Will the Work Never End?

Part 30

I may have titled this segment Will the Work Never End?”, and to be sure, I am working harder than ever. But there is a difference between working 16 hours a day for money and working 16 hours a day for the pure joy of making something happen. Seeing a vision come to life. That’s where I am right now.

I am in maker mode. Christmas markets and my online shop about to launch need to show product, so the ideas in my head are being made real. I have the beginnings of a product line. Children’s toys and books. Educational, traditional and irresistible games and puzzles to challenge young minds.

I loved having a young child because I came up with so many creative, fun and educational games for us to play. My daughter had a rich childhood, and any kid who came to play became a part of that dynamic. I remember going to the bookstore before she was born, looking for good children’s books. I found some classics, but I was so disappointed at the quality of writing and illustrating in a good number of the children’s books on the market.

Eighteen months after Maggie was born, I started writing and illustrating, What is Zazu? With the help of an amazing nanny who came two mornings a week while I locked myself in my studio, it took six months to complete. I found a printer in South Korea who did an amazing job. I got a customs broker and had 1500 copies of the board book, What is Zazu? sent to me where we were living in Scottsdale, Arizona. When those boxes arrived, and I signed for them, there were more than I had somehow pictured in my mind…

What is Zazu?

But before the books were professionally printed and bound, I handmade 40 board books. There was a lot of outdoor 3M glue spraying and printing, printing, printing on my little hp printer, which, I have to say is the best printer I have ever had. I’ve had printers since that were supposed to be a better quality, and the printer I have now is an Epson refillable inkjet. The most I’ve paid for a printer yet. I’m only medium happy with the quality of the prints.

I signed up for the Arizona Book Fair and paid for a shared table. I painted a half table cover and along with the 40 Zazu board books, I had Zazu lacing cards and Zazu colouring books, Zazu magnets and Zazu cards. I had a backdrop, with large cutouts of the characters in the book hanging against it. I was hyped and ready to go, never having done any markets or fairs or anything of that sort. I met my table mate that morning, and we chatted briefly, but I was hyper-focused and ignored her for the most part. Put up an imaginary wall between her side of the table and mine.

lacing cards

colouring book

The gates opened and the people came in and I started calling out like a hawker in a medieval market. I’d catch the eye of a mom or dad and call out, “Do you know what Zazu is?!” Then I looked at the children and asked, “Is Zazu a bird, or tree? Is he a chair?!” They stared at me, rapt. “What do you think he is?” At that point the parents would be watching their children and their children were watching me and I came around the table and crouched down and read the book to them. They all called out the last line. I did this time after time with every family that passed by, “Do you know what Zazu is?!” I called out time and again and it drew people to my table. Or should I say, to my side of the table. I’m sure I pissed off my table mate good that day. I bet she swore she wouldn’t share a table again after that day! I made a good amount of sales of my one handmade book and other products. So many that I decided to have them professionally done.

My book has been in stores from Arizona to British Columbia and everywhere in between. I’ve sold them in farmers markets and to mom’s groups and it makes me so happy to hear people say , “My son/ daughter LOVES Zazu!” I see these young minds, sponges, eager to be filled, rife with possibility, and my belief is that we should fill them with the best of art, writing, music, and incorporate maths and science into everyday life. Instill a love of learning. It goes beyond school.

Back to the nanny. It was a bit of a source of contention with my then husband, that I wanted to pay for a nanny so I could write this book. So I took it upon myself regardless of the dissent. I contacted a nanny service because I wanted someone reputable. I tried out a couple of young girls before I found Joyce. The girls were young and they spent time on their phones when they were being paid to spend time with my daughter and not park her in front of the TV. My studio was in the next room, I could hear what was going on.

The first time Joyce came, she blew me away with her gentleness and quiet sense of command. She was a mother of 6, and a grandmother and great grandmother to 23 more. She spent her life teaching gifted children. Maggie took to her immediately. From the first day, she went out to her trunk and brought in bins of puppets, and hats, and interesting bits and bobs. Maggie and she would spend their mornings dressing up, going for a walk, doing art projects, learning. Joyce was a godsend and the time she spent with Maggie, helped shape her in the most positive way.

So yes, now I am in maker mode. There is something that really appeals to my sensibilities about production line work. I find repetitive tasks meditative, My mom says that when I was a very young toddler, and she was doing laundry, she would give me a shirt and I would button and patiently unbutton it over and over again. I haven’t changed. I enjoy the process of planning a project and breaking it down into steps.

This time around, I am making lacing/ sewing cards with a Nova Scotia theme. Lobster, Piping Plover, starfish and a lake trout (which was a surprise to me to discover how colourful they are! They have such a plain-sounding name.) I bought a 4′ x 8′ piece of 1/8” masonite and cute it down to 4” x 5” pieces. I tried a handsaw at first, but I just couldn’t get a straight enough or smooth enough cut. Then I looked for but couldn’t find my jigsaw. The thing is as old as the hills and has done some serious work for me, but I wasn’t sure it was up to a fine cutting task. Masonite is basically a hard cardboard. Paper fibres bound in a glue. You can’t sand it or it gets fuzzy. Saws cause fuzz as well. So I ended up cutting them with a utility knife which gave the cleanest cut possible.

smooth edges

I mounted the printed images with a PVA glue, and rolled them flat with a brayer, sealing the corners as well. When they were dry, I stacked them, same image, six high and clamped them in between two blank boards, with the image on paper on top, and the dots drawn on where holes were to be drilled. I finished six sets of four images, drilling the holes by hand with my little 9V drill. It worked, but the leverage required to push through eight boards meant using my sternum as an extra force. Lets just say I’ve gave myself a bit of a bruise before putting a pillow between me and the hard end of the drill.

I created a label for the front and back and packaged them up for the Barrington Museum store. I have another 30 sets to drill, so I’m taking them over to my friend Sylvia’s house where there is an unused drill press sitting in her garage. My sternum thanks you, Sylvia.

The next project… is puppets! I am so excited to be making these. Puppets are such a good toy. They can be used for make believe. They are therapeutic, they are fantastic for working out problems, as the puppet tends to provide an alternate personality who can speak truths that perhaps the child (or adult!) could not speak as themselves. I had two puppets when I was growing up. I got them for Christmas one year when I was quite young, and I loved them. One was purple with red ears and mouth and the other was red with purple ears and mouth. They were simple puppets who could be anything you wanted them to be as they had no specific persona attached to them. I made up so many characters for my puppets. Being a bit of a loner child, I was content with my imaginary friends, made real through my puppets.

So I’m making simple puppets. In the same vein as the two from my childhood. Not a specific thing, they can be anyone. I have so much fabric to choose from, that its a visual and textural feast for me to combine them for each puppet. Not one the same, They are all lined with white cotton fabric, they’re washable and fit both adult and kid hands. I’ll add their eyes after I’ve finished sewing them.

These will be sold at the Lunenburg Christmas Craft Festival, and on my online shop.

Wait. Did I say online shop? I sure did. Finally I’m getting my buttinsky in gear and setting up a proper shop to sell launches of these sorts of products. I have a couple of other items in the works as well.

In the meantime, its getting closer to Christmas and this elf can’t take too long a break. There is work yet to be done!

Next: Puppets and Paint Nights