I have a blog

No, really, I do! It's just that, well, life sort of got in the way. Again. So I apologize for being lame all month.

And I sort of dropped the ball on the contest I was having, so we'll go there first.
I got some great ideas from the suggestions that were given me (Otin, your poem rocks! I may have to re-visit that later on...)
The ones I decided to go with are Bella Sinclair's "Little did they know...", Rebecca S's "Once upon a time they lived happily ever after...and this is how it all began," (which I think I'm going to end the book with) and Dala Horse's "I put it under a magnifying glass and..."

Congrats! Once I get the artworks done I will get in touch and get addresses where to send the prints!

***************************************************************************

In other news - I am thinking of offering my Keep Calm and Carrion design as a t-shirt.

 I have had a great response with those posters, and the shirts that came from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project have been pretty popular with the few friends and family that have received one. So I think I'm going to do some, without all the Conservation Project stuff  on it , of course. Once I get those printed out and in my hands, maybe I'll have a little giveaway with those, too (no, really!)

And...I'm trying some new ideas out in my Alice's Secrets Etsy shop. I have always been interested in typograpy, and I love the graphic look of typography posters. Here's some of my new designs, they are being uploaded to my shop today.

Christmas, a little early

I took a break from drawing for the Thanksgiving week as we had a lot of family time and other stuff going on, not to mention I still had to work every day. Plus it snowed like crazy, and that's a distraction of another kind.

Then I took a break from the Sketchbook Project and spent my drawing time working on a Christmas card for this year, which I then decided to have Moo print up instead of trying to do it myself.

Tomorrow is my printing day (finally!) for other projects and then, alas, back to work. And Sketching! That, at least, is a "yea"!

Random

So our anniversary was last week. Secret Agent Man and I had a lovely dinner at a downtown restaurant called Churchill's. It's probably as swanky as it gets around here. It has recently re-opened after a fire gutted the place about a year ago, when a photography studio next door had a chemical fire.
We had not been in yet prior to the fire, but I have to say, it's gorgeous! The bar downstairs is particularly nice, and reminds me of some kind of upscale English pub. I tried to take a picture, but it was too dark down there.
The dining room was nice, too, though.



Dinner was fabulous. My only complaint was that, since I am allergic to garlic I couldn't do the garlic mashed potato side, and asked to substitute a baked potato. They couldn't "substitute" so I had to buy one, and it was SEVEN FREAKING DOLLARS!
Now, in the grand scheme of things (meaning it was a pricey dinner) I suppose $7 should not have been a big deal, but it was.
Regardless, it was a nice evening.


Yesterday I decided to be productive on my day off. I picked up dry cleaning, went grocery shopping, did some online shopping and Armor All'd my bra.
What? It was dirty!




Looks much better now.




Thursday we went to a piano bar that does "dueling pianos" on the weekend. I don't really understand the "dueling" part, because there was no "play-off" or anything like one we went to in Vegas once, but it was pretty fun. They take requests for tips. Secret Agent man was giving them tips like "Don't eat bad eggs" and "Buy low, sell high" and "Booze makes life easier"... but we gave 'em money too, so they played some of our requests.
The one that surprised me was when SAM asked them to play The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - "upbeat". They actually played it!!
Awesome!

It's FRIDAY!!!

Ok, so actually - it's "Friday".
It's Wednesday in the "real" world. But in my world, it's Friday!
What that means is that I have the next 2 days off. And that it's beer and pizza night.
Yea, "Friday"!

And speaking of quotation marks, (what? Did too...) what is with that, anyway? Have you ever noticed that people use way too many quotation marks and obviously don't have a clue what they are for?
Like this one:

It's nice of him to stick around for 20 years, not really being their dad and all.

Or this one:


It's okay, it doesn't really "bite". Or doesn't "really" bite...

So, are superfluous quotation marks the worst or are random apostrophes even worse than that?
I mean, what the heck?


That make's absolutely "no sense" whatsoever. Bwahahahaha!

And speaking of no sense...
I got a 911 call the other day. Some lady (I use that term loosely) who wanted to file a fraud complaint because a local bar charged her nearly $9 for a margarita and didn't put any tequila in it. Except that she was clearly drunk. She also complained that other bars were putting cocaine in her drinks.
I'm thinking she needs to quit drinking.

