Buttons&Beads&Quilts!

Yesterday I turned 61 and I decided to take stock today of how this blog on my art quilts and my way of seeing the world is going. Today’s offering is my 54^th posting, and when I started writing in the
middle of September, 2011, I just knew that I wanted to tell the world about how I make my art. I’m surprised at how much fun I’m having putting my tales out there and how successful I’ve been at moving to the first page of Google. If you search for “art quilt blogs” or “beaded art quilts”, (parentheses needed) I dominate the first page for those phrases. Granted, those are narrow niches, but they are ways that people would go about searching for me. I have a great new program, “Market Samurai” that allows you to analyze keywords and phrases, so I’ll be hunting soon for some more niches to work on.

All of this success deserves some very big thank yous to people in my life who support me. In no  particular order… Thank you to my new sweetie, Lee, who sent me the gorgeous flowers in the photo above for my birthday. Your emotional support, your love of my art work, and your phone calls and emails are a bright beacon in my life that help to sustain and inspire me.

Thank you to Jeff and Sharon, who have adopted me into their heart family. (Their birthday gift was even pictures of all of their family,  including their dog, to remind me that I am part of their tribe.) You took care of me when I was so sick last year, and are always there for whatever!

Thank you to Mary and Ceitllyn, my healing partners who love me in spite of my shortcomings, and even love me enough to call me on my stuff when needed. I know that I could call either of you up in the middle of the night when I have a spiritual crisis and would get help.

Thank you to Robert, who has guided me through the ends and outs of what can be the quagmire called WordPress.org. He’s been incredibly patient with my countless questions. This site wouldn’t be up without his tech support and insights,as he’s bailed me out a number of times when this site crashed or had a problem.

Thank you to my friends and family who sent birthday cards, emails, phone calls, and Facebook postings. Living and working alone most of the time, I often forget that I do have an extensive, extended heart family that cares about me, has the same values as I do, and thinks that what I do is cool.

Finally, thanks to my mother, who sacrificed to buy me all of those art supplies when I was little so that I could experiment with a wide range of media. Thanks for all of those trips to the store.

I’m excited about 2012 being a year of change for me. I have big plans for my art work and my healing practice. As for the art work, I have already started the Work in Progress series, and when that quilt is finished, I plan to compile those pics and info and pitch the story to a quilting magazine. When I have enough blogs, I plan to pick some of the best and make an e-book out of them. I also am exploring having an on-line course of how I do my pieces, or maybe make a video of it to put on You Tube, and then pitch those vids to some of the industry giants who make DVDs. OK, now that I’ve put this out there in public, I have to do at least some of it, right? After all , you’re going to be looking over my shoulder through these postings.

So, I’d like to end my birthday evaluation and thanking everybody, by acknowledging you, my readers. Without your support and comments, I would feel like I’m just talking to myself. Mwah! to all of you… and as I say as I end my emails, “Love to your hearts”, because for me, a heart connection is how I try to “be” with everyone in my world.

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this piece. The registration form is just to prevent spammers, not to collect any of your information, so please take a minute, fill it out, and then share your ideas with the rest of us. We all grow when we share our thoughts and impressions, so why not join our growing community of those who appreciate art quilts and textile arts. We’d love to hear from you!

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com

To find out how to buy my art work, please check out “How to Buy my Art Work” in the “Pages” section to the right of this blog.