Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

New Pieces in the Shop and a SALE



I've got a new painting...
"And So It Is"
and a new print from an old painting...
"Hide and Seek"
and all of the Creepers Carnival paintings...
are now listed in the Shop.

And...all prints and paintings have been discounted
by, at least,  25%  during the
72 Hour Sale
in my Shop.

Sale ends Thursday....July 1st!

I spent all Sunday afternoon out in the sun...
very different for me...
the family and I went out to the lake and
grilled hamburgers and hot dogs...
while the kids
Big and Small...
played in the water.
We really are going to have to
do this more often!
But...it does take a bit of a toll..
too much sun...and allergies to the outdoors...and it takes
me a couple of days to get
'back to normal'.
So I haven't got a lot done...
except for a bit of shipping.

We were going to go out of town for
the week-end...
but we can't now...
so....
instead...
I'm going to fry some chicken..
make potato salad and baked beans...
and we'll take ourselves and our 'picnic'
out to the Lake...
and make a day of it!

Monday, June 28, 2010

ADD and OCD


I am a little OCD...
not officially...
just what I've 'surmised' about myself.
I like to have a certain number of items in my Shop.

I even prefer to have a certain number of items
in each section of my Shop.
But...I work though these compulsions...
if I have an odd number of items...
I just let it be.
But...the shop count...well..
you all know my reasoning for that.

Though I must say...sticking with 12 to 15 items
in my Ending Soon Sale Section
helps with the amount of time I spend
putting that sale on 
and then discontinuing the items
that are left
when that sale is over.
Course...I'm not going to be able to
continue this section once I reach that
'magic' number...
otherwise I'll end up with an empty shop.

But for now...it appeases my Etsy OCD.

As for the ADD....well...let me just say...
the OCD in me decided that I needed to do
8 Creeper Carnival pieces...
but holding my attention long enough to complete
all 8 was quite the challenge.

I tend to want to work 'all over the place'...
I know that doesn't fare well with the
overall shop appearance
(which is what my OCD tells me I need to achieve)
but
doing a little of this and a little of that...
whether it goes together or not..
feeds my ADD.
It's a bit of a 'Catch 22'.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Cleaning House



Well...I have been
'cleaning house'.
Not literally...though I really..really should...
but
with my art.

While the internet was down...
I made some decisions.
One of those was to clean out my

Make room for new pieces.

Usually when I do this...I just pull the pieces
I decide to retire...and that is that.
This time...I decided to..instead..put in the
'Ending Soon Sale' Section.

That would let anyone...who might be interested..
know that I was fixing to pull specific pieces.
By pricing them a bit lower..
and not relisting when sold..
it kind of just
takes care of itself.

I'll continue to do this until the Shop
is exactly where I want it to be.
Some of the pieces may disappear and then
reappear...
I have some pieces that I really like to
put on during Halloween...
but I don't want to keep them in year round
like I have been.

Anyway...once I'm done 
cleaning house with the Shop...
I really do need to think about
cleaning house
for real.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Next batch of 'Ending Soon' Pieces


I've listed the next 'batch' of
Ending Soon Sale pieces.

I'll be ending these late Wednesday night...
then
I'll probably hold off for a week or two.

We're going out of State...
which is something I almost never do...
over the week-end of the 4th.
Last year 4 of my kids...and their families...
along with myself..
spent the week-end with my husband's brothers and their
families...
It was really GREAT!!

We decided that we didn't see each other
very often...so we'd try to get together over the 4th
again this year...
I'm really looking forward to it..
and praying for a rain-free/ storm-free week-end.
I'll be away for several days..
so I don't want to give myself a lot of work
to do over this time.

Anyway...I do ramble on...
the list of items that I have decided to include in the
Ending Soon Sale are...

Prints---
Poison Apple
She Hearts Butterflies and Blackbirds
Fade to Black
Her Deepest Thoughts
Almost Alone
Chastity
Where Are You Taking It
I'm Late
Epiphany
Red Riding Hood
Ides of March (Large)
Alice and the Mad Hatter (Large)


Bookmarks---
Butterfly Blues


Paintings--
Poppies and Dragonflies
The Necromantic

Friday, June 25, 2010

Mad Hatter Pendants


I was sooo excited when Jaci sent me pictures
of these AWESOME pendants...
They are all of my 
'Mad Hatter'
I think she did such a wonderful job making these
that I could hardly contain myself..
I just HAD to share them with you!!

