Friday, January 29, 2016



I’m a Fraud
but the dogs don’t care


 
      As some of you know, I am an instructor for Craftsy, an online learning community. This past weekend they had their first ever instructor summit, and fortunately for me it was here in Denver and Bob (my handsome marketing guy) and I were  able to attend. They put us up at a wonderful hotel ( the now-Super Bowl bound Broncos were sequestered there with us- I did see a few of them but did not get a chance to chat with any- damn those security guards) and fed us all weekend, plus they had several presentations on how to better market our businesses.  Craftsy is a really great company- due to the storm back east several instructors – approximately a dozen or so-had to delay their flights home until Monday, and on Saturday night Craftsy announced they would pay for the instructor’s extra night to stay at the same hotel. I thought that was fantastic.

The Hotel
 

Denver Broncos Wing



The Gazebo where I rendezvoused with Peyton!

   Due to the fact that quilting is one of their bigger class categories, quite a few of their sponsors were fabric companies and had booths set up. Whoo hoo!  I had great eye candy all weekend, and left very inspired.








 
   At one point during one presentation, one of the presenters asked for a show of hands of how many of us worked at a job other than our craft. 2 of us raised our hands- out of 190 people. 2. How can these people afford to work from home and sell their craft and their teaching skills? Surely they all didn’t win the Powerball.  It didn’t hit me then, but after I got home Sunday night and was snuggling with my pups it started to sink in. All weekend, everyone I chatted with had multiple books and/or patterns published, taught nationally, taught on cruises (my dream job, BTW), etc. What in the Hell was I doing at that instructor summit?  I was in awe of all of them, and they could not have been sweeter, more kind, or willing to share their knowledge.
   The realization set in that I was never going to be more than what I am at this moment- just a lover of quilting. I can sure follow someone else’s pattern, but make up my own? Heck no! It will never happen. I will never be a Sue Nickels, Alex Anderson, or Eleanor Burns. I should have known this before now, but for some reason I did not. Oh well- I don’t think I could train Chip and Dale to pick up my fabric remnants off of the floor anyway.

  I fell into getting to teach my Craftsy class. Someone had backed out of filming and someone I knew contacted me to see if I could do it. I did not have to submit a presentation, rely on my online presence, and be a “certified” quilter. Now, I am certifiable according to some people but that is another blog story. HAHA. I did not have to come up with a new pattern or technique, I just had to teach a quilt pattern that has been around since forever. I do feel like I taped a good class, and it has been successful according to Craftsy standards. Thank goodness. But I will never get to teach another Craftsy class. I have no merits to speak of, and the first one was just a fluke. I was just in the right place at the right time. And I need to be ok with it.
   We learned a lot this past weekend, and one of the exercises was telling your story. Well there you have it.  My name is Courtenay, and I am a fraud. And I still love Red Velvet Cake. I do so appreciate all of you for reading this. I am hoping to get more blogs out on a more timely basis- but this damn 70+ hour work week really cuts into my blog story time! But I will try to get better. The only reason I am getting this blog post done is our network went down at work and I can’t do any real work- I will fit it in where I can!

     Have a great day everyone!

Chip with his hot compress

Dale