Just a Bit Corky - We Are All a Bit Corky Here

You know you're in good company with a nice bottle of wine (Riesling happens to be my favorite next to a nice Muscat for desert...) - that delicious taste rolling over your tongue...that warm feeling flowing down your throat also wrapped around your being by laughter and friendship.


Moving to San Francisco opens you up to the world of wine...it permeates the culture. Napa/Sonoma are only short drives away and people are proud to serve local wines in almost any restaurant. (Not to mention the Monterrey Bay Area - a delicious neighbor).

And, then, back where civilization began, in one of the
fewgreen havens left in the Middle East, I had the
opportunity to visit the Golan Heights winery - an
experience I will NEVER forget and always cherish. I
boldly tell you - if you have the chance to purchase or
try Yarden wines - you won't regret a single swig!

And, while we are all a little bit quirky, some artists are a bit corky...and Connie, fellow Etsy artist, was able to nicely bring them together in this fabulous Etsy Treasury! You can view these pieces as well as one of my featured Vino Hot Stuff Wine Cork Trivets by clicking the image below until Friday, February 29th:

The Crafty Wino - Corky Creations and More!

Welcome to The Crafty Wino!
Here you will find fun and useful handmade items, most of which are related to a love of wine. I crave to make things that are fun, useful, and most of the time related to my love of wine. And as I satisfy my craving I like to enjoy a nice glass of wine, whether it be a smooth Merlot or a sassy semi-sweet Missouri wine. Hence The Crafty Wino was born! I prefer variety when I create, so rarely will you see something in the shop that is exactly alike. Thanks for visiting, and check back often as I'm always making something.
Click on the banner below to visit these tasty creations!

Turqoise & Friends

In caves and mines Turquoise has it's own friends. Jasper, Copper, Malachite, Lapis - the fabulous Eilat Stone from Israel is a gorgeous example.

But, here above ground, Turquoise found friends with EBSQ and WWAO artists and Torrie Smiley in her fabulous Etsy Treasury - which happily includes one of my gemstone bracelets. She displays the Turquoise and many wonderful artistic applications - click on the image to view until Monday, February 25th.

Torrie Smiley
"Welcome to my Gallery featuring original landscape and still life paintings using oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel. All art is original paintings. ***No prints*** I am primarily a self taught artist who paints using oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel. I guess you could say I am a mood artist. I paint what I feel at the time using the medium that will best capture the feel and look I am trying to achieve. I have become known for my different renditions of pears, ranging from realism to colorful impressionism. My Martini Series has become an award winning series and collector favorite. Enjoy the Art!"
Click on the banner below to view her wonderful work!

Faves: EBSQ & Bestbooks

Etsy has attracted some fabulous self-representing artists. Not only providing art and craft at excellent prices, cutting out any annoying middlemen, producing gallery quality art you can pass down through the family in a plethora of styles and subject matter. How excellent is that?!!

So, it's difficult to pick favorites, I have a list that's a few hundred items long. But, Elis Cooke, a rock star of an artist herself, was able to create a beautiful Etsy Treasury with fabulous works of art available from Etsy artists - but I'd swear they were worthy of The Met. Click on the image to view until Sunday, February 24th.

Into the Blystic - Elis Cooke Original Art

Not only is her art some of the most beautiful I've ever seen, she is a wonderful supporter of my art! Most of her pieces have an ethereal quality that looks like it comes so easily from her being - absolutely awing and extremely humbling. Specializing in Mixed Media, Handmade Paper Collage, Abstract, Bookarts and Monotypes. Enjoy her work by clicking on the banner below:

High School Color

I attended two high schools...neither had the greatest color combos. The first, was SUPPOSED to be gold and blue. But...gold doesn't translate into fabric unless it's lamet, and I'd LOVE to see a bunch of football players touting that uniform!

The second was white and bleh green. Wasn't quite olive, wasn't quite kelly, a nondescript green paired with the absence of color - white. Bleh.

It was funny to bring back these memories when I saw the Etsy Treasury that the shopowner of AbbilyBabbily created. She even included my dotted polymer clay pendant! Click on the image to view until Sunday, February 24th:


Hello and thanks for coming to my Etsy shop, AbbilyBabbily! The term 'AbbilyBabbily' comes from my son on the day his little sister was born. He saw her for the first time and asked her name. When he was told Abby, he immediately called her 'AbbilyBabbily'. And it fits, she talks a lot. But, you can see her fabulous glass creations by clicking her banner below:

Back in Black

I have a silly smile on my face...and now I'm thinking back to my friend Lara and excellent funness while we sang out loud "...she was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean..." over and over and over. And, it was a ton of fun - one of those really simple and wonderful experiences.

