Last weekend, I participated in the Governor's Derby Day Celebration.  I made extra horse and KY journals to contribute to the festivities.  The weather turned out beautifully, and we had the whole spectrum of people come through, including Governor Beshear and his wife.  There were races of all sorts, fancy hats, and lots of families out enjoying the day.  The photos below capture a small bit of it (thanks to Ed Lawrence) and includes a few young boys who stopped by.  They each write and keep notebooks with different things, though it seemed to be a bit of a trend to keep a "fact book".  One of them even showed me their fact book, which was filled with information and mathematical equations and diagrams.  What a fun and interesting day it was!

Spring finally came!!  I feel like we can take a collective sigh of relief that we all survived the long winter.  I don’t mind being a bit of a hermit and going into deep internal work mode for a few solitary months, but I do miss the sunshine and all the bright colors that come with this time of year.  For me, spring means jumping into outdoor art festivals, which I officially kicked off a couple of weeks ago.  It was the most fabulous beginning of the season at Cherokee Triangle Art Fair in Louisville with gorgeous weather and winning an honorable mention award.  There was something incredible redemptive about this for me.  I love that show—the location, the ease, the friendly people.  However, I’ve had a few hard times with it.  A couple of years ago, my tent was literally mangled by a storm that came through, and last year, I wasn’t even able to make it as my car overheated on the way out of town.  I cannot fully express my gratitude as I drove my new, reliable car to the show this year with my sturdy tent in tow.  I do not take these things lightly as you can see I have gone without.  Doing so has deepened my appreciation.   I’m looking forward to several fun shows coming up and a couple of bookbinding workshops this summer.   Hope to see you around!

I recently traveled with the Kentucky Arts Council to Philadelphia to participate in the Buyer's Market.  It was my first time being at this show as well as my first time in Philly.   I arrived the evening of Valentine's Day and met up with Amelia Stamps, a fellow artist and friend.   She had done the show previously and was able to give me some insight as well as show me some of the Philly sights.  We didn't have too much extra time, but we did manage to enjoy meals in Chinatown most evenings.  We stayed near the convention center where the show was held and were able to walk everywhere, which was really nice.  The show felt like the easiest experience ever!  There were five of us who shared the booth,representing KY Crafted.  The KY Arts Council provided display and signage and were great about organizing everything.  The buyer's were also really great and quite personable.  It was really fun meeting store owners who are interested in supporting handmade products.  I'm grateful that I was able to participate and look forward to doing so again in the future!

It's official!!

The whole booth, featuring five artists

Close-up

This is what I look like writing orders ;)

Me and Amelia

The City

China Town

Little peek at The Market, which was filled to the max with food vendors, veggies, Amish baked goods, coffee, etc....Delicious!

I spent November and the first bit of December finishing up my show season.  It has been a full year of numerous shows, and I am so thankful to everyone who came out to all of them.  I began selling Christmas gifts as early as September and have created many custom orders given as gifts for friends and loved ones.  Many of you shared your hearts and your journey.  I heard stories of far off travels, of those grieving beginning their way on their healing journey, and of those who were fighting through a variety of hard circumstances.  Many of you keep journals and reflect regularly, many of you sketch and "doodle".  I can't count the number of times that you told me that you didn't have anything really important to write, but you write anyway.  So do I.  I write because it is good for my soul.  It helps me stay aware and remember and make decisions.  It also reminds me to play.  Some of you even brought your journals and sketchbooks to me to show me the beautiful and fun ways that you are using them.  Thank you.  I deeply appreciate how you have shared yourselves with me in the incredibly diverse ways that you have.  It is that sort of connection that makes doing this so rewarding.  As I take a deep breath from this year of traveling from show to show often multiple weekends in a row, know that I am whispering prayers of gratitude for each and everyone of you.

This past weekend at the Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art® - Madison, IN was gorgeous! Thanks to all the people who came out! I loved hearing all the stories from repeat customers of how these journals had been used and who all they were given to.

Also, I had a write-up in Round About's Madison Chautauqua guide. To read it, go to http://roundabout.bz/. Click on "Madison Chautauqua" on the left and then click on "Eco-friendly Artist". Thanks to Stevie Moore of Studiospectre for adding his two cents :)

If you missed it, here I am with Tiffany Wilson of LOCAL 12, WKRC-TV, the morning of Summerfair! I love how she keeps shaking one of my bell journals....fun! ( I'm near the beginning and again near 6:30)