manifesto - (it's long!)

Those of you who know me on a personal level,
have probably heard me say my creative mantra...
"I refuse to knock anyone else off"

If you have designed something and I like it,
I will not make it for myself to sell to others,
I will buy it and congratulate you on your good taste,
but I will NOT rip you off.

This comes from a number of reasons:

1. I believe in small businesses and small business owners. My family of origin has a small 10 person toy design business that has supported the families in it for 30 years.
I love the idea of people doing what they want and not just running on the proverbial treadmill of corporate business.


2. I believe that creativity is sacred. My dad owns hundreds of patents and trademarks... Ideas are sacred. They are clearly gifts... When I take your idea and make money off of it without giving credit where credit is due, that is stealing money out of your pocket. My dad has products that he invented where by some error on the manufacturer's part, a patent wasn't renewed - and voila! everyone and their mother makes knock-offs. It hurts more when you grow up watching it happen to your dad.I'm okay with improving things, "building a better mousetrap" ... i.e. Libby Dibby skirts are made from an altered and improved vintage pattern. - but to take someone's design and pass it off as my own seems really wrong to me, mostly because...(see below)


3. I believe creativity is plentiful.I once read a quote and can't remember which famous person in history said it (perhaps Ben Franklin or Thomas Edison?) and it goes something like this... "creativity is conscious of its own abundance and is not jealous"I love that. I didn't know if I believed it when I first read it, because I knew I struggled with jealousy over other artists, etc - but I decided that if God made everything, He certainly could make enough talent to go around. I decided to believe it.


4. I believe that the true test of genius, talent, artistic skill lies in the ability to do something original and do it well.

5. I love true artists of all kinds. I love the idea of people doing something for the love of the game, be it baseball or knitting and I love the idea of helping the little people make their way in this world.

J says that I am a little militant about this. I don't make things that I know I can make simply because I don't want to rip someone off... but I just can't help thinking that someone, somewhere made that and put all their heart into making it original and I want them to succeed.

That's why I get a little flustered when I see people online trying to make "fibby dibbys" (no joke, that's what they've named them)... not because the wrap circle skirt was my idea... but because they are intentionally trying to take what we are working so hard to build slowly with our hands.

Now I know that mimicry is a form of flattery... and I know how fun it is to see something, like it, and then go home and make it... but selling it as my own idea... that's a different story.

I've recently relaxed a little in some of my rules. I've liked an item of clothing so much that I have made a second one like it in another color - but then, when someone wanted the second one... I directed them to the original designer. I'm allowing myself to make things for myself, but I want to not just copy others... I want to create new things... and being pushed out into the world of the unknown isn't all that bad.

your comments are welcome

Hey folks!
I heard from 4 of you this weekend alone- people I see daily, see once a year, or see never... I'm so glad to hear that you are reading this blog daily (some of you even more than once a day!)!
It's great to know that I'm not writing in a vaccuum, sending my thoughts out to nowhere...

All that to say, thanks a lot and that I would LOVE to read your comments and hear your thoughts on what's going on in the world of Libby Dibby Stuff (and all the rest of what is in my head)

thanks again.
libby

Doorstops

Okay, I love these so much that I think I have made 8 already and
given 5 away. Not only are they cute, functional, and a great way to
use up scraps, they don't hurt when you stub your toes on them.
M and Z think their really kiddie ones are the coolest. And they love
walking to the local store for the 10lb bags of beans.
Thinking of making some for my etsy site. (www.libertyworth.etsy.com)
should I?

Salvaged t-shirt

Miss M outgrew her Snow White shirt, so we cut out Snow White and
sewed her onto a new shirt!
A little zigzag on the sleeves and hem, and suddenly we have friends
asking where we got such a boutique-y shirt.

Fancypants #2

Last night's project

Okay, so my friend came over last night with some holey jeans she
wanted to patch up, so we turned it into a jean project night...
At the end of the night, we got into buttons, which - of course - have
to be used in much moderation... And these pants, who have been
awaiting some ornamentation, finally got their fix.
When she emails me photos of her pants, I'll post them...
This got me thinking... I think I want to maybe do a Summer Camp for
women... One night at a time, and call it "fancypants" ... Where women
would bring their jeans and pants and we could do embellishments on
them... What do you think?

Today's smile

The Design Director and me

So we were off to another princess birthday party last weekend - this time for 4 year old twins, and I decided I didn't like the gifts I had bought for them...

ahhhhh.... well, the 3.5 year old Design Director and I got to work... and we made these with some fun supplies we had laying around here.
of course, she had to have one as well... but the fun part was that she did make a lot of the decisions herself - 4 flowers in each garden, since they are 4, which colors, which buttons for the sunshines... we had a lot of fun putting these together... and they didn't take all that long.

The best part is that we found another use for Great-Grandma's yoyos... so we carry more of her treasures with us through life, and pass them on to other friends.

I have the coolest friends (Nichole at cupcream)

So my friend Nichole is my favorite superhero. She's an awesome mom, a miraculously fast seamstress, a fabulous designer, a great Disneyland date, and she's really really responsible for much of the figuring out of my skirt pattern - how to get all the different sizes, and she helped me put legs to the DoHippy bag design , which was only sketches until she came along.


She's also an unselfish friend, who is into helping other women business owners and I met her by the recommendation of Jill at AllyZabba...

Well, we own a couple of her Avery's Closet dresses for Miss M, but she recently (finally!) launched a website where you can get her classic-ly designed little girl dresses. They're fabulous and we ordered them a little big because M likes them so much that she wears them every chance she gets.
Hooray for new website launches! Visit www.cupcream.com
(and many congrats on the new *real* baby, too, Nichole!)

For the love of tshirts

Ok, so I love shirts and I love love anything with strawberries on it.
I picked this one up at Target, and the kids hadn't seen it, but I am
so happy I got it... It was blue, so I almost didn't get it, but when
I picked up M from school today in it, she squealed about it because
she thought it was so funny... That was worth the price of admission.
Z noticed it too and asked what the strawberry's name was...
Though this one is an obvious comment getter, they notice even little
details like jewelry choices or shoe design... my kids are destined to
dabble in design at some point...