If you haven't checked out Xomba yet. . . .

you really should. Check out Xomba.com, I mean.

For the past year, I have been the featured Family and Home writer for Xomba.com,a profit sharing online writing community. Since of late, my interests have changed from matters of home and hearth to my main hobby, crafting.

So, last month, I wrote a sample article about a picture frame I made for my mother-in-law for mother's day. I submitted it to my editor with the request that he switch me from Family and Home to Hobbies and Crafts.

And then I waited. My article got many rave reviews from people on and off the website. Figuring I was on a roll, I wrote a second craft article. This one was on using natural ingredients to make your own hand sanitizer. This article did even better than the first one.

Today, I checked the website, and Yay!, my editor switched me to the featured writer for the Hobbies and Crafts section. I am so happy, and I can't wait until my next article is published. I am learning lots of techniques from my beloved mentor, Candace at Wye River Designs, and plan of writing all about the things I am learning, both here and on Xomba.

So if you haven't discovered Xomba yet, check it out. And don't just read my articles, but investigate further. There are a lot of talented writers just waiting for you to discover them.

And by the way, my pen name under Hobbies and Crafts is Tiffayres. Check it out, and support Art in this world!

I am also the crazy mosaic lady!

For the past month, between jewelry projects, I have been working on a large mosaic lazy susan for my home. I just finished grouting it last night at my weekly mom's craft group. I came up with the idea for this project while I was sleeping one night. I woke up after midnight one night with a crystal clear picture in my head of exactly how I was going to do it and how it would look when I was done. The finished product didn't turn out exactly the way I envisioned, but I still think it turned out pretty good.

Completing the set from last week

I am so happy! I finally finished this necklace I have been working on for the past two weeks. I really hope my mom doesn't read this blog, because this necklace was made to accompany the earrings and bracelet from the last blog. I gave her that set for her birthday this weekend, so if she is here, I think she knows now what she is getting next.

For $2.99 at the Wye River Design Studio, I purchased last week a bead kit that contained the large circular polka dotted disk. My original intent was to use a jump ring to turn the disk into a pendant for a necklace. The kit, sadly, did not contain enough beads to make a necklace, so the apple shaped beads included inspired the earrings from last week. The earrings inspired the bracelet, which sadly I have to redesign as a stretchy piece. The clasp on the bracelet does not seem to be substantial enough to hold it on. Instead of trying my luck with another clasp, I will just redesign it to be clasp-less.

As I was aimlessly pawing my way through the beads today, I found the little cylinder red and white beads that seemed to go perfect with my pendant. Add some silver spacers and the rest of the beads from the kit, and I think it goes perfect with last weeks set.