Fun Fridays

One may believe that working from home is fun. Working at home, I find, is a whole new concept of time, space & work. I'm lucky and privilege to work from home. It's an personal achievement to work for myself while being appreciated by my customers. I've never had so much recognition for my work. I barely had any before with a 9 to 5 job. In my experience, when I worked for someone, because the employer pays your salary they didn't give me the much needed appreciation.

Now, when I sell to someone, I feel appreciated with every sale. Someone, somewhere likes my products and wants it. It blows my mind.

Working from home I discovered unlimited freedom but I also had to organize myself so I don't burn out.  I work seven days a week but I also take time for myself. As long as the work gets done within a set time and your work is making you happy is hugely important.

When I work at home, with my partner, we work better following an informal schedule. Basically, it allows room for both of us to work more efficiently. And to make sure we include activities to have fun and to enjoy ourselves. That's why Fridays for now on are so important. Traditionally, Friday sparks the end to the work week. It's a point to finally let your hair down and celebrate. I know that we'll be working on the weekends.

It's easy to have Richard's fond love for beer aka the podcasts. He suggested it first. So, I declare officially, Friday afternoons as Beer Break. We slow the production and make room for a tasty beer. Whatever you do in life, try to find joy in it. Because if it doesn't make you happy...  please do something else!

The new La Piccola Wallet!

The new La Piccola Wallet...

Fun, practical, & handy!

You know, after producing this new product, my excitement has grown more intense. I'm talking about Galstudio's new La Piccola Wallet!

This is our first run and we made 20 of these cute little guys and I kept the first one. We first made three prototypes to fine tune them. Working with rubber seems to have it's own mind. I really have to work with it within the constraint of this material. Rubber is not easy to work with but I find it rewarding when I can make something I truly love. Simple details happy fun fabric wrapped in inner tubes is the perfect handy wallet to hold 8 cards and a few bills. It can probably take a few more cards but that's to the owner's discretion.

I had left over pieces of fabric and I used it in the wallets. So much fun just choosing from the funky bright fabric designs. I'm having a lot of fun creating new designs with inner tubes and I hope people will enjoy them as much as I love making them!

Sushi anyone?

Both images by Galstudio.

Let There be Dots!

Galstudio's new Polka Dots Cycling Cap!

I was determined to find red polka dots. Richard and I were exhausted visiting all the fabric shops in the Lower Mainland. Yet, we kept going and our determination paid off!

Yesterday, we came back with our beloved polka dots. The fabric is a nice & thick 100% cotton. After washing it even looks better. I actually love it better than the first series. The size of the dots make a statement. Three times larger than the first dots. If you are going to wear red polka dots this is it. Go big and bold. I'm producing these caps just in time for July's Tour de France. Now on sale on my Etsy site. Be forewarn, wearing this beautiful cycling cap may make you want to climb a mountain!

More corset's for a good fit!

My messy table is crowded, in a good way, with additional Inner Tube Corset's. I have only one left on my Etsy shop and I realize my friend Jean ask me to keep him one. So I spent the better part of Sunday afternoon producing more of them. The weather's been lousy and with the help from Richard we finish them today.

I just sent one to the States and the feedback was wonderful! The feedback is so important it's the the pat on the back that makes a home business hum. It makes it all worthwhile. I'll post them probably tomorrow. So I'm working on a new design for a new product. And, I must say since Richard's been on board with me I don't seem to have enough time designing new products. It's a good thing because we have to generate more work between the two of us. Production has gone up. If all things go well, I'll have a prototype ready by the end of this week. Cross my fingers!

My Quest for Polka-dots

The polka-dots in action, 1978 Tour.

From: Richard's archives.

I'm in the quest for something special. Even the climbers of the Tour de France are in search for it.

Last year, I can't believe I had at least a full roll of the perfect size red polka-dots. It is so brilliant to choose a bold design for the race leader of the climbs. I can thank Richard for the idea of the polka-dot cycling cap. It sold out last year and it's time for it again. The problem is it's not so easy to find. So I'm still looking for it. And the Tour is coming up in 3 1/2 weeks.

It will return...

Galstudio's Polka Dot Cycling Cap.

My quest started after Christmas. My suppliers seem not to have it. I've waited for an order I placed and nothing. The effort's there, what I found online was too expensive and not cost effective. So I'm planning once again to go see my suppliers.

Here's an historical background to the Tour de France polka-dots that I so love. The King of the Mountains was awarded to the best climber first in 1933. The beautiful polka-dot jersey was introduced later in 1975. Those good looking red polka-dots were decided by chocolate maker Poulain to match one of their products.

The first French sponsor of the polka-dot jersey.

Bring it on Podcast!

Stage 2: Bikes, Books, & Beers from Bikes, Books & Beers on Vimeo.


I'm having fun producing the Podcast's. I love the behind the scenes detail of directing Guy & Richard. Enjoying being the camerawoman and loving the post production aspect of it. Yesterday was a cloudy and dark and we had to solve the lack of lighting in our 'studio'. Never fear we have the daylight balance lights available and thank's to our background in photography we rigged up an appropriate lighting setup. Placing the two lights apart and aiming them as high as we could close to the ceiling to evenly disperse the light. It worked well.

After using Vimeo I'm convinced and happy to use it. It took me a while to choose from all the other video providers but Vimeo is simply the best, so easy to use.

They're planning a different setup for the next podcast. I don't know if it's possible. But I do like a challenge!

My Joy of Cooking.

This is my first cooking book. I have a few recipe books & many magazines. Come to think of it, I grew up without any cook books. No wonder my mother was having cooking problems. For my mother, cooking was not a joy it was just another household chore. As long as the kid's were fed...

The book I'm referring to? It's "Joy of Cooking" the 75th edition, probably the most concise reference book every cook needs to have.

I think it's the first book to own when you move away from home. I wish I had this book when I was a college student. Because I never made a roast chicken on my own. I knew how to bake. But I was completely clueless what to do with a chicken. So, my roommate called his mother for help.

This book is a wonderful helper. Although it doesn't have any pictures, it does have a few drawings. I usually wouldn't buy a cook book without imagery. But, this book is so captivating it doesn't need it. Most importantly, you can grab a quick recipe or read about seasoning, basic techniques of cooking. There's in depth articles of everything even menu planning, what to eat with Indian cusine, and which cocktail glass to use with your Pink Lady.

I use this book often in a week. For example, yesterday I had a craving for Greek food. In a few minutes, I flipped through the book and found more than enough information for my Greek meal. I could have made an extravagant Greel banquet but the book also gave me the choice for simple recipes. It was a success. And still is. I have plenty of leftovers.

At the start I tagged all my favorite recipes. Now, I've stopped. There's far too many recipes to be tagged. I love the index. For once, I find an index that works. It's makes looking up for anything very easy. I love this book!

I want to close with this beautiful quote, located at the front of the book, by Mark Twain...

"... To receive the full value of joy you must have someone to share it with."