I Would Like To Thank The Academy

I Would Like To Thank The Academy....seriously, that is how I feel right now, because you see, it is a little before 8:00 on May 31st, I woke up about 30 minutes ago and turned on my computer and noticed that sometime in the night...I hit the 1000 sale mark in my shop.

That, my dear darling readers is something that I thought would never be possible when I signed up a little over a year ago, in fact selling my art there was an after thought, as I signed up simply to sell my comic.

And now, this is my life, my job. I am constantly being blown away by that.

So lately I have become totally and completely obsessed with a bunch of things, one being the color combination of blue and golds together, as you can see from the piece above. I never really used the colors together as I always thought they would remind me of my Junior High colors, but in fact they don't....now I am stifling the urge to make everything look like this.

I am also completely absorbed in Japanese Vogue (thanks Jody) I have told my dear bubs that it is really impossible for me to go back to American Vogue now, with the movie stars on the cover and lame people magazine style articles about said starlets....

I am also totally and completely into masks....or really anything that partially covers the face at all...I just can't get enough of them. In fact I bought some wonderful things from my friend Gillian that are mask related too...

sorry this is making little sense, I was up for most of the night as my poor bubs is very sick and I was sort of up listening and worrying for him. He works himself so hard you see, and it just makes me hurt all over knowing he feels bad....well that and knowing it was me that got him sick, but if we trace it back it was the mean cheese that got me sick, so there...my guilt is gone.

I have loads of packaging to do today and I should start soon, it will be 90 degrees today like yesterday and once it gets to be about noon I can hardly move without almost passing out. I also need to get some creating done as tomorrow will be a messed up day as my bubs and I are going to take a road trip down to see my show at Scribbles.

hope you all have a good day.

xoxoxo

Dear (Insert Name Here) Week 14

Dear Mr George Clooney

um, hi....how are you? It's been a while I know. I wanted to see how you were, I know I don't avidly stalk you the way I used to, but I did not want you to think I had forgotten about you completely, after all....that would be impossible to do you are George Clooney, friend to Brad and Angelina.

Yes, I am sorry but that is what you have become to me, just the friend to my celeb couple obsession. I remember several years ago when you were my number one obsession.

Hey, remember when I became totally obsessed with becoming your personal assistant? (the idea came to me after sitting through the credits on Oh, Brother Where Art Thou and seeing your assistants name in the credits, I turned to the no go hippie ex husband and said "I could do that").

The rest they say is history. I even half heartedly began to write a movie script, about a sort of down on her luck 20 something who becomes obsessed with the idea, the movie was a drama/comedy where this poor girl fixates on that idea instead of fixating what is wrong in her own life.

Throughout the never finished movie, there would be tears, laughter, and even some growing as a person, you would have made a small cameo in it too...well had I ever finished it, and had it gotten made.

Oh, and you can't forget that the lead character would have worn a sweet George Clooney t-shirt that had an iron on of you Mr. Clooney from the Facts of Life days...and under the dreamy picture of you it would have said "Clooney!" in sweet 1980's bubble letters or some crap.

So you see, I have come a long way....no more stalker girl for me...I bet you can sleep a little easier at night huh?

so...now to the point of the letter, um...can you give me Brad and Angelia's number, or just Angie's cell would be cool, I have a movie script to pitch to them.

xoxoxo
jennifer Gordon

come back weekend...come back

happy Tuesday morning!!

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend, whether it be long or short...I had a spectacularly relaxing one, you see bubs and I went nowhere and did nothing...no BBQ's no fire works...nothing, and it was still a bit blissful.

He got out of work Saturday and that began the weekend that was filled with eating junk foods (for dinner one night we had cheesecake and peanut butter ice cream) and lots of relaxing, napping, reading and then yes...even more sweets.

We did take a little jaunt to the small movie theater a few blocks from us to go see Pirates, which was by far the best of the three movies even though it had stuff I am not a fan of.

1- gross eyeball things
2- crabs (yes Aaron, you have now made ME scared of crabs too, you are right it's the pinchers and crabwalking)
3- Kiera Knightly

Then yesterday my bubs went back to work and I spent the day packaging things up and watching way too many hours of old school Degrassi High, I don;t know what it is but I am just a sucker for Canadian TV from when I was a teenager, don't even get me started on how much I love anything Anne Of Green Gable related!!!

I also managed to get some really good creative time in this weekend too, amidst the naps and the sweets.

So did anyone else watch the Miss Universe Pageant last night??? Well I did, and can I just say, the girls were especially slutty looking this year, and I swear Miss Korea looked like an adult film star, and...her name was "Honey Lee"...that is so not her real name.

I also like that Dava Navarro was one of the judges, and when he got to ask "the final question" to Miss Brazil (who was beautiful in a Las Vegas Showgirl kind of way), he basically was just hitting on her and called her "baby"

I also like that Miss USA fell on her but during the Evening Gown competition, and then got booed by the audience when she made it into the top 5....

sorry to geek out, but I do love the damn beauty pageants a lot...a real lot.

ok, must get back to work....

I have also realized that I am "this close" (ok 9 away) from hitting the 1000 items sold in my shop...which seems so strange and wonderful at the same time, I really feel like I should be doing something very special for the next 9 things sold, like free stuff or a special sale or something....

so...I guess I will do a sale, yes, that's it...I will give the sales until I hit 1000 a special 20% off. Just write "1000" in the message to seller and wait for a new invoice.

ok, that's enough business talk.....off to start my day.

xoxo

stuff and more stuff

good morning

si I had a bit of a restless night last night, as I was just about to finally drift off to sleep I felt a bit of a creepy crawly feeling....and no, it's not restless leg syndrome....I was at first petrified it was a spider, and really I did not want to start screaming and then my poor bubs would have a heart attack, so I got out of bed and in a sort of shuffle frenzy exited the room to turn on a light, and low and behold, there is a lady bug on my arm.

the one big that does not make me loose my mind with fright if it is on me, so then the dilemma...what to do with the bug, part of me says put it outside, the other part said...you are wearing your teeny tiny jammies, if you open the door the drunken neighbors will see you next to naked....so I just put the bug in the other room and went back to bed, closing the door behind me so it would not follow.

