Good-bye--2008!

I found a video that made me smile...it was to bring in 2008...but, I wanted to share it anyway...hope it makes you smile!
Hope you had a great 2008....wishing you the best in 2009!

The Prisoner of Azkaban -- Harry Potter -- Chapter 7

Harry Potter - Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 6

Chapter 5 -- Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 4

All three videos....sit back, relax and enjoy...especially if you suffer from 'post Christmas exhaustion'

A few notes....on Rustic Goth

I have been having so very much fun

doing all of the You Tube posts...

Harry Potter...

Nightmare Before Christmas

and

A Christmas Carol...

I am amazed at all of the goodies

one can find on You Tube.

I do need to tend to a few

Rustic Goth

points of interest

though.

I have had a sale on all of my shop items since

November 6th. Originally I was just going to run the sale

through the month of November.

I decided to leave it on through the rest of the year...

I thought I'd leave a reminder

that the sale ends...

December 31st.

I'll be putting everything back to regular price

beginning January 1st.

Merry Christmas

A Christmas Carol -- really updated version

I wanted a one part, short version of "A Christmas Carol"...this is more than a little 'removed' from the original version...but, I confess....it made me smile.

We'll take a 'Harry' break...

I've read all of the books...and reread all but the last one, several times. I was so looking forward to the 6th movie..and then it got rescheduled to next July.
I must be have "Harry" withdrawals, or something, I have really enjoyed revisiting all of the different 'takes' on the series that are out there on You Tube.

But, with the season of Christmas now upon us...I decided to take a little "Harry" break myself...and share a few of those things of Christmas...seemed appropriate for the season.

Harry Potter...Azkaban..Chapter 3 Part 3

Chapter 3...part 2...Prisoner of Azkaban

H..P. Prisoner - Chapter 3 - 1

I will divide this chapter into different posts...a couple of the videos are over ten minutes.

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapt 2

I am including all portions of this chapter in this post.

Prisoner of Azkaban - C1 P2 and 3

Here is the rest of Chapter one...in two parts.

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban - C1P1

I enjoy the Harry Potter Sims

quite a lot...but, I didn't

have any luck finding

Book 2 or Book 3 in the Sims.

I did run across a wonderful audio version

of Book 3

"Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban"

but,

I warn you...it is on 25 You Tube videos...

I'll present it...a little piece at a time though.

Chamber of Secrets Fan Art

In an effort to keep

the Harry Potter obsession of mine going...

here is Book 2..

"Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets"

all on one brief video...

as 'fan art'.

Hope you enjoy it!

In The Coming Year

I made an announcement..

nothing earth shattering mind you..

in my other blog

that I would be making some changes

in the coming year.

I will be painting

fewer original paintings

and dividing the time I have

been spending on my art..

and all that it involves..

on a few other projects that I have in

the works.

I think you will

enjoy the pieces that I

will be creating...certainly I will

be able to spend more time on each piece...

I'm looking forward to that!

I'm also hoping to make this blog

a little more entertaining.

I enjoyed the Harry Potter Sims videos..

hopefully you found them

entertaining as well.

Wrapping it Up---Almost!

Well....I tried.

I searched and searched for the last three chapters...

just in case someone actually got interested

in these silly little videos...

truth be told...I found them kind of fun...

but then, I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan.

Anyway...I found ...almost...the end of the

book...this time taken from the game rather than SIMS.

It takes you right up to the very last battle...

I'll keep looking...if I find the very end...I will post it.

PS...I have looked and looked (and will keep looking)...but, in the meantime

if anybody knows of a 'cartoony-SIMS-game' type of video with the end of Sorcerer's Stone

please....let me know so I can run it...I am OCD and it drives me

crazy that I can't find the whole book!

Chapter 14...The last one I have!

This is the last chapter of Sorcerer's Stone Sims

that I can find..

it's in 2 parts...I'll keep looking to see

if I can find the last three chapters..

or something that 'wraps up' this story.

Sorcerer's Stone -- Chapter 13

Chapter 12--2 Parts--The Mirror of Erised

Quidditch--Sorcerer's Stone -- Chapter 11

Halloween at Hogwarts - Chapter 10

Here's the two part...Chapter 10.

A busy week so far.

It is my personality to keep myself as busy as possible. I really
don't like sitting around, unless there is someone to talk to.

I find it very difficult to just

sit and watch TV by myself. I mean, really,

how depressing is that!!!?

I still manage to get in waaaay more TV time

than the average human being, I'm sure. At least, most of
that is done while I'm working on things

that don't call for 100% of my attention.

I can kind of divide it up 50/50.

