So my new clothes have arrived ( a couple of my samples, anyhow ) and I am more in love with them than I hoped I would be. I immediately set to work on trying them on and decided to film the process and intro the clothes with whatever film I captured. See the video below to get a glimpse of my new goodies.
If it seems like I'm delighted with the quality of the items I am, I am so happy the colors in real life look as beautiful as the colors in my imagination and on-screen, plus the make and fit are reliably supeior to the ones I could design on before. These are all I was hoping for and I'm so excited.
This video I must admit I laughed at and watched a few times. It was because it made me laugh that I even kept my ass in there as I was pulling my pants up over it. But it looked so ridiculous to me and I tried so hard to recover and the dragonfly looked so cool I decided to keep it in.
And guess what.
The dragonfly goes on the front.
How
did
If it seems like I'm delighted with the quality of the items I am, I am so happy the colors in real life look as beautiful as the colors in my imagination and on-screen, plus the make and fit are reliably supeior to the ones I could design on before. These are all I was hoping for and I'm so excited.
This video I must admit I laughed at and watched a few times. It was because it made me laugh that I even kept my ass in there as I was pulling my pants up over it. But it looked so ridiculous to me and I tried so hard to recover and the dragonfly looked so cool I decided to keep it in.
And guess what.
The dragonfly goes on the front.
How
did
I
miss
that?
Honestly until a friend of mine asked me which way to wear it? I had NO idea I was wearing it backwards.
What an introduction. I've decided it's perfect and I'm keeping it in. If anything it will give people something to scratch their heads over. Giggle.
Anyhow, I don't expect people to wear all this stuff together by the way. My items are not meant to be worn "party on the top and party on the bottom" always, unless you love literally being ALOT. Then by all means have at er.
Personally I usually wear a top OR a bottom and then I pair them with a matching solid from one of my other favorite brands. The pants I am wearing in this video are Lululemon
The fit is true (I'm a large in most brands. A medium in generous brands and XL in fancy shit) I'm wearing large for everything.
Ok maybe I'm not breaking up with ME but I'm breaking up with something I've worked very hard on for well over a year now. It's my store. I'm breaking up with my old storefront.
All that art I made is gone, blown up and I already have a new store lined up
Last summer while a lovely lady was making a number of purchases in my store, she wrote and asked me to make a T-shirt for a pattern she favored (because I had not designed one yet). So, of course gladly I made her the T-shirt, which she added to her orders. Shortly after her order arrived, I checked with her to see how everything was.
She said she LOVED all the items but sadly she would have to wait till she lost a little bit of weight, before she could wear the capris. Sadly I didn't have a larger size capris or leggings to offer her so, she hadn't made the wrong size choice, I had simply only limited sizes in my store.
This made me feel a kind of way, and it was not a content feeling, knowing that my new friend was unable to wear my weird and wonderful clothes, simply because I didn't have the right products to suit everyone out there.
I thought about it a lot.
As a musician first and artist second, I want to run the "business" side of things, not at alll. Putting together a store and learning all the dreary numbers and tables and htmls and ins and outs and getting computer friendly has not been an easy hike at all, especially when all I want to do is make things look or sound pretty. And I finally had my store running even if it wasn't serving everyone.
But it still bothered me that I couldn't serve everyone, and if the only thing in my way was myself, well I've learned how to do things before. When publishers wouldn't even look at my book idea a couple of years ago, I learned how to self publish. Now I have two books, the second one I also published entirely myself (well my husband supports me in everything I do but that's a whole other love story), because I could. I just had an idea and made the book. So what I am getting at here is that I find forced growth is often a good thing or at least a catalyst. I embrace it (often after a bunch of complaining, but I digress).
And thanks to my aforementioned new friend (who loves butterflies by the way), my thinking turned into inspiration. Inspiration to do what I had never done before and get off my ass and source a manufacturer who could provide ALL the products I needed.
Look, I've had people write to me and ask me to get larger sizes or to make shorts, or long sleeve sun shirts, or leggings with pockets etc....... but it's an enormous task to change everything.
This woman is a customer however, she committed to me by purchasing, and I felt like I had failed her.
So I was determined to at the very least, find some leggings in her size that I could customize for her, even just to send her as a unique original pair, just for her. Never in my wildest dreams did I realize her simple request for some Pickleball Butterfly clothes would inspire a radical blow up of my store.
