French Haute Couture Embroidery and Youtube

Yesterday I was busy writing a post about what I found in my piles of drawing and calculations on my desk at work. Yesterday I took few hours to clean up in my work emails (both in the inbox and the sent folders) and my desk. I had forgottten that the iPad battery was below 5% and suddenly everything was shut down.

Last year changes happened at work, and due to new departments, prject groups etc. we got to move to new places but on same floor. Before we all went on Christmas holidays we packed all our files and papers etc. in boxes, and after the holidays we settled on our new desks. I was too lazy to organize some drawing and calculations, so I just put everything on my desk when taking those things out of the boxes.
Finally yetserday I pulled myself together to organise the piles of papers and coudl see the colour of my desk :)

While organising I found notes taken from a course in "Better Planning in Your Work" I went to for 1 or 2 years ago. The main thing was about how to use some tools to make better planning of our tasks, both at work and at home. One of the tools was to use the mind mapping technique in almost everything, even when taking notes in a meeting, or having a paper with the most important notes and questions when attending an interview.
The mind map gives a quick overview, if it is used considerate and sensible.
We have used mind map technique before years back, but I never took it into anything. But this course gave me some fantastic keys to use the mind map techniques without thinking it is too comprehensive.
I also found a paper full of notes taken from a department meeting, where I used the meeting as a good opportunity to try the mind map techniques.
It works. But I may admit, I haven't implemented it fully in my way of working.

I give up too early, but after the discovery yesterday I said to myself to make things easy and simple as possible, and use the techniques from the course.

The very simple basic for a nice mind map is to use colour pens, CAPITAL LETTERS, maximum 3 words per line, figures and icons to each maintopic and/or subtopic to illustrate the contents.

You can find lot of books about the mind map techniques.
Also there are many elctronic version of mind maps. I found one app for my iPad yesterday called: "Mindjet"

For one day ago I wrote that I want to design my own sarees. So I took the idea of designing saree and made a nice mind map covering the idea. The outcome is really nice, and I am not finished yet. I have to pull out some subtopics and create new mind maps covering those to split the mind map in smaller pieces.

Today I used 3 hours in the morning to do a small "research" about how to get the embroideries done. The YouTube is such a helpful tool and I found all the videos containing free tutorials about what I needed to know about stitching/doing emebroidery etc., and to be confident that I am able to take my new hobby into the reality soon.

A helpful video I found is about the beading and embrodery techniques used in the French Haute Couture  embroideries. This technique is also called tambour beading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBNzPgK0N30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctalL88NMqM&feature=related

I have a drawer full of beads and threads from my teenage years where I was into doing necklaces etc. For years I have arked them away. And I think it is time to get those beads out and get started training the embroidery technique using the tambour needle.
Wow, how amazing would it be to design your own borders in colours and designs you prefer!

But I said to myself not to get started before having done my "research" very well. I need to be well prepared and considerated in this project. I really have this desire of designing sarees for years, and I don't want to get started for few weeks and park the hobby in a corner where it can gather dust like other hobby equipment I have purchased earlier when I was drawn by a sudden interest.

Today I talked to my cousin in Toronto, and we planned to pursue our desires and goals and get a perfect outcome in stead of this start and stopping in the middle - way of living.
What we have planned is to put some money and get to know to stitch really nice saree blouses. So by the end of this year we should be quite good in designing and stitching our saree blouses.
And I believe that we will be stitching regularly soon :)

Today's persons of my choice: Steven Chen, Chad Hurley & Jawed Karim
...for founding the youtube.com.
What an great idea. And how amazingly useful it is!!!
Thanks to these guys!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube