Hello,
I just want to say there is so much talent in the artist community that sometimes it boggles my mind.

I recently placed an order from lynetteaprilarts one of the artists on etsy and when it came in the mail I was so excited! Inside the box were three french inspired tags and a sweet artsy valentine. I was so thrilled that I couldn't help myself and had to let out a squeal of delight. Now, for those of you who don't personally know me I must tell you that I am a total France fanatic and these paris tags just made my day. So hope you enjoy the photo and seeing what I was and am so excited about.

Speaking of France, a couple of my artists friends and I are going to go to Paris in October of this year and we are so full of anticipation that we almost can't take it. I've been to France twice already but this time I'm specifically going as an artist. The first time was to celebrate my husbands and my wedding anniversary and the second time was with my daughter and neice. I really wanted to go back sometime as a painter and spend many hours in the museums etc. so that's what my friends and I are going to do. We will bring our sketch books and paints with us and visit the Louvre and the Orsay and just absorb the art vibes and hang out with the art.

We really don't plan to take any trips (except maybe to Monets garden) but to just stay in the city of Paris. We hope to get an apartment really close to the hub of it all and that way we can walk everywhere and not have to depend on transportation. The walking is a great thing because then we can eat all the chocolate croissants we want!!

One last thought. The other day I was reading from the etsy forum of past comments and one of the shops artists,SadieAndLeo, had the most touching words. The conversation was regarding sales and how many items were shops selling everyday and SadieAndLeos words struck me so strongly that I have to share them with you, they said"goals are good to have but at the same time some goals can actually detract from the main goal and that is being creative and expressing ourselves." Isn't that wonderful. It really put things back into perspective for me. It's so easy to always focus on the sales and forget that I am doing this because I love to create and I love using my talents and sharing them with others. Sure, I want to make an income with my art but that's not what should drive me because then it seems it's too easy to get off the track of what my passion really is, and that is to be an artist.

Anyway, that's what I've been thinking about lately and hope you enjoyed my words as much as I enjoyed writing them.
deborah