Happy Halloween!!!

Mike...as Darth Vader....he made

everything but the helmet!

Great Job Mike!!!

Jaime as 'Darth Talon'

She and Mikey made her entire costume

really Great Job!

Here is Ava as...'Pink Kitty'

Isn't she just toooo cute!

And, Simon as a skeleton man...
cute..cute..cute!
His mother made his costume
using paper cut outs...
how clever!!!





Simon..looking intent on something...

Ava...a little smeared...but oh..sooo...cute!

I Am Slowly Learning

I am slowly learning

how to swim with the 'big fish'...

I'm still a little 'minnow' mind you...

but I am learning.

Taking the past couple of weeks

to do a lot..lot..lot of research

has led me back to doing

what I've always enjoyed...

'a little of this and a little of that'.

I don't think I could have ever

done assembly line work...

doing the same thing over and over and over..

and

whatever it is that I do..

when it gets to that point, I find myself

unwittingly, 'rebelling'.

So it is with my art...

when I get to the point that

I just can't think of anything to create....I have

to 'step away'.

And..I did!

I haven't created anything new in a couple of weeks.

Now...I'm ready once again

to spend a few days

on some new art pieces...

paintings..

digital originals..

and some new print packets

as well as my Holiday card packets.

I'll be listing some new things

in the shop

the beginning of next week!

In the meantime

check out the new merchandise

I've put in my CMZ Zazzle Shop.

Silent Night -- Print

I originally created this piece

for use on my seasonal Greeting Cards

(which I am still working on.)

I like it so much that

I decided to list it

as a print

in my Etsy Shop.

I'm Having A Working Vacation

I hadn't planned it

but, I've found myself deeply involved

in a 'working vacation'.

It's not a vacation

like most people would take..

but rather..

one that keeps me up into the

wee hours of the morning.

I'm working my behind off

on several of the sites

that have become so very neglected.

I'll post updates

on one or two of those,

as soon as I am

satisfied with the progress!

I Voted..

I have now officially

cast my ballot

for the 2008 Presidential Election.

I would have voted, for the first time,

the year Bobby Kennedy ran..

had he not been

assassinated.

I didn't vote that year..

but

I have voted in every

Presidential Election since!

I figure...I can't complain..

if I haven't voted!

I made the Front Page yesterday...

I made the Front Page Treasury

with this lovely little piece.

The Treasury is now found on Flickr

and I feel very honored to have been included!

A quiet weekend

I spent a very quiet week-end..for the most part..

doing some online studying.

I feel the need to 'educate myself' every now and then..

and this was a good opportunity.

I'm still feeling a bit "under the weather"...

and not like doing much..other than getting all of my shipping

ready to send to the post.

So..that's what I did!

Not quite yet...

I had hoped I would get my cards and envelopes

all done so that I could get them listed...

no such luck!

Actually...I spent yesterday..mostly 'exhausted'.

I really didn't do much of anything!

Whenever I get like that...

it's time to take a few days to

renew and refresh!

So...the cards and envelopes...and anything else I might do..

will have to wait a few more days.

Sorry...I should have waited until they

were ready before I said anything...

hopefully...I'll wait

next time:)

My first set of cards is almost ready...

I have finished my first set of

winter cards...

complete with matching envelopes.

I had to design the cards...which took the better

part of the last three days...as well as the matching envelopes.

Hopefully I can get the cards and envelopes printed

and assembled

so that I can list them, in the shop, by the first part of the week.

I'm going to offer card packs

as well as

individual cards.

Cards with matching envelopes

It took most of the day

and I still have some 'tweeking' to do...

but

I think I've finally got the envelope

design that I am wanting

for my

cards w/ matching envelopes.

Here are a few of the cards

I am busy working on.

I think I'm going to give this a try...

I'm designing my own

envelopes...

based on the coresponding card..

this is my first attempt..

we'll see how it goes....

My persoal favorites

Connectivity...

Every so often

I have connectivity issues

with my internet.

This is one of those 'times'.

No matter...

I'll stay busy whether I'm able to get online

or not.

I've got a couple new prints

in the shop...

I'll have more new pieces soon...

if I can ever get over this 'bug' I've been

affected by.

I don't like being sick...

One of my children has been sick

since his birthday, on Friday.

He didn't get sick after a hearty bout of celebration...

he didn't even get to go out for his birthday.

He started feeling poorly, while he was

working...

and he is STILL in bed...

I feel so sorry for him.

