An Unexpected Email

I don't really win stuff. Like ever. Now my brother was always winning things when we were younger. He won a huge giant life-sized Yosemite Sam doll at Great America. You know, those games that are rigged so no one can actually get the ball in the bucket? Well he won it and carried that massive doll around the rest of the afternoon. Impossible stuff – he wins (not me).

Well this week, I actually won something. And not even by luck, but actually something I worked for. Remember when I wrote about how I was submitting some designs to Minted? I never in a million years expected to win a contest, especially since only submitting a handful of designs so far. I mostly thought it would be a good exercise, to put myself out there and be challenged. So you can imagine my complete shock when I'm reading through a Minted email about the winning designs for the Moms Dads and Grads Journal Challenge and see this:

That's right, that's my little name you see there at the bottom! I surely read it over 100 times and even asked Paul to come over to my computer and confirm what I was seeing. My design wasn't voted in by the community, but it was chosen for the collection by the Minted Editors and guest editor! Say what?!

I still can't even really believe it. The night I saw the email I couldn't even sleep. I just lay in bed starring out the window and occasionally whispering "ARE YOU AWAKE?" to Paul, who after many of these whispers finally was awake.

Truthfully, I think I was so shocked, not only because there are like a million amazing designers who enter these contests, but also because I don't have much confidence in myself as a designer yet. Even though I do it for my job 32 hours a week, and it's my hobby after work and I really enjoy it, I'm still surprised when a project actually turns out well. And really, I don't think this journal is the best thing I've ever done. But being chosen in this challenge has given me a boost of confidence and motivation to keep on keepin on. It can be easy to look around and compare myself to other artists who are much more developed in their skills than I am. But that will drive me crazy and completely burst my bubble. Instead I choose to look back and say "Wow! Look how far I've come!" and look ahead with confidence in my goals and potential for growth.

So that's that!  Be looking for Wishing, Hoping, Dreaming for sale on Minted.com soon!