Happy Birthday Scribble!!

My little love pups turns one year old today, I can hardly believe it....I have to wonder just when and if he will lose that insane puppy energy he has.

oh and for those of you who were following along during all of Scribble's sicknesses....he is doing much better (knock on wood) he has been well for about a month and a half.

My blog is coming back with regular postings starting this week...stay tuned for lots of stuff about books, my shop, bad tv addictaion...cough...Gossip Girl....cough

and so much more.

until then, enjoy my cute puppy.

Book Love

Morning!

ok first...an update on Scribble, he is doing much better, he's a trooper so I knew he would be fine, it's just going through the cycle.

For those who expressed concern and asked why the poor puppy was always sick, well the answer is IBS, yup...just like a nervous little person might get. We just have to be very careful, as he is small and things can go from bad to worse, awful quick. We do the best we can to make sure it does not happen, he never gets new food, no people food ever, and the only treats are special "easy on the stomach" treats.

But, nevertheless, he's a dog and he will lick the ground and eat dirt occasionally, so bad things happen. Also if he gets very upset, like the other day on a walk he came face to face with his first "mean dog" in this case it was a giant barking thing, chained up outside the neighbors house. You see we share a big looping driveway and we were walking up the path and the dog darted out from behind the house and "came after" Scribble.

My little puppy love was safe, but PETRIFIED. I had never seem him like that.

It was both funny and sad to see him bolt back down the path the way we came, pulling me on the leash behind him.

So...that's the story on Scribble, he's good...but neurotic. Sort of like me.

Now on to my latest treasure...As you know I am a bookish sort of girl, and I have to say if I was only allowed to buy one type of thing for the rest of my life (besides art supplies) it would have to be books....yup, they even beat out fashion.

Crazy, I know.

Shortly after moving to our house and out of the ghetto, my bubs and I were wandering the new town when we stumbled upon what could possibly be, the bookstore of my dreams, the kind I always pretended I owned when I was little and would spend hours playing "bookstore". The shop, quite simply called "The Little Bookstore" is up a cobblestone street and resides in an old house, with a beautiful slate roof. Run by and elderly man, the place is filled with books and other vintage posters and whatnot.

I could spend hours there.

A couple months ago when going through the children's books I found the most beautiful book I had seen in ages, "The Royal Book Of Ballet", printed in Italy the book is basically a fairy tale book, telling the stories of the great ballets, Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty.

The illustrations were like peaking into dreams I wish I could have.

just stunning.

But, being a very starving artist, buy the book was just not really an option. It has been in my head ever since. So the other day was the 2 month anniversary of our wedding, and my bubs and I ventured into town for ice cream and books, and my dear bubs bought it for me.

It's mine now, and I could just die. Isn't it dreamy??

And Finally...

the heat wave here is over, or at least it seems to be. Woke up to a crazy and stormy morning, and I can already feel the difference in the air.

Things have been ok here, my poor baby Scribble is sick once again, he seems in good spirits but slightly "off", I have been really wrapped up in him and making sure he is ok, so that made up a huge chunk of the weekend.

So think good thought for my little puppy love.

The other parts were filled with me seeing Sex and the City (again), yup, I had to see it again because the first time I could not pay enough attention to the fashion, and I have to say, I am glad I saw it again.

(still fabby...Jennifer Hudson...still sucks...clothes...AMAZING)

Anyway, I also bought the movie The Company, directed by Robert Altman. Now this is a wonderful and lyrical piece of eye candy, but I only would suggest watching the movie if you are a fan of ballet or dance in general, as it truly seems more like a documentary than a fictional film.

Other than that, life has been normal, been creating new pieces for a gallery in the Cleveland area and trying my best to keep busy.

I have a bunch of new things in my brain that I would like to get out onto canvas or paper...so we will see where that takes me.

Sorry this is short, but I have to dash of the computer as another impending storm is thundering over my head,

Photo today is of a new piece on 10x10 artist hard board (fabulous to work with), it is ready to hang and does not need framing.

