Sorry I haven't posted in a month! Hard to believe!

I just titled this post with my intended first sentence! It seems appropriate; so, I'll leave it. I haven't posted here in a month but it's not for lack of information. I've been BUSY! CYBER FYBER is coming along nicely.

I'd like to say a few words about Round Two of the fiber and postcard trading. They aren't flying out the door like the first round did....which is GOOD! I never expected all 163 postcards to be gone within six weeks. I thought I'd be begging people to trade with me. I've been using Sharon B's wonderful new stitchin fingers on-line community of textile artists to contact people living in countries and states that haven't yet participated. There are enough postcards and ATCs from which these new people can select. It has been wonderful. Here's the list so far:

Countries involved with trading: USA, Canada, Scotland, England, Wales, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Cyprus, India, Israel, South Africa, New Zealand, Austria, Romania, Poland, Japan, Malawi, Austria and Australia.

States involved with trading: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming and an APO address in Europe.

I also want to thank everyone who voted for CYBER FYBER in the New Carolina Idea project. Your votes propelled us into the final round but we were not selected. To be honest, I never thought we'd get as far as we did. It was suppose to be for "business" ideas. Let's face it, CYBER FYBER isn't a business! Nonetheless, it was a lot of good exposure in South Carolina and the connections might result in something else.

As far as additional funding it concerned, CYBER FYBER received a monetary donation from one of the trading participants, Gail Vandenhout of Carthage, NC. She will be listed on all the printed material at the exhibition....and so will anyone else sending any contribution at all.

Also, I've contacted the Friends of Fiber Arts International in Western Springs, Illinois and have received an application for funding which is due by the end of the month. I'm quite excited. In a telephone conversation, I asked if the board of directors or any of the membership involved would be willing to share any feedback or ideas at all....so maybe something will come of this even if it isn't money! One way or the other, I'm grateful to a group working hard to promote fiber arts all over the globe.

One last item! My trip to Sweden for the Embroidery Symposium is all set up...at least I've been accepted, have an airline ticket, and managed to get my local bank to figure out how to wire money for the fees! This is just one more example of the fabulous opportunities one can learn through Internet access. Without reading blogs I would never have known that Tilleke Schwartz was teaching design (Telling Your Own Story: Inspiration for Narrative Design) and Sara Lechner will be teaching "Surfaces to Stitch" which includes embellishing machine instruction. I'm taking Tilleke's class. The decision was based on the fact that my embellishing machine will not operate on the electrical system in Sweden. (Although later I was offered a "loaner", I stuck with this decision. It would be too tempting to duplicate Sara's incredible work...which I adore...and now, because of CYBER FYBER, actually own in postcard form!) Thus, the last remaining part of my INVITATIONAL WISH LIST can be added....I'll be looking for work that represents the symposium for CYBER FYBER. Internet access made this all possible. Learning about such educational opportunities is a definite benefit to on-line communication!