Butterfly Celebration

I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking. A total of about 6 hours, (probably more) painting this Butterfly Celebration on a 3.5" frosted glass ornament. Not just for Christmas. You can click on the pictures for a larger view. Title links to my shop.

I have another one in the works - a smaller one on a silver lined ornament with my own paint mixture - still glass paint - just my own special mix!

Thanks for looking!

Totally Tyra On ArtFire

Totally Tyra from Keller, Texas is pretty versatile, handmade cards, embroidered burp clothes and onesies, bags, and more. I like this card - with all our technology, sometimes a nice card with a handwritten note is such a nice change of pace, especially when it has these bright cheery sunflowers on it.
or if sunflowers aren't your person's cup of tea - there's this sweet purple flower - Nicely made handmade cards - and you won't believe how inexpensive these cards are - I'm not telling, you'll just have to go look for yourself! :)

Now this is just too cute! And is sort of making me laugh, I can't help but wonder what my daughter would do if I got this for my new grandbaby - well if baby is a girl - we don't know yet! Well, she liked running around in her ballet outfits so why shouldn't her baby do it too! Cute!

Totally Tyra doesn't have a lot of items in her studio, but she does have a variety - great prices, and she has Custom Embroidered Gifts on her avatar - so if you are looking for something special for that special little someone - check out this sweet studio -

Title links to Totally Tyra's studio.

Dancing Wind Designs

Dancing Wind Designs, from Kingsland Georgia makes handwoven seed bead creations. I love seeing what people do with seedbeads. I've done a bit of that myself - and still have a lot of seedbeads, but I can say I have never tried anything as extensive as this gorgeous copper lined seed bead lariat necklace. Thats an awesome combination of seed beads - and so nicely done.
This beautiful silky red and gold seedbead swag necklace is pretty awesome. Silky - it is amazing when you do certain things with seedbeads - they do have this very silky feeling to them. This is quite a stunning piece -

and last but not least by any means - blue! Blue and gold coral fringe earrings. Now, I guess what you call these depends on where you live. I would call them twiggy earrings - for you people who are thinking of that skinny lady - no not that kind of twiggy- Maybe coral fringe is a better name for these! Whatever you call them, they are neat earrings! For such a simple design, they do take a little bit of work - yes I've tried this design, it's not difficult - but it does take a little time to wind the wire through all those little itty bitty beads! And she does it very well!

Go pay a visit to Dancing Wind Designs on ArtFire, it's so fun seeing all the different styles of jewelry created in this world!

Title links to this great studio on ArtFire!

LicaLee On ArtFire

I guess I forgot to resize the photos - so you get big photos on this one!
So, really I'm going to promote someone that does something that does similar work to what I do? Oh come on now!!

Yeah, I am!

LicaLee out of Milwaukee, Wi does some pretty cool stuff. And has very reasonable prices. LicaLee does quite a bit with ceramic pieces from broken plates, and they make some really neat pendants I think. And leaves - some really neat leaves - in different colors and sizes - you can even custom order one!

I really like this fiery orange and red piece - I admit, red is not a color I work with very much - and don't wear much of - but I still like this.

I really like this ceramic piece - of course - it's a flower!

and the leaves - wonder if they would make people think of being more green - in recycling and the like! She has sold some of the leaves I've seen in her shop, they were pretty cool too! And it looks like she does a nice neat soldering job!
So, if you are looking for something a little bit different, but not too crazy, this is a great shop with some pretty cool items, go check it out!

Title links to LicaLee's studio on ArtFire.

Strange and Even Stranger

This has been a strange week - and somewhat of a rough week. I find myself once again behind on the Crazy Train blog - and will have to play catchup again - but before I get into that, I wanted to write about this.

I went to college 20 years after I graduated from high school. And I will be the 1st to admit that high school - heck school in general from early on was not always the best experience. Following in the footsteps of my sister and brother was really not in my favor - why - because they were both very good students, and I was the quiet daydreaming kid in the corner! However college felt like the right thing to do -

The 1st semester was so exciting - I didn't sit in the corner, but I was still pretty quiet - at least at the beginning. One of my classes, "Communications for Small Groups" quickly became one of my favorite classes. We discussed a variety of topics - in and out of small groups. I rarely made comments, I wasn't sure about my thoughts, my ideas, then one day just as I was contemplating about raising my hand to say something, a young lady said just about the same exact thing I was thinking. I began noticing that other people, mostly younger and right out of high school had similar thoughts to mine. OK - so I got bolder and starting adding my comments. Now, when we were in our small groups and going through certain exercises, I had to talk - but in the larger class group, it took a while.

