A Blog Giveaway

What? A blog giveaway? Well, not here, though I've been thinking about doing one. Maybe later this month. But over at my friend and fellow One a Day Challenger, Cori's blog. Cori has her shop, ccdesigns, filled with gorgeous jewelry, and she is giving away a pair of earrings. Head over to her blog, Designs by Cori, and post a comment. She wants you to take a look in her shop, too, and give her a little critique. Not too much to ask for some free earrings.

Here are a couple pieces that I love that are in her shop right now:

I'll Never Forget the Beach

It's blog carnival time again for the etsy bloggers, and the topic I'm choosing this month is "something I did as a child that I will always remember." Well, you could interpret that as one specific moment in time, but the event that was a constant in my life was going to the beach in Galveston, Texas.

When I was just a toddler, my maternal grandparents moved from Dallas to Seabrook, Texas. We went to visit them at least once or twice a year, maybe even more. And Seabrook was not really that far a drive to Galveston. Of course, you passed through the scenic Texas City with all its refineries, but that's a topic for another day.

Me, with my mom and dad

Those were the days... you could drive on the beach! I don't think we missed a summer between 1962 and 1975. Maybe even later. Of course I got older, and didn't go as often. Then I was off to college. Sometime in the early '80s, my grandparents moved north to Plano, tired of hurricane evacuations, and wanting to be closer to my mother and my uncle.

But, how could I ever forget the endless hours of sandcastle building,

dripping the wet sand, ever so carefully, from fingertips, to make the turrets of the castle.

And anyone who ever visited Galveston in the 60s and the early 70s will never forget the trips to the gas station to get gasoline to remove the tar from your feet. Or what about rinsing off the sand in the car wash that was on the beach. Put in the quarter and run through, squealing with delight as the cold, fresh water rinsed off the sand and salt.

My weren't we skinny back then?! So, thank you, etsy Bloggers, for this trip down memory lane, remembering an important family time in my life. My grandparents have long since passed away, but the memories I have from my childhood are with me still.

This Weeks Excitement

Okay, I know. I've been MIA from this blog. But I had a good reason. Really. Last weekend (wow, has a whole week gone by) Roland and I drove Kyle up to Nashville, and helped him move into his dorm at Vanderbilt. Our nest is officially empty. But doesn't he look happy in his new room!



So, this week I've been recovering. Just two WW meetings, but one of them was a Week 1 and that always means more organizing, more paperwork, and more stress... emails, phone calls, etc.

Then there was the trails of debris left from all the packing for the above mentioned move. I haven't really even made a dent, but it's not going anywhere.

My biggest etsy excitement was an appearance on the front page! And it all had to do with my membership as an Etsy Blogger! Admin wrote a Storque article on the Etsy Bloggers, and along with it, featured us on the front page! After much fumbling about, I managed to get a screen grab:

My goals for this week:

1) A daily listing for my new shop, Elle Quilts
2) Reconnecting with the Etsy Bloggers Message Board. I'm sure there's a blog carnival to be written.
3) Reconnecting with the Etsy Host Team.

Featured Etsy Blogger -- Tulip's Treasure Box

When most people think of B&B, they think bed and breakfast. When Lily, of Tulip's Treasure Box, thinks of those letters, I would bet that she thinks beading and blogging! I recently had the pleasure of working with Lily on an apron project that I made for her, and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her.

I'm always interested in knowing how artists get their start in their chosen craft. Lily started her beading journey only a year and a half ago when she stumbled into a beginner's bead class. It was not quite the beading experience that she had hoped for, but took more classes, practiced, learned from mistakes, joined a beader's guild, and you can see in her shop that it all paid off.

I asked her the typical "what inspires you" question, and Lily is inspired by the usual: other artists, nature, books. But, in her own words, "I am also inspired by the hunt for my supplies. Starting a new project is like a blank painter's canvas, and you get to be the one to conceive." She enjoys seeing her work in progress in photographs, and often blogs about the process from start to finish, both in words and pictures. Reading her blog, Tulip's Talking, is educational and inspirational, both.

Finally, I wanted to find out what she likes to do besides beading, and she admitted that she is "deeply addicted" to beading! But she also LOVES to be out on the water, and living near the coast of Florida gives her that opportunity. You can see the influences that the water and sea life have on her art.

So, stop in Tulip's Treasure Box and see what's new, and you will thoroughly enjoy reading her blog!

Happy Belated Birthday, Bittersweeets!

All About Knitting?

It's blog carnival time again, and our choice was grilling or reading. I like to fire up the grill as much as the next girl... no heat in the kitchen, maybe the man doing the cooking, etc., but I'm more a slap a steak (or chicken) on the grill without regard to marinades and fuss. But I love to read, and while I don't read as many books as I would like to (or as quickly), I am constantly reading something.

Right before we left for vacation, I picked up a book that I thought would be easy reading and kind of fun. You know, a "beach" read. And, I'm usually late to jump on the bandwagon, preferring to wait until a book comes out in paperback. So, many of you crafty ladies (and men?) may have already read the book, The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs, published last year. It really touched me though, and felt it deserved a review.

The Knitting Club is about Georgia Walker, a single mom with a preteen daughter, living in Manhattan, and the owner of a yarn shop. A knitting "club" has evolved in the shop on Friday nights, yet the book is about so much more than the shop and the club. It is about friends and relationships, and interactions both past and present. It is about how we see ourselves and others, and what we want, need and expect from these relationships. And, above all, it is about a need to connect in a time when a lot in our lives seems unconnected and lonely.

The book touched a nerve in me, because, as I've made friends on etsy, especially with the Challengettes, but also with the Etsy Bloggers, and others, I have found a connection that started with our crafting and our art, but ultimately has lead to caring so much more about each other. Many of us would seem to be as different as night and day, as well, but we have connected and have found a kinship of sorts, a common spirit.

So was The Friday Night Knitting Club the light, "beach" read I was expecting. On the surface, yes, but it is not hard to move into the deeper meanings in the book. And Kate Jacobs is a beautiful writer, I'm looking forward to reading more from her. She has a website, so check her out for yourself.