You see I found a supplier with the best leggings I could locate. They looked amazing online, crossover yoga band, pockets and seemingly superior construction to the ones I had in my store at the time. The best part is they went up to size 6X and that's several sizes above what I even needed, so things looked golden, I dug in and designed a pair.
While on the new site designing I noticed some other items with similar broad sizing that were empty canvases, just waiting for me to create on, pieces that people had been asking for. Different cuts, better materials, More significant construction.
I wanted to see this stuff. It is pricier and I wanted to see how it feels in real life, to see if it was worth the extra cost, so I made some longer athletic shorts and an athletic short sleeved top as well and sent off my order.
When they arrived I was so impressed with it all that I found that my wheels where turning. This stuff is too good for me not to offer it. It would be excruciating, but I had to do this.
So I set out looking to teach myself how to RE-do my store. I didn't do it without help. I did as much as I could by myself first, and then when it got scary, I searched and found a web expert who lives close enough by who helped get me running and then due to family emergency could not continue the job.
Which paralyzed me. I was not interested in floating alone again without someone I could trust holding my hand through the web developer stuff, so, I blew it up again.
Yes, after a thousand dollars of education I had a beautiful store that I realized I didn't want to run because the stress of it took all the fun of the art away.
And this new site lets me just be an artist. The Artist Shops.
basics like Tshirts and hoodies as well as all sorts of new items like mugs, towels, jackets, stickers, sweatshirts and more will cost you LESS because that all has been moved onto my ARTIST site where it's not my own store, I am merely an artist who designs using the THREADLESS site where you get the items from directly, and I get a commission. It cuts out the middle man, the shop and sends you to the source. If I put these basics in my store I have to charge more and do all sorts of work to do so. So I didn't. Look for all these new gift items and basics at my ARTIST store HERE.
Canadian residents please note some items will be shipping internationally and duties could apply.
And to my new friend, she has her new leggings now, and loves them, and I am so grateful to her for her open comments because it spurred me and all of us, to a better place. See the old store I blew up. (I still have all these designs and more ready to go digital if someone wants to partner with me)
Here is my free ARTIST shop. :)
This site will invite you to sign up but you can bypass that, you are not obligated to sign up to look or shop! :)
And for your listening enjoyment I leave you with my latest #pickleball parody. "I DINKED the ball and I liked it" based on @Katy Perry's iconic tune I Kissed a Girl which I used to sing with @Hitzone a hundred years ago. :) (also please take some time, Katy has a foundation called Firework Foundation and she serves underprivileged kids with her inspiring camp)
The video above features not only my friend @Lee Whitwell but also a few other outstanding young professional pickleball players who she wrangled in to guest star with her, and it's so been exciting to watch the PPA and MLP and spot these players who are in my video, out there being awesome on the courts. In fact the same day I got the video part from Rachael Rohrabacher my hubby and I watched her win a gold medal with Anna Bright. I've since seen them all playing on stream and become a fan of each of them, so thank you SO much again pickleball stars! (and speaking of Pickleball Stars.... )
Now I know for a fact that many of you don't really watch pickleball on TV (or stream it) because you tell me so, and that's a real shame. If I can inspire you all to do one thing for your pickleball self that will inspire you and ignite some fire in your happy little pickleball heart, let it be to tune in to some pro pickleball and give it a watch. Admittedly it's getting weirdly harder and easier at the same time to watch. There is more pickleball streaming than ever before but no one knows where to watch it, so it is a challenge, but most of the big Pickleball Forums share great clips and so if you scroll through those it's a place to start. They usually post when there are tournaments streaming as well.
If you know this game it's really worth watching it being played at the highest level, especially when you know just how hard it is to be THAT consistent.....you will keep tuning in to be inspired to move your own feet more if nothing else.
I used to save my pennies and take them to the record store to buy records and I especially loved the bang for your buck I would get from a K-Tel record.
I also love doing pickleball parodies. and when I realized I had enough for a K -Tel record style video, picKleTel records was born...... ;) Find me at https://linktr.ee/rachaelchatoor
Mad props thanks and credit to the original artists and writers of all parodied songs:
Don Schlitz - for The Gambler
Steve Miller Band - The Joker
Rachael Chatoor - Feelings for Sale
Bryan Adams - Summer of 69
Barenaked Ladies - If I had 1,000,000
Pharrell Williams - Happy
The Clash - Will you stay or will you go
America the band - Lonely People
Rachael Chatoor - Overboard
TLC - Don't go chasing Waterfalls
Rachael Chatoor - Everything Breaks
Thank you Lee Whitwell @LadyGibraltar
for your awesome guest appearances ~
#pickleball#pickleballsongs#pickleballaddict
Also posing with my book wandering around at Nationals.
