Peek at my Week (June 7-13)

I hope you're looking to find some beauty in each day. It almost feels like it's getting harder to find the good. But, I'm sure that's just a mood for me right now, and tomorrow will look a little brighter. Let's take a peek at my week. 

As Tropical Storm Cristobal worked its way through our area, we watched the rain fall for hours! It was a wet weekend. 

Some of the weather carried into the beginning of the week, but it finally cleared up. I worked on getting some earrings made for the Etsy shop since I had noticed a real lack of them. When the sun was finally out some on Tuesday, I snapped pictures in the craft room (it was still too windy with chances of rain to risk heading outside with all my gear.)

With unpredictable weather, I was able to stay inside and create for a few days. By Wednesday, I was playing around with the eco-dyed papers I had made along with some interesting image transfer skins.

However, that was as far as I got with those because I just couldn't make a decision.

Besides, it was pretty outside! I took a little walk around the property and found an amazing array of mushrooms. I couldn't help but take a dozen or more pictures. Here's just a few.

I'm sure dampness from all the rain had something to do with the abundance. 

On Thursday, I felt plenty productive as I knocked loads of to-dos off my list. I even had a few beads on my desk!

All that screeched to a halt when the dog lost her mind while the exterminator was outside. She knocked me onto my knee and I spent a few hours icing it. (It seems to be fine, just a little sore.)

I was able to get most of my housecleaning done on Friday even with the sore knee. So, I had to forgive her. I mean, how could you not?

My best friend and my Goddaughter came over on Saturday afternoon for a swim. Once they left, we delved into watching Artemis Fowl on Disney +.

It was a fine movie...but as a fan of the books, it just didn't hit all the right notes for me. 

I had some ups and downs with my #the100DayProject as well over the week as I missed a couple days and wasn't exactly thrilled with all my results. I'll let you be the judge.

I like Day 62's fine. I had to use some of my handmade stamps, and that's never a problem. 

On Day 63, I was to use some of the "nice" paints I have stashed away and hidden. The components of this page are nice...it just could be better. 

The above spread was created for Days 64 and 65. I need to use an old recipe card (I have a box of them!) and some acrylic inks. I struggled my way through this, trying new techniques. And, I finally came up with something I like. 

The task for Day 66 was to trace stencils. I was soooooo unmotivated by this one at first. But, when it hit me that I could use watercolor pencils and crayons, I found my groove. As the knee injury came while I was working on this page, I kept it fairly simple.

Letter stickers and lace needed to go into this spread for Days 67 & 68. They made it onto the page, but it's those areas that bother me the most. I'm still trying to decide if I can fix it.

I did find plenty of inspiration and beauty to share with y'all:

• I encourage you to check out these floral sketchbook paintings from Sonal Nathwani. Each page is more mesmerizing than the last!
• Tiffany of Southern Gals Designs did some experimentation with Ice Resin and paper on her YouTube channel. Some of the results are surprising. 
• Learn how to avoid common polymer clay mistakes from Ginger at The Blue Bottle Tree. 
• Here are some cute tutorials on making heart headpins.
• This old wisteria tree in Japan is an amazing sight to behold. Go see!
• I'm always a little in awe of the intricacies of paper cutting artists. Patrick Cabral creates amazing wildlife sculptures. 
• I flipping love these cartoon drawings of celebrities from Dino Tomic. He uses several different styles to capture his subjects. I had a good time looking through his Instagram. 
• This combination of embroidery and paper and nature from Mrs. Ciccoricco is so special and somehow soothing. 
• Here's a quick roundup of several ideas and products to organize your jewelry. 
• Damask Love shares a tutorial on making a resin keychain. 
• If you liked the floral sketchbook I shared to start, you should also definitely check out how Nathalie Lete is spending her time at home: covering her walls with flowers. 

