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and other stuff~

I've been resizing and uploading and formatting and labeling and arranging and cursing and reloading and re-labelling and, well, you get the idea.
But the result is that I now have some new cards and other goodies up in my shops!

First up is Cafe Press. I did some journals, Valentines, postcards, notecards, magnets and stickers with the 4 red and pink yarn images I created recently. They're in the Fuzzy Valentine section (which also has some ThankYou, Birthday, and Blank cards with those same images.)



Next is Greeting Card Universe. I did a lot of cards, and even though I used the same images, I did some different colored backgrounds on a couple of them, just to be different. I also customized them a bit more, with titles like "Sweetheart", "Mom", "All You Need Is LOVE", etc.



I also made cards for other occasions with some of the other yarn images. These are in Greeting Card Universe too.



Both places let you buy one card at a time. Greeting Card Universe just has cards.
At Cafe Press you can get packs of 10 or 20 cards, and the price goes down a bit that way. You can also get the other goodies there.
I'm not trying to doing a hard sell here, I'm just saying.

If you do go have a look, and find any mistakes or glitches, please tell me. I'm a little cross-eyed from looking at these same little pieces and typing in the same information umpteen-million times.
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I just read about Heath Ledger. WOW, he was young. How tragic.

Good Morning:

It's been such a very long time since I've added an entry to my blog. I want to thank all of you who continue to check and read my blog.

Things are hectic around here right now, to say the least, but I still intend to put forth an effort to blog once a week or so. I miss blogging on a daily basis, but currently, my life just doesn't allow for that luxury of time.

I do have a few spare moments this morning, so I thought I would quickly share a little bit of the holidays with you. (And show you my newest collage print).

We had a very nice and quiet Thanksgiving. Each year sort of blends into the previous and will blend into the next. Our Thanksgivings are always enjoyable, but ultimately predictible. Although, I must say, our turkey was better than usual, as Ava (my daughter) prepared it this year. She added a few tasty items inside the bird and stuffed butter under the skin. It truly did make a difference....



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Now, we've just about finished putting our Christmas decorations up indoors and out. Mind you, it's taken over a week!! My main Christmas tree in the formal living room is huge. It measures 9 ft. high by 6 ft. wide. Being that I am only
5 feet 4-1/2", decorating the tree is quite a task. Obviously there is a ladder involved!! I will admit, the task is more difficult than it need be, considering the technique that I choose to use for the lights. Instead of roping the lights around the tree like so many sane folks do, I insist on wrapping each limb up, then twist the strand around the tip and back down the limb, twist around the limb base and over to the next. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but basically it gives such a big tree a lot of depth when the lights are on. There are lights all through the tree instead of just on the outside. Once the lights are done, it's on to the decorating. I really love my tree AFTER it's decorated, and I wish I could get a better picture, so you could really see the colors....



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Last Sunday, we went to the Orange County Fair Grounds to see Cirque Du Soleil's newest show "Corteo". We bought the tickets almost a year ago, and have been waiting patiently to see the show. We were fortunate to have been able to purchase front row tickets at the time. The show was fabulous, as always, and it's the first time that my daughter Ava has come with us to a Cirque show. She really had a great time, and was so intrigued by the fact that we were in the front row. The performers make eye contact with you and talk to you. Unfortunately, my two teen-age sons have never had any interest in seeing Cirque Du Soleil. As a matter of fact, they are entirely repulsed by them!! I suppose that's fairly common. Not too many teen boys are fans of Cirque. They just don't know what they're missing!! Here's a picture of the "Grand Chapiteau"...



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And....one last bit. Here's my newest 5" x 7" collage print freshly listed in My Etsy Shop.

George Takes Safari


Obviously, the little boy in the original vintage photo was named George. I think he just looks ready for any adventure that may come his way. This collage has also been made into a greeting card in my Greeting Card Universe shop.

And...one more brutal sales pitch before signing off, if you don't mind !! With Christmas quickly approaching, lots of people are shopping online to avoid the crowds. Here's the address to our online shopping mall: All Around The Mall.com
Each evening, Gary (my husband) posts some of the great deals and special sales on the Mall blog, which can be found HERE...

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Thanks ever so much for your continued curiosity with my blog.

Until Next Time:
Kim
Garden Painter Art

A few months ago I found a fun website that allows artists to sell greeting cards with their own images on them. It's one of three places you can buy my work online (the others being etsy and cafépress) because it's free to upload as many images as I like and I get a bit of a royalty every time something sells. This, I feel, has been a good opportunity to make a little money off of images that I have created that are not yet owned by someone else.

