{a funny little story}

I find it funny how things come full circle...or come back to visit us in amazing and unexpected ways.

This Saturday I'm doing my first solo show/sale with my art. Eek!!! I'm SUPER excited and extremely humbled that a local shop owner invited me to do this. She purchased some of my canvases a few months back to sell in her boutique, and while we were chatting brought up this idea of a trunk show. 

So this Saturday I'll have a table set up in the middle of her shop. 

Just me and my art. 

Whoa.

But the funny part about this story goes back about three years I think, back when I was knitting and selling baby hats on Etsy. 

The same storefront where I'm having my trunk show was a completely different shop at the time, and they hosted a Christmas handmade market. The booth fee was low and a friend of mine was selling her handmade scarves, so I took the plunge and reserved a space.

I was so excited about my cute little booth with my antique chenille bedspread covering my card table and milk glass vases for hat stands. I put so much thought into it. And my table was in a perfect spot right where people were gathering to chat. I thought it was going to be such a great night for me and my little hats.

{this was my set-up from a different craft show}

Lots of people I knew came and went. Several people said nice things about my stuff. One cute local college student bought a flower hair pin for I think $4. 

And that was it.

I didn't sell one hat.

And I heard on more than one occasion women walk by and say..."I could make that myself."

Yeah. Ouch.

I left feeling SO deflated and defeated and embarrassed. Whoa that was a tough pill to swallow. I can honestly still feel my cheeks burning a bit as I type this. It was a rough night for me and my creative ego.

It's not that my hats weren't cute and well made, because they were both of those things. 

It was the wrong crowd. It wasn't my night. 

But most importantly, it wasn't THE thing. 

The thing that God created me and only me to create. 

Now I'm not knocking my knitting era...overall it was really great for me. It was cheap therapy and I sold quite a few of my little hats. 

But I never would have imagined a few years later I would be setting up a booth in the very same space to sell my ART. Never in my wildest dreams!

And now that I look back on the past few years of rediscovering this talent it just blows my mind how buried it was for so long. 

I guess the point of this funny little story is that we all have our purpose and sometimes we take crazy backroads and detours to find it.

But it's there waiting for us. Waiting until we are ready. 

That sale certainly wasn't a highlight of my life, but my time as a knitter definitely was a valuable and needed part of my story. The detours in life may seem annoying and unnecessary but they are usually preparing us for bigger and better things.

So enjoy the ride friends.

XO,