Letter: What I Am Up To

Dear Readers;

I have received a lot of support from my friends and family on my charity project, and I am so grateful to everyone who is helping out. For those of you waiting for a  bear patterns, I am in the process of getting copies of the bear pattern I am using and they should be in the mail (or emails) shortly. You are all awesome!

I am also very excited about being able to go back to work this Saturday. I love my work, and spring is a an exciting chance for me to obtain new and invaluable techniques to further my career as a photographer. That is what I love about my work; there is never a lack of opportunity to learn new skills and gain new opportunities. I am always growing, always improving, and there is never a point where I can't learn something new.

I have been very busy with my photo restoration project for my friend Suzie, and things are looking great. It has been an amazing and humbling process bringing these photos back to life. It is so amazing to hold these 100 year old photographs in my hand, and see and feel the love that has been put into the tradition of that blessing dress and her family. It has truly been an honor, and I hope that I have done these wonderful images justice. I had to go through and recolor them, airbrush quite a bit, and then do some minor repairs on some scratches on them.  Photoshop has made my life SO much easier.I am so grateful for the technology I have access too that allows me to take on projects like this, and for my customers who allow me to share my talents with them.

I am grateful for so many things, but right now, I think one of the biggest things I am grateful for is that I have been able to stay busy, even through off season at work. I have learned so much, and be so fortunate to have the support and opportunities that I have to take care of my family and further a career that I am so passionate about. Being able to stay busy has made my seasonal, winter-time depression so much easier than It has been in past years, and I am proud to say that I have made it through the harder months already with no anti-depressants.Its a huge feat, and I am so grateful for this blog and the mercy I have had this year in battling my depression this year. The projects from my clients, the hard work and constant learning from my job, this gratitude blog, and the wonderful people around me have made this one of the best years I have had in a long time. No matter how dark things may seem , gratitude and opptimism are powerful tools of perception that can remind us of the beauty and good in the world when we have a harder time seeing it. Being able to look back over this blog has given me an edge to not only beat depression, but better myself as a person. Thank you so much for all your support and love in what I am trying to do, and the message I am trying to send to anyone who stumbles across this blog looking for hope and a reminder of beauty. I hope that what I do can be a beacon of hope to any who need it, and thank you all for following along on my mission to spread the joys of the beauty that surrounds us. Have a great day everybody!

 Artfully Yours,

 Jetta Marie