getting inspired

I think I mentioned in my write-ups about the BlogHer12 conference and my fun in NYC that one of my favorite sessions happened to be about promoting your book. It was timely for me and I was lucky enough to hit a session with the human dynamo Kathy Cano-Murillo.

Kathy is unlimited! Among other things, the woman is a mom, a glitter guru, a crafty chica, an author of two fiction novels, a sought-after speaker and a teacher. She is warm, open, and generous with her knowledge. So when I found out she was offering a class on “Make Your Blog Sparkle!” I had to jump on it despite the fact that at the moment I really didn’t need something else going on. I’m a “say yes” sort of girl though so I’m now in week two of our class and already getting a lot to think about.

I know I ‘m going to come out being a stronger blogger for the great insights and this will help me a bunch as I get ready to launch a whole new site for my book this fall. But right now, the big bonus bingo for me has been checking out my “classmates” web sites!

Kathy is a skilled artist and crafter and her main site – CraftyChica — features many of her works and you can tell that she is thought of highly by other crafters. What I love about hers, and so many of the other sites, is that most of them are artistic sites! They are full of these wonderful, great ideas for creating wonderful things.

I love crafting. I love glitter especially. I have no interest at all in knitting or crochet (horribly impatient for that sort of thing) but these sites even make me want to do that! One of the clever women bloggers, Tammy Gilley, is out of Portland and when she saw one of my recent postings was “booze and books, must be book club” she suggested she needed to start a group “Cocktails and Crafting.” I am so in! Wish she lived closer (she suggested we could meet in Centralia – the half way point and I’m tempted ) Why haven’t those clubs caught on? Or, judging by all the crafting going on in my class – why haven’t they caught on in my circle of friends?  I’ve got a glue gun and jars of glitter – somebody grab a cocktail glass and let’s go!

In the meantime,  for all of you that I know also love a good dose of creative inspiration, check back soon and I’ll get a list of some of  these fun websites posted here that you are so going to want to follow.