Yesterday, I met a friend of a friend (both super talented, but have no websites to link to at the moment), and we were chatting. It was a good 5 minutes of talk, inspiring, motivational and all. She said something that really struck me.
She was having a conversation with someone, and she mentioned she always imagined having 7 offices around the world, and about 5 people working in each of them. And that person asked her “Why do you set a limit on yourself? Why not 100 people, why not a thousand?”
It was like a lightning moment (light bulb moment x 10,000,000). HAVE I BEEN LIMITING MYSELF?! I always imaged having 1-2 more people working for me, and all of us working together in a small workshop and maybe a couple more people around the world on independent learning trips. But why not grow bigger than that? Why not hire 10 people, why not have workshops around the world, why not provide employment for the masses?
Why am I building a ceiling when I can reach for the stars?
I realised that we often unintentionally build 'ceilings' for ourselves, and we may not even realise it. Have you built or been building ceilings you never intended to build?
!! First Commissioned Piece !!
Try Wonder’s first custom order has been fulfilled! This calls for a major celebration. But a part of me is worried, and dreading any complaints. The thing is, it’s good, but not good enough, at least according to my standards. I wish I could restart the entire process and not come up with that design in the first place. But it is what it is, and I’ve got a happy client, so I can’t complain right?
Everything (almost everything) that could go wrong, probably did. But man did I learn from it. They include, but are not limited to:
- More time for production
- Know what you can and cannot do (ie. don’t overestimate your skills)
- Have a backup plan
- Know the costs of that plan
- Know the time needed for that plan
- Remember to get all the materials and tools needed
- Allow for buffer time
- Bring sandpaper and polishing pads with you if you’re not doing the packaging in the workshop
- Trust your brother
- And trust yourself.
I thought I did a shit job, and I think I could have done better. But deadlines are deadlines and it is what it is.
My brother was the one that hooked us up, and he was the one liaising, and damn did he do a good job. (I think he might start charging me in the future, but we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.) I was so done with the project that I snapped a half hearted photo of the bracelet to tell him it’s been sent. It had no fancy background, proper lighting, or editing and all that shenanigans. But I still got a positive response.
I realised that my idea of perfect and satisfactory (they’re same thing to me basically) is very different from when you just look at it as a piece of jewellery. I might be alone in this, but I suspect many other makers are the same. We see the nitty gritty bits of the pieces that seem to spoil everything. But really, no one really gives 2 shits about it. Of course, that’s not aways the case, but that's the general idea.
Our pieces are like our babies. They are literally conceived from our heads and made from nothing with all the effort we can put in, and we’re naturally very attached to it. Sometimes, we just need to let them go when the time comes (deadlines), and trust that they can speak for themselves. Trust yourself, that your best is good enough.
Glass Factory Tour at RÜCKL CRYSTAL a.s.
Quick disclaimer: All the information I got was from a guided tour of the factory, for which I had to pay. There are no sponsors involved in this, and everything is purely from observation, asking questions and the guide’s explanations.
It was a bright and sunny day, a little cold, but it was bearable. It’s April so spring is just starting to bud. There is a buzz at the glass factory. A French tour had just ended, and I was there waiting for the English tour.
Some background: Ruckl Crystal a.s. works with 24% leaded crystal (read more about the difference between glass and crystal here). It cares about the environment (yay for that), and one of its main export destinations is Singapore so I won’t be surprised if the only vase I’ve seen at home holding flowers that dad got for mom is from there!
Here’s a little bit of what I saw, and the processes that go on behind the crystal home ware we see in the department stores.
Moulds used for blowing glass are typically made of wood from the oak or pear tree (more often oak for its strength), or from iron. Wood moulds lasts about 400 blows before they start to burn up and loose its shape. We didn’t get to see any moulds being made, but I’m guessing it uses the wood turning method, but I could be wrong!
The glass is then trimmed and sanded so we don’t cut ourselves when we use it (#thoughtful) And then it’s off to the glass cutting department where all the grooves we see are hand cut.
All designs found on Nizbor glass ware is hand cut in the cutting department. There are about 4 steps to just the cutting process alone! Each person is responsible for one kind of cut or one part of a design, so each piece you see is the result of many pairs of skilled hands. I’m quite sure these aren’t the actual, technical words for it, but this is what I’ve got for now. If you have any knowledge on this, please share it with us!
1. Grid lines
Grid lines are painted on with a paint that fades off with every wash that the glass undergoes after every step of cutting. These have to be super exact, otherwise everything after that just becomes wonky.
