To all my family and friends. Today and everyday, thankful for love, water & shelter, health, and art.

<3

Thirsty for Art

So last time I updated I was throwing a fit about my cracked cell phone.  Which I am still using with all of its shattered glory.  It works good enough.  :p  Let me give you a run down of some things that have been going on since then...

I just recently finished a custom guinea pig for a nice lady in Australia.  Her little one turned out really good and is currently making his journey home.

My neighbors behind me decided, for whatever reason, that they should cut down the very old, very large, tree from their yard.  I'm very sad.  I loved that tree.  I would sit in my window and watch the squirrels and birds, the wind, and the seasons change.  Now she is gone.  I felt so helpless sitting there watching the destruction of her limbs.  When I couldn't stand to watch any longer, I could still feel her as she hit the ground with each resounding thud.  I miss her.

Unfortunately, the loss of the beautiful tree has put a slight damper on my landscaping plans for the yard.  Sweetheart and I are planning on installing a circular patio, or one made of faux cobblestones.  We are going to tear out the old unattractive patio, expand the flower bed planter in the center of it, and expand the other planter behind the house.  I found several terra cotta flower pots someone was just tossing out in the trash that are going to be filled with butterfly attracting flora.   So many ideas, and I can't wait to get started.  All of this depends on the approval of our landlord though.  :)  I'm sure she will be excited about it once she sees our schematics and sketches.  I want to build an arbor/trellis and a small table with benches.  While we were tearing out last years dead plants and raking up the debris, I found this little one!

A real ladybug with seven spots!  And I mean real one, not the asian ladybird beetle.  So I had a little fun with my macro lens out in the yard.  This is one of a bunch of shots I took.  I know its not the rare 9 spot ladybug.  I have yet to find one, but when I do, I hope I have my macro with me.  :)

I've been pretty lazy about creating lately.   My job wears me out, and when I get home to actually work on something new I been ending up on the couch researching cool, amazing, fantastic ideas I want to try.  Without art my soul dries out, and it's been like a damn drought the last couple months.  Its high time I get creating.  Even if that entails me literally throwing paint at a canvas.  On that note, I think I'll grab my sketchbook.

Electronic Overload or Me Griping about Spending Money on a New Cell Phone

I've got something stuck in my craw today.  Last week my cell phone had an unfortunate accident.  It fell on the ground and the screen cracked.  Not just a simple crack.  A big ole spider web crack shooting out from the upper left hand corner.  This was my first smart phone with its pretty touch screen.  Not top of the line, but not exactly cheap either.  Sad part is, I'm still paying it off too.  My new provider has this clever way of taking your expensive phone and breaking down the cost into payments tacked onto your bill every month.  What seemed like a great idea at the time, has lost its shine since it broke.  Paying on a damaged phone is kind of a cruel joke.  My two year agreement ends in October or November, so not a lot of help there either.
Well, I had been searching online for a replacement thru a popular big box media store.  I saw that a phone I'd like was on sale for $99.99 to what I thought had said new contract members/contract member upgrades.  I thought it was the perfect solution.  Well after going to the store it turned out that not all was as it seemed.  I guess from what I gather now, is that I was looking at an online offer.  According to the associate the prices in store were different, AND that offer is only for new contract members.  Not existing ones.  They continued to say something about the same phone for $250, and I stopped listening.  I still stand by that it said it included upgrades/existing members, but anyway.  I discovered later today that I must have been looking at the online specials ad and not the store front specials ad, which is found by using a store locater and then looking at the ad thru their link. Annoying.
Thinking I could get better information at my providers kiosk, I journeyed into the mall.  I asked the associate there about the same phone.  I was told that I would have to pay $200 down, send in a rebate for $50 back, and then $20 for 20 months would be tacked on to my bill.  I think my brain shut down at this point, and I didn't even get to ask if I had to upgrade my data package to a higher amount, or if I needed a bigger plan to accommodate 4g from 3g.  Then she quickly followed that up with the sale that was coming in the next weekend or so where I could buy my phone for the same deal, but instead of a $50 rebate, I could get the whole $200 rebate.  She said it with such great enthusiasm, as if I had been given a special gift.  Really?  You mean I only have to pay $400 for my phone after 20 months instead of $550?  Why, that's positively a steal. Can you feel the juicy sarcasm here?  I'm laying it on pretty thick.
Now I've been told that the reason these phones cost so much is because they do so much.  They are like little computers.  They not only make calls, they can play games, stream music, take photos, surf the web... blah blah blah.  I know.  Yeah its helpful to my job that I can access the web at any given moment, but still.  Its a phone.  Its one thing that I have to pay for my phone plan and data package and unlimited texts, but why do I have to pay so much for my phone too?  The phone I was looking at retails for $700.  I need a new fridge (and I'm not talking big fancy stainless steel, I'm talking, medium sized, plain fridge that keeps food cold and colder).  It also retails for $700.  I need a new computer because my old desktop fried itself.  To buy all the parts I want to build it myself, guess what?  $700.  Why do all these things cost the same amount?  Yeah a phone can play games, but not like on a desktop.  Yeah a phone can do multiple things, but a basic fridge does two things.  These days you cant get by without any of these things.  Food has to stay cold, computers are needed for school/work/business, and phones for work/school/business.  It just frustrates me that the cost of living is so high.  How does the average person (and I mean average like me, scrappin' by as best I can)  afford all this?  Not to mention all the pressure behind it all to stay current.  You need a computer, you need a smart phone, and don't even get me started on the rise of tablets!  I've even been investigating those now too!  "Oh, well, maybe I need one of these too?  I don't, but they're so appealing right?  I have a laptop, but a tablet... that's even more portable! I could put it in my purse! I need one!"  *face palm*  The draw of gadgetry is strong.  Its sexy and appealing and there are so many damn cool things you can get.
However, its the price tag that stops me.  I know I'm not alone saying these electronics are a bit beyond a price range I'd like to pay for something.  I guess that hardest part is also that after a couple months, something bigger, better, faster is coming out, and your gadget is old hat.  You now have an expensive relic you may or may not be paying for still. 
In the end, they'll win.  I'll buy a new phone, probably more than I'd like to spend on one considering I drop stuff a lot.  They'll tell me I need a bigger plan.  I'll upgrade.  The vicious cycle continues.  At least a fridge will last a while longer, and a desktop computer is stationary, so the odds of me dropping it are much lower.  ;)

Tonight is New Years Eve. 

I feel like the end of the year will pass me by if I close my eyes.  This whole year has gone by so quickly.  So much so, that to me, it's as if I just experienced two Christmas seasons within two weeks of itself.  While some say time flies when you're having fun, it hasn't been all fun this year.  It has been a year full of joy, sadness, fun, repetition, change, excitement, and worry.  I've been reflecting the last couple days.  Running thru the year, remembering everything that I experienced.  I hope that by continuing to do this, the year will seem a little longer than it feels right now.

As for 2013, who knows what it holds.  I hope something good.  I hope something awesome.  The potential is there.  I'm going to try like crazy to do something with it.

I think I will have to break out my sketchbook and think about the projects and plans for the coming year.

Fall

Fall.  Its hard for me to believe its almost November.  It feels like summer was just a blink ago.  The leaves have almost all fallen off my tree.  There are just a few flowers left holding on in my garden.  My marigolds seem to be thriving in the colder weather.  There are a couple moss roses in my front yard hanging on for their life.  With the cold weather, snow is sure to follow.  Colder weather makes me worry.  My neighborhood has many feral/stray cats.  I've been trying to keep them from multiplying.  A few years ago, I had the help of some local TNR folks to catch about 5 adults and 5 kittens.  These days one of the adults is still around.  There are a few new faces, adults and kittens.  This past spring, one of the new adult tabbys had 3 kittens. My sweetheart and I have been working on gaining their trust to someday be able to catch them and get them TNRed too.  Just in the last weeks we did accomplish that goal, and released them back to the yard.  Three less females able to have babies.  It makes me feel better knowing that they can't explode the population, but I'm sad at the same time.  These kittens are very sweet, and could easily transition to being house cats.  Unfortunately, we can't bring them in, or we would in a heartbeat.  So, the last couple days have been hard.  The temps are dropping and they seem to be okay, but it makes me sad that they are out there.  Ive built them a feral shelter, and I give them food and water.  So I try to make their life a little easier, but it still bums me out.

Three Backyard Princesses

On a lighter note, I did my first big show!  Preparing for it was exhausting!  But, I had a blast :) 

Batty Bats in progress

Glow Ghosties glowing

I'm considering doing the spring show in the coming march with a whole new line of charms.  But if that is going to happen, I had better get busy.  With the holidays approaching, I'm looking into doing a couple local craft shows.  Besides that, I'm also trying to figure out my xmas gift list. Once again, I've waited until late in the game to get moving on projects.  But, I don't feel the same pressure this year.  So that's good :)

Halloween is in a couple days, and then so is El Dia de los Muertos.  :)  I hope to make a couple new sugar skulls for the shop.  Until then, here is a couple shots of the pumpkins we've carved this years so far.

First set of pumpkins

Second set of pumpkins

We have four more to carve :)  I love Halloween!

Selling some manga and comics

Ive been cleaning thru some things and I have decided to sell some of my manga and comic books.  I've either read them and didn't finish the series or just no longer want to hold on to them for some reason or another.  Mainly, I've gotten my use from them and I want to offer someone else the chance to get some use of them now.

Money I collect from these is going to go to awesome use of my first real big bead show I am planning on doing in October! I am so excited!!

So here are a few titles I have for you so far:

Tramps like us Vol 1 - 3  $15

Loveless 1 and 2  $10

Tsubasa 1 and 2  $10

Pretear 1 and 2  $10

Excel Saga 1  $5

.Hack  1 and 3  $10

These are all in excellent condition.  I can provide you with photos if you like.  I am a nonsmoker so no worries there.  I do have pets, so be warned if you have allergies.

I'll list more as I find things keep and eye here for updates or my blog.
Paypal for payments & free shipping
Message me if you're interested!  :D
bluedesertrose1 (at) yahoo (dot) com