It is called "Keeping Your Flowers Pressed In a Book"

It's 8:04 am

It's 8:04am and I already feel as though I need ice cream, or alcohol....too early I know...

So far today I have dealt with a tiny sick puppy, yes he's sick again, you see he cannot eat anything foreign without getting VERY sick, so grass, a little dirt, a small piece of paper...all send him into a tail spin. This is not good when you have a lovely little puppy who has horrible OCD and must lick everything, even outside, hence the dirt and small rocks he eats when we go on our little walks.

it's breaking my heart, to see him feeling bad, his little puppy face.

I'm a mess.

So that's that...that has been my morning so far, not fun, not fun at all.

Anyway, I have some (what I think) is exciting news for my etsy shop...I have decided to do a new series, very much inspired by my friend Cat, you may know her as Artsy on etsy...well she has a series of "1000 pieces" all numbered, I think that is genius. I have been pondering doing something similar, you know as a challenge to myself. SO I thought about doing 1000 aceos, but wow....that seems like a lot, and I make aceos anyway, so it's not really different.

then I decided.

I have been working on the "new pieces" for sometime, the ones that are a mixture of digital and traditional collage, I showed one yesterday...and that is when it hit me. That is the plan....I am going to do 500 of them, all different all one of a kind, each will be printed just one time. They will all be 10x10 inches.

Because they will be printed once, they will be one of a kinds and original. Because they will be printed on archival and thick cardstock, it will give you a chance to own an original piece as a slightly lower rate than one of my traditional collages.

Exciting, huh?

Now, this does not mean that I will not be doing my traditional pieces anymore, this is just something new, something exciting. Once the series is done, it's done...there will be no more made in this size and style....I may move onto another size, I may not...you never know.

So with that decided, I just had to come up with a number...do I make 1000...? No, that seems like too many, I have slight ADD, and getting to 1000, well I am afraid I will grow bored halfway through...so, instead of 1000, I will do 500.

Now, they won't be happening all at once, I am a girl after all, not a factory...but expect to see them in my shop starting on Friday, I will list the first one(s).

SO there you have it...and the images today are a few more of my new 500 pieces series.

(yay!!)

what's new?

Here are the latest Limited Edition Prints available in my shop, they are VERY limited!!! I hope you like them.

yesterday was a wee day off of sorts, filled with lots of errands and I will admit, some ice cream, and a dog grooming visit for my little Scribble.

I have to wonder, why a dog so small has such expensive hair cuts.

I think he watches too much America's Next Top Model and Project Runway with me.

he's very much a Petro-sexual.

up all night day 3

sorry for the no show the past few days, you see once again Scribble is sick, or I should say, was sick.

It started late Saturday and was horrible, he was up all night as were my bubs and I with him....constant barking and growling. We spent the night all curled up on the couch with him...Sunday he was feeling better but not great and once again Sunday night rolled around and he was up all night barking and I came to sleep on the couch with him.

yesterday (monday) he seemed good, back to normal Scribble behavior, full of energy and love, so trust me it was surprising to be woken up at 1:00am with barking....which lasted all night.

I think now he is just spoiled and wants us to be with him downstairs on the couch, all sleeping and watching old movies, like a sick kid who hated being sick but still does not want to go back to school.

so that is the past few days, he is asleep now and I took a nap for an hour...though I was guilt ridden the whole time, as I know my bubs is at work...not able to nap, so really it's not very fair, for me to be sleepy sleeperson while he is at work. So now I am up and out of bed and starting my day.

so if any of you know how to get a puppy to stop barking all night that would be really appreciated as well.

how are all of you??

pictures today are of some new pieces in my shop...remember I am still running the 20% off Anniversary sale (Anniversary08 in the notes to seller and wait for a new invoice) as well as the $5 Reproduction Print sale!!!

thought flurry

altered wine box (wine not included)

8x8 collages on stretched canvas

new postcards!

morning....

so here I am, after taking yesterday "off" to celebrate my one week wedding anniversary with my bubs...and by celebrate I mean, take care of Scribble who is slowly but surely getting better, though I think his medicine is making him a little "slow", having the traditional one week of marriage meal of macaroni and cheese and dessert at the Dairy Queen, and then....SHOPPING, not fun shopping just shopping.

we needed a vacuum.

so there you have it, a slice of wedded bliss.