Speaking of 911...it's not always crap and crazies, just so you know. I had a guy call one day to report a stolen car. He was at the courthouse. I asked which street he was on - he proceeded to start singing "On Broadway" for me. Made my day!

Speaking of musicals...I now hate my coffee stand gals. Okay, not really. But they were going on and on about "Glee" the other day so I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a try. I need something to replace "Ugly Betty" anyway...
So, thanks a lot. I'm completely hooked now! I love the music, the characters are a hoot. I so want to be on that show.
Whaddaya think?

Speaking of ...

 I haven't had much to blog about this week, the brain is just not working the way I want it to. I wanted to post some new art this weekend, but I'm really having trouble with that. Kind of like writer's block, I guess. So I'll do another episode of  "Speaking of..."

Ready?

So I was randomly flipping channels last night and happened upon one of those "reality" shows, "Stupid Housewives of Fresno" or whatever. You know the ones. What is with that crap anyway? Do I really need to watch a gaggle of bimbos with too much money, too few brains and wa-a-a-ay too much cleavage talk about their money, and their cleavage? No. I watched about 5 minutes of it and wanted to claw my eyes out. Don't even talk to me about that Jersey show...what little I have read about it, I think it would make my brain bleed out my ears.

Speaking of "reality" shows, I will admit that there are some I really like. Project Runway just makes me happy. Apparently I love Heidi Klum, high heels and silly gay drama queens. I also like almost anything on Sci-Fi (I refuse to call it "SyFy" - what the hell?) and HGTV, even though I'm still miffed that they didn't give me that Dream Home I ordered.

Speaking of HGTV, Secret Agent Man and I have a new favorite show: "Holmes on Homes".  He is a Viking god that fixes homes for people who have been royally shafted by their contractors.  Mike Holmes is kind of like Ty Pennington, but less obnoxious and more buff. It's awesome. Except if I ever have to hire a contractor they are going to hate me because I'll be all, "Mike Holmes says..." and "Do you have the permits?" and "Have you ever done this before?" and stuff like that. And they're going to be all, "Don't you have something else to do, ma'am?"

Ma'am?

Speaking of "Ma'am..." as previously stated in another post, I am am not 45 years old. I wonder if I look funny to people, cruising down the road, head-banging to The Offspring and Kings of Leon. I have very eclectic tastes in music. King of Leon is one of my current favorites, but I also still love Steely Dan (if I was on a desert island and could only bring one CD it would be Steely Dan's "Gold"), and I have Imogen Heap, Lady GaGa, Spoon, the Weepies, Bing Crosby, Bare Naked Ladies, Bruce Hornsby, Elbow and Lyle Lovett, to name a few. My iPod is having an identity crisis.

Speaking of Apple...can someone please explain to me the big deal about the iPad? Isn't it just kind of big iPod Touch? I just don't get it. I guess I'm not all up on the Apple craze. Which is odd for an artist/graphic designer, so I've been told. I don't own a Mac. I have a  Gateway and it's just peachy. (No apples for me. Unless they are this kind.) What I really want is an Alienware laptop.

Actually, what I really want is an iCoffee, an iNap and an iVacation.


Speaking of vacations, you know what I think would be cool? If those of us who blog back and forth with each other regularly could swap houses for vacations. I want to trade with Pseudonymous High School Teacher...although it might not be as much fun if she weren't there to visit with.  Or maybe Midlife Slices so I can stay in their gorgeous new guest house. Of course, if it's cleaner than my house (likely) I may just stay...

 So, what are you thinkin' about today?

Speaking of Random...

Random Monday stuff.









Yah, that's the stuff. 

I went to the freezer last night to get a popsicle (mmm...grape bars!) and when I reached in for one I noticed a box of frozen pre-cooked bacon. I thought,"Mmm, bacon..." and had a split-second debate before deciding to stick with the grape bar. 

Speaking of "pre-cooked", what the heck is it with "pre" stuff? "Pre-cooked" bacon. It's not! It's just "cooked"! Pre-mixed, pre-cut, pre-chewed! Whatever. It sounds really stupid when you think about it enough.

