We don't stop playing because we turn old.........we turn old because we stop playing.

The colors of spring are a delight and the smells delicious. Lacy and I spend our mornings pacing up and down the new grass at the top of our sloping property, I with my coffee mug and poobag, she in her t-shirt (protection from the deer ticks). The trees are not fully foliated yet and so the the river is still visible in all pinks and mauves of early morning light. My zen place (and I like to think Lacy's too though in reality, it's just her usual morning constitutional to prepare room for breakfast).

Interesting development about our trip..........after all plans are finalized, plane reservations, apartment rental.........I get an e/mail from Peru Moda graciously offering me incentives because I registered for the trade fair during my stay. Those incentives included one free (yep, free) round trip airfare to Peru!!! Bad timing on my part I'd say. I wouldn't even have known about the trade fair if one of my contacts hadn't asked me if I would be attending. So I missed out on a big one. But I am able to take advantage of free transportation via taxi from the airport as well as a shuttle to Peru Moda from various locations, so that's not too bad a booby prize. I was told to take advantage of this incentive next year.........and next year I'll be much more educated!! Live and learn.
Hoped to start the new sweater so I could bring something new with me and talk to people at the trade show about producing them. It's my intent to have a list of possible vendors for future reference.
It's quite a remarkable feeling.........all this. I hoped to do the Columbus Avenue Crafts Fair in October and requested the paperwork to apply. After telling the women I was speaking to that I would be selling alpaca pet sweaters she exclaimed how great it is that there's a "dog run" right at the site near the Natural History museum. I asked her if I could request a booth at that location and she assured me I could. How's that for kismet?? HOWEVER, the rules state that no imported goods are allowed. I have to have made the garments myself, so it's not in the cards for me. Too bad. It would have been a good kick off to getting the name out there in the dog capital of the world!! The upper west side of New York City!
Meanwhile, Victor is preparing some ladies alpaca scarves based off the pet sweaters in coloration and texture and will meet with me the Monday we arrive in Peru. Good stuff for holiday spending. Pictures to follow.
And onward we tread.............

...life is not JUST keeping busy.....

I hate that........it's not about busy work to keep your mind off the negative things that are always a part of life. It's about the results of the work moving you forward. It's happening....
maybe frustratingly slowly, annoyingly haphazard, scary expensive and uncomfortably ill equipped at times, but the end result is that it's a learning experience that's resulting in exactly what my vision for Lollypups was all along. So everything that has occurred over the past year and a half, had its purpose ....even the personal roadblocks along the way. I breathe a sigh of relief at every turn, and plod on and it makes me stronger..........I like being strong!

The first sample of Misty Heart is finally coming in from Bolivia. Not as easy working with Javiar as with Patricia but he makes the effort. I think there might be something more to the situation in Bolivia with the government's animosity towards the US, that may jeopardize doing business there. While I'm in Peru, I'll try to meet with other vendors and split up the styles so Patricia isn't overwhelmed. I know her own collection will take precedence over mine but I'm hoping that won't occur so I'm trying to get all things finalized before I get there so it moves forward into production smoothly. I still have a "head full of ideas that are driving me insane" (to quote Bob Dylan) and if I see a new color combination, or swatch or picture, I'll immediately pin it up on the concept boards. There are three: Winter Garden; Spun Sugar; Kaleidoscope
and they're bursting with tidbits of ideas. That's how I like to work because something ALWAYS comes out of them. Pepper for instance was based on a simple striped tank top.

Plans made, onward we tread...........

Flight is set for Peru on April 25th. Jeff is tagging along and that's fine by me since he's always been my "sous chef" ....travel is no different and moral and physical support always welcome from my partner and 2nd best friend (Lacy has to stay home). I'm looking into renting an apartment for a week which seems to be less expensive than a hotel. The one I found is located in the Milaflores neighborhood of Lima which is central to the city and full of touresty things to do. Views of the ocean is always a plus wherever we go. When not working, it's a suitable place to find tchotkas and other things of interest in the local markets and with internet wi-fi access, he can write while I galavant. Our friend Richard is married to a woman from Peru and goes there all the time so we'll be talking to him about our plans as the time draws closer.

Hoped to make a side trip to the Galapagos but (haha) once we Google Earthed it, we realized it's way off the coast of Ecuador!! Too bad.

