I love the networking that blogging provides. Within only a few days of first launching my blog I made several "blog" friends with whom I now keep in touch regularly. It's so much fun to see how other Etsians have transferred their craft to a blog (and/or to a twitter and facebook page!) and the stories behind it all.
One way blogs keep each other in the spotlight ("blog lovin'," I like to call it) is to share awards with one another. It's kind of like a e-version of a chain letter, where someone nominates you and you have to nominate others in return. I dig it.
That said, today Cherry Tart Designs awarded me with the
My first award! Thanks so much, Cherry Tart - I am honored! Make sure you check out her blog, too = she does super cute graphic design and even features yummy looking recipes, too!
So the rules now are that I have to list 15 other blogs that I dig and inform them that they have won the award, too :) So here they are, blog of people that I already know or have met along the way that I dig. And in no particular order:
(To be official, the Rules of Blog Award Acceptance:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.)
Awesome! Hope we can all check out each others' blogs and find new blogs in the process!
On an unrelated note, I finished Yelping about the bead stores I visited in Baltimore and Chicago. In case you are new to Yelp, it's an online community that reviews everything from stores to restaurants to doctors to hotels, you get the picture. I have really found a fun and funky community there and was asked to be an Elite member earlier this year. Dig that, too! (If you are on Yelp, holler at a sister, I love reading others' reviews!).
Beading clearly makes me happy :) Here I am in front of "Happy Beadium" in Chicago (and yes I am aware that I am wearing clashing colors!). I had hoped to get pictures in front of every shop we visited, but got so caught up in the moment that I forgot!
That said, I plan to bead for the majority of the weekend and have lots of new things to post next week. I had hoped to finish more items this week, but I ended up selling several items I WORE TO WORK to some co-workers (they had to force me not to just hand them the items right off of my neck!) and spent my evenings filling their orders (while watching So You Think You Can Dance, of course). The only thing that might get in my way is that my parents are arriving tomorrow for a 3 week (yes, that's 21 days) visit. Riiiiiiight. So I might not get much work done after all. Fingers crossed.
Here's to a great weekend!
The first is by my buddy and co-worker Cheryl, who just started her own CUPCAKE blog (insert salvation here)! I was honored to help her in the graphic formatting of the blog and have already had some of my own cupcake work featured - sweet! Cheryl took the initiative to create the "Golden Cupcake" award ... and gave it to me :) I am going to bestow it, in turn, to my other cupcake sister, Chrissy, who is working on creating her own cupcake catering business!
The next is from a customer I met through this blog, actually - which is the best kind of connection! Karen lives in wine country, Nor Cal and we have recently discovered we have a lot in common (ie love for So You Think You Can Dance, which I saw in person last week and will be blogging about very soon!). The award is called "The Lemonade Stand," and it's rules of acceptance are to "Choose seven ladies who according to this award show an attitude of gratitude." Awesome! Here's my list of seven lovely ladies!
Lastly, another gal who I met through Bloggin, RedRubyonFire, (who did an interview about me on her website a few weeks ago) bestowed upon me the "Honest Scrap Award." I have seen this award floating around the bloggin' hemisphere and am glad it finally found it's way to my site, as it's rules are awesomely interactive!:
- I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link it
- I must list 10 honest things about myself
- I must put a copy of The Honest Scrap Logo on my blog.
- I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers & list their links (see above)
- I must notify the bloggers of the award and hopefully they will follow the above requirements.
Which means, Bloggers who I listed above, feel free to embrace this award for yourself, too!
Ok, 10 honest things about myself. Here go's:
1.) I feel quite guilty that I have turned my obsession of scrapbooking over to jewelry making. I sometimes just sit there looking at all the supplies I have accumulated over the years and sigh with remorse. Will I ever get my outstanding scrapbooks done?
2.) I majored in Chinese language and Philosophy in college. 
I got my Masters in Christianity and Chinese religions. Now I work at a movie studio. Your guess is as good as mine! (picture is of me climbing the Great Wall in 2004).
3.) My favorite two musicians are the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Mozart. I literally listen to them all day long (in random order)!
4.) Though the hubs and I have made our second guest room into my craft room, I hate working in there. I feel secluded and away from the action that is usually happening in the living room. For that reason, I make most of my jewelry on a card table in the corner of the living room or on the ottoman.
5.) On that note, I am afraid to admit that I can't even contain all my supplies in the craft room (especially when we have house guests living in that room!). Here is a picture of all my Etsy mailing supplies and products stuffed into our linen closet!
6.) In light of #4 and #5, I am quite OCD about clutter and tidiness. Ask my poor husband. (Example: I can't leave the house without first cleaning out the sink of it's dirty dishes. Seriously.)
7.) I have had over 500 stitches in my body. And I hate needles.
8.) I've been a vegetarian for 11 years. Though I would gladly make a series of Arby's Roast Beef Sandwiches part of my maternity diet if totally necessary.
9.) Guilty pleasures: Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List and N'Sync. Along with spending large amounts of money on unnecessary items at Target and Forever XXI.
10.) This blog makes me happier than you will ever know!
