just me on a cold autumn morning,

hey everyone.

first once again I want to thank all of you who have been so wonderful with your comments, and emails of support during this week...during my semi breakdown and back again.

So, you are all wondering about Craftin Outlaws, how it went, was it fun....

Now, I am left wondering do I start with the good, or the bad...I never know, some people prefer it in a specific order, others all will nilly in a chronological order...I am going to start with the bad...

• Kate was supposed to get here on Friday night, staying with me for 2 days during the show time, but.......................instead she gets in a car accident in NYC and cannot come to the show, last I heard she was fine, but sore. Stupid NYC cab drivers!!

• While setting up for the show, I notice that Carla, you might know her as supastarr is set up right next to me, and I am a hundred shades of thrilled, I love her, but then I notice someone who is not Carla setting up next to me, I sheepishly try to tell them that they are in the wrong spot...but they don't care and set up next to me anyway....oh, and they are another collage artist...wtf?

• it's sort of slow....steady but slow...slow enough for me to panic

• at one point I was "this close" to selling my piece The Beekeeper's Wife, the women were fighting over whether or not to put it in the bedroom or living room, it was rather adorable, so then they ask me the price, and I politely tell them it's $100...the abruptly drop the piece back onto the table with a shocked looked on their face....all the while mumbling that it was beautiful, but not $100 beautiful......................................um, what? Really they said that, I tried to explain that it is two pieces each measuring 8x18 inches and that if they were in a gallery that piece would be priced at many hundreds of dollars, they did not seem to care....they just wandered away.

• AT one point when I was wandering around someone came to the table and my bubs was telling them that all my pieces were one of a kind and I had no prints, they went on to tell him that they were not one of a kind considering "all I was doing" was finding pieces out of magazines, all I can say is thank god I was not there, I think I would have burst into tears.

• Money wise.....I made less than I did last year, which is a disappointment as I have a $250 prescription to pick up in a few days...oh well.

OK.....................now the good (I am not a Debbie Downer)

• I bought (before the show even started and I thought I would do better) a beautiful new purse from a Vendor names Aqua Cherry....it's fantastic, it is hidden away right now to be given to me as a present, or else I would show a picture....but it is made from an amazing beige and dark brown fabric...it's looks like vintage French Wallpaper....it's amazing.

• My bubs was there to help me the whole day which was just the bee's knees, really!!!! We also got to see some of our favorite real life friends who came out to show their support.

• Megan from MoogansCreations was across from me, and like that was not wonderful enough, she made for me.....a custom "mean cheese" plush.

• I got to see a lot of the etsy people in "real life" and met a brand new glass jewelry person, also named Jennifer, you need to look at her shop, really beautiful.

• Did I mention my new purse....yeah I know I did, but really...it's that good.

• To make up for the mean things those few people said, I did hear a lot of more than wonderful feedback, in fact one young woman bought a collage and I swear she was almost crying, she was telling me she did not know a lot about art but she thought my work was "the prettiest she'd ever seen", and right there....that made the other not so nice stuff fade a way, a bit.

• whiskey drinks on a sunny but cool Saturday in Autumn...yup, sipping whiskey, selling art, and buying new purses....all with my bubs. In some ways, it was the perfect day.

So that was it, in a nutshell....now I know I should not even worry about the bad stuff, and in short I am not (anymore....Saturday night and Sunday...that was a different story). I very rarely do shows and this is sort of why, I am very, VERY sensitive about what I do, it takes a long time to build confidence and in a short instant it is whisked away, back down to nothing. I am left empty and tired when all is said and done.

That is how I am feeling now, you see....my world, my little world that I live in now is very safe, I make things I spend a lot of time alone in my studio, the real world being just a hum traffic outside my window. It had been a long time since I had to put myself out there like that, and I will say it did tire me out a lot more than I thought it would.

I spent most of Sunday in a sleepy haze, not doing any "real" creating but some planning for new merchandise for my shop....

I am hesitant to say what is on the way, for fear of a little copy catting going on, but I am really excited...

Anyway so besides some planning of that, I just sort of lazed about the house, I even watched the Emmy's last night because I am a sucker for awards shows....and I am totally obsessed with Heroes and waited until the end to see them win, and they didn't...

wow, this was a whole lot of babble...yikes. Oh and if you are wondering about the picture....it's my latest altered book, it's called "A Sort Of Fairy Tale"

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

A Post about a book, a shop, a purse, and a good mail day

Good Morning people!!

ok, be warned, this post might be all sorts of all over the place today, I've got a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of attention span on my part to do it...

so hold on tight, it's going to be a bumpy ride (said in my best/worst Bette Davis, All About Eve impersonation).

First, let's get back to two days ago...thank you all for the lovely book suggestions, I am convinced that the Time Travelers Wife will be a good choice.

So, my bubs and I had a spare 45 minutes we decided to go to the new, Used Book Megastore that has opened less that 5 minutes from our apartment.

Half Priced Books, is sort of the Barnes and Noble of Used places....complete with "comfy" chairs and a coffee pot...it's not Starbucks people, but they do try.

so anyway, we went to the new location and I was armed with my list...I have to say as they are still new that the store was overall...wonderful, with a great fashion section....but alas I was on a mission. To get a new novel.

I head over to the fiction/literature section with list in hand and.......IT'S TEENY!!!!!

One long shelf front and back, but some of the books that were classified as literature...cough...Danielle Steele...cough, really belong in the romance section.

I look through everything and find.....NOT ONE BOOK on my list, they did not even have a fall back choice of another Patricia Gregory book so I could continue with my Royal Court OCD.

I did notice they had a few Tracey Chevalier books, and I did love her book The Girl With The Pearl Earring so much, that I decided on Falling Angels....