About 2 hours later I wake having a really fun coughing fit...it goes on and on I get up I have some sips of water and nothing, cough, cough, cough....finally it stops, as a treat I decide to have a spoonful of peanut butter ice cream (for medicinal throat purposes) so I have a taste and then go to bed, forgetting to re-brush my teeth, I have to get up again and brush them.

ok, now back to be.

Once asleep I have this dream, my bubs and I are living in a HUGE apartment that is basically a giant warehouse, with toms of room for a studio and a little bedroom off to the side, we have a section that looks like a playground for the mean cheese...it is an amazing place...and what is more amazing is that in the dream I know that I am only paying $300 a month in rent.

it all seems familiar, and then I realize that I have in fact had this dream before, and like always in the dream...the place is haunted...immediately in the dream (as I realize I am dreaming but cannot control it) there seems to be a windstorm, like a hurricane inside, and we can barely move and know we need to et out as something does not want us there, we try the doors but they are so hard to open, finally we do manage them and we are making our way down the stairs, we finally get there and see that only moments before that the wind had blown a city dumpster against the building and it appears that someone is crushed under it (like the wicked witch in Oz)...then I wake up.

I don't know what it all means, I have had a dream of the place before, but not the wind....but def. the place and it is always haunted.

so, that being the case and that being my night I am once again slightly off this morning, I know I have to get some work done and stay on a schedule, though frankly things have been very slow recently on etsy this past week has been very different than usual, though I love the recent pieces I am doing so at least I am not in self doubt mode at the moment, just a bit worried about the potential summer slowdown in internet shopping.

But like Scarlet O'Hara I won't worry about that today, I will worry about that tomorrow.

The piece I am featuring today was done in conjunction with the creative challenge on etsy, the theme this week was to do something based on our high school experience.

Some of you readers knew me in high school and know that I was not very into any kind of high school scene, I did not have many friends there at all, and in fact spent most of my time at a little coffee house in a neighboring town as well as at a run down and seedy theater seeing live music with the rest of the lost souls and "freaks". So, this piece is based on that time in my life, and it is for sale in my shop.

"So Many Lost Years"

I Belive I Am Coming Back From The Dead

Good Morning everyone

thank you all for well wishes and the like, you will all be happy to know I am feeling much better today, in fact yesterday all I did was nap all day, as I was so hoping to go out last night...(I know I know, I should have been resting, but hear me out).

So yesterday my Bubs and I had this conversation.

me: are you playing at the Treehouse tonight

bubs: no, I am going to see Downtrodn over at Skully's

me: they're playing at Skully's, that's awesome

bubs: too bad you're not going

me: I'm going

bubs: no, you're sick, I'm going, you're resting.

me- no.....I;m going.

bubs: it's too bad you can't come with with me "BanAndrew Dice Clay" is opening

me: I have no idea what that is

bubs: well, it's a guy wearing a banana costume and a leather jacket doing stand up comedy.

me- wait, does he smoke a cigar?

bubs: I'm not sure, why does it matter

me: it doesn't...I am going by the way.

bubs: no you're not


This conversation went on for most of the day, periodically I would sort of justy burst out with, "But Bubsie, it's BanAndrew Dice Clay...I NEED to see it"

in short, I ended up going, and franky BanAndrew Dice Clay....not very funny. I sort of pictured him doing for Banana suits what Eddie Izzard did for Cross dressing...but no, he was just a drunk guy in a banana suit telling bad fruit pun/sex jokes...the highlight of his performance was when a drunk girl walked in halfway through, and said in this wonderful bimbo voice...

dumb girl: oh, is that guy like in a banana suit

Banadrew Dice Clay: Oh, is that girl is a dumb slut suit

(crowd finally laughs)

Other than that the night was still fun, Downtrodn was awesome, then again they always are.

So that was my night, besides that all I have been doing is resting and I did manage to do a few pieces including this one shown today titled "My Mask Keeps Changing", I originally was not going to list it in my shop, I was just going to send it off for my show at Scribbles, but I love it so much I just had to list it.

Speaking of my show, in the next couple days I will be taking the majority of my paintings out of my shop and shipping them off for the show, so...now is the time, if there is anything you cannot live without you have to tell me, I will hold things for you if you are really going to buy something.

ok, enough of my babble, must either do some work or go back to bed...

xoxoxo
jenn

Dear (Insert Name Here) Week 13

(disclaimer.....my brain is mush and I am sick, please bear with me)

Dear Whoever it is that invented NyQuil, DaQuil...or there generic equivalent OR if that person is dead....the CEO of Vicks will be fine.

Hey buddy...what the hell is going on with your medicine, when I was little and had an illness I would always take NyQuill and be assured that I could at least sleep for a little while...

but seriously something is not right with your medicine now.

Ok, the box clearly states that it is the "Nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, stuffy head, fever, so you CAN REST medicine"

that being said....I was still all of those things, what the box should say is so Jenn can take it, be up for 30+ hours all the while hallucinating that there are cats in her apartment and seeing light orbs.

Now I know Nyquil can make you hallucinate, after all when I was small I had a rather bad ass neighbor girl who drank a whole bottle of it and ate a handful of Flintstone Vitamins, she often bragged about the "things she saw" before she had to get her stomach pumped.

Now, maybe it's not you...maybe it's me, maybe I have somehow built up an immunity over the years to cold medicines and allergy pills, maybe I am like the Elvis of cold medicine and I need "something more" to get me through, but I doubt it.

If it's osmehting you have done to my favorite nighttime cold medicine, please...I bed you, change it back, even my bubs begs you, as I kept him all night with my non stop sneezing and coughing.

yours,
cough....cough...

Jennifer Gordon

15 Things

morning.

First, big huge giant thank you to ALL of you who took the time, to read my near manic meltdown on Friday and respond with such wonderful things.

They meant so much to me, more in fact than you will ever know. You see, this is the tightrope I walk, when I combine what it is I do with who it is I am....all of a sudden I get those days that I think, that without my work, what am I...

and then the spiral begins, and well...you know the rest.

We had the little mean cheese this weekend and she gave me a present....a cold....not a nice present, but a present nonetheless. And, yes for the record I did just get over a cold...but lucky for me one of the medicines I am on sort of messes with my immune system sometimes.

but anyway, I am not feeling too bad right now, just sleepy.

SO on Friday I meant to do the following sort of tag, but I got sidetracked.

My wonderful friend Tara did this on her blog a while ago and I have been meaning to do it for a while.

so in her words..."The assignment is to list 15 things you would like to tell 15 people without naming names. The responses may not make sense to the readers but the therapy is valuable. Give it a try. You don't have to do 15 do 1 or 2; feeling particularly pent up, do 100."

1- where ever you are is home to me

2- I wish more than anything that we could meet in real life, as I think we would be real friends.

3- I should have gone to my senior prom with you, I am still sorry about that.

4- I have never been very good at being a daughter and at letting you love me, but I am trying.

5- you are a better artist than I could ever hope to be, I am both inspired by you and envious of you

6- you made me feel small and worthless, I should have had the strength to walk away sooner than I did

7- I wish you could see me now, I wonder if you would be proud.

8 - it is because of you that I am the person I am today.

9- you have seen me cry more times than anyone in the world, you also know all the good parts and bad parts of me, and you never made me feel bad about them.

10- when I got married I was thinking of you.

11- you are the type of friend that I need right now.

12- you need to give yourself more credit, I think you have an amazing talent that you just need to use.

13- I know I am hard to love.

14- I used to drink a lot using the excuse that I hated you, when the truth is I hated myself.

15- I wonder if we were friends just because next to me you thought you seemed prettier and thinner, once I was gone you had no use for me.

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

wow that did feel really good in a very Post Secret Kind of way! Well, that's all I have for you today, I will be back tomorrow, same blog time, same blog channel.

xoxoxo
jenn

sigh

oh good morning my lovely readers...

I am in a bad mood today, well not bad, really, just anxious, nervous, and raw.....

You see, I have been tense this week due to issues with the mean cheese and other "real life" things...so I have been pouring myself into my art making and that has been a wonderful place to be.

I am very protective of my art, what I do, how I do it, why I do it...when approached by a publisher once who wanted to feature my techniques in a book, I was in all honesty not too keen on that idea. I am kicking myself now....but that is not point.

I have had a wonderful "honeymoon" period on etsy, yes...etsy is filled with collage artists but it seemed that I was the only one using a lot of fashion imagery....that is not really the case anymore.

I see it starting to creep in...starting to become a "trend", I fear with every ounce of my soul that fashion imagery will soon become the new "put a bird on it" trend (have you noticed, everything has birds on it?).

Even a few months ago while in the bookstore I was flipping through Somerset Studio magazine and noticed an article on how to use fashion images in your collage work, I almost went so far as to buy it, before I thought better of it...I did not want a magazine to start shaping what I do....

does this make sense? I mean, I know there are just gobs of people who use fashion imagery, I know I am not unique or one of a kind....

But I am me....and my work is such a part of me...It just feels strange to look at other people's work (in real life, online, or in a magazine) and think...wow, that looks like something I did.

I am all over the place today....I think my main point is, I don't want to be just another collage artist in a crowd, with everyone's things looking the same, you know?

SO I won't be....As my brain and my body almost feel like they are going into Fight or Flight mode....and I can either run away or fight...and seeing as how much I love this, well you know, I'm going to fight.

Not to sound like a bad Karate instructor....but I need to "take it to the next level", I need to push myself, as right now I feel like I could be left behind.

When talking to my bubs about this, he is wonderful, right there on my side, his punk rock nature letting me know that copy cats are just that, copy cats, and that I have something that none of them do....I have myself. He let me vent, he listened to my insecurities, he cheered me on...and I saw in his eyes and heard in his words, that he was right there with me.

I am not going to censor what I do, for fear of using the same images or themes, I will not change who I am or what I want to do...not for fear of someone else...

Hell, I survived competitive bitches in professional theater, where there was always someone younger, prettier, thinner, and maybe even more talented than you always lurking behind you waiting to stab you in the back.

Art is my job, but it's also my passion and my life.

wow........ok that was long and rambling, and bitchy and insecure and all of the things that I sometimes don't like a bout myself, but here they are now being published on the internet.

thank you for reading them, thank you for taking the time to not only support me and my work, but also to support my tirades.

ok, I really need to get going now and start to prepare the house for the arrival of the mean cheese this weekend.

The image shown today is a new collage I listed in my shop last night, called "There Ghosts Often Wandered There"

thanks again for reading this, have a happy weekend!!!!!


xoxoxoxo
jenn

Happy Thusrday

ooh, good morning, as I type this I am snacking on pop tarts and drinking a now cold cup of coffee, but alas...too lazy to go and warm it up.

thanks everyone for reading my letter yesterday...and honestly, if someone finds Paris Hilton address for me and puts in in my comments, I will send that letter to her.

ok in other news...On Tuesday my bubs and I went to the Columbus Museum of Art, on a day date...it was nice, though the featured exhibit was really not my thing (Op Art of the 1960's) it was still a nice excursion.

My darling bubs had never been to an art museum before, he kept asking if there would be a "flume ride" as he loves those, and I just kept saying "yes baby I think it's in the next room"

I was going to take a ton of pictures, but with no flash and how dark they keep the rooms...they would all have just tuned out yucky...so I lieu of that, I decided instead to just take photos in the sculpture garden....

The first photo (at the top of the post) is of course a little SP of me and the bubs, a little kissy face ...we never have anyone to take photos of us, so all of our pictures are me taking them

Oh No....This Giant Bunny Is Coming For Us...Run...RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I assure you that though it looks like my bubs is going to fight the Pope, he tells me that was not what was happening, they were in fact playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors"...I think it was my bad photo angle that makes it look all the more menacing. I was inspired by the Op art Exhibit to change up the angle.
this one should be called...."Jenn Rips Off Monet", as some of you may know I have a "thing" for fountains, I love them, and it really takes ALL my willpower to not get in them. In fact there was a time when I had to be "removed" from the Fountain at Rockefeller Center. I am like a small child when I see them, all of a sudden I almost black out, and then....I'm in the fountain. The look of the water in this fountain is what kept me away.

also if you ever go into the fountain at Rockefeller Center, be warned...it is deeper than you think it is.


This photo is what I bought in the gift shop....this was of course after walking around with a fashion book for $70, a costume history book for $200, and another fashion book for $50...then I looked in my wallet and (huge melodramatic sigh) decided instead to get this little darling of a ring, for a mere $4 plus tax...sure it was in the kids section, but come on, it is too cool.

I feel like J.Lo or that poor wife of Kobe Bryant walking around with this ridiculous bling on my hand.


so, as a lot of you know, there has been a lot of blog tagging going around as of late, kind of like a case of mono in group of slutty friends...I love it, but alas I know it puts a lot of pressure on people, so I will not tag back.

this is a little tag called "4 things" which Karen Beth posted in her blog, very unofficially tagging people, but then later officially tagged me when I said it was cool.

So, here it is, feel free to play along as you wish, or not.

4 THINGS

4 Jobs I’ve held

1- magician's assistant
2- coffee barista
3- assistant gallery director
4- scenic artist

4 Movies I can watch over & over:

1- Bad News Bears (original)
2- Lord of the Rings Trilogy
3- Spiderman 2
4- Picnic at Hanging Rock

4 Places I’ve lived:

1- Bedford, New Hampshire
2- Goffstown, New Hampshire
3- Columbus Ohio
4- Spring Hill Florida (for like a month)

4 Categories of television programming I enjoy:

1- um.....Reality Crime shows, like America's Most Wanted, or Dateline, or Cops (this is really sad, I know
2- Heroes (not really a category, but it shoudl be)
3- Fashiony or Model related reality TV
4- Bad Teenage melodrama Soap Operas, 90210, Degrassi Junior High Old School, vintage Dawson's Creek...

4 Places I have been on holiday:

1- Belize
2- NYC
3- Niagara Falls
4- Memphis

4 of my favorite dishes:

1- cheesy noodles (my bubs makes them)
2- Bean and cheese burrito
3- pad thai
4- pizza

4 Websites I visit daily:

1- etsy
2- myspace
3- all the peeps in my blog gang
4- funkycarter.com

4 Places I’d rather be right now:

1- in bed
2- nyc
3- boston
4- anywhere with my bubs


that's all for now loves.

xoxoxo
jenn

Dear (Insert Name Here) week 12 (is it 12?)

Dear Paris Hilton

you know, part of me is sickened that I even had the urge write to you, I should just ignore you...in fact everyone should just ignore you.

But you see, I can't.

As I write this you will be going to jail soon, or maybe you are already there, you see I don't keep up that much with your antics...but I still feel in some little way, that I know you and I at least owe you a farewell.

How can we not all feel like we know you Paris, you are everywhere, we know where you party, what you wear, who you make out with, how you sing, how you drive, all your bff's, and frankly we even know how you have sex (thanks to "one night in paris").

Anyway, knowing all this about you, who are you really....are you really a lost little lamb that does not believe that driving drunk is wrong???

That was a really lame defense by the way, even for you.

I do have to give you props for once again being friends with Nicole Ritchie...who frankly is adorable as adorable gets, I am convinced that she is not actually a Ritchie, but the lost Olsen triplet...that is how I love her.

She was also the only saving grace of this months cover to Bazaar...

moving on...I also adore your sister Nicki...why can't we hear more about her??? Maybe now will be her time to shine with you being locked up in the slammer.

So now to the point of my letter...you do realize horrible things are going to happen to you while you are serving time, don't you?? I mean really, REALLY horrible things....I can't even imagine, you saw the movie Shawshank Redemption right? Well it's going to be like that, only worse.

I am assuming you will be become the prison bitch to a gang of poor women who at some point in time all worked for the Hilton chain, as maids...

you'll have to appease them by "making their beds" for a change...if you know what I mean, wait, do you know what I mean?