I was extremely pleased to see fellow WWAO, Etsy and EBSQ artist Tracey Allyn Greene's new Etsy Treasury featuring one of my Good for Girls, Great for Guys Gemstone necklaces. Not to mention the accompanying artists wonderful work - check it out by Thursday, February 21st by clicking below:

TagsCats

Hi! Thanks for visiting TagsCats Esty shop! Yep, you have found me, Tracey Allyn Greene, a full time artist. I'm a multi-media artist, which is to say, I love painting all sorts of things using all sorts of media. I work in oils, watercolor, acrylic, on canvas, paper, and even river rocks! I do specialize in pet portraits, especially cats (whom I consider my muses), but, I don't limit myself, I will paint any animal, and tackle most subject matter. I was a vet tech for a lot of years before turning to art full time. I love to memorialize a special pet friend for people, on river rocks or in oils on canvas, that is my passion. Thanks for visiting! Peace and purrs!

One World - One Heart Event Winners!

Just so you know, I used a random number generator that was not my husband. He tried...but in the end, he just kept coming up with meaningful numbers...like the ones he uses to play the Lottery. I love him, but ixnayed him for something online and impersonal.

The winners are:

Hermine Koster
"One World - One Heart" Gemstone Necklace

She Became a Butterfly
"Um...That's Mine" Wine Charms

Diane Clancy
"Vibrant" Gemstone Earrings

Claudia
"Bacchanalia" Polymer Clay Pendant

You can click on their banners to visit their blogs and get to know them a little bit. A special thanks to all that participated! I absolutely enjoyed reading every comment. I wish I had more to give...and more money for postage (hint, hint...USPS rates are going up again this year!). In the meantime, please visit my Etsy and Ebay shops and drop a line from time to time here on my blog!

Thank You Staci Rose

Just the title makes me whisper, "Awwwww"...the post is even better!

"I am an artist. My purpose is to create and to share."
Please click on the image to view her blog!

A Few of My Friends

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.
~George Washington Carver
(one of my favorite human beings to have lived and strove)

One of the best things about the groups I choose to belong to, is that they are truly supportive artists. We are all humans and at one point or another in our lives we are all looking for help, seeking assistance, vulnerable or needing guidance. I believe I find these qualities in the members of EBSQ and WWAO and a vast number of artists on Etsy. All of us sharing our passion with the world, with each other. Some of those people, like myself, belong to all three of those communities.

I also know, if any one of them made it to San Francisco, I'd love to take them for a hookah at in the Haight and hang out in the park listening to the drummers on Sunday afternoon. And, I was glad to see this feeling is mutual when I saw Torrie Smiley's Etsy Treasury, happily featuring my Desert Mustang necklace! Click on the image below to view until Saturday, February 9th.

Torrie Smiley - Original Works of Art

Welcome to my Gallery featuring original landscape and still life paintings using oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel. All art is original paintings. Torrie Smiley, originally from West Texas, now residing and painting in the foothills of North Carolina. I am primarily a self taught artist who paints using oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel. I guess you could say I am a mood artist. I paint what I feel at the time using the medium that will best capture the feel and look I am trying to achieve. I have become known for my different renditions of pears, ranging from realism to colorful impressionism. I have won awards both locally and in Online art shows. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the art! Click on the banner below to enjoy her delicious artwork!

90/90 Staci Rose

Guess what! Today is Rosh Chodesh Adar I...which basically means, the first day of the Hebrew month of Adar. AND! I was featured by Marilyn, a fellow Etsy artist, on her blog Cigarboxbeads that focused on my Judaica!

Cigarboxbeads

I became a non-stop beadweaver when I purchased 3 vintage cigarboxes full of beads at a flea market---about 20 years ago. I'm still using those beads, plus a 'few' more I can not help but purchase! I also knit, sew, crochet, decoupage and lots and lots of other stuff so some other goodies might show up here as well, along with beads! Happy looking!

Hug Nation

I have been so happily overwhelmed with the OWOH Event that I didn't realize how much I needed a hug until I visited Suzi Blu's Divine Journaling Ballerina Princess blog.

She fabulously shared this video - I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

You can find out more about Caleb and his grandson Halcyon by clicking the image!