As I sit here and type I keep thinking, what to write, what to write.

Do I obsess over America's Next Top Model, do I talk about the obsessive "man crush" my bubs has on Billy Zane???

(that one I think I should wait for a celebrity letter for)

Or should I blah, blah about what's new in my shop, well that one you can see the photos of, so there is no need to go into details, right? I mean you can go to my shop and see details.

No.....I think importantly I need to talk about this....I have spring fever.

yup, sad but true.

This week is a rare and sunny one here in Columbus, so with the sun, I have lost all desire to work, I just want to nap lazily and have lemonade...sit on my porch swing and wear skirts and walk to Starbucks....

Yes, those are the things I want to do, sadly.....we of course have no money for this life of leisure I am craving in my soul, the wedding and surrounding expenses to a toll, and now it's back to the "grind", OK...I am not complaining my "job" is a dream...making pretty things in my studio and getting to visit with my puppy on my breaks.

Oh, I am approaching my 2 year Etsy anniversary!!!!

Can you believe it?

I will be sending out a mailing early next week but wanted to tell all my loyal readers first....I will be holding a contest with a giveaway.....plus I am doing a 20% off sale in my shop, just write "anniversary08" in the message to seller and wait for a new invoice before paying.

where have I been?

thanks for all the amazing comments on my wedding pictures, I have a few more to share but should have a ton more soon from my in-laws....wow...in-laws, I have not called them that yet.

So, I have been missing from the blog world because as you know suring wedding week we had house guests, my in-laws were staying with us, and my mom.

The visit itself went very well, all things considered, though inside I was nervous, anxious, sad, and well...crazy, just crazy.

You see I had not seen my mom in years and seeing her was both amazing and heart breaking to be honest. I love my mom, a lot. Our relationship has been rocky at times and has now settled quite nicely to where we are now. But....seeing her after so long I was shocked at how much she had changed. I am sure she thought the same about me.

I wonder if it was sad for her too.

I can hardly put my finger on it, but it was there, she had gotten older obviously, and she seemed smaller, more tired, and a little more forgetful. Most of all she just seemed so sweet, so very tender and sweet, like a little kid. Don;t get me wrong she is still a mom so there was still some nagging on her part and me snapping at her, but that was always followed by feeling guilty and sad. She just wants to love me, and I should let her.

AT one point while she was here she went upstairs to take a nap, and when I woke her later, there was this moment while she was still sleeping all curled up on the bed, that I found so touching.

As I type this I find myself crying. I missed her, I did not let on how much, but I did miss her. There she was, asleep on a little bed and it hit me, this was my mom...I pictured her little and lonely life since my father died and I was overwhelmed.

I know the reason we get a long so well is because we don't see much of each other, but at the same time I cannot let myself not see her for this long again, what if something happens??

sorry....I am rambling about something I did not intend on talking about, lol

Anyway, where was I....

oh yeah, craziness and house guests, blah blah....

so anyway, everyone left on Friday leaving us to get back to normal, only the problem was....poor Scribble had gotten really, really sick and I was up all night with him on Thursday and Friday was bad too, so Friday night my bubs and I were at the animal hospital...we left there with loads of medicines and special food for the little guy, and no money....YIKES, pets are so expensive.

Anyway...Scribble was still not right all weekend, but then yesterday morning he started to be more himself............so now, now I feel like things will slowly get back to "normal"

sigh...

sorry, that was so long. I intended to come here, mention the Scribble thing, apologize for those of you waiting on shipments and let you know that I am almost caught up on shipping....and to let you all know I now have postcard sets in my shop....

but maybe I should wait and tell you about the postcards tomorrow...it would feel strange to show pictures of them now, after this long and emotional post.

anyway, that's the that in my life.

how are you??

Waking up at 2:00am

morning everyone

I wanted to say thank you for all the well-wishes for my little pup, he is in recovery mode after the surgery yesterday.

poor little guy.

He went in to get fixed but then the vet noticed that he still had some baby teeth that his big Boy teeth had grown in over, and they all needed to be removed. We also decided to splurge for the laser surgery in the little guy as that is less recovery time and less pain for them. Now, I know people say getting the laser surgery upgrade is just a waste of money but we really did not want to take that chance, you know....if he could hurt just a little less, well that is money well spent, right?

SO last night we brought him home after missing him all day, he was sleepy but good, not licking at the wound at all so we did not have to put that awful collar on him. Well as the night progressed and his "good meds" wore off, well lickey-lickerson went to work on himself.

Now again I have heard mixed things about this, some say that if they have the laser surgery then it is ok for them to lick themselves as there are no stitches to f with or rip out. So please, please....if any of you know ANYTHING about this could you let me know.

Since by the time he was doing this the vet was long closed, we decided to put him in the collar to keep him from licking....now keep in mind Scribble is somewhat feral, he can;t even stand being in his dog collar, so putting the big thing on him, well....he hated it.

If he was being held it was fine, the second he was put onto the floor he just went wild, it was sad.

I should be tough, I should say to myself, well...he needs to get used to it, it's for the best. He's a dog, this is what they do. But you see, he's not "a dog", he's "our dog".

So with a sad little look to my bubs I said "no bubsie, no...take it off"

and Scribble was free, and back to licking.

sigh...

so my bubs was holding him because there is no licking when being held, and I was on the computer trying to find some way to justify that him licking was ok, or a way to get him to stop without the collar.

I did find a few things about people putting their dogs in pants, or t-shirts to keep them away.

Finally....justification to put Scribble in an outfit.

I tell my bubs, and think to myself that if I can only get through the night I will walk to Petsmart in the morning and get him some sort of puppy clothes, hopefully baseball themed.

But how to get through the night?

My bubs on the other hand, got right to work, he handed me le pups and went to the mean cheese's playroom and brought out her box of baby doll clothes.

Out came loads of little skirts, a plaid hat, rain boots...all adorable, but none would work. My bubs was excited about the little denim jacket, but still it was not right....my bubs looking forlorn said "the problem is, these are all girl clothes"

lol

but then he found in the bottom of the box, a baby "onesie" made for a real baby and then used as baby doll clothes.

This could work.

I told my bubs to cut off the sleeves and feet, and with that, we made a little jumper for Scribs. Now, the jumper is pale pink flowers but does look remarkably like a hospital gown, well a gown for a woman, but still.

it worked, he fussed for a minute but them immediately fell asleep, I think he likes being in it, like he is being cuddled.

so there you have it.

He slept though the night, I wish I could say the same for myself, I woke a little after 2:00am after falling asleep around midnight, my mind is racing with wedding preparations and puppy recovery and the anxiety of my bubs now not being able to find his divorce papers....

it never ends.

I think I may need to nap, soon....but still I am worried about the puppy. He was taken out of the outfit this morning and after a little while went back to licking so he is back in the frock.

how long will it be like this? Seriously anyone with any experience with laser neutering please let me know.

ok, enough babble....I will try later to snap a picture of him in the onesie, it is both sad and cute.

**the photo right now is two new pieces in my shop, I think they might be my favorites ever...I am really proud, they are in my etsy shop now, but if they are not sold in a couple weeks they are going to be shipped off to a gallery. (more on this later)

edit.....photos now taken of Scribble in his "get well soon outfit"

CutePicturesOfMyDog.com

BEFORE haircut

After haircut

sorry to bore you with this but I just needed to show all of you how cute Scribble is, both before and after his first "real" hair cut at the groomers this weekend.

what's funny is I thought he was getting fat but now that his hair is gone I realize he is skinny and so cute, he has also been freezing since the hair cut too, poor little guy.

so apologies for the no blog yesterday, I spent most of the morning searching "everywhere" for my divorce papers which I need to bring with me to get our marriage license, so I search, I sear...I cry, I panic....I search some more.