Worked on organizing the business plan today. With construction workers hammering right outside my studio window ( vibrations knocking paint brushes and other articles off the shelves and walls) I decided to go to the library to concentrate which was hot but peaceful, once I drowned out the chatter from other patrons with Vivaldi playing on Pandora from my blackberry. Mission accomplished. Now to type it all up.

Dog dud delights; or "Peru or bust"

Samples came in from Peru today and for a first try, it's way

more than I expected. Patricia really "gets" the concept , which had been the most difficult part of working with China. There, things are done cheaply and that's fine for a lower range price point. She has her own collection of quality woven Andean ponchos and some hand knits, so she really strives for the best in workmanship. That, coupled with the use of alpaca, makes the sweaters feel and look worth the price. Sizing has to be finalized and some colors and yarns need tweeking, but I'm sure we can go into production next month. This continues to be Liebo's great adventure...

Skyped another resource from Peru this morning and he's interested in making the matching scarves for pet parents. Everyone who sees the sweaters says they want one for themselves but since I'm basically out of the women's fashion business, scarves are all I'm interested in doing for now.

Victor sent me jpegs of the colors he has available in Alpaca (they are distributors of the yarns as well as manufacturers) so I have my work cut out for myself for the next few weeks.

Sketches, specs, yarns to put together for scarves. Corrections sent for the sweater samples, colors exchanged. Sizes adjusted and written up for each style. It's also time for me to get my insecure butt to the bank and get a loan working for me. Everything I'm reading points to pet products as being "recession proof" and that people turn to their pets for comfort during difficult times and I have seen first hand, how stores and pet owners reacted to the product. I'm still gathering signatures from groomers and store owners, touting the product so I have ammo when approaching a bank. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize........ Should be interesting.

Javier in Bolivia sent pictures of the samples he's doing and hopefully I'll get them soon. There may be a problem with the choice of yarn being too heavy but it's hard to tell from the picture. I'm glad I gave the "Candy" to Patricia to develop......it looks so beautiful. She's working on "Pepper" too so that should be ready by the time I get there. Why did I wait so long to do this???? I've never been happier.........

Beside myself with glee..............

Some samples came in from Peru and they're EXACTLY what I have been trying to achieve over the past year as far as color and qualities. The materials are sumptuous, the colors delicious and the price ........well, we'll work on that. Basically, this young woman has a great eye for color and although there are a few tweeks that need to be made, she attempted to recreate the prototypes of two styles FROM THE PICTURES I SENT HER, just to show me that she could do it!! Great job. I can live with that. Now that she has the actual prototypes and specs, I have no doubt she can do them.

She sent the color cards for the alpaca and pima cotton (which I love) but I'm going to have to juggle things to make the price work. Still waiting to hear from Bolivia but I know Peru is a good resource and we're on to great things. She also sent knitted swatches ( just because.......) of amazing jacquard trials and all I can say is how smart this young woman is to have added these to the package. I'm hooked..............and happy to have found a resource I can work with.
More to come.............

Vote for Lollypups..........

In the never ending quest for start up funds, I have entered the Intuit "Love a Local Business" contest to win 30K which I sure could use now that the samples are in the works and I'm going to have to start production (yikes and yikes) If anyone is actually reading this, I sure could use your vote so just click on the link and write a comment for Lollypups........then hit "vote"

http://lovealocalbusiness.intuit.com/fan?b_id=16290&cid=ad120x60

I thank you..........Lacy thanks you..........and those terrific artisans from Peru thank you (gracias)

Also working on different grant options for Women entrepreneurs and then, the big bad banking boys! Wish I could spend as much time on designing.

Pepper is here........

Finished the Pepper style and am happy with the way it came out. I think the smaller flower embellishment is the right scale since the sweater itself is in a smaller size, opening up the range from xs through to large. XS can be more Yorkie size or Chihuahua but not teacup. Some day, maybe in knit styles but the crochet is bulky and may be too heavy for a tiny dog.

Next trial is going to be a spring style in cotton boucle and a bit more complicated. I think I need something that's not made in Alpaca so as not to be only about winter. I saw a beautiful crocheted free form Chris Benz dress in plummy colors that's very inspirational and I do want to get back to the free form

designs.