It's officially spring in my garden. I got some lettuce starts and some snow pea starts started this past weekend. There's still a slight chance of frost tonight, so maybe I should have waited just a couple days more. I think if I just cover them tonight, they'll be okay.

I was just so excited about the prospect of eating garden lettuce and peas that I jumped right in on the first sunny warm day. The kale has been there since October and should be fairly good to eat. They say it tastes better after a good frost, and it's been through a few now. Maybe it will be gross? I'll give it a try next week when it's a little bigger.

Nice weather also means painting in the garage again. I'm almost done with a portrait painting of my friend Tony and I'm going to be starting a new one of my friend Amy soon. I've been prepping my panels this week and they should be ready to go on Friday. I was going to upload all that good stuff on my blog but I don't know how to get the pictures from my phone to my computer anymore. I used to just plug it in and it would do it for me, now that doesn't seem to work, so I've got to figure something else out!

I'll be hanging some of my animal illustrations at Miss Zumstein's on 42nd Ave this Thursday, so if you're in Portland come see them in person. Also, grab a coffee and one of her sweets too. The coffee is delicious and her sweet treats are amazing.

I'll make sure to take a photo of what that show looks like with my camera. I still know how to get the photos from that onto my computer. 

Cool! Stay tuned! I will have lots of pic to share with you shortly! 

I made art that I won't be sharing today. I think it's important to do this and I need to do it more often. We've become a society of over sharers. I'm guilty of over sharing and I think it interferes with my work sometimes. Does this look okay? what will people think? Will I get a lot of likes/hearts/shares? What if I don't? Sadness if I don't.

I think this can be really hard for those of us who rely on social media to drive traffic to our websites. We're told to share everything and anything so that people can learn about us, our product, our art. I get so caught up in this that I forget that at the end of the day, I make art. That art doesn't have to be shared with everyone. It's meant to be personal. It's meant to put my feelings first, above everyone else's feelings or thoughts.

Also, I feel like some of the best discoveries come from what happens when we're not expecting things. The best outcomes happen when mistakes are made. 

I need more mistake making/me art making" and less "what other people think thinking." Maybe you do too? 

It's officially Spring! Yay! We've been having some rainy weather but it was really nice the past couple of days. We were able to go for a very windy bike ride on Friday and we did a lot of yard work yesterday. 

It's a rainy day today but it's kind of warm and it smells so nice outside. The Daphne is blooming and it's one of my favorite Spring time scents. I wish I could bottle it up and use it in my house. 

My back is starting to feel a little better! I was so happy to be outside working in the sunshine. 

I'll be 36 this year. I thought I would have a lot more time before I had to deal with chronic pain. It turns out that I was wrong about that. My mom has been dealing with chronic pain for over a decade now, so I knew it was inevitable. I just thought I would have at least another decade before it hit me. 

I've been dealing with this back ache for well over a month. I finally was able to see a chiropractor. He did a few stretching tests and diagnosed me with Joint Hyper Mobility. Basically, my muscles and joints are very flexible, which isn't a bad thing. It does mean that the muscles that are supposed to protect and support my joints are to lax to do their job. So, in turn, I end up getting injured very easily. Also, it means that I am more prone to joint aches and pains.

I didn't think much about this until I got home later that day. Suddenly it all made sense to me as to why I hurt myself with running so much. It also makes more sense to me as to why it takes me so long to heal from my injuries. This is mostly due to the fact that while stretching to rid yourself of injuries is great for most people, it can be detrimental to my injuries. 

It also explains why in yoga class, when the instructor told us we should be feeling a tremendous stretch along the back of our legs, I felt nothing. So I would push harder. Ultimately, I think, pushing my joints and muscles too far. 

The chiropractor dude informed me that this is really nothing to worry about. He said he would help me achieve any sport activity I wanted to do, even if it included training for a cross fit competition. I'm going to hold him to that, because one of the exercises that is not good for me is running. And that right there has me really bummed out. 

I think there will be a lot of muscle strengthening work ahead of me right now. I'm also hoping he can show me new ways to stretch, and of course I really hope he can help me with my back. It was a tough morning. Hoping for the best.

Thanks to everyone who participated in my Etsy Anniversary Sale! It was a success! 

My next sale won't be until Thanksgiving weekend so mark your calendars!

This was my booth last year. Look at all that grid wall! 

I'm almost done getting ready for this show. I hope it's as successful as it was last year.

Fingers crossed.

I designed new business cards a couple of weeks ago and they came just in time for this show. I finally joined the rest of 2016 and added some of my social media sites to my card. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I love the image on the front. It makes me happy every time I see it. Chloe and Clancy forever. :)

Anyway, more show prep today and some Etsy orders to pack up. Hope everyone is having a good week.

Today is my 9 year Etsy Anniversary! Holy moly, that's a long time. Etsy has changed so much since I first started. I've changed so much since I started selling on Etsy. I've learned how to take product photos, edit them, promote myself, do taxes, set up a craft fair, packaged art and prints, how to charge for shipping... the list goes on but you get the idea.

I've also made a lot of friends, joined a community of other artists and makers and started a career I never really thought was possible.

There's also been a lot of lows to all this too. Putting yourself out there and not having people respond the way you would like can be difficult. Struggling to make money and working a day job to supplement my income was tough some days. I'm still not quite where I'd like to be financially, and knowing that I may have to take a day job again is always on my mind.

I feel like the highs are still outweighing the lows and I'll continue to sell on Etsy until I feel like it's not longer worth my time and energy. 

I really wouldn't be able to do what I do without the support and encouragement of friends, fans and followers. Being an artist can be lonely at times and the amount of self doubt can be disabling, but when someone leaves a positive comment, review or sends me an encouraging message it makes it all worth it.

To celebrate my customers and those who support me I'm having a sale in my shop! Everything is 29% off, no coupon code is needed. The sale goes from today through tomorrow, until 12am Pacific Time on Wednesday. 

Thanks so much to everyone who reads my blog and who enjoys my work! Hope to continue this journey for many more years!

I've been working on this design for a bride to be this week. It's for their wedding invitation. I always feel so honored when people approach me for wedding invitations. They've picked me, out of all the thousands of designers out there. So cool.

I'll share the finished product once it's all printed up and ready to go.

In other news, my 9 year Etsy Anniversary is a week from today! Holy Moly. I can't believe it. It does not feel like it's been 9 years since I started selling there. I say that every year, I know, but it's so true. I feel so unbelievably lucky that this is my job and that I have the opportunity to do what I love as a career.

I've also made so many great connections through Etsy over the years. I've met so many people and I've had some amazing experiences. Etsy has changed a lot over the past few years, so good, some bad. All in all it's still a great place to share my work. 

I'll be announcing a big sale next week, so stay tuned! And to those who have been following me the past 9 years, thank you so much!