Books on my Kindle that I am simultaneously reading:
"Fragile Things" -Neil Gaiman
"The Heart Is Not a Size" -Beth Kephart

"A Wind In the Door" -Madeleine L'Engle
"The Painter of Battles: A Novel" -Arturo Perez-Reverte
"Frankenstein" -Dean Koontz
"Alice In Wonderland" -Lewis Carroll 

Speaking of Alice, a little late to the game, but Secret Agent Man and I went to see Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland in 3D the other night. If you haven't taken the time to go see it yet, you should, before it's out of the theater. Way cool. 

Speaking of Secret Agent Man, later this month S.A.M. and I will have been married 7 years. We have lived in this house the exact same length of time. We had this kind of weekend 7 years ago:  Wednesday - the house was done being built. I went by on my way home from work and peeked in the windows. Friday we both had the day off, went and signed off on the house and got the keys. Saturday we got married. Sunday I had to go back to work. Sunday and Monday  S.A.M. and his parents moved my apartment-worth of stuff into the new house. I vowed, even though I did not have to move the majority of it, that I would never - ever - move again unless I absolutely had no choice. 

Speaking of moving, my parents are looking at moving back over here. They have been looking at houses when they come over and have been sending me listings to check out. I love looking at houses. Now I want to move again. 

I think I must be a gypsy. I have moved 32 times. Seriously. I'm 45 years old and I have moved 32 times. All but 2 have been since I turned 18. What the heck? (The sad thing is, I just counted them again, and I feel like I'm missing a couple...)

This is my new favorite thing this week.
This is my other new favorite thing. It made me laugh and cry at the same time. I don't know why. It just did.

And last, but not least, I really appreciate you all for stopping by and checking out my silly blog and my art stuff! I guess that makes you my other-other favorite thing this week! :)

Thief! No, not you...

So I was perusing blogs today, and one of the blogs I went to was Amanda Raquel Worr's because I love, love, love her artwork. She had some information about books and resources to help budding illustrators, and illustrators who are having a hard time getting published.

One of the things she linked to is a blog called Escape from Illustration Island. I had actually come across this blog some time ago, and then as my 4-year old attention span is wont to do, I promptly forgot about it, so I was thrilled to make its re-acquaintance, so to speak. (Thanks Ms Worr!)
EII has lots of good info about copyrights and other legal stuff for artists. As I was reading through some of the older posts I found a link to an article about artist Chris Buzelli (again, love his stuff too!) who had a problem with a blogger at smartplanet.com who used one of Chris's pieces without permission.  Chris called for a "posse" after getting a somewhat snarky reply from the offender. Go here and read the comments to see what ensued.

Now, I get that it's really easy to find works online that you like and want to use for a variety of reasons.  I'm sure we've all seen a picture here or there that we want to use to illustrate a story or whatever. The point is that "right clicking" a piece and saving it to copy and use is, most of the time, illegal. There are some "unless-es". And sometimes, no matter how you dig, you can't ever find who actually took a picture or how to contact them.
But really, the effort should be made. I think most people would say okay to using something if they were contacted properly and credit would be given.  (Unless someone has already purchased the rights to said image, of course.) I know I am guilty of it as well... but I think what really gets me is that, to me,  it's one thing if it's some kind of generic picture that is plastered and  re-plastered all over the internet (I know, legally it's probably not, but hello - LOLcats anyone?) but to use someone's artwork is a whole different deal. And the fact that once contacted the "thief's" response was rude and uninformed was really too much. If someone ever contacted me like that about something I posted, I would take it down immediately and profusely apologize. End of story. And I would expect the same consideration. Not that anyone has. So far. (I guess I'm not famous enough, huh?!)

Anyway, it's an interesting and informative read for you artists out there. Check it out.

Oh yah, how do you like my new "kids"?

Here In My Car...

Someone once said that you can tell a lot about a man by the shoes he wears.  I think you can tell more about someone by the car they drive.