I've seen so much hate online lately, that I feel like I'm getting sucked up into it. All I want to do is spread feelings of love, acceptance, and inspiration. I just want to see people respect one another and am doing my best to do the same. I hope you're surrounded by love and beauty this week!

Peek at My Week and April Challenges & Prompts

Pat was still out of town most of this week, which was a shame because it was not only Easter but also Spring Break (for the nieces). We were all disappointed that he wasn't home but tried to make the best of it. 

If you remember from last week, I had prepped for Easter by baking. I waited until I got to my mom's to decorate the mini cheesecakes with frosting, chocolate eggs, and toasted coconut. I think they're just too cute!

After our Easter meal, one of the nieces (TAG) went home with me. We dropped off her luggage and checked in on the puppy before heading to the Fairhope Pier for a stroll. 

While TAG slept in on Monday, I took Zoe (the dog) out for a walk. We stumbled on this beautiful butterfly wing.

Once we were all up and moving about, we headed down to the Gulf (of Mexico) for a walk on the beach. We would have stayed longer, but the coast was packed with people. At least this view made it worth the short drive. I'm looking forward to heading back down there when it's not Spring Break. Before heading home, we stopped for dinner at Lambert's Cafe (home of the throwed rolls - yes, they really throw them. TAG was hit in the head with one. She talked about it for days.)

Tuesday was full of activity as TAG's sister and her boyfriend drove over to get in the pool. Alas, the pool wasn't ready so I took them to lunch while waiting for the pool to be serviced. 

It took longer than expected for the pool lady to come by, so we amused ourselves. The kids got in the hammocks. Yes, Zoe too! She doesn't like to be left out. 

Meanwhile, I worked on getting my seedlings transferred to their new homes. 

After the pool was vacuumed, it was ready for swimming! It was still far too cold for me, but two brave-ish souls ventured in. You can see the hammock (on the right) was moved closer to the pool so it was enjoyed by the third youngun'. 

On Wednesday, we focused on an art project that began with some spray painting. Fun, right!?

By the end of the day, we each had an awesome piece of assemblage art. This is TAG's, mine is in the collage below.

Thursday was a mixed bag of activities. This was really one of the few pictures I took all day. And, it was from eary in the day. In the afternoon, TAG was returned home, her sister was taken shopping, and then I headed back to Silverlox.

On Friday, Pat was coming home! But, his flight wouldn't get in until midnight, so I kept myself uber  busy so I wouldn't go crazy. The day started with the Bead Peeps Swap-N-Hop Reveal. The majority of the rest of the day, I was a little manic about cleaning the house so it would be super nice for him. 

I did eke in a bit of creative playtime and altered the bottom of an old tin by running it through my embossing machine. I love the results!

In an effort to clean out the fridge, I made these amazing nachos for dinner and ate almost all of it too!

Saturday was a bit of a lazy day as it rained most of it. We went to Harbor Freight for a few supplies, had lunch out, and eventually went to the movies to see Ready Player One. We both really loved the book and had been waiting anxiously for the movie. I was seriously bummed out when I realized that Pat would be out of town for the release. So, we made sure to go see it. It was worth the wait!

Most of my projects this week have been for #The100DayProject (taking place on Instagram) which started on Tuesday (April 3rd). This year, I selected #altering100 as my personal hashtag as I hope to spend 100 days altering some of the materials I have stashed in the craft room. Most of these will not be completed projects but just supplies to use later in my work. As well, they won't all be jewelry-related either. It's still early in the project so there's time to catch up. And, if you miss a day or two, it's no biggie. Don't keep that from letting you finish out the 100 days. This project is great for encouraging and developing your creativity. I had a ton of fun and learned so much from last year's #make100earrings project. Please let me know if you play along. Here's what I've made so far.

1- From the start, I knew I wanted to alter these washers in my stash with dictionary paper. It was a quick and easy process to start the project. 

2 - This was much more involved. As I mentioned above, I got the niece in on it too as she made her own assemblage piece from some of the found objects I had collected. 

