Funky Art Queen

I have not blogged since Tuesday! It has been so busy this week. Work was busy, I had family come into town, and I had a special event to attend Friday evening. So, today, I can slow down a bit and see how my blog friends are doing and give you a little update. I don't have family pics yet because everyone took pics but me! What is wrong with me? So, as soon as I get some I will share. Family: My sister Rhea, and her husband came down from Farmington, New Mexico. My mother and her husband came from Chandler, Texas. So, we all decided to get together at our house and have hamburgers on the grill. We kind of made it a going away party for both Cody and Rhea and Jesse (her hubby). Cody goes to bootcamp on April 14th. Rhea and Jesse may very well be moving to the Middle East for Jesse's job. Hopefully, if they do go there, they will get to make a track back here for a final goodbye first. We had such fun over here last night. Though my house is so small and we had, I believe, 13 p...

I am so excited that I am going to be conducting little mini "art therapy" sessions for a group of young ladies. This all came about because of my art workshops I am already doing for the general public. It is very hard to communicate how I feel about this. To sum it up.....I just feel that suddenly, everything I have been doing and going through with this art thing makes sense. So, I decided, the best thing to do would be to start with a creative journaling class. I want to help these young ladies learn how to use creative journaling to express themselves, learn more about themselves and explore creativity as therapy. So, in preparation for that, I have been thinking alot about why creative journaling would be therapeutic. I need to do some research on that and would appreciate any feedback on this topic. I know it is therapeutic to me, but I can't seem to explain why. I picked up a book today that really inspired me and I feel it will be quite useful and helpful in prep...

We actually got a little sprinkle of rain today. We really need it out here in the West. Yesterday, we had another big grass fire out North of town. Craig and I drove out to watch and our neighbors drove behind us. That is how you know you live in a boring town....we all go to see the big fires. There were a bunch of us parked out on the side of the service road of I-20. Today was nice. I rested, arted, cleaned and freshened up the house. I was able to finish this piece....I created the background the other day when I did that tutorial on texture and glaze. To me, this is one of my better pieces lately. The texture in the back ground makes me think of the much needed rain. I'm also thinking it is time to till up my garden. "Happy Easter...Easter Bunny--- Bach Bach". That is what my little sister used to say. I think it used to be on some commercial. So now, we all say that when we call each other and wish Happy Easter.

Didn't I say I was going to do several updates throughout the day yesterday? Well, you see how that went. Oh, the day just got by me. I spent quite a bit of time with my slow computer uploading some pics....so this is kind of the update that was supposed to happen yesterday. First, some pics of one side of my living room. I still need to touch up some places in that area and the top part of living room still needs pics. I found this awsome border (a sample) at Lowes but do they have any? That's a big NO! So, I'm looking for that. I like how the light coming through the window of our front door reflects on my picture. Can you see it? I'm going with a nature feel. ETSY UPDATE I posted two new things on Etsy this morning. This is another altered spool and I think I like this one the best. Go and check it out. The other item is another kitty pic. Go have a looksie! Hugs and happy Saturday.

Remember the tutorial I did recently on backgrounds? Well, here is the finished product. I called this, "We Could Fly Too". I'm off today for Good Friday! So, I will be adding a few things to my blog throughout the day. I hope you have a great day!

GORILLA MARKETING YOUR ART Well, I must say, Blue Jade totally touched on the topic that I was going to discuss this evening. (Please see comments from yesterdays post.) OK hang onto your hats...here we go. Have you ever heard of the phrase "Gorilla Marketing"? I have seen many books about this topic in the business section of the book store, but none of them sparked my interest. I have also noticed several mentions about Gorilla Art in the blog and art book world. I just thought it meant to leave random little pieces of art in random places so you could make someones day! There is a book that further explains this concept by Keri Smith . My sister Rhea who is working on her MBA (and has experience in marketing) was able to help me wrap my brain around this concept. Let me just insert here her response to my asking her to explain: "Basically it means, instead of putting all of your money into a great big marketing campaign...you apply your wits and creative thinking to ...

Tonight, let's just get out of our boxes and put our thinking caps on about unique ways to market our Etsy shops. To do that, I will share about my experiences and hopefully you will tell me yours so we can crack the etsy code to success. How I market my Etsy right now in two easy steps. I list on Etsy I wait Heehee. But really this is a very passive type of marketing your product. For instance, I listed something pretty early this a.m. Less than thirty minutes later it was on page 3 of art products listed in that time period. So, the liklihood of someone actually having the patience to look at page 156 of the "art" category are slim to none. TAG IT: A more active an(narrowing) approach would be to use tags for those people that are searching for something specific. Is it a cat? Then use "cat" as a tag that way people looking for cat pictures can pull this up to sift through all the other 12,000 art listings and get to you. You can tag, tag tag to be specific a...