I know you didn't go to college like sister Nicki did...so perhaps this letter is going over your head, please have the person who is reading this to you explain the words you don't understand...maybe hire someone to translate it into a finger puppet play for you or a pop up book.

anyway, in all semi-seriousness...I hope you this whole fiasco will teach you something, and that is you are no "poor little rich girl" that my dear dumb one, went out of fashion with Gloria Vanderbilt.

ciao blondie

Jennifer Gordon

Top Five

ok, this is not a tag or anything just an idea I stole from Jody who stole it from Alex, and since they are both cooler than me, I figured...hell, I've got nothing to blog about today, I'm going to steal that.

so.....here is my list of the top five things I love today

1 - as I type this I hear my bubs in the next room (who has the day off) playing his guitar and singing while working on a new song...there is nothing better on the world than that. He is an incredible talent though he says he's not...no matter how much I tell him he doesn't believe me.

2- having a day off in the middle of the week with my bubs when we plan a field trip to the museum, can you believe I have been here 3 years and have never gone??? Bubs is not overly thrilled with the idea but he did want to hang out with me...I am so excited, less because of the museum but more for the gift shop...you see I have an obsessive love for overpriced museum gift shops.

3- I am really enjoying my attempts at drawing, I'm still the farthest thing from a natural as you would tell from the giant pile of pages torn from my sketch book, but I am trying and I am proud of myself for trying. The photo I showed today is the larger drawing of "Proserpine" that is available in my shop.

4- I am currently totally addicted to watching Justice League Unlimited on dvd. The funny thing is this "kids" show is actually one of the best things that is comic related to come out in the past 10 years (besides spidey 1 and 2). You all know I am dorked up with the comics, but even if you're not, get this cartoon on dvd!!!

5- I slept until 8:35am this morning....and that my darlings was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

ok that's it for top fives....I will be back tomorrow with a letter to a celebrity, I am torn a few ways right now.....Between Paris Hilton, Brad and Angelina, or Jesus...

we shall see.

xoxoxoxoxxo

Notes about Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there in mom land!! (I know, I know I am one day late, but the sentiment is still there.

I was awakened yesterday by a very sweet little un-mothers day card from my bubs, thanking me for my patience and care of the mean cheese, even when she is at her meanest and cheesiest. He also signed it with wonderful little words of love, and the promise of no babies, republican or democrat (you see every day when I take my pill I refer to it as "no republican babies" because I don't want kids, and I know if I had one it would contain some of Keith's Republican upbringing...).

Anyway, I thought that the card was very sweet though I am opposed in full force to the idea of me being "a mom". I know, it's odd, as a woman I should feel that maternal pull, but I don't. In fact even when I was a little girl and the neighbor girls would all come over to play house, I was never one that fought for the right to be the mom character.

Sure, we had the little girl who wanted to be the dad all the time, and looking back now I am left wondering if you can be bisexual at age 7, if it's possible this girl totally was, as she always tried to kiss me on the mouth.

anyway....then there were the two girls who would fight, and I mean FIGHT over who got to be the mom, I can hear them now screaming at each other, one of them saying "you're toofat to be the mom" and the other punching the little blond one right in the arm.

So anyway, eventually the fight would end, one would be the mom, the other got the second most coveted role of "baby", leaving me to decide for myself who I wanted to be, and I always chose the same thing....the neighbor.

Yes, I chose to be the neighbor.

So when the other three girls were busy getting their house ready so we could start playing I was doing the same thing, in my own space.

I remember brining books and my mom's clothes and sort of setting them places in what my imagination now tells me was a cramped little artist studio.

The game was basically all the girls doing "house things" and the one being the baby doing a lot of crying, and the one being the dad coming over to my "studio" and trying to kiss me....and me swatting her away.

SO where is my point in all of this??? I guess I have no point really just....I don;t want to be a mom, but I do like getting cards.

ok, it's still early and I am typing away as fast as I can because our electricity keeps going out, and was out for a large portion of Saturday...eeek.

ok, so you are seeing all these beautiful photos and you are wondering to yourself, wow....what a beautiful little gift set, where can I get something like that???

Well my loves, this gift set was put together by the amazing Karen Beth, for my mom for Mother's Day, and let me just tell you when I spoke with my Mom yesterday she was over the moon happy, and even asked if I could mail all gifts to Karen Beth first so she could prepare them and turn them into magic.

You see, KB did all of this just after asking me some questions about my mom, what she likes, what she doesn't etc. I also know she is going to be doing theme boxes, like starter craft kits, and beginners yoga....AMAZING!! It is still up in the air whether or not she will be allowed to sell them on etsy, but I know you can contact her through her blog about it too.

I really think you should all contact her, like NOW!!! I am already planning on having her do something for my mom's birthday coming up.

ok, I could gush forever about it and her, but the short of it is, Karen Beth put something together that made my mom happy and made her feel really special, more so than I could have with just a silly card or an awkward phone call where I try to be vulnerable but we just end up fighting.

now... shop news!!!

thank you all for your nice things you said about my little attempts at drawing, I am really trying at it so the encouragement you have given me is worth more than you could know. Also, the note box I listed on Saturday sold right away, I have a new one up right now, and I am not sure when/if I will be doing more, as you see, I am low, low, low on supplies.

Speaking of supplies, I will be updating my supply shop later this morning, last time I did an update almost everything was gone right away (which was a huge surprise).

ok, that is enough babble for now.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Saturday Night Special Sales

Hi everyone, it's time for the Saturday Night Sale...

Please write SNS in the message to seller section and wait for a new invoice.

Sale starts at 5:00pm Eastern Time and runs until 6:00am

*****
Art Cards Buy 2 Get One FREE
Fashion Illustrations Buy One Get One Half OFF
15% off Everything Else in my shop

****

I am showing a few new pieces, including an illustration I did based on Pre-Raphaelite art, as well as a new art card!

