Happy V-Day, one day early!

My "Friends Know" card just got featured in yet another Etsy treasury!  This same card was just featured a few days ago...funny, huh? It is actually one of my favorites, so I am glad people seem to like the design, too.  I have included the link, as well as a screen shot...
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=86981

Please take a moment to look at the sassy hot pink and black items from my fellow artists in this category! My card is more pale pink, but hey, that makes it stand out, right? And how flattering to be featured!

♥ Happy Valentine's Day- hope you enjoy your weekend with the ones that you love ♥

"Friends Know" featured in Etsy treasury!

How flattering!  This treasury has a beautiful collection of rose-inspired items, aptly titled, "Rose Colored Glasses."  I have included a screen shot of the treasury as always. I'm shown in the bottom row... Please check out my fellow artists in this category by clicking on the link below....
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=112428
FYI, I hope to have my Razberries domained linked soon! :-)

new site coming soon!

Last week, I created a new Razberries site. Eventually, this blog will be just one of many pages on my site.  I am excited about this, because now my site shall look "real" and not have a blog page as a home page.  Not that I am not interested in maintaining a blog, but I would really like the focus to be on my artwork, first and foremost.

I also revamped my Etsy site a bit- I changed the banner to match my new site presence.  Just so that everything will flow and look more cohesive.  I am going with a chocolate brown, pale pink, hot pink, and kelly green color scheme.  Mostly the colors I had before, but now brown is the dominant color.

I made 6 little Valentine-inspired heart magnets for the upcoming expo.  I plan on having them be sold at the expo, so I am not sure if I will intend to sell them on Etsy or not.  I will try to take some pictures, regardless.  I need to mail the package out to my friends in Maine tomorrow, or they may not get it in time!

Hope you are enjoying what is left of your week!

Happy Day! (er, evening...)

I won a contest yesterday for my friend's web design company, J Maze Design!  Here is a link to her site... http://www.jmazedesign.com/
They wanted a new name for their content management system, aka CMS.  I came up with Prizm, and it won!  How cool is that? I won an Ipod touch- not too shabby, huh?
And I really am truly the person who never wins anything.

So I couldn't imagine my week could get any better, but I recently had the grand honor of receiving the cyber ribbon titled, "Regretsy Comment of the Day" on one of my most favorite places on the internet, Regretsy!

Here, check it out!
http://www.regretsy.com/2010/01/28/bird-on-a-wire/comment-page-1/#comment-28508

Hope that you all have some good luck this week, too :-)

"Razberries" print featured in a treasury!

Hello, everyone.  Sorry I have not been in touch lately.  I don't really have too many excuses, except for that I have been busy with other things non-art related in my personal life.  Although I have been busy in that I just uploaded a few new Valentine's Day designs to my Etsy shop this past week.  I am also working on putting some things together for my friends up in Presque Isle, Maine for a wedding expo.  My friends (an events/wedding photographer and wedding planner) were gracious enough to offer me a chance to display my wares alongside theirs.  All I gotta do is ship 'em a big old box of stuff.  So busy putting together Valentine and wedding-themed cards/items as the expo is in the beginning of February.

What a nice way to wake up this morning- I received an Etsy convo saying that one of my prints was being featured in a pink and green treasury.  With wo of my favorite colors- very preppy, very cute.  Here is the link, but again, I have included a screen shot as well because those treasuries vanish very quickly.  Please take a moment to browse the other items in this lovely treasury.  Close to my heart because of the color scheme, and also the items that were chosen reflect things that I would actually pick/purchase for myself or as gifts.  http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=108448

Speaking of pink and green, the colors of spring, I went out this morning to put out the garbage for trash day.  I just threw on a light jacket.  It is unusually warm on the Northeast coast this morning.  So refreshing.  I am ready for spring, are you?  Hope you enjoy the rest of the week.  I will try to post more when I can; sorry I have really been so awfully lazy about it. 

Crazy Week, but Happy 2010!

Sorry I have not had much to comment about lately- someone near and dear is sick...ugh.  This week has been a blur...I am so thankful to have friends and family at trying times like these.  I hope that 2010 will bring many good, positive things to all of us. 

Do you have any New Year's resolutions?  Every year I say to myself I will make some, but I never keep them.  Rather than pick just one day out of the year to make a difference in our lives (or others), we ought to take one day a week, or month and keep up with self-improvement.  Of course, I don't practice what I preach!

Every day it's something else.  When it rains, it pours lately.  I am trying my hardest to kick that perpetual rain cloud up and outta my way!