There's the obvious:  Moms that drive a minivan or a station wagon. Mid-life crisis guy that drives a red Ferrari. Nouveau-hippie girl that drives a new yellow Bug. The punk-ass kid with his backwards baseball hat driving a lowered Suburban.  (Seriously. I saw one the other day. Who does that?)  That kind of thing. Around here the SUV is king, which I can kind of understand, since we have a lot of rural areas, hunting is popular and we have a lot of snow in the winter (typically, though not this year). What I don't understand is the popularity of the Hummer. No offense if any of you own one, they are kinda cool, but around here a Hummer screams "I'm a pretentious asshole". Seriously, soccer moms do not need to drive Hummers. They are military vehicles that all but climb trees, for Pete's sake! Yet, primarily, it is the soccer moms you see in them - and real estate agents, and they all drive like they own the road. (Beg to differ, jerk, get outta my way!)  Around here, they have assumed the role previously occupied by the Subaru Outback. Whatever.
 
"So," you are asking, "what kind of car do you drive, and what does it say about you?"

I drive one of these:

a 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage.

I used to drive one of these:

(a 1993 Geo Metro. Man, I loved that car!)
...until a crack-addict-waste-of-skin (Bitter? No. Why do you ask?) rear-ended me at 60 mph and it ended up like this:

Anyway, I love my Mirage. Bought new, with 12 miles on it.

Here's what it says about me:
It's beige. You might think that says I'm boring. But no. It says that's the only color the dealership had and I loved the car so much that I wanted it right now, so I took it. 
It's a 2 door. That says I don't have kids. Or a big dog. And that I wanted to look "sporty".
It has a bra on the front.  That also says I wanted to look "sporty". And cool. It does look cool.
It's dirty, so that says I am busy doing important things and don't have time to wash my car. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)
It's a 2000, so it says I'm practical. I'm not going to buy a new car just to have a new car when there's nothing wrong with the one I have.
(Although, I would take one of these if someone gave me one.)

(Or even one of these.)

But my car also says I am thrifty. Not because it's 10 years old, but because it gets 30-35 mpg! Why buy a new car that only gets 20? Even most of the hybrids don't get that kind of mileage. Except the Prius. Which, hello, says "pretentious" almost as loud as the Hummer. And no, I don't hate the Earth. I recycle. I don't club seals, or let them play with plastic bags and suffocate. But if I bought a new car, hybrid or whatever, mine would get re-sold and still be on the road (or in a land-fill, which would be worse), so actually, it would be bad for the planet, because I'd be adding to the problems of congestion, consumption and what not.


So there. That's what my car says about me.
What does your car say about you?

And what the hell does this "car" say about that guy???

(I think it's a boat hull on an old MG convertible body...suppose it actually floats?)

Bits and Pieces

It's been a hectic last week or so, for some unknown reason. Trying to get tax stuff done. We've taken our respective turns with some kind of flu bug. Getting the website up. Beer and pizza night (and who wants to do anything after that?) Plus trying to get a Facebook page up for jewelry and art (I'm still ambivalent on that... last time I tried Facebook I had a stalker ex-boyfriend trying to find me...what's up with that, anyway?!) Plus always trying to finish new pieces.

So here's some parts of what I'm working on:






Can you tell I'm working on Alice's tea party?
Well, I guess technically, it's the Mad Hatter's tea party.
Why won't the Cheshire Cat just leave the poor Dormouse alone?

Hope to be done in a couple days.

Threats and Promises

So, a while back I was ranting about my stupid cell phone. It is super touchy and I can never seem to actually be in the program I want to be in, if I touch it wrong in the middle of a call it hangs up, and it frequently takes pictures when I think I'm nowhere near the camera function. (Personally, I think it's possessed...) A couple days ago I found that the on/off button was not working. Well, barely working. All day I struggled to turn it on and/or off. (This model has a kind of "sleep" mode, you have to turn the phone "on" to use it, and then "off" when you're done or it will, well take pictures I guess...) Anyway, I said to Secret Agent Man, "Honey, I think it's time for a new phone finally." He said "okay". So my plan was, since we were going to the mall the next day anyway (to see "Avatar" and hey, if you haven't seen it [in 3D of course!] you better get your butt down there and see it. Best. Movie. Ever.) I figured we could stop by the Verizon store and gets me a new phone.

