Yesterday was a crazy day. I knew what I needed/wanted to get done yesterday. I wanted to transform a plain black bra into a burlesque costume bra. I searched through Pinterest for some ideas and started to get bogged down with.."ooohhh..look at that! That's pretty!" I finally narrowed the ideas down to about 5. Then I decided to try and combine 2. I already had a pain of black sequined panties that I wear for "show" under my sheer black tutu, but I really wanted to find ruffled panties for burlesque. I also wanted to find another white boa to turn my sad single strand skinny boa into a lush feathery boa (for show and practical reasons). And the last thing on my agenda were pretty sparkles to add to my new pasties that were all white. I wanted to add color to them.
With check list and ideas in hand, I headed out the door to JoAnn's figuring it would have everything I needed in one store. (It did..for the most part...no panties). I was playing with the boas when two 80(ish) year old ladies came by and one stopped and said, "Oh. That's very pretty!" The other stopped and agreed but then added, "But I think you are in the wrong line of business." (Not sure what my gray capris and green outdoor science school t-shirt said about me, but I guess It didn't scream, "I wear feathers to work.") Anyway, I couldn't pass up the opportunity, and I smiled and replied, "Actually, I am in the right business." The two old ladies giggled like little school girls getting way with a naughty secret. It was too cute.
After going through almost every isle of the store, I managed to collected everything I needed to create magic! The cashier said, "You look like you are in for one heck of a fun challenge." When I was gathering things, it all seemed "easy" in my head. Ya.. about that.....
So here are the two ideas I wanted to combine:
I gathered all of my supplies, and took a before picture......
Then it was time to get to work. First, I worked on the broach/center piece. It was a bit more challenging than I thought it would be and after some trial and error and pulling out my beads to add more then realizing I was good with what I had, I decided to put the finishing touches on it. I think it came out beautifully. And I thought THAT was the hard part! I thought the next part would be easy.
Next came the feathers on the bra. See, the pink bra up top, I thought it was using feathers, but after dealing with MY feathers, I have decided the used some kind of material. Maybe tule? Then added the ribbon and the rhinestones. Hard to tell from the picture. Anyway, working with feathers and hot glue....NOT EASY! I had so many blisters. And I didn't remember hot glue ever going that fast. I need more hot glue sticks! Originally, I had planned to mix white feathers with black feathers then I decided that wasn't going to work, at least not the way I had started it. (Maybe I can do it differently next time.) I got the layer of white feathers on the bra and it looked like a hot mess to me! I was so frustrated. I kinda started just putting rhinestones on and it looked awkward and weird because the feathers weren't laying flat. But I DID, use a secret trick. Once the feathers were glued on, I used hair spray to kind of get them to lay down and behave nicely. But still the rhinestones were a no go. The pink bra called for ribbon to go across the cup of the bra. I tried that. I think my sequined ribbon is too small. I tried to double up. It looked horrible. I added the broach and took a picture. It still looked like a hot mess to me. I was so frustrated.
I expressed my concern to Tracy and he said, "Well if its that bad, you can always take it all off and start all over again with something new." *sigh*
So that was my creative drama yesterday. But I also got to witness and be privy/part of another creative drama yesterday that was rather entertaining and enlightening. I went to a meeting for the Salmon Social gang yesterday. Sam (the marketing queen) and Wolf (the documentary maker) created a script to be shown to high powered influential people of Boise. Sure that sounds like no big deal, until you hear, they want it filmed on THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY to be shown on Monday or possible Tuesday. Not only did they need to find filming help, get locations locked down and lock down actors, they needed the software development team and the graphic designer guy to work magic to prepare for this. They wanted to film Stage 2 stuff when development was still in Stage 1. And they wanted it done in less than 48 hours! This was a weeks worth of full-time work they wanted done in what amounts to maybe 10 hours of free time. (The software developers have full time jobs elsewhere....and families). Oy! Talk about drama! Bryan, the CEO wants magic done NOW and believes EVERYTHING is possible. One developer is an "I can" kind of guy and the other is like.. "You can, but we have no time! It's impossible!" 2 1/2 hours later of back and forth intense conversation about a creative process....... I watched them go from "NO!" to "This can happen if we make a few changes and compromises." It was a very interesting meeting and I'm really glad I got to go (for a couple of reasons). 1) Watching them work is amazing. 2) The documentary of making this Social App is going to be freakin' amazing because of this raw emotion and passion everyone has for this project (yes, this meeting last night was filmed.) 3) It reminded me much of my own creative process with this freakin' bra!
So this morning, I woke up with fresh eyes and looked at my bra. I ripped off the sequined ribbon I had glued on there. I attached the broach. I went to my bedroom and put on the entire outfit I have created and I practiced the dance. It was stunning. There is maybe a bit more I will do to it. Like adding feathers to the back straps or doing something to the back straps to make it look more "show girl" and less "utilitarian". And the straps themselves need some bling to them. But other than that... I think I will leave the white feathers alone. They may need a bit more at the bottom and a bit more at the top, but other wise, I have decided "Less is More".
The ideas of "Less is More" and "Simple" and "Elegant" when creating something is important to keep in mine other wise, we lose our message. We lose our intent. And sometimes it can cost us the whole project and/or money in the process. Learning when to pull the plug and to call it "good" is one of the biggest lessons a creative person and/or a team leader can learn.
Right after I practiced with my feathered bra and decided "Less is More", I came back to my computer and I found a blog from Bryan, the CEO of Salmon Social. And I found him feeling the same kinds of things I had been feeling. I found him thinking the same kinds of things I had been thinking. (He and I are alike in many ways.) His is a great blog about knowing when to say when!
Putting the Breaks On at Salmon Social
I'm feeling much better about my creative process and the emotions I feel behind it. I know that sometimes things seem dark and impossible and sometimes you just want to throw it all away. But don't ever give up. Listen to your intuition. Your gut will never lead you wrong. Have fun with the experience and be open to the possibilities! The gains in the long run will be so worth it!!!!
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