2.Large deep cuts
The larger cuts are made, but they’re too sharp to just be left that way. After the first cuts are made, they’re placed in an acid that eats away at the glass, making the glass smoother and the edges not too sharp.
3. Small shallow cuts
The same process is repeated from above, but for smaller cuts, and then it’s put in acid again to round up the edges. They’re then given a good wash and passed on.
4. Details
The final tiny detailed cuts like a small star or a stroke at the side are put in at the end. They’re then rinsed and sent to the next department where each piece is quality checked and then boxed.
All the glass that gets rejected - the trimmed off bits, the wonky blown pieces, and rejected finished pieces - end up in the scrap bin. They are all then melted down and used again so there is #nowaste! Try Wonder 200% supports this no waste process!
Getting there
From Prague, it’s probably more convenient to book a tour with trip advisor where travelling is sorted for you. But it’s definitely a lot more budget friendly to make your way there yourself. I was on a super strict budget so I made travel arrangements myself and called the factory directly.
I originally booked 2 trains that would take me Nizbor (1-minute walk from the station) from Prague, but I missed the second train. So I ended up taking the bus from Beroun instead. The bus isn’t an option on Google Maps for some reason, so ask the staff there. Everyone is really friendly and helpful, so even if they don’t speak english, they’ll bring you to someone who can.
The bus to get is number 222 from the station, and it’s the second last stop, so about half an hour journey. Track yourself closely on google maps / Rome 2 Rio app (this is a great app for travelling, especially for use on the laptop!)
Buses and trains run at fairly spread out intervals, so if you’re going, make sure you’ve got the timings right. And call ahead to book a slot on the tour because there’s not really any fixed tour schedule.
Moms are amazing E>
It’s mothers’ day! My family usually celebrates it in May with a meal, but it’s celebrated today, 26 March, here in the UK. So I just go with it, and celebrate it twice (yay for more celebrations!). But hey, there’s really no set day to celebrate moms and moms-to-be, and every other woman around you, right?
I saw a friend’s post about motherhood, and thought, why not share with everyone some of the motherhood wins and amazing moms I’ve seen on Instagram? I was going to type something about each of them, but I didn’t want my words to get in the way and not tell the full story, or worse, get in the way of their story. But I look up to every single one of them, and they are amazing, and you should totally check them out. (If you guys are seeing this, thank you for inspiring so many other women besides me!)
Here’s 6 of them (in no particular order): -
Tiffany Han of The Tiffany Han
Elizabeth Kartchner of Dear Lizzy
Elise Joy of Get To Work Book
Kate Oliver
Kelly Mindell of Studio DIY
Happy mothers' day everyone! Whether you're a mom, mom-to-be, mother figures, or future-future moms, you guys are rocking it (: The world thanks you for your contribution to the future of humankind.
Love,
Abigail
Ps. Thanks mom for everything, hope you like the necklace!
Facing Fears in Topshop
This might sound kind of dumb, but I genuinely feel uncomfortable walking into Topshop. But guess what, I don’t feel that way anymore.
The movie Sing came out recently, and there was one thing that stuck out for me. The koala told the elephant (who had a severe severe severe case of stage fright) that if she really liked and she really wanted to sing, she had to get out there. And she all she had to do to not be afraid, was to just start singing.
There was a project in school a couple of weeks ago that required us to do one task everyday, and the first task was to create a 1-minute video about anything you want. I was stuck because I couldn’t figure out what it is I wanted to do. Then I realised that I haven’t been documenting my journey of 22 before 22.
Remember in November, I wrote about trying something new? I decided that I’d do 22 things that make me uncomfortable before I turn 22 in March, so this is kind of an update from the last post. I think I’m doing pretty well, if I might say so myself (hah shameless moment). But I’ll talk more about that another time. For now, here’s the super amateurish video I made for school.
It wasn’t just about laughter and fun and facing fears, it’s about learning you don’t have to fear these fears. I thought I’d be uncomfortable the entire time but I actually really enjoyed myself. But I think that has something to do with the fact that my friends were there. But then it happened again with Urban Outfitters, and it’s really just the thought of going in that makes me uncomfortable. Because after I walked in, it was all cool. Like, I’m good, and I’m glad I’m here cos Urban Outfitters sell nice things and even if I can’t afford them, looking at their stuff is enough. Pretty things make me happy (-:
Have you learnt something from putting yourself out there this week?
22 before 22 (a progress update)
Around mid January, I decided that I needed to push myself and get uncomfortable. I was already making a conscious effort to push myself but I needed some kind of challenge. Something more formal, if you will. So in comes 22 before 22.
The challenge: Do 22 things that make you uncomfortable before turning 22 years old.