But no. The threat to do so must have hit home with whatever little poltergeist is inhabiting the phone because it immediately started behaving itself. Seriously, I have not had one little problem with the bitch it since then then.
- sigh -

Have you ever noticed that happens?
The same thing happens with my hair. About half way to my next hair appointment it will start driving me crazy. My bangs are in my eyes. It won't lay right. It won't curl right. Whatever. Like it's possessed. (I'm sensing a theme...) So I'm all frustrated for a couple weeks and then the day I head into the salon - poof! It's perfect hair. Fairy tale 'do, like something out of Sex and the City. Seriously! Goddess hair...
- sigh -
I'm thinking that what I need to do is schedule a hair appointment for every day. Just to scare it into behaving. Of course, then I'll have to call and cancel all the time. Or maybe I could schedule one for everyday but have them mark in the book that it's really just this one. Think they'll go for it?
Me neither.

Alright. I have also been working on a new jewelry piece with some lovely beads I got from Artbeads.com, part of their giving me free stuff to blog about. I have also purchased some more Swarovski from them as well. I got some of these, and some of these and these, and a whole bunch of various ones of these, to make a big spring-themed necklace. I finally have them all wired and hopefully will have it together in a day or two. By the end of the week at least.
Necessary Legal Stuff: I have received the above mentioned products from Artbeads.com and am honestly reviewing them. I have not been paid for my endorsement.

I have also been working on some new artwork. In a never ending attempt to make something people will buy, I have been trying to get away from my standard realistic(-ish) look and go for a more illustrated, artsy feel. I wanted to do an Alice In Wonderland -themed set of prints but was struggling with the way I wanted it to look.
I tried this:


but (even though otin will think she's hot) it wasn't really the feel I wanted. Plus, it was the same old, same old.

Then I tried this,


but it didn't take more than a couple minutes to decide I just wasn't feelin' it either.

Then I looked at some dolls, and some other people's art and finally settled on this:



I love her.
I think I'll keep her.

More Logos

In an ever expanding search for more opportunities to make money...my dear hubs, Secret Agent Man, has found a website called "Worth 1000" for me. As in "a picture is worth a 1000 words..." This site is great for people who want to brush up on their Photoshop and Illustrator skills. There are photography contests, photo manipulation contests, illustration, and my personal favorite - corporate logo contests. There are even contests for writers! (Hey, Otin, you should check it out!) Some of those are really fun to read.

The majority of the contests award points, which you can use to "buy" credits so you can enter more contests. I haven't looked into them closely enough, so I don't know if you actually win money or just credits. The contests vary from beginner to expert.

The logo contests are sponsored by companies who are looking for logos because they either don't have one or they are re-doing their websites or images. The companies pick a winner and there is a cash "prize" for the logo, which they then own the rights to. The entries are also voted on by members, which may or may not have any bearing on what the company chooses.

It's worth checking out if you are interested in such things. There are literally hundreds of contests all the time.

I have been entering the logo contests, because I love logo design, and because they pay actual money. I haven't won anything yet, but it's good practice at the very least.

So far I have entered for a real estate company called "The Home Spot":



and a science laboratory product called "Titan":



I just entered one for a legal search firm called "Moses Legal Search" but I can't post those until the contest is over. So you'll just have to wait.

Still working on jewelry, too, but you know...it's been a hectic couple of weeks, what with work, Christmas, the in-laws coming, the cat having to go to the "v-e-t", my car breaking down, and...well, you get the picture.

Sigh.

I hope you all are doing well and set to have a Merry Christmas. And here's hoping for a better New Year!

Hugs to all!

I have this phone...

...that I really hate. But, as is the way with cell phone companies, I'm not "eligible" to get a new phone until next October. I may have to accidentally on purpose lose mine in a lake or something.
It is one of these, and they look fun, and they look stylish, but it is - in actuality - a giant pain in my patookis.
It is a touch phone. This means that every time I touch the screen (digging it out of my purse, setting it on the counter, trying to make a phone call, pretty much any time I'm anywhere near the damn thing) I accidentally activate something I don't mean to. Sometimes it's a program I didn't even know was on the phone!

This includes the camera feature.
Why do they set the button for the camera right where you always (always!) put your thumb when you pick up the phone?! Consequently, I have numerous accidental pictures. I discovered these a couple days ago when I was looking for one I actually intended to take.

