Site Under Construction

Well, kinda sorta.  If my blog page's layout or colors begin to look wonky to you, it is because I am in the tedious/annoying process of trying to convert this blog into a 3-column page.

I am definitely no HTML expert, so I am trying to read and understand online tutorials...they make it seem so easy, but when you finally try to do it yourself, it's a disaster.

As soon as I find a nice, easy way of doing it, I will definitely credit that person/s on this site!  More to come...

Never forget...

My heart goes out to all of those that lost a loved one this day, eight years ago.  September 11, 2001 is one of those days that we all remember...it touched all of us in such a profound way.

Do you remember where you were, or what you were doing that day?  I luckily didn't lose anyone, but still cried like a baby at all of the constant footage that continued that day and thereafter.  I remember being in shock that someone could organize something so evil against this country.

I was working in Boston at the time, and I recall most companies and buildings were evacuating, because they didn't know if all popular U.S. cities were going to be targeted.  It was a very scary day- I called my father and siblings who also worked in Boston just to check in on them. 

I really can't imagine the horror and shock that went through the minds of those families who lost someone they loved.  I am so fortunate that I have my health, and my family and friends are still with me.

As bad as things get in my life, I try to remain grateful for what I have, and who I have in my life.  I hope you do the same, and are able to get through this day with both grace and strength.

Long Live the Beatles!

To celebrate the remastered release of The Beatles music as well as the debut of "The Beatles Rockband" (both on 09/09/09-how cool is that date?!), I decided to have a little debut of my own...introducing the clay version of The Beatles, available on Etsy.  So much fun to make, hope you enjoy the picture! 

The Brady Bunch

Added a new clay set to Etsy today- "The Brady Bunch"...check out the listings on Etsy for more photos/details
http://www.razberriesdesigns.etsy.com/

Lanterns 'n Lace

I just finished creating a banner and avatar for my boyfriend's mother's site on Etsy.  She will be selling all of her vintage finds, as well as her own artwork!  I took a few photos at her house today and then came home and played with the layout.  What do you think?

Here is the link to her site, so you can view the banner...I am sure she will have some items in there very soon!  http://www.lanternsnlace.etsy.com/

Wicked Witch featured in Etsy treasury!

Yay! Someone featured my Wicked Witch from my recent Oz collection...so exciting!  Check out the link and see what my fellow artists have created, as well...
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=80540

Finally Finished!

I just finished posting all of my new clay creations to Etsy less than an hour ago...I'm pooped!

It was so fun to photograph them- I may just end up making photo cards from the photo shoot of "Oz"...they are so cheerful.

I didn't even realize when doing my Wizard of Oz research that at the end of September it will be the 70th anniversary of the movie...how exciting!  I must have had a hunch, who knows?

Lions, & Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!

Just got finished baking the Wizard from the Wizard of Oz...whatta evening I have had!  I feel that my newest clay set is complete, yet my sister mentioned, "You should make a winged monkey, too."

I am thinking this project will culminate with me creating the entire Emerald City!  So far in the past two days I have created:  Dorothy (two versions- the first one I didn't like so I had to make another), Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion,Wicked Witch, Glinda, the Wizard (who I had also forgotten-the namesake of the story, sheesh!), Toto, and the 3 boys from the Lollipop Guild, or as I call them the Lollipop Kids.

So it's been a busy time!  Tomorrow I have TONS of photos to take, but first I need to think of a backdrop.  I may have to create a yellow brick road and a rainbow, etc...I knew this was going to be a big one.  But it is so much fun and I just love that movie and the books.  I am not creating the backdrop in clay- if someone wants to special order that, that would be another project in itself.

Maybe in the future I can create more characters, but for now I think I am done.  I will see how I feel about the monkey tomorrow.  The monkey would look cute with the witch! I will post the photos on Etsy as soon as I am able- may not be til Friday because I am visiting some friends and may run out of time.  But for now, though, it's simply goodnight and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

King Auger

Yay! Someone on Etsy just picked my new "King Auger- Mergnome of the Sea" design and is featuring it on her Etsy Treasury!

Here is the link...

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=79393

Gnomes, etc.

Today I finally took out this huge multi-pack of Sculpey that has literally been kicking around in my posession for three-plus years. I thought that it had probably gone stale and was afraid to even open it because I felt guilty about the possibility of having to discard of it.

