Thursday, July 29, 2010

holy cow!

looking at the calender and feeling a bit let down... things have not been going according to schedule and i'm left wondering if i'll ever be able to get this little business up and running. i was always the kind of girl to go through creative spurts where i could just block out distractions and do what i need to do. however, this was before i had 3 kids. slowly, (duh) i'm beginning to realize that trying to accomplish anything crafty is going to take patience, with myself and the kids.

the stock building has been slow but as of this moment, i have approx 10 knitted/felted purses completed, waiting to be embellished, a half dozen small fabric zippered bags, and some knitted washcloths. trying to keep my interest in projects high, i have found that i need to group things together either by color or technique and work within those boundaries for a few weeks at a time.
for example, the washcloth stitch pattern came from a hat that i decided i needed to make for myself. i was intimidated at first by the lace stitches but determined to try something new. once i got the hang of it, feeling that it would look as pretty flat as in the round, i set off to make a spurt of cotton washcloths. but then, well, boredom grasped hold and the desire to try something new swept me away, so off i went in search of a different stitch pattern, this time settling on the ever classic, feather and fan. once again, sorted through the stash, ultimately settling on some sock yarn and busied myself designing a hat that it would work well with.
as mentioned, i also like to work within a distinct color scheme as a way to keep engaged in projects. early in the summer i went through a "citrus/grass" phase where everything was shades of orange, yellow, and green. it all reminded me of Sesame Street, making me smile each time i picked up the yarn or fabric. after that was what i referred to as my "raspberry tart" obsession with shades of lilac, fuschia, and violet determining my choice of mediums. currently, there is a rather large pile of red yarn staring at me upon entering my craft room, but as of writing this, i haven't been inspired yet.

also, i've come to a standstill as far as the design of the logo goes. Josh (the guy in MT who said he would help me with it) sent over a few possibilities, but i didn't feel like they captured my essence or the impression i wanted the Quirky Forest to give . with sharpie and plain paper, i attempted to come up with something on my own and sent him the designs to see what he thought. his opinion was that we should go with one of mine but confidence in my drawing skills has never been a good point for me. so at last, i'm left wondering, what should i do? branding and logo are essential to a successful marketing approach for a small business and i really don't want to screw this up! if anyone has any suggestions, please, i'm completely open at this point and would appreciate the feedback.