The Blogs of My Life

Six Friends Making Art (art journal page). Journaling reads: "This weekend six friends gathered to splash paint an spray ink and have fun together making art. We fly via our art."


I made this page to celebrate the fun class I taught over the weekend. I am blessed to have a local mixed media group and am now doubly-blessed to find we're developing an ongoing art journaling community as a subset of that group! But today's post is not about my local, real life community.  It about my community in blog land.  I have teachers and inspirations in blog land that I visit with regularly, including:
Ali Edwards - she inspires me with the stories of her life and her memory keeping ideas;
Dina Wakley - she exposed me to the wonderful world that is art journaling and continues to inspire me with her new classes and inspiring pages (plus she thinks I'm a great artist, too!);
Tara Whitney - she's the kind of photographer I hope to be someday, and her honest writing about her family makes my heart sing and ache at the same time;
Tim Holtz - the king of inky, grungy goodness; a generous soul and incredibly funny human being;
Robyn of Made in Brooklyn - she inspires me with her blog which reads like an ongoing memoir of a creative spirit raising kids in Brooklyn, NY.


With the exception of Dina, I don't ever comment on the blogs above, although I read and enjoy every post they make. They're all such big names with a huge number of followers that I don't think they would know me from Adam.  But, I have another list of blogs to share, the blogs which in the words of Amy "are a part of my life now." When she wrote those words about my blog, they touched me beyond measure. And they rang true.  There are certain blogs that have become a real part of my life - their authors feel like old friends.  If they disappeared from blogland, I would miss them and begin to worry and send an email to find out where they went.  Although I have only met one of these women so far, I feel in my heart that someday I will meet each one in real life.  I'm a little hesitant to post my list because I don't want to hurt the feelings of anyone I leave out. And also a little, greedy part of me doesn't want to share them with anyone else.  But today I feel a need to write about them and pay tribute to this group which has become such a big part of my day-to-day life.  So, I've decided to identify them by a psueodanym, rather than by name.  We'll see if you can figure out who they are by the description.  And maybe tomorrow, I'll tell you their real names and give you links.  Maybe . . .  
H&M - One of the two best writers I've found in blogland. We don't have that much in common. She lives in the southeast in an underground house; I'm on the West Coast up on a hill overlooking the ocean. She hates Little League; I love all things baseball.  Her life is full of Star Wars and Lego; mine is full of hip-hop and law.  But none of that matters. Because we're friends.  Plus she has the best name for a blog. Ever.
'roo - My friend in Australia. Her design is as clean and crisp as mine is textured and messy, but we click. Maybe it's because we're both fond of the ocean. I know she'll greet me when I get to Australia someday, whether it's next year or ten years from now.
Maverick  - She blogs about knitting, sewing and quilting - three things I hate can't do. She reads all the time; I'm lucky to get through one book a month. But we have a connection - I think it's because she's up at all hours of the night. And lives in Michigan, where I fly every other month for work. I imagine waving to her every time I fly in and out of DWI.
Seneca - A beautiful, classy lady who takes photos and makes cards in upstate New York. I have had the pleasure of meeting her , and I hope to see her again. Maybe she'll stay and decorate my house.  I'd like that. A lot.
Turtle - My friend in the Arizona desert who collects heart shaped rocks.  She actually grew up in California, and we both have a western sensibility I think. Everything she makes is gorgeous, fun and full of love. I envy the relationship she has with her daughter. Plus, I want to live in her house.
Smiles - One of the many wonderful women of the UK who I met through Shimelle's classes. She blogs about anything and everything in a totally refreshing way.  Fun, quirky and full of life - that's our Smiles .  I can't wait to meet her this summer.
Tilda - Queen of layering, a new grandma, an English gardener, a purveyor of cute images. You think you have her pegged and then she blows your mind by effortlessly creating some grungy, vintage collage piece! The creative waters run very deep in this girl, and she's a huge source of inspiration to me. Another one I hope to meet this summer.
Muse - An awesome photographer who shares her life with a bunch of border collies and freckle-faced men.  She lives in Florida and has a ranch and an air boat to drive through the everglades! She lives a life that I thought only existed in the imagination.  I would love to spend a week with her, taking photographs, creating digital art and breathing in a life so different from my own.
Belfast - The other best writer I know in blogland. Her stories take my breath away in how they capture human relationships and a sense of time and place, all with an incredible economy of words. An amazing scrapbooker, knitter and seamstress - everything she touches turns to gold. I'm going to visit Ireland in the summer of 2012, and I'll meet her then.  That may seem like a long time in the future, but I know we'll still be friends then. That's just the way it is.
So, how many do you recognize?  Do you recognize yourself? And, if so, do you think I did you justice?
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