Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Dirty Diana...

My favorite Michael Jackson song and video. Some idiot talking head spouting off about shit they don't understand, even with a pricey degree in psychology, said Michael Jackson was asexual at best. Bull shit. I happen not to be in the camp of people who believe he molested children, but that does not mean I am in the camp of people who say he was non-sexual as a defense against those charges.

If you think he was a person without sexual drive, you really did not pay attention. The thing is I totally get his compartmentalized personality. Quiet and timid and shy in certain situations, but high tension and over charged in others. I totally get it.

A man who is asexual cannot pull this song off so completely. There is sexual energy dripping off of every word and action.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Check out this Contest but Don't you Dare Enter It!

Check out Mikiep's Blog and Blog Contest! For good measure, why not check out Mikiep's Etsy shop, too?

Hehehe! I don't want anyone but me to win, so check it out but don't enter to win. lol Oh, ok, you can enter to win if you want to.

Friday, June 26, 2009

How Dare You...


Some people have the audacity to accuse me of having uncontrolled OCD.

I just don't see it, do you?

(That yellow one that has strayed across the line proves that I am just fine.)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I am not ready, but they are close to being ready.


Favorite picture of my boys. Taken a few years ago when we went camping.

The oldest very close to the edge, ready to jump into the world, and the youngest looking but still hanging on. I love this picture and it makes me a little sad. So, if you are seeing this, just know, I have just shared something very precious to me.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

I am too tired.

Two days outside in the 90 degree plus heat drained me. I am an indoor girl past May.

I love the shots we got though! I just don't have it in me right now to get them all edited. I think I may edit them as I list the item in my Etsy shop. I did a lot of editing last night, well my hours are more like wee morning hours, but not of it was really that productive for my new inventory. I mostly edited collage sheets I purchased on Etsy so that they were in individual pictures. I got the Picnik premium account last night and I am loving it. It works so smoothly and the basics are there without having to wade through tons of extras that are usually in most graphics software. In other words, I have a new toy that causes goofing off.

We were taking our shots out in the country at a friends house and she took a bunch of my new inventory to show some of her girlfriends. She is having a little get together on Tuesday. It would be funny if I sold a bunch of my new inventory before I even got it listed. Of course, people usually wind up wanting custom work, so that probably would not happen like that.


Here is another little teaser of goodies to come.

Picture of New Handmade Items!

I will be adding new inventory to my Etsy shop starting next week on Monday. We went to the country to take pictures at a friends home Saturday. We are going back today to get more photos because the sun went away on us pretty fast yesterday because we got there later than we had planned.

Here is a preview of one of the photos showing one of my favorite new bags. I just love this fabric!

My Treasury for this week on Etsy...


I recently downloaded FireFox. I love it. I have all of the hacks for Etsy. I also installed a few other extensions that I am in love with. One is called "Morning Coffee" that lets you save the sites you want to open in the morning, and all you do is click it in the morning and they all open in a new tab. I also got a screen grabber! So, what better way to put that to use than posting my treasuries on my blog?!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Going tomorrow to take marketing shots!

I am excited about my day tomorrow. We are going to a little, well actually not so little, place in the country to take all the pictures for my current crop of new products! I am excited because we usually opt for the white background look. This time we are going to get more creative.

It will be fun, too. I can't wait.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Want a package to come to your home that is packed with personality?



Well, then you need to check out the little FluffyFlowers shop on Etsy! I just got two of the cutest little creatures in the world in the mail, and I love them! They will be keeping me company on my desk. I am amazed how such simple treasures can have so much personality!










You really should check them out in the shop because my pictures do not do them justice.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Oh, Rocky!

If you are going to spend any time with me at all, you will be exposed to Dr. Frank N. Furter and Hedwig.

For this sleepy morning, let's start with the low-key, melancholic opening number from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I have been sewing all night long and it is almost quitting time.


Sims 3!

I am a huge Sims geek. I have every Sims game made and almost every expansion pack. I even hold onto my original Sims game even though it won't play on this computer. I think I may some day have a way to play it again.

I am dying to play Sims 3! I don't have it yet though. One, I don't want to spend the money on it right now. Two, I really do have a list a mile long of things I want to accomplish in the next several weeks, and if the Sims 3 makes its way into my house, all of that will fly out the window. The Sims is one of those things I get lost in. I sit down to play for an hour and then look up and five hours have passed!


Monday, June 15, 2009

Ben Franklin!


To all the millions of people, lol, who were so interested in who my art project represented, it was Ben Franklin! As soon as I saw his name on the list, I knew it was kismet! We were meant to be together. He was cool, and I am cool!

