Hi, Everyone . . .
I finally got out of my slump and boy did I do it in a big way. OMG! We had a fantastic week at the Festival in Nappanee, Indiana.
First, and most importantly . . . my husband was in the best mood ever at a show. I changed my layout and he loved it. Much easier to set-up.
Second, there were several outstanding things that happened during the festival.
a. A family from Texas comes every year to this show and every year they have purchased one of my heirloom rosaries. Well, they came again and bought a gemstone rosary on Day 1. What a great start.
b. I had a Green Bay Packers Rosary and it was purchased, but the best part is who the new owner of my Rosary is -- Bill "Red Mack" who was a wide receiver for the Packers and the person who CAUGHT THE "FIRST TOUCHDOWN PASS' OF THE FIRST SUPERBOWL. OMG! I was so happy to have this happen ... I was at a loss for words. (Something that does not happen to me too often.)
c. A couple is going in two weeks to Rome and their Parish Group has an audience with Pope Francis. They purchased one of my Rosaries to take with them and have it blessed by the Pope.
I had one purchased and blessed in an audience with John Paul II, one purchased for a person who was going for an audience with Pope Benedict to have it blessed, and now Pope Francis. In just a few short weeks, I will have had Rosaries that I designed and created blessed by all three of the last three Popes. Okay, this is overwhelming for me as a Catholic. I do not deserve such an honor, but am blessed to receive it.
d. I got several custom orders for special Rosaries.
e. The finish to top it all off was, I won the most popular booth as voted by the 2014 Amish Acres Patrons. The lady rushed up to me just before the show closed. She had to beat the announcer who was in the process of saying, "We have the winners for the most popular booth as voted by you, the attendees of the 2014 Amish Acres Arts & Crafts Festival. And, the winner of the first place award is Lois Anderson in booth G75."
Forgive me for "crowing" about this, but I was in AMISH COUNTRY and a very PROTESTANT part of the country and a CATHOLIC BOOTH WON. Okay, okay, I have to calm down, but I am so pleased and excited and a little bit in shock. It was a great week at Amish Acres, the weather was beautiful and not too hot. The people were great. And, I won most popular booth, God is Good and I am filled with joy, encouragement, and a new found enjoyment for my pieces. What a blessing!
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Oh, my goodness. I forgot something else. My last customer of the day was one of the curators from University of Dayton's Museum of Marian Art and Devotionals. They have the largest collection of Rosaries in the USA and this lady said that they must include one or more of my Rosaries in the collection. Sooooooooo, I am making a special University of Dayton Rosary for the collection. Additionally, due to U of D having a great deal of responsibility for the Middle East Peace Talks, they also have a Peace Museum. If you have seen my website, there is a Peace Rosary there that she is going to ask about adding to the Peace Museum Collection.
Have I been blessed or what? It is all just too, too exciting. Indeed I have been blessed more than I possibly deserve.
Congratulations, Lois. Great to have you in such high spirits and what wonderful stories. It is always tricky when a person chooses such a specific niche to find the events that will support their work and it sounds like you found one (in the heart of a Mennonite community!! -- Catholics unite!)
Have you been to this show before?
Nothing like making an easier booth set up to make our partners happy and I'm sure Vince will be in a better mood for your next show.
Happy for you, doubly blessed, loving creating your work and finding others appreciate it also.
Connie,
This was my third year at the Amish Acres event. This was the first time that a ton of people came to my booth with the program and my name circled as a booth they WANTED TO SEE. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to have that happen and to hear folks approach my booth with comments like, "There it is ... we found it ... this is the place ... Oh my God - Look at all the Rosaries ... This is so beautiful" and so on. I was on cloud 9 the whole show. I told my husband that I felt like Sally Fields accepting the Oscar ..."They like me, they really like me."
I have been so down and thought that no one else had the passion for Jesus and Prayer, but I was sure proved wrong this week. There was so much passion and love. I should not doubt God . . . He has a plan . . . we just have to be willing to way for it to be revealed. Boy did I get hit over the head with His plan this week. I even had folks leaving my booth and stopping to tell me to "keep up the good work," and "you will be back next year, right?," and "this is such a mission, thank you for providing this, it is wonderful," and the best one for my soul was, "Please don't stop doing this, the world needs you and your work." WOW! How is that for confirmation that one's work is meaningful. So, the next time I am down-- Connie, just kick me in the butt and tell me to put on my big girl panties.
Love ya,
Lois, Rosary Doctor
No one has the absolute answer in this business, or in life, as you well know, Lois. We do our best, we hang in there, we do our "soul work", creating from a seed within us. Some never find the success they desire, some days you do, some days you don't. It is the process and it is wonderful that you had this past weekend where you found a connection that was important for you. Hope you continue to celebrate it for a long time.
For what its worth, don't know if you ever listen to the podcasts we do, but there is a lot of hopeful info there. So, next time you are alone in your studio, not finding your audience, go listen to one or more of those.
Here it is ... ta da ... the first place ribbon for most popular booth of 2014
Vince and Lois Anderson.jpg