This is my round a bout way of saying that sometimes, even artists will have the same idea, maybe even the same process or medium as someone else at the very same time. I recently found myself in sort of a strange situation, on a forum that I'm a member of. I had been playing around with the stained glass butterfly pattern, and had cut a couple of different style wings to see what they would look like. They didn't really work with the other pieces of glass, but I was left with these butterfly wings. I really did get caught up in the butterfly idea - and some of you know where part of this started - but it's also the very 1st thing I learned to do in stained glass - and they are fun to play with.

Well, so I thought - pendants - they would make cool pendants! I cut out some more and started playing around with them.

A day or two later, on this forum I ran across someone who had just made - you got it -a butterfly wing pendant - and it's even out of glass - dichoric glass. So, a little different, same idea.

I just left a comment about how pretty it was, but didn't say anything about just having the same idea.

So, now what to do - I had 10 pieces of glass cut out, wrapped and soldered, and some of them had the 1st layer of paint on them.

ONe of my art instructors told us a number of times that in reality there really are very few truly unique and new ideas in the world anymore - whether it's art or anything else for that matter. Just about every thing that we have, do, art, technology, etc is based on former ideas. Usually somebody elses idea, and that may have been built on somebody else's idea...................

So, what this boils down to - is before you go accusing someone of copying you, - do realize that it is possible for 2 different people to have similar or the same idea around the same time. Now, if they are making an exact duplicate of something that you know you put out there 1st, that may be a different story -

So I'd like to introduce my "On The Wings of A Butterfly" pendants. Maybe I should change it to "wing" but wings sounds better! As of right now, I have 10 of the wings a couple that are odd shapes that I painted part of a wing design on.

So, of course I forgot to put the pictures in 1st and now for some reason I can't copy and paste the text above the pictures!

As I said - it just keeps getting stranger!

Not Quite a Zen Walk

Unfortunately I don't live near a big beautiful park like Jenjen does - but the apt complex where I live has quite a few trees, and I plant a few flowers in pots, so I manage to get a little bit of a nature fix! We also have a fair number of birds - sparrows, mourning doves, hummingbirds, used to get more - but now the other ones hang out across the street since we don't have our ponds on the this side anymore.

So, I went out to water my plants and noticed that I had another gardenia bloom. YAY! I get so excited when I get gardenia blooms - not only are they such pretty flowers, I love the way they smell.

I also have some pretty purple pansies - that I had to put in the shade yesterday as the sun is getting too intense for them to be in the full sun.

As, I was checking one group of pansies to see if they needed any water, I glanced at the pot and then back again to see this little guy poking his nose up over the edge of the pot!

I was kind of surprised as I haven't seen any frogs here since they filled in the ponds. So, I looked again, and sure enough, there he was! What a cute little green frog.

Then I hear a very faint rustle and was wondering what it could be................................................

and there beside him peeking out inbetween the leaves, was another little green frog. At first he was looking straight ahead - almost directly at me, and then I saw the funniest thing,

the 2nd frog turned to the 1st one - and it looked like he was whispering something in his ear. Do frogs have ears???

I thought, this is too funny, maybe Dragon Lady Jane is right, maybe we are enchanted! and then I saw both frogs poke their little heads up a little higher and just as they did, I realized they were trying to get a better look at

this guy! Now, this particular hummingbird, is quite shy - if he sees me move, hears me, he's gone - and if I click the camera when he's at the feeder or even nearby

ZOOM

He's gone!

I was very surprised he didn't take off the 1st time I snapped a pic of him - but he was still there!

He did sort of play hide and seek with me - these pics are every 2nd - 3rd picture!

I realize they aren't "picture perfect" - but I'm pretty happy to have even these few with him in them - and so I thought I would share a little of my enchanting afternoon with you!

I love these little guys -

I missed the baby mourning doves - they were in the nest last week, but now they are gone! Not sure if mom moved them or what - haven't seen them at all, and they didn't look big enough to fly yet. But, how cool is that - for at least 2 years in a row, there has been a mourning dove nest in the tree next door to me - that hangs over quite a bit into my little yard.

Hope you enjoyed my Not Quite Zen Walk - that was really pretty zen!

And Sometimes You Do Get What You Want

Every now and then, I have to put some personal stuff on here! And I'm patting myself on the back because I'm finally caught up with the crazy train. In some ways it seems like it's not fair to the ones that I missed on the days that I was supposed to promote them - but I did a bit of tweeting of all the people I missed - so their promotion days sort of got extended. Hopefully, I will now be able to stay caught up - at least for a while!