I LOVED the clear bag policy!
Jac in hi GUITARious shirt, front row from the Chill Lounge
Hanging with our friends during a great men's match.
VIP section again, this is Kerry the photographer to the pros.
Met with my Forget Me Nots musical partner from the 90's and her hubby at Demuth park.
Lee Whitwell wearing a custom hoodie I made for her.
A cool Coffey's to Go Selfie!
More selfies with my friend Lee Whitwell, who dropped in on us for some pickle tips and tricks and left us with cheeks hurting from the laughter. We followed up with some beers and snacks making it quite a perfect afternoon!
My Pickleball gals in Palm Springs for the PFFW event!
I toured around my province in Canada with a duo called the Forget me Nots. After a making a funny promo video (long before YouTube was a thing), our agents told us to put together a band so they would send us overseas.
A couple months later 4 girls wound up In the United Arab Emirates, rocking out night after night for a three month tour. It was there that I found my husband who himself had travelled to the UAE from the UK to work.
Fast forward more than a decade, four continents and a couple of kids later...
I found myself back in Canada and on the road doing a rock n roll video series called "All Access Pass" with Kelly Brock (of famed Vancouver band Dr Strangelove) where we got to go backstage and interview music industry royalty such as Loverboy and Chilliwack and go behind the scenes with music industry bigwigs to lift the veil for viewers! (We were both working musician Moms, carving out a creative space for ourselves and we had a blast doing this series).
I also had the Rachael Chatoor Band rotating in and out of the River Rock and Hard Rock Casinos, was lead singer in Hitzone, and sang background with Catherine St Germain in the Indestructables; all of which rotated in and out of the big rooms.
I played Nancy Wilson in Barracuda, Canada's Tribute to Heart, (and shared the stage several times with original Heart guitarist Roger Fisher), and eventually created the Rockingbyrds with Russell Marsland of the R & B AllStars and Jeff Neill of Streetheart.
All of these dynamic bands were playing casinos, theatres, corporate events and festivals locally and nationally.
At the time I also subbed in with a few other bands who were on the circuit and I was doing solo shows, so, some weeks were, well really, a mind melt between all the different song lists and costume changes I had to prepare or pack for. I never minded the grind however, it was my job and I liked it.
While all of that was thrilling and exciting it was also complicated as it involved loads of set lists, costumes and schedule conflicts.
Along the way I had the incredible good fortune to be asked to be a part of one of the groups I had previously subbed in for, Dreams and Arrival, two of the busiest, bands I've ever had the pleasure of working with. (Dreams and Arrival are the same band so they were as efficient as they were diverse).
This group is a well oiled machine and I had the time of my life performing on those big stages, it was always a good gig and we were always treated very much like rockstars.
I was on and off planes and in and out of busses and hotel rooms several times a month all year long for about 4 years. I loved playing the music and I especially loved the audience reaction when we played it for them. I fed off of the love vibes they gave, and gave it right back.
The energy loop of music is like no other.
Even during the normally quieter months when many bands closed down entirely, we maintained our schedule. I was also blessed, because my solo gigs allowed me to be flexible to my travel gigs, and so I was somehow, able to do it all. I even got back into art and sold my guitar paintings on clothing and mugs and blankets and fun items. Rock stars, backstage crew, music fans and and radio DJ's purcased and shared my GUITARious gear as it was natural for me to create my own stuff and share the links to where I created it, as I travelled around. It worked well, I don't travel with gear, I share my ideas and the art that's inside me. It all worked.
About a month pre-covid, we as a band were lighting ourselves on fire, the Arrival band had just played Roger's arena during the Canucks game, and we launched a third band, Dixie Darlins (now called Gaslighter), a tribute to the Dixie Chicks. We were driving home from a theatre near Osoyoos BC when we got the news that the country was shutting down.
We figured it would last a couple weeks, maybe a month. You all know what happened next, gigs dropped left and right as the country shut down.....and it kept happening. One by one our bookings (which we had well into 2021 at that point) were cancelled, the ones that could be, were rescheduled for next year but immediately our calendar dried up and everyone's world changed. As far as bands go we did as much as we could, we were involved in the first Canada wide TributeWebFest 2020, Tracy Masson and I dusted off our Abba characters and joined the Rogers arena musicians in a tribute video for the Canucks. But online work is a different animal: you don't get the energy loop. I missed it.
