The bread and butter designs.....

Courtesy: http://thappiness.tumblr.com/

About half my designs are controlled fantasy, 15 percent are total madness and the rest are bread-and-butter designs.
Manolo Blahnik

Okay so I am not even the closest of close to the fame that he has because he is HUGE when it comes to the footwear industry. However! I do agree with this quote I found. Most of us irrespective of which creative industry we are a part of, don't create what we "want" to create, we rather end up creating what we "need" to. Why? Simply because when a creative mind works it breaks all boundaries. This is where we tend to go a bit off. Its the practicality of a design which holds one back from creating what he/she wants to. If it was to me I would just put everything in the world on a shoe. However, at the end of the day it IS a shoe and its supposed to be worn and used and it needs to be sturdy, comfy and practical.

Like in runway shows where people go all out and crazy with their designs, which may not be wearable to the common person, but its their way of unleashing their creative demons, similarly I sometimes feel like breaking all bounds and creating a shoe which makes people change a million expressions in a minute. From astonishment, to confusion, to maybe in the end, a smile :).

Maybe one day I will be able to do so when my finances allow me to do so. When you are major name then you are in the position to take risks. Not only because you've got the dough to do so but also because then you can take risks without thinking that what if it doesn't sell.

Currently I am playing it safe and creating what I think will work and what I think the ladies out their will be willing to buy. I cant make over the top shoes right now. Because as Mr Blahnik quotes "bread and butter designs", that's exactly what I am creating at the moment.

Happiness to me is.....

I loved this quote the minute I saw it. Its so right. When I was teaching for a year I was just teaching and not really enjoying what I did. Yeah of course it felt great to receive the pay check but apart from that there was no thrill. No offense to all the teachers out there who do a tremendous job of it, you guys are the people who make ordinary beings like me smart enough to be able to blog. You guys make us what we are today. And plus when I got into the teaching field myself, it made me respect my teachers so much more because I had a hands-on experience of how it was to handle a classroom full of children. Hats off to all the teachers in the world for taking out precious time from their lives to teach.

However to me creativity is what I live for. I always knew I wanted to take up art right from the days when I drew with crayons. What aspect of art or creativity I would take up as a career just fell into place by itself. So to me HAPPINESS is this. I am living my own dream. Designing and creating gorgeous footwear that I love.

How do I get the designs I make is still a mystery to me as well. It just happens in a split second where I just pair up a few materials and I just know how the completed pair would look. However that moment is sheer happiness. Each new design from start to finish is such a thrill. In the end clicking snaps of my own creations and looking at them on my desktop day after day is happiness personified!

2010 slowly walking away........

To many when a year comes to an end its a very emotional moment. When you look back at what the year took away and what the year gave to you, it brings on such a roller coaster of feelings. From happiness to the moments where life didn't make sense. The good times, the times with family and friends, the occasions and the achievements. Then there are the failures, the mishaps, the things you miss from previous years, the people you miss and all that parted ways with you whether people, things or places.

So with 2010 coming to a close, lets not get all sentimental and instead look at what work got done, the mishaps, the best moments and how the journey has been.......

January: I decided to finally get on to the next level with my love and talent of making earrings. January was a month of realization that I maybe can make people happy with my earrings. =) It was great to get appreciation from family and close friends when they saw samples of what I made. People wanted earrings!

February: Making earrings earrings and earrings. Man I felt so slow in the production of earrings department. It took me two to three days to make one pair. I was annoyed but with each new pair I knew I was so going to love this if I had to do this every single day of my life. I loved making earrings!

March: I had my first earring exhibition right at home, with only friends and family members attending it. I had only 48 pairs of earrings. Not much when I look back at it, but it was definitely a day worth remembering. I was on cloud 9 or higher. No brand name, no one knew me, but I felt the happiest cause of the appreciation I got from the people who bought them and comments on Facebook.

April, May: Extremely slow and lazy months work wise. Didn't feel like creating anything new. I didn't feel creative at all and kinda lost hope that maybe all this accessory designing thing, it wasn't meant for me. It was just a one time hit. So basically.......nothing worth mentioning.

June: Why not again start making earrings, and how about embellishing a Kolhapuri? Would it work? Will people like it? Lets make a few and see. If it doesn't work then I always have earrings to get back to.

July: The at home exhibition number 2. Another major day. This time 52 earrings and 8 Kolhapuris. Its the best feeling in the world when you see people look at your work and say nice words =) its like better than a shopping spree even! And yeah the brand name came into being. Hera K accessories!

August: Though with Ramadan and the flood and me not well, something new occured in the life of this accessory designer, which was THIS BLOG. Created in August 2010, I got a chance to meet so many new people, got to a new level to connecting with people, and above all I found so many lovely fans out here. I not only got positive feedback but also people ordering things and wanting to know where they can get hold of an accessory like the one they saw on the blog. It made me realize that handmade things can work in world full of machines.

September: First big high was that a few of my accessories went for the Bid for Humanity auction. It was good feeling that I could somehow help. September to me has been my most creative month when it comes to Kolhapuris cause I think I made my best designs back then.

October: I started showcasing my work on MyOffstreet. Loved the response and thats what made me think that I need to take this to whole new level. So got in F my cousin partner in the brand and so the brand became.... Handmade.fabulous.fancified. And then it was the hype of the exhibition. Major promotions, major work and major stress. But it was fun all the way!

November: Our at home Launch exhibition which wasnt supposed to be at home actually took place, and to our surprise lots of people showed up. We seriously weren't expecting these many people after the cancellation of the first dates of the Launch. We were exhausted but so so happy! Thank you again to all the people who came.

December: Completing orders, and making the new collection! We have had to this day 3000+ blog hits, and 300+ members in our Facebook group. Alhamdulillah and MashAllah! Couldn't thank Allah enough for all that He has given me. Basically turned my life totally around within a year! Miracles do happen!