She has them listed in her
Enchanted Glass Etsy Shop!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Prints and Bookmarks Ending Today



Here's a list of the prints and bookmarks
I am pulling later today...
(I did post this on my Facebook Monday...
which is when I actually wrote this blog...
so some of the pieces are already 
gone!)

I've listed these pieces as
"Ending Soon Sale"
items...


here's the list...

Apple in Winter print
For the Birds print
Alice and the White Rabbit print
Snow White and the Evil Queen print
The Bee Keeper Print
Rainy Days and Mondays print
One Fine Day print
It's Raining Again print
In the Air Tonight print
My Heart Goes Out print

For the Birds bookmark
I Can't Believe it Got Away bookmark
It's Raining Again bookmark
The Bee Keeper bookmark
A Distant Look bookmark

I'll be 'clearing' more pieces from my shop
 next week...
I'll post that new list when I've
decided which pieces
I'll be ending.

(I'll try to 'update' this list as pieces are sold.)
The items on the list that are 'crossed out'
have been sold.


Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

New This Week


I've made the 'Creeper Carnival' prints
available as a 4 Print Set...
at a lower cost PLUS an additional 25% Off
during the
Summer Print Sale.
It's like getting 4 prints for the
price of 3.

New 'Creeper Carnival' paintings are 
'in the works'...
they are...
1. Creeper Clown
2. Creeper Knife Thrower
3. Creeper Trapeze Performers
4. Creepers..Big and Small

I'm also working on some new pieces
that will be painted on wood.
Hopefully I'll get all of the paintings that
are in various 'stages of completion'
listed on Thursday or Friday.

Just an 'F.Y.I.'....
since I really don't want to try to manage
more than 150-160 items in my 
at a time...
(I may change my mind at some point...but for now
I want to 'stick' with that number)
I will be pulling a number of older
prints and bookmarks...
to make room for the newer pieces.

I'll have a list of the pieces that I will
be pulling in my Thursday post...
I know that is kind of 'late' notice...but I'll post it
early and I won't be pulling anything until
Midnight or so.

Monday, June 21, 2010

A Couple Pieces I listed over the Week-End


I did this little piece..on a small 5" x 7" canvas sheet.
It was the first time for me trying something like
this...so I opted to do it on a smaller size.
It is framed though.

I picked up a couple of frames at a neighborhood yard sale...
and I did this piece 'especially' to go with this frame.
I would have loved to have found something a bit
more ornate...but this was the best I could do...as I don't get out to
as many auctions and yard sales as I'd like...
maybe I'll have to do some
'thrifting' one day soon!



 'The Perfect Spot'
for a Picnic!!

This is another canvas sheet painting...
to fit another of the frames I purchased at the yard sale.
It's not as 'fancy' as the first frame
but I got a pair of them and thought they'd be great
for some canvas sheet paintings.
The sheet is an 11" x 14"
and the frame is about a 12 x 16 or so 
(I haven't actually measured it...I can't find my yardstick.)

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Summer Print Sale


I am still playing 'catch up'...
but I have pulled my extended 72 hour Sale
finally...

Having so much 'time' to paint...
also gave me time to think..
so I 'thought'
instead of having assorted sales every few weeks..
since that does take a quite a bit of time
putting a Sale Up..
only to take it back down in a day or so..
 (it averages 3 hours to put a sale in...and 3 hours to take it out)

so...I decided to have a 
"Summer Print Sale"
to run
indefinitely.

That way I can offer a discount on some of my items...
and save myself the time of changing prices..titles...etc.
leaving myself that much more time
to create new 'things'!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

A busy Week-end!


I really enjoyed the 'time off' of the computer...
I got some MUCH needed time to paint some new pieces...
and I am so happy with how they turned out.

I listed all the new paintings
in the Shop.

Unfortunately each painting took so long to paint that I didn't get as
many painted as I'd hoped to.
And...I didn't get the pictures 'cleaned' from my laptop
or my little portable storage thingy....

Now...I have to play some 'catch up'...
I've got a lot of shipping to do..
more paintings in the works...
lots of blog posts to read and comment on...

so...I'll be having a very busy week-end!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Tribute


My husband and I had a wonderful
and very exciting life together...
He truly was/is the
'Love of my Life'!

It's June 18th
and I always like to make
sure he is
'remembered'...


