Dreams DO Come True…

This week marks a full year since I started blogging. Which makes it all the more sweet to share what’s happening. A few months back we started working on a project within our design business (that’s the work we do to keep the lights on around here.)

For this particular project we were able to bring additional value to the project by incorporating my lettering and illustrating. A total win-win.

If you live in the Midwest you may be familiar with Blain’s Farm & Fleet. It’s a retail chain of stores that can range from small hardware to larger size stores. If you have ever wished there was a place you could buy sporting goods, automotive goods as well as some apparel and small appliances, then Farm & Fleet is probably your jam.

Every year in late October, Farm & Fleet stores launch TOYLAND, which is the Christmas toys & games section of their store (yup, they sell kid stuff too).

We were hired to update their Toyland elf characters (you can read more about that here if you’re interested) and then create motorized displays to be used throughout Toyland. It was such a fun project to work on and we learned so much in the process.

The feedback that we have received has been wonderful and I’m excited to see how we can leverage this moving forward. However, in the interest of keeping it real, in the mix of all that positive energy, I still have an inner voice that tries to diminish the accomplishment or skip right over it and instead focus on all of the things on my list of goals that I haven’t made progress on. (yup, that inner voice can be brutal sometimes)

Can you relate? When you make progress but find yourself criticizing or undercutting it in some way.

For example, one of my four goals that I have shared on this blog was to be contracted to do artwork for a large corporation. That is exactly what has happened here, but I kid you not, my inner voice was all “yeah, but it’s not a national chain like Target.” Da-amn, that’s some cold shade I’m throwing on myself.

The fact is a year ago, I was just getting comfortable with my lettering style and now I’m being paid to do work that’s in a retail chain. Nicely done!

So part of my progress this week is that I’m taking the microphone from that inner nay-sayer and instead make space to celebrate and do a bit of a happy dance. (Or in my case and extended dance party in my office)

Of course in my ongoing effort to document things to share with you fine folks I created a little video of Dean & I going to the store to see the signage on display for the first time, cuz my understanding is you kids dig that kind of format.

Thanks again for being a part of this journey with me. I do my best to bring value and entertainment, but the bottom line is this looks drastically different without you, so thanks for every comment, encouragement, DM or purchase. It means the world to this gal!