trying to decide if this post should be titled 'good news' or 'be careful what you wish for'...

Good Morning!  I am up early to help my Mom with day two of her annual furniture sale.  Yesterday was in the mid-90's so we were all insanely sweaty and busy as at least 60-70% of her work sold.  It was so great to see so many super sturdy, beautifully refurbished pieces of antique furniture find new life.  Today it will be in the mid-70's and the kids will be there too so it should be a really fun day :)

As I mentioned the other day, I have two pieces of news to share that I am really excited about.  The first is that late last week I was notified by email that my large piece 'Home And Garden' was selected to be a part of the Encaustic Art Institute's 4th annual Juried show.  It takes place at the Encaustic Art Institute in Cerrillos, NM and runs from October 4th to November 4th.  I won't be able to make it to the opening reception but am super excited to be a part of this show.  If you are in NM and get to see the show I would love to hear about it.  A good friend here in Ann Arbor also made it into the show so I am doubly happy about this show!

My second bit of news is that I have been chosen to be a part of the Etsy Emerging Artists Pavillion at the 2014 One Of A Kind Fair.  This show takes place at The Merchandise Mart in Chicago December 4th, 5th. 6th and 7th.  I am super surprised, super excited and more than a bit freaked out about this show.  It involves four long days of selling at an event that had over 65,000 visitors last year.  I have never participated in anything close to this size but my studio is organized, I have a good supply of wood and a notebook full of idea so I'm ready to hit the ground running on Monday and create a pretty massive body of work over the next 12 weeks.  My plan is to create a small group of Party Girls, Night Swimmers or All Kinds of Luck blocks each week as a starting point and to create 2-4 additional original pieces.  This show will test me in many ways but I am so excited about meeting some of the great people behind the scenes at Etsy and so excited to spend 5 great days in Chicago with the company and support of my friends there.  If you are anywhere in the area please put this show on your calendar and plan to stop by my teeny, tiny, booth and say hello!  Ok, now I really need to get it together and head out to my parent's house but I will leave you with a quote I came across earlier in the week...

“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.”

- Eckhart Tolle