I go on the internet and do frantic searches for public records, I find and order my divorce papers to be rushed to me for a hefty fee...

I feel better, sort of, I mean it was money I should not have been spending but it's my fault for not finding my papers or even remembering the exact date of my divorce.

So with that bit of stress beginning to ease I think to myself, "I wonder if my divorce papers are in the top drawer of my dresser"

so I go look.

and there they are.

plain as day.

sigh

so I make a bunch of frantic phone calls to public records to see if they can cancel my order and I can get my money back, as I had just placed the order 10 minutes before.

so that was my yesterday....tomorrow we have an early morning vet appointment with Scribble as he is going to be "fixed" so I doubt I will be blogging, but that is probably for the best as it's celebrity letter day and now that Dancing With the Stars is back on, it's all I can think about, and I fear that you will all quickly grow bored with week after week of me writing about it.

though seriously I have words I need to say to Kristi Yamaguchi, so a letter may NEED to be written at some point.

alright dear ones, must get to work and do some creating, it's been a while and after the weekend with a sick mean cheese I feel like I need to get some creating done before I come down with the plague that she has no doubt infected the house with.

(by plague I mean horrible cold, but it's close)

starting to freak...

Happy Friday!

ok wedding/life/shop update...

my dress is finally at tailor getting alterations, it will be done in time for the wedding (thank god)

I got plane tickets for my mom, they are bought and paid for (this was touch and go for a while but it is done)

my wedding bands are in the process of being made, they are not done but they will be, I have no doubt, I won;t start panicking until next week.

we got an appointment to get Scribble groomed for this Saturday morning, my bubs will be bringing him before work, and able to get him when he is done, sadly I am a little sad about this, as it will be the first time that Scribble is gone from me for so long, I fear the house will seem a little empty with out the "click" click" of his claws on the hardwood floors.

We got Scribble's appointment for his "surgery" for Wednesday morning....still trying to get the money together for this one but it will happen, I am only 40% worried....no strike that 30% worried seems better.

my taxes are still not done but they are "almost done", meaning I have my crap together and added up and I just need to sit down with the forms and do them, only a couple more hours of work and they should be good to go, I WILL have them sent out before the end of the month.

We don't have our wedding license or any pf that yet...but maybe next week or the week right before the wedding. (eep)

In my Shop....I have loads of new Reproduction Prints, including the set that is shown above, I also will be listing 2 new button sets today (YAY) and new gift tags and new vintage keys that are so strange and spectacular! I am still having my sale, so if you are in the mood to treat yourself to a little something, it won't break the bank.

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

Wow, sorry that was all sort of jumbled and not very flowing but I needed to get a lot of info out and not a lot of time to do it, you see it is Friday before we get the mean cheese day, and I have A LOT of stuff that needs to get done today, including working on the new Petite Heights for Sunday (which is the beginning of my favorite story arc so far), and some crappy Ebay work, my bubs and I are selling everything that is not nailed down.

So with that I bid you a very fond farewell, hope you all (that celebrate) have a wonderful Easter, that includes all of you who celebrate it as "Zombie Jesus" day....it would be wrong to leave you out (so I guess this is just a shout out to Aaron).

xoxo
jenn

My Bubs-aversary + 1

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all...though not being Irish it's not a HUGE day for me....I am more focused on yesterday as that was my four year bubs-aversary (that is anniversary in Jenn-speak).

yup 4 years to the day since I got off the plane the first time in this fair (fat) city....and my bubs and I made our relationship more "official" as opposed to the emotional gray area it existed in in the months before that.

SO there you have it, now we are 4 years later and so close to him making an honest woman out of me...no more "milk for free" of you will.

(I hate that saying, why does the woman have to be the cow?)

So now that we are in crunch time for the wedding I felt I should give you all a little update as to where I am....no, I have not gotten my dress altered, but I will this week, I talked to a wonderful seamstress a block from me and her turnaround time is quick, so I am not worried.

I got my corset to wear under the dress and it is fiercely sexy and does the job of keeping my stomach in and my boobs up.