I will also be listing a "note box" tonight, which is a one of a kind altered box filled with stationery!!

what's happening?

ok, I am curious, what is happening where you are, right now, right as you read this???

Because you see, this is what is happening where I am...

I was awakened a bit earlier than I would have liked thins morning to the blaring sounds of rap music coming from the apartment next door...when I say loud I mean loud, like louder than my music if I had it on.

I try to ignore it until I can't any longer, I tiptoe out to the kitchen and peak outside to see if the neighbors are having a gathering...funny no cars are here, which means the music is being played by the gentleman caller of the Lady Ghetto...you see he does not live with her (technically) he also does not appear to have a job, he does play loud music all day until his posse show up in a pimped out Cadillac, then they all play a mean game of basketball....not at the park which is a mere 30 feet away, but they play at a child's adjustable basketball hoop....and act all tough, like it's not meant for a little girl who id 4 feet tall.

so, though basketball has not started yet, the music did, at 7:20am

(sigh)

wait...now there is a lot of door slamming....ok now it's done.

ok, sorry I didn't even say good morning.

this week has been so messed up, what with working at the shop and then my bubs had yesterday off, so I took the day off too, now today I have a ton of packaging to do and a luncheon birthday party for a friend of mines mom....she is a darling old Greek lady who speaks in a very thick accent and all broken English...but there is something so endearing about her, she calls me "baby" instead of Jenn and will give me hugs and say things like "baby, you are a beauty, I used to be beautiful like you, only not to big" (I believe she is referring to my height, as I stand at 5'3" and I tower over her).

so that will be my day...old lady birthday party, packaging parcels and perhaps a bit of painting, perhaps....

Oh and I need to call my mom and tell her to expect a package....wait until you all here what I got for her, well really I need to thank the darling Karen Beth for the gist box she put together for my mom, but I will wait on that, as she deserves a post that does not have me bitching about the neighbors in it.

Images today are a few of my recent cards and a new collage on canvas, they are all available in my etsy shop.

Yesterday

oh, yesterday did not turn out as planned...not one bit.

actually strike that, the day started off ok, woke up, blogged my favorite blog of the week, I love celebrity letter day...I just do.

I personally think it's hilarious and I love reading all of your letters too, thanks to everyone who reads and snarks with me...after all it is a joke, right?

you do get that it's a joke? I am not intentionally "judging" people, or maybe I am, either way it's still funny to me.

moving on.......

yesterday was a total cluster...we got an early moring call on our cell phone that the new owners of the comic shop were both sick....it is really a fluke that I even received this message as I never have the sell phone on and it is only used in emergencies. Considering I am a shut in....I can be reached at home 90% of the time.

SO anyway I get the call and then it's off to the races, usually my bubs helps them in the morning before going back to work, as Wednesdays are the busy day when all the new comics come in...but yesterday it was the two of us at the comic shop again, kickin it old school.

Luckily we were able to do this, as there would have been a lot of VERY unhappy people not getting their comics.

It was fun, sort of, well it was fun to see the customers who were just over the moon with excitement that we were both there, so that was nice...though working close to 10 hours for no money....not so nice.

I did get to read all the comics off the shelf and eat pizza in the shop, so that sort of made up for it.

Though I did lose a day of artsy type work, which sort of gets me tense. You see I am trying to get a selection of work together because the awesome Carla has asked me to have a month long show at her bookstore/coffee shop, Scribbles.

The showing opens June 1st at their gallery hop and lasts all month.

I have never been there so my bubs and I are going to try and switch the mean cheese weekends so we can go down for the opening, it will be my first Solo Show, so wow....that makes me seem all sorts of grown up, doesn't it?

so that is what I have been doing to keep myself busy, making lots of paintings for my etsy shop/show...as whatever does not sell on etsy before the last week of this month, will be shipped away for the show.

ok, now one more shamelessly promoting thing (I hate to sound so "me, me, me") my super cool friend Cat, or as some of you know her...artsy has nominated me for the Best Shopping Blog on the Bloggers Choice awards...

so, if you have a minute and care to place some votes...that would be very awesome.

http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/13750

the pictures I am showing today are a few newer things, I have an art card set, that I just loved doing...the colors are a lot more delicate in person...I know the screen is not doing them justice, also showing is a large 12x16 inch collage called Stranger, Stranger, Take Away Your Riddle

thank you all for reading the jibber jabber of today, must get to reading some blogs and then to work, work, work...

xoxoxo
jenn

Dear (Insert Name Here) week 10

Dear Joaquin Phoenix (my movie bubs)

how could you???

Wait, should I start with, is it true??

Oh, don't give me that look, that "I have no idea what you're talking about baby" look...you know what I'm talking about.

While surfing the internet yesterday I stumbled onto a "news story" in which Lindsay Lohan...cough...Blowhan...cough....boasted about having sex with you.

So....is it true?

If it is, I just have to say, I am appalled....you are my movie bubs, I expect more from you and your soulful and sad eyes...wait...I am getting weak here.

Sure you had your past drug and alcohol problems, but really, let's be honest, who hasn't...but Blowhan, come one!!!!!!

I know I know...she meant "nothing to you", she is just a coked up skank...whatever.

I am hurt, you hurt me movie bubs.

What's worse, I want it to be over with us, I want to move on and find myself another movie bubs...but you know what, Blowhan has had sex with all of them.

Jude Law....yup, she nailed him
James Franco....no their just friends...wait what did you say, oh...yup she DID have sex with him.

aaaaaaggggghhh!!

