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.

The Beginning of a Bead-utiful adventure

Last year, I was lucky enough to move to within walking distance of the Wye River Design Studio, in downtown Grasonville, MD. The owner and operator of the studio, recognizing that I needed a distraction from the rewarding, but tedious life of a stay at home mom, quickly took me under her wing and indulged my love of all things crafty.

I tried most of the crafts in the shop. I quickly discovered that I most enjoyed making mosaics and creating beaded jewelry.

The pictures accompanying this blog were some of my first beading creations. I debuted my collection at the Kent Island Federation of Art's Artoberfest, held in late October of last year. My collection was mostly stretchy bracelets and necklaces, which I marketed toward the child and elderly demographic. I did fairly well, selling 4 bracelets and 1 necklace, making 5$ profit over my table fee. Last week, I started learning about working with jewelry wire and clasps. As my skill set grows, I hope to be debuting more pieces in craft shows and eventually launching my own website selling my jewelry.


Until then, enjoy. The pieces shown were made with stretchy string and plastic beads.