You areBorn an Original- Don't Die a Copy!

When I was little, our parents, who themselves were artistic and creative, made sure we had crayons, coloring books, and the usual pencils and paper.  I remember a day when I traced the image of Mickey Mouse from the cover of a coloring book and colored it in to match.   I was really disappointed when I took it to my mother for some compliments and instead she said, "Well that's nice, Linda.  But why don't you draw and color something from your own imagination?"  That was the day I knew that no matter what I created, my mother would give more approval for my effort, then making a good copy!

Years ago when I was a guest speaker at a Home Show in the Yukon, I was given local VIP treatment and taken to the radio station to be interviewed.   Based on the questions I shared that I was active in a women's organization through our church called Women of Worth.  At the end when he asked me if I had a final word to share with the audience, one of their mottoes came flying out of my mouth and I said, " You're born an original. Don't die a copy."  This was the ending to an interview about my staged seminar on faux painting at the Home Show with a local artist doing the hands on demonstration.  The purpose of it all was to inspire the audience with ideas to consider for an original look in their home décor. 

Our BLING THING aka Sun Catcher Pendants to hang or to wear are each an original. No two are exactly alike.  The up side is that it keeps my sister, Esther Susan in her happy place making whatever her heart desires.  The down side is that there is so much to choose from that shoppers are often falling in love with more than they want to spend!  Our summer specials are promoting our BLING THINGS for Beauty and Safety on glass and screen doors, but it was really hard to decide which ones to pick for the promo and media share.

​I don't intend to die a copy and whenever I'm tempted to be like someone else or do what they are doing, I stop and ask myself if it's going to make me a better 'original', or just a copy.