I just expected more from you. I was talking to my real life bubs about it last night, he was more forgiving of "the incident" saying that if the "good Lord Johnny Cash" liked you, then you have to be a good person, my real bubs also made mention that you were probably all hopped up on "goofballs" or "poppers" when you had sex with her....making it a forgivable offense. After all, you don't know that you are my movie bubs.

I want to forgive you, I do...trust me, I married a no good hippie during my wild chemical enhanced days...this will take time.

Just stay away from her, and go to the doctors, for serious you probably need to be de-loused.

your ex

Jennifer Gordon

yes, I have returned to you all

good morning....

how are you?? Sorry for the hiatus yesterday, but was feeling altogether swamped with packages and no new work to show you, plus I had a lunch date with Diana (she gave me Dior, I can take a day off for her).

Diana came over to look at some of my newer pieces and ended up buying something, then we headed into town and had a long and drowsy lunch sitting outside...

all in all it was very nice, now if only I could shake this damn cough I have, I would have been able to really enjoy it without thinking of the pain in my lungs...

anyway, moving on....I did get to work on some new pieces yesterday as well, so it was a day filled with stuff, sadly my bubs was at work all day and out last night so it seems that the day was filled with everything but him.

our weekend with the mean cheese was crazy as usual, the warm weather has increased her meany and cheesy nature, and she actually spent a good part of a rainy Saturday standing at the screen door with it's teeny view of the park next door, just screaming to go out.

I think we collectively signed "no it's raining" about 54655752324 times.

Oh, and after the lil cheesy left we treated ourselves to a movie date ang got to go see Spiderman 3, which for the record, I LOVED (and hated some small parts but that is me being too geeky), my poor bubs hated it, though they focused on the storyline that made him stop reading the Spiderman comics in the 1990's...

oh, and speaking of comics...Saturday was Free Comic Book Day, we were both supposed to go and do an even at a local shop, but with the mean cheese only Keith could go for a bit in the morning....though, while he was there he met...A comic book artist, who might just be willing to take a stab at my book...yes, you heard it here first, cross your fingers everyone, because there just might be a Stiletto Heights #4 coming out!!!!

Quick knock on wood I don;t want to jinx it.....I would have to pay him, but his page rate is "almost" in my budget, meaning I could actually afford him...yay.

oh, sorry loves, this post is all over the place, you see this morning when I woke all I wanted to do was go back to bed, and only come out when I was no longer coughing...I considered taking today off from blogging too, just out of sheer sleepiness....but no, blogging will not be the same as working out for me, where once you stop it is so hard to start again.

I vow to you all that I am going to get it in gear and get something going for a good celebrity letter tomorrow.

make sure to check out my shop later as I am uploading new pieces today...also I have decided that I am going to have my fashion illustrations be buy one get one half off, I really think they would be best framed and hung as a series so that makes the most sense.

ok, off to work (15 steps away and still in my jammies)

Day Off....

Don't fret, I will be back tomorrow...but due to a lunch date and a ton of stuff to package and things to paint, I am taking a day off from the computer...(I know I will cave in later and post on etsy and read all your blogs).

But...until then, enjoy the images from Picnic At Hanging Rock....which are serving as fantastic inspiration today.

thanks to Lou for giving me the movie....which I finally watched again this weekend. Be on the look out for some "picnic" inspired pieces in my shop this week.


xoxoxo

Saturday Night Special Sales

Happy Saturday Everyone.

Just wanted to let you all know I am running a Saturday Night Special sale in my shop.

All Fashion Illustrations are Buy One Get One Half Off (new pieces added)
15% off the rest of my shop!

Just write SNS in the message to seller section and I will send you an adjusted invoice!

Sale runs until 6:00am Eastern Time.

xoxoxoxo
jenn

thank you!!

Good morning everyone!

first, a giant thank you for everyone for your comments on my little illustrations, it was really very scary for me to show them, and even list them. They just seemed so teeny and small, like a little wall flower girl at a party, hoping against hope that someone will notice her, in a good way.

Big thank you to Tara as well for being the first official owner of an illustration. I will be listing more today as they were the easiest to work while suffering with the Great Plague of 2007.

today's post will be lackluster again I am afraid, you see I have a ton of stuff I would love to get done before I have to begin to clean the house for the arrival of the mean cheese, and I have not been very productive this week as you can tell by how sad my shop looks.

ok, maybe it doesn't look sad to you, but it feels sort of sad to me.

oh wait, I do have to do something.....I forgot that Sarah has tagged me, I am supposed to write 7 seven things that people don;t know about me and then tag 7 others...I know a lot of you get stressed when there is tagging involved, but please feel free to take a not from my bff Aaron, he gets tagged all the time, but never tags back, he plays by his own rules.

ok, 7 things

1- when I am nervous or stressed at all I twist my hair around my fingers until the curls go smooth and then I sort of pat the smooth part, I do this repeatedly until my hair look really bad...it is mostly a late night thing to do, or early morning, before I at full zenith.

2- if I could I would take a nap every day, I love napping, in fact i love taking naps more than sleeping at night

3- I am a loud talker, especially when I get excited I start almost shouting and my laugh is ridiculously loud, all the time. My ex (that no good hippie) would say it was humiliating for him and he would constantly tell me to use my "indoor voice" like I was a child, for that I would get even louder.

4- I learned to read when I was 2 years old....I think my parents thought I was quite an impressive child, a little genius perhaps. I always got the vague feeling from them that they thought I peaked too early.

5- I love beauty pageants, I know, I know I shouldn't like them...big hair, bad dresses, crazy moral and religious things being spouted from a bimbo in a bikini....but I just like them.

