Where Am I Now?

Are you ready for installment #2 of Where Am I? We traveled today so we are in a new location. Can you guess where I am. To win the pair of earrings at the left here is what you have to do. Read all the clues and see if you can figure out what city and state I am in. Also, you need to go to my web page and tell me the name and/or number of the necklace that matches this pair of earrings. Every day this week I will blog with more clues to my location and hopefully by Friday we will have a winner. Here we go.................

Today we traveled for a total of approximately 7 hours. We traveled south for almost 400 miles and went through 3 different states. We drove along side a big river for most of the morning and crossed another big river in another state. We will stay in this location for several days so that we can do some hiking.

That's all you are getting out of me today. Tomorrow I will get more specific about some of the information I have given you today. So if you can't figure it out yet, check back tomorrow for more clues.

So far it has been a great trip. I can't believe that we have been on the road for over 3 weeks now. It seems like we just left. And Beau is having fun too. I am hoping to get my camera either fixed or replaced soon so that as well as giving you clues I can include pictures too. So there will be more fun as this trip progresses.

Last clue

Franni is closing in on my location. She is soooooo close. I am about 30 minutes west of Corning in a small town. There is a village in England with the same name and it is what you would take instead of a shower. Hope that narrows it down enough for a winner. If not, then Franni is the winner.

Tomorrow I will post the winner and then on Monday I will start a new thread. We will be driving most of Monday so I will start it in the afternoon and update on Tuesday. So if you don't win this week you will get another chance next week. I feel a little like Matt Lauer crossed with Waldo. LOL. Good Luck all.

Next Clue

I only had one guess yesterday and it was not even in the right state. So I will tell you that I am in the state of New York. There are several long finger shaped lakes here and several vineyards. That should at least get you into the right part of the state. Tomorrow I will really narrow it down for you so we can have a winner by Friday.

Another hint I will give you is that I am in a very small town. We are staying with my mother in law so I do not have Internet access at her house. So each day I go to the library and log on. Fortunately for me the library has a beautiful Internet cafe so I can have a cappuccino and chat and post to heart's content. So I can only check in with Plurk, facebook, Twitter and ArtFire once a day. That will have to hold me over until next week. I am pretty sure the place we are staying next have wifi. Yipee.

My First Giveaway

So I thought I would have a little fun and do a giveaway at the same time. Since I am going to be traveling all the time I am going to do a series of giveaways with a Where's Waldo theme. Every time I am in a new location I will give you clues as to where I am and you need to figure out where I am to win the giveaway. So if you follow my progress at some point just knowing where I was and what direction I am going in will help you out a lot. And everyday I will give you clues to help you pin point my location. So here we go.

I just left my son's house in Dayton Ohio. I traveled north and east and it took us 9 hours including stops to get to our destination. For this giveaway I am looking for both the city and state we are in. More clues will be coming tomorrow to help you narrow it down.

The prize for this giveaway is the heart pendant shown above. Good luck.

Janelson Arts

Janelson Arts is today's featured ArtFire artisan. She makes beautiful lampwork beads. She has a variety of colors shapes and styles to choose from. I have featured two of my favorites here but there are many more on her web page. I know you could make a lot of nice jewelry with her beads.

Vote Handmade Launch

Below you will find the official press release regarding the Vote Handmade initiative. This is exciting news for the Handmade Community.

Tucson, AZ – Today marked the launch of a new social media website, VoteHandmade.com. Powered by Reddit code and ArtFire.com, Vote Handmade serves as a link sharing platform for artisans and crafters of all types and specialties.

On VoteHandmade.com, users can share handmade items from venues all over the web with fellow users, up voting and down voting just like on Reddit. This allows artisans the opportunity to not only socialize and share links, but also to promote their quality product and drive buyers to their online studio.

VoteHandmade.com also aggregates news, instruction and business tips for the online craft world. With hundreds of thousands of handmade sellers and millions of handmade items currently listed for sale on the internet, VoteHandmade.com is a great place to see the best of all venues and all artists as voted on by their peers.

VoteHandmade is like the world’s largest juried craft show. Any user can submit an item from any site. VoteHandmade is free to use, free to join, and free to promote.

More About ArtFire.com

ArtFire.com is an interactive craft marketplace designed to bring artisans from different geographic locations and backgrounds together. On ArtFire, artisans are able to not only set up a customizable studio, but also are given the chance to meet fellow sellers though a number of interactive features available on the site. Artfire is more than just a venue, it’s a vibrant artisan community.

“We wanted to give artisans the chance to promote their items in a way which was not only free but also fun,” said John Jacobs, CEO of ArtFire.com. “Vote Handmade allows them to share and interact with artisans from the many different venues on the web.”

“We felt it was important to build tool specifically designed for artisans,” Said Tony Ford, COO of ArtFire.com. “It is our hope that the crafting community will use VoteHandmade .com to further their business and networking online and shoppers can go to one place to see the best of the best artisans in all craft disciplines.”

La De Da Creations

La De Da Creations, as if that name isn't fun enough, just wait until to take a stroll through this ArtFire Studio. The subtitle is eccentric, whimsical, perfectly imperfect. I think that is a great description. In Laura's own words her items are groovy, fun and crazy.

She has so many different items in her studio to choose from. There is an assortment of fun jewlery like this Peace Sign ring, jewelry displays like the one pictured here, as well as bookmarks, incense burners and even body lotions from Laura's day spa. Laura works with polymer clay which is something that I would love to learn some day. You can really use your creativity and the possibilities are endless. Once you visit La De Da Creations you will know what I am talking about.

This studio is one of my favorites on ArtFire and one I love to browse through often. Maybe it's because it takes me back to the days of my youth. I know it's definitely a fun place to shop.



Oh and did I mention that this jewelry holder glows in the dark. So break out the incense, grab the body lotion and let's all have some fun.