The solo venues that pivoted and kept music also kept me so I've been able to do solo work all year. And that's been soul filling. As a background performer the gig is inherently different, I have to blend in, I don't need the energy loop in the same way, I can do that show for myself, I just invite people in.
Thankfully I was able to work a little doing the solo gig throughout much of it.
In November however, Hallelujah, the band bookings started coming in.
But something happened and I didn't want to do it. I was still afraid of travelling.
Something in me had changed during the months away—I had slowed down and reconnected with my family and home life, and I liked it.
I liked not having a trip looming or packing, song lists, gear and travel to worry about.
My band, they are a machine, they are made for music and ready to play, and I wanted them to.
So I asked them to find a sub for me. They did and they had a fantastic show and the rock n roll machine that is Arrival and Dreams roared on without me and I was so happy for them and so glad they could work without me getting on a plane...
and then it hit me... I don't miss it, the travelling I mean. I do miss the audience but I don't miss the grind. I realized I was happier at home with my family .....and I think I'm done. It was the perfect time to really sub out, for good. There was enough break in the schedule which provided ample time to work a killer singer in to take my place.
And that is how they rock n rolled on without me. They were made for this. :)
And so I am here, close to home and family, occasionally singing and strumming solo at a select variety of bistros, lounges, private venues, golf/tennis courses. Once in a while I have a girlfriend join me onstage, stay tuned for what might happen with that...
Which finally brings me to pickleball. Like so many others, during covid I discovered that I love Pickleball. We moved to a new area just as the world shut down and found ourselves walking our dog past a pickleball court every day, (the only thing left to do it seemed).
We used to laugh at them all, playing a game with such a weird name...
HOW JUDGY WERE WE?
Very. Which is probably why I wrote the children's story: Where are the Pickles in Pickleball?"
You see, my own reaction to the name triggered me to judge it, so I figured that if people can read this book to young kids and get them excited about Pickleball despite the name, then maybe when kids meet me in elementary school for Pickleball month, the mystery of the name will be old news, they won’t pre judge it and they might even look forward to it. That is my hope anyhow.
And so now I am a full time pickleballaholic.
My hubby and I play every day that it’s nice outside (when our bodies let us) and at a certain time of year, every year, I help the local Pickleball club teach at the schools. Because I want everyone to know the sport. It has brought so much joy and health (and injury that I only got stronger from) to my life, and I want everyone to know about it. And naturally, I started making my own patterns and art to wear for Pickleball, which I put out there for others to order if they like it. Just as I did with my GUITARious gear all the years I was performing and touring. I have some classic GUITARious stuff for you too by the way. Items which in their conception so many years ago set me up for today because it has translated to Pickleball, and that is how you wound up here.
Very. Which is probably why I wrote the children’s story: “Where are the pickles in Pickleball”? (Now out onAmazon).You see, my own reaction to the name triggered me to judge it, so I figured that if people can read this book to young kids and get them excited about Pickleball despite the name, then maybe when kids meet me in elementary school for Pickleball month, the mystery of the name will be old news, they won’t pre judge it and they might even look forward to it. That is my hope anyhow.
Adventure of a lifetime (Coldplay) All About the Bass (M Traynor) Baby Blue (Chilliwack)
Baby I Love your Way (PFrampton) Baby I’m a Want You (Bread) Band On the Run (Wings)
Big Love (Fleetwood Mac) Breathe (Anna Nalik) Behind Blue Eyes (the Who) Best Of My Love (Eagles) Better Be Home Soon (CrowdedHouse) Black Magic Woman (Santana) Black Water (Doobie Brothers)
Blurry (Puddle Of Mud) Boogie Ooogie Oogie (Taste of Honey) Betty Davis Eyes (Kim Karnes) Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day) Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell) Brother Down (Sam Roberts) Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol)