3 - I pulled out the Vintaj Big Kick to texture blanks. It was a Vintaj extravaganza as I used Vintaj blanks and patinas to complete the pieces. 

4 - As mentioned above, I embossed the bottom of an old tin in the Big Kick. I used a couple of sections to make small bezels and play with Vintaj Patinas in them.

5 - Working with more of the embossed tin, I punched it into circles, colored with alcohol inks, and sealed with resin.

This is just one of the challenges going on right now. I shared the Challenges and Prompts I found last month, so I thought I'd share those again this month too. 

• Of course, there's The100DayProject
• The Artisans Create Together Facebook Group has their own Inspirations Challenge. This month it is Showers and Flowers. You have until noon on April 30th to submit something to the album for a giveaway. 
• Art Elements has announced the April Theme as Horses. The reveal will be April 29th. 
• Our friend Sarajo at SJ Designs Jewelry has divulged the Honey Do List inspiration for April with the reveal date set for April 23rd. 
• The We're All Ears April Challenge at Earrings Everyday is "Paradise Calling". The deadline for this one is April 20th. 
• Art Bead Scene has revealed their prompt for April. You have until April 30th to submit your design. All the details about their April Monthly Challenge are available on their blog. 

I'm sure there are probably loads more inspirational challenges and prompts out there for the month that I'm missing. If you know of any, please leave me a comment and I'll add it to the list.

So, how was your week?

Bead Table Wednesday

I'm distracted right now because AMC is playing "Gone with the Wind" on repeat today. Being a Southern girl, I was raised on this film. I'll admit that I even have a copy of Scarlett's bar-b-que dress that I wore for YEARS. I probably haven't watched the movie through since I was in high school. . .so now I'm distracted by how much more I see in it now as an adult with more interest in the historical aspects of it.

Anyway, the TV is on in the craft room so I might as well share what's on my craft desk this Bead Table Wednesday.

Some of the Beads I've gathered for the Challenge of Color

I'll be making some soldered pendants as part of a custom order, so these glass slides were pulled out.

Check out the other Bead Table Wednesday photos in the Flickr Group.

Bead Table Wednesday

There's also some new earrings in the shop

Roam Freely Earrings

And this necklace is on sale

Moonlit Shadows Necklace

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!
And, if you are going out in the craziness that is Black Friday, be safe and best of luck!!

Harry Potter, Midnight, Tonight

I've been waiting for as well as dreading today for months-years. 

Tonight, at midnight, I'll see the LAST Harry Potter movie.

It's so very bittersweet.

If you have any doubt of my love for all things Harry Potter, remember where I went on vacation a few weeks ago. . .AND, just do a search within my blog for anything Harry related and you'll find a long lists of posts mentioning the boy wizard.

In honor of the movie tonight, I created an Etsy Treasury full of all kinds of magical creations.

It All Ends

Please click on the link to see the full treasury!!

I plan on taking my wand with me as well as making myself a deathly hallows necklace (time permitting) to wear for the movie. Oh, and I pray I don't forget the tissues as I know I'll be sobbing my eyes out as it comes to an end.

So that this post isn't completely centered on my geeky interests, take a gander at these earrings that were placed on sale today.

Split Personality Earrings - ON SALE

Are you spending the day obsessing over the end or did you not even realize that tonight was the night? Either way. . .enjoy your day.

Island Movies (MMSM)

We had a bit of a movie weekend . . . An island movie weekend, in fact.

Saturday night, we watched "Couples Retreat." I'm sure you've seen the previews - Vince Vaughn, Charlotte from Sex and the City, the beach . . .  OH - THE BEACH!! I am now obsessed with going to Bora Bora and staying in one of those over-the-water huts (with fish tanks in the floor) and the beautiful blue water and the bright green palm trees and all the wonder and majesty of it. I must go to Bora Bora!! The movie? The movie was good too, it was definitely funny and entertaining. But I could talk more about the beach if you want . . .