As luck would have it...

I seem to have picked up this awful bug.

It hasn't been that long ago...

that I got over that month long respiratory thing...

I'm really not 'up' for another bout of the

'bug'.

Giving My Orphans A Home

I have so many pieces of art

that haven't had a home...

till now.

I'm a little OCD about my CMZ Art Shop

and I've worked hard at

trying to find a particular 'look' for

the shop...

(which still isn't where I want it to be)..

I've pulled a lot of my

favorites..

because they didn't 'seem to fit'.

So...now with the re-opening of the

Pendants Plus Shop

I'm going to have a new

'home'

for my little orphan pieces,

some which have never been shown

on Etsy before!

Pendants Plus is Back...

After about a month of, 'being on vacation',

we've reactivated our

Pendants Plus Shop

again.

I've put a few of the glass tile pendants

that were already listed

back into the shop.

We've added the

'Keep Calm Carry On'

Poster Prints

and we'll be adding magnets

as well.

I'm going to be listing

some Scrabble Tile Pendants

in the next few days.

And...I'm thinking

I may put some of my

'orphan'

pieces in that shop. We'll see.

Pop in and have a look..

there's not as much in the shop

as I want to have...

by the end of the week-end

it will be quite filled,

so please check back from time to time.

Keep Calm....Carry On

Wow...these posters

have popped up all over Etsy!

It doesn't matter who offers them...

they seem to sell very well for everyone...

the way things have

been lately...

I'm thinking about

putting a few

in my shop.

Even if it's just to

keep me calm

so that I can carry on.

My Art is 'Art of The Day' on EBSQ

'On Point'

This piece is the

ART OF THE DAY

on EBSQ

Today....October 8th!

Yay!

This may be the

first time

in four years

that my art was selected

as THE 'Art of The Day'....

I am very honored!

This print is

in my Etsy Shop.

I Need A Re-do

We worked so hard

on getting some new jewelry pieces

ready for listing...

and it looks like most of it

is going to have to be

re-done.

I don't know if it's the

humidity

or the glue..

but

most of my pieces are going

to have to be

redone.

Hopefully in the next

few days

I'll be able to get them redone

and listed in the shop.

New Jewelry

With LOTS of Jaime's help, we got

some new pendants put together.

I hope to list some of them

later today

in my Etsy Shop.

But, as you can tell from these photos...

and they are the best of the bunch..

I need to work on getting

some..way better..new photos.

Wish me luck!!

Sunday

I'm looking forward to a

mostly

quiet day today.

We didn't get as much jewelry finished

as we wanted to

earlier...

...so, we're going to try to

get some finished today!

Would they let me do THIS at a 'real' job?

I wonder...would 'they' let me do this

at a "real" job....

Get up at noon (or 2)

Spend my first two hours at 'coffee break'

Work 30 minutes...

time for another 'coffee break'

Check and see what's on TV

Surf the net'

Work another hour or so

'Coffee break'

Run a few errands

Fix a quick dinner

'Surf the net'

Watch some prime time TV

Work another 30 minutes or so, unless I am 'involved' in TV

Watch what I 'Tivo'd' while I "worked"

'Surf the net'

Watch some more TV

Go to bed

Turn on the TV

Sleep a bit

Get up at noon (or 2).

I'm having my problems 'adjusting' to spending

so much time by myself.

Hopefully I'll 'get it together' soon!

My latest painting.

This is my latest painting

"Beautiful Autumn"

I have it listed in my
Etsy Shop.

It is 20" x 24"
Acrylic Paints on Gallery Canvas.

Jaime and I are going to
spend today
getting all of our prints and shipping
ready to go
and
hopefully...
we'll start on some new
jewelry pieces!

It will depend on
how long it takes us to
get all of our sold pieces
ready for mail.

I'm PAINTING Again!!

It's been awhile since I've

painted more than a couple of

paintings

during the course of a week.

I've done the best I could

with the time I've had...

this piece

BLACKBIRDS ON A FLORAL BRANCH

is a rather sweet little piece

12" x 16"

Acrylic paints and textures

on gallery wrapped canvas.

I have several

other new paintings finished

that I'll be listing tomorrow.

This is the only

one I've been able

to photograph.

New Prints to be Listed

Here are a couple of new prints

that I will be listing in my shop.

The top photo is of my original painting

'Abstract Poppy with Vase.'

The bottom photo features poppies from

an original painting, combined in a digital

background.