Friday Gratitude

Michael comes home tonight! I haven't seen him in 2 weeks so I am a little excited and thankful that he will be HOME! This is the longest we have been away from each other and I have missed him like crazy!

(cropped image of a piece that I don't have online as it was a gift to Michael and just really for him. But will share that little corner of the piece since it my hand print that I painted over - the heart in the center formed naturally when I pressed my hand to the canvas)

The Secret Life of Bees

I finished "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kid. It was great! I enjoyed the characters..the themes...the story. It was just a wonderful story unfolding throughout the book.

A friend of mine was talking about love. And she has always felt the word love isn't adequate. We say we love french fries. And we say we love our family. Obviously those are different kinds of loves. We would hope that the love we feel for french fries isn't the same as we feel for our families.

Quote from the book:

"And i loved the color blue- the real bright blue like the hat May had on at the Daughters of Mary meeting. And since coming here, I've learned to love bees and honey." And I wanted to add, And you, I love you, but i felt too awkward. 'Did you know there are thirty-two names for love in one of the Eskimo languages?' August said."

I do wish we had other words for love.

Other quotes...

"Women make the best beekeepers, 'cause they have a special ability built into them to love creatures that sting."

"I am enough. We are enough."

"There is nothing perfect. There is only life."

"Some things don't matter much. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart--now, that matters. The whole problem with people is ... they know what matters, but they don't choose it... The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters."

"I believe in the goodness of imagination. ... I wake up to wonder every day."

"You've got to hear of these things before you can imagine them. You gotta imagine what's never been."

"If you need something from somebody, always give that person a way to hand it to you."

"You think too much. It would do you a world of good to stop thinking and just go with your feelings once in a blue moon."

"The only purpose grand enough for a human life... is not just to love--but to persist in love."

Forgot Lunch

Note to self...remember to eat lunch at a normal time or else you will feel like you do right now. I was busy doing things so forgot to eat lunch. About 3pm it hit me - low blood sugar - dizzy...dizzy...dizzy. I ate some turkey stuffed into a pita pocket and feel a little better but still shaking. Just typing this message many words I have had go over a few times. Silly self for waiting.

(cropped image from altered altoid tin/shrine - Jealous of the Voices - Front & Inside)

Tea!

I got mail love today! A pretty good sized puffy envelope stuffed full of different teas! I had commented to my friend Carolynn that a tea she described sounded very good. So she sent me that and many other kinds to try plus a pretty handmade card and matching envelope. Today is actually a good tea drinking day as it is cloudy and stormy here.

Friday Gratitude

5 Good Things in my Life...
1. My sister celebrates her birthday tomorrow so have been thinking about her and hope she has a wonderful birthday!
2. The class I taught on Monday went really well and it was a good opportunity for me...thankful for it!
3. Ice packs as I have had migraines since Tuesday and thankful for having ice packs to help calm and numb the pain for a bit.
4. Fish...Michael doesn't like fish and while he is out of town I tend to indulge in eating it every chance I can....so I have been enjoying fish this week.
5. Talking to my Mom yesterday. I live far from my family so miss them.

(graphic - took a photo of a birthday cake and then played with it in photoshop so that it kind of looked like a (digital) postcard)

What Teachers Make....

A friend who is a teacher posted this to her blog and I thought of my sisters so posting it here....



His words are very powerful....not surprised he is a poet.

Selling Art on the Internet

Websites discussed during "Selling Art on the Internet" for Artspace & Open Studio. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or email me.

Selling
1. Etsy.com

• is a market place not an auction
• 20 cents each item
• 3.5% percent of the total sale (excluding shipping)
• paying fee – credit card on file - billed or auto billed once a month
• built in shopping cart so not needing to have one on your website
• can use your own logo and put links to your website in profile

2. Ebay.com

• do a search for self representing artist to see what others do
• fees vary to price listing – 20 cents to $4.80
• percentage of total sale starts 5.25 and then goes down high the price it sells forself
• representing artist – then broke down into medium, subject or style

3. yessy.com

• fee yearly - $59if you use –their shopping cart then the fee is a 10% percent of sale but if you use your own merchant account then no additional fee

4. artbyus.com

• free - you put up your items but you use either your merchant account or paypal
• also good for networking

5. Boundless Gallery - Stephanie mentioned this one. It looks like they have a free sign up and many free features but I am not sure if you sell things via them - their might be a fee. But I haven't signed up or know enough about them to know for sure.

