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When I was a child, my father was a gardener, and I had the wonderful advantage of living close to the forest. My father taught me to love little things and the miracle of watching nature. The forest was a safe place to play and let my imagination run wild.

I cannot list any academic degrees or art schools to prove that I learned about art in any formal way. After school, I went to work in an advertising office. While filling, pasting and serving coffee, I watched the artists paint. After 8 months, I became a kid ad artist ... for $ 1.15 an hour!

When my children were born, I was working as a freelance advertising artist. However, I continued to paint with watercolors in long dresses and to embroider. All these became gifts. In one year, I spent 3 months hand-coloring my Christmas cards on paper with decorative edges. Most of the people who received them thought they were store-bought and threw them away.

As my kids grew up, I returned to full-time work, only this time I became the main fashion illustrator in the advertising office. One dress took up a whole page, and I did all my layouts myself. It was then that I met my current husband, Bruce. He was the cameraman who filmed my advertising work. Our dates were in the countryside, where we photographed old Amish farms.

We got married and moved to the village. The house was an old Victorian relic and was located near Amish farms. All my days were spent quilting (patchwork), gardening, painting and cross stitching. The Amish family across the street has become our best friends. We did a lot with them together, and it was interesting for me to delve into their unusual life.

Circumstances forced us to return to the city. Oh, how I missed my Amish friends! At this stage, I sewed my first Quilting design for my home. The Amish designs available in 1985 did not reflect the true Amish spirit I was introduced to. After the design was completed, I proudly took it to my local craft store. The owner said, "Make a schematic and I'll sell it." I thought she was crazy, but I did it using photocopies, sandwich bags and photographs. She asked how much I want to sell them. I said "Dollar?" When she insisted that I sell it for $ 5, I was so embarrassed! It made me feel like I was wasting money from people. The owner took 25 schemes and they were sold out in 3 days. We went to other stores in our area after I did the second design. The owners dragged me into the back rooms and called the names of the distributors. A few weeks later, I got calls from new distributors. All my bookkeeping was done in a small notebook. Orders poured in. We stacked schedules at the dinner table and packed boxes in the kitchen. It all started with a $ 50 investment and no advertising ... word of mouth spread them all over the world. I had to learn business. I did things they thought was crazy ... like giving out free work, calling stores to see if designs were on sale, and treating my employees with respect and paying them too much money. Now accountants and bankers are looking at me in surprise. I think I was able to succeed by instinct.

So I learned art, business and life from others, coming up with them along the way. I follow my heart and am always amazed at the results. We now live in a forest by the sea in Maine. The business is located in a 200 year old home, 2 miles from our home. My 4 oldest kids went to college at the expense of my little cross stitch patterns. We adopted two children when they were one day old. Matthew is now 8 and Sarah is 2. My house is big, so everyone is going back for vacation.

Last year I added a new studio to the house ... like a real artist) In the end, I felt that I deserved a good room to work, and not a corner in the attic. This room has large cages with my angels. Three cockatoos look at me, sit on my shoulder and listen to my music while I construct my work. Around my house in the forest there is a large garden and flowers are constantly blooming.

Since this work has given me many blessings, I feel obligated to make each new design better than the last. When I do design, I am still an embroiderer. Magic happens, peace is like a thread running through the forest, and I follow it with all my heart.

Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum, 1995

PS: Marilyn died peacefully in August 2012. Our life has been blessed with her art and loving spirit.

Copying and Downloading Lavender & Lace Schemes

The author's diary. July 2000

“Last week, many designers large and small learned that our cross stitch patterns are popping up all over the Internet, and you can download our work for free if you want.

To all devotees, dear parties

If you are interested in my projects, you can skip reading ... this does not apply to you.

When I design something, I can do it quickly, but I don’t. I contemplate, fiddle around, rework, worry and keep reworking until the design is as perfect as possible. There is a spirit in my work that I pass on to the booklet maker of my work.

This is my job ... I was a mother of four children receiving benefits ... I have no college education ... I have been putting schematics into finished works for many hours of my life! This is my income. This is my help to other people who feel the same as me. When you copy and share my work and I don't get my 60 cents (yes, that's all, 60 cents), you punch me in the face. Displaying my images without copyright information or copying a template is not the best option. The goodwill of this craft has been undermined by a new wave of thieves without honesty.

You are not a best friend if you donate a pattern for free. You are not helping this person ... you could expose him to legal danger. You will find no peace in the embroidery of the stolen angels. You close stores. More than 75% of handicraft stores have been closed due to design theft. You are not helping the poor ... they have a computer. You will not find recognition or love by cheating. You don't need a working copy. I provide a replacement. You can crawl into any evil corner, but you cannot hide from yourself.

You will be found, and you will be held responsible for every act of theft in which you are guilty. You can afford fabric and floss, which are much more expensive than a pattern or a cross stitch pattern, but what is left without a pattern?

Women have come a long way in the past 25 years, and I will witness them enjoying the same respect and legal protection as men's intellectual property. Maybe when you lose your homes and cars, you will find out what the law you are laughing at is capable of.

I ask all people who have ever bought any of my patterns to speak out against this policy in every evil corner of the Internet where they see this going on. Speak with your feelings. Let these people know what they are doing wrong!

Let me know because I will add you to the And They Lived Happily Ever After Forever list. This means you will receive free sewing patterns every time I release a design - for the rest of your life.

I have never sued anyone in my life, but it upsets me so much that I am determined to set an example for any of you. It might be the one who creates the group, or maybe the one who copies my design for distribution, or maybe the one who downloads it!

It's a shame that good people ... those who support their designers have to be somewhere close to those who give this horrible sneaky, insidious slap to the designers.

You know who you are and now many will be looking for you because we need more stores, more patterns and more designers. Do you want to go to JoAnn's store and hunt for a piece of even weave? I remember when I did that!

Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum

In our online store you can buy an original licensed cross stitch pattern from Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum and her Lavender & Lace. Our managers will help you choose an option from any category: Amish, Angels, Children, Celtic, Babies, New Year and Christmas, Fairies, Killing, Design Kits, Samples and Wedding Designs. You can order delivery by any postal service of your choice to anywhere in Kiev and other cities of Ukraine.

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