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A wee bit of catch up to do here I’m afraid. First off, in my own defence, I’ve worked on average 75 hours per week since my last blog post. To put it in perspective, that’s more than twice what the average person works in a week. When I work an eight hour day, I feel like I’m getting off at lunch time. So, think about it… what does that leave time for? Well, I have to sit down and pay bills, make invoices, go to the bank, and get groceries. I have to make meals for my daughter and I, clean up after, feed my cat, do laundry, and vacuum. I have to shower, dress, sleep and do pilates. I have to fill Buggy Bag orders, tweet and post to the Buggy Bag fb page. Yeah… you get the idea…there’s not been a whole lot of time left to blog! I’ve been off now for 2 weeks. Some of that time was spent recuperating from the last 5 months. Some of it was spent blowing off steam with my friends. I went to the Cloverdale Rodeo, several parties and over to the island for a night.
I’ve sold out of Large size Black Lap Blankets! I’ve put in a new PO with the factory and should be receiving the new shipment by September, just in time for the cold weather. Toys ‘R’ Us (.ca) has increased their re-oder amount steadily since they took on the stroller and jogger blankets, so that’s good news for me, however, I still can’t for the life of me find the product through any search on their site!!! I wonder how they’re selling them.
I missed the Abilities Expo at the Roundhouse this year because I was working on a movie, which upset me, because I really enjoy that event. I did get to go to the Recreational Resource Fair at GF Strong
though, which was really fun. The pic above is of David from Vivify. It was nice to see his big smile from where I was sitting this year. I also, had a great chat with the author of a blog called Priority Seating. Check it out.
I have done more than that, obviously, but, it’s past my bedtime, so, that’ll be for another day.
I was running late. Had to drop off a costume to Sanctuary first and then whip over to Costco for some chocolates. I thought it would be nice to be able to offer visitors a treat when they stopped in to chat. I had put together a little slide show loop of pics from photo shoots, and had that on the end of my table playing on my laptop. The other end of the tabel had a list I had made up of all the retail locations where you could buy Cairns Technical Gear, some brochures and business cards. In the centre was a sample of the Cairns Full Protection Lap Blanket for wheelchair users and the Cairns Rain Protection Apron for scooter users.
I was a little disappointed by the location of my table. It was in the middle of the east side of the room, and because there was a projection screen in that corner, the lights were off. This wasn’t an issue for any of the tables around the outside of the room because they had spot lights aimed at their tables. In between presentations they would turn on the ceiling lights and cast some light onto my table… this is where the bowl of chocolates come in….
I had some past customers come by to visit me and see the new product, which was a real pleasure for me. One of the customers who dropped by already owns two of the Cairns Full Protection Lap Blankets, one in each colour. It was the first time that I met her and it was such a treat. She was using her red one that day.
She was the second customer, that I had not met before, who approached my table for a chat. I just love that part of the Abilities Expo. I get to meet the people after they’ve been using the product for a winter and find out what they think, get their views and talk about new ideas.
I even had someone I’d been chatting with on Twitter come by and introduce himself. He writes a cool blog ‘Priority Seating’ about accessibility on transit in Vancouver. His Twitter handle is @nextstoporbust, if you’d like to join him. It’s so nice to be able to put a face to a name.
I had Rina Liddle and Prophecy Sun stop by from LiddleWorks to chat… we would be meeting up again later in the week to do a photo shoot.
The afternoon was a whir of visitors and lots of people that came by 3 and 4 times to grab one of the chocolates. It was fun to watch as some people would saunter by for the 2nd time and act like they didn’t notice the bowl, only to turn back and grab a few more for later.
The entertainment was really good. The CanDance Team performed to a number by the Black Eyed Peas. And there was also a singer/guitar player that I really liked, Glenn David Loft. I’ve looked all over for the info and can’t seem to find it. Here’s a picture of him. If anyone knows his name, let me know in the comments.
For the last month I’ve been trying to find an active, younger guy who would like to assist me in my design process. I’m designing a pair of adapted street-wear pants that would be appealing to younger hip guys, that don’t want to look like they’re wearing adapted pants. Then, from across the room I spotted the best looking man I’ve seen in years. I started having one of those moments where I was thinking…”I can’t approach him… he’s WAY too good looking”. I’m glad I did because he was not only interested in helping me, but, he was full of ideas and enthusiasm. I’m looking forward to having the time to work on this new project.