Tonight, I am going to tell you how to use the Etsy Mini function on Etsy. That will produce a little advertisement of your Etsy shop on your blog. It is very easy. First sign on to your Etsy and get to your shop. Look at the bar on the left side. At the very bottom is a link to "Etsy Mini". Click on that. Fill out the information and enter all lines. Then you will see two boxes of HTML code. You will need the first one for blogs. Click on your CTRL key and C to copy. Then open up your Blog by signing in. Go to customize which is on the top right as a choice to click. After you click customize, choose "add a page element". Then, click on the one that says "HTML/Java Script". First type in the title of your shop. Then press CTRL and V to paste the HTML code you copied earlier to this box. Save and go see your work on your blog. YOu should have pictures of your art from Etsy on your blog. This image should go right to your Etsy shop! Remember to consider...

This whole week, I'm going to discuss and study how to become successful on Etsy. I invite you to post and discuss this with me. Any tips and hints you have will be helpful. This evening, I will add to this post and I have several things in mind that will be helpful to all of us Etsy girls. So come back this evening. I gotta get ready for my real JOB! Hugs to all. Happy Monday.

ETSY SUCCESS STORIES let's make our own success stories! I am dedicating this entire week to our Etsy Success. When I say "our", I mean all of my blogger friends and me. I can't remember who, but someone asked me this week, how does one promote their Etsy shop? I can honestly say, I have not promoted my shop that well. I think I have only sold 10 things over a long period. But, I would like to sell more....who wouldn't? I started out by reading some of the Etsy Success Stories. I read through several of the stories....one of the stores has sold 8500 items. Yikes! I better speed it up! Hee Hee. Anyway, I hope that you will look at the articles too and let me know any points that will help. But here is a quick synopsis of some things I picked up from reading those articles. Have a great product that is high quality stuff Keep items fresh and list frequently/often Quick ship Thoughtful packaging....everyone likes to get a present Communicate Communicate Communicate A...

OK, I'm thinking it was the rapture or something.....where did everyone go? It must be extra busy because of spring but I have noticed an absence of some of my blog sistahs! So, I'm going to try and stimulate some activity by making special notes of some things I've noticed with my blog friends. First, let me say a big thanks to Paula for sending me these lovely ATC's for a small trade I did a couple of weeks ago. Aren't they wonderful? Thanks Paula! I am dying to know how the cruise went for Ms. Sacred Snatch ! Was it a blast? Did you jump overboard? Where are you girl? I have a new friend who just started a blog "The Queens Drawers"and she has her own rubber stamp line! Yes, she designs rubberstamps!!!!! She bought my "Herding Cats" painting and it is on it's way! Thanks Jo! Go and check her out ! I'm pretty sure Pocket Full of Pretty's is going to be relaxing a bit and possibly arting on Sunday because she has had her grandkids a...

Spool of Friendship Now Available at my Etsy I finished this tonight. It is a spool with a special message enclosed on the pretty paper wrapped around it. I used a pretty pink brad and a pink satin ribbon that wraps around the brad to keep it fastened until the person who receives it opens it up. The message inside is a poem I found by an unknown author as follows: Where would I be and what would I do? If you never met me and I never met you? Who would I laugh with and cry till the end? What would I do without my bestfriend? This is a picture of the inside of paper that is wrapped around the spool. This picture does not do it justice as it was an unusually long photo. I used vintage pictures, gel pens and a labeler to write the poem. I also used some collage elements and some rub ons. This piece is now available in my Etsy Shop

A friend of mine asked me a thought provoking and interesting question the other day. "When did you know you were an artist?" It is a hard question but after much thought and a very long email attempting to answer this question....I'm inspired to share this (prose?)with you. I AM an Artist by Lesley Chandler When I was very young I won a coloring contest Got a pen! But I did not call my self "an artist" then. When I was in 2nd grade I got in trouble for scribbling outside the lines Boring ole coloring sheets Lazy Teacher Look Closer! Still not an "artist" in my mind. Wrote a poem book for my Grandma Decorated with roses and vines Took much time. Wrote more poems Sang songs When I was older I sang in a band 2 whole weeks Hit me with your best shot When I got married Time moved on I crafted I decorated my home I helped with school projects Went to nursing school got a degree Work Work Work Could not find me kids grew up didn't need me so much Bored A...

Collage Background Tutorial - Stamp and Glaze I had so much fun at the last workshop that I have already scheduled my next "Mixed Up Mixed Media Workshop" class. It is scheduled for Saturday, April 5th from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Midland, Texas, Hobby Lobby. We are going to explore several collage background techniques. Here is a sneak preview of one of the 10 techniques to create an interesting background for your collage work. This particular technique is called the "Stamp and Glaze" background technique. Materials Round (or other shapes) Plastic Cross Stitch Canvas acrylic canvas acrylic paints (one color) glazing medium heating tool Directions Use your plastic cross stitch shape to create a texture on your canvas by pouncing your paintbrush into the openings in the canvas. I used a black acrylic paint here. You can quick dry it with a heat gun. Next...try stamping on your canvas by applying paint to a stamp that will add texture and interest to your backg...

