A Really Meaningful Compliment!

Ms. Laurie http://loudlife-laurieblaumarshall.blogspot.com/, of the very same Loud Life fame who sent me the fun art/name generator below, and whose blog and work and comments definitely make my day, sent my this cheery award.

Why is it so special? Because most nights I sit here uploading and typing as fast as my fingers will fly, and when I get done, I always have that momentary (or longer) dorky, insecure feeling. And heck, I don't even post anything very personal at all. But, I always feel a little bit like a weirdo, writing along as if someone were listening. Well, Laurie is! And I thank her! And actually, I am blessed to know I have several blog friends who visit here regularly and leave the nicest comments here and/or on my Blythe blog http://bly-me.blogspot.com/. Laurie, not a Blythe-r herself, even sent me a link to a darling dress on etsy. So thoughtful! Blog friends truly are the best. The posts above and below are just more evidence of this.

Speaking of blogs and post, on Tuesday 1-15-08, the ZNE Artists and Poets blog goes public at http://www.ZNEPoetry.com (more on that later). I've become involved in this as not only a ZNE member, but as a blog/poet member and also the coordinator of an internal ZNE project for group poetry, ZNE Verses, whose finished works will be posted on the new blog. We've already created a beautiful monster, so mark your calendar to stop by and see.

Art Treasures and More

When checking for my next book club assignment with the international ZNE book club, I was thrilled to see my results from assignment #1 posted on the home page of the Book Club http://www.znebookclub.info/. It not only is gratifying and makes me feel my art can't be that bad, but it helps to bring other visitors to my blog. So, the art world continues to go 'round and 'round. I was pleased to have this same artwork featured on another related site ZNEBlogz. Also, a great new feature at the bottom of this page on my blog is the ZNE Site Ring. Click on next or random to be directed to other wonderful ZNE members' blogs.

If you're loooking for other inspiration, Stamping Day and Night, in Fort Wayne, Indiana (linked at right) is having a week-long garage sale of other artists' and crafters' cast-offs of supplies, rubber stamps and scrapbook materials, publications, etc. The sale started today and lasts a week. I am trying to keep myself out of there, so I can just show up next week and reap (and spend) my rewards. I took a great batch of stuff, so hopefully someone will want it all!

Speaking of shopping (I should blog just about that!)....I had the opportunity to go to Schoolcraft, MI yesterday. The cute old downtown is lined with antique malls and shoppes. I hit the jackpot with a box of antique dominoes still sealed in their original package for $2 and three old magazines, including Better Homes and Gardens from 1933 and a fabulous McCall's from 1955. I was sad the Betsy McCall paper doll page was missing - that was a monthly highlight from my childhood. I don't know who looked more forward to the subscription arriving each month- my mother or me. I also found a glass baby bottle and a very old hair dye box.

My other treasure, which arrived today, was a package of ephemera I had ordered from ArtChix Studio, possibly the most wonderful source of collage and ATC supplies ever! Check it out: http://www.artchixstudio.com/.

I will post some pictures here soon. I just took a break from reading the old magazines and tearing out pages for collage (which I sort of felt bad about, but that was always the plan). The reading is so entertaining as well....BH&G in 1933 was encouraging readers to break out of their ration habits and start spending more to beautify their home and yard, to help the overall economy after the war and crash...little did they suspect another war in the offing.

Some ZNE Lovin'

Imagine my excitement to come home from work to discover my blog had been chosen among more than 100 internationally to be featured on ZNE Blogz http://www.zneblogz.com/ front page for Technorati Tuesday. The moderator or webmistress person searches every Tuesday for member blogs mentioning ZNE, and as I had just posted about my ZNE Book Club assignment, mine came up first in the search and voila! It's a great way to link to other artists and get blog visits. I also added to the bottom of my front page the ZNE Blog Ring, which links all the member blogs together. You can now visit them from my site! Just scroll to the very bottom of any page. You can search or you can choose "random" to see which blog(s) you get. Every one is a treasure, and I am thrilled to be a part of this group. Click on the ZNE logo on the right panel of my page for more information on this group. The name comes from VariaZioNE, meaning "variation" in Italian. Ciao!