I'm on a New Treasury West !

I normally don't present any of my treasury entries in my blog, BUT i thought i would just mention this one because of the lovely creator of the treasury.

I checked out her blog and was immediately carried away to this violet bellas world...so much creativity & joy in what she's doing. As i've said before i'm fascinated with technology that brings ideas to life...some day i want to have my blog warm & welcoming as this one.

So please visit laura's lovely treasury as well as her blogsite.

New Lockets in my shop

I just love the look of these locket-like pendants. they actually should be called amulets. you remove the top jumpring and you can fill the piece with whatever you like. it allows for fairly thick 3-D objects to be placed inside... i've thought of charms, crytals, secrets...maybe the name of someone you secretly love ? :D

Shhhhhh! a BLOG SALE...20% off !

I pride myself in having great everyday low pricing...BUT between November 23rd & November 30th, i'll be holding a blog sale on everything at my Etsy & 1000Market stores.

Just mention this blog sales notice during the ordering process...usually in the "message to the seller" area. I'll then credit your Paypal account 20% of the purchase.

I Dodged the Bullet... :D

well i dodged the bullet... my in-laws decided to host thanksgiving this year. i don't have to "fake" making a turkey. come to think of it, i don't even like turkey...i'm a chicken or ham gal, maybe even a medium-rare steak fan.

i will be making a sugar-free apple pie and oatmeal cookies and bringing them to the table, not because i want to, BUT because it's my Thanksgiving survival plan.

i don't know why, but my in-laws all know i'm diabetic, BUT they will never make any consession for that "weakness"... in fact they go out of their way to make it harder for me. i don't take it personally though. over the years i've noticed something strange about them... a true phobia against the OLD & SICKLY. may i define this a little clearer... age is not the factor alone, but it is being old and what they perceive as "needy" in any way... needy for financial help, emotional help, physical help... total oblivious to the human condition that very few escape, including themselves. maybe if they "deny" it hard enough the "aging gods" will bypass them.

so until they realize denial is not a fool-proof plan... they will probably be administrators of a "solent green" factory in a future life :D

Scared again!

I'm scared again...going in for some emergency laser eye treatment this early morning...can't sleep.

My eyes tend to bleed at times, nothing ghoulish, just tiny bleeders that leave what the doctors call "spider webs". If you looked at my eye you would not even see it, but looking outward, I do...in normal people they usually disapate & fade away so the vision isn't effected for long, but for some reason (probably due to my diabetes) my bleeders don't act normally & stay & I'll get more bleeders until my eye is filled with these little "spider webs" that float about like thick algae floating through sea water.

It's time like these that I become scared & disgustingly maudlin...trying to think of what I could do if I lost my vision being an artist most of my life...Monet painted well into his blindness...his figures becoming more abstract BUT those amazing colors could not be restrained.

I know I'm no "Monet", but with technology, maybe I could see a bit longer or at least clearer...I hear that fonts can be enlarged :D

I'll try to sleep now...crossing my fingers & toes...knocking on wood.

Peace & Love Market of 1000Markets is wearing it's heart on their sleeves with a great Benefit Auction...

One of my favorite markets at 1000 Markets.com is again dispalying their hearts on their sleeves by sponsoring a Benefit Auction for "A Place to Bark"...an animal rescue facility located in Tennessee.

Bids are being taken Sunday Nov. 8th thru Saturday Nov. 14th at the Peace & Love Market Forums.

Just make a comment with your bid. If you are a member of 1000Markets that's all you need to do...if you are a newcomer & don't want to join at this time, just make your bid and leave your email address so you can be contacted in case you win.

If you are like me... a generous heart BUT with a hole in my pockets right now, consider making a donation, leaving your contact info :D

Wonderful Christmas theme jewelry has been donated and it will be fun to see how high bids will go... Winner will be announced November 15th ! ...Let's come an support the people who listen to the creatures who have no voices.

Some of the talent at "Wear It Out" market at 1000Markets.com

The talented Artisans of the Video (above)

the artisan from "wear it out" market who participated in this video:

headband shoppe, tissage, streetnoodles, tickled pink knits, hyena, storybeader, a stone's throw,
the pila shoppe, silver river metal, moxie and oliver, briana e., vigilante labs

Streetnoodles...October entries...

Cat Lovers or Haters...just in case you missed it...

i had seen this site about a year ago and my immediate response was "LOL"...but as i thought about the fact that my cat, grayson (who looks like the gray cat above) likes to eat his own hair...even likes to consume the "dust bunnies" that i breed to my husband's horror...talk about the HUGE synthetic hair ball he would have to endure!

here is the site if you missed it on the explorer front page: kittywigs.com

Gift Wrapping on the Cheap...a few ideas

One of the best ways to use up scraps of treasured gift wrap is to use what i call the "obi method"...imagine a plain unadorned gift box and add two different but compatible (complimentary in colors, similar decorative elements in both) decorative papers. i chose 2 graphic papers, both have a metallic gold that runs thru and the red & purple are from the same color family. my theory is that we all have a sense of style and we tend to pick items that just seem to go together.

