I spent the night plucking keys...

Well...I wasn't able to get

a new computer...

so I had to settle for a 'loaner'...

with 'sticky' keys.

I'd never plucked the keys off any computer before...

but I 'braved' it..

and took them all off...

it helped some...

but I still have several keys

that I have to pound to get them to work...

of course...several are keys

that I need most often.

Oh well...maybe one day

I'll get a computer that hasn't been

used by anybody else.

My Computer Was Attacked...

Well...I did something rather 'silly'...

I used my computer without adequate virus and spyware protection

in place.

My McAffee had expired and I hadn't downloaded

the Security package from my RR account.

Soooo...this past Monday...

my computer was attacked.

I'd gone to, what I thought was, a safe site.

I wanted to see if they had the

art donations posted for an auction

I had donated a painting to recently.

Suddenly...I got all kinds of messages

that my computer was infected by a virus..

a bogus 'security site'...with icons

that look just like the Microsoft Security badge...started

attempting to do a scan...

After countless shut downs...etc...

I did manage to get the RR package downloaded..

and turned up with 5 incidents on my computer.

It took two days...many scans...

ferreting out the suspect files (and deleting them)

and more security downloads...

it appeared that I  was

virus free..

not so fast...

now my poor computer just

keeps coming up to the black

screen to start normally..in safe mode..etc.

I think it is 'finished'.

So..since I am using my trusty OLD desktop..

and it is all the way upstairs...

I am going to be MIA for a few days.

I'll sign in on my faithful backup a couple times a day..

just to see if anything needs my urgent attention..

otherwise

I'll have to wait until I see if there are any

good sales on laptops this week-end.

Since it is an important

'tool of my trade'

I will have to get another ASAP.

Main Art Showcase

I don't know what to expect...

but I've booked a slot on today's

Main Art Showcase.

I've recently posted a couple of prints

on sites like

Craftgawker.com

and

Indiespotting.com

Now I'm looking for the

'perfect' web host

as I do like having my own domain

and website...

I just need to find one that is

'user friendly'

so that I can build it without being a

computer genius.

Where Hearts Collide

This was such a beautiful Treasury

that I just

had to share.

You can check it out

here.

A Busy Week

This is my newest Acrylic Canvas Painting...

"Whichever Way the Wind Blows"

I got it listed in the shop

over the week-end.

I was really hoping to get more paintings done..

but this is the only one I got finished.

I've got several with the backgrounds...hopefully I'll get

them on this next week-end.

It was a really busy week last week.

Etsy had announced that it was going to do

a default 'relevancy' search for the

next 3 Thursdays.

In other words...new listings..relisting or renewing

won't necessarily show 'first'

unless they are properly tagged

with relevant keywords and descriptions.

Long story short...

I'd been a little 'lazy' in my listing descriptions..etc..

so I had to spend a great deal of time

on Wednesday

doing a lot of listing rework.

And..it continues.

Etsy Dark Team Item of The Day

Gloomy Sunday

is the

Etsy Dark Side Team

Item of the Day.

Check it out.

Resurrecting the old...

I've 'resurrected' one of my old

'valentine' pieces..

This one is titled..

"Love Is..."

It's currently listed in my

Rustic Goth Etsy Shop

Below is a picture of the

originial painting that I painted

in 2008..

"Love Is Born".

New pieces in the Shop.

I've got a few new original digital illustrations

listed in my

Rustic Goth Etsy Shop.

I'm also working on a couple of journals..

I've been 'dying' to do these.

Jaime picked me up three 40 page Moleskine Journals

with blank pages.

Now I'm going to collage the fronts and

backs and see what happens..

hopefully they will turn out.

I haven't done these before so I'll just have

to experiment and see what happens.

New paintings will also be listed sometime

in the next week or so.

I haven't painted since before Christmas...

(except in Photoshop)

so I'm very anxious to do some new pieces.

Sorry Is The Saddest Word

This is one of my

'Melancholy Girls'

and is titled...

"Sorry Is The Saddest Word"

I created this illustration

in the aftermath of what has happened

in Haiti.

I had been considering doing one piece

each month,

specifically to send money for

charitable purposes,

for quite some time.

Having read the 'do's and don'ts'  on Etsy..

concerning selling for charitable purposes..

I'm still unclear of the rules there.

So...I simply decided to do

one piece each month...

so that I could give part of each sale

to a specific charity.

So...

"Sorry Is the Saddest Word"

is my

January illustration.

And..January's charity is the

Red Cross.

I'm doing it this way...with the month in the title...

so that I can send to that organization

for each of the prints that I sale..

as long as the print is available.

I used to do this on eBay and they were

going through

MissionFish...

it was really easy to do it that way,

as eBay would immediately take the percentage

designated when the sale was made

and send it directly to MissionFish...

to go to the specified charity.

Since Etsy doesn't do this...it's just easier

for me to 'spot the month'

in the title..

and upon the receipt of payment..

just go to PayPal

and send the funds directly to Red Cross.

I have entered 'The Aviator' into the EBSQ Show..Grey

I am smitten with this piece...even though it is one of my

own pieces...and I don't usually get smitten with

my own art.

For some reason, this particular piece 'speaks' to

me on

so many levels

and I am just plain 'smitten'.

