Veronica Hughes: The Collective lhe Makery classes and workshops are open for registration!

You guys!!! I am super-excited to announce that our Collective lhe Makery classes are open for registration!!! The website is up and running, and we are overwhelmed by the response so far. Going into this project, we really weren’t sure how it was going to be received. We’ve been crazily getting ready for our grand opening in September (which you are all going to be invited to!), and we are so excited to have you come and visit!

Let's go make something at the Makery in Lisle, IL

We finally finished the Makery table. You can see how we put it together, and what the space looked like before here.

Makery table in Lisle, IL at the Colletive lhe, registration for Makery classes is open!

We are thrilled with how it turned out! Especially after we priced tables. Anything that size, that was remotely not ugly or plastic, was almost $1,000. Somehow we didn’t think putting out a bunch of plastic folding tables has the same effect for a creative, inspiring makery space. It’s coming along so well, sometimes it’s hard to believe that this is all real. It’s something that I have been thinking about doing for so long, that I never thought it would actually happen.

There is a funny thing that is happening in this process. I am finding out who I really am, and what I am capable of.

For a really long time, there has been this really creative,artsy person inside of me. She’s wanted to dress in fun ways, and live a certain kind of life, and be out in the world. For a really long time, she’s shared her creativity on-line, but she always felt like there was supposed to be more to the story, more than wearing gray sweat pants (or as hubby calls it, my “groutfit”.) and hanging out at home all day. This sounds weird to say, but I’ve always felt like I was meant to be an entrepreneur. However, I never thought I would be investing in a start-up at 45. It’s just a little crazy,but it’s funny what happens when things are spoken into your life, and you act on them.

I have to admit, after I turned 40, I hit a bit of a slump. I saw younger bloggers/social media influencers coming in, and picking up right where us “older bloggers” have fought to hard to get. They were cooler, hipper, and all of the on-line social media stuff is second nature to them. I didn’t touch a computer until the basic Apple computer we used in 8th grade. And when I say computer, I mean tan box with green text on a black screen. It was almost a glorified typewriter. In fact, I still used a word processor in college. The most exciting thing about that was that you could read an entire sentence before you pressed print. The new generation didn’t have to take the last 10 years and figure it all out from scratch, cursing at issues without on-line support, struggling to be found by an audience, or figuring out how to code. All the avenues are already there, and the path has already been laid out for them. Really, the bar has already been set… by us. So, after all of those years, it starts to make you feel not as relevant, and like time is passing you by, and you are falling behind. In the mean time, you are at home struggling with all of real life. Relationships, kids who are slowly finding themselves, and challenging you in every way possible… Aging parents, unexpected bills, mortgages, debt,health issues. All of the things we like to pretend aren’t really happening behind the scenes, but happen to every single one of us, every single day. I struggled. In fact, after my spinal fusion surgery, it was worse. I just felt like I wasn’t myself. Recovery, even though people say 6 weeks, is a big, fat,lie. It was really like a full year for me. So, for a long time I could feel myself phoning it in for a lot of things, because that’s what we do when life gets hard. And you know what? Sometimes it’s OK to do just that.

This last year has been a game changer for me. I started really reflecting on where I wanted to be in the future. I read an article about “My future self” and what would she thank me for, or hate me for later, and I really started thinking about my path ahead, and my families journey and what I want for them too.

This big leap of faith Autumn and I are taking has changed the way I see everything. I realize we need to stop seeing ourselves as irrelevant, just because our bodies are aging, and everything hurts when we get up in the morning. I need to stop judging myself by years I’ve had, and start going by the days I have now. There are so many possibles out there, if we are willing to take those leaps of faith, and change with the times, and embrace new adventures. 45 is the new 25. Somethings are going to turn out great, somethings are going to flop. In the end, we don’t know how this is going to turn out, but if we never take that first step, we never know.

So we stepped.

Here we go.

I hope you come and visit us. We have amazing classes planned, and experiences to help you nurture that creative side. We are in love with the beautiful boutique and vintage goodies we have in the retail portion, and we are excited to have you experience all of it with us.

You can register for Makery classes here, and I’ll keep you posted on everything else that is ahead too!