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Facebook Fan Page

Sometimes I get so busy that it’s hard for me to find time to blog. I’m done with school for a few weeks – hence the flurry of recent posts – but once classes resume, this blog may get pretty quiet again. I recently created a “fan page” on Facebook, which I’ll probably use more often during the school year simply because it’s conducive to brief posts (even with a full course load, I can probably eek out a line or two) . If you’d like to keep up with my work, please “fan” my page: http://www.facebook.com/Beadmask.originals . I will still post here now and again, but the facebook page will probably be updated more often.
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Blog etiquette questions

Mary Tafoya’s post about “blogging what you do” has some good ideas for how to make blogging easy and habitual. I was psyched to see that, as I’m still new to this blogging business, and it feels a bit awkward … My inner critic is constantly telling me that the things I want to write about are dorky or boring (“gosh, Dre — who really cares why you like orange?”). I’m also unsure of how the whole blog culture works.

So rather than continuing to feel awkward & confused, I’m going to throw out some of my “stupid questions about blog etiquette”:

a) I’d like to write about other artists that I find interesting or inspiring. What’s the protocol on this? Is it cool to just write what you like & then drop them a note to say “hey, check out my post about your work”? Or is that a big faux pas? Should I ask permission first?

b) what about pictures? I can see where direct linking/bandwidth theft would be uncool, but what about uploading the pic myself & providing a link to their site encouraging readers to go check out more?

c) thus far, most of the folks on my blog roll are people that I know. I’ve stumbled across a few others that seem cool or interesting, but I’ve hesitated to add them cause I don’t want to come off like some weird scary stalker. Or is that normal in blog world ?

I think that’s most of it. Any answers or ideas are much apreciated!

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Peeking out from my cave…

At one time, I was very active in the internet beading community. The various bead forums introduced me to many talented artists and ideas. I formed treasured friendships, and took part in some really special projects. Being so “plugged in” kept me up on all the latest stuff, and for many years it was very inspiring.
Somewhere along the way, I hit a state of — oversaturation. As much as I enjoyed the many groups I’d become a part of, I found myself spending more time talking about art than creating it. I needed to step back and reconnect with my own creative voice. 
Today, I tend to be somewhat of a hermit. This isn’t entirely bad — solitude can be conducive to creative work — but I think it’s time to balance that out a bit. It’s easy to get lost in all that quiet thought, and I really miss connecting with other creative folk. Hence, this blog. My hope is that it will provide a positive means to:
* chronicle my creative pursuits and mishaps.
* reach out & learn what other artists are up to
To start, my goal is to update this thing (at least)bi-weekly bi-monthly. I hope to share my own work, as well as some of the people and things that inspire me.

Wish me luck! 🙂