Everyone Is Fighting A Battle

I created Cozy to Go! wraps in 2007 for both disposable and reusable glasses as a means of not contributing to the waste created by cardboard protectors. I’ve sold them online, in local shops, and at festivals and markets. The variety of customers who purchase my creations always makes me proud to have produced an item that works for everyone.

While developed with the best intentions for the planet, my creations have also been a source of both celebration and comfort to my customers. While manning my booth at a local market, an older gentleman approached and asked if I do custom items. I replied that I rarely do, but I will always listen to an idea and see if I can make it happen. He asked if I could make a special wrap for his wife.

He told me the story of how his wife had survived ovarian cancer and returned from the brink of a suicide attempt. He quickly ended his story as a woman approached us. I smiled and called her name, asking how she was doing. She worked at the festival grounds, and we had met earlier in the week. The man beamed and said she was his wife. While she wandered off to look at the items in my shop, he laughed and said that I must be the artist his wife had spoken about meeting. She loved my work and enjoyed our conversations. I was speechless that the woman he had described, the tale of the warrior that he shared, was the same woman who had been visiting me on her breaks. One would never know this jovial woman had been through such darkness.

I couldn’t refuse his request for the commissioned piece. He didn’t know what he wanted or imagined it could be, but he said she loved to sew and her favorite color was purple. His response is one reason why I find it so difficult to do a personalized piece. I want everyone to be pleased with their item, and the lack of a narrow guidance to follow can be overwhelming for me. The “what if” monster visits and eats away at my confidence, growing full as he depletes me of my creative juices and inspiration. What if I pick the wrong element or design? What if I fail and they hate it? What if they regret ever asking me to do this?

I fight back against the monster with pen and paper, sketching out rough ideas and developing themes that will address the ultimate creation. I start with what I know and work out from there. The background fabric needed to be purple. The designated teal disease awareness ribbon for ovarian cancer would look great on purple, but I wanted that to be a secondary element. Her love of sewing drew her out of her depression and gave her life meaning again. Having met her, I knew how witty she was and thought she would enjoy a saying that would embrace her humor. The saying, “All This and I Sew Too” was the perfect design for her gift.

When it came time to deliver the finished piece, her husband met me at my booth and his eyes welled up with tears when he saw it. His reaction made mine do the same, and he thanked me in a whispered tone. “You did it! It is perfect. She’ll love it. Thank you for helping me honor her.” He gave me the sweetest pat on the shoulder and turned to go meet her for dinner. It was the last night of the festival, and I hated not knowing her reaction, but I was over the moon about his response.

My Cozy to Go! wraps are three layers cut out by hand with my Fiskars scissors and rotary tools. I sandwich an inner layer of insulating fabric between two outer layers of cotton. Sometimes I embroider on them, other times I leave the fun fabric alone to shine, and other times, I may create a scene with paint. I sew them together and attach snap closures.

Upon completion, the items need to be packaged, and once again, I’m pulling out my Fiskars tools. This time, the Crafting Rotary Paper Trimmer, and I use it for cutting out all of my bag toppers and business cards.

I love my Fiskars tools and rely upon them like a business partner. They have never failed me, and I continue to purchase them time after time. I have many stories of customers who have asked me to create something special for them, and the joy I feel when they express their happiness with the item is an addictive pull that keeps me accepting their commissioned request and returning to the craft table. Fiskars has allowed me to bring happiness to people in their times of celebration and remembrance. I am humbled by moments in which I’ve been honored to play a part, and I am grateful for having a reliable partner in Fiskars, who wants nothing more than to see me succeed and continue being a creator of good things, memories, and actions.