This is the original post: http://brandedbutterflynews.blogspot.com/2009/06/one-of-my-art-projects-spring-2009.html

I added the stupid link within widget just so I could have that as a link on it, and can't figure out how to edit it.

Can't wait!

I have made myself set a deadline for the unveiling of all of my new inventory! I will get it all done, listed, and ready to roll by June 22! I have a lot to get done. I have done a lot, too. I have many new items all ready to go. I just want to get a few more things ready. I think I will list a couple of things a day all week next week to keep in interesting!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

I am having a "Yart Sale" at my Etsy Shop!


June 10 - June 14 a lot of Etsians are having a Yart Sale. Yart Sale is Yard Sale + Art Sale!

I have a huge discount on some of the things in my brandedbutterfly shop. I also have a great deal on my cards at my brandedbutterflytwo card shop! You may want to be aware that my card shop contains some mature content.

Hope you will stop in!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

I need a little fairy to poof in, clean up, and leave!


I make a mess when I am furiously creating at the pace I have been in the last month. The mess builds and I only stop to clean once all possible space has been depleted. I am on the last little bit of a corner of my desk at this point, so tonight I am sure I will be doing a quick clean up so I can start the process again!

The beautiful butterfly you see on the card was made by Kathy Panton. I love it! The little pictures you see paperclipped to my Post-It note drawer are a couple of the images I purchased from Piddix. I made a little booboo on the pumpkin picture, so it is there to keep me company. The girl looking in the well is ready to be applied to something, so she is just hanging out for now.

The zippy pouch is just like one that I will have for sale in my Etsy shop in the very near future.

All the markers, the pan, the punch, the pencils, are for shrink plastic I have been working on.

The spools of thread are there because I ran out of room on my craft table to put them.

:)

Want to know more about my desk mess. Ask me.

One of my art projects, spring 2009


I wanted to share this with you. It is a picture of my final art project for my 2D art class spring 2009. I love how it turned out. We had to take a piece of stonehenge, 22 x 30 if I remember right, and cut it into 3 pieces to make a triptych piece of art. The instructor gave us a list of people to choose from and we had to make the art about them trying our best not to do the cliche' thing.

We also had to incorporate words and a lot of the lessons we had learned through the semester like: overlapping, cropping, transparency, scale, etc.

I love mine. Can you guess who it represents? (No fair using Google.) I will tell you later.

Monday, June 8, 2009

I am in Shock!

As a journalism student, and lifelong believer in a free press being essential to free people, I am in shock that the two American journalists jailed in N. Korea have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor!

I hope there will be an 11th hour reprieve for them.

Wow. Shocking!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/world/asia/09north.html?hp

Bad thing to start the day on.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

I am a pretty flower...


I am a
Canna


What Flower
Are You?


You Are a Canna


"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Have Some Customer Service

Ever notice how nasty people can be sometimes? Even in the retail world, where one would assume there is something to be gained from giving great customer service, customer service is often lacking!

Well, here is an Etsy seller who gives great customer service! So, go buy something from them, you won't be sorry you did! She sells the most awesome collage sheets ever. Beautiful, rare finds!

Piddix



Too Cute!

I love this lady. She is too cute. I love how she says, "Etsy".

And the spring goes boing...

I tend to be a pretty controlled person. I am wound tight, some would say. I think I really have got to figure out how to let go a little. I am mentally very hyper. My mind goes at warp speed at all times. I never loosen up. As a matter of fact, I have the tendancy to be so stiff, clinching my muscles, in my sleep that I wake up sore.

I think this tendency to be so controlled has been a virtue for most of my life.

It lends itself to stubborness, a trait that is a definant plus, and I am quite sure has lead to my survival.

It served me well when the boys were younger. I lived life on a schedule. I was a stay at home mom for most of their lives, and I ran a tight ship. Clean house. Manicured lawn. Tidy kids. Bed times, bath times, meal time. Etc.

But now, as I am getting older, and they are too, I think it is time I loosen up a bit.

I know being wound as tight as a spring has an ill effect on my art.

Many times I will start on the road to something adventurous and new to me, only to scale back and create something more controlled and neat. I like my results, but really wish I could get on the wild side.

While I am working these kinks out, have a look at this Etsy shop. This artist seems to know how to take a walk on the wild side.

SparrowImages




Monday, June 1, 2009

President Obama and the First Lady


I love seeing normal behavior in the White House. Taking his wife out on a date. Going to dinner. Hopefully no more endless video of a ranch in Texas that apparently needed the brush cleared from it constantly.

Edit Later: LOL Too funny. On Rachel Maddow, Kent Jones brought up the Bush trips to the ranch to clear brush!