 I find that doing artwork is one of the most therapeutic activities of all.  Whenever I am creating, I can temporarily forget my worries and just have some fun.  I was working on a clay project for someone as a surprise birthday present, and I was grateful for the time I spent to take my mind off of what is currently troubling me.

Well, I hope that you had a nice holiday, and that you are careful traveling home!

Ready for the holiday...

Well, I only have a few tiny things left to wrap and then I am done.  I made some gingerbread man ornaments for my dad's colleagues, which was a fun little project.  Also worked on a piece of  custom art work for one of my friends who was giving it as a gift to her mother on Christmas.  Happy to say that she got it delivered in time, too!

The ornaments were a new idea I came up with...I just didn't know how well they would come out, but I am actually quite pleased with them.  Maybe next  year I will make some for my Etsy site.  Only thing is, with things so fragile as these are, the customer would almost pay as much in shipping as the item itself.  If I have some time today, I may make more for my upcoming family visits...

I hope you all have a happy holiday!

Yay I was featured in another Etsy treasury!

I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season!  I have been busy updating my Etsy shop with some new card designs.  Since all of my Christmas shopping is done, packages wrapped, and cards sent out, I can focus on doing the fun stuff.
What a great surprise, then to find out that a card I literally uploaded last night was featured in an Etsy treasury!  Going along the theme of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", my "Drummer" card was one of many different drum-themed items.

Here is the link to view the treasury...
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=79938

I am also including a screen shot of the treasury, because the Etsy treasuries don't last very long!  I am featured in the third row, last picture on the right. Please take the time to view it, if possible and support my other fellow artists in this category...

Have a lovely weekend!  I will try to write more if I can before Christmas rolls around.

It's officially winter out there...

Brrr!  I think I am pretty much done uploading holiday cards to Etsy this week.  The holiday craft fair in Boston went so-so, but I did make some connections and met some wonderful people.  Plus I got to spend the entire day with one of my best buds and her hubby, so not too shabby!  I came out ahead and not under, so at least that is a positive.

I just uploaded about ten or so designs to Etsy in the past three days.  I have more designs that are ready to go, but trying to scatter them out as it seems not too many people venture onto Etsy on Saturdays.  I seem to get more views of my items if I post them on a weeknight after the typical 9-5 workday hours.

I am also busy "spreading the gospel" of a site that has gone viral- Regretsy...if you haven't heard of it, you must be living under a rock!  It is one of the funniest websites ever, and I go there often for my daily fix of humor.  http://www.regretsy.com/
(You'll even find me on there as the poster, "Razberries" -of course).

Speaking of humor, a friend I met on Facebook of all places (through a mutual friend), granted me permission to create some funny card designs with his childhood photos.  I had originally seen the photos in one of his albums, then asked him for permission to use them in some way, because they were too wonderful to not share with the world.  His name is Jim, and he is known as "Jimmy" in the two designs I have thus far created.  Below, is the design, "Cry Baby".

I am off now to apply for some jobs online.  I hope you all have a good rest of the weekend, and get all of your holiday shopping done!  I am almost done with mine- just have a few things to wrap and I'm done. :-)

Craft Fair in Boston tomorrow!

My buddy Deb and I are venturing into Boston tomorrow- I hope this snow stops! Not that I don't love seeing it for the first time this winter season, it is just that it may make our travel and set up tomorrow just a tad unbearable.

The Rockin' Shop is the name of the event tomorrow in Faneuil Hall in Boston. 
http://www.therockinshop.com/

I have been busy getting last minute details together for the show.  I have created some new holiday cards and ornaments that aren't even uploaded to my Etsy account yet. 

In other "news" I am practically done with my holiday shopping, and have already sent out my Christmas cards.  I may sound like an over achiever, but  remember, I am still unemployed.  I would be climbing the walls if I didn't keep myself busy!

Well, back to "work" for me...there are some last minute details that I want to work on before I wake up bright and early...

Logo work...

Just helped my friend Jenni over at Star City Coordinators (aka Events by Jenni) create a new logo as well as a design for her new blog page.

Check her out!

http://www.starcitycoordinators.blogspot.com/

Jenni mostly has clientele in the Northern Maine area, but she'd be happy to discuss and consult with other areas, too.  Some of her specialties are weddings and event planning for occasions such as birthdays, etc.

"Kiss the Cook" featured in Etsy treasury!

Yay! I have had the honor of being a featured artist again in an Etsy treasury...how flattering is that?  My "Kiss the Cook" print and other cute kiss-inspired (the activity, not the band!) artwork are a part of this treasury, aptly titled, "Pucker Up!" Please check it out and support my fellow artists! 

