Took the hubby

Today I took my hubby to the gallery where my art is on display. We took a few photos, pardon the glare from the glass case the shadow from the display on the tree pic. You can't tell from the photo, but ALL the stars in the sky on the tree pic are Swarovski crystals. {photo frame credit: Anna Aspnes}

I've had requests to put my charm back on Etsy, so I'm going to do it. Again, if you are in the charm swap - don't look because these are being sent in to one of them (I won't tell you which one, so even if you do peek, you won't know)

Immigration update for those sweet souls who have been following along and sending me emails of encouragement.... We have filed our final papers - woo hoo! Ty can be out of school for some time still, but the superintendent is a champ and promised he would day anything it takes to get him caught up again, upon returning. At least that's a load of my mind.

Peace!

Too much of good thing....

I woke up this morning to find a letter, from a very upset artist, thinking that I had stolen her idea, and she wanted me to credit her for the design. Horrified that I was being accused of stealing, I wrote her back with my sources of inspiration (home decor items). Because I felt her pain of having an idea 'out there' when she was trying to keep it under wraps for an upcoming publication, I pulled my photos from flickr... my item for sale on Etsy.... but there's a bid on my auction on ebay, so I couldn't pull that. I pulled all those things out of empathy for her. After searching and finding all my links to send her, I found a ton of the same item on etsy already. Both posted before mine, and after. Hey they are adorable - who wouldn't want to make some? It just goes to show you there are no new ideas out there, lol.
I'm happy that we have worked it out this morning...
she has no ill feelings for me, and vice versa. As a matter of fact, she's one of my fav artists, so I couldn't be happier that this was all a big misunderstanding AND bad timing for other reasons.

YES! - Kinda

Well the immigration officer came through for us and called with good news today. The only problem is the receipt might not reach us until January. I'm praying for a speedy return.

Going for the hat-trick

Wow - what a great 2 days it's been.... first finding out I got into the show, then tonight we went to the reception and found out I got 2 honorable mentions! (for this one and this one) That's my first score.
My second score was our fantastic visit with my son's neurologist today. He found the answer we have been looking for, for 13 years. The tears just started welling when it happened - such relief.
So... the third score I need for my hat-trick is immigration to say yes to school with out 485 filing.
If you say prayers - we need one for that.

Doin' the Happy Dance

All day I had my phone call forwarding to my cell, waiting for the call from the selection group at the FEC gallery, to hear if I got in the juried show I've been making art for. I didn't get a call so I went down there (because I know the stuff had to be picked up by 5 tonight). I didn't realize they were only calling people to pick up art that didn't make it into the show... that's why they didn't call me because all 3 pieces of my art made it!!!! I am so excited!!!!! There is a private reception tomorrow night for all the artists who submitted. We can bring one guest, so I'm bringing Tyler, since he's seen me fret over this since I started my show pieces, and he was with me when I found out. He was so proud of me - that was the best!!!! He's never been to any of my receptions yet either, because he was Canada all year, so this will something I can share with him.

I'm so happy to have some good news, especially since we are going through this whole immigrations/school thing. The X's new wife told him this is my problem, so he won't help pay for this, which is our only stumbling block at the point. This really sucks - it's not me they need to help, it's our son. I swear, every man that leaves his family and gets a new one, leaves his original kids behind.... it happened with me, it happened to my best friend's kids.... and now poor Tyler. I just want to call the 'latest' wife and tell her she better not get too cozy, cuz sooner or later she'll be old news and she just might feel this frustration with the kids they have together too. But I'm not going to call - I'm just going to find a way and when they call seeing if he's coming up for Christmas I'm going to tell where to shove the mistletoe!

OK - back to the good news.... I recently got accepted into a group of artists that I not only admire, but really respect. I'm now a member of MMCA (mixed media collage artists) and I'm tickled pink. I accomplished my art goal for 2006 - to get my work out there in shows and galleries and start selling. My goal for 2007 is to start submitting my art to publications that I admire and really focus on some pieces that I can market to shops/galleries (they need to be reproducible)