On the Eve of a New Year

It's the last day of 2010. This time last year I was still living in Long Beach, California, happy that it was the last day of 2009. Last year, 2009, was a crappy year for me. I went through a very sad and devastating breakup and it really through me for a loop. I was so glad to be done with that year. My friend, Brandy and I decided to go out for NYE and whoop it up. We both were eager to say, "Smell ya later, 2009." We had a great great time and it seemed like 2010 was off to a great start.

Little did I know that a week later my whole world would turn upside down. Now, if I had my choice I wouldn't have wanted to be laid off, but I was. Was it the best thing that ever happened to me? I don't know. I know that it was a challenge set before me and I chose to take a different path. It was an opportunity for me to change the course of my life. To move across the country away from all that I had known.

I decided to take a year off and travel and reinvent myself. Did I do that? I'm still me but different. 

I did travel. I went to New York City, Paris and London. A dream trip for me. Something I've always always wanted to do. I was honored to be able to take this trip with my baby sister. We have traveling souls. We stayed in out of the ordinary places, a little boutique hotel in NYC called the Jane Hotel. We had studied our Frommer's travel books and made plans to do out of the way things. We got subway passes and went all over NYC. We saw Mary Poppins on Broadway, we ate real New York bagels, pizza, hotdogs. We went to the top of the Empire State Building. It was an amazing time.

 Next stop was Paris, France. It's true what they say, Paris is the most romantic city in the world. It is breathtakingly beautiful. The history seeped through every brick and stone. We walked cobblestone streets throughout the City of Lights. We saw Notre Dame, the Effiel Tower, The Louvre, and countless other living historical places. I was happy to just sit and absorb it all in. We picnicked in the park at the Louvre, drank some wonderful French wine, was entertained by a traveling group of boys singing in French.

Gardens at the Louvre

Our French Picnic

We ate some of the best food, French Onion Soup, just called onion soup there, ha ha. French baguettes, cheese, crepes, omelets. And we ate at just simple places. Nothing really fancy but rustic and so delicious. 


I loved every moment of Paris. It was my favorite part of our trip. The most beautiful place I've been to. It was Paris in the Spring. We had sunshine, wind and wonderful Paris rain. The sights and sounds were just amazing. I still can't believe I had the opportunity to be there. One of the most wonderful moments in my life. 

 

I hope I get the opportunity to go back there. To spend more time and to get to go to other places in France. If not, well, I can say that one of the dreams in my life came true. What more can you ask for?

St. Paul's Cathedral

Next stop was London. It was nothing that I ever imagined. It was a lot more modern than I thought it would be, but still had a lot of history. We went to St. Paul's Cathedral and I imagined Princess Diana walking down the aisle to her wedding as I walked those same steps. The view up to the ceiling was dizzying. We drank in London pubs, ate bangers and mash and fish and chips. Saw the London Bridge, Big Ben, the Tower of London. Walked through Hyde Park.                                                                                  I do wish we had more time in London. Did not get to explore there as much as I wanted. But again, it was a dream come true. My sister was slightly disappointed, she wanted it to be more like Jolly Old England. Did not like the modernism and touristy feel of London. There is that to it, but there is still old London in there. I was surprised at the diversity of London. We joked about how we barely met any native Londoners. 


What does this have to do with {re}cork'd? Well, it inspired me. I brought home some French wine corks. I brought home a desire to do more traveling, to see the world so that I can put all those influences in my cork works.

Christmas Ornaments

Now that I've introduced you to my inspiration, here is what came next. After making dozens of key chains, I wanted to try something new. Expand my crafting skills. What could I make? How about Christmas ornaments? The idea was suggested by a couple of people and I thought it was a great one.

Early Xmas Ornaments

It took me several tries to figure out what to do. I had to somehow make a hook, something that would go through the cork. Now for you crafters, it probably seems obvious, but it was a mystery to me. I discovered gauged wire. that I could poke them through the natural cork and even the resin corks. 

Then I took all my sparkly beads and went creatively crazy. There are red ones, blue ones, green ones, oh my. I perfected my hooks, I added more beads. Many an hour was spent making Christmas Ornaments, all in the Summer. It was too hot and humid for me here in Tennessee, so I made Christmas ornaments and dreamt of the day the weather would cool.

