No Fear

No Fear.  I think of the Terri Clarks song as I type this.  What ever happened to Terri Clark?  Is she still around?  Great voice.  Great song.  Taking the hint from a few of the other blogs I follow, I am pushing past this thing called fear.   Sounds silly, but I guess this is what kept me from doing some of the things I reeeeeallllllly wanted to do with my bags.  Every time I'm in the magazine section at Barnes and Nobel or JoAnn Fabric I scan the shelves for the lates issues of Stitch, Haute Handbags, Altered and the like.  Sometimes I buy them, sometimes not.  They are more like investments (cost) in books rather than the latest issue of a magazine you would just pick up.  Each time I flip through the pages of handcrafted inspiration I imagine my work on the pages.  I designed and sold an awesome, unusual garage sale/vendor style apron years ago.  I wanted to submit it to the Apronology magazine for years.  Years.  Really.  I would look at the magazine, read about the submission deadline, and watch it come and go.  Last month, when scanning the pages, there it was.  My apron.  Well, not MY apron, but a version of it.  What was I expecting?  It had been years.  I sold them to shop owners, teachers, etc.  But never submitted my work.   Well, I guess that was the first kick in the butt I needed.  So, I finally did something about it instead of looking and longing.  I kicked myself in gear and got my "shit" together and submitted some Shelly Jack Handmade bags!   Wooop Woooop!!!!  Three cheers for me!! Lol :)  Who knows what will come of it.  Maybe publication, maybe rejection and nothing at all.  But the feeling of accomplishment that I am floating on right now is worth all of it.  I have to say it was scary, stressful, a lot of hard work, and intimidating.  The very day that I decided to submit my work, I saw a bag almost identical in theory (and a bit in appearance) to mine in a different publication.  Seriously.  And, the persons pic/pattern was from my home town.  Yep.  AND, my bag was created last June, posted all over my blog and store and FB, hers, later in the fall.   I screamed, kicked, cried, pouted, and then said NO..."f%## it"!!  I'm sending it in.  Everything in me was screaming to send MY bags in.  So I did =)  SO I DID.  OMG  LOL.  Stay tuned :)

The smaller bag is my own hand painted sunflower.  I'm taking pre orders over at my etsy shop  if you'd like your very own.  I will also take orders for the larger one as well.  Just send me a message.  That one is hand appliquéd from designer quilted fabric.  Ok, well we shall see where this leads.  I feel braver already.  No Fear.  :)