Thursday, June 17, 2010

I am 'back'


Well...I'm back.
Hopefully the cable is now fixed and
 won't keep going down...
only time will tell.

I guess I wouldn't have been without the internet
this long if I had called the cable company
a few days ago...
I've had 'service'...I just didn't know it.

I finally called to see how much longer and they said...
last Monday...
I needed to 'reset' my router...who knew?

Oh well...I got several new paintings completed...
had the little ones...two of three days...
and
decided that I need to get on the internet less..
and paint more.

Anyway...it will take me several days to get caught up..
in the meantime...
I will be ending my Sale tomorrow....
my 72 hour Sale ended up going about three times longer than
it should have...
and I am listing the paintings I got done this past week.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Just in case..


This is the last of my
'scheduled' posts...so if you are reading this..
my internet is still down
(or I am 'buried' in a bunch of internet work
that accumulated while it was down.)

Just know that I have (hopefully) been able to get
a lot of new pieces painted.

I got some frames at the Yard Sale across the street
last week and I wanted to get them all painted and varnished
and do some pieces
especially for those frames...

My computer...and my zipdrive...needed my attention
desperately..
so I definitely got those all cleaned up...
to make room for new pieces.

If you are reading this...
I am hoping the cable problems are being resolved
and I will finally have internet access
without the hassles.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Update on Enchanted Glass...


I didn't want to 
"speak" for Jaci...the lovely proprietor of
in my previous
by saying that she would be
willing to take on 'special requests'...

Turns out she is very open
to that...so
if you have a special piece you would
like to have as a pendant...
you can contact her
through her Etsy Shop...
and let her know.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

If you are seeing this...

...it means my cable is still down.

I've seen this message far too many times...
and the 'kicker' was losing it during the week-end of the
Lost finale.

Course...even though I called and was told that 10 homes in
my area were down..
the cable guy that came to fix my service...
had to do something with the connection on my house..
and said he hadn't heard of anyone else being down.

Not sure why the Tech folks would tell me one thing...
after checking whatever it is that they check...
and the cable guy tell me something else.

He also assured me at that time...that the fix was only
'temporary'...
so if I'm still 'down'
I hope this is the last time.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Thinking Positive


I am one who does believe in the 
'laws of attraction'
for one thing...
I've seen it 'in action'.

Now...I'm not a 'positive' person by nature...
so I do tend to attract more
negatives than I care to.
My daughter...on the other hand...
is a positive person..
(she got that from her dad)
and she attracts more positives than negatives.

That is really the only 'proof' I need to 'convince' me.
Now I am 'working' on trying to be more positive...
but I do have a difficult time 'convincing myself' that I am 
positive...when 'deeper down'...I'm feeling a bit negative.
I've always had a hard time 'pretending'.

So it leads me to the point of this post...
I do try very hard not to purposely call 'negatives'
into my life...
and I wondered if..by thinking,
"I'd better get some internet work done...
in case I'm without internet for a week"
that I would end up ...without internet for week...
instead of a few hours. 

My rationalization of this thinking is...
'preparedness'.

"Just 'in case' I'm without internet for a week...best to get as much
internet work done as possible."
I even went so far as to print out shipping labels for prints that
haven't been printed yet.

Mostly I think...I just don't want to fall too far behind...
"just in case".
I believe this is just another way of...
'thinking positive'.

Friday, June 11, 2010

The Creepers Carnival Prints


Well, it rained some yesterday...
so I guess that delayed the cable company's scheduled plans...
and I ended up with cable and internet all day after all.
So...I figure they'll decide to do the work on
Friday..or Monday...
or whenever I least expect it.

So..I'm still working in the mind frame that I will
lose my service at some point...soon.
I just wished they'd stick to their schedule...heck, I planned
for that.

Anyway...I had received a couple of messages asking
when I would be listing my
Creepers Carnival pieces as prints.
I don't usually list any prints of my paintings...
until after the painting has sold.
But..I made an exception in this case...
and even included them as part of my 72 Hour Sale.

If I should still have the internet late tonight...I will be ending
the Sale then...
if I don't...then I'll take it off as soon as possible
once it has been restored.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Creepers Carnival --and-- An Internet Break??


Well...I got the first four paintings in my new series...
"The Creepers Carnival"
painted and listed in my Etsy Shop.

