An Award & Lobster...

"High Five"

but not for dinner! I painted this little Norway Lobster that is actually headed for Norway to be in the Twitter Art Exhibit. The proceeds of this show will benefit the local library in the city of Moss so that they can get the children's books that they desperately need. You have 140 characters in which to post on Twitter so it was first intended to be a group of 140 Artist, however, by the comments on the thread there may end up being more! Each Artist is submitting a postcard piece that represents their style, that will be sold for $17(US). My husband's family & step-family were from Norway. I chose to paint the Norway lobster because it lives in Norway, is named after Norway, is cute for the children, but is really a shrimp & shrimp is one of my favorite things! (see below) This show is getting a lot of attention and I am proud to be a part of it.
I am also proud to be the recipient of "The Versatile Blog Award" from Sharkbytes! Thank you so much! You have to share 7 things about yourself, then pass the award to other bloggers who you think deserve it, making sure to let the bloggers know you chose them to receive the award.
My 7 Things

1. Shrimp is one of my favorite things but I feel a little guilty eating too many, because of the many lives I'm consuming, but I could eat a bucket of them.

2. I'm addicted to tomatoes.

3. Sometimes I pretend to know what's going on in a football game when I haven't got a clue, I'm just zoning out... thinking about art.

4. I am more in love with my grandson that I ever thought I would be.

5. I hoard jars. One kitchen cabinet is dedicated to jars. I never throw one out and there is always room for another one...hum....I may have a fairy that comes and steals them sometimes. *Hubby you're busted*

6. I like candy corn and still eat it like a kid would, one color layer at a time.

7. I'm a loud laugher. I belly laugh a lot.

Ok passing this on is hard. There are so many of you that deserve this award! If you aren't chosen it's not because I don't love you, I love all my Followers & those that I Follow! Here are a few very special people that have awesome blogs, always take the time to stop by, support me & make me feel special...

Ayala Art

Alterity Button

Gloria's Blog Viva La Vida

Namaste
Poetic Artist

Poetic Shutterbug

Sandy Petals

Big Shout Out & Thank You goes to Paradise Purls for featuring my Little Diver in her Etsy Treasury!

Happy Anniversary To Me and.........

Second Anniversary Drawing

I'd like to take this time to sincerely & gratefully thank all of my Followers, and those who stop by to visit. You all truly do make this my "Happy Place".

Ahhhhh my new Black & White blog. I hope you visit. I am having so much fun putting these collections together. I have already met some new super sweet people. Putting this blog together has been an eye opening experience. I will share the main thing I learned along the way while creating "Sometimes Things ARE Just Black & White" ...PICTURES PEOPLE PICTURES! Seriously. I have really been working on my picture taking skills, for posts on this blog, & have a lot to learn. I will admit that I have a log in my eye when I say this, however, from this point forward I will thrive to make my pictures as creative & beautiful as possible. Like Ophra's "No texting while driving campaign, I should start my own campaign, "No bad photos while selling". A FAB FOTO Zone! haha (The video up top doesn't count! I am not selling anything on that.) Reality hit me in the face, online selling requires a great photo. People deserve a great picture. They are buying something that they can't get up close to, touch, feel, see it with their own eyes, so excellent photos are so important. While searching items from fellow artisans I have come across things that I would love to post on the blog but can't/won't because the photo is so.. so.. so bad. I'm just keeping it real. For those of you that have purchased my smaller art pieces & prints you know that it comes packaged with a black & white polka dot bow. I had put a black & white polka dot background on this new blog. I chose it because of that, plus I happen to love polka dots (of any color). When I loaded it up it changed the mood of the blog, it took the serenity out of it, my first instinct was to remove it, but I didn't. The next day I had someone that had visited the blog send me an email saying they thought I should lose the polka dots! I did and it's back to the way I truly wanted it to be, serene and easy on the eyes showing off great items. I am grateful for her sharing her opinion and pushing me to do what I knew I should, it was as she said distracting. I wish I could be as bold. To email someone and tell them when their photos need fixing. Not to be critical but to help them out, possibly feature their item, but I just can't bring myself to do it. So if you are Seller of something that can't be scanned, like art, please heed my advise and take as much care with your photos/presentation as you do with creating your item. Here is a helpful photography video and there many more great photography videos on youtube. Cropping really does works wonders. There are lots of free online photo editing sites as well. I like to use this one at Photoshop. Click here.