Our friends Ken and June showed up for a chat as well. They have modeled for us in the past and are much fun to chat with. They have both been so supportive of what I’m doing.
The afternoon was a whir of visitors and lots of people that came by 3 and 4 times to grab one of the chocolates. It was fun to watch as some people would saunter by for the 2nd time and act like they didn’t notice the bowl, only to turn back and grab a few more for later. Can’t wait til next year. It’s a great event that ConnecTra Society puts on at the Roundhouse in Vancouver.
A whole week has gone by already since the shoot… I feel bad that I haven’t talked about it yet, I’ve been really busy this week… fittings for SGU, alterations, volunteering at the Wheelchair Rugby Games, getting fitted for contacts… many stories to come!
Last Friday, Rina from LiddleWorks, organized a photo shoot, so we would have some more shots for the new website. I don’t know how she did it, but, it all came together really fast and without a hitch. We had seven models, a dog, a photographer and Rina and me. Rina chose a wonderful park just to the east of Granville Island. It’s got a duck pond, a wooded area, and sea wall with city background. We got some really different looks without having to change locations.
Georgina, and Duncan were the first to arrive. Duncan was fairly worried when Georgina was off with the photographer…. he stayed with me at our work table/bench and whimpered while keeping a close eye on her. Duncan is a working dog and he obviously takes his job seriously. Although, I have to say, I had a hard time taking him too seriously. I’ve never seen such “puppy dog eyes”… dark brown pools…sooo, cute!
This was kinda funny… Derek was trying to get Duncan to go back over to to Georgina… Duncan had other ideas about how the day was going to go…
Sylvi was the second model. Now there is some talent, and I’m not referring to her modelling, although she was great at that! She is a multi-talented performer and composer of modern music. Sylvi has generously offered to let us use her music on our site, which we certainly will when we get to that point in its development.
The next models were a team, my friend Samantha and her darling little Elizabeth, who is now about 10 months old. Elizabeth is just one very patient child. We had her in two different strollers and lots of pics were taken, she gave us smiles and was just a great model…. (so were you Sam)
June and Ken showed up next and went off with Derek while I hung around the table with our stuff.
Kent was the last one for the day and while Derek was shooting with him, Rina and I packed up all the things we had brought and folded up the table and started to move in the direction of the cars.
It was a good day. The light was flat, the rain held off, and there were lots of laughs. I feel so lucky to have such great people coming into my life…. Thanks to all of you…Rina, Derek, Georgina, Sylvi, Sam, Elizabeth, June, Ken and Kent… oh, and Duncan! …and of course Lydia from the British Columbia Paraplegic Association for helping us with the model search.
It’s been how many days since my last post?… Wow, 3 weeks, too long… Today, was the first full day I’ve been off in at least three weeks, but, I’m thinking that in reality it’s more like 6 weeks. I can’t really remember. What have I been doing?… I can’t really remember that either, but, I’ll try.
Let’s see… oh yeah, 26 costumes for Red Riding Hood, 9 costumes for Fairly Odd Parents, one suit, with long coat for Jim Byrnes‘ character on Sanctuary, 2 jacket linings for my friend, 10 pairs of pants for Sanctuary, 6 T-Shirt for Stargate Universe, and a skirt for myself…I draft the patterns, cut them out and construct them, so it’s fairly time consuming. As you know, I’m also working on my Buggy Bag® business, which has, for the most part been phone calls, emails, filling out forms, approving samples, Trademarks, Patents, manufacturing, Stuffed Articles Act Registrations, Duty Judgements, PO’s, Proforma Invoices, working with designers on hang tag designs, trying to line up bridge financing….shelling out much, much money…. which leads us to the real reason that I haven’t taken any time off. I need to finance my business start-up costs and, support my daughter and myself, at the same time. The build up to this falls commercial airing and it’s outcome is absolutely exciting! I have put so much into this thing… especially the wheelchair lap blanket, that I just can’t wait to get it out to more people. The feed back on last falls batch was so positive, that I just know that this falls’ line is going to be met with even more enthusiasm….it’s even better than before! The Stroller and Jogger models are really looking fantastic too. The commercial is going to focus mainly on them, with a 10 second spot on the wheelchair. The idea is to get a demographic read on the market based on the purchases made, through 150, 1 minute spots… This is going to be really interesting.