What happened to a plain old cell phone that makes/receives calls? That's another thing! This phone, for whatever reason, often does not ring, so I get all these voicemails from people wondering where the heck I am that I'm not answering my phone...when it's been sitting right there next to me. And then when I grab the phone to find out who called, I take more pictures! Yea!
So anyway, I thought I'd share with you some of my accidental photography, while I'm still trying to finish up some earrings.

I think this is my laptop.

One of my bead boxes?
My bathroom floor.
My car.


(While I was trying to figure out how to email these to myself, I discovered that I have a "task" feature on my phone. ? I don't even know what this is! I may have to investigate further...)

A little personality goes a long way...

Sorry I've been MIA lately...I've got way too much on my plate it seems, and I just can't keep up.

I had a class for work all week last week. It was about personality types (and this chart is really interesting...), learning what your type is (I'm an "expressive", go figure) and how to figure out who the idiots are work with other types ("driver", "analytical" and "amiable") and how to convince everyone else I'm right resolve conflict. I think what I actually learned is that other call centers (we had several participants from around the state) have similar issues and we all love/hate our jobs.
And that all the other expressives in my group wear a lot of jewelry, have their nails done and flip off other drivers in traffic - just like me!
(Although, I probably shouldn't flip drivers off in traffic when I have a Jesus fish on the back of my car... sends mixed signals, don't ya' think? "Jesus loves you, asshole!" Ha!)

Anyway, done with that and back at my regularly scheduled work day.

I have been trying to get some jewelry done since Artbeads sent me all those lovely crystals, but it's not going so well because I just don't have enough time! I need at least 4 more hours to my day. If anyone has some spare time I will gladly take donations, preferably in the form of winning lottery tickets.

Also this coming weekend is Secret Agent Man's birthday. I have his presents, and dinner reservations at a swanky restaurant we had Valentine's dinner at, in this hotel:
This is also the hotel we got married in, in one of their lovely ballrooms, so that's always kind of neat.

And my parents are coming to town. I am going to make a killer chicken recipe for dinner for them. (The recipe is "killer" not that it is made with a "killer chicken"! Wouldn't that be awesome though!) Secret Agent Man thinks I missed my calling and I should be a world-class chef. I'd probably hate it then, though. Or I'd be like that really angry British guy that has that restaurant tv show where he screams and cusses at everyone and makes them cry.

And then, on top of it all, I have to take Ms. FluffyButt to the pet groomer and the (shhhh) "v. e. t."
I think she may have feline diabetes. I feel like such a bad mom. I hope she's just fat and not that she's sick. (Not that that is a whole lot better...) She seems happy, though, so I don't really know what to think.


I have to share, too, that I was asked to partake in a giveaway by Midtown Girl when she re-vamped her blog. She wanted to give her winner a "makeover" as well, via a drawing by me of the winner. Like I did for Otin. A lovely girl named Ali, who has this blog, won! She is all about Carrie Bradshaw and fabulous fashion stuff, so I was inspired by one of Carrie's girlie-girl dresses and drew her like this.

It was fun, and she loves it, so it was a win-win!

While I was over at her blog today I saw she got an award for her "Over the Top" blog. It included a really neat one word answer meme. So I stole it. Here it is, with my answers. I'm not going to use it as an award, and therefore am not going to make anyone else do it, but if you like it you can certainly steal it from me, too! I thought it was another fun way to learn you a little about me. If you decide to do one, too, let me know!

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your hair? short
3. Your mother? soft
4. Your father? joker
5. Your favorite food? pizza
6. Your dream last night? weird
7. Your favorite drink? Pepsi
8. Your dream/goal? travel
9. What room are you in? work
10. Your hobby? sarcasm
11. Your fear? mediocrity
12. Where do you want to be in six years? elsewhere
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. Something that you aren't? tall
15. Muffins? sure
16. Wish list item? Lexus
17. Where did you grow up? Boringville
18. Last thing you did? work
19. What are you wearing? sweater
20. Your TV? big
21. Your pets? spoiled
22. Friends? great
23. Your life? better
24. Your mood? snarky
25. Missing someone? yep
26. Vehicle? clanky
27. Something you're not wearing? toupee
28. Your favorite store? Nordstrom
29. Your favorite color? black
30. When was the last time you laughed? daily
31. Last time you cried? movie
32. Your best friend? hubs
33. One place that you could go to over and over? Vegas
34. One person who emails you regularly? dad
35. Favorite place to eat? home

Memories

My dad sends me lots of pictures. He likes to take pictures, always has, and I occasionally post a couple here and there. Over the past week or so he's been sending me a lot, but they are not of the beach or the grandkids. He has been scanning in a bunch of old photos dating back from the 30's through the 80's, of family and friends. I love seeing these old pictures, even if they are of relatives, and other people, I never met. I really love this one of my Great-Aunt Neva ("Nene") and my grandmother (middle and right) with an unknown friend of theirs. Looks like it dates to the 30's sometime, judging by the clothes. I love the hats!