They are...
Top Left -- Conjoined Twins
Top Right -- Fortune Teller
Bottom Left -- The Tatooed Lady
Bottom Right -- The FeeJee Mermaid

'Fortune Teller' sold to the lovely Bree...
thirty minutes after listing
(a 'record' for me.)

I am so very happy with the paintings thus far...
and will be starting on 4 more in the series.

I'm also working on a
'Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum'
for my
Alice in Wonderland Series,
a framed Phoenix,
and a new 
Whimsical Creeper painting.

I'm playing around with a couple of
Moleskin Journals...hoping they will turn out...

*Quick note..
I may...or may not...be without Internet..
as of today.
I got a call on Monday, from the cable company...
(I've had so many problems related to wiring..etc..)
They told me I would be without cable
(and I'm assuming internet)
anywhere from an hour...upwards of a week..
depending on what needs to be done.

I'll be able to watch the local TV channels...so I'll have TV..
and while I'm 'down'...
I plan on getting a lot of new pieces done...
and
I really..really...really need to clean my computer.
It's bad enough that I lose connectivity on a semi-regular basis...
now I've loaded it up with so many pictures that it has slowed to a snail's pace.

So...being without Internet...may end up being
"a blessing in disguise."

If I can't get into my shop to take off my
72 hour SALE...
I forgot that the cable was going to be affected
when I put the Sale in my Shop...
and I didn't want to end it early...
so not sure how many hours over it might run...
again...I am at the 'mercy' of  TWC.

I am doing a few 'scheduled posts'...so it won't seem like I am
M.I.A....
it's just going to throw off my usual 'me' day activities
if it is not back up by then.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

I Got One Done


Here is the first painting in my series
"The Creepers Carnival"

This piece is titled...
'Conjoined Twins"

I was able to get the backgrounds and sketches done
on 4 Carnival pieces,
1 Alice in Wonderland piece
and a 'regular' Creeper piece.
So...I've got a lot of painting to get done in the coming days.

There's a lovely elderly gentleman who lives across the street.
To keep himself busy he attends a lot of the
estate auctions in the area.
Then a couple week-ends a month...he has a 
yard sale.

Jaime and I wandered over there this past Sunday
and I scored several frames to use
with some of the canvas sheet,
watercolor and acrylic papers
I like to use for some of my paintings.
So...I want to get the frames all repainted
and paint some pieces that will fit into these frames.

So...it looks like I have a really busy week ahead of me.





Monday, June 7, 2010

I just LOVE my week-ends!


I LOVE my week-ends.

I've 'claimed' Saturdays as 'ME' days...
it's the one day of the week I devote to myself.

No work...unless that's what I 'feel' like doing...
I catch up on emails...
read and comment on my fave blogs...
putter around the house...
(this past Saturday I made homemade chicken noodle soup..
fresh dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls)

I write a few blog posts and schedule them...
I can always 're-schedule' if something more 'pressing' comes up...
(with my schedule being what it is...I can't always find the
time to post something new each and every day)
but I try not to schedule more than a couple a week.

I take a nice long relaxing bath....
do my laundry
(since I only have myself to do laundry for...once a week is plenty)

anyway...you get the picture...Saturdays I mostly
spend time with myself.

Then...every other Sunday
(unless a holiday sneaks it's way in there)
we have 'family' day.

The kids and grandkids come over..
we have some kind of dinner
and just 'hang out'.
(Jaime has to come over every Sunday...
we do have to 'meet' once a week..
since our businesses are somewhat intertwined...
and besides..
she has to bring over whatever she's printed for me..
any supplies she's included with her own orders..
that sort of thing.)

I wished my week-days were as relaxed and laid back!
Ah well...it is what it is.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Custom Requests


For the longest time I took on very few
special orders or commission paintings.

I learned...the hard way...that,
in the time it takes
to create a custom digital
or commission painting...
which, for me,  is 2 to 3 weeks...
a lot of folks often have a 'change of heart'.
What they were very excited to order in the beginning...
has cooled to the point of..
'Oh, yeah, I forgot I asked you to do that and...
I've actually changed my mind.'...

So...there you are...sitting there with a painting,
with a green background 
(when I usually do golden backgrounds),
a creeper with his bloody heart in his hands and a 
huge bloody hole in his chest.

This was actually a special request I agreed to do
a couple of years ago.
Now...mind you....that is something I never would
have painted under usual circumstances.

