Selling what you have made is a double edged sword. You are pleased that someone likes your work enough to want to own it, but sometimes parting is difficult, like seeing your offspring off into the world never to be seen again. I first experienced this when I had a watercolour, which I was very fond of, accepted at the Royal Institute of Watercolour Painters open exhibition in 1989 at the Mall gallery, and had put it up for sale for what I thought was a lot of money (£200) and it sold. I was at once delighted and flattered and also sorry to see what I felt was my best watercolour ever, (and probably still is) gone. Although I do have a rather poor photograph of it somewhere, the likes I have never achieved again. It was of greater bindweed which grew in abundance in our first garden. Someone has just bought my leaf journal and I am very pleased and flattered. I still have it at the moment and will actually part with it next week, so I keep having a look at the pages and giving it a little stroke. Luckily this time I have a good set of photographs to remind me of my baby.
One for the archives.
However I do have another which I am adding to my Etsy shop of which I am almost as fond.
This one has a richly embroidered cover and blue pages. I hope someone falls in love with this one too. I do love making my patchwork item and they have my heart in them, but the hand-made books have a little bit of my soul.
Meanwhile here is my finished covered journal.
You may guess I am rather fond of French knots at the moment
It will come with a blank journal, but not a shell.
It has taken hours to take the photographs with a couple of reading lamps and an improvised light tent which I managed to melt a hole in with one of the lamps. I thought it was going to be brighter today. Oh well!
I hope you have a bright week,
Jill