Because I work as a contractor, for the film and TV work that I do, I feel compelled to take everything I can possibly manage to do, and sometimes it gets so busy that I don’t see any time to relax… this has been one of those periods. It’s great though, because it is one of the things that I simply love doing.
Ok… well, that’s not quite true… even if I haven’t had a day off, I’ve taken many evenings to enjoy live music, dancing, friends and playing my guitar…. it’s just sometimes hard to squeeze all this fun into one lifetime!
Before I go, I just have to say that last night I went to see a Cuban band by the name of Wil Campa…. an absolutely sexy band and music… fantastic…. Which leads me to my next question… Why don’t more men learn how to dance cuban salsa? It is sooo sexy and at most events there are usually about 4 women to every guy. Last night the place was full of women wanting to dance… here is a link to a fantastic Cuban dance instructor if any of you guys want to learn… Latidos!
Today, I took my laptop, 100 flyers and business cards and some Buggy Bag® Lap Blankets downtown to the Roundhouse Community Centre. I had a table a the Disability Foundation Expo. What a great afternoon it was. I met so many interesting people. Everyone was friendly and I think most people stopped by to see what I had on the table regardless of whether or not they could personally use it. There is such a sense of community in the way that everyone seems to be on the lookout to help someone else. I love that… it feels great to be involved with a group of people that are so selfless and caring.
There was live music, videos, and many presentations on the stage. The whole perimeter of the huge, high ceiling room was lined with tables with people that were showing products or services that could benefit or make a persons life easier. It was a nice atmosphere, and I came away from it feeling elated. I bought a CD, Straight Goods, put out by Vancouver Adapted Music Society.
One of the exhibitors I met is an artist by the name of A. J. Brown. I was looking at her work on her site and came across a piece by the name of “Puck“. I’m not sure why, but it really struck me in a strong way.
I met another really interesting person, who specializes in adaptive clothing. Her name was Amberin Bonnett and her business is A Dressing Needs/Disabled Services Clothing. I’m sure we have much in common, both working out fitting issues for a living.
All in all it was a really great day and a great Expo. I came home with no business cards and only 3 flyers left, many new friends and memories, and I sold 4 Lap blankets.
Flyer designed by Rina Liddle
A few days ago, we did a photo shoot to highlight the buggy bag® wheelchair lap blanket. Fortunately, I know a brilliant photographer/visual artist (see http://www.liddlethought.blogspot.com/) who was willing to help me out. Rina found our model, location and even drove. We headed out to Coquitlam, where we would be doing the shoot with our model Jessica. We met up with Jessica and headed off to the park. Boy, did we ever get lucky with her! Jessica is nice, funny and pretty, and I think all of these traits shone through in the shots that Rina got. The best part of all though, was that Jessica got me thinking about new products for the buggy bag® line. I just get so stoked when people offer great feedback. My brain goes into overdrive thinking of new things to make. I love making things. I’ll tell you more about that next time!
Jessica took a Navy Lap Blanket home that day.
On the morning that the Buggy Bag® Site Launched, I was honored by an invitation to come and show the new Lap Blanket at a ConnecTra Workshop at the Vancouver Public Library. As it turned out it was also the ConnecTra Societys 10th birthday. The event was fairly well attended despite the rainy Vancouver day and the “HandyDart” http://bit.ly/wTjCO strike. I had the opportunity to speak with most of the people in wheelchairs as I went around the room getting everybody to fill out the entry form for the draw. The winner of the draw for the free Buggy Bag® Lap Blanket was a woman by the name of Violeta.
Happy Birthday ConnecTra http://www.connectra.org/… and thanks for having me come and show the Lap Blanket!
Did you know?….. Sam Sullivan served a term as Vancouver City Mayor. |
As some of you already know, the new buggy bag® lap blanket was introduced on October 1st. My very first customer emailed me and said, “… like your video demonstrates. I’m right hemiplegic.”
When I started this project I was certain that I could come up with a product that would be really useful for a variety of people, and I think I succeeded at that. But, I have to admit that that comment made by my first customer made me really happy and so appreciative at the same time. You see, I had not thought of the need to have an opening going from the right side. I’m not sure why I picked the left side to be the opening side….maybe, because I’m a “lefty” myself, maybe, because the first person I worked with to develop the product happened to reach over and pull his blanket back from the left….. It doesn’t really matter why…..
What matters is that I will always feel thankful to that first customer for helping me see yet another way of looking at things. It’s because of people like him that I can make the lap blanket a better product and be able to help more people be more comfortable.