I just received a bit of a coupon via email for this site which I'd like to pass along to anyone interested in buying some cards from artists such as myself. The promo code you have to enter is FALL 199 (which you enter at the checkout). This makes each card only $1.99 US which currently is almost on par with the Canadian dollar.

Click on the title of this blog to go to Greeting Card Universe.

Also, all of the cards on my site are now available as free personable ecards.

Good Morning:

How utterly refreshing a cool morning rain can be. The covering of hot summer dust is cleansed away and the air smells of leaves and grass. I find it difficult each year to say good-bye to summertime, but when it gets to the point of no turning back, I'm always ready to savor the oranges and yellows of Autumn. And although my home is in the Southern California desert, we get an intense splattering of fall foliage in my neighborhood...



Ava (my daughter) and I spent yesterday afternoon painting "funny face rocks". We line them up on our front porch pathway during the Halloween season. We painted them 3 or 4 years ago, but they had weathered and the paint had started to chip and crack. So....we dumped all the rocks in a big tub full of soapy water and scrubbed the old faces off. Now, we're painting fresh new faces for this Halloween. I am looking forward to painting more later today. It's relaxing and trivial, which is exactly why I love doing it. C'mon, who really needs rocks with faces? It's a project that can be done with no true importance attached to them. No post office to take them to and no real deadlines. Just Ava and I, simply painting rocks and making memories!!

Before


After


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I listed a print of one of my absolute favorite collage ACEOs yesterday in My Etsy Shop. It's called "A Simple Winter Cardinal". I love this particular collage because it appears to be so simple, yet it was one of the most difficult collages that I've ever attempted. There were so many levels and layers that needed to be considered, yet the finished product seems so quiet.



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I also added several more greeting cards to my greeting card shop.

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As always, I appreciate the time you spend reading my blog and commenting.

Until Next Time:
Kim
Garden Painter Art

Good Morning Friends:

Originally, I had intentions of going to the beach today, but alas...Autumn has taken over in my household. Not a single soul wanted to join me on one last summer trip to the ocean, and I even tried bribing with cash money!! Go figure. So, I will continue to dream of the sea breeze and the warm sun on my shoulders. In reality, I will be helping my daughter plan out some new Halloween decorations for the house. We won't put them up until October 1st, but we have lots of work to do.

The long and hot/dry summer has left my garden looking tired and drab. This is all the color she has left...



So much work needs to be done, but I am struggling to find the heart and the time to do it. Clean up for the Fall is all that's needed, so this weekend I will force myself to go out and cut back and tidy up. I bought 8 packages of various types of sunflowers earlier on, but haven't planted them yet. It's too late to have a fall harvest, but I'll plant them anyway, as I'm really using them as a food source for the goldfinch:



I've been working hard to find photos and collage pieces to use in My Greeting Card Shop. Unfortunately, I can't use any of my ACEO images because they aren't big enough. I can't resize them because they'll be too grainy. So, I can only use the scanned images from my 5" x 7" or bigger pieces. I'm also using a lot of photography. If anyone would care to take the time, I would love it if you would go to my shop and rate and/or comment on some of my cards!!

Just on a whim, I listed two "Christmas Crow" ACEO prints in My Etsy Shop. The originals are long sold, in 2005, but I still have access to the scans:

Christmas Crow #1



Christmas Crow #2



Well, I'm off to run around. Meds to my mom, Brayden (my almost 18 year old) to the show to meet a friend, then to the grocery and post office. Doesn't leave much time for art.

Until Next Time:
Kim
Garden Painter Art

Good Morning Bloggers:

Monday is upon us, which leaves another 6 days to start anew. There's a fresh feeling in the air this morning, almost Fall, but not quite. My daughter is already making her grand plans for the Halloween season, but I'm still dreaming of the beach and the warmth of the summer sun.

Yesterday afternoon we took my mom to dinner for her 80th birthday and had a great time. She ordered Prime Rib and the restaurant brought her an ice cream sundae to celebrate. She received a little birthday money in the mail last week, and she's decided what she wants to use it for. Get this: she's 80 and finally she's going to get her ears pierced!! Yippeee....I'm so happy. She's wanted to do this for so long, but, for whatever reasons, she didn't. I'll take her to get them pierced later this week. Considering the amount of piercings in my family, it's about time she gets pierced. One of my sons has a pierced ear, my daughter has pierced ears plus a pierced cartilage. I have several ear piercings, a cartilage piercing and a pierced nose, so go figure that it's taken her so long....

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I must admit, I'm a brave and bold soul... I listed 4 ACEO prints in My Etsy Shop today that are from my very early ACEO days. I have been a collage artist for years, but I worked in bigger sizes than 2-1/2" x 3-1/2". When I tried my hand at collaging in such a small size, it took a while to perfect it. The compositions of my early collage ACEOs leave much to be desired!! BUT... the 4 card prints that I listed are Halloween themed, and I love Halloween. I'll take them out of my Etsy shop as soon as the Halloween season is over.