once i figured this out, i stopped buying anymore papers...okay, maybe ONE extraordinary one once a year, only on a close-out sale tho :) ...my goal is to use up all my papers...that should take me 5-10 years!!!

the second & third pics, show two ideas for tags that are fun. the one in the middle are from japanese playing cards called "hana". they are beautifully made and already have unique pictures you can leave for the tags...but if you like you can replace the pics with your own...i've even used these cards for creative business cards since the opposite side is pure black. i've made little labels or in one case i actually hand wrote my business info. in white ink. you can usually find them on line or if there is a "japantown" where you live, checkout their gift shops.

the bottom pic, you can use any pics you have...xerox them, glue to card stock and cut into tags...here i used my prized "official beatles fan club cards" from the 60's.

i collect different papers, images, old stamps, graphic designs, beads, charms...i even have collected the plastic faux grass-like foliage that you find in take-out sushi bento boxes (you just never know :)

the above is just a small sampling of what you can do with the collectable scraps you have...on a simple kraft gift box is one of those gold-leaf sheets the chinese like to burn as offerings on special occassions (you can find them in your local "chinatown")...over that is a transparent sheet of paper i got at a stationery store, i like it for it's dreamy quality...i've used a paper punch to make cut outs displaying the different layers...added a portrait of a pretty lady. you can use your rubber stamps on the transparent paper to add more design, convey a message, or just leave it simple like i did.

i get all sorts of things in the mail for free that promotes this & that. lately i've been getting fake credit cards that i think is such an "icon" of our civilization...so i've used it here as the main focal point to a small jewelry gift box...but it could also be used as a gift tag.

i also like getting the "publisher's clearing house" stuff...i like to use the colorful magazine stamps on my tags and as part or all of my gift wrapping.

Big Mouth Bass at His Full Potential...

Chantal, GPS...and the "Panel"

the above shoe art is from a young artist (marina dempster) who probably wasn't even born when the fresno feminist art experiment came about, but i think she may have benefitted by it's subsequent movement.

after my participation in the gallery 25 show (an off-shoot of the feminist experiment..35 yrs later), i was able to get in contact with another founding member & friend, chantal gadd trauner, a very talented painter. we arranged to meet at my house to catch up with our lives (hers in georgia & mine here in california) as well as to take a short trip to the college, CSUFresno, where it all began to listen to a few speakers from the first wave of the feminist art program, that judy chicago brought to life.

i had long since had quit driving due to health issues and she volunteered to drive. admitting that she wasn't the best of drivers & horrible with directions...so of course her son provided her with a rental with GPS...and of course with a female voice with a british accent :) ...which we quickly infuriated with our own instilled creative directions at times.

we only heard 2 speakers; suzanne lacy, more of a conceptual artist w/ great talent in organizing & documenting large communities of people...she was a bit dry in her presentation. the other speaker, faith wilding, was so natural & charming in the lecture hall and disarmed us with her sense of humor towards that era that we had come to see a glimpse of.

after lunch, chantal & i went to a rather disappointing panel discussion consisting of quite a few of the original 1st wave (fresno-cal arts) group and a couple of additions i wondered about....one a neophyte organizer who was tripping over her tail between her legs, basking in all the "glorious women" around her; and a well deserved woman from the 2nd wave of feminist art group who i questioned only because there was a long under-appreciated professor who continued the feminist art program for 20+ years after judy chicago & rita yokoi left it, who was sitting in the audience.

after a short while, both chantal & i realized that this so-called panel discussion was just a "self-love fest" of the original group...even the questions were from the panelist themselves...only allowing questions from the audience when the group realized the "disconnect" between them & the audience. the speaker only holding general short commentary on questions that reflected a contrary opinion or an acknowledgement to others beyond the original group, who played a huge part to carrying on the energy of the feminist art movement and also helped to pull off the multi-venue & events around campus & the community that they were invited to.

as you can tell i'm a little mad...years ago when camille paglia came onto the scene & questioned the feminist norms, questioned the liberal media, hell just questiioned everything...i for one applauded her. i remember watching a panel of some heavy hitters in the feminist movement at that time...betty friedan & gloria steinem to name a couple...and a young enthusiastic woman in a non-confrontational way brought up the writings of paglia and asked a question about what they felt about it. all of the panelist down-graded paglia, spewed their own aged propoganda...it was if, they all "drank the same kool-aid". i was appalled that they, some of the most influencial women of our times could not see or make room for another opinion other than their own...their own ideas that had narrowed with age, with comfort, with a whole life & lucrative careers based on their stale idioms.

though not on the same international level...these panelist were suffering the same narrowing of opinions & thoughts. i guess it is true, that the glory of the revolutionist is that they will enviably become irrelevent AND that the new revolutionist to follow will need to remember their history BUT NEVER be afraid to question & disguard.

where have all the thongs gone???

i recently had to bite the bullet and buy some underwear..."panties" if you will for the sexially tintilated. as i log on to "target online" and looked under "old lady undies" (luckily they don't call it that), i started to think about all those sexually provocative matching bras & panties i use to love to get from "victoria's secret"...they always made me feel sexy...hugging me in the right places...lifting me up and out where no asian woman had been before.

