The Bright Side of Winter
I bet you think I’ve been spending all of my free time snowboarding and enjoying winter. Little did you know that I have been busy at work. Sure, I’ve been slaving over the preparation of my next two ski trips; but I’ve also been cutting, sewing, supply shopping, accommodating customers, and scheming on some new products. I just finished a new special order. I placed the order for myself, to myself.
People always comment on how I must have a plethora of scarves in my quiver. “I bet you save all the best ones for yourself”, they say. But it simply isn’t true; I sell all of the best ones. The one hood I have is a special order reject, and the two scarves I have are last-season-leftovers…until now. It’s difficult for me to keep anything that I love. When I make something, I find particularly impressive, I want to share it with other people.
I have been snowboarding for 17 years. (and skiing before that) To keep my neck warm on the mountain I wore turtlenecks, TurtleFurs, and later tied handkerchiefs. Would you believe I never made myself a scarf to ski in? I’ve made scarves to keep myself warm at work in the ski shop, but never for actual skiing…until now. On my recent trip back to the U.S., I found a great micro fleece in JoAnn Fabrics. I paired it with a soft, stretch-cotton in psychedelic feather print; and gave it clips instead of buttons. I call it Florida Scarf Sport. If it tests well on my next two ski trips I may be forced to abandon my handkerchiefs. (an abandonment my husband would love) You may also start to see a few versions, of this new type, in my Etsy Shop.
I’ve also had the pleasure, recently, of hearing from some old customers. A good buddy in Finland, whom I’ve never actually met, just bought her fourth Florida Scarf.
A good buddy, right around the block, just popped a loop on her hood. She asked me to fix it. I said no problemo. This is actually the second time she’s brought me the hood for a repair; the first time it was a broken button. This got me to thinking…Are there others out there, that may need their Florida Scarf repaired? To address this issue I’ve created a Complaint Department in my Etsy Shop.
And I made a new friend. My most recent custom order came from a lovely young lady who’s boyfriend had bought a Florida Scarf hood at the Ski Barn three years ago. He recently misplaced it and was super-bummed. (I’m sure we can all imagine how devastating this would be. To know what life is like with a hoodie-hat, and be forced to live without it. I think I’d rather lose my right arm.) (Just Kidding.) The young lady searched high-and-low and found me on the Internet. Actually, she probably just googled Florida Scarf. At any rate, we connected, and after a round-robin of emails and photograph swaps, I made her a new hood for her man.
Don’t you, just, love happy endings?
Thanks for tuning in, and reading my update. I’ve been posting some new scarves in the Etsy Shop, check them out if you haven’t already. Also, in the near future, I plan on showing you two projects I just volunteered with, a new commissioned painting I’ll be working on, and as usual…a couple of new ski trips.
