i just can't wipe this silly grin off my face....

a while back i came across an announcement that a company (one i've only dreamed of working for over the last four years) was having an open call for new designers. i was jazzed!

but then, days passed....and weeks passed...and the deadline to apply was drawing near and i had somehow convinced myself that i didn't stand a chance next to the names that represent this company. they are the cream of the crop.

that, and thanks to lots of unexpected other stuff, holidays, and whatnot, i just couldn't find time to sit down and focus on the application process. i kept trying to convince myself that it was okay to let it pass me by, but i knew that i'd never really forgive myself for not trying.

i'm a firm believer in living life without regrets. also a firm believer in dreaming big and when those dreams come true its time to dream even bigger. and i've had lots of creative dreams come true over the years. :)

anywho.
one evening, just a day or two before the deadline for application, i had a moment of clarity---thanks to an afternoon nap---and a houseful of quiet after everyone else went to bed for the night, and i put together my application.

it took 7 1/2 hours!

there was a stipulation that everything had to be put together in a single PDF and be under 10MB. after 7 hours of compiling everything that was required, i converted it to PDF and it was 12.9MB.

my heart sunk. then i said a prayer.

it went a little something like this......."God, your Word promises that if i delight myself in you, that you will give me the desires of my heart. you know that representing Fiskars has been a dream of mine for the past 4 years. if this is really what you want for me, please give me wisdom on how to fix this problem."

then i took a deep breath and felt it would be best to try one last time to resize some pictures, but keep them hi-res, then replace them one by one in my document and see if that would help bring me under the maximum file size.

one by one i resized and replaced, then took another deep breath, converted my document to PDF and the file size was..................9.98MB.

i cried.

a little from sheer exhaustion because at this point it was 3:30 in the morning, and a lot because i felt God heard my prayer and cared.

and..............
after they narrowed down the field of applicants and requested more images of my work for Round 2 of the application process, i got an email inviting me to represent Fiskars as a Crafting Expert!!!!!

i'm here to tell you.....dreams really do come true!

i'm going to be living in a sea of orange before long and i can't wait to share new and exciting ways to use their products in upcoming articles and tutorials!

thank you Fiskars for seeing something special in my abilities! and thank you God for answering prayers. :)