I got my shoes...now this was a nightmare as all the "bride" shoes were just so dreadful, I swear any kind of dye-able shoe was just ugly and boring...so instead I went out on my own sans bridal shop urgings and bought a pair of hot shoes that cannot be dyed BUT, they do match my gloves, so it will be fine.

My wedding bands are ordered and in the process of being made (yay).

Now the only hurdle (major) is getting my mom out here, as plans changed unexpectedly late last night and now my mom needs to get a plane ticket ASAP....so once I can call her I will buy her ticket, so with any luck I will have her ticket purchase today.

phew....

now we have some other major puppy things that need to be done before the wedding too, like getting the little bugger groomed and then...fixed. Yup, that was me whisper typing "fixed" so he does not hear me, or know his fate. We want to get it done before the wedding and everyone visits and also done with enough time for him to heal between mean cheese visits as she won;t understand that he is sore and needs to not be poked, pulled, or screamed at.

SO that's that....oh, and I need to finish my taxes.

sigh

this is why I am up at night crying and having panic...it's all coming up so fast and truthfully I am not sure how it can all be done, on any level. Financially it's a lot....and we are having a teeny tiny little wedding, I am amazed every day that people can afford larger weddings at all and still manage to pay their bills, how do they do it? They must have super powers or something.

ok...babble, babble, babble...

with that I have to announce I am having a special sale in my shop to help ease the cost of the wedding and the puppy "procedure"

20% off everything in my shop and a free "reproduction print" with all purchases over $30, you just have to write "sale" and which print you would like in the message to seller and wait for me to send you a new invoice.

xoxoxoxo
jenn

another day

morning!

sorry for the lack of blog yesterday, I really intended on a celeb letter yesterday but then got caught uo with packaging and then most of the day was filled yet again with little doggy drama.

Scribble had to go in for shots yesterday so he was a mess when he came home, groggy and clingly...later in the day my bubs and I decided we should cut his nails while he was still out of it...yes he hates it but we figured we should do all the bad stuff in one day and get it over with.

Well while cutting his nails he freaked, lots of scared whimpering. It was hard to watch and my poor bubs who was cutting his nails was dealing with that and wrestling him into place. To keep him calm I gave him a special training treat that he likes to lick....so he was nervously licking and licking when all of a sudden....another tooth fell out.

The poor beast is falling apart.

so once all that was said and done he just wanted to cuddle and frankly so did I, I will be honest.

Oh and for the record....my blog will not just become "cute things my dog does" stories, well...sometimes it will but not always, I do have some self control so will try my hardest not to add funny text to my pictures of le pup.

photos today are some of my newer pieces listed yesterday in my etsy shop, today I will once again be working on some more art cards, you see I had them stocked up but seeing as people get an art card with every purchase of my book, they dwindled fast.

ok....and on book news, book #2 has already sold half it's print run, so that means there will only be 10 more printed of this volume, so those of you who might want it, let me know to hold one or snag it now. Book 3 is already put together and will be coming out soon too, I am stifling the urge to release it right away, I am always so excited about them that I can hardly keep it all in.

ok, now to work, to work.

hope you are all having a god day, it's going to be almost 45 here today...I can feel spring aching it's way back into my life.

xoxo

Does this mean winter is over??

Happy March 1st!!

Thank god February is over, though this month in many ways has been amazing for me, it's also been very, very stressful and cold, and icy. So, seeing March finally be upon us, well....I could not be happier.

March is a big month...we now have only about 6 weeks until the wedding which means I NEED to get my dress altered ASAP, it also means I need to start working out again no matter what. You see having this puppy has f-ed with my whole schedule, puppy time takes up the time I would have been blogging or working out...and my workload has been so high that working out when I should be working, well....could not happen.

Now, I have been running with the dog and dancing while playing with the dog so I have not been overly sluggish so I am not feeling too guilty.

This month also brings about the mean cheese's birthday AND one of my bubs and I's many anniversaries....yup it will be 4 years since the "official" beginning of our relationship, not really counting the months of grey area before that or the 12 years of on again off again pain and suffering.

