Celebrate Life

Wow! It's been three months since I launched my business Artsy Canvas Girl Designs.  My heart has never sang louder than it does today simply because I am doing something I love.  I thought I would share with you the story of my first official sale of a canvas...  I had just set up my Etsy site and I was feeling so great that it was up and running.  In my heart I just wanted to create something incredibly special.  I remember getting the 'convo' (all the Etsy lingo is so new to me) inquiring if I could work with a vintage photo.  My client's mother had just passed away and the family wanted something very special to display at the funeral services.  So I gave her the details to send me the photo.  I received a beautiful vintage portrait of a young woman dancing in the ocean.  It was a little tattered and there was some wear and tear from the handling of the photo over the years.  The picture looked as though it had gotten a little beat up.  I was able to clean it up yet maintain its beautiful vintage feel.  My client asked if I could somehow incorporate her mother's favorite motto about life into the canvas.  It was a famous Mark Twain quote, "Dance like no one is watching, sing like no one is listening, love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on earth." When I read the quote I felt a kindred spirit with the person who had just passed away.  Now I received this request late Sunday night and the family needed this for the services on Friday.  So this was a very tight turnaround time to get the canvas just right and then printed and delivered to Minnesota.  I sent five initial samples to my client for her consideration within a day (stayed up all night working on it -- and I had to kind of giggle, I felt like I was in college again try to meet a project deadline).  Then we narrowed it down to a couple of favorites.  She gave me more insight to what she was looking for and by Tuesday night we had the final.  She received the canvas on Thursday afternoon just in time for the Friday morning services.  What felt the best of all -- not only making the tight timeline -- but the way in which the canvas was received.  She sent me an email saying that it was absolutely beautiful and the family had a "cry fest" when they opened the box.  My heart sang with joy!

What a great idea!  The canvas was a beautiful memorial tribute displayed at the funeral services.  But then the daughter gave it to her father as a gift.  Eventually, it will be passed down to the daughter and grandchildren and it will become a family heirloom.  And I was a part of that! :)

Love and Blessings!

ArtsyCanvasGirl