And The Winners Are...

Happy Tuesday Everyone....ok, last week the incredibly talented Gillian nominated me for the Thinking Blogger Award...thank you Gill.

So now it is my turn....I have to nominate 5 others and leave a comment on their blog telling them I nominated them.

Yes....it is a disguised tag of sorts, but we all know how much I love tags so here goes...many apologies if I have nominated you and you have already been nominated.

Alex Richards - alex's blog makes me laugh like crazy, and it makes me think about important things like, if I HAD to marry a member of Hanson who would it be...and why. You know the important stuff.

The Boob Lady - um...I think the title of this blog says it all right? In all seriousness everyone thinks about boobs, whether they are a man, woman, gay, straight...it doesn't matter.

Mr Aaron Cochrane of Funky Carter - I know, I know...I can hear you groaning now...sorry Aaron, but you do make me think, about things like what I would do if my apartment was attacked by Zombies and crap.

Jewelstreet - love Aimee's blog, especially her "home improvement roundups", not like I can do any improving in my little apartment but I like to think about it, and it's the "thinking" bloggers award, not the doing award, so it counts.

and last but certainly not the least...Lisa Gabrielle from Jungle Dream Pagoda- because this lovely woman gets me all dreamy when she does her monthly vintage fashion magazine.

happy covert tagging ladies and esteemed gentleman.


so...now that is done, how are you all? I am now on day 4 of my diet...and can I just say, I want to have cookies for breakfast, but I won't...because we don;t have any....but I want some anyway.

So tomorrow is sort of a big day here at my little blog...it will not only be letters to celebrities day...but it will also be my 200th post, can you believe it? I am going to have to think of someone spectacular to write to....I would hate to let you all down .

So the images I am showing today are pieces I listed in my shop yesterday, the one above me is called "And Just Like That, She Closed the Door"....again, I would be totally f-ing lost in life if it were not for foreign issues of Vogue...as that photo came from an issue of Russian Vogue I snatched up off Ebay for a steal.

The on the bottom is titled "She Waits For Me, Year After Year"

With that I will leave you all, I need to save my brain juices for a killer letter tomorrow (crosses fingers).

Dear (Insert Name Here) week 8 (is it 8, I made that up)

Dear Anna Wintour

(editor in chief of American Vogue)

I have never been so inspired to write in to a magazine before....blah, blah....seriously why do all letters that involve magazines have to start like that???

ok, I will just come out with it.

Bravo on the May 2007 issue of Vogue, I mean this in all seriousness. You wooed me with the models on the cover but then kept it going all the way through. I felt for the first time in at least 2 years that I was reading Vogue, not a glorified version of People magazine with an insufferable article about Jennifer Hudson or Sienna Miller.

(seriously, how did you give the go ahead to put Jennifer Hudson on the cover????)

I was actually taken aback and moved by the clothes on the cover as well, something that does not happen very often anymore as I am more inclined to focus on the celeb than the clothes.

It is still about the clothes, right? Or did I lose something a long the way?

Not to sound all "The Devil Wears Prada" or anything, but I honestly believe that fashion is the most important art form our culture has today...and that is really saying something seeing as I am an "artist" myself.

I think American Vogue needs to be that bible, that bible of class, style, and fashion...it NEEDS to be that, I want it to be that, the dream magazine of my childhood.

I am sure by the time next month rolls around you will have f-ed with my emotions again but putting the damn kids from Harry Potter on the cover, and I will be forced to write you a hate later calling you the devil and telling you that I think Merryl Streep put too much heart in her performance of you.

but until then...

thank you.

sincerely,
Jennifer Gordon, longtime reader first time writer.


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OK everyone now for a little shop business, as you all know I will be going out of town On Friday morning (way early, at like 4:00am) I am taking a bunch of my art with me when I go, including ALL of my art cards, so if there is anything in my shop you want, get it now, as it might not come back with me.

also, I am a mere 5 sales away from 900, I am so hoping that I get there before I leave for Pittsburgh, as tomorrow is the big one year mark on etsy!!!!

so that being the case, the next 5 sales leading up to 900 are all getting extra love and goodies thrown it.

also, don;t forget the contest every time you buy something you get entered twice (wow).

ok, so that's it for now, I will be checking in tomorrow with all my craziness.

xoxo

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Tuesday

morning everyone!!

first, big thank you to everyone on board with the contest!!! So far I have a ton of entries through here, my shop, and myspace...so it will be a good contest.

