This last weekend I did the CFA Cat Show for the first time.  Another local artist, Claudia Sanchez, recommended it to me.  She does wonderful art with cats and sometime dogs... and I personally have been buying her items for over 10 years and finally recently met her.
    The show was a lot of fun and I met some wonderful people.  Laura Seely was the artist in the booth next to me, and she was so nice and a delight to be next to.  Her paintings and childrens books featuring her illustrations were amazing, and I was thrilled to win 2 of her childrens books in the raffle.
   Denise came by...again.  She has come by my booth before at both the Christmas show at the Finley Center and at the Gravenstein Apple Faire.  She hasn't bought one of my pendants yet, but admits she checks my website often.  Well, this time she bought a Isle of Man cat crown with a Burmilla Cat on it!  So thank you Denise, I am so pleased that one of my pendants is in your good care.
    ...And then there was Marie and Laura.  They both work in Claudia Sanchez's booth, and I met them both at the Christmas show at the Finley Center last December.  They have been close friends for years, and have more enthusiasm when together than you could imagine! They kept coming over to look at my coin jewelry, and spent two days anguishing over which one to buy.  It was so much fun listening to their excited decision making process, and to have their cheerful company!  On Sunday morning, Marie told me a wonderful story.  She said that her father was in the habit of spotting and picking up pennies on the street.  A couple of days after he died, she spotted a penny on the ground and thought of him.  She picked it up and it had her birth year on it.  She was delighted and has kept the penny in her wallet for the last 9 years.  She also had another penny she has saved for a long time, and she asked me if I could make her special pennies into a pendant for her.  Oh yes, I certainly would love to do that!  I am honored to be part of her story, and can't wait to get started on her special project.
More stories to come soon.... Thanks for listening!

   Yesterday I attended (and volunteered a little) a benefit for Deb and Randy, a couple I have known for over a decade.  Randy has been dealing with a long battle with cancer, and some of their friends decided it was time to help.  I was so impressed in how much this group accomplished in such a short time.  Of course I donated a couple of my coin pendants to the silent auction, and I was very pleased and surprised to see the amount of donations by the families circle of friends.  Deb, and her two adult children attended, and there were lots of hugs around.  Live music, wine, snack food, and yummy desserts.  The event was a delight!
    Randy was not up to attending, but at the end of the event Deb managed to get the large banner on the front of the building down, and take it home for Randy to see. 
   I have always appreciated Deb & Randy's warm and giving friendship.  It did my heart good to see so many people supporting them in their time of need.  A truely feel good moment.

I really like doing arts & crafts shows.  I enjoy the people, the questions, and of course making new customers.  One of my favorite shows is coming up this weekend, the Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol, CA.  It is a pretty large show for our area, attendance is about 10,000 people for the weekend, but it feels like an old fashioned friendly community kinda place.  Sure there is live music and lots of things to do, but the food is old fashioned and yummy.  Apple and berry turnovers, that kinda stuff.  It is spread out over a nice park under the oak trees, so is enjoyable for all.  Mixed in with the latest in trends is old fashioned items like hay bales, story tellers, apple peeling contests and the like.  It is a family event, in fact we used to take our son to this event when he was young.
  So, my husband and I will be out there having fun this weekend, and hopefully making a few new friends.  If you happen to also attend this show, please come by and say hi... you can always reach me by email since I have my phone with me (isn't technology grand!).  Or you can check out more about this fun event on their website www.gravensteinapplefair.com.

Ann@AnimalCoin.com