Long story short,
they 'changed their mind' and didn't want it after all...
WTH am I supposed to do with it???
And...I hadn't even asked for a deposit...

So...I declined ALL requests for the next two years.

Then, last fall...someone purchased a painting
I had listed in my Etsy Shop.
He and his wife loved their new painting so much,
that they just HAD to have me do a special painting
for a friend who was coming home from Iraq 
shortly...
something with Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd.

I said 'no'....over and over again...I said 'no'.
They finally 'convinced' me...
(I think it was the Iraq thing, )
so
I collected the full purchase price up front
and let them know it would take me 3 to 4 weeks.

They must have like it...they have purchased two
other custom paintings since.

The point of my post today....
I've worked on several digital 'samples'
over the past month,
that took about 18+ hours of my time.
So what happened with them...?
nothing at all.
I spent 18+ hours that I could have spent working
on something else,
for 'zilch'.

 I've always had a problem asking folks for money
for something that doesn't 'exist' just yet...
but
I'm going to have to 'get over that'.

For custom paintings...I have to get the money up front...
to order canvas and paints...
(and 'incentive' to get the painting done as quickly as possible,)
so I'm not as fussed about that as I used to be.

I'm either going to have to say 'no' to all
digital requests
or
request payment before starting on anything...
I'm just not as fast as I like to
think that I am.

So I created a little free website
 especially to
address custom requests.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

I'm Excited about My New Series


These aren't my pieces...
but they do 'give away' the new series
I'm about to start painting.

My creepers have 'joined the carnival'
and they are part of the
side show attractions.

I am going to paint these pieces
on 6" x 6" Museum Canvas,
which means they are thick enough to sit on a
shelf or hang on a wall,
I tend to like to use this size as shelf pieces...
but collectively they would make an
impressive wall collection.

Anyway...
my canvas doesn't get in until the first part
of next week...
but I am hoping that I will have one or two
to list by the end of next week.

I'm very excited to get this series
painted.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Enchanted Glass


I do very few art pendants
because they are rather 'tricky' for me.

My daughters used to do some pendants...
and probably will again, 
for the fall arts and craft shows,
but with everyone as busy as they are,
I don't know that I will have any for
my shops anytime soon.

I have worked with the lovely Jaci,
for almost a year now.

She has 8 of my images that she
is offering as pendants,
in her
Enchanted Glass shop.

We change them up from time to
time...
so give her shop a visit...
she has some really cool pieces there.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Shop Update


You may
or may not have noticed...
I have pulled a lot
of pieces out of
my Rustic Goth Etsy Shop.

About once or twice a year I evaluate
everything I have listed in my
Etsy Shop 
and decide what I want to do 
with each piece.

Well...it's that time again!
I have either pulled
or I'm in the process of pulling
a number of pieces.

I like to have a manageable number
of items in each of my shops...
and when the shops get too unwieldy for me..
I 'clean house'.

So...if there was a piece you were 
'in love' with and you don't see
 in my Etsy Shop...

you can check..
Rustic Goth Zibbet,
or
Rustic Goth Artfire.

I have a LOT of artwork...
and much of it isn't even being offered anymore,
plus...
it didn't make sense to have duplicate artwork
in my shops...
so
I am in the process of
making each one of my shops unique
in the art that is being offered.

Some of the same pieces will
be offered on merchandise in my
Zazzle Shop...
and will eventually be offered as a
Print on Demand print
at
Fine Art America.

I like that collectors will be able
to purchase Canvas Art Prints
at Fine Art America,
as soon as I have signed up for the
print on demand program.

So...that's an 'update' on
my shops...
and I'm hoping to have everything
all 'restructured'
by the end of next week.




Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A Quiet Week-end


I had a pretty quiet and uneventful week-end.
We had our 'family day' on Sunday...
wouldn't you know that was the only day
of the week-end that was a bit chilly and damp?
So..the kids were pretty much stuck inside...
they weren't real happy about that.

But..we did our birthdays for the month...
tried to go to the cemetary (but it was closed...really??)
Granted...it was after 8...I didn't see anything about
'hours of operation'...
so I'm not sure when they closed the gates...
so I'll save the visit now for Father's Day.

Didn't get my poppy again this year...
I went looking...but didn't run across
any of the Vets with their bouquets of paper poppies.

Spent Memorial Day alone...
used it to try to come up with some new pieces...
but
didn't have a lot of luck.

That was my week-end...all in all
very quiet.