I don't like to have it completely quiet

in my home either. Even when I need 100% concentration,

I turn on the New Age Music channel

(since there's usually not any lyrics to distract me)

Or...I turn on the Weather Channel.

They run the same Storm Stories over and over and over again...

sometimes several times in the same week..

then they start the next week with the very same shows.

It's good 'background' noise though. I certainly don't

have anything to pay attention to.

Anyway...I've been doing some of my own

research on programs that I had some questions about.

I decided to sign up for a couple of them so I

could have the 'first hand' info...

then, sometime after the first of the year

I want to write about my findings.

We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime...I'm pretty close

to calling it 'quits' on new paintings

for this year.

I don't have a good reason, but I just have a problem

painting something that will be dated 2008, when the year

is almost over.

Like it said...there really isn't a good reason for not

painting a 2008 piece...even on the very last day of the year...

except that I don't like to do this...because I'm a little OCD.

I don't like to work on Sundays...since every other Sunday is family day...

but I had to move family day from this week to next...

I have fallen just toooo far behind in shipping.

So..my Sunday is going to be full of...shipping. Which is a good

thing...

if nothing sells, there's nothing to ship...

and I have more shipping

than I thought I would have...so..that's good!

Hope everyone has a good week....

I've got some more Harry Potter's starting again on Monday.

Hopefully somebody is getting a kick of these...I know I did:)

Harry Potter Sorcerer's Stone Sims - Chapter 9

Here is Chapter 9 in two parts.

And I'll give it a couple of days before running any new ones.

Chapter 8

Sorcerer's Stone-Chapter 7

Here's Chapter 7...of Sorcerer's Stone.

There are 17 chapters in the book

but only 14 chapters of the Sims videos.

I'm letting you know...in case you are somehow..in to these videos.

I am searching the web, to see if anyone has these last three chapters.

Here's some more Harry...

I honestly don't know if anyone cares

that I am posting these Harry Potter Sims

videos ..or not..

but, it's my personality that once

I start something...

I try my very best to finish it.

For some reason,

I feel 'obligated' to show the entire

'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'

Sims videos

from beginning to end.

"Mental"...I know!

Without further adieu...

Here is Chapter 6..parts 1..2..and 3

They're each very short...so..enjoy!

World Aids Day

Today is World Aids Day...

the twentieth anniversary.

This picture is of my original painting

'It Isn't Over Yet'

I painted it in 2005

in memory of my youngest brother

who died of AIDS in 1996.

I have decided to offer

prints of this painting

with the proceeds going to

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation

here.

I dedicated both of my blogs

today...to

World AIDS Day.

Chapter 5...

Here is part 5 of

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Sims

but, it is not made by the same person who made

the previous chapters I have posted.

His videos ended with Chapter 4...

this version doesn't have as much of the book

being read as the last videos did.

Too bad...

But, here it is...just the same. Also in two parts.

Harry Potter - SS - Chapter 4

Here's Chapter 4

Another 2-Parter!

Enjoy!!

Here's Chapter Three

It's a two parter...

but I'm putting them both on this one post!

I hope you're enjoying these little videos...

they're staying right with the book...

I'm quite impressed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all

a

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am very thankful

to all who

read my blog,

collect my art,

take the time to drop a line...

I appreciate it

and

Thank You!

Here's a link to one of my favorite reasons to be thankful.

Harry Potter - SS - Sims - Chapter 2

I really have gotten into these 'Sims'

Harry Potter stories...

maybe it's because I have no idea

how people put them together..

it's a little like a 'mystery' to me...

but I'm entertained by them...and I'd like to continue to share...

Harry Potter -- SS -- Sims -- Cont'

Continued from

yesterday's post....

Harry Potter - Sorcerer's Stone - Sims

I go onto You Tube every so often,

just browsing...sometimes with a purpose..

other times just to see what's out there.

I ran across a bunch of

"Harry Potter - Sims"

videos...and just had to share..

I've never seen anything done with Sims

so

I'm not sure what the little things are

that often appear above the heads of the characters...

and over other objects as well...

I just rather enjoyed this video...so..

here it is...

I got one new painting...

I painted several paintings

this week-end..

but I only got one new painting

for my Rustic Goth Etsy Shop.
I'll be listing it on

Monday.

Deja Vu...

Wow...it seems I just got over

that nasty bout of cold/ flu just a

few weeks ago...and it's BAAACK!

Yuck!!!

That's pretty much how I feel!

And I had soooo much planned for this week.

I've painted a few backgrounds...for new paintings

I've started..

for both Rustic Goth and for CMZart.

