Pardon my post (craft show) partum
5th January, 10
Happy new year everyone! And my apologies for not writing sooner. To be honest I haven’t felt very motivated to write the last couple weeks. Actually I haven’t been motivated to do much for the last little while, though funny enough I’ve been supa busy. How does that figure?? Year end burnout maybe? Winter Blues? Or maybe it’s what I like to call my post (craft show) partum.
Now I admit I don’t know much about postpartum but I’m pretty sure it goes along the lines of something like this: Your body becomes fatigued after intense trauma, you have trouble readjusting to new circumstances, you have gained a ton of weight, all of which resulting in the blues.
Thanks to the holidays we’ve all gained a few pounds I’m sure. And I’m not saying that running your own business is the same as being a mother or giving birth (or am I? My business is my baby after all!), but after hitting the ground running last January with my new studio renovation and first ever CGTA Gift Show, I’ve been going non-stop since. 2009 was the first year we’ve exhibited in three big trade shows (two in Toronto and one in New York), and in the manner of a typical over achiever, we rounded up our year with two big retail shows in December (one in Toronto and one in New York again). What was I bored??
After coming home from a month’s worth of Christmas craft shows and traveling, I decided to invite 18 people over to our house for dinner and a party, forgetting that aside from cooking for 18 people, I had only 3 days between getting out of the car (from our 10 hour drive home from new York), to people walking in the house for the party. I had yet to clean up the craft show hurricane fallout that has ripped through my house (oh and buy presents, put up the tree and decorations etc…). Tick tock tick tock!
I’m happy to report that the party went off without a hitch. Woohoo! Post party cleanup ensued and then somewhere between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day weekend (‘cos God forbid I had any spare time in between family get-togethers), I decided that it was best I file and submit all my paperwork and receipts for the last two years. Thanks revenue Canada, nothing says Christmas like taxes!
Needless to say, the last two months of 2009 has felt like the last big push after a hectic year. Breathe, breathe PUSH! Breathe, breathe PUSH! You know what I mean.
Then all of a sudden, I think it was a couple days before New Years Eve when I realized that there was a strange calm in the studio. There’s nothing to do, no imminent danger. Everything was quiet…
I began feeling a little glum and listless. I tried being a sloth and watch TV on the couch all day but there’s nothing on, I tried going shopping but I didn’t like anything. What’s going on? Like a semi truck forced to gear down coming down off a hill, I’ve been pushing so hard I didn’t know what to do without myself now that crisis is over. To pass the time I took care of a couple house-holdy things that have been bugging me. I cleaned out my closet (I’m sorry Mama for being so Eminem) and rearranged the contents of my kitchen cabinets. I’m happy to report all my drinking glasses now ascend according to height. What to do next…
I thought I should take my little car in for a check up, after all he worked as hard as anyone this holiday season. While sitting at the auto mechanics, it occurs to me that I’ve always meant to redecorate our hallway. It’s been bugging me for a while now (and by ‘a while’ I mean a whole 2 hours); it’s perhaps the only area in the house that hasn’t been Smitteni-fied. The longer I sat at the mechanics the more I’m convinced that I cannot live one more minute with this bland hallway. How can I possibly be creative with such an ugly hallway only steps from my studio?? I MUST tackle this project right away!
It was the most annoying itch that I needed to scratch ‘cos in the back of my logical mind, I know this is not the best time to start redecorating. The madness is hardly over, more like it’s the eye of the storm. The CGTA Gift show is less than a month away and any creative energy should be spent creating new products not new hallways. It’s time to fortify those windows, think if new strategies and new products to launch before I’m buried neck deep in the trade show cycle again.
I’m happy to report that after some painting and wallpaper-ing over the weekend, the hallway reno is almost done! I’ll post pictures of my newly revamped hallway when the job is completely done I promise. For now I’m just glad to get that monkey off my back, and I can finally move on and focus on work again, and gear up for 2010.
Categories: In my studio.
Tags: Christmas, Home renovations, New Years.
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