Criteria: Nothing. It can be of any degree of uncomfortable-ness, and in any area of life, and be any kind of task. As long as I felt uncomfortable, it can count.
As of January 25th, 9 things were done, and as of today, it’s another 7 more. Just within this month, I have worn heels in public, gone into Topshop, gone on a solo overnight trip (!!) and worn coloured pants, to name a few. These things might not be something you consider to be uncomfortable to do, but they were for me and so they count. Please don’t mock (tyvm)!
The more I do this, the more I’m realising that the things I fear, the things that make me uncomfortable, are all in my head. As narcissistic as that sounds, I needed to get over myself. That’s all. It’s all in the head :-)
Growth happens when you get uncomfortable. Are you too comfy where you are?
Never too late
It's February!! I don't know about you, but my January has been intense. It's been filled with so many revelations, ideas, school work, and unchecked things on my to-do list. So this month, I'm going small. 3 tinier, completed things a week is better than planning 5 big things for the month that I never start/finish, right?
Favour, a friend and fellow entrepreneur (I'll link to her site when it's up!), and I worked together to come up with a planner that we wanted to give to 15-17 year olds at a leadership programme. That didn't work out too well (there's always next time!), but we thought we'd share it with everyone as well.
I wasn't going to post it because well, it's not the new year anymore. But I guess it's never too late to start.
Just remember though, that these planners are like those battery-operated toys you get in the stores. You can have the toy, but it's only going to work when you put the batteries in. These planners aren't going to do anything for you if you don't put in the effort and the motivation. #thinkingtime: what are you doing to get yourself going towards where you want to be?
These are meant to be printed on a A4 sheet, and folded in half so they're super convenient to bring around. If you want them to be more sturdy, I recommend printing them on thicker paper, like 135gsm paper that you can get at a craft/stationery store! Or just print it on regular paper and stash it in your notebook.
January 2017
February 2017
March 2017
Have a fabulous February ahead!
x
Abby
Ps. I tried to take my own photos for this post, but I'm too embarrassed to use it, so there's a stock photo of a notebook instead.
The elves are right
As this is being written, I’ve just left London to go to Cornwall. In London, an incident helped me understand how right the elves of the north were, and how important the lesson they were teaching is.
I attended Elf School in the Arctic Circle, twice, this holiday. (Note: you might want to do it only if a. you are a kid aged 4-8, or b. you’re bringing a kid aged 4-8). I enjoyed it, and got 2 elf school diplomas out of it. That just leaves me with only 98 more years of elf school before I become an elf, but that’s besides the point. Anyway, the first lesson of both sessions were, as they called it, “the most important-est lesson”. And they were about kindness.
The elves believe that we need to show kindness to everyone, human and animals, from the biggest elephant, to the teeny, tiniest spider. And if you’re afraid of spiders, you can show kindness from a few steps away. I think I quoted that almost word for word, that’s how much it got into my head (a lot). It was mostly just for fun, shits and giggles, and it didn’t mean much, just good to know that they’re stressing the importance of kindness to kids, until this incident happened just now.
A lady was trying to get her luggage from the bus we just got down from. There was a crowd, and a lot of luggages, and I guess it took up quite a lot of space even though the pavement was maybe 2m wide. And out of nowhere, this lady gets shoved by a older woman trying to get through. She was shoved quite violently, or maybe I was just so unused to such a sight that it felt like it was really violent. Some colourful language was exchanged and that was it. But wow, what do you think would have happened if some kindness was shown to the people and creatures around us? I think the world would be so much more at peace, so much happier, so much more loved.
I don’t know if real elves exist, or what they look like, or what else they believe in, and I know full well that those elves in Elf School were humans with prosthetics on their noses, but the elves are right, and it’s a lesson for all of us, not just the kids that were there. It’s also for the parents, the aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and everyone else not mentioned.
Let’s all remember to show kindness, not just during this holiday season of giving, but throughout the year. Let kindness be a conscious decision you and I make to make the world a slightly more jolly place to be.
Merry Christmas, friends!
This calls for a celebration
The site is live! Well, it's been live for a while now, but it required a password to access it. And now, there is no need for a password because it's been deemed "good to go". It's not perfect, but it's never going to be. It's as good as it gets for now.
I was super nervous and really calm at the same time about this. As Ingergerd Råman (newest fave designer) remarked, "it nothing but it's still something". How apt for this occasion.
Lol, just realised that the drink matches my sweater. There is peace in my heart, and it's a huge step forward for Try Wonder. Cheers (with orange juice) to what's to come in the near and far future.