answered

Yesterday I offered to answer any questions you might have, and a few of you took me up on that.

Marilyn asked:  "if we can shoot the arrow through the hole in said bagel...will you bake us a batch a week?"

Answer:  Yes.  I'll hold the bagel, you shoot from there.   If you get it through the hole, bagels every week for at least two weeks.  :D

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Glo asked:  "I want to know how you became an artist. Are you self-educated, did you have technical training...?"

Answer:  Both I guess.  I studied under an amazing instructor at the local community college who was a terrific mentor and friend, and I also took classes at NIU.  But, a lot of what I do now has been self-taught.  The years of art training taught me a lot, but as I'm sure it is for most people, the learning continues.

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Rebekah asked (a couple):  "what exactly DOES your husband do? I've been a little curious about the man who married the woman who can bake, corral children and use a band saw all while blogging on an insanely regular basis."

Answer:  my husband works in IT but at home he is the fixer of anything and everything.  From biscuits to tractors, hard drives to gardening, he can do it.  He amazes me with his analytical mind and his creativity in problem-solving.  He's like MacGyver without the mullet.

" Have you always lived in MN?"

Answer: No, I grew up in northern Illinois and we only moved here a little over 5 years ago.  My husband grew up here though, and oddly enough, my family used to vacation here when I was a kid.  When my husband's job ended at Motorola (in IL), we bought our little patch of poplar and pine and moved up.

"You always seem to be coming up with cool ideas, does it ever exhaust you? Some people say it's "natural" but honestly not even the most artsy artist can do it 24/7/365 imo."

Answer: the creativity itself doesn't exhaust me, but the struggle to find the time to bring my ideas to fruition, or often just the time to thoroughly explore an idea in my head, exhausts me.  

 

"Aside from chickens have you ever killed anything else for it's meat? Like a cow, pig, deer, moose, giant fish of doom...etc. etc. "

Answer:  We do raise some chickens and an occasional turkey for meat, and I grew up hunting and fishing with my father.  The hunting I've done has been for food, mostly upland and small game - dove, pheasant, and rabbit, as well as duck and geese, but it's been a few years since I've gone.  We all fish, but so far no fish of doom.  And I don't ice fish because I don't enjoy being that cold.  I think those people might be a little crazier than I am.

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Margie asked: "when are you coming to visit?"

Answer: a. not soon enough and b. we'll have to work on that.

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Lynn asked:  "Do these jeans make my butt look big? "

Answer:  I'm pretty sure it's not the jeans. 

(don't worry, she knew I was going to say that)

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Sonia asked: "when on earth will we meet up ?
oxox"

Answer:  also... a. not soon enough and b. we'll have to work on that and c. when I win the lottery we'll be having a giant international conference of craftiness.  Everyone will be invited!

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Thanks for playing along, girls. 

Have a great weekend, everyone.  I'm off to buy a lottery ticket.