On the way out, I noticed that they did have an over abundance of a book called "The History of Farting".

What?

I could not evn open it....and really can't imagine that a subject matter such as, would warrant a book.....but who am I to judge.

right?

(ok now we jump forward in time)

So that night when I am about to go to sleep and curl up to read my new book, I am about two pages in and I think to myself, wow...this is good, it reminds me of a book I read where two little girls play with the gravediggers son in the cemetary...

(I turn the page)

enter the grave diggers son.

I've already read this damn book.

fuck!!!!!

(now we move ahead in time again)

so last night while out and about, I find myself in conversation with someone from the Half Price Books Dynasty, I tell him of my shock and horror over The History of Farting....he tells me that book is the highest selling book at all of their locations, that the book store as a whole bought the rights to that book, and have made a virtual fortune from it.

(sigh)

Yet one more reason to hate Ohio...

(ok, now we are going back in time)

My Purse Saga....

ok so the other day I got it in my head that I needed a new purse, so I went a browsing through etsy to find the perfect lovely thing to be the replacement for my Prada for the summer, the only catch....I am painfully broke and in debt up to my eye balls.

so when I found this

I fell in love, I sent a message to the shop owner Ellene McClay, to ask if she would consider trading, and I was lucky enough that she said yes!!!!

You must go to her shop Deciduoussoul

everything in it is wonderful, wonderful!!!!!

ok, now on to the celeb letters of yesterday, I just have to thank you all for playing along in my fantasy world, I really love reading the letters, they give me such joy....plus I think we really broke new ground yesterday, we had some nice angry letters, plus our first ever letter to a fictional character.

good job!!

I have decided that sometime over the summer I am going to self publish a book/zine, a compilation of the best of the letters, it will be like the Post Secret books, except instead of deeply emotional and honest, well it will be vapid and hilarious.

The other day I also got some wonderful, wonderful mail....Not only did I get two fashion magazines, W and Harpers Bazaar but I also got an amazing present in the mail from the lovely and talented Jody. You may be familiar with her shop or her blog....I stalk both on a regular basis.

Well she sent me a documentary about Gia, no not the movie starring my favorite person ever, Angelina Jolie....but an actual documentary.

How hot is that?

I will watch it today while I do a bunch of stuff that is not fun, such as laundry, packaging things, and what not.

I really wish I could get an unpaid intern to do my packaging and stuff for me, that way I would be free to paint all day.

Because I am really enjoying what I am doing lately, check out my latest piece, it is not in my etsy shop yet,but later today it will be. It is called "I Never Spoke About You"

I am also listing several art cards, all about my latest obsessions, a Gia card, a Boleyn card, a NYC card, and a vintage lady card.

so excited.

ok, you have read enough of my babble for now, I probably should have saved some of this for tomorrow's post when I will no doubt have nothing to write about.

xoxo

* * *

good morning...

uh oh....this does not bode well, when I went to type a cute title for this morning's post...I had nothing, total and complete writers block.

apologies in advance if this goes astray somewhere.

So yesterday I wrote too soon about how well I was feeling because no sooner than I was done typing when I got very sick again, though by about 11 or 12 I was feeling better and was able to work all day!!

That was the first day that I was able to work all day, no time to lie down and read, just work, work all day.

It was also the first days I did not have any kind of creative block, in fact there was not enough time to do all I wanted to do.

So, though I have writers block thins morning, I seem to be over (knock wood) my creative block.

I stayed up to the wee hours last night finishing "The Other Boleyn Girl" and I am still very much caught in its spell...I need a new book, and quick.

I am hoping my bubs and I will be able to head out later to find something for me...we have a zillion things to do, none of which are fun, all of which involve going to places we hate (Post Office...Bank...grocery store).

So please, let the book suggestions come rolling in!! I will tell you honestly that I am leaning towards just getting another of Patricia Gregory's books, because I am totally enthralled with the whole "court" books, and I am thinking that I might need to read her book about Elizabeth I...though I would really like to read about Marie Antionette too, so here's your chance...load me up with suggestions.

also please take into consideration that I will be going to a used book store to buy the book, so nothing that just came out please.

I know two people told me to get The Time Travelers Wife, but I will be honest...when I saw the word time travel...I was really put off, I know , I know...I shouldn't be.

OK book guidelines...

NO science fiction
NO fantasy (though I do like King Arthur kinds of things)
NO romance
NO bad Horror (Dean Koontz and Steven King I am talking to you)
NO books that could be made into Lifetime movies...so no women getting beat by their hubby's then finding strength to move on...
NO HARRY POTTER (I am not dissing the potter, but I just don't want it)

I do like historical fiction especially things that are "class dramas", I am fascinated with all of that.

I also like books about the fashion industry (duh).

Oh, and speaking of "class" I am thinking of retiring my Prada Purse for the summer, yes, I know it's a shock to me too...but I am leaning towards getting something hand made at etsy, though I have no money....so I believe that I might offer up original artwork as a trade for a cute bag.

If that doesn't work, I will sell my soul for an adorable purse.

so yesterday I spent most of the day working on the piece I have shown here...this was just a quick photo of it I took last night, it is listed in my etsy shop . It is called "Lavinia".

I sketched out the idea before I started but as I was doing it I was feeling really good about it, proud of the fact that it was different than what I have been doing lately, it feels good to be trying something new, though when I was making it all I could think was "what if people hate it", I usually don;t think things like that, I did show this piece to darling Aimee last night and she gave it a wonderful response so I am feeling better about it now.

ok, tomorrow we are writing to celebrities, so get your thinking caps on my lovelies.

until then, a million kisses and a million hugs.