Also this month I must (MUST) finish my taxes...ugh

so with all of this in front of me (minus the taxes) I am hoping that things will seem a touch brighter, you see this awful weather and almost constant darkness has taken a bit of a toll, the seasonal depression has been plaguing me and all I ever want to do is sleep, though the fact that my bubs and I have been collectively sick for a while does not help either.

Anyway, I am determined to do it all, work a lot, blog, exercise, take care of the puppy and do my taxes...also enjoy life....that needs to be in there, because my bubs and I have the tendency not to do that, we go through life, we work, we work...we enjoy each other, but there is always this pressure about needing to be working, well I am really hoping that with spring, that we will stop and smell the roses again.

ok, now to work, to work.....

picture today is of several new art cards, some have already been listed, some already sold.

xoxo
j

the mean cheese - scribble war

good morning

how were all of your weekends???

well this weekend we had the lil mean cheese and it was her first full weekend with the puppy and let me just say this....it was a loud weekend.

By the end things were "more normal" but there were times....oh man.

now the cheese and scribble were great with each other, all things considering, the mean cheese was only rough with him a couple times, pulling his tail and once shoving the little guy....but she does not really "understand" but we are trying to make her.

lil scribble pup was good with her, he never snapped or barked, even when for 2 hours she taunted the poor beat in his crate while we he was trying to sleep...when we tried to take her away from him she would yell at the top of her lungs...which proved to be most upsetting for the dog and the humans of the house.

so....by the time last night rolled around we had a very tired little puppy and 2 equally tired puppy parents.

That was primarily the weekend, you see it is really cold here, like single digits and harsh wind....so it feels much below zero and it is too cold to do anything, and of course today I ran out of cocoa....you see I was having double the cocoa this weekend to beat the cold, and the screaming stress tends to make me head for sweets.

So today I must get down to work, I have lots of things I want to make and last week was filled with commissions so it was hard to build up more stock for my shop.

plus I am trying to work on something special for jody....it's like nothing I have ever tried before, so wish me luck.

I am hoping later today to have a couple new prints for my shop as well, which I am excited about.

lots and lots

good morning~~

I have been a bad blogger and blog friend again, you see all the times that I would be in bloglandia, I now find myself with the pup, mister Scribble Gerard (Gerard is said with a thick French accent...my bubs hates it).

The pup is doing well, most of the time....he did have a trying day yesterday when he got so excited to see me, and when I say me, I mean the dog food I was holding, he started to hop on his back legs, like a circus bear...he hopped and hopped and then he fell backwards into his water dish knocking it over and covering him and the floor with a giant splash of water...the poor funny face just shivered and whimpered. I of course panicked and scooped him into my arms and immediately dashed for a cozy towel to blanket him in before he got too cold.

:(

So anyway this weekend apart from dog playing I also hit a huge milestone and got to click off something (sort of) from my New Year's list.

first, I hit 2000 sales in my shop, which is seriously hard to believe on every level, I know I need to thank so many of you for helping me get to this point, I think of all my wonderful buyers and friends everyday and how lucky I am that whatever I am doing is speaking to some of you.

Second I spent a ton of time this weekend working on a book...yes a book of my art.

Now, one of my resolutions this year was to self publish a book of my poetry and art, and this...well this is a step in the right direction.

This book will be just art, no poetry yet.

I am really excited, the pictures today show the cover and a hint of the interior.

now the book will measure 7x7 inches and will be in full color, pages are full bleed with the photos. The books will be VERY limited and will all come signed and numbered, and with an original aceo...tucked in the pages somewhere as a surprise....hey you can even use it as a book mark.

anyway, the books themselves will arrive in about 2 weeks, a little less if I am lucky. I am hoping too that i will be able to get a series of these books.

The book itself it titled "Mixed Emotions" and it will be available in my shop for "Pre Orders" starting today at 9:00am EST.

ok that is all for now, my brain is a little fuzzy as my bubs and I went for dinner and drinks last night and it's been a while since I drank a couple glasses of wine.

xoxoxo