Sunday, we went to see "Shutter Island" It was a completely different kind of island and movie. LOML and I both read the book some months ago when we first started seeing the previews. We went into the movie expecting to see what all movies do to good books. . .and what gets me riled up sometimes. However, we were pleasantly surprised that it stuck pretty close to the book. Sure, there were a few, very small changes. Ones that didn't really bother either one of us. In all, I think we both enjoyed the movie just about as much as we did the book. That's saying A LOT!! I absolutely recommend this movie (and book) for a suspenseful, mystery-like, good story. There are a few mildly gruesome scenes (be warned if you can't handle that.)

Overall, we really enjoyed both of these.

Moving on . . .I didn't really get ANY crafting done this weekend. I did make two cards for a meeting I had on Sunday afternoon, but they were rushed and sloppy. Before the meeting, I was able to hit a thrift store and pick up a few items I may share later in the week. (we'll see) I have been craving some polymer clay bead-making and may work on that at some point during the week, hopefully.

Other than that?
Let's pick things up with some long-time coming "Made Me Smile Monday" fun!!

• Cookie monster's true love

• Funny and even some hilarious analogies and metaphors found in college essays
• Pictures of what the world would be like if the internet didn't exist. My favorite is the second one
• 
   I'm not so sure about this park- definitely keep an eye on your kids there.

Just to let you know, some of the links I'll be sharing in the future may be REALLY old stuff I've had saved for a while. Just catching up . . .

A Pirate Looks Forward

Let's just forget that New Year's began on January 1st.
I'm going with February 1st as my 'new beginning' or whatever.

2009 was fraught with tasks that NEEDED to be done, and To Do lists after To Do lists, and a completely full calendar. This all bled into 2010 and up to the 23rd of the month. That's when our society held our Mardi Gras Ball. It was fabulous and everything we had planned, dreamed, and imagined for the past 7 or so years. My mom (the leader/president/"queen") was breath-taking as leader and her best friend (the emblem/ball chairman) was more graceful than I knew she could be. I (ball co-chair) got to play the part of the 'fun one' and I had a BLAST. There were TONS of compliments going around. If anything went wrong or was taken poorly, I don't know about it. I'd rather not either. It was a success as far as I'm concerned.

The only pictures I have right now are some of my friends' from Facebook. (Note: I was too busy to take any pictures of my own and am 'stealing' them from my friends' albums.) If you want to see more go to my Facebook page and check out pictures of me there. Here are a few to give you a general ideaLOML and me in my 'cruise pirate pose'

A view of the stage

My mama wearing her massive mantle and train (with me off to the side)

Oh! See the skirt of my costume? It's a FUNNY skirt. It was made from the curtains that were in my sister's room when we were in high school. I knew they would be perfect for the pirate-look, and I wanted something of her's with me for the ball. What's funny about the whole situation is that the seamstress made the hem of it by just leaving the part where the curtain rod slips on. If you've ever see the Carol Burnett skit where she dresses up as Scarlett O'Hara (from Gone with the Wind) and wears the entire curtain (rod and all) down the stairs, you'll understand why we thought my skirt was so funny!!

Wait! Here's the video for reference-



Now that it's all done and over, I'm ready to get back on track - cleaning house, blogging, crafting, exercising, healthy eating. Or at least make an attempt at these things. We'll see how it goes now that my excuse (the ball) is gone. Wish me luck!!

