Gosh, more than a year since my last journal entry? How time flies...

I still have the same job I had last entry, so THAT much hasn't changed. October came around, and the company gave me a one-week extension while they figured out what to do (not kidding here, one week) and then decided to extend my contract until the end of July.  And of course, I have no indication on whether or not I'll still have a job after that. Still, getting a steady paycheck NOW means I'm a bit more fortunate than about ten percent of the population, so I'm not complaining. Much.

My New Year's resolution this year was to have one hundred pieces of jewelry ready to go by the time the Clayton Millstock Festival rolls around in June. Between two trips to the mountains, a visit from my sister, a weekend vacation in Manhattan, a gym membership, and several projects (including a cypress-knee carving and a new hymn board - a present to my church - to match the one I made in 2004), I've managed to make...fifty. Hey, no problem, I've still got more than a month until the festival, right? Yeeeaah, not so much. They've cancelled the Millstock Festival, and it looks like they've cancelled it permanently.

Of course I'm irritated about this. There's been precious little explanation WHY it was cancelled. Nathan thinks the new owners of the Coffee Mill (the cafe that started the festival in the first place) decided it was too much trouble to keep going. I tend to agree, although I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they probably couldn't face the UNBELIEVABLE amount of small-town bureaucracy that is the Town of Clayton.  That said, I'm also a little sad. In 2005, the Millstock Festival was the first step I'd taken in TEN YEARS to make my artwork for sale to the general public. Take a look at the first picture in my gallery: [link] . That picture was taken specifically so I could have photos of my work to submit for a space at the festival. Without Millstock I probably wouldn't even HAVE a deviantart account.  Millstock's been my biggest incentive to build up my inventory each year, and it's been great to have at least one guaranteed market every summer.

SO, on to bigger and better markets. As mentioned in previous journals, I still have some pieces for sale at the Durham Scrap Exchange [link] and the VERY classy Davenport and Winkleperry [link] . I'll also be setting up a booth this Saturday at the Dolphin's Mart in Cary, NC [link] . Part of the festivities include a raffle table, with 100% of the proceeds to go to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. All the crafters at the festival will be donating artwork for the raffle, so be on the lookout for one of my pendants! Or a set of earrings, or a choker, or whatever. For charity!

And also? DAILY DEVIATION! [link] STILL in shock.