So, what about me?

I thought I should start my blog off with a bang. But, I'm not going to do that. I figure the natural place to start would be to explain a bit about who I am and how I got to be this way.

My name is Carol. I grew up in "the sticks" about an hour east of Toronto, Canada and currently live in Toronto. I moved here over 10 years ago for university, and apart from a two year stint in the UK and Ireland (oh ho... what an adventure, and maybe in time I will share), I have lived here every since. My cramped living space is shared with my husband of 3 years.

I have a boring old office job that I go to Monday to Friday. Not much point expanding on that. I try to fill the rest of my time creating when and what I can. Specifically, I love beading jewelry, but more about that in a minute. I also love spending hours with my cameras. I still have a trusty Canon T-60, which is the idiot-proof, totally manual SLR on which I first learned. I recently added a digital camera, a Canon Powershot A-620 (named L'il Digi), and though I originally resisted making the technological leap out of loyalty to "Ol' Snappy", I am now officially hooked! Recently, I have also completed 2 sewing courses, and am now the proud owner of a handmade skirt and a handmade purse. I am particularly proud of the purse despite some of the wonky stitching on the lining. Before taking these classes I had a huge fear of sewing, caused by unrelenting teasing from my family over a grade 5 sewing project, a stuffed snowman Christmas tree ornament, named Snowy. I was ten, people, give it up! There are a myriad of other artisan pursuits which intrigue me, and which I am itching to try my hand at. If only I had more time and unending financial resources. Hopefully, the lottery gods are listening!

(Notice a weird trend - I tend to nickname a lot of inanimate objects!)

As for what my blog will be about, well, it will be like Seinfeld. Nothing, really. I have no theme in mind, just my own rants (personalised license plates -- WHY??); raves (Arton Beads on Queen West!); musings on the important things in life (When, for the love of God, will Paris Hilton just go away?), and; the ongoing exorcism of the voices in my head. Oh... and I am sure that I will give little plugs now and then to the wee business that I am trying to establish, String Me Along. Hence the title of the blog.

String Me Along is my jewelry business. As I mentioned above, I try to fill my free time with creative pursuits and I LOVE Arton Beads on Queen West. I can't get enough of all the shiny baubles. So rather than curb my appetite for beads and baubles, I support my habit by taking these beads and baubles and creating hand-beaded jewelry. I started this habit in University. It fell by the wayside and I thought I was cured, until 3 years ago I decided to make my own wedding jewelry. Suddenly, the demon was back and with a vengenance. It didn't help that Arton Beads had doubled in size and there were so many more shiny things available. My husband finally sat me down and told me I should start making jewelry in earnest since it was clear that I loved it so much. So I did. I started selling again at craft shows, and recently, my hard work and creativity have started to pay off. I recently sold a sizable jewelry order to the CN Tower Gift Shop. I dropped the order off Easter weekend and I am still having trouble believing that my good fortune is real. I will be selling at a number of craft shows again through the year, as well as various other venues. I will post a list of where I will be and when, and if you live in the area you can come take a look at my work. I'd also love to meet readers who happen upon me on blogger, unless you tend toward stalking, then I ask that you maybe stay away!

I have also recently started on online shop on ETSY. If you don't know already, ETSY is the coolest place on earth! It is an online shopping site filled with creative and talented crafters and artists from around the world. I am hooked. The problem is that any time I make a sale through ETSY, once the money is deposited in my payapl account I feel the need to celebrate by spreading the love and buying from some other artist. Its a vicious cycle! But I have found some amazing buys on this site, and I guarantee that you will too. You can start here, with my shop.

http://stringmealong.etsy.com

From there, browse around the rest of the site. But I do caution you: It is highly addicitve!

That pretty much sums up the intro. Thanks for scrolling through all of the preamble.