Imagine & Geekguy

I have another painting up on Etsy; I'm pretty happy with how the colours turned out. "Imagine" is an original acrylics painting on stretched canvas. Measurements: 4" x 4" (approx 10cm x 10 cm) and about 1 1/2" (4 cm) thick. Sides are painted so no need for a frame, and are thick enough that you can stand this painting up for display.



Another new item: Geekguy, a piece of handpainted, hand-thrown pottery by my friend Luisa and me. Our pottery is food safe, microwave and dishwasher safe. We pack it carefully in bubble-wrap and mail it with first-class postage in a crush-proof box. "Geekguy" measures approx 4" (just over 10 cm) across.

If you buy either piece, you're free to use the image as an LJ icon. :-)

You can see these pieces and others in my Etsy shop.

Hugging policemen during the 2008 Toronto Santa Claus Parade

Photo by Walter

Yesterday, I posted about being a clown in the 2008 Santa Claus Parade in Toronto. My friend Walter has now posted his Santa Claus Parade pics, and I've posted a few in today's Blathering.

Photo by Walter

Photo by Walter

I hugged Jeff when I saw him:

Photo by Walter

And my new clown pal demanded a hug as well:

Photo by Walter

If you missed my post, you can read more about my experience as a clown in the 2008 Toronto Santa Claus Parade.

Photo by Walter

New painting: Companion

Just posted a new painting in my Etsy shop: Companion, an 8"x8"x3/4" acrylics painting on stretched canvas. The sides are painted, so you don't need a frame. Speaking of Etsy, I've sold out of some of my Blush cards, but have ordered more. I also just got word that a Canadian distributor has signed a deal with Blush to distribute their cards, yay!

Up to now, my cards have mainly been sold in the UK, Japan and Australia. It would be nice to start seeing them in local stores. :-)

Anyway, I'll be posting some buttons, mini-paintings and pottery in my Etsy shop soon...it's just a matter of making the time to do the admin involved in posting listings. I'm continuing to enjoy being an Etsy seller. I recently joined Alchemy (custom item program) and got my first Alchemy commission this past weekend.

Some Christmas cards I ordered from my Snarkface Zazzle shop arrived yesterday, and am very happy with the quality -- both the print and the cardstock. I'm going to donate a bunch of them to the National Cartoonists Society (Canadian chapter) holiday party raffle later this month, I think.

It's not too late to order your holiday cards from my shop! Do check out Snarkface. Get 25% off when ordering 10 or more cards, and free shipping if you order $65 or more; see the text at the top of the Snarkface page for details.

100th sale on Etsy!

Woohoo, I made my 100th sale on Etsy today! Thanks to Rebecca A. for buying a set of eight Blush cards; I'm going to include something extra nice in her package.

Since a multiple item listing just counts as one sale, I'm not really sure exactly how many ITEMS I've sold in my Etsy shop so far. Thanks so much to those who have supported my art habit thus far.

I'll be adding more items in the next few weeks. Some of the little buttons with my art on them (in answer to your question, Joey), some mini-pottery, and likely another painting or two.

I'm in Buffalo right now, so any orders placed between now and the weekend will be delivered on Monday. Hope you're all having a good Wednesday...

Post-OVFF, NaNoWriMo, MacSpeech, interview and new paintings!

Be warned that this is somewhat of a rambling and fragmented post as I do some catching up after OVFF...

Reading Allison's final post on OVFF reminded me of more wonderful memories from OVFF, including:

Being the first person in North America to buy Annie's and Tim's new CD!

Hearing Amy McNally do an absolutely gorgeous instrumental rendition of "The Lady" in open filk.



Above: Allison abuses my Nerd Ninja Doll!


ChamberFilk, an instrumental ensemble put together by Phil Textor. Enjoyable performance -- impressive considering all the rehearsal was done at the convention!

Walter's gift to Allison, Jodi and me: a recording of the very first "Dr. Demento Show" where an Urban Tapestry song was aired - "Cuz He's A Guy" on April 4th, 1999. I'm in the midst of revamping the Urban Tapestry website, by the way, and will be posting more info there eventually.

Anyway, do read Allison's OVFF posts over on her LJ.

But moving on to non-OVFF news...

NaNoWriMo

I've decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year! As I've mentioned before, I'm dictating the whole novel via MacSpeech. I work on my NaNoWriMo novel in the mornings, then on my regular work in the afternoons. My main purpose is participating is to kickstart my sf/fantasy novel (I've had the plot, background and character outline finished for months).



Secondary purpose: to see if using voice-activated software will improve my writing productivity. I get frustrated having to take regular "arm breaks" to avoid aggravating my tendinitis, and it would be great to have longer writing sessions at a time. So far it's working well. MacSpeech's dictation capabilities are extremely accurate (much more so than iListen).

The editing functions still suck; in fact, I can't get the voice editing commands to work at ALL. However, because my tendinitis is mostly gone, I just use the keyboard for editing. So far, the process works really well for me. I'm way behind in my NaNoWriMo wordcount, but this isn't as important to me as the fact that I'm able to write more each day than I usually do (NaNoWriMo writing plus other writing) plus am able to do longer stints at a time.

If you're participating in NaNoWriMo this year, feel free to add me as a Writing Buddy! Seeing my wordcount will make you feel much better about your own, I suspect. My NaNoWriMo username is "inkygirl."

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, I have an interview with Chris Baty up on Inkygirl right now. Chris is the founder of NaNoWriMo.

New cartoons



I have started two temporary comic strips. My "Nanotoon" strip (about NaNoWriMo) will be posted in Inkygirl and my "Countdown to BGG.con" strip (about anticipating the BoardGameGeek convention) will be posted in the BoardGameGeek comics forum. I'm drawing both in stick figure format to save time. :-)

New paintings



I have two new paintings up for sale in my Etsy shop. The one above is called "Comes A Dragon" and is 8" x 8" on stretched canvas. The 3/4" sides are painted, so there's no need for a frame. I'll ship either painting anywhere in the world, and will include one of my Blush cards (just let me know which one).



The one above is called "Eyes." I have it priced higher than the first painting because I have this one hanging up in our house right now. Like the Zombie painting, I may eventually lower the price when I decide to replace it on the wall. Or I may just decide to take it off Etsy and keep it. :-) It was inspired by a story I'm working on.

Interview



Children's author Susan Myers has interviewed me for her blog, for those interested.

Oh, and I also finished sewing my red hat this past weekend! It's a bit too big, but I learned a great deal making it. I've started my second attempt. More on that (and pics) in another Blathering.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend....