So this is the actual ad that will be appearing in the special holiday pets section of the Atlanta Journal Constitution in Atlanta, GA. Circulation on this day is about 100,000! Normally I am all about free advertising...and it works. But yesterday when the sales rep called with this deal it was too good to turn down! So here is my first big ad! I am excited to see how it does. I place an ad in a local small pet magazine that comes out bi-monthly and I get good business from that, so I am really excited to see how this goes over. It comes out on Thanksgiving and then another will come out in a holiday gift section on Dec 11th. Look at me, spending money on advertising...I feel like an adult or something! Scary....

It's been a very busy past couple of days. I had a festival this past Saturday that when really well. I sold a bunch of my ornaments and holiday cards and got some more commissions. At one point a 20 something guy walks in my booth with a big giant smile and says, "I just wanted to let you know that one of your paintings is now in Oregon! My sister bought one last year and she has she moved there and has this totally zen-ed out house and it is all neutral except for your painting of her dog. She totally loves that painting! And everyone that sees it loves it!" I ask what his sister's name is. After hearing her name I remember her. "Her dog is Ruby, a yellow lab!" I exclaim. I have this weird ability to remember the name of every dog I paint. I go on to tell him that Ruby was my very first commission. This woman literally began my career. How cool is that? How often do we get to find out about something we did a long time ago and find out something we made is loved so much? He of course made my day and I told him so. It put a smile on my face for the rest of the day and comfirmed that following my heart is absolutely the way to go in this life. I am so very grateful that I get to do what I do for a living. It is my biggest hope that I get to continue to make people smile with my silly/happy pet paintings for a very long time.