Now...I just don't feel like doing anything

but curling up and trying to sleep through this nastiness.

I probably would, if my head didn't hurt so

damned bad!

Sooo...I'm thinking I'll just curl up in my chair,

with my "meds"...my nose wipes...my beverages...

and my sketchpad..

maybe there's something on TV that I haven't

already seen a hundred times.

Blah Blah Gallery's New Art Movements

I was very flattered to be invited to join

the

'Blah Blah Gallery's New Art Movements'

group on Flickr.

I joined, of course.

I do so enjoy doing the sad and surreal dark art..

and it does fit with the general theme of this group.

If you like the pop surrealism, lowbrow, dark art

shown in the groups Flickr photos,

check out their website

'Blah Blah Gallery.com'

Answers to Harry Potter Trivia.

Here are the answers

to yesterday's

Harry Potter Trivia Questions.

1. What was Professor McGonagall's first appearance in book one, 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone'? = She appeared in the form of a cat reading a map on the corner of Privet Drive.

2. What is Harry's wand made of? = Holly and Phoenix Feather...eleven inches.

3. What are the names of Harry's aunt, uncle and cousin? = The Dursleys....

Petunia, Vernon and Dudley .

4. Who was the goblin that accompanied Hagrid and Harry in Gringotts Vault? = Griphook.

5. What can Rita Skeeter turn in to? = A beetle.

6. What are the three Unforgivable Curses? = Avada Kedavra (the Killing Curse)

Crucio (the Cruciatus Curse)

Imperio (the Imperius Curse)

7. When is Harry's birthday?=July 31st.

8. What was Hagrid's dragon named?=Norbert.

9. Where would you look for a bezoar?=In the stomach of a goat.

10. What was the name of Dumbledore's sister?=Ariana

Do you know Your Harry Potter?

Do you know your Harry Potter Trivia?

Here's a few questions for you...

1. What was Professor McGonagall's first appearance in book one, 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone'?

2. What is Harry's wand made of?

3. What are the names of Harry's aunt, uncle and cousin?

4. Who was the goblin that accompanied Hagrid and Harry into Gringotts Vault?

5. What can Rita Skeeter turn in to?

6. What are the three Unforgivable Curses?

7. When is Harry's birthday?

8. What was Hagrid's dragon named?

9. Where would you look for a bezoar?

10. What was the name of Dumbledore's sister?

If you can't wait until

tomorrow for these answers...

go to my

Harry Potter Trivia

Squidoo Lens

and scroll down toward the bottom.

Rustic Goth Characters on You Tube

It's been a while since I last put together

a video to put on You Tube.

I spent most of today...I'm not as fast as some...putting together

a video for CMZ Art

and this one for

Rustic Goth.

The art is by me

the music

'Sweet Dreams are Made of These'

Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics.

Skull ties, Goth Girl Shirts.....

A few items...great for gift giving....now

available online...

at my

Rustic Goth Zazzle Shop.

Finally have them listed.

I finally have listed

'I Think I Can Fix It Myself'

and

'It Needs Repair'

listed in my Rustic Goth Etsy Shop.

I'll be spending today

packing and shipping...but, I am

really wanting to do

a couple new paintings....

maybe later in the week.

Check these out...

A busy week ahead....

I'm going to be listing a print of

'Maybe I Can Fix It Myself'

and it's companion piece...

'It Needs Repair'

in my Etsy Shop

later today or tomomorrow.

I'm thinking I might also list the two

pieces as a 'set'...we'll see.

I want to put together a new You Tube Video... and...

I've finally got a couple of ideas for new paintings...

I really HAVE to get a Bunch of new

merchandise added to my

Rustic Goth Zazzle Shop...

and...

Jaime and I are watching

the grandbabies tomorrow!

Then...there's everything I need to do

for my other shops!

I really do have a busy week ahead!!

There's a Chill In the Air....

I think it's only for a few days

but, the weather has gotten downright chilly.

Good weather, I think, for wrapping up

in a nice warm blanket,...

with a cup of hot chocolate with marshmellows...

and grab my sketchbook.

Maybe, I'll come up with some

brand new characters!

I still have to do more with my

'Bella' character....I really do love her!

And...my 'creepers'...they all need

some new settings.

I've had some artist's block lately...

maybe this will help 'unblock' it!

I know I should be painting...

I have been working on my

Rustic Goth Zazzle Shop

instead.

I have neglected that shop

so badly

that it's going to take much

longer than I anticipated

to get it in shape.

So, in the meantime, I need to put

off painting, yet again!

I think I'll Make a New You Tube Video..

