Hi, I'm Cherinda

I've been blogging (off and on) for almost three years now (the off is when I've lost a grandparent and have been mourning and I've lost two in the last three years). I haven't had many people read my blog (but my family), so I'm not sure I've ever really introduced myself to those of you who don't know me (and have to) love me. In fact, I find myself with so much I could say, that I'll just have to pick and choose what to share now and I'll keep sharing tidbits with you as we go along. (I love reading stories and I like telling stories.)

My name is Cherinda and I grew up on a farm in the Panhandle of Oklahoma. I loved it. I went to several colleges, then finally ended up in one in the the largest city in Oklahoma. Even after graduating, I stayed here because what is a girl with an art degree to do? You'd think go after art, but I didn't know how to go about that so I worked for nine years as an administrative assistant. I like that type of work and am good at it, but found I'd lost my soul and my passion (and most of the light in my eyes) so I returned to my art. Yes, I am an artist (the title of which I fully embraced in my 30's). I need beauty and color and light and movement to really satisfy my soul. But the bills have to be paid (and they are, thanks to my husband of fourteen years, who I shall ever after refer to on here as Pooker).

I'm not the type to sit around and do nothing (although I can do nothing with the best of them), so I started off painting again and my sister has her photography and we decided to start doing some art shows three years ago. Due to not actually selling any art or photography (not for lack of trying or talent, but mainly to figuring out the art/photography people buy off the streets are more like prints and smaller paintings), we have expanded over the past few years to also making cards, magnets, bookmarks, tags, and other knick knacks and have started to sell those things at our art shows (as well as actually selling some paintings, too!). A year and a half ago, we heard about Etsy (a place for people to buy and sell handmade and vintage things), so we opened a store there (3creativesisters.etsy.com) which has slowly picked up both business and people who heart our store over the past year. We now have an outlet for our creativity online as well as booths in person several times a year.

So, that is who I am and what I do (in a nutshell). Other than that, my days start off with a walk down on the trail by the river (with my sweet little brown dog, Brownie, also known as Bippi, Buppa, or Bip) then I go on to cook, clean, or create (or run errands and other things that don't begin with a "c"). When I take pictures, they are from things I see in my everyday life (or from when we go home) and I try to capture the beauty of a moment or just something that I find interesting or unusual, whether it involves nature or animals or interaction with people or lost shopping carts or things left outside (although I don't have a super duper mega camera, I do have my handy dandy little digital camera which is adequate for me). That is why you will usually see more pictures on here than anything else, though I'm thinking I should tell you more stories. Who doesn't love a good story?

I'd better get on with my day. We've got our walk under our belt and I need to eat (yes, I like to eat lunch around 10:30 am and supper somewhere before 5:00 pm, or as I used to say dinner and supper, but that was before coming to the city where no one could figure out what meal I meant). It is very hot (mid to upper 90's) and humid here, so we'll stay inside and I'll clean and take care of things so we can go outside later when the sun has passed over the house and the patio is in the shade. Enjoy your day!