Some of the art I created especially for the Holiday Season

2013 Calendar

My 2013 Calendar

it's Free.

Download it here.

Save it as your desktop wallpaper

or print it yourself...

my 'gift' to you

and

wishing you

"A Happy and Joyous New Year"!

Framing your print art...on a budget.

Over the years I have painted many

small OSWOA paintings...

and I often try to offer them

with a frame included.

The frame above was a very cool find
that I found at a yard sale
and it worked 'perfect'
for my original little painting...
it sold pretty fast too...
just with the frame included.

I do quite a few small paintings each year
on sheets of acrylic or watercolor paper...
or small pieces of unstretched primed canvas...
and as often as possible...
I do try to make sure I put these in a frame...
not always though.

 A lot of my art is created digitally,
which means that in order to display it...
a frame is needed.
My favorite frames are not the
pricey ones found in framing shops...but rather...
the little 'treasures' one can find
at yard sales or thrift stores.

I found an interesting tutorial about

framing with 'thrift store frames'

here.

Prices lowered for some International Packages

As of December 17th...I am no longer

charging International Priority shipping rates on

standard sized or large limited edition prints.

I am now offering First Class prices, which are significantly

lower in price...

however...

the shipping times on First class packages is usually

longer in duration...

just an FYI.

I will also offer First Class shipping on my smaller paintings...

again...

the times are longer

so Priority shipping is an option for anyone

wanting to expedite shipping.

Originally my thoughts about charging priority shipping prices
was that I would be able to 'track' the packages through
to delivery...
such is not the case...
tracking updates cease once the package departs
the final US Sort Facility.

Also...I don't have a car...so I couldn't make regular trips
to the Post Office to mail my International packages.
To solve this problem...
I will 'catch a ride' to the post office
once a week...
so the 'turn around' time on International packages will
be a couple days longer than the US packages.

Deadlines for Shipping

While I have been completely caught up

with my Shipping,

I thought

I would post a reminder that purchase

deadlines

for shipping packages in the US is:

Tuesday - December 18th.

 

Both first class and Priority Mail can still be delivered 

by Christmas with this deadline.

 

Sorry...but all International Shipping

deadlines have passed.

 

 

Eight Years and Counting

I have been selling my art, online, since 2004.

I started with my own 'shop' on eBay...

and then joined forces with my husband, one of my sons,

my youngest daughter and her husband...

to become a Family Art Group...

and we listed our art as the

ZOA Group...

the Z.O.A stood

for "Zatloukal Original Art".

While on eBay...I painted everything from 'Tuscan Folk Art' to 

 

Modern 'statement' paintings to

 

Florals and Abstract Tree Art Paintings...

It was easier to manage the site as a group.  

 

The year following my husband's passing...eBay began to make changes that

directly affected the artists selling on eBay

and where we had been making a fairly comfortable living on eBay for three years...

our sales began to 'flatline' because of the changes.

 

And my art reflected how I was feeling...

 

 

 

Soooo....

we all went our separate ways.

Patrick decided to go back to school...

Jaime and Mike opened their own shop and...

I opened my Rustic Goth Shop on Etsy...

why

"Rustic Goth"?

 

 

Well...I was still dealing with the loss of my husband and kind of

'saw myself' as one of those 'tragic widows' from the

Gothic Novels I used to read in my teen-age years...

and Heaven knows I love anything 'rustic'...

and I just liked the name...

Rustic Goth.

 

To be honest...I didn't really associate the word 'goth' with the kids

who dress all in black, wear black eye makeup and lipstick...dye their hair black

and wear black fingernail polish.

So...in that sense of the word...I'm NOT 'goth'...

 

 

My 'melancholy girls' were a reflection of the stages I was

going through personally...

 

 

...though my Creepers were an even better reflection...

 

But....

life goes on...

and I am finally moving on too!

I have recently opened two shops...

one on Artfire and one on Etsy...

which I've already talked about...so I won't go into that...

and I've taken on the attitude...

...and I'm looking forward to, at least,

another 8 years of creating and selling my art online...

those are my plans, at this time, anyway!

 

As the Year Draws to an End

It feels like 2012 just Flew by....

unfortunately...

more often than not...

every year is beginning to feel that way

as I find myself getting older.

Ah well...it is what it is...

I tried something 'different' this year...

a Kickstarter Project to

get the funds needed for 

Steampunk Art Cards

and Jewelry.

I succeeded at reaching my goal...

spent the money on cards and jewelry supplies...

but

neither were the 'success' I thought they would be.

 

I am glad I 'went for it' though....

 

I also decided to 'go back to basics'

meaning

art designed especially for the 

'young and the young at heart'.

 

I have two shops dedicated to this...one on Etsy

and one on Artfire.

While neither shop has been even minimally successful...yet...

I do have hopes for both of them.

Why two shops...when neither are doing well?

Well...I rank higher in Google for my

search terms

with my Artfire Shop...

and Etsy tends to draw it's own crowd...

so I am hoping to gain exposure from both avenues.

I decided to go this route...when Etsy made the changes 

within their site

that have greatly impacted my

Rustic Goth Shop.

I know it's going to take a lot of work on my part

to make all of my shops successful

and so...in 2013..I guess I

have my work

cut out for me.