CIrcles (Post Malone) Clocks ( Coldplay) Come Together (Beatles) Crazy Talk (Chilliwack) Crazy Love (Poco)
Crocodile Rock (Elton John) Dreams (Fleetwood Mac) Daniel (Elton John) Danny’s Song (Kenny Loggins)
Dirty Water (Rock and Hyde) Don’t Bring me Down (ELO) Don’t Dream it’s Over (Crowded House)
Don't Cross the River (America) Dream Weaver (Gary Wright) Drops of Jupiter (Train) Drive (the Cars) Dust in the Wind (Kansas) Everybody Hurts (R.E.M) Everybody Wants to Rule the World (TFF) Everything I Own (Bread)
Everywhere (Fleetwood Mac) Far Away (NIckleback) Fast Car (Tracy Chapman)
Feel it Still (Portugal the Man) Find You ( Nick Jonas) Fly At Night (Chilliwack) Fly Like and Eagle (Steve Miller Band)
Flowers (Miley Cyrus) For What it’s Worth (B Springfield) Get Lucky (Daft Punk) Give Me One Reason (Tracy Chapman) Go your own way (Fleetwood Mac)
He thinks He'll keep her (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
Have you Ever Seen the Rain (CCR) Heart of Glass (Blondie) Heart of Gold (Neil Young) Heaven (Bryan Adams) Helplessly Hoping (Crosby Stills Nash) Here Without You (3 Doors Down)
Here Comes the rain Again (Eurhythmics) Hey Soul Sister (Train)
Hey There Delilah (PLain White Ts) High and Dry (Radiohead) Hold My Hand (Hootie & The Blowfish)
Hold Back the Rain (Duran Duran)
Hotel California (The Eagles)
How you Remind me (Nickleback) Hurts So Good (John Cougar) I Can’t Tell You Why (Eagles)
I got a name (Jim Croce) I Wouldn’t Want to Lose your Love (April Wine)
If you could read my mind love (Gordon Lightfoot) Im on Fire for You baby (April Wine)
I'm not in Love (10CC) In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins) Insensitive (Jann Arden) It Aint Over till its Over (L Kravitz)
It's still Rock n Roll to Me (Billy Joel) Just the Two Of Us (Bill Withers) Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars) Killing Me Softly (Fugees) Kryptonite (3 Doors Down)
Kiss Me (Cranberries)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac) Learn To Fly (foo Fighters) Let Her cry (Hootie and the Blowfish) The Letter (Joe Cocker) Linger (the Cranberries)
Light my FIre (the Doors)
Like a Rock (Bob Seger) Locomotive Breath (Jethro Tull) Lonely People (America) Love Will Keep Us ALive (Eagles)
Luka (Suzanne Vega) Make it With You (Bread)
Maneater (Hall and Oats) Middle Of the Road (The Pretenders) Missing (Everything but the Girl)
Moondance (van MOrrison) Never Tear Us Apart (INXS) Mrs Robinson (Simon & Garfunkle) Norwegian Wood (the Beatles) No Rain (Blind Melon) Old Man (Neil Young) One (U2) One of these Nights (Eagles) Operator (Jim Croce)
Painted Ladies (Ian Thomas) Piano Man (Billy Joel) Pink Houses (John Cougar) Rocket Man (Elton John)
Price Tag ( Jessie J ) Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People) Say Something (Justin Timberlake) Say You Love Me (Fleetwood Mac) Seven Bridges Road (Eagles) Sexy Eyes (Dr Hook) Sharing the night Together (Dr Hook) She’s Not There (Zombies) Sister Golden Hair (America) Somebody Like You (Keith Urban)
SOmewhere only we know (Keane) Something So Strong (Crowded House)
Sometimes When We Touch (D Hill) Space Oddity (David Bowie)
Stuck on You (Lionel Ritchi) Summer of 69 (Bryan Adams)
Summer Breeze (Seals and Croft) Sylvia’s Mother (Dr Hook)
Take it to the Limit (the Eagles)
Take a Chance on Me (ABBA)
Tears in Heaven (Eric Clapton)
The Bug (Mary Chapin Carpenter) The Reason (Hoobastank) Thank You (Dido) The Air That I Breathe (the Hollies)
The Promise (when In Rome) The Weight (the Band)
Tin Man (America) Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper) Time (Pink Floyd) Time of the Season (Zombies) Torn (Natalie Imbrugilia) Try (Pink) Try (Colbie Calliat)
Two for the SHow (Trooper) Ventura Highway (America)
Watermelon Sugar (harry Styles)
We can work it out (Beatles) We've Only Just Begun (Carpenters) Weather with You (Crowded House) What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye) Where the Streets Have No Name (U2) White Flag (Dido)
Who Knew (pink) Wicked Game (Chris Issac)
Wildfire (MIchael Martin Murphy) Wild World (Cat Stevens) Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd) With or Without You (U2) Wild Nights (John Cougar) Wonderwall (Oasis)
Woodstock (CSNY)
Workin for the Weekend (Loverboy)
Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton) You Cant always get (Stones)
You Don't Mess Around with Jim (Jim Croce)
If you are at a show live I won't see the request here: text me your requests at
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