Little By Little

Little by little I feel the energy and the momentum of AVCD pick up. It’s a great feeling to have when working towards a dream or goal. October was a great month for me. I got my clothing into a store in the East Village of Des Moines, and now I’m also in the works of adding my clothing to another boutique near my hometown!

Since achieving these small victories, I’ve come up with new goals for my fashion brand. I’m going to branch out and create a few new lines that I’m hoping will catch the eye of a few more boutiques. I’m more ambitious now than ever – now that I know my designs are good enough to be sold in stores and boutiques.

Some new ideas I’m pondering are a baby line, kitchen wear line, and possibly a dog line. People have been telling me for years that I need to branch out and make these things, but I never wanted to listen. I just didn’t feel that it fit my brand or my style, but I’ve grown and I now realize that consumers aren’t all like me. We’re all at different stages in our lives.

I’m also trying to keep up with my age group – we’re getting married and having babies now so it’s important that I adjust my craft to where my audience and consumers are headed. I think it’s a beautiful endeavor to grown and evolve with those who have been with AVCD from the very beginning. I’m excited to branch out with these lines and incorporate new designs.

It’s still the same journey, but now it’s just got a different path….thank you for believing in me and AVCD

-Amber

Work, Sleep, Repeat

I’m excited to announce that I have a Pop Up at Wanderlust Boutique next weekend in the East Village! It’s been a few years since I’ve done one of these, and I’m so happy that I have the opportunity to do it again! I’ve been working hard on new backpacks and jacket designs – something fresh that I’ve wanted to add to my collection for a while now. I’m hoping they’re well received.

It’s been a busy couple of months getting these designs started & finished. I feel like I’ve alienated myself from the rest of the world in order to meet my deadline. I’ve been in this committed routine of working all night...roughly 4-5 hours a night going back and forth from one project to another.

There’s been a couple of nights that have given me some grief…I’ve run out of thread, didn’t purchase the right size of zippers, broke my sewing machine, ruined all of my needles. Yeah, it’s safe to say that some of those nights have been nightmares! But even after all the headaches and misery, I’ve found happiness and motivation. I think that’s when you know you’re in love with what you’re doing. I’ve been tested with my patience and emotions, but I’ve never given up. Don’t get me wrong…there have been many times where I’ve sat and cursed at my sewing machine, but I just kept going.

I’m so invested in AVCD that it’s literally become a part of me. And if it fails, then so do I as a person. I often wonder if other designers feel that way. This isn’t just a hobby for me; it’s more of my lifestyle. I’m an artist, and I’m so connected to the things I make. I value my talents and skills, and I work this hard every day so I can keep getting better. I know it gets hard at times when I have those rough nights where nothing seems to go right, but I would rather work through a 100 of those nights to have just 1 day where I was seen as a great designer. 

Side Hustle

I just read an article that claims people who keep their full time job while working a side hustle are 33% less likely to fail. That’s a pretty big percentage if you ask me….that’s 1/3 of your chances making it as an entrepreneur. I’ve asked myself many times if quitting my full time job to pursue design would be better for me, but honestly I’m so glad I never gave up my day job. Not only does it fund my business, but being able to balance both a full time job and side hustle has given me a better work ethic. I know what it takes to hustle, and I take pride in that.

It often takes years before startups and new businesses make money anyways, so it’s necessary for survival for some people to keep their full time jobs.  Sometimes you have to test the waters & try new things before you dive head first into the entrepreneur world. Success is not guaranteed. And who knows how long it takes to find success…everyone’s journey is different.

The most important thing to remember is to stay positive and motivated. You are the only one who can push yourself to achieve your goals or dreams. You are also the only one who can limit yourself. I used to get hung up on the fact that I still work out of my basement, that I don’t own a shop, and that I’m not producing enough designs. I thought I was holding myself back with my full time job because I wasn’t giving my all to my fashion. But it’s those late night hours, weekends lost as you obsess over your craft, every cent saved put into perfecting your side hustle that make it so much more valuable. When you’re given no other option BUT to side hustle, you understand what it takes to make it. You understand the worth of your passions & dreams. 

Small Victories

You should always celebrate even when it comes to your small achievements. When time and hard work pay off, give yourself a moment to acknowledge that. That’s exactly what I’m doing this week. I just finished up a few commission pieces for clients, and their designs led to a few more. It’s exciting to see how one client’s design can transcend into more valued work for me. For the longest time, I’ve backed away from doing commission pieces, but I’ve found a new confidence that allows me to dive into these projects.  I finally feel like I’m doing what I’ve been working towards the last 5 years. Slowly…but gradually I’m becoming the designer I’d always hoped I’d be.  So yes, I’m celebrating these small victories!

Not Enough Time

I think I was a little ambitious thinking I’d be ready by the end of June to launch my new line. Most of the clothing is ready, but I’m nowhere near done with my video/promotion projects.  I guess I could always promote my items via pictures and circle back around with my film projects later….my goal was to promote with both at the same time, but now I feel like I’m running out of time this summer. My other option is to wait until everything is done and promote then. The only downside to that is summer will probably be over and most of my items are summer based. 

