Today is a good day. Today I saw someone I haven't seen in well...since before Hope came home. This woman is so very important to me...so very important to who I am today...and I don't think I've ever properly thanked her for it.

I met Carol...too many years ago to count...at The Yankee Peddler Festival. I fell in love with her line of cloth dolls called Ragamuffins and purchased at LEAST one a year for...again...too many years to count. Over the years, running into her at YPF or various other art shows I also fell in love with her. I learned that she had been a teacher and for various reasons had left that part of her life behind and started her own business, designing and creating her Ragamuffins, bears, rabbits, and jewelry. Does that sound familiar to any of you who know me in "the real world"? SHE is the reason I sat down one afternoon and sketched out my first pillow design. I was petrified as I played with the fabric for the first time...and was sure that it was going to turn out as some horribly misshapen "thing"...as I'd never done anything like this before. But it didn't...I loved it...and I kept making those pillows...literally hundreds of them...many as gifts...and still many more sold to first time and repeat customers. Did I mention that she owns one of my very first? SHE is the reason I nervously paid my fee for my first tiny craft show and eventually worked my way up to larger multi-day shows. SHE is the reason I expanded my line to include not only pillows, but samplers, ornaments, pins, gift bags, and yes...dolls. She has gone farther in this endeavor than I ever hope to. Her talent...her faith...her love of family are all something I admire and aspire to. It is by the support of my husband, the grace of God, and HER mentoring, that I am who I am today...and today...is a good day.

I haven't created anything save for a small standing order for a dozen or so Christmas ornaments every year since Hope came home. I gave up doing shows because in all honesty, I just couldn't leave her...I couldn't imagine leaving early Thursday or Friday morning to set up and then not seeing her again until late Sunday night. The same is true with Claire...I can't do it...and I won't do it. But once again...my mentor is leading me in another direction...and probably doesn't even realize it. She has started blogging. On her blog she shows her latest creations, discusses her life, her grandchildren, her upcoming shows...and advertises for her Etsy shop. I've got a lot of ready inventory left over and Etsy looks like a good way to ease back into the business until the girls are old enough for me to get back into the shows. I check that blog every single day to see what she's up to...and it has reignited that spark...the NEED to create...my head is overflowing with ideas!

Using that spark...and a pretty good nudge from The Holy Spirit, I set off to JoAnn's to look for fabric...not just ANY fabric...but fabric with either cardinals or clouds or milkshakes. As you can see by the picture, I found some. (The picture is much clearer if you click on it and view the larger image.) I've spent this last week taking the tiniest of baby steps. Again, just cutting the fabric for the first time in close to six years brought back many fears of "this is not going to turn out right". And, again, once I got started it was like going back to a place of complete and utter peace. I finished the pillow last night and delivered it to Carol today. It is a one of a kind original...just like her. Check out her blog and you will find the very special meaning behind the saying.

I love you Carol...and I thank you from the very bottom of my heart. xoxoxoxoxoxo

::sigh:: I need a tissue...