Sometimes I'm organized ...and sometimes I'm not!

Does this sound familiar? MOST of my life, personal and business, is pretty organized...I think. Then I completely forget about something important, and I start to wonder if I could be wrong about this "organization" thing. I'm in charge of a program at church that kicks off...TODAY!  Even though I had all summer to contemplate the first fall meeting, I pulled it together this week.

From the needlework biz perspective, I always release a special Christmas kit, or even two. And this year...I FORGOT!  But now that I have remembered, I'm just saying..."I delayed!". I'm not sure what happened. I've been SO busy and distracted with those 6 new men hanging out in my office...aka The 6 Fat (snow)men series. I also have a whole pile of other projects in "production" mode, in various stages of completion.

But no worry...the annual Christmas kit is on the way ASAP!! Last week I designed it and stitched furiously over the weekend. It's a L*K interpretation of a band sampler with lots of colorful bands of holiday fun.

Here's a little timeline of what happens when I create a new KIT. Developing a KIT is a bit different from other projects, because I have to think of materials during the creative process.

1. Sketch some design ideas with pencil (and eraser!)

2. Graph the design on my computer

3. Choose fabric and check on availability BEFORE beginning to stitch. On this kit, I knew I would need a lot of fabric, so I contacted several distributors to see what was available immediately. I didn't have time to order fabric...it had to be in stock!! I was fortunate to find a large quantity of a really cool fabric, at a price that would allow me to kit. (Sometimes the fabric is just too expensive to cut and kit). 

4. Order the fabric

5. Stitch the model (I already had a piece of the fabric in my stash, so I could start stitching).

6. Order the frame. I rushed out to my LNS as soon as I finished the model (actually it wasn't QUITE finished) and chose an awesome frame. I can't wait for it to arrive later this week, because it is so pretty.

7. Order embellishments. Once I finished stitching, I ordered the beads I had decided to use. As soon as they arrive, we'll put them in little zip bags.

That's where I'm at on the kit...so far...but I'm pleased. The fabric just arrived last night (those UPS guys work long hours), so I found it leaning on my office door this AM. I got 2 giant boxes of fabric, so I see a lot of quality time with the rotary cutter in our future.

Meanwhile, today I'm delivering the stitched model to my LNS so she can frame it for me. I had the frame shipped directly to her to arrive tomorrow. 

Oh yea...remember that church meeting I coordinated at the last minute? I've been baking for that this AM, and I'm off to spend the lunch hour with the English/Spanish language gang. We haven't met with our Spanish-speaking ladies since last May, so it will be fun to see them again and help them practice their English skills. See you soon...hasta pronto!