when i was a single woman living in the bay area, i prided myself for having 30 pairs of sex panties (of those 30, 15 had matching bras). it wasn't because i had a "thing" for collecting them, BUT that i hated to do laundry...so instead of going to the laundromat weekly i just did a massive wash every 30 days.

so when was it that "victoria's secret" was replaced by "lady jockey" at target? or maybe a more important question is "where did all the thongs go?"...a few were lost under car seats, movie theatres, restaurants, and hiking trails...(got those pantie lover's a cheap thrill)...BUT where did the others go??? a mystery i'm quite sure...maybe i can make up a game similar to "where's waldo?" :)

why are we afraid of "i love you"?

facebook is an amazing & baffling place for me. remember bruce, the first boy i ever danced with in high school, who in an early entry i describe a 40+ year old "seed" of kindness (see "my first" high school dance entry). he is going thru a personal challenge and has gathered round his friends & family to ease some of those potholes on his journey.

bruce hadn't heard from me for a long while...what can i say, social networking is hard for me...i know it's necessary for my business, but i'm horrible about keeping up with it...adding friends, keeping my "wall" updated.

we recently got to talking again, going over mutual old friends & aquaintences, talking about everyday silly stuff...and in the middle of it he said he loved me...i thought how nice & didn't think much about it till the next time we spoke...he was concerned that he might have scared me off with that innocent declaration of friendship.

when you're young & in the dating scene...those three little words can be like bullets or roses depending on the situation...BUT i had to think to myself, at our age and what we all have been thru in our lives, the battles & triumphs we all have had, the knowledge of the hard road ahead, those 3 little words have more significance...

a life well-lived will always have regrets, but if we're lucky we'll make time to acknowledge them and to make amends... for bruce to share his "love" briefly with that ackward girl at a high school dance some 40+ years ago to a woman who only really knows him thru that wonderful chance encounter...that innocent declaration of "i love you" is his 40+ year "chip".

i love you too bruce :) ...for the boy i still see in my memory and the man you've become.

Gallery 25...a 35 year journey

When I look back on my life, I remember my mom telling me never to boost about anything. It is an old Asian belief, maybe even a generational belief that if you brag or boost about something you risk the “powers-that-be” to become jealous and send bolts of lightning to rain on your parade.

I’ve mentioned on several occasions, my association with Gallery 25, the extension of Judy Chicago’s Feminist Art Experiment (celebrating it’s 40th anniversary) and the hard-earned co-operative gallery space that Joyce Aiken made real for so many (now celebrating it’s 35th anniversary).

There was a core group of 21 women who made up the gallery, in a time when you couldn’t find any acknowledgement of women artists except minor additions that stated that they were married to a famous male artist, had a liaison with a famous male artist, or were suspected of being gay.

The original group felt that to even the playing field, a space had to be created to allow for the female perspective to be studied, created, and seen as valid…not only to the public, BUT to the artist, herself. When your views & talents are placed on a secondary shelf labeled “hobby” rather than “profession”, your hardest challenge will be to change that mindset.

I was lucky enough to be part of the original founding members…went to the artist’s exhibition which was a combination of young emerging artists, along with a few samplings from the founding members. I was pleasantly surprised to notice a social dynamic that very few see, maybe because it takes so long to see the progression.

I noticed as the young emerging artists stood in front of their work, they talked about their inspiration, their manipulations of different mediums, and how they felt about each piece….then the exhibition director brought out feminist points or images that she saw that the artists didn’t even imagine. I had to smile a little since I use to do the same thing with my own art pieces way back then…trying to find a feminist tie after the fact.

I then noticed that all the founding members there had a strong sense of personal perspective (classic feminist ideal) …also a feeling of freedom that I think only age gives you. When I had little talks with each of my former colleagues, I was so proud of where all of us landed. I did notice though that there were some strong “radical feminist” views of a few of them, because they could still see how much more has to be done…BUT all I could see, were those wonderful young women artists, who were never berated by their male professors or peers, who never felt any limitations where they could exhibit, who never hesitated fleshing out their ideas with old & new techniques & JUST MADE ART….dare I say, I’m so proud to be part of the Gallery 25 past & future.

Steel Magnolia ... final #2

Steel Magnolia...final #1

Steel Magnolia, Bruce S., and a Crush Reborn (egad! @ my age)

a while back i wrote about Bruce S....he was the first boy i "officially" danced with at my very first high school dance.

the entry was about the kindness he showed to an ackward young girl he barely knew. i also tried to describe the "sexy bad boy" auora he had...i don't think i could ever adequately describe it, BUT weeks ago i got caught up again with this CMT program called "Can You Duet" (very strange for a "rock & blues" kind-of-gal).

this season was so amazing, with over-flowing talents...BUT one of the duos competeing, Steel Magnolia, was my favorite. not only were they the best coupling, BUT Josh Scott Jones was the exact physical likeness and the same degree of "bad-boy hotness" of Bruce S., the boy from so long ago who i will always have a crush on.

Steel Magnolia won the competition... and i'm now reminded of the crush i had for a sweet young boy years ago and struggling with a crush of a young man who's as old as a son i never had.