Now - as to the title - I use the bus to get around, I don't own a car, so I'm very dependant on the bus system. I apply to the tansit dept every year for a special id that allows me to ride the bus for a lower rate - I got my new id the beginning of May this year - they are supposed to be good for 1 year right. Well, the other day I just happened to realize that my id had an expiration date of May 2009 on it! oops.

So, I called the transit dept - which actually gets switched to a city answering system with some of the most polite people I've ever encountered - the young man took the message and forwarded it to the appropriate person. Within 2 hours I got a call from a very nice lady with the transit dept who said she would print out a new id for me with the corrected date on it and mail it out to me tomorrow! Which is just what I asked for. I really didn't want to have to make a special trip downtown to get a new id - it's a 45 minute ride one way - and I don't really have any other reason to go there - so I was really happy that she said she would mail it to me!

So, you never know, you may just get what you ask for - if you ask!

Haffina Creations on ArtFire

Haffina is a busy mum of 5 in South Australia - and is a very versatile artist. Not only does she make clay beads, she does chainmaille, macrame, among other creative endeavors. Having played around with clay a bit myself, I highly respect the fine art of being able to create a bead or anything out of this wonderful medium. My cames usually sort of mushed together making a rather disturbed looking bead, or what ever I was trying to do. I think these clay beads are cool - love the colors - turquoise and purple - one of my fav color combinations.
Now I admit that some of the color choices are not my cup of tea - but - they may be yours. However, that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the workmanship, and creativeness that went into some of Haffina's pieces. I think the hippie in me is drawn to this sort of bohemian style bracelet. Some people look wonderful in yellows - I don't! I love the color - but it doesn't look good on me! I know a few people that yellow does look great on though!

Chainmaille - Chainmaille is amazing! Anyone that can put all those rings together has to be a very agile and patient person. I've tried this - I didn't throw the pliers, did say a few choice words and after 2 hrs had about 1/2 inch of a rather loose mangled mess!

If hot pink isn't your choice of colors - send her a message - she will do custom orders - and I'm sure would be more than happy to create a wonderful chainmaille creation in whatever colors you like.

Of course the title links to this very talented artisans shop on ArtFire.

Popnicute On ArtFire

Popnicute - not only do we get wonderfully creative items on ArtFire, we get creative names as well! And Kay Sommers, creator of Popnicute is one creative lady! She is also very supportive of other people's endeavors, is very helpful in the forum, and features artists on her blog, without it being associated with the CrazyTrain.

This 1st piece, is "Lady Spider's Corset" a black glass cabochon wrapped in stainless steel wire - I think this is so cool - and what a name for it! I love it!
This copper birds nest with the robin eggs out of aqua terra jasper - is such a wonderful earthy creation along with Kay's signature cocoon wrapped bead dangling from the nest.

I love this very colorful tree of life pendant - You just have to keep looking at it to really see everything that is on there.

It really inspires me doing this Crazy Train promotion, I find so many wonderful creations by so many talented artisans. Do take a few minutes to visit their shops, you may be surprised at how affordable some of these works are! I think for the time and effort that obviously goes into many of these creations - that many of these artisans try very hard to keep their prices reasonable.

As usual, title links to Popnicute's studio on ArtFire

Designs By Patricia Hall on ArtFire

Patricia Hall out of Hillsborough, NC specializes in making natural stone, lampwork glass and shell beaded items.
Lampwork fascinates me - these lovely brown and cream colored beads are so cool - I love the way the colors swirl through the glass.

Or how about these with the caramel swirls with the little lines of blue - come to think of it - caramel - thats sort of what these remind me of!

And this is just stunning, with the 3 flat black agate beads with the jet glass beads! So Pretty - this one is on the last page of her listings so if you go looking for it - that's where it is!

Do check out this studio - she has some lovely jewelry - many with natural stones that are just beautiful!

Title links to Patricia Halls studio on ArtFire

Kickinskreations on ArtFire

Kickinskreations out of Ellenville NY - in the Catskill mountains makes some pretty awesome candles. In fact, I think most of these candles are just too pretty to even burn! I've made candles, but never anything as creative as this very talented candle maker does! I'm not going to say much more - just let the pictures speak for themselves! Enjoy! and yes of course the title links to this fantastic studio on ArtFire.

OHHHHH a Blackberry Pie candle! I'm droooling!!!!

