He's been the new scrapbook star of recent years - the new guy on the block everyone wants to know & be around. And though I've never met him, what people have been saying has been very nice & honorable. And up until yesterday I still thought "He's a designer with great ideas but not the end of the world! Geesh!"
I work at a local So. Cal store and decided that we'd put up pictures of the days' project and the supply list. Wow, the supply list.....!! I wrote out all of the things needed for day one & in size 12 font, it took up the WHOLE page! Now, I should say that I didnt read the prior day's post because then I wouldn't have been so quick to judge that list!
"well here i sit trying to type out a supply list for the 12 tags and you know what? i can't...
here's the deal - i use so many different products on the tags, that it's hard to suggest a specific product or color. for example, if i said i was using crackle paint, then the questions would be what colors, how many tags will it be used on, etc? if the stores order up on crackle and i only end up using a bit of it on a grungeboard snowflake - then what? stores will be overstocked on products and i don't think anyone wants that. i also don't want anyone to feel that the 12 tags are marketing motivated because they've never been. the 12 tags started out as a way to give back to the people who have supported me all year and more importantly, a way for me to share my love for the holidays. i know this has turned into a frenzy all it's own and i'm blessed for that - we all are, but it's still important that i don't lose sight of why i'm doing them in the first place. i enjoy challenging myself creatively by doing the tags each night before i post them (which i've done the past 3 years since they started). i love the excitement i feel when i have to finish each tag by midnight as eager people from all over the world wait to see it the moment it goes live. half of the fun is getting people inspired and challenge themselves to use what supplies they have. it's also wonderful that stores are just as excited each day trying to gather up products in their stores and plan workshops and make & takes to share with their customers. i understand that every once in a while there is that odd product that nobody expects me to use - even me, but it is what it is. i feel that by committing to products now, i'm not only limiting myself creatively on what i would actually want to use and design, but it takes the magic out of this and i don't want to give that magic up. honestly, i have no idea what i'm going to create this year, and i don't know exactly what products i'll be using, but i do know this - that in the end everyone will have enjoyed the 12 tags of christmas again - including me...
i hope you understand...tim"
Well my friends, I feel that again, though I've never met him - I felt he was writing this letter to me (a shop girl who works to accommodate all those buyers who say "I NEED "Stormy Skies" TODAY because he's doing it on his blog!!!!!! Why are you OUT?") They come in with their lists -as long as my typed one from yesterday - and want EVERYTHING on it and wonder why we may be out of a couple of things. I am very happy to know that T!M appreciates the stores that carry his line & more importantly that he does not let product impede on his creativity. If it flows, it flows. A true artist. Now I can say that I'm on the boat! :)
So, then. I apologize to any T.H. fans, and of course the man himself, for my callousness & assumptions. It's really good to see an artist who refuses to sell out.
xo,