Since I have been making so many prints lately, I figured I needed a new diversion. Which brought me to the package of Sculpey...I thought, if it's stale, then it's less clutter in my art room. I opened one section up and kneaded it between my fingers. It was super pliable. I tried two initial designs- one of a flat mermaid which I thought could be made into a magnet (but her head fell off and now needs superglue), and another of a little sitting girl...but I just wasn't thrilled or enthused with how they came out....so how excited was I when I realized I could make an army of gnomes?

Yes, gnomes. I think they have started to pick up in popularity again. I realized this on Etsy after the fact! I hope mine stand out enough though that people will see my design is somewhat different than the others. I thought up the design from my head and then saw similar- here I thought I was being so original- oh well.

After I made my initial design, I called both my sister and my friend and asked them their opinion via cell phone pictures. Both of them told me that those gnarly little gnomes needed noses. I tinkered with the design some more and came out with batch number two. Then I thought, since I am on a roll, why not try sculpting some other creatures?

I also sculpted a bumble bee (may be hard to ship, it's antennae are pretty fragile) and a sunshine which included a hook for hanging as an ornament. Tomorrow I will have them uploaded to Etsy after I have a "gnome photo shoot". The initial photo shoot went well, but those were with the old designs. Out with the old, in with the new, I say!

Blah- a rainy day

Just finished taking some photos of three new prints (that I had created last night) this morning...they came out awful though because of this gray and rainy day. The overhead spotlights cast an icky glare and they just don't mimic the real sun! Oh well. I was hard at work yesterday- I created four different sets of gift tags, and three prints. May have to do yet another re-shoot but not in any rush to start that.

Two of my prints I had so much fun creating last night- "Ginger" and "Mary Ann"- yes, the characters from "Gilligan's Island". A random idea popped into my head to create little caricatures of them, so I did. I may have a theme going...I don't mean I am going to create the rest of the cast (well, unless I received a special request to do so), but I may explore other celebrities or tv/movie characters.

Banners and Avatars...

Today I created both a banner and an avatar for my friend Donna's vintage-selling site on Etsy. Her requirements? Put a flamenco dancer on it...other than that I had free artistic range with this project.

It was very fun to make, just don't know why the banner isn't uploading to her site...I had to contact Etsy via email so I hope I hear back soon. Right now only her avatar is showing up. Weird, right?

I will never understand computers and tech issues, not ever. I made the banner for "Zelda's Jewels" in the same manner that I created my own, the correct pixels and whatnot. So I don't get it. Guess I will just have to be patient and wait.

I am also going to sell "Zelda" on my Etsy store as a print, and then link Donna's site on there...hopefully we will both get some traffic for this!

Craft Fair

I hauled my stuff over to the craft fair yesterday morning...bright and early just like I mentioned before. Got there a little after 7:00 a.m., but it didn't take me too long at all to set up. By the time I sat down it was still only 8:00 a.m., and I had another hour to go until everything opened up. I know now for next time to bring a good book along with me!

I didn't sell very much, I mostly think that the audience wasn't the right one for me...the craft fair took place on the lawn of a church, but the fair itself was advertised as a joint craft fair/yard sale thing. So most people that ventured there had come solely for bargaining and heckling. Oh well.

On a more positive note, I met two very nice ladies there- one a jewelry vendor and another an imprinting company. Both gave me great advice and pointers/tips. The jewelry vendor, Barbara, is actually going to order a custom print from me (so that's a future sale which I am psyched about and excited to create), and Patty, the imprinter (is there such a title?) just may have better pricing than cafe press, so I will have to look into all of that.

All in all it was a good experience and I am glad to have made two contacts whom I hope to stay in touch with. I finally finished my reshoot of some of my newest prints...they are now at home on Etsy.

For other news not art-related...

This morning, my neighbor found one of our cats outside of our window on the ledge- mind you, we live on the second story. Thank God that she was there to rescue her. I have no earthly idea on how she escaped...I am guessing it may be that she got out from one of the livingroom windows which has a huge hole and needs to be patched (ah, the joys of renting...the hole was there when we moved in) and jumped to the adjacent ledge to the window that is attached to the hallway. Maybe she saw a bird? Who knows... Needless to say, the window is now shut and we are going to buy a patch kit- or most likely a whole new screen.

I don't know what I would have done if we had lost our cat...we recently literally just lost our dog to old age. I don't think I could have went through another loss so quickly. Maybe Pokey was looking out for us, after all?

I hope you had a nice weekend; it's been one heckuva week for me!

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.