Gott Beads On ArtFire

I usually take Sundays off from the computer, but because I'm still trying to play catchup for the Art Fire Crazy Train, here I am. I'm behind a couple of days - and hope to be caught up soon.

So, today I am featuring Gott Beads from Glendale, Az. Like many of us, she has managed to buy a lot of beads, and selling some of them. She has pretty awesome beads, like these lavender jade ones. I almost don't want to do features of bead shops, it's too tempting especially when they have good prices, and free shipping like this shop has!

I really like these Crazy Lace Agate Pyramid beads - those are really cool - what pretty colors in those. She has lots of natural stone beads, some dyed, some natural, so if you are into beads go check out this shop. And free shipping - what a deal! as usuall title links to the shop!

oooh these are tempting -

ATTORNEY GENERAL WARNING REGARDING CARE CREDIT/ GE MONEY BANK

Ok, so there really isn't an Attorney General warning out (that I know of) regarding Care Credit /GE Money Bank, but there should be!

So, here's the story.

I needed to get a crown put on a tooth. Not having enough money or the use of a credit card, I applied for a card through CareCredit. I was approved for $1,000.00. I used $534.38 of it for the crown. Cool - I got to save one of my teeth!

And now the fun begins!

I made one payment off $88.00 - well over my required minimum due, and even paid it before it was due! I made that payment on line at the GE Money Bank website. That payment went through just fine.
I made the next payment, on line also. for some reason it did not go through. Neither did the next 3 or 4 payments. I made up the payments as soon as possible either by phone or by mail. Now they were wanting to charge me for late fees and check return fees. NO way! I wrote them a letter stating that I didn't think I should have to pay these fees when this wasn't my fault that the payments didn't go through.
They sent a letter back saying I would not have to pay them.
I kept paying by mail, not trusting the on line thing.

I found myself at one point knowing my payment would not make it there in time, so I tried the online thing again, by the monthy due date. Guess what - the online payment didn't go through.

Now for some silly reason at one point, I signed up for their "insurance policy" - not sure why I did that - it cost me a little over $6.00 every month - heck, I'm already out of work!

So, anyway total due date was approaching, and I sat down and figured out how much I believed I still owed them. I paid that amount the day before the due date. However, they were already showing that I owed them more money than I thought I owed - a combination of finance charges, late fees and return fees?
OOPS - I had missed one of the insurance fees - so in reality I was short by $6. and some odd cents in my final payment, which I paid by the end of the month that the TOTAL was due.

OH yeah -did I mention this was a promotional thing - as long as you make your payments on time, and pay off the total by the due date you won't be charge finance charges. when I asked about those charges showing up on the bill, I was told by 2 different people that I would not be charged those as long as I paid it off on time.
I should also mention, I have used the same checking account with other companies to make payments on line with out any problems. This is the only company I have had problems with online payments.

So, technically speaking, I made every payment on time. The total due was paid on time - except for $6.00.
Do you think I should have to pay the late fees, check return fees and finance charges?

I wrote the AG's office in Florida and labeled it "Price Gouging" although technically it may not be due to a storm or something of that nature, it is price gouging or certainly unfair billing practices.

Wyred on Wire on ArtFire

And just how many wonderfully cool things can one find on ArtFire? And I love this name Wyred on Wire. From St. Stephen, NB this is Wyred's artist statement:
"My jewelry is a mirror. Not only does it show the reflection of myself,but also of you and your personality. I am compelled by a love triangle. My need for a creative venue, the need for beautiful objects to be manipulated and your need to be beautifully adorned.I most frequently work with Sterling silver, Gold filled, Copper, Brass, Leather,Gemstone, Swarovski Crystal, Pearls. However any medium that inspires my imagination to transpire can be found in my designs. I have been creating jewelry in some form or another since I was a small child. In the past 8 years is when I became serious about it and started to sell my jewelry."

Chances are I'm going to go for the blue items - some people think blue somehow links to depressive thoughts - I sort of think its just the opposite - I think blue is soothing, and airey, and just pretty. And aren't these really cool earrings - even the earwire is handmade! I really like the way the wire holding the stones is wrapped around the earwire with the little jewel dangling below it.
Or how about these little flowers - love the way the little green crystal pokes out sort of like a leaf really would! That's kind of cool! Wyred on Wire - exactly what these are! With lots of pretty jewels attached.

Of course there are some other very pretty jewelry items in this sweet studio, go take a look - some very creative handmade pieces.

I'd much rather have something unique and handmade than something that a zillion other people are wearing, wouldn't you?

Title links to the this fabulous studio on ArtFire