In the meantime....here's a Pop Surrealism Video I put together last year. I like this one a lot..But...a word of warning....you might want to mute the volume if you are offended by the 'f' word. It was the only version of Radiohead's 'Creep' that I could find.

One Year Anniversary...

Today is my one year anniversary

in my Rustic Goth Etsy Shop.

I have discounted all of the paintings

and prints

in the shop.

My way of celebrating

this anniversary

and saying 'Thanks'.

I'm Glad The Election Is Over...

I voted early...which was a good thing. I heard that some

of the lines were rather long.

I'm glad the election went the way it did...

I was planning on

painting last night but...

some of the kids came over to watch

the election returns...which didn't get over as

early as we had hoped.

I've got a bunch of shipping to do today...

but, maybe I can get something

new painted...we'll see.

An old painting...repurposed.

This used to be an old painting

'My Sweet Pet'

now it's a 'new painting'

....

though I'm not quite sure

if I will leave the

old title

or give it a new one.

I'm going to wait a day or two

before I put it

in the Shop

as I have one or two

other pieces

that I want to 'repurpose'

and then...

I'll just list all of the new 'old' pieces

at once.

I always liked the original version

of this painting

but, it seemed 'incomplete'.

Now...I have completed it...

I really do like how it turned out!

Coming Up On A Year

November 6th (my late husband's birthday)

will mark a one year anniversary

for my

Rustic Goth Etsy Shop.

I opened this shop a few days after my

CMZ Art Shop

because I thought the sad and surreal

pieces that represent Rustic Goth,

really needed a 'place of their own'.

To 'celebrate' the one year anniversary..

like CMZ Art,

I will mark everything down 25%

in the next day or so.

I haven't made a final decision

but, I'm considering extending

the Sale, in both shops...

through November and, possibly,

December.

I'm Beginning To Wonder...

I'm beginning to wonder

when I will paint again!

This was the last painting I did and that

was a couple of weeks ago!

I don't know if it is because

this time of year is usually my best time

and this year it has been very slow...

if it is the viruses or whatever that

are bound and determined to try to attach

themselves to my stomach...

or if I just need to take

a break!

Maybe it's that I keep

putting off cleaning the things off of

my computer that are slowing it to a crawl!

Whatever it is

I hope I'm over it

soon!!

Do check out

my

other blog

to see what I

HAVE

been up to lately!

It's actually been quite fun:)

Happy Halloween!!!

This looks almost like

a duplicate of my

other blog...

and I have some pictures to

show you...

I just have to upload them

first!

I just wanted to say

"Happy Halloween"

before it is completely past!

I got a few

uploaded...so here they are...

Mike and Jaime

were invited to a

Costume Party!

Except for the 'Darth Vader' helmet

they made the rest of their

costumes themselves.

It took several hours to paint

all of the detail on Jaime's face, body and headpiece.

I think they look great!

Simon is munching down on

a lollipop...

just one of the many treats

he got in his

little 'Thomas The Train'

Halloween bucket!

Ava is checking out her stash of candy...looking cute as ever as a little 'pink kitty'.

Their mother made their costumes and did a fabulous job!

I had two of the other grandchildren come by

but, for some reason their pictures didn't come out!

Wendy did such a good job with their make up!

Just a fun day for all!

Taking Stock

I'm glad I've taken some time off

of painting and creating

new pieces for my Etsy Shop.

It's given me time to take stock, evaluate

and re-evaluate

what I need to do in the

weeks and months ahead.

One of the things I've decided to do

is limit the 'Tragedies in Literature' series

to the three pieces I currently

have listed.

Ophelia

Desdemona

Cleopatra

I will continue to offer the original digital prints

in the shop

and I am going to take

the images and introduce some new

merchandise

in my Rustic Goth Zazzle Shop

this next week.

I'll preview that merchandise here

when it's ready.

In the meantime, my Rustic Goth Squidoo Lens

has almost reached the Top 100

in the Arts Category.

I am very proud of this lens...and I invite

you to pop on over and give it a look!

Harry Potter Trivia

Yes...I am a 'Harry Potter' fan!

I love, love, love the books...the movies...everything Harry Potter!

I think J.K. Rowling is remarkable!

Sooo....I wrote a Squidoo Lens

titled

'Harry Potter Trivia'

I'm sure I'll have a lot

of fun with this lens.

I am especially proud

of my

Rustic Goth Lens

Please visit one...or both..

of these lenses

and see what you think!

I invite you to visit...

My new improved

Rustic Goth Squidoo Lens.

Please leave me a comment,

rate my lens

or just give it a look!

I really would appreciate it!

