Hello and welcome. Let me introduce myself. My name is Melanie and I am a life long crafter. I have a muse who follows me around and says things to me like "Hay did you see that tree branch laying over there? It's next to that nifty looking candy bar wrapper. Bet we should pick them both up and use them later to make a collage or card, or something crafty." If I try to ignore her she only gets louder. So to save myself from creating a one person argument over trash I pick up both. (plus the cute little pebble sitting near the wrapper, never know when I might need one of those.) lol I have been acting crazy in a crafty way ever since I was a kid. (49 now, but who's counting.) After years of summer camp projects, and ripping out all the craft project instructions from my Mom's Womans Day and Family Circle magazines I consider myself an expert. Or at least a kind of crafty gal. lol
My love of crafts has been a benefit in my life choices. I married young and we have 8 children. 6 girls, and 2 boys. Being able to make something out of nothing has helped me raise all those children. We had to be thrifty in everything we did. So juice lids, paper towel rolls, candy wrappers, empty boxes, even rocks were collected for family night fun. Now my kids are all grown up, and some have families of there own. Yet I still can't just throw it away. Grandkids. We now have 10 of those. lol
Did I mention I was also a Belly Dancer. For 11 years I learned, laughed, traveled, played, and performed. I met some of the most wonderful crafty people those years, and that has also helped to feed my muse. Costumes and Jewelry. Hair dreads and flowers. Tassels and silk. Gourd bowls for props, and stage design for performances are just a of the few things we dabbled in. I learned to play the dumbak drum and to zill and dance at the same time. We performed everywhere. Local restaurants, the state fair, various festivals, we even traveled to California, and Nevada to perform. When I retired from professional dancing a documentary called 'The Belly Dancer Project' was released and I was one of the 3 dancers followed in this film. I plan to put a link to this video in the near future.
I am often referred to as eclectic. I kind of like that word. It fits the hippie, gypsy in me. So if you ever see a girl dressed in an African costume with a drum, picking up a candy wrapper at a Renaissance Festival, it might just be me. Feel free to say hi, I never bite, and could always use a new friend. Bright Blessings, Love & Light. And please be good to the Mother. Earth....it's the only planet we can live on. (for now at least)
