Pleasant Surprise & Sevens

Cristina, a very smart lady from Portugal, and one of the nicest I've "met," sent me an email this morning telling me that I was one of the seven blogs she gave the Beautiful Blogger Award.  Well, THAT'S a nice way to start your day! Thank you very much, Cristina! 
Cristina is a very talented artisan and you can see her work at mypreciousbitsofsunshine.blogspot.com.
For receiving this award, I must reveal seven unknown things about me, and pass the award along to another seven bloggers.
Hmmm...seven things....okay:
I'd rather learn something new than work on something I already know how to do.
I'd rather live with dogs than people.   I like my people in small doses. (I'm going to be a hermit when I grow up).
I hate housework.  (But anybody who knows me already knows that.)
My sense of humor is very warped.  (ditto above.)
I've always wanted to write a book.  (Has anybody ever become a best-selling writer in their 60s?)
I can't throw away or give away clothes.  Some day they will all fit again.
I love to sing and am incredibly tone deaf.  Which is another reason it's best that I live alone.
There, that's me.  Now, the important part, which is giving the Beautiful Blogger Award to another seven people.  The hard part is sticking to seven.

My first four are amazing women who are not only very talented, they are very generous and giving and share their knowledge of jewelry with anybody who is interested.
www.beadinggem.com - Pearl has a wonderful blog full of fascinating historical tidbits and helpful tutorials.
www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/home-jewelry-business-blog.html - Rena Klingenberg sends a newsletter out weekly with marvellous tips and stories about the business of selling jewelry.
bethmillner.wordpress.com - I've just recently discovered Beth's blog and she's another who is generous with her knowledge and talent.
http://artinsilver.com/blog/ - Hadar Jacobson makes and sells copper, bronze and steel clays and her blog was originally to help her customers, but she has gone far beyond that and has some wonderful tips and techniques for metal clay artists.
http://cctexan3.blogspot.com - Cindy is an amazing artisan, a rape survivor and a recovering alcoholic.  Her jewelry has become secondary on her blog, which is often gritty and disturbing, but it's a tribute to the courage of one woman in an adversarial world.
http://www.cafemaplethorpe.com/cafe-blog - Absolutely nothing to do with jewelry but Dianna Linder lets her personality shine through her writing.  It's a great view of our Island through the eyes of an ex-pat American. She has a beautiful 4 star B & B on PEI, a gourmet restaurant and if I'm nice, she might keep feeding me.
www.little-epiphany.blogspot.com - I follow this blog just because I enjoy it and like the way Jen writes.

Well, that's my seven.  And as I said earlier, it was very difficult just to stick to seven.  There are so many interesting people writing blogs now but a person wouldn't have time for anything else if they read them all.  Hope you enjoy looking at my Beautiful Blog winners!