OKAY....promise not to laugh..here they are:

Halloween Aliens


Don't Choke The Cat


The Littlest Witch


Harvest Crows


All of the originals were sold several years ago on eBay. Way back in the early ACEO days. I'm almost ashamed of these collage cards, but hey, looking back on the earlier cards helps me to see how much I've grown in small format art.

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I put up 6 more cards in My Greeting Card Boutique. I intend to put up a few more today. It can sometimes take up to 24 hours for approval, so I'll go in this morning and add 2 or 3 more so they will be approved by tomorrow.

Thanks ever so much for taking the time to stop by my blog.

Until Next Time:
Kim
Garden Painter Art

I'm freshly home from church today and ready for a nice warm day. The blistering sun of a couple weeks ago has, little by little, cooled to a pleasant, late summer warmth.

We had a lovely day at the beach on Friday, and I can't quite convince myself not to go back again this coming week. Maybe just for a few hours on Tuesday or Friday. We'll see....

We had a friendly seagull visit us for awhile on Friday....



Then he called in the rest of his friends and it got too creepy, so, unfortunately, I was compelled to have my daughter give them a little spook. Just enough to cause them to fly a couple of feet to our right.



I'm so happy that I was able to get 26 greeting cards approved for my new "card boutique". Some have verses and some are blank. If you have a chance, I would truly appreciate it if you could stop by my shop and have a look. AND....please, let me know what you think. Would you buy such quirky cards?

This is where my cards can be found: Kim's Card Boutique.

Some of the cards are collages and some are photos. I have two pages up, so when you've finished looking at the first page, remember to click on next at the bottom of the page so you can see all the cards.

Well, I'm off for the day. My mom just celebrated her 80th birthday on September 4th and we're taking her to The Outback for a belated birthday celebration.

Hope this gorgeous Sunday afternoon finds you blessed and content.

Until Next Time:
Kim
Garden Painter Art
gnarly-dolls

Well, here it is midnight already and I'm still up and about. I'm just finishing up a book called "The Glass Castle" and I can't go to bed without getting to the very end. It's fascinating, horrifying and heart warming all at once. I'm anxious to read the last line, but sad at the thought of leaving the characters behind.

I'm off to the beach tomorrow morning, so I won't be home to blog. I thought I would sneak in a "quickie" blog post on my husband's laptop before going to bed. I don't have access to any of my photos from this computer BUT...what I really want to do is share my new greeting card shop with you!! I was introduced to "Greeting Card Universe" by Diane Duda. She's an incredible artist with an upbeat flavor to her characters, and I'm sure, many of you already know who she is. She has a shop at Greeting Card Universe as well. Stop by and have a look at her cards as they are charming and whimsical.

I hope this finds you well and content.

Until Next time:
Kim
Garden Painter Art

This is an excellent idea and opportunity for folks around DC to offer practical help to those in need...

USA Freedom Corps Capitol PurSuit Drive-Washington DC.

Thousands of Americans including: youths in foster care, adults, teens, ex-offenders, and veterans who have come from low income environments are transitioning back into the workforce every day. Affording proper attire for interviews and work is an enormous obstacle for these citizens, so the USA Freedom Corps office will be partnering with the Capitol PurSuit Drive from June 13th until June 25th.

Please bring the following used items to be donated: business suits, dress shirts, blouses (on hangers, please), belts, and shoes. Donated items should be in usable condition. This is your opportunity to literally give the suit off your back to help fellow Americans secure their futures. All donations are tax deductible, and receipts are available upon request.

There will be four collection points for the Capitol PurSuit Drive:
* Ike's Eatery
* 1800 G Street, 9th floor lobby
* West Wing Lobby and Ground Floor
* USA Freedom Corps 736 Jackson Place

The donated items will be distributed among three national charities: Working Wardrobes, The Women’s Alliance, and Career Gear. A portion of the donations will also be distributed in the D.C. area through several nonprofit organizations.

For any questions, please call the USA Freedom Corps office at 456-7381. All suits should be delivered to one of the collection points no later than 5pm on Monday, June 25th.

Here's a site I may have blogged months ago. It seems familiar, but then again...who knows. It's 1001 Journals. It's a site showcasing artist's journals of all types.

I uploaded some cards to my Greeting Card Universe Site. I'm still not totally at peace with some aspects of the image handling and a few other things, but I'm trying it out anyway.

Greeting Card Universe is another place to get your art sold online. I just heard of it today and have begun searching out the terms and agreements. It looks promising so far.