Archive for August, 2011
Some of you probably know about my husband having a near-fatal heart attack in September of 2007. As horrifying and life changing as it was, it turned out well for us. He lived. We’re eating healthier and living active lives. We have a new child in our home. I hope that we appreciate each other more. But let’s face it – we live a “normal” life. We take each other for granted from time to time like any family does.
This morning I read about blogger Jennifer Perillo who recently lost her husband to a heart attack. She wrote about making pancakes and how her passion for food is helping her cope with thinking about all the other awful things you go through when a loved one dies. And my mind wandered not so far to imagine what my life would be like if my husband’s heart attacked him again and this time we weren’t in a hospital when it happened. What if we don’t make it in time? What if no one was home or around to help him?
I know that bad things can happen anytime for any number of reasons and I shouldn’t over-indulge my worrisome side. I know I can’t always be there to protect or save my loved ones from harm. There’s a lot of things I can’t do. I suppose the only thing I can do is love my family and friends while they are here.
I can also donate to Bloggers Without Borders and ask you to donate to the worthy cause of others in need. Currently donations are going towards #afundforjennie which will bring much needed funding to Jennifer Perillo and her two children.
Anyone notice this great big even round number looking so proud and glorious on my Etsy shop page? I did. I am so thrilled to have 4000 items sold in Etsy-land. It’s an honor to have painted for you. I’d like to give an acceptance-style speech because I know you all are hoping for one.
I’d like to thank my family for letting me ignore them many mornings as I package and ship orders from the previous day. I’d like to thank my postal service workers for their dedication and endurance of my mailbox being stuffed full of parcels. I’d like to thank the makers of the “donut store blend” coffee I drink every morning making packing, shipping, painting, and so much more move a little faster. I’d like to thank Walgreens for being open 24 hours when I need a certain size envelope or have run out of packing tape. Gosh, there are so many to thank….wait don’t start the music….well – in short, thanks to everyone who has supported my little art-venture in business. I’ve enjoyed the ride.
Here’s to 400o more!
I found a little piece of heaven right in my neighborhood. In downtown Overland Park there’s a little place called Clock Tower Bakery and Cafe. So what elevates this place to heavenly status? Delicious food of course. But more than that; if you’re a weirdo like me and enjoy a bit of chef voyeurism this is your place. The seating choices are traditional style at the front with lots of windows and passers by OR along the edge of the bakery where you can watch by windows the chefs preparing the food. I’d rather watch food get made than people walk by. But that’s me. I tried to slyly snap this photo but my husband informed me that she totally saw me take this picture and I may have embarrassed her. I should have asked. But I often act without permission. It’s my shy side playing pretend rebel. Regardless – here is a photo no one needs permission to take. It’s my vanilla espresso cupcake and it was delightfully soft and sweet. And the other half is in my fridge….gotta go!
Mine just happens to be post cards. I love them. I do, I really love them. And do you know the best place to buy post cards? Museum gift shops. I will not leave a museum without stopping by the gift shop and grabbing post cards. It’s great when they are selling a post card of an artwork you actually saw in person so that you can take the memory home forever. But sometimes they just have whatever old random card out there from things that aren’t even on view at the moment which can be really annoying…ahem…excuse me, achoo Whitney Museum….cough.
Anyway – this post is just an overly excited pre-post because I have a plan for Sunday. I’m planning to visit the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art to see Revelations; Major Paintings by Jules Olitski. It dawned on me tonight that I will get a chance to add to my collection of wonderful museum post cards (which I keep separate my my elaborate collection of truck stop postcards which is a post for another time). And this revelation of my own sends me whirling with excitement. Whirling. For post cards. Yes.
Do you have an unusual passion for specific kind of souvenir? Or just any weird collections of note? Do tell…
…With my little eye….three new paintings that I finished over the weekend. I’ll post them for sale soon. Maybe even before my Back to School Bash is over. Wouldn’t you like to save 15% off on all artworks? Speaking of good deals - don’t forget to enter this give-away I am sponsoring. You could win a very cool stamp!
