes into the making of an item, much less keeping up an inventory.  I saw very little participation from the crafters this past year, and I hope to get more to participate and see it as a beneficial pain in the butt, not just the pain part!
So I have the wheels turning and have the winter to consider these things, as well as looking into extra events that we could participate in throughout the year, and perhaps some 'themed' Saturdays that correlate with holidays and local happenings.  I think it will be a challenge for me but I am going to do the best job that I can and hopefully infuse some new ideas.
So today I will get my studio put back together and start making a few gifts that I want to give to different friends.  Hopefully I will get a few custom orders as well.  But I am ready to do something; after all, I took a WHOLE DAY OFF yesterday, spending most of it lying on, if not in, the bed...reading, gaming, napping, resting....it was hard work to stay away from work.  I will take a couple of other days off this week, too.  Now that I remember how much better I feel the next day!
I will keep you posted on the holiday happenings and have a few pictures for you, as well!!
Keep the peace all around you, let it hug you gently and carry you through these turbulent days ahead...as the holidays have become for most anything but a "holiday".  Take your peace with you wherever you go...