For rules of the contest please see the blog post titled..."Monday"

ok so yesterday was hectic and I worked non stop, I even worked during Heroes!! Finally at about 11:00 I fell into bed to relax with the May issue of Vogue.

you see, my handsome bubs went to the PO to mail some of my packages and came back with it, at first I thought he had gone to the store and bought me a foreign Vogue, but no...it was American Vogue...and it had Models on the cover, yes...models!!!!!!!

I can't even remember the last time American Vogue had models on the cover, can you? Anyway, I usually sort of dread the summer spring issues of fashion magazines as I am not a "summery" kind of girl, but this issue of Vogue, is the best I have seen in quite some time, I seriously think I could blog about it for a week, it's that good.

but, I don't have time for that...I have a few hours to actually do some art and then I have a couple graphic design things I must get done, phone calls to make and more goodies to package.

Oh, and a big congrats to both Ben and Tara for jumping out into an early favorite position because they both commented on the blog and bought something...you see I think they are trying to "fix the contest" but remember loyal blog readers, this is not like the Quiz Show scandals of the 1950's, I have integrity, I cannot be bought.

(well I can be bought but it would take designer handbags to do it, or shoes)

here is an idea I stole from Karen Beth's blog, that I just loved.

5 hearts and 5 hates

here are 5 things I heart

1- the moments before you fall asleep at night then everything is all dreamy and surreal

2- ice cream dates

3- pictures of old movie stars

4- the rare mornings my bubs and I have to sleep in (about 2 times a month if we are lucky) and before we are both fully awake we just kind of snuggle in together and can't really talk, we just sort of squeak to each other at fist.

5- rain

5 things I hate

1- hillybillies

2- the fact that people light off fire works in the park next door all spring, summer, and fall

3- the fact that sometimes I tell people I am originally from New England and they say things like, "I thought you looked foreign"....there are so many things wrong with that statement I can;t begin to start, I just hate it all.

4- driving and being in a car for too long

5 - being poor.

ok, that's it for now loves. I am showing a new set of blocks I did, be back tomorrow for letters to celebrities.

****small side note, as of Thursday I will be taking all the art cards out of my shop as well as select paintings on canvas panel....they may not return as they will be going to Pittsburgh with me. If there are any you want, grab them now, or if you ask, I can hold things too...I'm nice like that.

xoxoxox
jenn

All Over The Place

Happy Monday sunshines.

what? you say, happy Monday?

Yes, it is a very happy Monday, because you know what I did yesterday.....I finished the Federal taxes for Bubs and I.

Nothing makes me feel smarter, or really dumber than filling out the cursed 1065 Form...

but it's done, and it will be the last time for that stinking form as we are no longer business partners in the Ye Olde Midgard Comic Shoppe (I typed that the way it would be seen on a sign at a Ren Fair).

so with taxes now almost off my mind (I still have state taxes to do) I was able to work on cleaning and organizing my studio/work space, and you know what?

I have a ton of stuff, most of it I don't use, so I decided to open up a secondary Etsy shop in order to sell supplies and vintage stuff along with collage packs filled with papers and pictures. I just opened it yesterday so please understand the empty nature of the shop...also big huge thanks to Gillian for being my first customer at Chateau Stiletto.

Oh, I forgot to mention how cool Friday was....I ended up on the Home Page of etsy, thanks to Cat or as a lot of you know her, Artsy. She made the treasury list that was chosen for the page.

So here's a big giant shout out and virtual kiss for Cat (oooh, say that out loud, "kiss for cat"...that has a pretty sound to it).

Oh, and I got an issue of Russian Vogue in the mail this weekend (I have been anticipating this, ever since I hot "buy now" on ebay). All I have to say is wow...

no, strike that...WOW!!!!!!!!!

It is amazing, sure I can't read Russian, but you don't need to, the photos are incredible, there are so many images that you ballet and dance as their inspiration, and some of the models are actually dancers...

and the photos...the photos are beautiful, very artistic, I am afraid that after Greek Vogue, Russian Vogue and the army of foreign fashion magazines that have been coming my way, well I am afraid I am a bit spoiled. I even whined to my bubs that there was "no way I can go back to American Vogue now!!"

He just sort of looked at me and said that I should save it for my blog....so I did, and now I am unleashing it on all of you. Sorry.

Oh, this entire entry is all over the place, no theme, just a bunch of stuff being thrown at you....I wish I could have thought this out better so it would have been a more enjoyable read for you.

alas, my brain is not functioning on that level right now, I had a restless night's sleep after having nightmares, all night. Don;t fret none, these were not even bad nightmares, just stupid stress dreams, about me dealing with non paying buyers on etsy (which I am dealing with another small plague of them right now), and I also had a dream that some strange fat man tried to touch me...

oh well.

