A bit of rambling...

My brain is here, there and everywhere today so excuse me if this post is the same.

I'm very saddened today. The loss of Lisa Roswell of The Primitive Needle is such a huge one for the needlework industry. She was very talented and will be missed. Such a terrible tragedy and her family is in my thoughts.

I intended to post some pictures today... a rainbow of fabrics that came in (my Christmas pressie from hubby finally got here) and my near complete Daisy, but the camera batteries are dead and simply will not recharge anymore. ARGH!

I'm a bit disheartened about stitching right now as well. My distributor reported back that Nashville wasn't a good show for them. There were 103 vendors this year and only 107 shops there making purchases - a huge decrease from previous years. The recession has hit our industry and hit hard. Because of that, the usual post show order for more charts was very small. It used to be that when I released a new design, the proceeds would cover materials for at least one or two more new models, new colours for my thread collections, and usually a treat for myself like a new chart or two. Not so this year.

And so of course this has me questioning why I bother. I put in hundreds of hours designing, model stitching and putting together a chart pack and now I can't even afford to buy materials for new models. I never got into this because I wanted to make millions, I never even expected to make enough to pay bills and call this my job. But I at least hoped that it would support itself.

The anwer to my burning question... because I love doing it. There's a huge feeling of satisfaction when I finish a new design, be it in the software or on fabric. A feeling of pride knowing I did that. Yet for the past couple days, since hearing this news, I haven't felt like stitching, and I've been staring at a blank screen in the charting software with no inspiration whatsoever. I know it's just a rough patch I have to get over and I know I will persevere, but it's upsetting nonetheless. I just need to kick myself in the ass and stop feeling sorry for myself. :)

With that in mind, I am considering the option of selling my charts to individuals in PDF format. It's something I have considered in the past, but I wanted people to support their LNS/ONS by purchasing through them. But now that shops aren't buying, it's becoming more and more obvious that I have to do something if I want to get ahead in this game. I'm still on the fence about it, because I know a lot of shops automatically shun designers who sell direct to the public, and I want to keep a good working relationship with the shops that do currently stock my designs. At the same time, I want to make my designs easily accessible to the public and keep the business running in the black so I can keep releasing new designs. Really not sure what else to do and I'm totally open to suggestions.

On a brighter note, Daisy is coming along even though I only managed a couple hundred stitches yesterday. I'm finished almost all the pink, and just have the green and yellow to fill in now. So if I can get my stitching mojo back, it should be finished in a few days and I'll have another new one to release. :)

And on another brighter note, my LNS owner is back from her vacation today, so I'll be popping in tomorrow for some stitching time and all the latest gossip.

And a final brighter note... my back is getting much better. On Sunday, something went pop, and now my movement is much, much better. It was the strangest thing!! I can even touch my toes again! The ache and pain is still there but it's gradually improving. So, tomorrow, while I'm out and about, I need to pick up printer cartridges so I can start mass printing resumes - of course, just when I felt up to hitting the streets job hunting, I run out of ink. My life in a nutshell, really. lol