Overwhelmed and Appreciative

Okay, so the Akron Reading Festival happened, and we gave away 3,288 bookcrossed books. Wow, right? So many wonderful people helped—people from all over the world sent books and people from all around the Akron area came to help out to work the festival (10 AM to 4 PM). So many wonderful people came, I met lots of awesome people and was touched by the fact that they all read. Reading really can build bridges and unite people.

So, now it’s time to turn this blog back into the crafty blog it was meant to be. I still have lots of things on my creative plate, but they’re getting done and I’m clearing some time to do more.

First off, I have a swap of a 2 page 12x12 layout that I’ve got to finish. I’ve made the first layout, but now I have 5 identical ones to do and send out on Friday. Then there’s stamp projects to do at Stamp Haven—which I can’t wait to do. And there’s always organizing a workspace and getting things taken care of in that way. My creative room has 274 less books in it (thanks to the festival), so I have a little more ‘wiggle’ room. YAY!

I also became a Fiskateer! Yay! Now I am proud to be Fiskateer #5674. What is a Fiskateer, you may ask? Well, a Fiskateer is a crafter who promises to spread the word about the awesome-ness of Fiskars (and by the way, they’re wonderful!)… I’m over simplifying everything, but if you want to learn more about them, please check out the site—www.fiskateers.com.

And now, drumroll please, I am honored to have received my first ever award for blogging on this blog! It’s called the ‘Your Blog is Fabulous Award’ and it was given to me by Anne, who is gracious and totally awesome in her own right. She’s always got really great blog posts that make you think and she’s one of the nicest people I’ve never met, but follow her online faithfully. You won’t regret a visit to her site. Thank you so much, Anne. This award is truly appreciated.

Your Blog is Fabulous Award:

To pick up the Your Blog is Fabulous Award:
List 5 addictions
Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog
Nominate 5 other blogs you think are fabulous
Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award
Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation

So, here are my 5 addictions:
1. Reading—Can it be called an addiction if I panic when I realize I forgot a book I was reading at home, or is it truly an addiction because I’ve stashed five others in various places as backups?
2. Writing—I just can’t seem to help myself. I want to be a writer when I grow up, people. I’m constantly working on a story or two and have scraps of paper (and notes on my smartphone) about plotpoints.
3. Creating—I LOVE stamps and inks and paper. To me, there are infinite possibilities when you add these to the mix, and I really hope that at some point I clear some time to do more…because I just bought a few stamps I’ve been eyeing for a while and I’m just itching to start playing around!
4. Twitter—I tweet, therefore I am. Yes, I twitter quite often. What’s Twitter? It’s telling the internet (in 140 character bursts) your thoughts. I follow a lot of people and love hearing their thoughts, but I also use it sometimes when I need to vent. Not about my creative friends, but about the non-creatives…
5. Chocolate Covered Strawberries—Okay, I love chocolate (Good chocolate people, not old ‘found in a drawer foil covered hearts from 4 years ago’) and added the chocolate covered strawberries because they’re fantastic. I can eat 2 or 3 and just smile with happiness.
So in order to get this award, I am to nominate 5 other blogs for the ‘Your Blog is Fabulous’ Award. Now, I’m not trying to be picky, but I just went to the five people who I thought best embodied the Award.
Gwensmom: Sarah is amazing. And one of the first people I got to share my creative side with (from Nervousness.org). This woman is a genius with found cloth as well as sewing machines. Her work inspires me and her felted catnip mice are still my cat’s favorite toys. And her daughter Gwen is beautiful and amazing--and a little bit of a rebel as well (check out the cellphone post!).
Emilie: A virtual celebrity in the scrapping world! She has such wonderful photos and layouts that reading her is like opening a Christmas present every day—there are always surprises. And she’s blogged about her awesome shoes, which is a plus in my book.
Elaine: Elaine and I used to work for the same company. We went to our first rubber stamping show together and she got me to knit. She’s one of my favorite people on the planet and she’s wonderfully gifted and 100% grounded. And her birthday is Saturday (Feb 14) so that’s probably another reason she’s so sweet and wonderful. Stop by and read her tasty recipes or check out the sneak peek at some of her newly developed products. She’s got some pieces that are sure to be at a store near you. And be sure to ask her about Crazy D’s… J
Kristin: I met Kristin through 2Peas, and reading her blog is very inspiring. She is detailing her creative journey and she’s taking risks that turn out amazingly and she’s showing pieces of her art journal that just floor me because I knew that if I attempted it, it wouldn’t turn out as well. She’s wonderful and you need to go tell her so!
Samantha: Another creative I met through TwoPeas, you may have heard of Samantha through her work on her fabulous site, The Everyday Scrapper. Her personal blog includes links to her etsy site as well as great pictures and videos of things featuring her fun style and spirit. She’s been influenced by Elsie, but Samantha’s work is all her own.

I hope you’ll stop by these blogs and say hello to these wonderful people (including Anne)—within seconds you’ll see why I include these under my ‘must check’ blogs of the day. They’re wonderful. And very deserving of recognition.
Again, thank you so much, Anne, for my very first award. I’m touched. You totally rock!