Speaking of Etsy, I'd like to send a Big Shout Out to Rosa Mystica for featuring my art in her fabulous Etsy Treasury. Be sure to check out her shop full of wonderful medals!

I Hope To Be Dancing...

...in the next day or so. I'll be getting down like this lady when I do! My back is out and I have been hobbling around like I'm 90 for the last few days. It's awful. I hope this is the last of the bad luck me & my family have been stricken with lately. I miss painting, blogging, dropping on blogs, reading my favorite blogs & twittering! I have a gallery show next month & have no idea what I am painting for it yet and being out of commission is stressing me out more. However, (always a bright side)while immobile I did have some fun when I watched Ghost Town. I thought it was so funny! I even belly laughed a couple of times! The actors did a great job & it was worth the rental fee.

Sunday Shout Outs & Surprises

"Peaceful"
Now listed in my Etsy Shop.

A few Sunday Shout Outs... Thank you to Split Rock Ranch for being my top dropper for June! Be sure to stop by her blog. Thank you to Terraworks for including my Angel in her Modern Folk Art Etsy Treasury. Her clay work is a must see! Thanks to Kelly at Love Is My Religion for the MeMe Blog Award! Surprise! Kelly has a wonderful blog & whimsical art. Another must see! The rules are to share 7 things about myself & pass to 7 other people. Here are 7 things other than what is down below at the bottom of my blog & on this previous post:
1. I'm the only one in my immediate family with blonde hair & blue eyes. I've been told I'm not adopted even though I've often pondered the thought. haha
2. I can eat an entire can of jalapeno peppers & still want more.
3. I've taken a ride in a hot air balloon once, on an elephant twice and I am terrified of heights & bridges.
4. I've have been to 37 states and stood in 4 at the same time.
5. I have a hard time throwing away a glass jar. When I have too many a jars in the cabinet, a fairy shows up and makes some of them magically disappear. I've never caught that fairy. I miss the jars when they are gone.
6. At age 5 I was in a parade and twirled the baton.
7. I love to cook and I'm not afraid to try anything strange. There may be a few exceptions but not many.
My 7 choices to pass the award to are:
The Charming Place ; Trial & Error; Groggy Froggy ; WallFlower Studio; Magic Markings Art ; Tattoo Dreams; & Happy Shack Designs.

To The Angels That Follow Me

In honor of my first blog anniversary I will be putting all of my Angels that Follow me in a hat (or bowl) for a drawing. I will be doing this on Tuesday or Wednesday. The name that is drawn out will be gifted a print of your choice! I really can't believe it's been a year already.
So as I sat reminiscing over the past year, where I was, and where I am now; I decided to post a few of my memorable moments or silly& goofy posts in the past year. There are a lot in between, I just picked one from each month, except this month...
May 2008 - Life Outside The Cubicle - My first post
June 2008 - They Say It's Your Birthday!
July 2008 - Ok Wednesday Wasn't It...Friday Is!
August 2008 - If This House Is A Rockin'...Come On In
September 2008 - Life's Just A Wild Ride (this still makes me laugh)
November 2008 - A Day At The Beach
December 2008 - Oh What A Night!
January 2009 - Tagged & Tickled (my first time being tagged)
February 2009 - Tuesday's Altered Thoughts
March 2009 - One Won't Do It
April 2009 - Cross Country Country Music
I love blogs & blogging and have met so many wonderful people. All of your support & wonderful comments this past year means a great deal to me! Thank you for being an Angel of mine!
P.S. If you've already read these posts just ignore them and start thinking of a print you'd like in you win! haha

Spreadin' The Love

Love Love Love! This was a month of Love! A few days ago I received "The Spreader of Love" blog award from Kelly at Happy Shack Designs! Thanks so much Kelly! Be sure to check out her blog and lovely Etsy shop. They are happy places.

Here are the rules:
1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Here are my nominees... These are people that add a smile to my face, give me a shot in the arm, or never fail to entertain me, inspire me or make me laugh! I wish I could add 5 more!