6. Absolute Arts - I don't know anything about them - but came upon them in some searches the other night. It looks like there is a free sign up but if you want more features then it costs.


Networking & Marketing
1. a blog - Sept 10th Class is on Blogging

2. many of the above sites where you can sell your work also have forums which are good for networking - make sure when you sign a post to forums that you put your web url under it.

3. EBSQ Art

• $78 yearly fee for artists
• Portfolio
• links to your website, etsy, ebay, blog
• in rotation for being a featured artist
• online community
• not a site for selling but a site for showcasing and networking

4. Wet Canvas

• a forum
• articles

5. writing articles - because the more your name is out there the more you will get unexpected hits from many sources (I haven't used any of these yet.)

• http://www.squidoo.com/
• http://www.ezinearticles.com/
• http://www.associatedcontent.com/
• http://www.helium.com/

6. Yahoogroups or Livejournal Art Communites

Yahoogroups - do a search for your medium or just a general search of art and see if something catches your eye. There is not only valueable information for marketing your art online in many of these groups, it is a place to market, network, find new techniques and communicate with other artists.

Livejournal - it is not only a place to blog but it has many artists communities - again do a search for your medium or art in general.

7. Myspace.com, 723.com, deviant art, indiepublic

They are all similar. They are a place to have a profile, blog (I would never use it as my main blog though), network and communicate with others. They are all free for sign up.

Myspace.com - I don't really have a fondness for as most of the time when I got to people's myspace pages they are very clunky in loading.

The rest of these are geared towards artists.

723.com - it is like a myspace but for artists. It is fairly new so not sure on where it will go.

indiepublic - Again like a myspace but for artists

deviantART - it is more like EBSQ where you can have a gallery, people can comment on your art, there is a shop but it is for prints of your work, and there is forums also



Tips

• make sure your business cards, letterhead, brochures, advertising has your website address
• make sure when you do emails to anyone - everyday correspondense or online forums have your web address in your signature

Class tonight...

Anyone who was at the class this evening....I will be putting up links and some notes tomorrow. So if you want to make it easy to just click on the links....check back tomorrow!

And also THANK YOU for coming tonight! I was so nervous and everyone made me feel more at ease....Thank you!

Invitation

I had been meaning to post the invitation postcard that I designed for my parents 40th wedding anniversary....


click on image to see a bigger view

I still watch the video Michael made and I am sure I will for the rest of my life...it is amazing.

Friday Gratitude

5 Good Things in my Life...
1. My friend Jessica is celebrating her birthday today and another friend is celebrating tomorrow....they are both very good things in my life and I am very happy they were born.
2. Ties and Shirts - I have a thing for them and Michael got several new shirts and ties today.
3. Spaghetti and meatballs - well technically we are not having them til tomorrow night but I did make the meatballs today...and they turned out really good!
4. For a good friend letting me borrow her car while Michael is out of town
5. Stickers to decorate envelopes for mail love!

(slighty cropped image of a postcard-like piece that I did for Jessica a couple years ago)

Going through the Busy

The week has been very busy. Michael is getting ready to go out town for several weeks so been finishing up some work and then also getting him ready. I have a lot of scanning to do while he is out of town so I will be busy. But I also REALLY want to make time for art since it has been a long time. And I miss it so much!

The Lovely Bones

I finished The Lovely Bones and it was a truly amazing book. On the back one of the review quotes says: "The Lovely Bones is the kind of novel that, once you're done, you may go visit while wondering through a bookstore and touch on the binding just to remember the temotions you felt while reading it. Intensely wise and gorgeously written, The Lovely Bones is a heartbreaking page-turner. I envy the read who is about to jump into the world of Susie Salmon and her incredible family." (quote from Amiee Bender)

And that really sums it up for me. The emotions of this book and getting to know Susie and her family is an incredible journey.

Artspace & Open Studio

There is a great group here in Grand Junction called Artspace & Open Studio. Michael and I are working on their website. It is going to be a pretty big website so it will take a few months to get it going. But for now I put up a temporary site to keep people up-to-date.

Artspace & Open Studio

Next Book on the Stack....

