Bliss Ranch Takes a Turn on the Blog Tour

Angie over at Knick of Time invited me to participate in a tour around blogs - the proper introduction would be a Blog Tour, and it's sort of a "what makes you tick" type tour.

Angie passed the torch to me, so click over to check out her tour, then you can learn everything about her creative mind and what makes her tick.

And creative she is, so there is a LOT to learn!  She ticks a lot as well as tocks, hence her blog name, Knick of Time.

How about a piano turned into a desk?

Piano Desk 

Angie also shares printable antique graphics on her blog so you and I can make our own stuff, and she sells all sorts of creations in her Etsy shop.

I think I'm going to make a sign for the holidays like the above bell.  It won't be the first time I've used Angie as my inspiration, and I guarantee it won't be the last.

I also have to mention her husband looks like Jeff Goldblum, so when I picture Angie's home, it's smack dab in the middle of Jurassic Park.

So what is this blog tour thing?  Well the torch with questions gets passed on from blog to blog, so I'm gonna answer the same questions that those before me did.  You and I both might learn what makes me tick.

1.  What are you working on right now?

In about 15 minutes I'm fixing to work on a Saturday night ice cold beer.  I understand that isn't something I create on my own, but when we goof around we do craft our own names for the beer we will brew at our pretend micro brewery.

I do hope by the time you read this I'm working on something new.  Reason being that I've had a couple projects on my dining room table for over a week.  I need just a few minutes of concentrated alone time to finish them up, but no one else around here has gotten that memo.

I have a tendency to see everything as a canvas.  That's good and bad.  Every time I walk by this dresser I want to re do it because I think it could be more.

I mean all those drawer fronts are a blank canvas aren't they?

Virginia Chestnut Dresser

Right now I'm waiting on some new outdoor paint, and when it arrives, August will see my paint brush heading outdoors to make my mark.

I am one of those people who likes to finish one book at a time - soooooo one project at a time.  I don't mind coming back to work on the same one, but I rarely start a new one before I get the other one off my plate.

2.  How does my work differ from others in this genre?

I don't think my stuff is all that unique.  I know some folks might argue that.  I thank those people and appreciate they think my work is special, but I don't feel special, I feel like me, and no one is more amazed than I am that others like what I create.

Except maybe my oldest son.  Last week he was shocked when he learned people actually read my blog.  I've been trying to tell my kids how awesome I am, why won't they listen?

Sure sometimes I stand back and enthusiastically say, "I LOVE IT", but I make stuff I think I will like, so that should come as no surprise.  The surprise for me comes when my loyal readers leave me a comment saying they like it too.

If I had to pick one way my projects differ, it might be that I keep them.  Many bloggers I admire have booth's or shops and sell their creations.  I have a hard time letting go, even if I have made something specifically for someone else.

Like this radio bar I made for one of my sons who got his own place a few months ago.  It's still in my entry way.  Not because he didn't like it or I want to keep it, more because I like it so much I don't remind him to take it.

Turn Up The Radio.... Bar

3.  Why do I write/create what I do?

Why?  Well I enjoy writing.

I don't enjoy knowing people read what I write.

Weird huh?  I can't explain why I like to write but don't like to know people read it, I guess that is a skin I'm not comfortable in, yet it is something I enjoy so I do it.

Why do I create?  Sometimes I think I will create a project just to give me something to write about.

That might be weird too.  I don't know and I don't care.

4.  How does your writing/creating process work?

I fly by the seat of my pants with writing a blog post.  That translates into; I write what comes to my head at the moment and hope it pertains to the project I'm writing about.

It's basically the way I create too.  I might decide "ok, today I'm gonna make a ____".  I start working on it and it evolves as I go.  
 

Dining Room Chairs With Custom Drop Cloth Grain Sack Look Graphic

Often times the creative vision in my head doesn't end up being the finished project.

These dining room chairs are a good example of a project that did match what was in my head.  The chairs matched my vision completely.  

I just wish it always worked out that way!

~~~~~~~~~~

So now I'm gonna pass the torch along to a couple bloggers that are special to me.  

When it came time to pick who those bloggers would be, I knew I would agonize over who to pick.   I'm fortunate to have a big circle of talented, supportive blogging friends, so to make it easy for me I reminded myself where I started, and went back to my blogging roots.  

These three bloggers were with me almost from the beginning.  

Fiona from Just Paint It White, is participating in the blog tour for another blogger, but when no one else was reading Bliss Ranch, Fiona was.  All the way from England.

Kirby, from Kirb Appeal.

Kirby is a teacher, and she has this wit about her that makes me laugh.  She also lets me drop by her blog and write things that have nothing to do with projects or creating, and that's fun for me.  

Kirby delivers a dose of humor that is witty and tongue in cheek, sometimes with a bit of sarcasm thrown in.  She reads books, analyzes TV shows, and she is fluffing her empty nest which she readily admits might not be done till she is 90. 

I can't compete with the stuff she and her husband make.  How about pub tables from reclaimed goods? 

Pub Table From Kirb Appeal

And then there is Linda.  

The one and only Linda from It All Started With Paint.

Linda Linda Linda.  She took me under her wing and always included or invited me to the happening web bash that was going on.   She introduced me to some of the popular kids, she showed me the ropes.

Linda does all sorts of stuff like tackling whole room makeovers, with before & afters.  

She also has another gig - Linda is the brains behind the blog Mason Jar Crafts.  And I really can say I knew her when stardom hit.  She has a book coming out soon, commissioned by the Ball Canning Jar people.  She is also the reason my motto is, "no jar left behind" when I spot them at sales.

Fiona, Kirby and Linda will be sharing their own Blog Tours next week.  I would love it if you stopped over at their houses to see how they answer the questions passed with the torch.

In some way, all three of them have helped me figure out what makes Bliss Ranch tick.

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