Thank you, Friends!

What would we do without our friends? First off, probably die, or go into some comatose state, or a deep depression perhaps. I know that's what I did when one of my best friends ever left and moved away... but that's a story for another day. For today, I want to say that I love all my friends, near and far, close to my heart, and those coming a little closer every day, as I get to know them (you :o) better. Hopefully, you know who you are. I'm sending a little happy thought your way... poof!

I'm finding the power of blogging and staying in touch with friends, clients, and those who just want to know more about you to be a powerful tool. So, today, I want to thank my blog friends. In case you don't know who you are, I will try to link to you so anyone who stumbles upon my blog can find out about you too. I hope I can link. Marcia told me how to link, so here goes: Marcia .... Hmmm, didn't work. Marcia Yes! It worked! So, now you can find out about Marcia, and her incredible world of beading. Marcia is an amazing bead artist, writer, teacher, and she is teaching us (Grove Girls) beading. I am just about finished with my Right Angle Weave Cuff. Will post picture soon...

The other thank you for today goes to: Tamerie of A Little Bit of This, That, and The Other. I met Tamerie last fall when I was working out my ideas for making purses from recycled sweaters. Tamerie came to the rescue when my fabrics got too fat to fit through my sewing
machine. Since Tamerie has industrial sewing machines in her workshop, she would surely be able to solve my dilemma. Low and behold, Tamerie's machine was no match for my thick group of sweater fabrics, and I had to resort to hand sewing. About broke my fingers, but I finally finished that purse! In the meantime, I've had the chance to get to know Tamerie, lucky 
me. Also, lucky for me, I have figured out the right recipe for thickening up the felted wool without adding bulk so my sweater fabric can fit through the sewing machine. I couldn't have done it without you, Tamerie! Here's that first purse in all it's thick glory.

Here's a picture of my current purse-in-progress. It's made out of a combination of a gorgeous Japanese sweater, (thanks to Jean, my Sweater Queen), handpainted wool, and an antique sweater donated lovingly by Pete Holmes' mom. Happily, it slips seamlessly through my
sewing  machine without a hitch (yea, Tamerie!) Jean is a dear, old friend, who recently relocated to the West coast. I am thrilled to have her amongst my easily visit-able California people. Jean is a wonderful artist
who explores the quirky side of life in her lush 
paintings. Jean also sweater shops for me, meaning she is a lover of thrift stores, and happily takes breaks from painting by sweater shopping for me. My, oh my, Jean finds the most fabulous sweaters. This recent Japanese sweater takes the cake, and I couldn't resist making it up into a new purse tout suite!
 
Okay, enough for tonight. More thank-yous coming soon. Please don't think I don't love you because I didn't mention you. I just didn't mention you YET!