CHA Part Two

Last Sunday was the first official day of the CHA Show. I had most of the day free, so I decided I would spend it walking the show floor and seeing all the great new products the craft industry was introducing. I love walking the floor. It's filled with inspiration!

My biggest thrill of the day was meeting Mary Engelbreit at a book signing in one of the booths. I loved her magazine. (Moment of silence for it's demise.) But, the reason I was really excited to meet her is because she has the success I dream of. I mean she is the QUEEN of licensing her artwork. I believe it's very important to have an icon to look up to when you are working towards your goal and Mary is definately one of mine. So, when I saw the notice that she would be at the show on Sunday, I felt like the universe was whispering in my ear: "You are getting closer to your dreams." (Did I mention how bummed I was that I missed hearing her speak at Silver Bella this year? What a great gift to get a second chance.)

So, when I met her, I told her how she inspired me. I tried not to sound like a gushing, crazed fan. She asked me what kind of artwork I did and I just happened to be wearing a craft apron made from material featuring one of my cupcake illustrations. She said, "It's cute! Good luck!"

So, one icon down, one to go. Anyone know where I can run into Martha Stewart?

goddess book club

I finished the project for my craft group's book club. Hop over here to see it. It's pretty lonely over there since we are just getting started with this idea. I hope you'll join in the fun next fun!

CHA

I'm back. I've been back and forth to CHA in Anaheim since Saturday. My days have been packed, hence my bloggy absence. I thought I would share my experience with you over the next couple days. It was a whirlwind of activity and emotions. I need to really mull over what happened and figure out what it all means to me and my business, so I think I'll share my musings here.

We will start with Saturday. As a Designer Member at CHA, I had the opportunity to set-up a showcase table. Editors, publishers and manufacturers are the only ones allowed in the room where the Designer Showcase Tables are set-up. They look at your sample artwork and projects and make appointments to see you if they are interested in your work. The showcase is only on Saturday night and all day Sunday. On Sunday, designers aren't allowed in the room, but on Saturday night, we had the opportunity to be there to network. It was an interesting experience. I had a lot of interest and comments about my display. I have a lot of follow-up to do and we'll see if anything comes of it. I don't have pictures, because the designs I displayed are available for publication and most publishers don't want your ideas out there before they release them!

I had a lot of emotions that night. Fear was a major one. Putting yourself out there as an artist and designer can make anyone nervous. Worrying that your display will be all wrong and you will look like a fool. But there's also excitment. The belief that this exposure could be the lucky break you are looking for. My new designer buddy, Priscilla Burris also had a table, so it was nice to have a friendly face in the crowd!

After the networking event, I headed over to my mentor's hotel and met her in person. Madeline Faiella is my mentor (through CHA) and she is just about the most giving and supportive person I've ever met. It was so nice to meet her in person.

I also met Nancy, the founder of Earth Safe Finishes that night. I dropped off one of my projects to be displayed in the Earth Safe Finishes booth during the show. Nancy was as sweet as she is in her emails.

After dinner with Madeline and Nancy and a host of other talented designers, I left for home. A long day to say the least. I arrived at the convention center to set-up and get organzied at Noon and didn't get home until about 9:30pm. I went straight to bed because I needed to be back at the show in the morning.

let's pull together

In his inaugural address on Tuesday, President Obama talked about putting aside our fears and working together in order to get our great nation out of crisis. So here's what I'm doing...

I've created a new blog that will serve as a grassroots movement for all artists and crafters to support one another during these challenging times. I am asking all of you to join me. The blog is now up here. I'm not going to go into details here, so please hop over and read about my idea. It's called The Stone Soup Challenge. Even if you can't bring yourself to join the challenge, please get the word out.

I also need help with this project. Does anyone know how to make an HTML badge so that we can have something that everyone can lift and put on their blogs? Email or comment if you can help me!

Candice Carpenter Interview

Just a quick note today.

I posted an interview with Candice Carpenter on this blog. Hop over to learn about this generous artist's creative process.

my favorite christmas present

I've wanted a dress form for awhile. Guess what Santa (okay, Mom) brought me? This darling wire dress form. I love how it has a little crown on it. Of course, the day after I got it, I dragged into my studio and gave it a tutu and banner. I think I'm going to have hours of fun dressing her. What was your favorite gift?

got cupcakes?

