Creative blogger award

I've been awarded the Kreative Blogger Award by a friend I met through an online jewelry forum, Melissa Muir.

When you receive this award, there are a couple of rules to follow that help keep the momentum going to find other blogs that might be of interest to readers. So here are the rules:

1. Post a link to the person who awarded you

2. Share three random things about yourself

3. Grant the award to three other deserving bloggers and let them know

Ok. I've adjusted the rules just a bit on the rules...the truth is, I read lots of creatively centered blogs but some of them are not very active. I decided that I could either try to come up with TEN bloggers to award and never actually post this or adjust it to three who I really admire and keep the ball rolling. I visited and started following most of the blogs listed by Melissa in her Kreativ Blogger Award post and think it's a great way for people to find other artists they may be interested in.
Three things about me:

• I often get up really early on the weekends to start on my projects. Like by 4am early. I wake up and start turning the ideas over in my head and finally give up on going back to sleep. It gives me a great three or four hour space of time to myself to act out on my crazy ideas.  I *do* have a rule not to start any hammering until after 7am...just because I get up and start going that early on the weekends doesn't mean the other families in the cul de sac want to do the same thing.

• When I was really young, I used to pick up random chewed gum and start chewing it myself. Yes, you read that correctly...chewed. By someone who was not me. I picked it up off the sidewalks and actually have one memory of pulling it off the bottom of a table in a fast food restaurant.  Disgusting.  Maybe it helped build my immune system? As an adult I'm somewhat of a germophobe, so apparently I grew into that because it must not have been an issue early on.  

• My day job is all about data.  I work with databases, spreadsheets, web forms...and I love it. Since I could barely hang in there for any of my math classes in high school, this evolution in my work life has been a surprise.  I love the creative stuff because there is no right answer and not just one way to do things, but I love the data work for exactly the opposite reason.

Here are the links to three creative blogs that I love to read - don't forget to go check these ladies out!

Hally Crangle chronicles her life with amazing images.  She sees the world through a creative lens and her photos are always interesting.  She is young, positive, and has recently married and moved to a different country...do you need to know more to go check out her blog?!

Pam at Cookie Crazie makes incredibly detailed decorated sugar cookies in every shape imaginable. I've only made decorated cookies a few times, partly because the amount of work and patience involved almost sends me over the edge every time.  Pam's artistry and creativity are incredible.  Even more impressive is her willingness to share tips and ideas with others; she has lots of step by step tutorials and shares her recipes.  

Melissa Muir is a friend I've made online through a jewelry forum.  She makes amazing, intricate jewelry and has a gift for teaching.  The first time I ever tried tube setting stones, I did it after reading one of her blog posts about how to do it.  I didn't have any questions when I got done reading - she even provided information about what supplies were needed.  Her tutorials on her blog and her YouTube channel are a wealth of information, and she's getting geared up to offer jewelry classes in an online format.