Texture Tuesday & a Perfect Summer Day

Long hot summer at the Jersey Shore.  I've been trapped in my bedroom by my window air conditioner for months because our central air died years ago.  The jeep I drive also has no air but living down the Jersey Shore makes it easy to escape the heat and soak up a little sea breezes in the evening.  The picture below is from an impromptu drive through Belmar and up over the ocean bridge connecting it and Avon-by-the-Sea .  

As I crossed the bridge I saw the beach and the inlet as the sun started slipping down in the west.  I couldn't resist!  I had DH pull over briefly on the other side of the bridge, grabbed my little point & shoot and started hiking back over the bridge snapping along the way.  The natives and tourists were out in force and these folks wanted to be on candid camera so I obliged!

This piece is for "Texture Tuesday".  An informal show and tell at Kim Klassen's Cafe.  The assignment was to use a photograph of "looking down"... I couldn't find a better photograph than this one of happy folks ending a day on the sea.

This was done using my photograph with Kim's Dream It texture.  The blending mode was Linear Light at 32% and the font Papyrus set at 79% opacity.  Life is everywhere you look whether it's up or down so Celebrate it!

STEPPING INTO THE VOID

There was a game we played as children. You had to be blindfolded and be trusting enough of your friends and/or family that they would not put you in harm's way. That's how I've been feeling lately. I've been blindfolded. Groping around in the dark trying to decide if I dared to move ahead without fear.

With trepidation I announced to my customers on Sunday that I would no longer be selling Avon. It's been my saving grace, my pocket money, my little bit of security against total financial insecurity. But my customers have been dropping off one by one because of their own financial problems so that it has left me hardly breaking even. The amount of work for just a few dollars would be better invested in my new LolliShop, PrimsyWhimsy.

So I did it, put in my last order, 30% of which are gifts for family and friends. And then by stepping off into the void I hit the bottom and bounced up, up and away!! I received an email from the owner of LolliShops: "Hello! I would like Primsy Whimsy to be the Weekend Artist the weekend of January 9th-12th". Amazing, spine tingling serendipity OR the plan the universe had for me all along and was just waiting for me to step off and find my wings?

RETURNS

I've got a bunch of returns to make to ACMoore and Michaels. And it all started when one of my Avon customer's bras didn't fit. Is there never a simple story in my life! Anyway a dear friend who fell in love with a particular bra asked if she bought two and they didn't fit could she return them. Absolutely. Because Avon guarantees everything they sell. So she ordered these gorgeous PINK Bali bras and racked up a 45.00 bill.

OK...since I'd had such a great campaign with Avon I decided to buy some cake decorating items from my favorite craft stores. One thing lead to another and I dipped into my 'profits' in my Avon account. When my friend tried on the bras they fit beautifully but were thin enough that her nipples showed through! She called up almost in tears because she loves pink, loves the bras but at 58 isn't interested in people staring at her chest...and she's a public speaker so guaranteed they would be staring and whispering! BTW...she's a GORGEOUS sized 10 redhead so the men would obviously be real keen on her new 'look'.

No problem to return them BUT I have to pay Avon tonight and she needs that 45.00 back and since I'd already spent my profits I figured I better find a way to come up with the money. So I started looking at my craft purchases over the last week and that lead to looking at the ones I made a couple of weeks ago that are still in their packages.......and........I thought...what the heck, I'll return everything and figure out a way to make do without all of this extra stuff!

Actually I'm kinda proud of myself. It's usually difficult for me to part with ANYTHING but especially things that were part of a 'dream' project. So I just have to change the direction of the 'dream' and I'll be fine. :( In the meantime I've got money coming back so I can refund her and have enough to pay for the Christmas gifts I purchased for the family on 'time' from Avon. I think this is why I didn't make it as an Avon lady 30 years ago...way too much temptation to spend, spend, spend! Off to finally eat breakfast, ttyl

Does anyone really care

that I'm blogging today? The world is a busy place, how can it stop to see what I'm doing. Does anyone really care? Probably not, but why not? Other blogs get great traffic but mine is slow on the uptake. I have to get noticed, but how? Ideas for anyone stumbling across this is always welcome. Feel free to tell me what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right.
I tweet on twitter but get no replies...do I not do it often enough? Are other people watching my tweets OR am I in cyberspace, flying solo? Hmmmmm...back to sorting AVON products, it's at least making me money. eBay and etsy are stubborn and I can't break through that glass ceiling to become a power seller on eBay or a seller at all on etsy. I AM doing something wrong but I need to spend some time figuring out WHAT??? Blogging can be a lonely business after all...especially if no one comments or says Hey, I like what you just said. Oh well, Sebby, my sweet darling cat is crying to get out of the bedroom and away from all of this cosmetic crap and oh, no! He's climbed up on the desk and any minute is going to pounce on the keyboard................ gbvgf gfv,fv g,vf, see..I told you so....ta ta for now or ttfn for those in the know.

Lisa Bebi paint-over collage technique???

For the second time in as many days, someone has said to me, "What the HECK is a paint-over"? The short answer is; take a photo or magazine page, affix to a canvas board and then using acrylic paints you PAINT OVER THE IMAGE. Now if that doesn't explain it any better, just google: Lisa Bebi +paint-over. OK...my sister just did it and comes up with the info that will better explain the technique since it's not mine to fully explain. I've only done it twice so far and have a long way to go before I can do it well enough to explain it. Also http://itspamelasworld.blogspot.com/2008/04/paint-over-technique.html has examples of this very same technique by another blogger and artist.
I'm so appreciative of Lisa for being generous with her technique in the Spring 2008 edition of Somerset Workshop. Her "Altered Images Fun & Easy paint over technique" is a wealth of information about this wonderful way of expression. I was able to do these paint overs by reading the information presented. I would love to take one of her workshops but because of $$$ restrictions and travel costs I've never been able to fit one into my life...but someday!
This week is MINE! with the exception of Tuesday when my AVON boxes will arrive on my front steps before dawn and I'll be out delivering all of those wonderful products to my friends and family. Other than that I plan to PAINT all week using lots of my vintage family photos and some of my newer pieces from garden shops. I'll keep posting all week so stay tuned!
Hugs from Jersey y'all :)