Where Do I Go Now?!

The prospect of staring a business is thrilling and it almost blinds you. There is this rush of adrenaline at the beginning that takes you to unknown territories and the whole experience is out of this world excitement. Cool off the original point and things start to be a little different. It’s the overwhelming enormity of the task. Here I go to the shops and check online and compare myself to the competitors…..I know I am comparing monts of preparation to years of experience and results of trade. However, this is where I want to be! I want to be in the ‘years of experience’…today, right now, which is childishly naive, I know that!

I recently attended a coaching session for start ups. It’s unbelievable how my original confidence had just quickly evaporated! I was even surprised myslef. The huge task at hand had almost squashed my original enthusiasm and clipped my wings, clipped them well short. I was in search of the same adrenalin and was afraid that nearly lost it. However, at the end of the session I seemed to have found it. Starting up seemed much easier. I have also launched my website to sell luxury greeting cards (www.sabivo.co.uk) but people seem to just visit now, not to purchase. How long would it take to start?! And how long would I have to pretend that I will fine and business would flourish?!

There was another story, which kind of rocked teh ground on which I am sitting at the moment. You tell me whether I should take it as a sign or just poor business practice. I have recently purchased paper from leaders in the paper trade. They cut it on the wrong grain, but still delivered it. But forgot the off-cuts. However, the paper could not pass through my printer. The sample did. The day after the sales executive personally delivered the replacement paper, only for me to realise it as a completely wrong one. The bonus is that I they gave me tons of free samples, which kind of reduced my original cost too. So, today I finally got the right paper and I am ready to rock and roll those orders!

Now tell me, is it usual for any start up to start that bumpy?! If not what should I do – should I continue or should I stop?!

Love from Gabrielle

 

Tags: Business, dairy, emotions, feelings, handmade greeting cards, handmadgreeting cards, Start Up

Off The Ground

Here we go, my friends! I have been so quiet for a looooong time. I meant to post regularly but starting up business nad stretching on all fronts sometimes makes it stretching too thin.

I am pleased that people are joining along the way on this wonderful venture, which by definition I should have started long time ago….but no regrets for now! I said that long time ago!

My facebook page now has over 200 fans, please check along if you wish to see my work  www.facebook.com/SabivoDesign I am uploading a photo for taster of what I do. I hope you like it!

I also aim to go transactional by the end of the week, so you might enjoy weekend shopping on http://www.sabivo.co.uk/! To celebrate the launch, we are thinking of a special Thank you gift, so stay tuned for more news!

Love,

Gabrielle

Tags: hand painted greeting cards, handmade greeting cards

My New Identity

Creating new identity is never easy! In fact, this is supposed to be my real one and I find it utterly impossible to proceed….I tell you why.

I used to be academic and scientist, now I am not, I am an artist. I used to be very successful, in fashion, globetrotting the countries, now I design from home. I used to earn tons of money, now I am penniless. I used to be very fashionable, dressing for others, now I am very fashionable, dressing for myself. I used to be able to decide what I want and went and got it, now the stumbling block is getting my first sale of my new product.

I used to be what others perceived of me and nurturing their image of success made me happy too….or at least I thought I was happy. I achieved their dreams, their desires, their plans. Seeing them proud, made me think that I am doing the right thing. Seeing me miserable  did not mater as I got others approval! My approval was off the list…..

So it all went on until I recently revisited my priorities (thank God for this crisis, now everybody and everything is being revisited) and changed them to suit my dreams, my desires, my plans. That done, I had to revisit my friends and relationships too. Now that I do not serve ‘public service’ anymore, it seemed that I am not exciting property anymore or not ‘the-friend-to-have-and-show-off’ and the tide took away a large bunch of Z-class friends. Then another wave took X and Y-class friends and continued washing away the crap until I was left bare-soul and body.  Only with my true and real A-class relationships were left. But did I feel naked?! No, dear friend, not at all!! The exhilarating feeling of being myself, doing stuff for myself and being with my most trusted allies made me feel like million dollars! And that is very difficult to achieve, trust me! So, this new identity conquest is totally worth it!

Tags: autobiography, Business, Fashion, feelings, friends, friendship, life, love

Stay Positive!

Apparently, even our friends tend to patronise us when we feel unsecure and vulnerable. A month ago I was agonising over the decision of taking the plunge and going solo. Then, even one of my closest friends have gone into the parenting mode of not sharing thoughts and encouraging advice but the mode of dictatorship. I could not believe I was hearing ‘you-should-do-this-and-that’. I felt utterly humiliated and betrayed.

So, I have decided to make and ambush and camouflage. I have gone into ‘conquer’ mode. I have decided to talk confident, ‘in-the-know’ and totally positive. I guess part of the transformation has been in creating several designs for my card collection with result that was both pleasing and promising and feeling hopeful for once. My husband is blatantly honest, so some of them passed his opinion test, which gave me baby angel wings. Yay! Additionally, I have taken some courses on self-employment, which paves the road for even more confidence. I guess part of the fear is the unknown and the unexpected. Once we go over that and overcome our usual fear and switch off the defensive mechanism, life is good again.

