RIP Pokey

I almost forgot to mention it, mostly because I have been trying to stay focused on tomorrow and not get too depressed about it. We put our dog Pokey down yesterday afternoon. She was old- 13 1/2 years old, and wasn't doing well this past week.

It was very upsetting, even more so for my boyfriend because he had been with her from the beginning. We watched her be put down by the vet. I had never experienced that before- I mean, I have lost other pets in my life, but was never around for any procedure. I was surprised at how easily and peacefully she left us, and I was thankful for that.

Still, today is a sad day and me working on my art stuff has been quite therapeutic for me. Although it is very hard to cheer up my boyfriend obviously. Losing a pet is as devastating as losing a human loved one. Pets are like members of your family. There is not much you can say or do for someone when one loses a pet. You just have to be there for that person, and in time, things will hopefully get better.

Craft Fair tomorrow

Well, I have been busy updating my stock because tomorrow I will be trying to sell my wares at a local craftshow. I just created another card design last night while I was making duplicates of other cards I already have.

When I see something that I like, be it in a magazine, catalog, etc., I will usually clip out the image and then keep it in an envelope. Or I will just sketch something down. Well I found a picture of a simple ladybug kicking around in that envelope and it reminded me that I had not created a card design with one yet.

I also made a bunch of prints this past week, and have to upload them to Etsy, but not sure if that will happen before tomorrow morning. I plan on setting up bright and early at 7:00 a.m. Wish me luck!

Yay I created my first Etsy treasury!

There are so many great artists on Etsy- it is very overwhelming! I thought to create a treasury (a hand-picked list of items from other sellers) because I always love going to Etsy's home page and seeing what people are putting out there into the world...I googled about the month of August and saw that the flower for August was the poppy, so I found all of these really cool items that were poppy-themed. Take a moment and check them out and support a fellow artist! http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=76885

new stuff at Etsy

Well I just uploaded a few more of my prints to Etsy this evening. I am bummed though because a bunch of other photos I had taken didn't come out too well so I now need to do a reshoot for five of my designs.

I have noticed one thing- I need to remember to blink every once in a while! My eyes were so red and have been killing me these past few days. I was staring so intently working with my Bamboo (the infamous drawing tablet) that I was getting eye fatigue. Oops! It probably hasn't helped much that I have gotten zero sleep either.

My boyfriend keeps teasing that I am in "artist mode" but it is very true. When a great idea hits you at midnight, you don't go to bed, you stay up and work/think it through. I had been looking at old photos and became inspired recently to do a digital recreation of a photo from my childhood.

Like I said, that tablet is awesome. I just can't say enough great things about it (and no, I am not an employee of Wacom, although I wish I was so I could play with more of their products!)...I just wish I had purchased one sooner.

Oh, and is it wrong that I just consumed a piece of Jello pudding pie at 11:30 pm? My body clock is so messed up, I figure I may as well just go with it. Okay now I am rambling...this is what happens when sleep deprivation kicks in.

I Heart Ebay

This Wacom Bamboo thing is pretty darn nifty- after hooking it up, I have spent the past two days drawing and painting with it. I hate to say this, but I may never pick up a paintbrush again! Well, I take that back. But for now, this is my new toy and I am like a kid at Christmas.

There are so many things to create with it. I already caved and bought a nice Epson printer too. Not that I have all the cash in the world, but we have to spend money to make money, unfortunately. The prints come out so crisp. I am so happy with my Ebay purchases. I think everyone should Ebay- whoever thought of that concept was a genius! Also went out and bought the sleeves for my prints so that they will be ready for the craft fair. Today I plan on taking photos of my prints in some different settings and uploading them to Etsy.

I mean, as much as I have complained about being laid off, I am so grateful that I have been given this chance to reconnect to my artistic side. This has been quite the introspective experience for me.

I have also had some great opportunities to spend more time with my family and friends. For example, I joined my boyfriend, his mom and sister on a visit to York's Wild Kingdom last Tuesday (loved the butterfly exhibit). But believe me, I realize I need a job, first and foremost- there is after all a commonly used expression out there for people just like me- "starving artist".
Right now though, I am trying to see this part of my life as something that needed to happen to jump start me into doing what I enjoy the most. I have to remain optimistic that even in this horrid economy, that the 9-5 job I'm seeking will happen when it is ready to happen. In the meantime, I guess I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride. :-)

canvas

I just got a set of six cute little stretched canvasses mailed to me from an Ebay purchase. Now comes the hard part of deciding what to paint on them! I will definitely make another 'girl-themed' face one because Deb likes to use them for her pendants.

As for the other five, I haven't a clue...I am thinking of keeping with the nautical theme as I really enjoyed working on my "Madison" painting recently. Perhaps some seahorses? Maybe a dragonfly? Deb and I saw so many in her backyard on my recent visit to Maine.

In the meantime, I am patiently awaiting my Wacom drawing tablet (another Ebay purchase). I am excited to once again try my hand at digital drawing. Much easier than taking an image and then cleaning it up in Photoshop. Of course, it is just as nice and relaxing to sit down and paint or draw.

Right now I am also in the process of trying to get http://www.razberries.com/ up and running. If you are reading this blog post, I guess I am doing something right! I have been back and forth with both my domain provider and Google trying to get the naked domain piece working. If someone types just razberries.com, I want my site to populate. It isn't happening yet, but I just made some changes so I hope it will work soon! More later...

painting...

Painted 3 paintings last week- one for my uncle's business to use as a logo on a business card (as well as a blog I started for him), one as a template for Deb's Etsy jewelry site, and one just for fun.

I hope to be able to eventually get a nice printer to make prints, in the meantime I am investigating printing specialty shops.