Three Days for the Fourth (MMSM)

What a lovely little three-day weekend we had. Summary:

☼A full day of shopping to find a beautiful dress
☼Only a coupla margaritas (reduces the chance of suffering the next day, if you keep the number low)
☼Mama's Ribs, MawMaw's potato salad, and Ree's death by chocolate
☼Watermelon Jello shots
☼Two little girls who only seem to get along while they are in the water
☼Eight(at least) fireworks displays from a single spot on the beach
☼Pancakes the size of dinner plates (Mac & Jerry's in Robertsdale)
☼Breezy Fairhope Beach (me: crafting, LOML: windsurfing)
☼Italian food at the G place
☼The entertaining awkwardness that was the G-place's attempts to close
☼Retaining my 'cheap date' status with a trip to the bookstore
☼Losing that status with the purchase of 2 tickets for Transformers 2 (a TOTAL waste of money!!)
☼Starting the week off right by working out first thing!
☼A/C in the office!!

And now for some "Made Me Smile Monday":

• the hauntening (not scary at all, totally humorous)
  
• Ninja entry sign
  
• The beer prayer (would definitely be appropriate posted on my fridge right now)
  
• Animal testing for clothes
  

I hope your 4th was enjoyed as well; and hope that you and I have as smooth and fun a week!!

Laptop Problems, Granola, April Fool's Day (WWWW)

This is no April Fool's joke (and if it is, it's really cruel)- my laptop is messed up - AGAIN.
Right now, everything is PINK.
No one can figure out why. The tech at work believes it is may be a hardware malfunction of the display or something, but is trying to explore all options.
I took some pics yesterday to share with you, but don't want to upload them until I am more secure on the state of my computer. Darn it!!

If I don't blog for a bit - don't worry. It's probably just the dang computer's fault.

The pictures I had taken were just of some food I made - our dinner and homemade granola. The dinner was alright, just pretty. And, the granola is AWESOME!! I've been wanting to make some for ages and finally did. Here's the recipe (if I'm remembering correctly) of how I made it:
4 cups rolled oats
2 cups nuts and seeds
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the oats, nuts and seeds, brown sugar, and salt then add the other ingredients and stir well. Oil a cookie sheet and spread out the mixture evenly on the sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool.
[as far as nuts and seeds go, I put in sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts, almond slivers, and a few chocolate chips. I wanted to also use some sweetened coconut, but was out of it.]

If I missed any ingredients here, I'll make sure to update you later. It was so easy to mix and make this and I already had almost everything (except the honey) in the pantry. As well, there are so many other combinations of ways to make this, it won't get boring. You could also add dried fruit and tons of other varieties of nuts as well as wheat germ. I also adjusted the recipe to my own preferences by using 1/4 C of honey and maple syrup each. The real recipe calls for 1/2C of syrup. I'm sure you could just use the honey if you wanted.

All in all, I think it was a success (so does LOML.) We ate a ton of it last night, I had some for breakfast, and there is still loads and loads left. Hurray!

Anyway - enough of that. It's "Wild Wild Web Wednesday." So, let's get to it.

• Try is XHalloweenX Easter hangman - make sure your volume is up for this - too funny!!
• If you are a sitcom junkie like me, you will appreciate this USA sitcom map.
• Since it's wild, wild web Wednesday I thought you might like to check out the Where the Wild Things Are trailer.

Have a great April Fool's Day. Don't be mean about it and try not to be Fooled!!

Wednesday Woes, Girl's Night, and New Craft (WWWW)

Ahhh, hump day!!
There's something about Wednesdays that just irks me. I'm not sure what. I think it's the fact that you're still only halfway to the weekend. However, I do have something to look forward to tonight - I'm going to dinner and a movie with a fiend and some of her friends from work. Since LOML has a fairly strict no-girlie-movie policy, I've lucked out that this friend and her friends include me when they head out to see girlie movies. I saw both the House Bunny and Sex and the City with them. Tonight, we'll see He's Just Not That into You. It has some of my favorite actresses in it!!