He also sent me these of himself and my mom that I think date around the time they got married, it looks like. My dad looks like he's got that James Dean cool thing down, and my mom was so cute!



Then he sends pictures like this.



Can you tell I was a little shy as a kid? That's my grandmother again, my dad's mom, Marion.
Thanks, dad!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now for something completely different... I got my first bloggy award!




From Pastor Sharon. She rocks walks Dances with God! She is one cool pastor and I would totally go to her church if only she would move here and start one!

This award was apparently started by Bookin' With Bingo. What a great way to share some of your favorite blogs! Pastor Sharon got one and is passing it along in true blogger fashion. I will pass it on as well, and maybe introduce one or two of you to some new and different blogs. I am so lame, I rarely take time to comment on their blogs, but I do read them, and about 473 (well, okay, maybe not quite) others, nearly every day.

B for Beautiful: I give this one to Beth Niquette who does wonderful, fanciful drawings and cloud "paintings", and truly has a gift for seeing fabulously unique things in our ordinary world!

I for Informative: I give to Michel at Facts Are Strictly Optional, because I learn something from her everyday. Things like how wonderful Little Debbie products are, or that there is such a thing as Bacon flavored vodka! Sometimes (frequently) I become informed just by reading the comments other people leave. Most important, though, I've learned that I do not, under any circumstances, ever want to work for the Government and live in Sudan. Thanks, Michel!

N for Neighborly: I give this one to Janie at Midlife Slices. She was one of the very first people in the blog-o-sphere to truly befriend me. Janie, seriously, you are welcome at my house for margaritas any time!

G for Gorgeous: goes to Jason at The Jason Show. He has wonderful stories of family life, great pictures, funny stuff, sad stuff. He knows how to make fun of himself while providing valuable lessons of tolerance in a not-so-tolerant world.

O for Outstanding: goes to Eileen at Sane Without Drugs. She is crazy and makes me laugh, but also makes me think about stuff. I love her photos of her flowers and cats (and everything else). Just one thing...will someone please rescue poor Fluffy?!

Now go check 'em out! I love you guys!

What the...? It's almost September already!?

And I am so ridiculously behind on my blogging!
I have been drawing and drawing but I seem to have little for my efforts so far. I drew a little something for The Wizard of Otin...but you'll have to wait until he posts it.

I am drawing one of Midlife Slices' sweet little granddaughters, but again, she'll have to post it first. Suffice it to say this is one fun project! Once she has it in hand I will post it here.

I am also working on some personal stuff when I get the chance.
I have long been fascinated with fairy tales and such. And even though they are not "fairy tales" per se, I love "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice In Wonderland" especially.

I started working on Oz characters some time ago. I didn't get very far. (Stuff always comes up, you notice that?) A couple weeks ago I started again, this time on the Scarecrow. I decided to do all the characters as girls, mainly because girls are easier to draw then boys, plus I thought they might actually sell better, too.
So I did this one:
Which I like okay. But then I got to wasting time doing research online and ran across some steampunk stuff, which is great because I kind of want to go that direction with some of my jewelry...and I thought to myself, "Self, what if you do your Oz stuff kind of steampunk?" Self decided that sounded like a right fine thing to do.
So here's Scarecrow #2:


Personally, I like her a lot.
She has some great detail work, like her pocket watch and her crow. I haven't printed her out yet, so I don't know how they will translate to the finished project, but they were fun to make.

Taking a break this weekend, though. We are going to see Secret Agent Man's sister and folks in the Minneapolis/St Paul area for the State Fair. Should be fun. Hopefully not as hot as it is here! (I'm so ready for fall!)

Hope you all are enjoying the last days of summer!