Welcome to crafthaus, the network for craft artists, and those who support them! I am very glad you joined us !

Please feel free to look around, meet friends, and start adding your thoughts to the groups, blogs and discussion forums that are posted. Of course, if there is something else you'd much rather talk about, please add that to the site so that the rest of us can chime in. Crafthaus is a participatory sport ! The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it, for sure.

Please note that crafthaus is both a fully edited and a member-financed website, meaning that a small annual fee ($20/yr or $35/2yrs) is involved in being a member here. You will find all the necessary information on how to go about this in the FAQs section of the site. Your membership fee is due on or before October 15, 2010 and is payable through paypal (preferred,) US check or credit card.

ALL images sent to the website editor will be vetted to assure some measure of overall quality control. Unlike other image sharing websites, crafthaus is not a "free-for-all". Members present their work in front of an educated and critical audience (their peers,) so the images have to be GREAT. Our goal is to show our members' work in the best possible light, and from the many images received daily, we try to post as many as possible. Crafthaus heartily encourages comments from the membership, however with regard to photos posted or not, we have a strict "NO WHINING" policy in effect ! If your photos do not get posted they are just not as good as they need to be. Yes, it's really that simple. Just reshoot and resubmit ! No harm done.

Finally, if there are ever any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to email me via crafthauseditor@live.com anytime. I will do my best to be of help. I really hope you will enjoy being with this network, and will find the exchanges interesting and fun.

Again: Welcome and enjoy !

Brigitte Martin
Crafthaus Editor

Hiiiiiii! So here you are, just like you said! Your work looks wonderful!

Yes it does my heart good to be here!! :)) Cheers back!

Hi Dawn. Thanks for the welcome! And for visiting my blog. Yes indeed I do love piercing a lot. Your work is lovely too!

Thanks Dawn, The interview was a blast. Jay has a great space to teach at and work.

Hola Dawn !!!
Great to see you here and your beautiful work !

Thank you very much for your membership payment and support of crafthaus. Your membership is valid through Oct 15, 2011.

Enjoy crafthaus :-) Participate often.

I'm listening :-) but this is different from facebook. If you want responses to certain topics it might be better to start a blog or discussion thread :-) Go right ahead.

I absolutely hear what you are saying.

It is certainly true that a lot of people here have an academic background and work in different techniques than wire wrapping. It is also true that there are not only jewelry academics here. So my best suggestion would be for you to "forget the "differences" for a moment, like what it is you are doing and what techniques others are employing, and instead start thinking about what you may have IN COMMON. Crafthaus is a wide network and you will definitively find people here who are interested in topics you are interested in too.

So how about starting a discussion thread/blog about a topic you are knowledgeable about, such as gemstones, tools, and - yes - wire wrapping itself ? How about being proactive in your special field and shoot a little video about you in your studio, or do an instructional essay with lots of photos, a play-by-play of a certain wire-wrarpping technique you excel at ? I would LOVE that!! You could become the wire wrapping advocate here :-) I am serious!!

If you start a blog or discussion, I can also feature you in one of my weekly email blasts and that's a real good way to spread the word.

As you noted, I could not agree more: It's not so much about getting accepted by others, it's what it is you do with the tools you have and the information you are able to dispense.

If you are interested to do start blogging about gemstones/wire wrapping or any other topic of your interest, please shoot me a direct mail to crafthauseditor [at ] live.com and we will figure something out together :-))

Best,
B.

Hmm, art history and ceramics ? AWESOME !! Actually: ENVIABLE is more like it. Back when I was young (that was when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth), I wanted to study art history too...Oh well. It's still one of my favorite topics.

And did you know there is a ceramics group here on crafthaus you could join and possibly team up with ?
In and out of clay. If I were you, I would ask Margaret and Elizabeth if they could use another blogger/contributor and start commenting on their blogs. We do have a fair number of ceramicists on the site, but they seem to be hiding behind the jewelry people.

Lots to do here to make your mark. :-))

Thank you for your kind words Dawn! I appreciate it!

Welcome to crafthaus Dawn!