Starting Again...

The summer before we left Brooklyn, I remember sitting around a rooftop deck at a little get together.  It was one of those perfect New York moments that makes it hard to leave the City.  My former employer and his girlfriend had invited us over to hang out and enjoy the good weather and to catch up.  I had become close with them when I was working at the restaurants and even though I had moved on to work on my creative career full-time, we occasionally saw each other, but our times together were less frequent and the time in-between visits stretched further and further a part.  This was our last hurrah together before William and I moved out to Pennsylvania.  They had went all out.  The deck was decorated with strands of twinkling fairy lights and paper lanterns.  Pitchers of delicious cocktails with herbs bobbing around were being passed around and music by a really good Indie band (before they were famous) was playing in the background.  And the food... as one would expect, was out of this world amazing.

As we talked and caught up on current events, he had mentioned that he was planning on opening another restaurant.  He had already opened a successful chain of popular restaurants and it boggled my mind that they were starting another massive undertaking.  I asked them how it was going, and he said... "Oh, really good!  It's kind of like getting your arms and legs broken."  I looked at him puzzled, and he clarified, "Sometimes when little people with dwarfism elect to lengthen their limbs, they undergo a surgery where their bones are broken.  The doctors put braces around the breaks and they take all kinds of drugs to help the bones grow and fill in the empty spaces.  It's really painful and it's really dangerous.  There's all kinds of things that could go wrong.  They could get infections or blood clots, but when it's done, it's what the little person always wanted.  So the new restaurant is kind of like that.  I was getting a little stagnant and wanted to challenge myself and open the restaurant I always dreamed of opening."

It has been awhile since I have seen them and when I think of them, I miss them dearly.  While there were many memorable things about that evening, that conversation sticks out in my mind.  I think of it often, because I understand it now.  I understand the pain that goes along with growing, and growing suddenly and rapidly.


In my last BeadFest post, I briefly mentioned that we had a lot of great conversations over the weekend and that some interesting prospects arose.  The thing is... we're stretched pretty thin.  Now, don't get me wrong... the store is doing better than ever.  BUT... we have so many things that we want to do and so many things that we've already invested in that if we want to do any of the things we talked about... we'd need some kind of special intervention.

Back in February, I started a personal challenge for myself called the Creative heART Challenge.  Basically, it was a way for us to fundraise to acquire new merchandise for the store at a lean time of year.  It was also a way for me to reconnect with my Muses and start making work again on a regular basis.  While there were many frustrations along the way, I think back on it as a success.  The original plan didn't quite work out,  but there was also a lot that did.

So, here I am... starting again.  I think for this round, I'll leave it open-ended and not put a time constraint on the project.  I'll just keep making and adding stuff until we reach our goals.  The things that I make for the reboot will all include the Creative heART Challenge banner and all of the proceeds that are raised will go directly towards our budding projects and help alleviate the growing pains associated with rapid growth.  You might be wondering... so what are you going to do with the money?  We'll be adding new inventory (from a few places looking to liquidate their wares) and purchasing tools and equipment to aid in the creation of new products.

I've busted out my sketchbook and have a lot of great ideas on new things to make!  I'm super excited and hope that you'll find some things that you'll love for a long time.