friends – SamSketches®

Holidays. Abraham Lincoln. Stubborness.

“Yesss signed and numbered! A retirement investment”

That’s right. For anyone who did not understand why there was a little #/100 on the bottom of their card: it is there to pretty much seal up the deal that you have a limited edition card from me. While I will not go as far as to say it is yet worthy of a retirement investment ::fingerscrossed:: perhaps one day it will be. I’m sure I could fast track it by hacking off an ear and spiraling out of my mind — but this is the holiday season, so lets stay with the positive thought that over the years I will be putting in my continued amount of hard work to insure that anything I have ever created holds some monetary weight in addition to its sentimental value.

“I just received ur beautiful card with its beautifully written words that hit at the best of time when I need it!”

I will be the first to admit (and please everyone lets not jump in agreement at once) that while I keep an active presence on social media, I am a terrible, no good, very bad, person when it comes to one-to-one correspondence with those I care about. And so, one of the ways I attempt to make it up to you all is through this small postmarked token. It is one of my highlights to sit and personalize each one with words always floating in my head regarding everyone of you. Not so fun is writing my return address, over and over and over again, but I think it looks better than a printed label and also, perhaps this way I can assure I will never lose my way home.

“I’m so happy you are living your dream. You have worked hard for it.”

Heartfelt words such as these, which I have received in mass over the last week in response to my mailing, mean far more than any physical gifts I may receive (not to say I don’t like those too — love em!).

On my Facebook profile, in the quotes section – which is not so prominently displayed with the layout nowadays – I have for years had the following:

“I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.” -Abraham Lincoln

The older I get, the truer I feel those words are, and the truer I hope to make them. A big lot of my time is spent working and creating, creating and working. If I did not have the people behind me supporting what I make when I do bring it out into the world, I would be standing places alone, with a much smaller voice and an even smaller presence. There is the likelihood that I on my own would be too pigheadedly stubborn to ever quit, but the idea doesn’t enter this head much — because far too many people are watching and hoping the best for me, and I am not in the habit of letting people down.

Thank you.

Tis the season to be jolly

Tis the season to be jolly

Fa la la la la. la la. la. la.

(I sang it in my head a few times, the la’s should be accurate)

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For the past few years, I have sent a SamSketches holiday card to family and friends. I started this because I remember watching for the mail when I was younger around this time of year to see what cards the mailman would bring to my home and the excitement I felt. After my mother opened an envelope of sometimes red, sometimes green, sometimes extra large, and I got to see them, (my favorites were the ones with glitter) they would then be hung around our living room. Above them would be a string of lights, that made each piece of rectangular art glow. As I’ve grown older, and consequently had much of my holiday spirit beaten out of me as a result of working retail for 10+ holiday seasons, I find that I miss the excitement of this time of year. It was with the hope of bringing to people I cared about this small bit of joy — going to the mailbox: bill, bill, bill, political mail article, credit card ad, bill, oh what’s this?! — that I first began my holiday card.

Three holiday seasons ago, 2012 marking the beginning, I ordered a mere 20 cards to send out to people. If I check my closet today, I could probably find some left over, because I did not have many people to send them to. I am glad to say that this year I have had to order 100 holiday cards. Not only that, but they will be going all over the country, and some to lands beyond. And not just to family, but to the people who have been following my progress, shared kind words of encouragement, and/or showed up to the events I have had the privilege of showcasing my work at throughout this year.

Over the entirety of 2014, I have been overwhelmed in the best way possible by the support so many have given me. It is the least I can do in return to give those with interest in it, a holiday card: covered in my art, filled with my words, signed with my name, sealed with warm thoughts of gratitude, and sent on its journey to their mailbox with a smile. From my heart to yours, happy holidays.

P.S. If you’re a person who falls into any of the categories of what I described above and you don’t think I have your address, you should supply me with it. I would love to send you a card, it’s just I also don’t love to come off as a stalker. I mean, I will if I have to, but I would prefer not to.

The Green Notebook needs an #upgrade.

As much as I am a part of and an appreciator of the digital world, as much as I am one of those people with my smartphone constantly at my side, a monitor from a computer never too far from where I am; there’s something about that glow that cannot possibly give me the same satisfaction as taking pen to paper.

AND even though I am a big fan of the Evernote App (you should download it right now by the way) I still do not find myself being able to completely hash out my thoughts unless they have been written with an actual pen putting real ink onto a lined notebook page. With that, I believe it may be time to finally retire my green notebook and find myself a new note keeper.

For the last few years I have filled this one with thumbnail sketches, accounting notes, business schemes, research, passwords, and notably my attempts at listing all of the states the good ‘ol U. S. of A. contains.** But tonight I feel I may have filled it, maybe I should move on to a new color even? Get some new sticky tabs to super organize-pimp the new one out. (I am a nerd when it comes to organizing, something that may not always be notable when looking at my desk, but I am).

And how may you ask have I filled it up? I know you have read this far because you are dying to know the answer… ::drum roll::

Well, I finally decided to take my love of organizing out into the world of my publishing achievements. That is to say I have created my presence on the internet as an author/illustrator —

I am now a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Become listed on GoodReads as an author/illustrator — if you are on here be my friend! Haha, I don’t have many yet.

And lastly, started up my Author Central account on Amazon to wrangle up all my available titles (even the ones I didn’t write but simply illustrated) This last one is a little bit ahead of the game, because the distribution for my own book hasn’t gone through on here yet. All in good time…. and now I’ll be ready.

So yes, all of this entered info, passwords, note taking on the items has now filled my notebook. And now it’s time for a new one, where I will undoubtedly manage to scheme up more goals to accomplish and start knocking them out one by one.

**it sounds easy, try to sit down and do it though — these attempts are generally all brought upon by Season 7 Episode 8 of Friends The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs, in which Ross tries to do the same and can’t.