And was the result of my tactic?! I can’t tell you enough how great it’s been! I have totally taken the upper hand again! I don’t let them tell me what is best for me, because only I know what is best for me. And feeling positive may not fix all my problems but will surely annoy enough people to be worth staying in that mode!

 

 

Tags: diary, Fear, Preparation, Recreation, self-preparation

In The Making

Well, it is unfair to advertise that my blog will offer ‘weekly thoughts’ on what’s happening in my life and to leave you in oblivion in the past ~3 weeks. I am glad to discover that you are still around, in good spirit and have not abandoned me. So, Thank you for that!

The past couple of weeks I went into total self-preservation mode! I have rewarded myself with well deserved rest for what….is going to happen in 2012, not for what has happened during 2011! It might sound strange by my sixth sense senses the fact I am going to be a very busy bee in 2012, so I hibernated for ~2 weeks, if you do not count the daily house chores and the struggle to finish off the tons of food we all accumulate around Christmas. That’s a full time job, but let’s not count for now.

I have finally made the move into designing a range of greeting cards. I have gone back and forth of the signature style and have come up with something I like and represents me, i.e. charcoal contours with aquarelle fills. It might sound a strange combination, but is quirky and light at the same time and is really cool. I am taking a spin in the fashion capitals and the first range is a birthday greeting card with selected iconic objects of London grouped with classic fashion accessories. I was proud of the result but being hand-drawn drove me mad and consumed the day. However, as a first and completed on Friday, the 13th, I had to start from scratch twice as I forgot to save the unfinished work while Illustrator gave up on me (apparently I was giving the laptop such a hard time). Hopefully, it has a positive meaning after all….

I completed Paris today, but I am not as excited as when I completed the first design. Perhaps I am getting in the mode and first time excitement wears off….

So, that is for now. I am back into blogging. I realise that this first post-Christmas post isn’t the most exciting and inspirational yet. However, it is the beginning and my product is in the making and excitement is here now!

Best,

Gabrielle

Tags: Business, Christmas, design, Gifts, Greeting card, London, Paris, Stationery

Merry Christmas World!

Merry Christmas everybody!

May the world be a better place….in wahtever shape and form! Let us make it from within, from our hearts! Go beyond the commercial call and swap presents for love! That does not substitute your wish to present the cool present you bought a month ago or even a year ago on the sale and patiently saved for a whole year (yes, some people do that, trust me!).

So, whatever you give, give with warmth and love! Let’s dream and for a moment, let still be children, i.e. believe in miracles! Because miracles happen, not only at Christmas…you just have to believe!

Love, Gabrielle

Tags: Christmas, greetings, Holidays, Merry Christmas, New Year, Opinions

The Difference Between 3+ and 30+

Well, the acclaimed Zuckerberg interview on BBC was cool, I can’t deny it. It showed a different side (other that what we broadly know from gossip or the fictional movie, The Social Network) of this clever guy, who apparently would go from zero to acclaimed £100bln in the next year’s speculative flotation of Facebook, all in just 7 years. I put this into perspective and compared my idea to start a greeting card business and I must admit, however successful it might turn up, I am never going to make $100bln in 7 years, not even cutting the three zeros, not even cutting them more….And I felt so small, smaller than my 3-year-old son, who was sitting next to me, topping yet another record of racing cars game on my smart phone. And then it came my Eureka moment that hit me harder than spinning meteorite about to hit the ground. He is 3, but his tiny fingers have been using touchscreens since he was 1,5-years-old. My sausage fingers have first touched it when I was 30+. It takes me at least 2min to find the switch button to any new computer. It takes him less that 10sec, and only to just visually scan the machine, in order to find the switch. Is the difference to technology and life from 3+ to 30+?!

Here is another one. I was watching the bunch of clever kids on Young Apprentice last night. And I felt even more miserable. Their minds are racing, they are just a completely different breed than me. They have learn how to fight and compete from infantry. They get their killer shark skills from their social clubs and activities or simply from their pushy parents who had failed to perfect the killer mode in their lifespan.

The truth is, I was born in a socialistic country. The top preacher was the equality and team work. This mantra has famously failed to sustain its living for longer than 40 years and now what is left for us to adapt to the same mantra in a capitalistic way. However, I am not equipped with the same skills of a killer shark. I have the soft approach to life, or this is at least what my mama taught me. Interestingly, she is now fast approaching her 60s and she feels even more inadequate to switch to the new survival mode. She dramatically fails to give me any helpful advice on life decisions. She, instead choses to agree with all stupidity I decide to perform. She fails to guide me and warn me when I am about to fall. And she always, always, always goes for the safer option. The one which is less painful, requires less stress and adaptation, and is generally blunt in my eyes. Lots of changes happened in her life when she was in her 40s. I will be soon approaching this age and I am just wondering whether I would be falling in the same position with my son. I would feel so remote and inadequate in current life situation that I would prefer to withdraw, leaving my son to lonely cope with all life ups and downs. And I wonder whether this is the difference between looking at life with the eyes of a 3+ or 30+?! And it just feels so scary….Don’t you think?!

Gabrielle

Tags: decisions, diary, Dreams, life, motherhood, new beginning, thoughts