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Saturday 25 November 2023

A Bookend Friend

image courtesy of ChrisW Designs
Christine Welsh of ChrisW Designs...
Are you familiar with my sixth blog post?

At various times, I've referenced my first entry, which was written at a time of great excitement and anticipation, not knowing the terrain of the road ahead or how long it might be. I was acting upon a spark of inspiration that had convinced me to go for it.

By all accounts made public here, that spark of inspiration arose from my fascination with a friend's tote bag. But there was another spark that I didn't talk about at the time. I did sort of allude to it several weeks later, when I introduced my version of the Bella Bag. I've come to see that post – my sixth – as the opening "bookend" of my blogging adventure.

CWD original Bella crafted by eSheep Designs
Never going to part with my pretty Bella...

The project is one of Christine Welsh's early patterns (actually her second release), one that she later retired, then subsequently revived with changes, and then revamped once again. The fact that it went through several iterations and still manages to retain a strong appeal is a testament to its essential design. It simply looks good.

CWD original Bella crafted by eSheep Designs
Interior of my Bella...
As for me, I literally had an internet full of purse patterns from which to choose for my second bag project, and – for good reasons, I believe – I landed in her Etsy shop and fell in love with Bella.

It's come to my realization over the past several months that the story of Christine – or more accurately, the story of the relationship that she and I cultivated way back when – is the natural closing bookend of my blogging adventure. And to ensure that it is mathematically symmetrical – in keeping with a recent topic of note – this is my sixth last regular blog entry.




Christine and I had our first online encounter in late December, 2012. Whatever fuel it was that caught fire between us, we quickly became pen pals. Throughout the next two years, messages flew back and forth and then – invariably, perhaps – they started slowing and by mid-2016, they ended. She was busy building her brand and I was immersed in cultivating a blog following. Truthfully, however, the main reason for us falling out of touch was the fact that I was no longer proof reading for her.

image courtesy of ChrisW Designs
How Christine's adventure started...

That particular story started when, after I bought Christine's Bella bag PDF pattern, an error in it resulted in my purchasing the wrong size grommets. When I explained this to her, she was mortified that the mistake had gone unnoticed by her testers and immediately rectified the problem by mailing me a set of the correct grommets... all the way from Australia. 

That right there tells you what a gracious human being she is.

Within the span of a mere handful of Etsy messages, she asked if I would be interested in proofing the rest of her patterns. Thus began our unique history. I was smart enough to see a tremendous opportunity for me to pick up some bag making skills while she reaped the benefits of my meticulous copy editing prowess. (I was at the top of my game at the time, and was speedy to boot! ◕‿↼)

adventures in editing
Some of my editing input...

As I worked my way through her library of patterns, we corresponded on the side about a wide variety of life topics ranging from cleaning up after teenage parties – of which I know zilch about – to the devastating challenges of elder care — with which I was more recently experienced. In fact, when I dove into my email archives to revisit those memories a couple of months ago, I was taken aback by the vast expanse of subjects that we covered. But most especially, I was pleasantly reminded of the fun that we had; our messages were liberally sprinkled with LOLs and general hilarity.

Christine has a great sense of humour. Hence her series of YouTube videos dressed in pjs and assorted sleep masks...

Christine Welsh YouTube videos
Pajamas and sleep masks make good fashion sense...

Just as an idea of how varied our virtual conversations were, here's a list of non-bag making topics that we managed to cover:
  • The Bee Gees
  • The cow in the movie 50 First Dates
  • Microsoft Word and its myriad features that we should learn how how to use
  • Trusting or not trusting document storage to "the Cloud"
  • Chocolate and pizza (no, not together)
  • Cheap watches and sunglasses on eBay
  • Bare Naked Ladies' If I Had a Million Dollars
  • Boxing Day shopping
  • McDonalds
  • 411, 1123, and 911 (and other differences between Canada/North America & Australia)
But not all of our exchanges were light and frivolous. For most of the past decade, Christine was the primary caregiver for her aging parents. And whenever something happened, her fear of losing them was palpable across the miles as she juggled the stresses of operating a business with family obligations. Being a realist, I could only offer my own perspective on how to deal with the inevitable.


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Christine is one of those people who is inclined to be kind. As in, she's naturally so, not because she thinks it's right to be so and then has to make the effort. I'm not implying she's a saint – because none of us are, and she'd be the first to dispute it – but in my experience, those whose automatic response is to be kind are rare these days. In my experience with her, it wasn't just the replacement of grommets, it was the freely shared expertise and offers of support. She does that for her customers and she certainly did that for me in my early days of creativity. I've made inquiries to other designers over the years and have been ignored on occasion. (She's had the same experience, believe it or not.) Christine generously offers without being asked and shows genuine interest in someone else's creative efforts. 