Thursday evening we went to the Farmer's Market....picking up quite a bit of fresh veggies. After the farmers market, we went to the library. I picked up 3 books. One book I wanted was a sequel to My Soul to Keep. Well both books were on the shelf -

My Soul to Keep

and the sequel and which book did I come home with?? My Soul to Keep! Facepalm...Doh! It was funny I climbed into bed with the book - open it to the first page - and read 2 lines and closed it. And moaned. Michael said, "already read it huh?" I said, "yes!" So I went on to one of the other books I picked up - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. --- Okay side note just was doing a search for the book so I could include a link to a review of it and IMDB.com came up! It is so weird because last night while reading it I thought this should be a movie. And it is going to be - Ryan Gosling is going to be Jack. I will definitely want to see that movie. I am loving the book. The story - the main plot of it - horrid what happens. But how the story is being told....is such an interesting perspective. The emotions of the book...I feel the pain Susie's sister feels. I feel the pain of Jack. I am really glad I checked it out. (A video book review from blue rectangle and Wikipedia)

Friday Gratitude

5 Good Things in my Life...
1. Fresh Veggies
2. Library books
3. Water....I am grateful for water as I have been drinking a lot today
4. Airborne - I feel like I am getting a cold and been taking it
5. The scones I made this past week - they were a nice breakfast treat

(cropped detail of Trove)

Just life...

Michael has been busy with work. I have helped him out a little and then doing things around the house. We have been busy and productive and even had just quality time together. So nothing for me to really complain about.

Tonight is the Farmers Market so we will be picking up some fresh veggies..tomatoes and peppers I want the most. During the summer months main street is blocked off one night a week and then vendors set up tents and sell their goods. Most of it is fresh veggies and fruit. But there are things like chefs cooking with fresh produce. And then homemade good like soaps, metal or woodworking for sale. And there is always music...usually one or more bands or musicians set up for the evening.

Speaking of produce...we went to Sam's the other day. And we picked up a really big container of organic spring salad mix. It was much cheaper then buying the bagged ready to eat salad mix from the grocery store. And really I felt it was cheaper then buying all the things that would go into it making it from the different types of greens. The container is really large and packed really well. It is not air packed in it to make it look like a lot of greens. There is so much more in it then what we get with bagged. Plus this was so fresh, pretty, tastes great and it is organic! It is by Earthbound Farms.

This past weekend Michael installed a new shower head. And it is great! But it is going to make me look into remodeling our bathroom fairly quickly as the water sprays up on to the wall paper above the shower stall. I have always wanted to paint the bathroom. It will be a lot of repair work though to the drywall and such so - I know I need to start researching on what exactly I will need to do to make it happen.

Chocolate Chip Scones

I thought these turned out really well....they were very tasty and I just liked the look of the dough too. It just was a very pretty color and texture.















* 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
* 1 3/4 cup white all purpose flour
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 1/4 cup light brown sugar
* 1 tsp. baking powder
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 2 Tbsp. ground yellow flaxseed meal
* 4 Tbsp. oatmeal
* 6 Tbsp. butter
* 1 large egg
* 1 cup nonfat buttermilk
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (such as Ghiradelli 60% cocoa or Nestle 63% dark chips)

Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flaxseed meal and oatmeal. Cut in butter using two knives or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk and vanilla together. Pour into dry ingredients. Using a fork, stir until dough is moist. Stir in chocolate chips. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, kneading two or three times. Divide dough in half.

Pat each half into a circle, about 6 inches across. Cut dough into 6 wedges. Transfer to the prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 375 on middle rack of oven for 20-22 minutes.

Makes 12 scones

Celebrating!

This weekend was just very nice and relaxed. We went to our favorite brunch place that is a place we go to fairly infrequently - basically just to celebrate. Thursday was Michael's official 1 year of owning his business. So we went there and celebrated that fact. It has been so nice having him working at home. He is so much more relaxed too. It has been a good year! I am so very proud of him and happy for him!


(cropped image from a cd cover that I altered)

Friday Gratitude...

5 Good Things in my life...
1. Cupcakes with sprinkles that I made earlier this week.
2. I got a lot of work done today.
3. For the little summer nightie that Michael bought me a few weeks ago -- it is so comfy!
4. Pink and purple pens to make out postcards for friends
5. chick flicks to watch while Michael is out of town

3 Desktop Images

Wallpapers for your computer desktop....these were all made for 1024 x 768 screen resolution.

The top two have Fiona Apple lyrics on them.
To download
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