I hope you are having a great start to your work week. If not, well that stinks. Better days are on the way….
The edge of reason that is. It’s the only way I can describe my emotional state after my first full week of teaching full time. My brain is having trouble completing its own thoughts. So feast your eyeballs on these photos and try to unscramble my ramblings.
Friday was national photography day and I wanted to post these pictures from my classroom yesterday. But big storms blew out our power for most of the day and sent me whirling back in time to a place where a newspaper was the only source of morning entertainment. Love those last minute routine switcheroos that keep you on your toes, don’t you?
So here we are Saturday morning. I’m exhausted. My throat is dry from talking in my teacher voice. I’m looking forward to soaking up a whole lot of nothing in particular this weekend. What will you do? Oh, and one more picture. This one is my favorite. Not just because it is an awesome picture. I peeled everyone of these suckers:
Crayon peeling. Yep. I’m pretty proud of that accomplishment. Now if you’ll excuse me I have some more coffee to drink and a hot date with my daughter to watch Project Runway.
The Light of Day - Art Print 3.5x5 on Etsy
It feels good to be back in the classroom. Except for the part where I am not home long enough to do anything during the week except cook food, clean up, do laundry, and do some Etsy shop keeping. Thank goodness I have oodles and oodles of things to sell (And by the way, they are all on sale for my Back to School Bash that you would know about already if you are a fan on facebook). Staying connected to my shop makes me feel great and I love interacting with people who appreciate my artwork. I’m closing in on a total of 4000 sales on Etsy which means 4000 things I have made are now spread out across the world. Wow! Okay so that’s a lot to wrap my brain around and my brain is really really defeated from thinking about lesson plans, seating charts, this painting or that one….green or black backgrounds….crayons or oil pastels…oh the second guessing begins! And never ends…..
I’m looking for ways to celebrate the milestone of selling 400o things on Etsy. If you have any ideas feel free to share them here! Another sale….another give away…maybe I could take all of you out for ice cream – I WISH!
If you’ve ever looked at my art and though “Gee, this is really darn cute, it would look great as a rubber stamp….”
Well this is your lucky day! Keep reading to find out how you can enter to win this wonderful customizable rubber stamp made by Terbear Collectibles featuring one of my darling little birdie artworks. The winner will decide what words will customize this little cutie. Your Etsy shop name, your website, your address, special note of thanks, or just about anything that will fit!
First of all, let me just say that I don’t have a lot of contests on my blog. They take a lot of energy to run and frankly I don’t want to do it for just anybody. But Terbear is not just anybody. I have used her stamps for ages! I use them every day in fact because they make wonderful packaging additions. If you’re an Etsy seller in need of some great packaging design perks or if you’re just a avid stamper or scrapbooker you will be totally satisfied with the craftsmanship and design Terbear provides. Here are some of the ways I use the stamps:
So whaddya gotta do to win a super sweet custom stamp of your very own?
1. Comment here first with your contact info.
2. “like” Terbear Collectables on Facebook.
4. Share Terbear store with your pals on Facebook.
5. Tweet about Terbear on Twitter.
Make sure you come back to this post and comment that you’ve done numbers 2-5, if you choose to do so. Each comment on this blog post is worth one entry. You could have up to 5 entries! The winner will be chosen by a random number generator. The contest ends on August 29th, a Monday – what a great way to start your week off – winning a marvelous prize!
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!
Are you totally captivated by the awesomeness of these stamps? Go ahead and shop in her store with coupon code “laurenalexander” you’ll get 10% off the original price!
Good luck!
A couple days ago a friend posted on Facebook a question I wanted to answer but couldn’t at the time think of a reasonable answer. It wasn’t until today when I was walking home from the farmer’s market carrying a sack of tomatoes and listening to music that I found my answer. She asked;
If you were going to give your Summer 2011 a title or headline, what would it be?
Me: A Mixed Bag
What would yours be?