Here is the link...
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=97178

And here is a quick screen shot in case you can't view the link (fyi, Etsy treasuries only last about 3 days, then they're gone...sad, I know!)

New stuff on Etsy!

I just finished posting a bunch of new prints...still have more to do/post but taking a break from the pc.  Had awful red eyes once again before going to bed because I was working on the computer all day.  Not so good!

Anyhoo, here are some images for you to view...many more on my etsy.  Have a good rest of the day...I am freezing here! Brrrrr!

Yes, I have been M.I.A....

I have been quite busy lately- I have that upcoming craft fair in Boston that I have been focussing most of my energies on.  Anyhoo, the past couple of days have been delightful days for creating!
I have designed some new greeting cards and also prints.  I also "learned" how to print directly onto my cardstock...I think this will make my cards look much more streamlined, plus it allows me to print my logo directly onto the back of the card, rather than my old alternative of placing a sticker on the back.  Plus then I don't have to adhere photos to the fronts.  Although some of the designs I like as photos...so I am not sure what I am going to do. ???  Then there is the whole process of taking all new photos for Etsy because of the changes.  Argh.

I have done two custom orders in the past two weeks- these are a lot of fun for me, because making something personal for someone is such an honor.  I made one recently for one of my friends, who is giving it as an Xmas gift.  Then today I received an order to customize one of the prints I currently have in stock.

I hope to get some images on here soon, just because I love having pictures on my site, and it gives me a chance to show you what I am working on! I recently finished a print of a hairdresser-thought it could look cute framed in a beauty shop or something.  I am just about to begin another print, too...like I said, busy bee! I also had an interview today that I think went pretty well, considering I have a second interview coming up, but of course me speaking of it makes me superstitious...

If I don't happen to get back on here this week, I hope you all have a Happy Turkey Day!  Thanksgiving is personally one of my favorite holidays.  You can eat all you want and you don't have to exchange presents.  What could be better, I ask?

Sick me, sick turtle

Okay, so again I am having an issue with another of my turtles...another neck bite.  Now that they have come to maturity I think it is time to separate my remaining two because if I don't, who knows what will happen.

I noticed the female Raquel is attacking Leo, the smaller turtle.  I luckily had leftover medicine from Big Boy's neck injury, but I am afraid that Leo will end up like Big Boy if I don't take action-who knows, maybe Raquel killed him? I will never know.  Right now I quarantine each of them in a bucket within their tank in different time slots throughout the day just to make sure that each of them can swim and get some of the heat lamp.  But this is only a temporary solution.

Our place will end up looking like Sea World, because I am considering that the only real solution is to get two separate tanks.  Don't ask why Raquel is biting Leo, I have no idea.  Usually the males bite the females in mating, but I am 90% positive that Raquel is indeed a female.  I know this because Big Boy used to do this "mating call" thing with her typical of their breed...he would put his claws out in front of her and swirl his arms around in the water in front of her face- a sort of mating dance, if you will.

Anyhoo, whilst that turtle drama is going on, I am home sick with an awful viral infection.  I don't feel motivated to do much at all.  Although I did just upload about 7 or 8 new designs to Etsy.  I bought some wonderful vintage photos in Essex, MA last Sunday and was able to incorporate them into some designs.  Then I digitally altered some photos I already had.  One in particular was of our cat, Lucky from last year at Valentine's Day.  She even gave her "Paw's up" approval on her print!

Well, I hope you have a lovely Veteran's Day!  Thanks to everyone who has served or is serving, both past and present, that take such good care of our country.  We really appreciate all that you do for us!

Squidoo

Although I had heard of it, I never had really looked into it.  The neat thing is that someone contacted me through Etsy today to let me know that she had picked my "The Brady Bunch" clay figures set to compliment an article she wrote about the character Jan Brady from the show.

It seems that Squidoo is another blog site.  Pretty cool, I must say!

http://www.squidoo.com/JanBradysDarkWig

Photo Restoration

We got home fairly early from trick-or-treating with my little nephew and his friends.  It was only of course around 10:30 pm that I started to get the "art bug" once again.

I created four new vintage card designs, and have some possible ones in my "maybe" pile...these are ones I will go back to and edit and change color and/or schemes, text, etc.

In the meantime, there was one photo of my mother from her childhood that I absolutely loved but it was cracked right down the middle of her face and some of her teeth were even missing!

Playing in Photoshop, I came up with this...

I am quite pleased considering this is my first true photo restoration.  My parents have so many old photos that just need a bit of TLC.  I figure besides scanning them, I may as well clean them up a bit, too.  I am not particularly concerned with the miniscule marks of age- this gives them character.  However, big giant gashes across a face never look good. (Unless you are a zombie at Halloween!)

