A blog award!

Jess over at The Crafty Cafe gave me this lovely award! First, let me just say that Jess has a great blog - can't go wrong with a coffee theme, after all! She has some great inspiration and links there - I had her blog up for the past week trying to find time to go through all her links (until my Internet connection crashed last night and I lost all the pages I'd been saving to look at more in depth...)!

Jess had a great writeup explaining this award so I've just copied and pasted it:

The Arte Y Pico award (which according to my handy Google translater means “Art Peak”) is an award passed from blogger to blogger as a form of creative recognition. :) Here’s the lowdown:

1. The recipient picks 5 blogs that they consider deserving of the award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.

4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the Arte Y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. (Here’s the link to a page translated to Englishby Google)

5. To show these rules.

I get so much inspiration from other bloggers - I have about 300 blogs bookmarked and WISH I could get myself on track again checking them all regularly! It feels so great to know that I have inspired someone as well!!

Paper crafting has such a lovely community - it really, really does! Yes, I know there are some not-so-nice people out there (and some not-so-nice blogs), but honestly, in any community this size, it's going to happen. I still think paper crafting has a pretty darn good ratio of wonderful people to...less wonderful people (lol). It's a shame that it's the negative that has gotten so much attention lately, both inside and outside the community, because it overshadows how much GOOD really is here. I love that awards like this can celebrate the lovely people who share their creativity with others! And on THAT note, here are my picks for the day!

Retrospection by Christine Middlecamp - Talk about a wonderful person (and I don't even know her, lol)! Here is a woman who has continued to inspire, not only through her beautiful work, but her strength in the face of adversity. I've been watching her blog for about a year now, I think, and have never been disappointed in a visit to her blog. I've been saddened, of course, by the poignancy of her work when taken in the context of her own personal tragedy, but at the same time, marvel again and again at her creativity. I usually prefer a "less is more" approach to adding the personal into a creative blog, but Christine's blog just wouldn't be the same without that aspect. If you haven't been to her blog - GO. Keep clicking those "older posts" buttons and be inspired - by her work and by her strength.

Studio 490 by Wendy Vecchi - It's funny, I grew up in Rockford, Illinois, so when I went to college at Millikin University in Decatur, Oglesby was my "halfway home" indicator during that long drive. So for ME, every time I go to Wendy's blog I have to smile, just because it feels like I'm heading "home" (although my family has since moved to Michigan so I very rarely go to Rockford anymore). But more than just the little bit of nostalgia, Wendy's work gives this feeling of "home" as well! She designs for Maya Road and is Ranger certified so you'll see lots of gorgeous inked up chipboard and details. I love that she has lots of tips and techniques and also includes some guest designers full of even more inspiration! Swoon - and go hunt down her studio pics - worth the browse (keep something handy to wipe off the drool though!). There are a few in the newer posts, but you'll have to go back to 2007 for most. Sigh - just go through every page, lol!

SpiderGirl's Web by Angela Daniels - You never know what subject she'll be blogging about, from tank tops to her obsession with candy, but you will laugh and be inspired! She always finds amazing photos to illustrate her ramblings and I always find myself looking at whatever forgotten candy she's re-discovered and finding a color scheme that says "hey, create with me!". I miss her Scrapbook Lifestyle show terribly, but now that she's one of the new lead Fiskateers, maybe we can get some new video (hint, hint, Angela!)! She's terribly funny and sweet - can't wait to try to meet up at the summer CHA show! Check out her Scrap Secrets section of the blog too!

Crafty Storage by Paula Pascual - Ok, so this one is a new discovery for me, but wow! Tons and tons of storage for crafters! Everything from ingenious little tidbits to full-blown crafting workshops to drool over! Great photographs and the whole blog is really easy to navigate. Either just keep paging through, drooling and "aha!"ing, or if you have a specific storage need, there's a link list on the right to take you to that category. PSA - you might want to hide your credit cards from yourself first...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Glenda Tkalac - The mini book GODDESS, let me tell you! Glenda's also my new altering buddy (check out the canvas from April 19 - LOVE this!) over at Scrapbook News + Review. I don't know HOW I never discovered her before we started working together over there, but I'm so glad I did! She uses tons of artsy little details and whimsical touches and you have to look at things again and again to catch them all! One of those blogs on my list that I want to take some time and go through every single page one of these days!!

Well, I hope you enjoy checking out some of my favorite inspirational sites! I'll be back later today with one of my newer birdhouses I made for my little boy!