Blogging for TWO Years!

(Click on image to enlarge. Above: Fairy of Gold from my Sleeping Beauty series. It was created last April and part of an exhibition at Fish or Cut Bait Gallery on Edisto Island. Leave a comment on this post and it could be yours! It is hand and machine embroidery and beading on water soluble fabric, mounted on a white silk, framed with plexi....yeah, yeah, yeah....I know; it didn't sell but it's still quite nice!)

Two years ago on April 28, 2006 I wrote my first blog post. It was an experiment born from an accident that has gone wildly and fabulously awry. Now is a time for celebration....HAPPY SECOND ANNIVERSARY to my blogging experience.

In a nutshell, the Gallery 80808/Vista Studios' new website has a "page" called "News/Events". It is a blog. At the time, I'd never heard of a blog. This "blog" needed to be "updated". Without having the faintest idea what this meant, I volunteered. I went to the website; I clicked on "News/Events"; I saw the word "Login"...click; I was prompted for a "username" and "password". Confused, I put in my email address and my password. I knew this was going to fail because I'd never divulged my password to anyone. To my amazement, a new blog was created. I telephoned for the correct "username" and "password". Within a few minutes, I posted the "update" and then went back to find the mysterious blog I'd created...in order to delete it...but....maybe I'd keep it...see what might happen. A blogger was born.

For months, I wrote and wrote. Blogspot is good for writing; its imaging capabilities are dismal. This didn't matter. I was happy writing. No one was reading anyway. Then, I went to Varna, Bulgaria...for the International Ballet Competition...the oldest of such events...where Baryshnikov and other legendary dancers won gold medals (now, including Mathias Lenz Dingman!) A few people from an on-line dance forum knew I was going, knew about my blog, knew I'd be posting from an Internet cafe. They told others. Little did I know that I was the only person in the world leaking information about the competition. The ballet officials knew that all the "right people" from international magazines were in the audience. They'd publish articles...several weeks or a month later. Timely information wasn't their concern. Yet, plenty of people wanted to know, to read, to follow my blog for two weeks. From next to no hits, I had thousands.

All this was very nice...but it was ballet, not fiber artists. I knew I wanted a place for myself...me, an embroiderer, an artist, a complete person. Slowly, I'd found a few blogs to read...like Dijanne Cevaal. Eventually, I found Blogspot and all the wonderful photos. I created this blog on August 10, 2006. For a while, I wrote on both blogs. I found other blogs and blogrings.

I tried to join "Fiber Arts Friends" blogring but was rejected the first time. There is this statement: RING DESCRIPTION: THIS RING IS CLOSED TO NEW MEMBERS AT THIS TIME. Something exclusive, serious, top-notched! I looked at member's blogs and knew that it was the group in which I wanted to belong. I sent a resume, digital images of work, statement, etc. to the blogring owner, Sue Bleiweiss. I tried again several months later and WAS ACCEPTED. My life hasn't been the same. It's better than I ever imagined. This is my personal reason for mounting CYBER FYBER. It is also the reason I'm having my first ever GIVE AWAY!

Leave a comment on this post. Next Saturday my husband Steve will draw a winner and several "honorable mentions"! Thank you to everyone who's ever read and/or commented. The inspiration and support has made a world of difference. I am truly grateful.