Also my personal life is taking over the summer, which isn’t a bad thing, but it leaves very little room to work ahead on projects.  It’s so hard when I want to go out and have fun, but I still want to work on my clothing. I really don’t want to sacrifice my summer for a deadline. I’m thinking I just might have to push everything back…it’s not the end of the world I guess.

I’ve also jumped back into my documentary project, and I’m trying to make that a priority as well. I have a deadline of January for that, and if anyone understands the time consumption with film editing, it’s me. It takes forever, and I’m a perfectionist so it takes even longer!

I’ve come to a point this summer where I really need to re-evaluate my goals; and although it kind of bums me out, I just have to realize that putting my clothing projects on the back burner doesn’t mean I’m abandoning them. It just means I care enough about them that I want to give them the attention they deserve. I want to invest quality time into my projects so they’re beneficial and have rewarding outcomes.

Fashion Campaign

My new line is by far my favorite collection of designs I’ve made.  I’m also incorporating more second hand finds that work well with my handmade items, and I’m really starting to see AVCD take shape. I’m also working on a fashion campaign for the new line…something artistic and more performance base. Hoping I can tease a few items before launching it for the public…I want it to be kind of like an album release where there’s a lot of promotion and hype around it before it drops. Hoping my vision for this campaign turns out well…either way at least I’m trying something different!

Along with starting the campaign, I just had my 1^stphotoshoot for it a few days ago. Was a total success…as always with my good friend Bailey! Bailey has been modeling for AVCD for 5 years now. She was just a teen when she started and so shy, and now she’s grown into this beautiful young lady who is full of confidence and talent. I’m so happy that I’ve gotten to work with her this long…she never disappoints. She’s definitely one of my favorite people to shoot.

And now that I’ve got my first set of pictures done, I’m ready to start on the video aspect of the campaign. Hoping to get my sisters involved a bit with this and just have some fun! I’m going to push myself the next couple of weeks to really get this going; I would love to launch my campaign by the end of June. Fingers crossed I can get this done!!

XOXO

Amber

Summer Projects

I'm so ready for summer, and I'm so ready to start some new projects! I've been trying to get a Fashion Diaries tour going for the summer, but it's not going as well as I thought. I really anticipated that more boutiques would want to participate, but it's hard getting any responses back. My goal was to plan a Midwest fashion tour in Minneapolis, Des Moines, Kansas City, and Omaha where I  set up pop up/trunk shows in boutiques in exchange for promotion videos. I thought it would be a great way to showcase my designs in other cities and to add more video content to the Fashion Diaries.

I'm not giving up hope that more boutiques will sign on, but I think I've accepted the reality that this project is a lot harder than I thought! It might have to be a goal that I carry out the rest of the year into next year. Nothing wrong with that though!

Along with trying to get the tour going, I've also decided to create a new web series titled Sewing With Amber. Basically I hang out with my friends and family - making them sew along with me. I've filmed and edited my first episode....results were a little different than I expected, but I honestly love how it turned out. It's such a laid back, fun, and creative project. I'm hoping I can get more episodes filmed this summer.

Oh and I've also started a new podcast - Ambitious Amber! Yeah, I've been pretty busy, but I love it! The podcast will center around my journey with AVCD, and I'll be giving advice as well as sharing my experience with anyone who wants to listen!

SO I'm thinking that's enough projects for now...at least through summer lol! In between all of these projects, I still need to set up some photo shoots, film promo videos, and keep designing! Of course I love a good challenge, so there's no way I'm going to allow myself to be lazy. I'd rather have too much to do than not enough!

Stay tuned because if all goes well I should be promoting new videos for all my projects by end of summer! As always, thank you for your support!!

XOXO - Amber

Fresh Start

New year, new goals….and this year it’s all about branding, branding, branding. Like I’ve said before, I started AVCD because I love to design, but I never really gave much thought to what the brand itself actually stood for. With new direction in place and my motivation drawn to sustainable fashion, I’m starting to feel AVCD come together. It’s becoming a driving force for what I believe in. I feel empowered and ready to conquer this new year.

My 5 year anniversary is right around the corner – I can’t even believe it’s been that long. But how awesome is it to say that I’ve been doing this for 5 years! I’m super stoked about that! It just proves how much I really love what I’m doing, and I hope it also shows how far I’ve come. I’m challenging myself with new designs, new marketing techniques, and just making AVCD more authentic overall.

One addition to AVCD that I’m totally in love with right now is my new sewing videos. I should have been posting these a long time ago, but I wasn’t real confident about them before. I always thought maybe someone would tell me I wasn’t doing something right, or my sewing process was all screwed up. You know it’s never easy to take criticisms about the things you love to do. But now I’m at a place where I am confident in the things I do, and I don’t care what people say or think about it. It took a while to get to this point, but I’m so happy I’ve finally arrived! I’m at a great place with AVCD, and I think my work speaks for itself!

-Amber