Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Pondering, Projects and Pups

It's been a finishing frenzy in the Blue Ribbon Designs studio the last few weeks. The needlework finishing orders and custom bag orders keeping rolling in, keeping my work queue overflowing (a blessing). I have been working on a variety of creative endeavors, including: needlework finishing, custom sewing, custom quilting, and freelance designing.

Keeping it real - I feel extremely blessed to be creative on a daily basis, but I must admit, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and frustrated - it's hard to believe that something that can bring me so much joy can also leave me feeling empty and unappreciated....I try to always be positive on my blog, but today has been a challenging day. I am going to take a good look at my pricing and my policies and may be making some notable changes. Needlework finishing is extremely time consuming and the materials are costly - I find many don't want to pay for my time or expect my labor to be pennies an hour. So, time to give this all some thought and make some decisions. What do you think is fair to charge for professional/quality needlework finishing? What do you expect from a professional finisher? Do you have an opinion? - if so, leave it in the comments or send me an e-mail - I would love to hear some thoughts on the subject!

Enough pondering for this post... Here is a picture trail of some needlework finishing projects from the last week...again, these are not my designs or stitching - these are just photos of my finishing work...

















Lastly, by popular demand, here are several photos of the kids...the last one is a photo taken by the window in my studio...they have definitely become best friends...



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6 comments:

  1. diamondcJuly 15, 2020 at 8:10 PM

    Brenda: I think in these times you need to raise your prices, it is a shame so many people think they should pay very little, it seems they do not know what goes into finishing and how time consuming it is.
    as for prices I am not sure what you would charge, I do my own finishing except framing.
    All your finishing is lovely, you do have a talent, I am sure many will continue to use your services.
    the kids are adorable, such beautiful faces, Krissy the dog sends hugs to them both.

    Have a wonderful week
    Catherine

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  2. SandraJuly 16, 2020 at 2:19 AM

    I don't know what you charge for finishing, but I know when I am assembling even a simple little pin cushion that it takes me a few hours, cording to be made and hand stitched on all takes time, so if people want a good job doing they should be willing to pay.

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  3. MarilynJuly 16, 2020 at 5:34 AM

    All great finishes, so pretty.
    The pups are too cute.
    I love Garin's coloring.
    Marilyn

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  4. Robin in VirginiaJuly 16, 2020 at 8:05 AM

    What fabulous finishes you have created for your clients! Absolutely incredible! I love the pictures of Schatzi and Garin. I think my favorite is the one in the middle, but I like the one of them sharing the window.

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  5. sandi sJuly 16, 2020 at 12:13 PM

    Your finishes are so beautiful! If people don’t want to finish their own projects then they pay price to have it done beautifully. I love your fur babies, they are gorgeous. Hugs,

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  6. butterflyJuly 17, 2020 at 1:43 AM

    Wonderful finishing , so hard to say what price .
    But I know you put so much time and love in the finish ,I would look how long it takes you in an hour and charge per hour then add the amount of material used .
    Not easy to do this but but time costs money .
    I am sure if you put your price up nobody would mind you do such lovely finishing. You need to enjoy your work.
    Have a lovely day.

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