...it takes a lot for dreams to come to realization.

It begins with a concept.

You put down on paper your idea. You sketch. You scratch. You try again. You draw some lines. You erase. You add some marks. You take away others. You keep on repeating this pattern until you're satisfied with transferring what was in your head onto a space that makes it more concrete, more visible.

And even then, somehow, in the dreams it was always more beautiful, more elegant, more fantastical. Such are dreams...they are never perfect in realization. You know this.

But, still, it's worth striving for.

Once the floating thoughts are put into concrete lines in a place where you can see and adjust things, you get to put on paper ALL the visions that you had. There are no limits...in ideology, that is.

Drafts are fun because you get to see what you want...

and then you get to make decisions about some things...how to incorporate structural support where needed, how to sew more creatively, how to change proportions so that things look the way you envisioned, how to attach parts...essentially the beginnings of a puzzle piecing.

Sketches are also so much fun because you get to color. How often do YOU color? If your answer is never...I encourage you to give it a try some time. It's really quite relaxing and meditative. No wonder Tibetan buddhist monks spend countless hours laboring with infinite detail over sand mandalas.

When you color a sketch, it helps give an idea whether the colors and prints you wanted to use will work or not. In some cases, what you had in mind may come out looking better than you thought and sometimes it may come out looking all wrong.

Sometimes, you dwell on the ideas for so long that you're just ready to go...grab the jacket and hat and just head out the door and jump with a leap of faith.

And even then, patience holds fast and you just have to sit on the idea and dwell a little longer...maybe the stash of fabric you had in mind is not the right dash of colors, maybe you need to give more thought on that structural support, maybe you need to work out some more details, maybe you need to spend more time learning a sewing skill that you don't have so that you can make certain parts of your idea come to life...maybe, maybe, maybe, what if, what if, what if....it can go on forever.