I think that Photoshop is such a wonderful program.  It is also good when you want to take something out of a photo too. Such as a random person in a background, etc...we've come such a long way over the years in photography, haven't we?  Digital cameras and Photoshop.  Nothing like the way we used to have to drop off a bunch of film at Walmart and hope that at least part of the roll had some halfway decent photos.  Amen to that!

Ghostly Image

Maybe it's 'cause it is almost Halloween that I happened to notice this...I was busy scanning some old photos for some new designs for greeting cards this afternoon and came upon this photo in an album I had borrowed from my father:

Is it just me, or do you also see a little boy "driving" this automobile?  My father has not had a chance to look at it yet, but I also emailed him this image.  This photo was obviously not altered by me or anyone else.  It is from the late 1930's/early 1940's and was taken in New York.  One of the women in it is my Great Aunt (she is on the far left, almost out of the picture), but other than that I have no other information on this photo.

At first glance, there is nothing too odd in particular, but look closer- the boy's entire body can be seen through the vehicle.  And the car's door is shut.  You may also notice another "face" or spectral image in the vicinity of the older gentleman's body.

Some may say it was a double exposure, a reflection from another car; some sort of glitch.  But I like to think of it as a cool, eery, and other-wordly image. Either way, I think it fits in perfectly this time of year, don't you?

Day of Days Contest

Ok, so I am an admitted dork...I absolutely love the soap, "Days of Our Lives" and have been watching it since I was about five years old.  I got hooked because of my mother.  My grandmother watched, too. 

Throughout grade school and into high school I watched.  When we got a VCR that was a huge deal because it meant I wouldn't miss an episode.  When I went off to college, I still tried to keep up and would watch between classes when I could.  At the time, we didn't have cable in our dorm rooms so I only could watch it live once in a while.

And now being in my 30's, I have my DVR to keep me entertained.  Although currently being unemployed, it is easy enough to watch during the day during the normal 1:00 pm time slot, I find it so much more enjoyable when I skip a day that way I don't have to endure the annoying commercials and can jump right into the story.  I have gone to a charity event last year to even meet some of the cast and almost had a heart attack when I got to actually get their autographs and take pictures and hug them!  I follow most of the cast on Twitter...so you see I am quite obsessed, yes?

Well, so much so that I recently entered the Bonnie Hunt Show's "Day of Days" contest.  I entered last year and was super bummed that I didn't at least get an honorable mention or something.  The object of the contest last year was just to write something saying why you were DOOL's biggest fan.  And it had to be in a certain amount of words (100? I can't remember) or less.  I wrote a poem, and I thought it was quite good.  Oh well.  Bonnie's staff obviously didn't.  The gal that won the prize I am sure was deserving, but all I honestly remember was that she named one of her daughters Kayla (after a character on the show).

But that hasn't deterred me from my goal this year.  This year's contest was to submit a 2 minute (or less) video explaining again why you were the biggest fan and also some other tidbits such as humor and pretend-interviewing one of the cast members, etc...I am glad that this contest will allow those like myself with some creativity in their bones to enter and be noticed! I submitted my entry last night.  I did many video takes for my sacred entry.  The good thing this year is that they will have the top 3 go to her show.  Just to meet Ms. Hunt would be cool!  I hope I win; wish me luck!

I will find out next week...to be continued :-)

Coolness- craft fair in Faneuil Hall this December!

I signed up to be a vendor in Boston this winter. This will be very cool- it's not til December, but this gives me even more motivation to get some more inventory out there....

http://therockinshop.nashdigital.com/blog/

I also got Deb to sign up (yay) and my new crafty bud Barbie (yes, that is her real name and she's a great gal). I have put some more recent designs on Etsy, too..."Bump", a gal who is preggers- good for a baby shower or to congratulate the mom-to-be; "Pleasantville", my homage to one of my favorite movies, and lots of other things that I am way too tired to write about.

I was asked to write a bio today for the "Rockin' Shop" (the December craft thing)- it is hard work trying to make yourself sound good- LOL.  Oh well, it has been an interesting but creative week.  I am still one of the ungainfully unemployed; I hope that changes soon!  The only good thing, like always is that I have plenty of time on my hands to create and make a mess (much to the chagrin of my boyfriend).

Tomorrow I am off to a lia sophia/costume party.  I am going as Octomom!  I know, it's already been done, but I figured it was a cheap and easy idea.  Pictures will be on my facebook only (sorry to disappoint you, I know you are so bummed- yeah right)- I am sure they will be way embarrassing!

Nighty night...zzzzzzzz