How was your week so far? Studio time has been a priority for me. I can’t really say that I have accomplished much, but I am very happy to share that there is some concrete planning, designing and material selection in progress. It is only January 10th and I feel already that there is not enough time in a day, week, month or year to get everything done I want to tackle.
Meanwhile I am on track with the Creative Daily Acts, and counting ten small art pieces means the month is already 1/3 over… I am catching up with correspondence tonight and found a newsletter from one of the photography sites I subscribe to. The newsletter contains several great articles about motivation and how to kick start the year creatively. The one link that particularly caught my eye was about “365 Day Projects” Check out the link here – I bet you will find something of interest…
It was year-end for my company on December 31st. The inventory revealed that I sold the last of the Kantha Primers just before Christmas. This is a great time to revise and rethink the way I have been distributing these small books. Print is becoming less and less popular it appears, maybe due to the increased production cost. I dropped into the closest Chapters-Indigo in Regina on Tuesday and thought I had opened the doors to a home decor store. When did books get replaced by rows of cushions, chutneys and chocolates? Disappointment is too weak a word to describe my reaction. Members of my book club felt the same when we discussed it Wednesday night.
But as “they” say, if you can’t change them, join them: With a significant decrease of popularity in real books I am embarking on creating the Kantha Primer in ePub format. I always found that the Kantha Primer was very expensive to produce which resulted in a rather high retail price. I have begun to reorganize and add to the images, revise and update the written information and expand the small book first launched in 2011. I am experiencing a huge learning curve using iBooks Author. The excitement about the prospect of launching a book that can be offered through iBooks keeps me engaged. On the other hand I am also a little overwhelmed by the uncharted territory I have to navigate. This is not a weekend project but I have made a commitment to spend part of each day on writing and editing. The primer provides the basic outline along with additional notes from my workshop folder. Together this information will form the content of the new Kantha book. I will keep you posted as I progress with my ambitious project.
Enjoy your weekend!
Anna Hergert, Art & Design 
Hi Anna… I would be interested in purchasing one of these books should they become available in print again. Please feel free to contact me via e-mail if this happens! Thanks very much.
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Thanks for weighing in, Deborah. I will keep everyone posted via this blog. First things first, the revision of the book…
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First if all I am behind in my daily art. Tried something with muslin and water colour pencils but not happy or comfortable. Saw a creation by an artist a couple of years ago…a daily stitch journal. Thinking about it but would that be copying, even if the stitches and info is different. Suggestions?
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HI Katina, creative activities should never be a race, and since you just started you are not behind by any means.
A stitch journal is a personal thing – your journal will be different than the one you saw in the past. The stitches you choose will be those of interest to you, and the presentation of the book will be unique as well, I am sure. You do not have to worry about copying. Did you know that there is no copyright on embroidery stitches?
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My understanding of journals is that they are meant to be a record of ideas, techniques, and experimental “stuff” that interests you. Think of all those antique stitch samplers created to make a record of various stitches and how they might be used. The makers did not worry that creating a sampler would be copying–they just went ahead and created their own version. Each one is unique to the maker. I don’t see the journal as an end in itself, but as a place to start, including references to another person’s style or technique that inspires you.
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Well put, Pat. Thanks for adding your insights to the discussion.
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Yes, Chapters has become a Home. Dec. store. There was an article in the Business section of a newspaper some months ago about them doing this to keep viable because hard cover books just aren’t selling the way they used to. I still like to hold a book in my hand and I also see the convenience of having an e-book sometimes, especially if i am only going to read it once. However reference books (read quilt, art, multi-media) I want to hold in my hands and be able to study and go to the book shelf and browse through for inspiration. My daughter likes her cookbooks in e format. I spent the afternoon yesterday reading a cookbook cover to cover and the photos wouldn’t have been the same on a screen. I do hope that both options remain open for us tactile people.
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I suppose I should read the paper more often… thanks for enlighten me about the official reason for change at Chapters. I will just have to resort to online ordering instead.
I will keep in mind that there are a number of readers that prefer the tactile aspects of handling an actual book. I hope to get a final copy printed just to test how much it will cost to produce. With the original primer it ran approximately $ 1.00/page as I had a good number of colored images and step by step diagrams and examples.
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Hi Anna! As the individual who probably purchased the last two of your Kantha books, it saddens me to see that there may be no more. But that is because I’m such a tactile person, and revel in the ‘book in my hand’ experience! Now, if you could just create a Kantha-laden cushion, with your blog/website info on the back, and get it on one of the chairs in the big box bookstore … well …
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Thanks for the feedback, Linda! At this time I am investigating the possibility of also finding a way of producing books in print. The criticism in the past was that the books I offered were a lot of money for their size… Don’t give up hope! There are a few options I have not explored fully.
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