1. TJ at OpheliasflowersartbyTJ

2. Golly Bard at Golly Bard's Drawing Room

3. Karen at Wall Flower Studio

4. Mystele at Little Glimpses

5. Thelma at Painting by Thelma

Tagged & Tickled

I've been tagged by Thelma! . A wonderful whimsical & colorful artist!

The Rules: List 6 random things about yourself. Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules. Tag six people and link to them, let them know they've been tagged.

This is my first tagging. I must say my family and I had loads of fun and laughter while picking out the 6 I was going to share. I was surprised how many wanted me to share my skinny dipping history, my mother included. haha Anyway I came up with 22 amusing facts that aren't at the bottom of my blog, so I'm prepared if I ever get tagged again!

#1 - My first concert ever was Alice Cooper. I was 14 yrs old & I got in big trouble for coming home late... *Fast forward 30 yrs*... My mother walks up to Alice Cooper at church (My parents' Pastor was Alice's father-in-law) and promptly tells him that he got her daughter in bad trouble! He wrote me a sweet note on a napkin because I couldn't be there. I'm sure he was relieved to hear that it was just for getting home late. hahahaha I have nearly every concert ticket stub from the past 30 years and wish I had that one.

#2 - I secretly like Slinky's even though they aren't the "most wonderful toy".

#3 - At 30,000 ft in the air I've touched and seen the rocks that were collected on the moon. I was lucky enough to sit next to a man from NASA on a plane.

#4 - I once tried out for the Family Feud game show with my husband's family in San Francisco even though I hate my picture taken, speaking in public and game shows.

#5 - I have a little blue bird tattoo on my hip bone that I got on Sunset Blvd when I was 20. It's a blue bird now but it turned into a Condor when I was pregnant.

#6 - I went to beauty school. I went to nursing school and once had a lunch delivery business just like the famous Ms.Paula Deen before she was famous. I ended up with a career in the real estate mortgage business. So I can give a pretty good hair cut, make a boo-boo better, de-bone a chicken in a matter of minutes & could have declined or approved your home loan!

I am now tagging the following wonderful people & blogs and can't wait to see their 6!
TJ
Firechick
Diane
Nancy
David
Under The Compass Moon
Carol

Have fun you guys!

I was tickled to find out this morning that I was in another Etsy Treasury! A big shout out and thank you goes to Abbasgirl who featured one of my angels in her beautiful Etsy Treasury. Check out her shop & lovely inspirational items.

A New Throne!

The new chair (throne hahaha) my husband bought me is awesome! So I did computer work and painted, painted and painted some more! That's what I did all day and it felt good! I ended up working for about 12 hours. I read a lot of great blogs today too. So I am settling down to watch Saving Grace. I love that show. The commercial for it earlier said it was the season finale ??? What?? I seems like it just started! I will post a few pictures of the work I did today tomorrow. I painted angels. One I did I really like, one I think is just ok. I am going to list her anyway, as mentioned in a previous post, sometimes these are the ones that others really like. I actually had this conversation with a young man I met while at the casino in Nevada on Saturday. He sat next to me for a while and had a Red Bull & Vodka. Yikes. He was visiting from New Jersey, and an illustrator and art student at Rowan University. Sweet kid. He had an angel tattoo that he had drawn and had put on his forearm. It was beautiful. He also said that the things he doesn't particularly care for others buy and like. We were both laughing about it.

Oh my Blog!

I am not able to view my blog but it is letting me post...maybe.... If you have been trying to view my blog and weren't able to I'm sorry I don't know what's up with that!

I mailed out my paintings today and sold another and have a bid on Ebay! Hurray! I didn't get any painting done, but I crocheted a cute cotton bib tonight. I just made it up as I went along and it came out better than I thought it would. I am going to make another and write down the directions so that I can share it! I made some new friends/contacts on OvationTV and Flickr today as well. I had the house to myself tonight as my husband played with The Spotted Dogs blues band. So it's been a good day! God is Great!

I read a lot of new blogs today on Entrecard! After all this time, I finally posted in the forum and ask about a quick way to view. Wa La! I knew there had to be an easier way! Now I can read til my hearts content! I haven't been reading many blogs lately and I made up for that today. I must admit it's addicting. Just one more, just one more, just one more. There are some truly fantastic blogs out there!