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!

One man's art is another man's crap

No picture this time.

Don't know if there will ever be a picture of this, whatever "this" is.

Lemme start at the beginning. KIFA (Kent Island Federation of Arts) is having an art show for Earth Day on Saturday. It was suggested to me by someone close to me that I enter something. After giving it alot of thought, I decided to make a necklace. The rules for this art show are that the entries have to consist of 80% recycled materials. I saw some of the entries that are already on display. There is a dress made entirely of Capri-Sun bags and a fish mosaic made of soda can pop tops.
I was stumped as to what to do. Then, I got inspired when I remembered that my friend Tammy, (whose crafting site is listed at a link above this blog) has made handbags and wallets by crocheting strips of plastic grocery bag. I remember loving this idea when I first saw pictures of her work. So I decided to modify that idea for myself. I took strips of grocery bag and braided them together into long braids intending to make a necklace and pendant. The necklace was going to be a long strip of bright blue plastic with brown wooden beads strung periodically. The pendant was going to be a flower created from intricate loops of white and red braided plastic. The blue portion of this project turned out fine. The pendant is where the wheels fell off the wagon. I just cannot make it turn out the way I want. I have tried many different methods of working with the materials and finally went to my old standby: crazy glue.

So, here I lay. It's 11pm and my fingers are covered with a fine layer of crazy glue. The pendant still looks like crap and the piece is due tomorrow morning. I am hoping a good night's sleep will provide me with the inspiration that I need, but I am afraid I have now totally psyched myself out. You see, once I had the fleeting thought of calling KIFA and telling my friend Carol that I wasn't going to be able to drop anything off after all, my mind just gave up. A total psych-out.

So, good night and sweet dreams. I really hope I can pull this out. I would like to be able to announce that I am entering the show after all. Maybe I will dream a solution to my problem. You never can tell.