Garden Ladies

These are some of the final manufacturer's samples of my Laini's Ladies Garden line that SHOULD be in stores next month, fingers crossed. Yay! There are garden stakes and wind chimes, and some smaller indoor pot ornaments that will look great in house plants. All are printed, die-cut metal with bells and beads, and they're so cute. I can't wait to see them in stores and in actual gardens! This part of the process is always exciting, but it takes a while to get from the design stage to the stores, and I've had to learn to tamp down my enthusiasm in the waiting. Not just with Laini's Ladies, but with illustration projects, and with my book especially. There's always plenty of work to be done in the meantime and lordy lordy time passes SO FAST it's scary, but one gets used to not letting their enthusiasm run away with them... and well, personally sometimes I fear I will squinch it down too much and not be able to find it when I'm ready for it! I'll be rummaging frantically in closets saying, "Where the *#$%@ did I put my enthusiasm!?" But... I always find it. I hope I'll always find it. It just won't burst open like shaken champagne. It will be more subtle, like a smile you can feel all the way down to your toes.

There was the moment when I finished my book. When I got to the last page and typed "The End." I felt fairly calm as I wrote that page, knowing just what was going to happen, already having known for many months what the last line would be. So when my left middle finger typed that last 'd' on The End and I felt a tremendous rush of emotion and tears, it really caught me off guard! As is my way, even though I was alone in the room I tried to compose myself, to freeze my face and keep the tears from coming, I don't know why. My face got hot, a few tears squeaked out, and then I felt this incredible contentment settle over me. I had done it. I think it's good to take my excitement at those moments that ARE under my control: my work, the making of it. What happens after that, the big process when other people come in, other teams of people in other states and even countries, that is so beyond my control. The moments of enthusiasm that come after, they will be serendipities, like feathers falling from birdless skies. I can't predict them, so I won't try to guess or ration my excitement, but just keep working, with an ear out for the arrival of the UPS truck and the boxes of goodies like these!