I am quite buried...

What I thought would only

take me a few days...

has turned out to be more in-depth

that I anticipated!

I wanted to do some computer clean-up...and still must..

I ended up instead,

knee-deep in several other of my sites...

and I'm getting in deeper.

Needless to say

It's going to be a week or two...

before I have anything new to put in the shop,

unless I make myself take a

time out..to paint!

We'll just have to see what unfolds!

Behind the scenes...

I've been kind of

like a 'ghost' this week...

I've been here..

but not necessarily visible.

There are so many things that HAVE to be

done

'behind the scenes'

that I haven't been doing as often as I should...

that I could no

longer

put them off.

Number one among those things...

to 'clean up' the computer I most often use.

It has gotten so sluggish

I should imagine from all of the pictures

I have uploaded.

The only 'new' pices

I'm currently entertaininng

would be some

print packages...

and some notecards with envelopes.

These are still in the

'entertaining'

stage...so I haven' made

a definite decision

yet!

I'm sticking to my word...

I'm sticking to my word

and taking some time off.

With all of the illness going round...and I'm

still feeling 'not my usual self'...it seems like a good

time for a bit of a change.

Since I'm not sure what to do with myself

if I don't create something new, at least, once a week...

I'm sure I'll have something new to list

in the shop

later this week...or...

early next week.

In the meantime...I'll just

plan on taking some "me" time!

It's that time again...

It's time for me to take another

'working vacation'

which actually means...

I'm not going to be 'as available as normal' on Etsy...

and that I may take a day or two...away from this blog..

if there isn't really anything to blog about.

This time..

I won't be working as much on

new pieces as on...

cleaning my computer.

It's gotten quite frustrating lately..

I use my laptop for most of my work..and it is soooo loaded

with pictures...and who knows what else...

that it is running slower..and slower...and slower.

I really need to clear as much as possible off...and see if I can get

it to run better...

before it quits running entirely.

Wish me luck!!!

A nice turn...

I think it is very nice when I find one or more of my

items

in someone else's blog.

Perhaps I should do that more often...

Maybe when I can get myself organized

a bit better...I'll think seriously about

doing so...every so often.

A busy week-end...

I'm hoping I can have a

really busy week-end...

I have so many things planned

and

time seems to be

a luxury

at the moment!

A new character -- Bella Donna

I have been working on some

brand new characters for paintings

and such.

This is 'Bella Donna'

not really a 'deadly nightshade'

but a cute little Goth Girl.

I adore her!

The top painting...

" After The Rain "

will be listed later today or tomorrow.

"In The Forest"

is now listed in the Shop.

Favorites

If I'm 'Up' To It..

I really do hope that I hurry up and

get over this 'bug'...

whatever it is...

I've got so much work to do

first...

but, I'm so anxious to get

started on a series

that I've been wanting to start

getting sketched and painted.

I have listed a couple new pieces of jewelry

and a few new prints

in the Shop.

I had hopes...

I had hoped to have a really

productive

week-end...

I'm going to quit 'planning' for those...

I've picked up a bug..

hopefully

it won't have me

down too long!

Why I'm Not Rich....

Yahoo had an article today...

"Why You're Not Rich"...

It gave 10 reasons why you're not rich..

and then '10 (more) reasons..'

Among the 10 More...

=

"You care what your car looks like.."

This is a picture of my car..

it's pretty beat up and battered..

and one of the headlights keeps blowing out,

so I can't even drive it after dark....

...and note the grass growing up in the driveway and sidewalk...

it brings me to the reason...

'You care what your neighbors think'...

My next door neighbor mows his lawn 2 or 3 times a day (or so it seems)...I think he's pretty horrified at the condition of my lawn!

I concede to the points...

..'having bad habits'...

and

..'not being prepared'..

I think the picture of the clutter...that is my home...speaks to that.

But...

I am pretty diversified..

I do what I enjoy...

I LOVE to learn...

I'm not really sure why I'm not rich..

maybe NEVER having enough money to pay for the necessities

has something to do with it...????

But...I never give up...though it's sometimes a struggle...

so you never know...

maybe there's hope yet!!

Newest Piece

'Goth Girl and Friends'

This is my latest little

painting...

approx 4.5" x 6.5"

(I need to remeasure before I list it)

acrylic paints on cotton canvas sheet.

I did this piece

to put in one of the frames I

found on a 'Thriftventure'

but,

since I still haven't

repurposed the frame

I decided to go ahead and list

this little piece

and do something different for the frame

AFTER I get it finished.

I'll be listing this little piece

in the shop,

at some point

later today or tomorrow!