It has felt a bit like a race lately, tho’ I am racing the clock so there is no competition thank goodness. I am trying to be steady like the turtle, but am certainly moving faster. Not as fast as the rabbit….more like….hmmm….a hen? That isn’t quite right, either. Any ideas? I have filled thirty-six orders, thus far, in the days since I have returned from the show…and have eleven more to go, as I write. My online shop is closing at midnight tonight and it is good to know there is a stopping point. There is a mysterious element to having an online shop-one never knows how many people are shopping and exactly what they are putting in their baskets! So it is always a surprise when I click on the email that I receive for each order and I get to peruse the order and see what someone has chosen. In the past few days, there has also been a little strain as I look to see if what is ordered needs the envelopes that I ordered last week and are still sitting in Minnesota for some reason. Tracking can be a frustrating “convenience” when I check each day and see that my envelopes are still in Minnesota and not in my studio being divvied up into nice little bundles for Christmas cards and notecards and missives and such. Ah me….may both I and my customers have patience as we await those pretty, recycled envelopes.
In between and around the filling of orders I have been working on my Calendar of One’s Own for 2008. I do hope to have it up on the website by the end of the week, if my hands hold out.
As I am typing this, I am realizing I should be saving my hands for more calendar designing this evening, so will try to keep this short (always a hard thing for me!). But I wanted to share this image that I am trying to fit into the confines of the calendar layout…
I like it because it is more “real” than so many of the old illustrations are. Everything is just a little worn and rumpled and comfortable….still impossibly pretty, of course. And that early version of a baby gate! I loved seeing that for the first time and realizing that we have always had to deal with the same sort of challenges throughout the ages. And how good when we can handle them beautifully some of the time.
Well, the calendar is calling me back to it. And the flicker of firelight in the woodstove and the jazz on the kitchen radio are calling me to bring my laptop there to pass the evening hours fitting words and pictures into pages that will companion the months ahead.
