When Work is Not So Fab

The catch about doing custom work for a living is, I don't always love the treatment I'm being commissioned to make.  Maybe I don't care for the fabric.  Maybe I don't like the treatment.  Maybe the treatment is not the best way to use a fabric that I do like.  And so on.
Sometimes the job is REALLY HARD and the result of all the hard work is just not as great as all that work would warrant.
Sometimes you work really hard on a job that you really love, and when it's done you see that you've made a dumb mistake, like didn't center the motif as well as you could have, or, well, there are a hundred thousand dumb mistakes I could make.
Sometimes you work really hard on a job that you like, then get the dreaded phone call from the decorator who tells you the customer didn't like the fabric she chose, or the treatment she thought she loved.  Sometimes the customer- *gasp!*- doesn't like my workmanship!!
Yes, it happens.
HOWEVER-
Sometimes you open a fabric that you really loathe, and then once the work is completed it turns out that the fabric is wonderful after all.
Sometimes you deliver a job that you really didn't like, then get the dreaded phone call from the decorator who tells you that the customer LOVES it!
Sometimes you have a run of fabulously wonderful gorgeous fabrics to work with, and sometimes you get a run of fabrics that are a big yawn.
Well, so, you can see that it's an emotional see-saw, because I really care about making a job that is beautiful and well-made.

I guess recently I've had one of those runs of fabrics and treatments I'm not personally wild about, which, I suppose, is why I haven't been photographing them.
So I thought I'd post a picture or two of some treatments that I've made that make me smile.

I don't think my sisters and niece will mind if their kitchen window treatments are featured today.
I'm really thrilled with these, because I made everything with scraps and cheap trims I found at Walmart.
The light colorway was leftover from a lot of different batches, jobs over the years out a wildly popular fabric that I must have made a hundred pillows out of.  When I realized I didn't have enough for my design, I found scraps of the red colorway and had enough to complete the toppers.

On the valances I used several ribbons, some tassels, beads, and bias welting out of a little plaid.  There was just enough of a beautiful braid with little pompoms for the bottom of the roman shades.

This kitchen always makes me smile!