Besides that, wanna know what else is new? I'm learning a new craft. YES, ANOTHER ONE!! I read on another blog (sorry I can't remember which one) how fairly easy loom knitting was. I've got a ton of yarn. I found the knifty knitter at Wal-Mart waaaay cheap. I've knitted a hat (pictures pending.) REALLY! I did it in one evening, while watching TV. I've started on a matching scarf now too. The hat is not perfect - there's one mistake and it could be a bit bigger. But, it was sooo easy. If you are personal friends of mine (or family) you can go ahead and expect a hat and/or scarf for Christmas this year. I've been looking for crafts that are fairly easy to complete in front of the TV, in the living room, and needlecrafts (knitting and embroidery) seem like the way to go. Ahhhh, craft ADD strikes again!!!

Now, for some "Wild, Wild Web Wednesday" It's not much, but it's just for you!!

• Check out this woman who misses her flight and throws a temper tantrum. LOML and I often discuss why adults don't throw tantrums like we did as kids. We might get what we want more often. J/K!
  
• Roald Dahl was my favorite author as a child, and still is for children's books. I haven't gotten much into his writing for adults yet (but it's on the list.) At this site, you can explore his writing hut. It's kinda dirty and depressing, but if you've ever read his children's books, you know they all kinda start out that way.

Wild huh?
Well, I'm off for now. Try to enjoy your Wednesday - you're halfway to the weekend (glass half full, right?)

Movies and Food and Some Questions (plus MMSM)

Let me admit, I LOVE anything to do with vampires. However, the movie I saw this weekend was Bolt, NOT Twilight. I haven't read the book either. I know, that's pretty bad for a self-proclaimed vampire-fetish girl. Yet, something about this particular series does not appeal to me. I will not say why, for fear of offending anyone. I've got tons of friends, bloggers I read, and twitters I follow that are fairly obsessed with Edward and Bella (see, I know their names.) I just haven't jumped on that train yet. Because of the overwhelming fan-base of this and the recommendations I have received, I may go ahead and take the leap. Perhaps I'll read the first book over the Thanksgiving holiday (I've been told it's an easy read) and make it to the movies before it leaves the theater (if I like it enough.) What do you think? Have you read it? Did you see the movie? Will I like it?

I've got another question for you. What was the worst service at a restaurant you've ever received? LOML* and I have gotten some pretty bad service in our time. Our waitress last night at a personal favorite dining establishment has made our short list of the worst service. After seeing the movie with the nieces and visiting with my fam, we headed out for some grub on the way home. Since the two of us rarely ever go into the "big city" (Mobile, AL) together, we wanted to jump at the chance to eat at a restaurant that's not always an option. We started to head for a Thai restaurant, but passed Carrabba's and changed our minds. It was all downhill from there. Don't get me wrong, the food was EXCELLENT. In short, we waited excessive amounts of time for all of our food and drinks. We watched as the waitress talked to another customer across the room for 20 minutes while we waited. I was served a salad other than the one I ordered. The waitress talked to the other customer for another 10 minutes. Instead of iced tea, our refill was watered-down, oversweetened, iced COFFEE. (Apparently, there was some mix-up with the tea and coffee bags.) We watched as other servers corrected and explained this mistake to their customers, and our waitress gabbed across the room. When we informed her of the iced-coffee, she seemed surprised, laughed it off, and never offered more tea. It was disastrous. Again, the food was great. It looked as though other tables received fine service, we just got a bad one. It was not our ideal way to end the weekend. Oh, we'll go back there - with prayers of not being seated in her section. In any case. . .what's your worst experience at a restaurant?

Moving on to happier thoughts. . .It's "Made Me Smile Monday." Let's get to it:

• Now there's a whole blog dedicated to funny newspaper articles (like Jay Leno's "headlines")

• If you liked the video of cell phones in movies, here's another one from the same people - metaphor free radio. Amazingly, I knew ALL the real songs so this really amused me.

• In case of emergency. . . Do What?
• Even the queen of craft makes mistakes.
  
• On your next trip to wal-mart, take this card and play along - Wal-mart bingo

I'm sorry this is so lengthy, but I had to get it all out. Have a great Monday.