Custom Order

I came up with some really pretty designs, I got a couple of custom orders. I made sets and individual ornaments. I was starting to go to area festivals to sell my wares and wanted to have a good supply of ornaments. 

Display of Ornaments

I loved my ornaments. I had my favorites. The beautiful green and copper, the red and white ones that looked like candy canes. These are great ornaments. Unique and beautiful. Can you say you've seen these kind of ornaments before?

I know it's less than a week after Christmas, but if you want some ornaments, check out my Facebook page, (see the link on the left column) and you can get some on sale right now. Subtle, right?

How Did I End Up Here?

I said I would tell the story of how I ended up living in Tennessee and starting my own little business. Here it goes.

I was born and raised in Sunny Southern California. This time last year I was working as a Project Manager/CSR for a small advertising and print company. We had been struggling through the economic downturn, but I thought we were on the right track to getting back on our feet. I was trying to drum up new business, going out to networking mixers, joining networking groups, setting up a Facebook page, etc. I had the best interest of the company, and myself, in mind.

A good friend was one of the owners of the company, so I felt pretty safe. It was a small company and we were running pretty lean but, I was sure that with my efforts in trying to get new business AND my friendship with my boss, was enough.

Well, the new year of 2010 started and very soon into January I was called into my boss' office. She was going to have to let me go, she said. Things hadn't turned around fast enough and they were having to layoff people, I was one of them. I sat in utter and complete shock. Surely this wasn't happening. Out of the 3 people in my department, I had the least seniority and she and her partner felt that this was the only fair way to decide. "But," I said, "I have been trying to bring in new business, you told me that I would have a job with you, what am I going to do now, I'm all alone." I couldn't help it, the shock and panic was setting in, and I started to cry. (I know, there's no crying at work.) 

I packed my stuff, and went home, still in shock. Had this really happened? I've never been fired or laid off of a job. I left a pretty secure government job to come to this agency, to help build it up. I was told I had a future there. What was I going to do? Of course my crazy mind started playing out all kinds of doomsday scenarios, I was going to be homeless, living in my car, having to sell all of my worldly goods. I couldn't fathom that this had actually happened to me. 

As I sit here thinking back on this just about a year later, I still feel that pain. I take things personally. Rationally, I know it wasn't personal. That it must have been a tough decision, but emotionally I'm devastated and feel betrayed. I reached out to my support group, calling my brother and my best friends. Sobbing on the phone line.

My brother called me back sometime later and made a suggestion, "Why don't you come out here and stay?" Out here was Chattanooga, Tennessee. Now, whenever the suggestion of moving out to Tennessee had been brought up in the past 3 years since he and has family had moved out there, I scoffed. "Are you kidding me?" I would exclaim. "I'm NEVER going to live in Tennessee. I'm a California girl." Well, when he suggested it this time, I didn't scoff, instead, it felt like a lifeline being thrown out. The seed had been planted and as I was sobbing laid in my bed, with tissues all around me, I kept thinking..."why not?"

So I started formulating a plan. I could move out East and figure things out. I could take some time off. I could regroup in a safe place where I didn't have to worry about being homeless. It had been decided, I was moving to Tennessee. I was going to take a sabbatical and figure out what to do next. It was an opportunity to reinvent myself, I said. I packed my stuff, rented a moving van, said a sad goodbye to my family and friends and my California lifestyle and headed out East. 

I arrived in my new town, poetically, on my birthday, February 17, 2010. My first couple of weeks was spent settling in. Fortunately for me, I have a generous and helpful family. My brother had a big house and so I had plenty of space. Kind of like my own little apartment within the house. They were happy to have someone from home here with them. What a great situation. 

Just before I had gotten laid off, I had cashed out a small retirement fund. I was going to pay off my bills so I could be in a better place. Well, that money would help support me for the next year. I did pay off my bills, and I had enough leftover to think about traveling. I had always wanted to travel but could never afford it nor did I have the time off to be able to do it. Now I did. I'll talk about my travels in another blog, as this novel of a post has gone on a long time. LOL.

My time off led me to thinking about what I wanted to do. What new career did I want? Did I want to go back to school? Did I want to become a hairstylist maybe? Did I want to become a teacher? What did I want to do? For the time being, I just wanted to be. Didn't want to think, and stress out about my future. I told myself I wouldn't make any other big decisions for a year. I had made a big enough one moving across the country. It was time to just be. Now some people think I just gave up. That I ran away from home. Some people said I was brave, to face the unknown and just step off that cliff. Who was right? Maybe it was a little of both.