I guess I should take a minute and talk about a special sale I am having, I have already announced it to all the people who have bought from me in the past, but I will take a second and share it all with you.

I am having an Anniversary Sale, as at the end of this month I will have been on etsy 1 year, I will be taking 20% off everything in my shop until April 26th (my anniversary date), just use the code anniversary07 in the message to seller section and wait for a new invoice.

enjoy the pictures today, they are some of the latest pieces in my shop and I will be listing more blocks today.

xoxo
jenn

Come on Ramblers, let's get rambling.

(I decided to title this post with a little movie quote, thinking my friend aaron will be so proud).

thank you all for your wonderful comments yesterday!!!

ok, down to the ever present business at hand.....

yesterday as you well know I had a doctors appointment, which I was dreading, a necessary evil in life, don't worry I won;t go into gory details about it.

I get to the doctors which is across town during rush hour, my bubs drops me off so he can find a spot. I am about 15 minutes early for my appointment. I get in fill out the forms and begin to wait, bubs shows up with a little present in hand, he stopped at a record store and bought me/him the best of The Replacements, as well as a little black and white matted photo of Audrey Hepburn...he said I seemed tense, and that this should make me smile.

it did.

you see 10 years ago I was diagnosed with very early stages of cervical cancer....it was not a big deal, a couple of appointments and a little bit of pain and I was fine and have been fine ever since, but that being the case, the "c" word, is still a scary, scary thing to hear.

So I have flashbacks of this every time I go to the doctor, so me seeming "tense" is sort of an understatement.

Plus...hello...the weigh you at the doctors, I don;t even own a scale, so it is a good way for me to forget any weight I may have gained. Until now.

Needless to say the appointment was unpleasant but fine, even the weighing...which was not that frightening, I actually weigh less that I thought, I actually weigh what I would have "lied" and said I weighed, now I can lie and say I weigh less.

Anyway, the doctor was 45 minutes late for my appointment, but when all was said and done it went well. As I was getting ready to pay and leave...I pass out.

On the damn floor after sort of slumping against the wall for a minute.

where the hell did this come from? Am I that delicate a flower that I can no longer even have an appointment without having a "spell".

So then I feel better, stand up and go to pay again, while mumbling something about my bf and I need to tell him I am fine, as I have been in the office for a very long time by that point. But....before I get to far, I pass out again.

um, seriously...what the hell?

I am finally feeling a bit better manage to pay, get out to my bubs and somehow we are outside walking to the car, it's freezing and I am dragging my coat and scarf on the ground and mumbling and not making much sense...really it's all a blur but the air felt good against my skin, it was very cold but I needed that, the 6 block walk to the car didn't even phase me, my bubs held my hand the whole way.

What I do remember clearly is when we got back to the car...we had a parking ticket.

wtf? seriously? SERIOUSLY?????

that was my day? how was yours?

Oh and to top it off, we have been going to the post office everyday to check our PO Box, Keith has ordered some things off ebay (a couple weeks ago), as have I, I am also waiting for several checks for some artwork to come in...so we go, we haunt the PO every day and wait.

still nothing.

Bubs is clearly upset, as am I....though, I have been lucky, though I have gotten all of the things I have been waiting for I have gotten 3 wonderful surprises.

1 - karen beth, who is lovely, send me a wonderful little note with images she clipped from a magazine...how adorable!!! Karen Beth is one of the best mail givers out there, she should start a business where people pay her to send other people packages, they are that good.

2- Amazing Risa in Equador sent me a little collage as well as some tea, a magnet, and a lovely pencil and sweet note. She is delicious and I will have to repay her with many lovelies.

3- Evil Kate, who I lovingly refer to as Ka-Jenn, as she is one half of my fake celebrity lesbian power couple was recently in Ireland, Scotland, and London...much to my delight she picked up some Irish fashion magazines for me...as well as the awesome trashy tabloid "Hello" complete with cover story of Angelina's latest baby purchase.

4- Greek Vogue came in the mail, sure I actually bought this one off ebay so it really shouldn't be in the gift category...but it arrived from Greece, when the purchases I have made from local people, have yet to arrive.

oh and I worked on two new block sets yesterday and I am loving both sets so much, they are both up for sale in my etsy shop.

well, I hope you all have a lovely Easter, I will be spending the day the same way I spent it last year...muddling through doing the taxes for the comic shop, luckily this will be the last year!!!

xoxoxo
jenn