I've said it before, but it merits repeating: she's been an inspiration for my journey from the very beginning. I thought that if she could do it at the level that she was performing at, I could do it a level that worked for me.

image courtesy of ChrisW Designs
My favourite "newer" CWD pattern...

When I think back to what I appreciated most about our back and forth emails, it's that she was very conscientious about replying. I'm not talking about merely answering an email; she was meticulous about answering specific questions. Oh, and one of the funniest situations occurred once when I told her something along the lines of this is just info, no reply necessary and she responded with, "I had to reply....there is something weird about an email that doesn't warrant a reply.....maybe I am strange but I needed to reply!"

At some point in the latter part of 2015, due to my not being available to meet certain timelines – curiously enough, I believe I was away on vacation on two occasions – Christine turned to other people to back up her proof reading requirements. As often happens in such situations, backups gradually become the "go to" people. With me no longer occupying a seat at the table, we fell out of touch.

image courtesy of ChrisW Designs
CWD's three Bag Mag editions...

In April of this year, we reconnected when I answered her call for content for her new Bag Mag. In many ways, we took up where we had left off all those years ago, with me giving her unsolicited advice about navigating the ups and downs of running a pattern business and she being too kind to tell me to buzz off. (I'm kidding, but from the very beginning of my editing days with her, I've told her that she's free to do whatever she wishes with my input... including ignoring it entirely!) Seriously, though, sometimes an alternate viewpoint from someone who is not mired in the same quandary can provide reassurance and encouragement. Whether it was a few months ago or many years ago, I like to think that I lent a hand during times when she needed affirmation that things will work themselves out in the end.

image courtesy of ChrisW Designs

I don't know if Christine realizes this, but she is, in fact, a prolific writer. If you check out her blog, you'll find that she did a lot of writing in the early years... all while designing and churning out purse patterns. Her blog posts from that early period contain a lot of reference material for bag-making "how to"s that are well worth reading and are still totally applicable if you are just starting out. (She even threw a bouquet or two at me that I don't know if I ever truly thanked her for at the time, like this one above from February, 2013.)

As an emailer, she's been known to sign off lengthy missives with, "I wrote a book!" I feel honoured to be someone she's deemed interesting enough to correspond with – really correspond with – because I'm sure she has many people in her life who have more legitimate demands on her time.


Makerist Black Friday Sale!


Coincidentally, it is Thanksgiving weekend in the US right now (for the record, those of us in Canada already celebrated in early October), meaning it's time for ChrisW Designs' major sale of the year. The whole Black Friday trend has infiltrated all the way down under and Christine says this has become a significant event for her. As such, I thought I'd take the opportunity to let you know that all of her patterns are on sale through Cyber Monday at 25% off. (Those of you who live down under have the added benefit of buying via her Aussie site – where she also sells bag making supplies – using Australian dollars.)
images courtesy of ChrisW Designs
Just some of Christine's latest patterns... all on sale this weekend!

While many CWD creations are more elaborate in both design and relative complexity than your average purse pattern, Chris also has several that are beginner friendly. And to be honest, her most recent offerings are definitely aimed at being quick wins for the maker... without sacrificing looks or functionality! The ones shown above are the newest in her vast catalog, and all are accompanied by detailed videos on YouTube.

I've written here before that online relationships are weird. But every once in a teeny, tiny, teensy while, they're not. With luck, it's entirely possible for two like-minded people to encounter one another and form a connection that endures even over a long period of absence.

Thanks for the friendship and inspiration, Christine!


Just in case you missed it when I first put up this graphic a few weeks ago, I am now down to five more regular posts before I take a step back from my weekly commitment here. At this time, all five are more or less in final draft mode. I'm definitely feeling a twinge of something about what might be in store around the corner!

As for what that may be, I don't want to make any promises other than that this blog won't be totally abandoned. And that all of the content currently here will stay here. I will enjoy some time off from the weekly obligation, but at some point, I'll probably be inspired to feature something nifty that I've encountered. One idea that has occurred to me is to go back through the archives, revisit the years and update my thoughts on a favourite topic from each month. With ten years x twelve months worth of archives, that gives me – do the math! – one hundred and twenty more post ideas.

And if I were to do that once a month, it'd give me – do the math again – another ten years. Ha, ha, ha! 😂

'Til next...

7 comments:

  1. I won’t write a book. Suffice to say I now have a swollen head! 🤣

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  2. Chris has some of my favorite patterns. Now I know why her instructions are so good - she has you to proof read them!

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    Replies
    1. Well, let's say that her actual instructions were/are pretty darn good to start with. I haven't been involved with the process for at least eight years now, so those accolades belong to her. But thank you on behalf of both of us! ;-)

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  3. Hi Rochelle, I’m very excited to hear that you have 10 more years of blog posts to write! 🤣🤣 I look forward to starting my Saturday mornings with you! Marie

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    Replies
    1. Ha, ha, Marie! I may have ten more years of posts to write, but will – and when – I actually write them is the question...!

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