My first blog award!

Gosh, I don't even know where to begin with this one. Claudia from eternal rewards just gave me my first blog award! And to top it off, she grouped me right up there with Pioneer Woman - Ree Drummond, another Oklahoma-landed girl really from California ... (I've been saying for months now that I'm a celebrity, haha, now it's true because we all know that Pioneer Woman is definitely a celebrity and the best kind, down to earth and real).
First, Thank you Claudia. Second, wow, I actually have to write a blog entry. Claudia, I spend most of my day writing and there you are bragging about me writing, but I do very little of it here on my blog.
Ummm...on second thought, not sure I should be thanking you or saying..just you wait! LOL
Part of the reason I don't do much with these things is it takes time to really sit down, think, write and make all those little links for reference to other sites. Here's the requirements as shared by Claudia.
So here it goes:
1. A thank you to the person who nominated you
Thank you Claudia. I may even enjoy doing this! Claudia and I met through flickr and as she says on her blog, we are soul shutter sisters. Eggs, wooden bowls, hay bale landscapes and more ...we've been talking for ages about collaborating, but I'm worthless on that end. And collaborating effectively means really challenging yourself and holding up your end of the arrangement for it to work. Maybe if I win the lottery?!!
2. Here's the award

3. Here's the link back to Claudia's blog - please go visit, definitely refreshing!
http://gnubee.wordpress.com/
4: Name 7 things people don't know about you. (It's here, you just have to keep reading)
5. Nominate 7 bloggers and place a link to them as I do.
6. Leave a comment on their blogs so they know they were nominated/awarded.
Also I must add that to me, a Creative award for a blog doesn't mean the blog itself is overly creative, but that it inspires you to be creative! That's my take on it anyway.

First, I frequent many blogs, rarely posting comments on majority of them and many of them don't even know who I am. I guess I'm a bad blogger, but in a recent issue of Artful Blogging - love that magazine - it said to comment at other people's blogs if you want the love back in return. Of course, it is nice to see comments, so I've been working at that more. Most of the blogs I visit are of other photographers or artistic individuals. Christy Hydeck at Art By Chrysti gets my first nomination. Plus she's got a permanent link back to me on her blog.
Art by Chrysti She's very inspiring and I'm making her a 2010 priority to visit her blog more often. It really is what a blog should be. Wonderful writings, her own and others, plus I absolutely love her textured images. I don't find many online who gravitate toward rich saturated colors and textures on their images, so I feel a connection with what she does. Soul's Estate and Where Love Lay Sleeping are 2 of my recent favorites. I love how she describes her images and she's a talented published artist. Her blog is so clean, but FILLED with all kinds of wonderful links. But what makes her blog so great is that she's always showing the blog love for other talented artists and photographers by posting images and links back to them. Now that's what the Internet should be all about.
Gosh, that's only the first nomination and this is a book already. Go get some coffee or yummy Lipton Tuscan Lemon tea.
2. Maritere gets my next nomination. I think she found me first, through etsy and gave me a glowing write up on her blog Totart She makes blogging look easy, like it should be! Always wonderful photography! Plus she doesn't forget to show lots of etsy love!
3. Bueller Designs is always tops on my list! I even have some of her wonderful TTvs displayed in my home. While some may visit her blog and first have a tendency to go, oh, another one of those blogs with all these fashion and decor/design photos from other sites, they miss out if they run away from it. First she has a link to her "kitchen" site where she is all about healthy and very personal. Plus she is a fabulous photographer. Just explore and you'll discover the beauty at Bueller!
4. Vicki Dvorak at Simply Hue is on my list for creative joy. I love the vintage vibe she's got going on right now plus she mentions other photographers and bloggers that I LOVE, besides having mentioned me at least once in the past. Thanks Vicki! Her blog is so fun and refreshing. I'm always thinking, gosh, I want to try a photo like that. The only problem I have with her blog and photos is that I want to buy them all! Look closely at her photo Imperial. The lighting and shadows that play in that photo make it so original. Keep up the wonderful work Vicki!
5. Meg at Tea and Brie . She's been blogging for quite some time, but she does everything right on her blog. I found her on etsy and instantly bought some of her photos cards. She told me at that time it was new for her, I thought she meant photography, hah! Her blog is open, funny and just a joy to read. She's got a photo on there of her child hiding in one of those plastic totes on the couch! And it's a great shot! Please visit her and show her some support by visiting her etsy shop too. But for those looking to document their lives through their blogs, take a cue from Meg! The great thing is as you do this, at the end of the year, you can make a blurb book very easy and then you have your family journal library started. It's really much easier than you think to do that.
6. LuAnn Smith at Back Home Again gets a nod just because she IS creative. Take a look if you don't believe me. My gosh, I look at her blog now and then and think, wow, I really wished I had paid more attention when my mom tried to make a seamstress out of me. I love what LuAnn has. Plus she's in Colorado, where I called home for many years.
7. And one of my biggest inspirations is Joy St. Claire. While I like to think I have many photographer friends, Joy has been an inspiration just because she was one of the first to give me encouragement on flickr. That's a big world over there and it's so easy to get lost and not always easy to find a group to connect with. Yet for months, Joy would post little bits here and there under my photos. I also felt like I was growing as a photographer just by watching her work and others like her. You know, you can be the greatest photographer in the world, but if you don't keep the channels open, you isolate yourself and then you stop challenging yourself. Plus she shares! She makes such great textures and if you know me, you know I love the textures. I'm still saving up for Lightroom, so textures come in handy to mimic some of those looks.

So, now if you've stayed with me this long, you deserve to know a few things about me.
1. I buy more books than I can read and have a few boxfuls in storage from when we moved. I used to read a lot, but I think becoming a news journalist had something to do with my reduction in reading. Plus I read junk. I'm not one of those fabulous literary readers. I think the last great piece of literature that I read was in 10th grade, Great Expectations. I remember Pip as the central figure, but beyond that, not much memory other then I thought we'd never finish the book in class. I got in trouble in junior high for reading books by the likes of Harold Robbins or The Exorcist and Jackie Collins. The teachers couldn't do much though since they came from my mom's library and I was known to come to class sometimes with wonderful books from Pearl S. Buck (that's where my imagination comes from I'm sure) and John Steinbeck and Frances Parkinson Keyes. My classmates read whatever they could get from the school library. Finally, I relented one day and checked out a book and read it over and over. S.E. Hinton's That Was Then, This is Now...oh my...I just realized, that I found a copy of it at the Goodwill the other day for 50 cents.I also picked up a copy of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Another favorite of mine.
2. I went through a phase making cold process homemade herbal soap. Loved it. Made my favorite - patchouli, and my husband loved my rosemary mint. Now I just buy it from etsy soapmakers as I don't have time to make it.
3. I learned how to embroider when I was 10, and also tried crochet. I loved embroidery, but haven't done it since I was a teenager.
4. I'm always trying out new recipes. I've been called a domestic goddess. Those people didn't really know me.
5. If what I'm doing doesn't impact someone in some way, then maybe I shouldn't be doing it. So far, I think I'm on the right track with both my writing and photography. It's not about me, but about my subjects, the wonderful people that allow me to write their stories, or photograph their moments. Thank you!
6. Now, I need to go write that great novel, non-fiction, purely junk of course!
7. I love Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Yes, I read all four books and am a huge fan of the movies.