At any rate..the title of the piece is

'The Aviator'

and I have entered it into the

EBSQ Show...'Grey'.

Jaime is going to enter a piece or so

into this show as well...at least

I think she is..

so..check it out and see what you think.

I am 'featured'...

My Rustic Goth Shop

is featured on a wonderful blog...

"The Meandering Musings of a Consummate Shopper".

Zoie has done a spectacular job of

describing my art and my shop..

so much better than I've been able to do.

Zoie has some

extreme "loveliness"

in her Bits n' Beads

Etsy Shop

do be sure and check her out.

EBSQ Portfolio

I have 53 pages of art listed in my

EBSQ portfolio.

It dates back to 2004...

occasionally I go out and see what

different kinds of art I have enjoyed doing the past

five years...

sometimes I am quite proud...other times I am

slightly horrified...(what was I thinking?)

The portfolio is quite revealing as to

when I was on eBay...

when I started on Etsy..

it is somewhat interesting...I think.

Since I am so very busy online...I haven't always taken

the time I probably should have

to really 'investigate' all of the sites I am a part of...

I only recently discovered

that I could have offered my pieces

for Sale on EBSQ.

Who knew?

So..I've started adding PayPal buttons to my recent

uploads...

It's going to take weeks for me to go

through my entire portfolio

(we're talking more than a thousand pieces)

to decide which pieces will be

offered and which will not...

but

I think it might be fun...

lots of work..

but..

fun.

New Product in the Shop -- Bookmarks

These wonderful little 'gems'

are ONLY $3.00 each..

They are 2.75" x 8.5"

and

laminated to boot!

I am very pleased with how they are

turning out.

And...I'm working on some

Brand NEW Products

to put in the Shop

very soon!

I'll keep you updated when

they are ready!

New Art in my Rustic Goth Etsy Shop.

Here are a few of my

newest pieces now listed in my

Rustic Goth Etsy Shop.

Also...just wanted to let my

blog readers know...

I have a PayPal button on my sidebar

that lets you purchase

any Rustic Goth print for only

$10.00.

I decided to leave this button up

JUST for my blog

readers.

The sale prices have been removed from my

shop...so this is the only place

you can purchase a print at a discounted price.

If you decide to do this...just note the

title of the print you purchase

in the note to seller.

This is my 'thank you' to my readers.

International Shipping Changes

I guess it wouldn't be a 'normal'

Holiday Season

without packages that were supposed to

arrive in time for Christmas..

but still haven't.

Every year I've had the same issues...

you'd think I'd learn.

I've always wanted to ship as economically

as possible..and it seems to be

okay to do this in the US...

not so much with my international packages.

Here it is...almost a third of the way

through January

and packages that were shipped

to international destinations during the

first week of December

still have NOT arrived.

So...I decided,

lest I forget during the next Holiday Season,

to change my shipping policies for

International Packages.

I've switched the international shipping

on

prints and canvas sheet originals

to

International Priority Flat Rate Shipping.

This was my least expensive option

and it does raise the rates to double what they were..

but it is supposed to cut the

delivery time, at least, by half as long.

I do pride myself on prompt shipping

and I've been so very upset with all of the

delays endured by my international friends.

I am so hoping those delays are now behind us.

EBSQ Show 'Ancient'...voting ends soon.

Anyone who follows me or my art

probably knows that this is one of my

'all time favorites'..

it's a piece I am exceptionally proud to say that I did.

I entered it into the EBSQ Show

'Ancient'

partly because...

I remember, as a child, thinking that anything

more than 20 years older than myself was "ancient".

Really...those were my thoughts when I decided to

entered this into the show.

Voting ends on this show

on the 11th...so I decided to share my page

with anyone who might

want to vote for this piece.

Thanks so much for those who do!

My New Wallpaper

This is my new desktop wallpaper...

I Love having it on my computer...

let me know if you'd like to have this wallpaper ..

just leave a comment and I'll

email you one

for 'free'.

My Artfire Rustic Goth Shop

Okay...this is a little 'different' for me...

and I'm sure you are wondering

"what the heck"???

I opened an Artfire Rustic Goth Shop

a while back...

then I decided it just didn't make

sense to have similar items

in two separate shops.

Well...I'd already signed up as

'Rustic Goth'

and besides that...

I like that name...

so..

it occurred to me that I've

been wanting to do

'digital supplies'

(for lack of a better term)

for quite some time.

What I'm doing is

putting up some digital backgrounds...

downloadable cards...

a lot of art from both

Rustic Goth and CMZart

that have been 'retired'..

etc..

and offering them for sale

as digital downloads

 in my

Artfire Shop.

I don't have a lot of pieces listed

yet...

but check it out to see what it

is that I'm doing there.

Shipping Delays...

I just wanted to let everyone who won a 2010 Calendar know that there has

been a slight delay in shipping.

I'm a bit behind in all of my shipping due to a combination of the large

amount of snow we've gotten in the Midwest since Christmas..and the

Holidays. (I have a good sized family.)

Part of the problem have been getting
the supplies we need for both printing and shipping...
there have been major delays in
getting our supply orders in order to fulfill
our own orders.

Now that things have 'calmed down a bit'...I am working on getting

everything shipped ASAP.

Thanks for all of your patience.