Now, you can only do nothing for so long. I've worked pretty much since I was 15 years old, even earlier, babysitting, selling candy in the summers, etc. It seems like I was pushing that rock up the mountain only to have it come crashing down on me when I got near the top. I was burnt out. I had just come out of an especially bad year for me emotionally. I needed a break, but now I was feeling restless and I needed to do something. As I stated in an earlier post, I had an idea to make some crafty gifts. Why then, couldn't this be a business? I bought some books and did online research on starting up a home-based business. So the idea was coming to life. Now what?

Wine Cork Keychains

Original inspiration

So the whole concept of {re}cork'd came from a small idea. I'm a native Californian, land of wine, and would often go to the Central Coast area to do wine tasting weekends. We would usually stay at the home of one of our friend's mom. In the guest room I spied a simple cork with a key chain ring on it. I thought to myself, "I could do something with that. I could make those for my friends." I took a picture of my inspiration with the idea of going home and making presents for my friends for Christmas.

I had been saving my corks for a while, putting them in vases to use as decor around my house. So now I have the corks, the idea and a plan. Maybe I could even make enough to sell to some local wine stores in my area.

Then my life changed. I got laid off from my job and moved across the country. That will be a whole different blog entry but it laid the foundation for {re}cork'd. I wanted to find something new to do with my life. A new career, something I could be passionate about, I could be my own boss, be able to travel, be creative. So that little idea of cork key chains took fruit. I fell in love with the craft store, Hobby Lobby. For those of you who aren't lucky enough to have a Hobby Lobby around you, you have been robbed. They didn't have Hobby Lobby where I had grown up in Southern California, but here in Tennessee, it's all over the place. It is a craft person's paradise.

I have gone craft crazy in Hobby Lobby. The funny part being that I have never really been into crafts. Here, I roamed the aisles looking at everything. Beads, baubles, sparkly things. Things to paint, things to glue, things to decoupage (whatever that is). I'm in awe of all the things at Hobby Lobby. My mind was stuffed full with crafty ideas.

My creative process

Early Key Chains

So now armed with all my beads and wires and glue and charms, I spent hours decorating my corks. I let my creative side explode. I glued and bejeweled and charmed the heck out of some corks. Still not sure what I was going to do with them all, I went a little crazy. Hey, I was unemployed and it was the end of  winter. I had a lot of time on my hands. I had probably fifty or so key chains.

I decided that I was going to start my own business.  From a little seed of an idea, and circumstances of life, so {re}cork'd was born. The simple key chain became the inspiration for a new journey. It's been fun so far.

An introduction to {re}cork'd

{re}cork’d came about as an idea to make some home-made gifts for friends. As a wine lover, I’ve been saving wine corks for a few years, putting them in vases and having them adorn my décor. Following a life-changing year and a move across the country, I decided to bring {re}cork’d to full bloom.  

I wanted to find a project I could be passionate about; one where I could be my own boss, travel and be creative. {re}cork’d is that project.  Wanting to handcraft beautiful items by creatively {re}using an otherwise disposable and limited natural resource, I came across an idea and decided to expand upon it.  The concept is simple: {re}purposing, {re}cycling, {re}used, {re}cork’d. 

The reality is a bit more complex. Each and every item is handcrafted by me. There is no assembly line, no machine. Just me and a small group of family members and friends who have pitched in to make this idea come to life. 

Cork is a natural choice for {re}cycling. Real cork is renewable and biodegradeable. Resin corks can also find a new life being {re}purposed into useful products.  In this age of sustainable, “Green” enterprising, I believe this is a natural and progressive idea. I’ve never fancied myself an environmentalist, but I care about {re}cycling and this is my way of taking a part in that movement. The corks are all donated, either from my own personal inventory, friends who have sent me their corks, or from the generous contributions of some local restaurants (http://www.craftworksrestaurants.com/)

You can special order any product. Choose your own colors and themes or pick directly from my line.  {re}cork’d will be adding new products constantly so make sure you keep checking back. All of the items make great gifts for the special wine lover in your life or special keepsakes for yourself.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Now visit my website www.recorkd.com. Please browse around!  If you have any special requests, email me info@recorkd.com and I’ll get back to you right away.