Diamante Poetry

Diamante poetry has always been intriguing to me. It was invented in 1969 by Iris Tiedt. It is made up of 7 lines that form a diamond shape. The form of the poem is:

                            Noun
                       Adjective-Adjective
                         Verb-Verb-Verb
                    Noun-Noun-Noun-Noun
                         Verb-Verb-Verb
                       Adjective-Adjective
                              Noun

"Other forms or structure may also tend to have the middle line provide a phrase or description to the first line and seventh line":

Line 1: Beginning subject

Line 2: Two describing words about line 1

Line 3: Three doing words about line 1 ending with ing

Line 4: A short phrase about line 1, A short phrase about line 7

Line 5: Three doing words line 7

Line 6: Two describing words about line 7

Line 7: End subject 

References: 

1. ^ Tebo, Cindy. "Kalliope Poetry orm Exercise: Diamante". Kalliope Poetics. Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
2. ^ "A New Poetry Form: The Diamante". Education Resources Information Center. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
3. ^ http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/diamante-poems-30053.html

Here are a couple I came up with, one with a similar beginning and end and one with an opposite beginning and end:

                       

Canine
Loyal, Trusting
Fetching, Panting, Drooling
Friend, Companion, Sidekick, Buddy
Sitting, Staying, Laying
Dedicated, Loving
Dog

Good Pleasant, Honest Leading, Amazing, Loving Loyalty, Responsibility, Hopeless, Terrible Conniving, Raging, Pillaging Ugly, Dishonest Evil

Pen Pals

Pen Pals Galore

I have around 20-25 pen pals that I just adore. I have been writing some of them for a few years now and I will never look back. Some of them are like close friends or family. Others are just great writing companions. Either way, I love them all and look forward to each and every letter that I receive. I would say between swapping on Swap-bot and writing pen pals I write on average 10 letters or more per week. Needless to say, I go through a lot of postage. 

My first pen pal I had was when I was in fourth grade. My teacher arranged for us to have international pen pals and mine was from China. We wrote a few letters back and forth and it was fun. My next pen pal was a girl I met at a Cleveland Indians baseball game. We wrote constantly for months until we decided to meet up. She came to spend the night at my house. Big mistake! She stole my Backstreet Boys CD (I was a 90's kid) and it was all over then, although I wish we had kept in touch. 

A few years ago while I was on Pintrest looking up bullet journal spreads I came across a spread with an incoming and outgoing pen pal letter chart. I was so intrigued. I did a little research and found out there are websites dedicated to pen pal letter writing AND postcard trading. I was amazed. How cool! I discovered sendsomething.net and I met several pen pals on there. From there I discovered postcrossing.com and swap-bot.com, two other great websites. My new hobby had originated within a short time. I was hooked. I still am...

What to write about in a pen pal letter:

You want to have a good introduction, straight to the point. Write about your job, your pets, your hobbies, your taste in music, etc. Let your new pal into your life a little. You don't have to write your life story by any means but give them a taste of what makes you who you are. 

After the introductory letter here are some things that you may want to include in your letters if you are stuck for ideas:

• all about your siblings
• what you did that day/week/month
• upcoming trips you have planned
• where you've traveled to
• something you're looking forward to
• something you regret
• your favorite games to play
• holidays/traditions that you celebrate

These are just a few off the top of my head but in the future I will go more in depth on the pen pal letter topics. I am always looking for new ideas and try to incorporate something interesting into each letter. Letters are a great way to practice your creative writing. 

Swap-bot

Swap-bot is hands down my favorite website. I check my Swap-bot when I wake up, multiple times throughout the day, and before I go to bed. You could say that I'm a bit obsessed. What is Swap-bot exactly? It's a website that connects people from around the globe in a creative way. Swaps are set up by your peers for just about anything you can imagine. My favorite types of swaps are ones for letters and handmade journals, as well as some crafty type of swaps. There are also tag games that you can get into where you "tag" someone for an item and they send it to you then you offer items to be "tagged". There are groups on the website that are fun to join as well as a forum where you can have online discussions with other swappers. There is a rating system in place for swaps that allow you to not only let the person know you received their item but to weed out potential flakers (people who sign up for a swap but do not send their part). This does happen but not too often if you're careful about which swaps you join. I feel like it is a small risk for such a huge reward. If you'd like to consider joining Swap-bot I recommend joining the Newbie Helpers group, which helps guide you through everything on the site. 

This is a stack of today's incoming mail from Swap-bot. I've covered addresses with the purple papers. Most mail you will receive from Swap-bot will be colorful and pretty. It's just what we do. We like to brighten people's mailboxes with colorful pieces of mail.

Supplies you may want/need to start swapping:

• Stationery
• Pens
• Postcards
• Washi tape
• Stickers
• Notecards
• Art & craft supplies if you are crafty
• Envelopes

These are the most commonly used swapping supplies in my opinion. These will pretty much suffice for several swaps and envelope decorating. 

Think you'll fit right in? I'm sure you will! Come on over and check us out. You won't be disappointed! 

So...Welcome to My Blog!

I am very new at this and hoping to gain experience along the way. There are so many creative blogs out there I can use for inspiration. Now if I could just figure out how...

An Introduction:

I am a wife and a dogmom first. Second, I am a creative soul, always writing, making art, and crafting. I love to create mixed media and assemblage art. My earliest love was writing and I've been smitten ever since. I love to write short stories, poetry, and most of all letters. I am an avid pen pal writer, a Swap-bot enthusiast, and a postcrosser. If you'd like to learn more about these hobbies check out:

• www.sendsomething.net - Send people all over the world a letter or literally anything else.
• swap-bot.com - Swap letters, art, crafts, and more with people everywhere.
• www.postcrossing.com - Send postcards globally and receive some in return.

In this blog I want to focus more on the writing portion of my life. I've always wanted to create a blog just to release some of my words into this world and now it is happening. I wrote a poem recently that I want to share with you all: 

Nature's breath on the trees

Blows all the leaves down

Down to the hard earth

Down to be swept away

Nature's breath leaves a chill

Frost forms on the branches

Ice crystals spread over bark

Snow falls as softly as feathers

Nature's breath warms the ice

It thaws and waits

The rain starts and doesn't stop

Everything blooms to life

Nature's breath dries the rain

The forest has returned

Lush green plants thrive

Crops are harvested before

Nature's breath blows again

-Elizabeth Neely

This poem was inspired by the wind blowing one day as I thought of all of the things that nature's breath does. Isn't Mother Nature amazing?

In closing, I want to thank everyone for reading my first post. I can't wait to share with you all my creative writing endeavors.