6- (which brings me to this) When I was younger and still sometimes now, every time I had to make a wish I would always wish to be beautiful, every time, I just wanted to be beautiful, more than I wanted world peace, or to be healthy.

7- Both times I tried to go to "real college" I dropped out...I went to an art school for acting and graduated, but every time I tried to do the real school thing...I did really well, but then panic would set in and stress I and I would just freak, this is one of the many reasons why I am in debt.

ok, that's it....now who to tag, who to tag....I am going to tag Lou, Karen Beth, Jody, Sara, Alex, Aaron, and Isabellah.

ok the images shown today are two new pieces that are available in my shop.

trying something new

So, I have always wanted to try my hand at fashion illustrating, I have a bunch of books on it and I was always scared to do ot it because of my lack of drawing skills...but something got into me yesterday, in between running around like crazy...I decided to draw.

I did three illustrations yesterday and will do more today because they were so much fun!! I based them all on pieces I had seen in magazines, like the one above this is Chanel...

it was fun to actually use the colored pencils I have, as well as paint and some collage elements.

I was petrified to show them but do to some great encouragement from some people I adore....I decided to list them in my shop.

I just got such a feeling of joy about them, when I was little I went to a Barbie Fashion show, and I seriously think that was an actual turning point in my life, I remember after that drawing out Barbie's clothes, nit so much designing her new clothes but drawing her clothes.

This brought back that same feeling.

Maybe I am feeling like this because I am sick (yes...damn it, I have another plague) and it reminds me of being a small one again. Home sick and drawing pretty pictures of clothes.

I hope you like them, the ones I have done so far are all done on paper and remain relatively inexpensive because of that.

oh, I know this is a lackluster post but my bed is calling me back to it and I really need to get some things done today, plague and all.

so, I've got to take something to shake this fever and get to work....aren't illnesses in the spring/summer just so gruesome, I can hardly stand it.

until tomorrow loves.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

jenn

Dear (Insert Name Here Week 9)

**first a disclaimer, usually I am filled with snark and sass with these letters but today I am going a different route, I am going to be sincere...

Dear Terry Moore (writer creator artist of my favorite comic of all time Strangers In Paradise)

First, Terry I have to start out with telling you just how much your series has meant to me, I really feel a profound connection to your characters, in fact at times I think they represent all my best, and all my very worst qualities.

I love them for that, so thank you.

I met you for the second time this past weekend in Pittsburgh, you were there celebrating the end to you long running series, with that in the back of my head, it made me reach Pittsburgh with a somewhat heavy heart.

It took all of my restraint to keep from grabbing you and crying about the book ending, from telling you that at so many times in the past few years the characters in your comic were the closest things I had to friends in this alien tundra that is the mid-west.

I wanted to say these things, and to tell you that I would miss them, almost as much as I miss my actual friends back in New Hampshire....but I didn't say them, I am sure you hear it all the time.

I am also sure that there is a big part of you that is more than happy to put SIP behind you, to move on, to grow, and for all of that I am happy for you, I am...I am just, well...I am very sad for me.

A bit later today I will be headed to the comic shop to pick up the second to last issue you will be producing, and just thinking about it is making my eyes fill with tears and and a stone rest in my stomach.

how did you do it? how did you create such a full world, so multi-layered, all of the characters being so lovable, and so very unlovable all at once?

How did you make them so human?

I could go on and on, but alas, I have the hard work of a starving artist ahead of me today.

So with that I bid you a very fond farewell, and a hope in my heart that the mainstream title you hinted about working on next will be Amazing Spiderman....or any of the Spidey books, just not X-Men...anything but X Men.

Love

Jennifer Gordon

Photos of the Convention, my bubs, a bear, Aquaman, and a purse

I figured I should start with a "jazzy" photo just to grab your attention, this is my friend Scott, he is a costume designer and runs the costume contest at the show....I know I am getting ahead of myself....so here goes, in order.....

This is a short but sweet photo journal from my trip to Pittsburgh for the comic convention. We stopped at a welcome center once we hit PA, it was a little before 6:00am and I had been up since 3:00...so please forgive how awful I look.
At the rest area there was a stuffed bear, so I knew I needed to have my picture with it, we tried and tried to get a good one, I wanted one with me that looked like I was riding the bear through the wild...but the woman manning the rest area desk gave me "the look" that said, "bitch, don't you climb on that bear", so this was the best I could get, but please know that I suffered for this photo...I am allergic after all.
This is a random fat man sleeping on the floor at the convention...you see it's moments like this that I realize that all comic book stereotypes do come from someplace.


This is a photo I took for my friend Aaron, this is the view from my hotel room, of the Monroeville Mall....many of you may know this as the mall where they filmed the original Dawn Of The Dead....it is known around the world as "Zombie Mall"
This is me and my bubs....we had already had a couple drinks and were getting ready to get a taxi into the city for even more drinking and eating...wonderful!!!
Look how cool these drinks are, they are actually called "cocktails by Jenn" I just had to have them and they come with little matching straws to go with each drink...in truth they are not that great, and sort of pricey...but I will most likely buy them again, just based on cute factor.
this is a photo of my bubs pretending to be all business at the hotel, though it just looks like random hotel nonsense in front of him, I assure you that those are in fact important business papers.
And last but not least....my new Dior.

Diana got the bag a few years ago when she was overseas, and she loaded up on Gucci and Dior and new she would eventually give them all as gifts eventually....sigh...isn't it pretty?

wow, sorry the photos were not that exciting, they seemed more thrilling to me when I was taking them...

alas, no.

don't forget to check the post below this one to get the winner of the contest.

xoxoxo
jenn