*LOML=Love of My Life

It's Over Already? MMSM is Here, Though.

Wow! Did that weekend spin by anyone else? I barely had time to realize it had started before it was over. Sigh! I stay WAY TOO busy.

I did squeeze in some crafting yesterday afternoon and then this morning. I also went with friends and LOML to see "Burn After Reading." It was really good. I'm not sure that it was theater-worthy, but it was good. OH - what I mean by 'theater-worthy' is that usually LOML and I only go to the theater to see movies that are action/ CGI/ visual effects packed. This was not. However, totally worth the trip to the movies. We haven't been to a movie since we saw The Dark Knight.
Eh, I'm rambling.

I know what you came for so - here's your "Made Me Smile Monday"

• Electrical scream
• Mythbusters crocheted toys. This isn't a LOL, but if you are a fan of mythbusters and crafts, you'll like these.
  
• Soap dispenser for the shower, that's sure to get a laugh or snot, whatever.
  
• Safari Animals gone Wild - drunken African safari. I had NO IDEA this could happen.
  
• Lego delivery with some confusing (or confused) results.

I hope you had a long, relaxing, enjoyable weekend. Now get back to work!! ;)

I Crafted and then Made a Poll for You

Crap-ity, Crap! That's what I feel like right now. I started feeling icky yesterday, and it's still with me today. So, I'm at home 'resting.' Again, it's one of those all-in-my-head things. I'm tired, achy, dizzy, and nauseous. There's also some pain in the back of my head and neck. Hopefully, it's just sinuses and will go away soon as I've taken some sinus headache medicine.

Where can I start? I really got some crafting done over the weekend and felt quite proud of myself for getting some done from the craft-to-do box. See. . .These are some necklaces I finally got restrung. They needed it for different reasons.

These are two bracelets and a memory wire necklace that I started long ago and never finished. Here they are finished and looking pretty!

Lastly, these are some beads I had started making and left completely unfinished. With some paint and decorating, I think they're awesome. I even had time to turn some of them into a necklace (left).

I've been thinking quite a bit about the format of my blog. As I'm sure I've said before; this is the CRAFTY Hope blog and I feel that I may not include enough craftiness. As such, I may want to make some changes. I have several options of what I am thinking about doing and do want YOUR input. However, just because the vote goes a certain way does NOT mean that's how I will change. I just want some ideas basically. As such, I've created a poll (see sidebar to the right) of ways I may change the blog. Let me say that I use excel, delicious.com, and a feed reader to save sites and blog posts that I find interesting and may want to use or refer to. Most of these are craft blogs or pertain to creativity, but others are just some interesting links like I already post here. I want to start sharing these in some way and my blog seems the best option. Yet, I want your help to decide how or if I should do this. Take my poll, these are your options:

• First option - include more craft links in another blog. I've signed up for another blog name, but have yet to do anything with it. I'm trying to decide. I could just make that my more 'crafty' blog.
• Second, I could just post more craft stuff here. This would include all the other blogs and sites I find daily.
  
• Third, I can decrease the other links I share on a semi-daily basis and save these for just one or two days a week. This option includes removing some of the 'themes' I currently use.
  
• Forth, I can blog more about what goes on in my day-to-day life, more like a journal than I am now. This is mostly for those friends of mine who are visiting.
  
• Lastly, I can make NO changes and just keep going
• I can also make a combination of these changes.

Overall, I just want to know if you like the format I am using now and if you would be opposed to adding some more of the links that I actually save for myself, as this is my blog.

I have one more item for today - RANDOM ITEM!!
LOML* and I were watching 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" last night and recognized the Innkeeper at the Leaky Cauldron. We (HE) realized that it is Jim Tavare, one of the finalists on "Last Comic Standing." We thought that was pretty cool.

Anyway, TAKE MY POLL and give me some feedback. The poll will only be open through the month of August.

*LOML=Love of My Life