My January Newsletter was a huge hit. I've received tons of emails from people thanking me for the tips on being an affiliate. It's times like these that make me feel like it's all worth it. That my little newsletters just might be making a difference in artists' and crafters' lives.

One of my blog pals really got moving and set-up a beautiful Amazon storefront. I love it so much, that I decide to spruce mine up a bit and one of my changes was to add a couple of categories. Including one with all things cupcake! Yum! You can check it out here. If you are in the mood to buy, please do it through my shop. I get about 4% of the sale. I mean if you are going to buy it anyway, why not help a girl out?

Enough about business. I'm starting a monthly Craft Book Club! I'm posting it through my craft club's blog, The Goddesses of Craft. Please come and play with us! It's going to be a lot of fun! Hope over The Goddess blog for the scoop.

Happy Birthday Sissy!

Today is my sister's birthday. We like to call it the anniversary of our relationship. When I was three, my sister was born and we have been close ever since. At one point in our lives, we lived together and worked together. We spent over 14 hours a day with each other and we survived. I don't know many marriages that could survive that kind of "togetherness". We played Barbies together for more hours than I can count. We talked about boys during our teen years. We have cried. We have laughed. Sometimes we have fought so hard it scared my husband. What puzzled him even more was that those fights always ended with us telling each other we loved one another. Even if we are still mad, we say it. Afraid that it could be our last conversation (life is fragile) and we would never want to part without telling each other how we feel. (That's probably morbid, but that's us.)

We share a history. Not just as family members. As friends. Days dancing in elevators for the security cameras. Crazy drives in the Toyota Starlit with zebra print seat covers. Wendy being "gothic". Me being "pretty in pink". MaryAnn kissing us goodnight. I could mention more memories, but my mom reads this blog....

Now our daughters are sister-cousins. That's what they call themselves. Maybe the bond between us runs so deep that it is in our DNA.

My sister and I have a retirement plan. We are pretty sure that being with us is going to shorten the life span of any man who dares to live with us. So, we are going to be two old widows, with flaming red hair, drinking martinis and smoking poolside. Telling our cabana boy, "Hey, doll. Could you refresh my drink?" Our daughters better be close. They are going to have their hands full.

Happy Birthday Wendy! I love you.

photo fun

Call it procrastination. I was in complete overload last night with my CHA preparations that I decided I need a little break. So I played with my photographs instead. Sometimes you just need a break-no matter how busy you are. I was finding that I was making mistakes and everything was taking twice as long as it should. Now that I've had my little creative vacation, I'm working harder and smarter again. In fact, I even got my monthly newsletter out! (It's all about making money from your blog recommendations-check it out in the newsletter archives on my website.)

Okay, here's what I did last night:

I turned my photos from Toledo, Spain into minatures. How cute is this? I want to take scenic pictures just so I can play with this new website. Nikki told me about it, so it's her fault I didn't get anything done last night! These pictures remind me of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood for some reason. If he was in Spain.


Then I played around in Photoshop using Chrysti Hydeck's tutorial in the latest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors
I think these will back fantastic backgrounds for journal pages. Okay, back to my REAL work.

birthday wishes

I made this card for my lovely niece. Her birthday was last week. She's the most photogenic person I know. Simply lovely. I took a photo during a morning of modeling in my backyard. Every picture turned out perfect. No need for editing. Take that "super models"! You have nothing on her!

lucky

Another recent painting. I know I'm pretty lucky, and I want my daughter to be lucky too. I made this page to remind myself to make time to give my daughter the happiest childhood I can. Sometimes other things must wait. I mean, how many chances in life to you get to actually give someone luck?

house rules

We have some new rules at our house. What do you think? If only life were really so simple! I'm framing this painting and hanging it in our kitchen so that we can all remember that, when we come home, we need to take care of ourselves and each other. Leave our problems at the door.

I had fun painting this. I've been consumed getting ready to have a Designer Showcase Table at CHA at the end of this month and I really needed to make some art just for fun. Not for the show. This house idea has been rolling around in my head for awhile. You see versions of it everywhere, but I think that's because HOME resonates so deeply with all of us.

I'm going to list prints of this in my shop today. In case you need to be reminded to eat, rest, soak and read.