This is my newest piece! I named it "Herding Cats". I did this piece on a 9.5"X9.5" piece of wood. It is a mixed media creation. I placed it in my Etsy Shop today. It would make a bright and fun piece for any room! OK, I woke up this morning sore as heck from yesterdays redecorating. My shoulder is very sore on the right side and I'm thinking I exercised that side really good so that my boob on that side is going to be a little bit perkier than the other. So I will have to use the other arm today as much as possible...heehee. My legs and butt are sore from getting up and down from the ladder and I'm tired! Wah Wah! Sob! Now, I can't decide if I've got it in me to get back to it or wait until next weekend and give myself the day off. Hmmmmmmm. We will see. Meanwhile, the weather was very nice yesterday and it appears as though it will be nice again today. Spring is a time of renewal and refreshing. I have really caught the redecorating bug and I see...

So, I have been on a mission since about 9am this morning. I decided I was going to get to it and paint my living room. My living room has been lavender and yellow trim for some time. It served it's purpose but it is definitely time for a change. Here are some before pics My living room is in two sections. The previous owners turned the garage into an extension of the living room so we have two levels. I only worked on the lower level today. But I worked from 9a.m. (trip to Walmart to get paint and supplies) until about 6 p.m. I'm exausted but the results! I'm so excited.....I painted the walls a "firewood" brown. I painted the trim a bright white and hated it so I painted over that with the same brown. I painted the decorative poles that are on top of the dividing wall to the laundry area...brown and I sponged a buttermilk color on them. They look so good. I won't give you the after pics until I have everything just like I want it. I have a piece of art that ...

I found the coooooolest thing today! Maybe you have already seen this wonderful idea? I found these at a little shop in Midland, Texas. It is a coin like token that you can pass on to someone else with an act of kindness. The other side has a tracking number so you can track where it goes. ..assuming the person you give it to will also log it in and pass it on and so forth. It says "follow it's trail" on the back with that number. Mine is AAL449. Then you go to the Kindness Project web site and keep track of where your token ends up. It is just a good cause and I love it. Read about how this all began in Austin, Texas. You can also buy these tokens on that site. WOW!!! Mine is burning a hole in my pocket. I can't wait to give it away.

I was looking in the Artful Blogging magazine and I was so inspired by so many of the artist/bloggers. I was really inspired by Marisa Haedike at Creative Thursday (pg 6). I love her use of colors and the whimsical nature of her paintings. I loved her tree with the little blue bird on page 8. I just had to try a tree with a touch of spring colors. I'm pleased with how it turned out and wanted to share it with you. This was created on watercolor paper with my shimmering H20 Watercolors, prisma pencils and gel pens. I think it would make nice note cards. First day of spring is March 20th!

Happy Sunday Today, I worked on some Easter eggs. I had a few wooden eggs and a few paper mache. I enjoyed decorating my eggs and thinking about Easters from my past. My Mom always made us Easter eggs. We always dyed them and decorated them and then.....we hunted for them.! We also had candy eggs and easter baskets with Easter grass. As we got older, she always sent us (and still does) a chocolate Easter Bunny. My mom (MaMa) was like that....every holiday...she would do some kind of craft and decorations. I remember making countless Ghost Trees for Halloween. We used old branches and made "Kleenix" ghosts and hung them from the tree. She made wreaths for Christmas out of some kind of receipt cards. She decorated the house to the max for Christmas. She always helped us with our Valentines boxes for school and all those Valentines! My Mom....she was a good Mom and still is...No wonder I'm so crafty.....that is the environment I grew up in. Love you Mama and Thank You! ...

Funky Art Queen and Company Today I did my first Mixed Up Mixed Media Class at Hobby Lobby. We learned about ATC's and several different mixed media techniques. I really think it went well. I had 6 participants and there were 8 of us altogether. Renea helped keep me organized and was a lovely assistant. Thanks Queen Renea! This first shot is of me doing some demonstrations: I enjoyed meeting the women who attended the class. It occured to me that we can learn so much from each other in settings such as this. We learned from one lady something about "letter boxing" which I find intriguing and intend to look up later. Tell me if you know something about this. It sounds a little like the concept of gorilla art which I have always found to be a fun idea. Gorilla art is when you make up art and leave it somewhere to be found by a stranger somewhere. Here is a picture of all of the participants and the instructor post ATC creation: My heart is light tonight because I enjoye...