Thanks for the Love!

Typing away on this post about last Saturday's Valentine's Day Quickie Shop, I feel like an order at Cafe Gratitude*: YOU ARE LOVED.

That's you. And me. Both of us. All of us.

Because it was a great day -- from its beginning a couple of weeks ago, right up to the end of the day. And there are a lot of people to thank, for spreading all the love.

First, @toddlieman. (To those of you not on Twitter, nor interested in being there . . . the man's name is Todd Lieman. He's at Skadaddle Media. He rocks.) Todd became a friend in real life after we met first on Twitter. Around the first of the year, he sent me an e-mail introducing me to another artist friend of his: Willow Older. Todd thought Willow and I should get together and talk about our art businesses. Todd was right. THANK YOU, TODD!

Because, in the way these things magically work, I invited Willow to be in the Valentine's Day Quickie Shop. On the phone, before we even ever met in person. And she said yes. And SHE rocks, too. You can find her etsy shop here. Color, color, color. Hearts. Energy. Love. Awesomeness.

Second, friends helped publicize in the days ahead. With Facebook postings. With tweets and retweets on Twitter. With a blog of their own about it -- telling their readers to come to the show. With providing information the day of the show to people shopping at their nearby places nearby. Totally amazing. There was this little army of love, publicizing away.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Heather Kenney (Facebook postings); to @pcarlson0001, @dianefischler, @ctygrl99, @emerald150, @sally_k, @ipeggy, @ripelife, @toddlieman, @lisakifttherapy, @nextmoon, @fun_master (for tweets and retweets); to @sally_k (for a whole darned blog post); and to @emerald150 for telling people at the Fairfax Away Station to come on down.

Third, big thanks and love to wonderful Suskia Hyde, another great artist at the show . . .

. . . for bringing your awesome table set-up of old-timey trunks and boxes and mirrors, for providing so much fruit and chocolate goodness to the treat table, for offering totally cool jewelry of all kinds -- from watch-works and key necklaces, to felted pieces, to great earrings and bracelets. YOU RULE.

Fourth: the people who came by. O.M.Goodness.

Wow. So great to open the new studio space to the neighborhood and get to meet the kind people nearby. Including Pamela from pamelafrye.com. And Greg, who got the day off to a wonderful start by buying Valentine's Day goodies from all three artists. (Now THAT is a mensch.)

And thank you so much to all the friends who came on out and supported us local artists. Thanks to Heather Kenney, to Bogi, to Toni from Avatar, to Kirstin and David and baby Jack, to Kenji, and to all the Twitter crowd in Marin who support each other on-line, and in-person. Like @dianefischler, @lindasea, @lisakifttherapy, @momntwins, @nextmoon, @pcarlson001, and @tonicarr . . . who brought along her fabulous Ollie.

And to @fun_master, who brought A MILLION DOLLARS for us (because that's what your tweeps do for each other):

Thank you so much to everyone who not only showed up, but who bought our goodies. Like, wow. We totally appreciate it, and get a good feeling in the tummy thinking of our Valentine's Day cards going out to folks :) Most popular of the day:

And most popular luggage tag:

It was an awesome afternoon, filled with kindness and love and treats and chocolate and champagne. We feel so loved! And hope you do, too. Because boy oh boy, it is a very good feeling indeed.

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And while we're sharing our love and gratitude . . . another thing for which we're very grateful these days is the sales of our Kindle book! If you or a friend are thinking about making your arts & crafts hobby into a business, we've got a $3.99 Valentine's Day present for you! Click here for our 100 tips book to help.

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*For those of you who have never been to a Cafe Gratitude restaurant, their offerings are all titled with affirmations: "I am _______." As in "Radiant," "Fulfilled," "Nourished." Yes, it is sweet. Yes, it can also be amazingly, ingratiatingly, New-Age-Nazi irritating . . . especially on the days when you want to say, "I am Anxious" or "I am Frustrated," or "I am In Existential Angst."