Saturday, May 5, 2012

Commitment

Without involvement there is no commitment. Mark it down. Asterisk it. Circle it. No involvement, no commitment.


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Those days are gone. Get over it.

Yesterday, the organizers of the Creativ Festival did a very brave thing. They asked their customers to provide feedback about the recent show on facebook. I read them with disappointment. I was wondering if I was in fact at the same show.

The Creativ Festival is a top-notch consumer show. The vendors and activities are a reflection of current market trends in the world of arts and crafts. If it's not the same as 10 years ago, there's a good reason. The world has changed. Look around you. The glory days are gone. Probably for good. Be grateful for all those vendors and experts who made the effort to be there to teach, exhibit and sell their wares. It's not easy and it's a big risk. For a $15 admission fee you received outstanding value if you were open to learning something new or just taking in the sights.

Freebies. Free patterns. Free handouts. Several people said that vendors should be giving out more freebies. Back in the day, vendors used to be given free products by the manufacturers to distribute and encourage more sales. That doesn't happen any more. Handouts. Hmmmm. Printing costs have gone through the roof. Printing even small quantities costs $100 of dollars. And they often end up in the recycling bin. So no. Freebies and handouts aren't the answer because the truth is, they don't generate more sales--or even enough sales to cover the vendor's costs. They generate waste and satisfy people who want handouts, not people who are looking for value.

A $14 needlework pattern? Is that too much to ask if it gives you hours of enjoyment? Is that too much to ask if the artist spent weeks designing, perfecting and testing it? Is that too much if the exhibitor has to sell a 100 of them to cover the cost of their booth for that day? I don't think so.

Elegant Designs for Easy Living

Yesterday was what I call I near perfect day for a sewing enthusiast. Visiting Toronto and taking in the sights, sounds, tastes and smells is a treat for the senses. One important stop on the itinerary was the Textile Museum of Canada.

Tucked away in a corner behind City Hall, the museum is the place I often escaped to on precious lunch hours when I worked on Bay St. While others ate their power lunches hoping to make a big connection, panted away on treadmills in the local gym, or toiled in stark grey cubicles wolfing down fast food while staring into flickering screens, I would slip off to this little oasis of tranquility and creativity.

The Textile Museum shop on the second floor has so many books on all sorts of textile art. They also have used books for sale, donated to the museum to help raise funds. This book by Maggie Lane was a treasure that I purchased yesterday. It was published in 1978, over thirty years ago. I've not heard of Maggie Lane or this book previously, and patchwork is not something I'm particularly interested in. What attracted me was that the book included patterns for oriental clothing; Indian pant, Magyar coat, Dofuko, tabard, kangaroo shirt and several more. Typical for books of that time, it contains colour plates of the garments. This $18 find will give me hours of enjoyment as I pore over the construction details and marvel over the simplicity of the designs that are functional and yet have an aesthetic that I am attracted to.