Quilling Serendipity in 2010

I guess you could call it serendipity. When I submitted a couple of pictures of my work to the local newspaper, I had no idea if they would publish them. They only use “art” on the cover of the “itown” section and, as quilling artists, we all know about that art vs. craft thingie. I was pleasantly surprised when I came home from the hospital on January 3rd to see my quilled teacup and saucer on the cover page. I received several nice phone calls and emails from people who had seen it. It was a really nice “pick-me-up” after a crummy start to the New Year.

On Monday, Debbie took a call from someone named Linda, who wanted to talk to me about doing an interview. I was still not feeling well on Monday so I didn’t get to talk to Linda until Tuesday. She told me about her blog Gratituderising.blogspot.com and said she was fascinated by the quilling she saw in the paper and could she come and visit. We set a date for Friday. When she came over, we chatted a little bit about my work. She liked the fact that I have this huge window in the studio where I can watch the birds while I work, and the way the property backs up to the woods. It is very peaceful. Then she asked me if I meditate. I laughed and said “I’m working on it” and told her about the previous weekend when I had lost vision in one eye and was rushed to the hospital. (Fortunately, I did not actually have a stroke and my vision returned, although for a while I saw two of everything, I told the nurses that I wouldn’t go home with TWO husbands, one was quite enough!) So we talked about meditation and Yoga and how they would make me feel so much better etc. Eventually we got around to the interview. I hadn’t realized she was going to do a video, but that’s what she did. She had it up on YouTube in no time at all. Then she wrote about the interview and put it up on her blog. The best part about the whole thing was that I got to meet a really neat person, who took the time to pick up the phone so she could share with others something that had moved her. The front page of her blog says that it is “A place to be reminded that there is always something to be grateful for and that beauty and goodness can be found wherever we look.” How true that is; and yet many times we let the days go by without reflecting on that beauty and goodness; I know I do. I am very grateful to Linda for reminding me of that “beauty and goodness”. Later that day she stopped by to drop off a guided meditation CD for me . . . maybe 2010 is going to be better than I thought.

PS For those of you who might not recognize them, the teacup critters and the quilled clown at the beginning of the video are not my work. My very talented quilling friends Sherry Rodehaver (the tea cup critters) and Jinny Alexander (the quilled clown) made those.