Okay, so..this book has been in my etsy shop for a little while now. When I offered it for sale, I didn’t give it a title. I figured something would pop into my head very soon, and I would go back and edit my listing. But, nope. Poor thing is still sitting there nameless.

So, this is where you come in. If I use the title you suggest, I will send you a prize. You’ll have to scroll all the way down to see what I’ll be giving away. Suggest as many titles as you like, there aren’t any limits. Tell your friends about this contest!! Please! I can use all the help I can get. Here’s the book..

front cover

close up front cover

back cover

oKAY..NOW, HERE’S THE PRIZE:

It’s a print of an original book cover I made called Thimble and Thread (her name is Thimble, his name is Thread). I mounted this print on chipboard using gel medium. I then hand painted over it to make it more of a painting than a print. I also added some goodies, like glitter and beeswax. It is roughly 6″L x 3″W.

If I choose your title, I will send you this mixed media print. Free! No strings attached. You’ll simply have to provide me an address, and it will be yours. I will ship worldwide, so no worries if you’re outside the USA.

If you’re like me, and can’t think up a title for the book, never fear! I have another one of these available in my etsy shop.

Contest ends when I pick a title from one of the comments.

You know how really old books have two names? One that is short and will fit on the front cover, and another on the inside across the title page. The one inside is usually much longer, and sometimes gives a little clue as to what the book is about.

Well, this painting has two names like that, too. It’s called Putting the Cat Out or Offering Her Empathy By Way of Cupcake. heh heh Or something like that, anyway. Okay, so I’ll work on the name.

This is one of the six unfinished paintings I was talking about the other day. I am so truly out of practice, I forgot to scan or shoot a photo of this before I started painting on it again. Oops!

So, I can’t show you what it looked like before, but trust me..this version is better. I had no idea what it was even about last time I worked on it. No clue. No story to tell..nothing! I had a flower, which somehow developed a face. I had a woman with a cat. That was it. But, now I’ve figured out that the woman has been kept awake by a very noisy, naughty cat! I mean, look at her face. Her expression says it all. And, although the jury is still out, the cat looks guilty to me!

You can’t have a cat in the house and not know this feeling. You just want to get some sleeeeep!! My three are all indoor cats, so I don’t have that option. But, there are nights when all three of them would go outside, for sure!

The flower with the cupcake is offering up her empathy. She can only imagine what it’s like to live with a noisy, naughty cat.

It’s not done. The story may develop more as I go along. Or, I may decide to put the finishing touches on it and call it a day. I have about 10-15 hours in this right now, and I don’t know how much more I’m going to work on it.

Oh, btw..this was done using Kelly Rae’s style (I plan on writing about Kelly’s book once I have a chance to read it all the way through). You can’t tell by this lousy scan (something is still wrong with my scanner. grr!), but the background has layers and patterns beneath the paint. It shows up a bit too dark here to see all the colors under there. I’ll show close up shots when I get ready to sell it.

So, yeah, I did the background first, and then the woman. I felt like I was working backwards the whole time I did it. It just didn’t feel right to me, but I’m definitely going to try it again. I loved the challenge, even if I was feeling very uncomfortable the whole time. You gotta try new things and mix it up now and then. Otherwise, it gets boring.

I’m a girl who’s all about process. Like, I’d rather watch the special features on a DVD and see how a movie was made, than to watch the movie itself. And, I don’t even care if it’s a movie I’m interested in or not. Just show me how it was done, and I’m there!! Same goes with art. All I care about is how it was done. Youtube loves me for this obsession I have. haha I love to watch artists paint.

The finished product? Well, I say, “eh, it’s not so important.” After all, it’s finished. Done. Completed. As a working artist, there’s nothing else to do at this point, except sell it..which, trust me, is not all it’s cracked up to be. And, that’s why I am ALL about the process from start to finish. That’s the exciting part. That’s where the real meat of it all lies..somewhere between the idea, and the sigh of relief. That’s what makes my little heart race.

I’ve been taking a good hard look at my blog lately, and I realized there is no way I am coming close to representing my true self here. I have forgotten how to document the things that are important to me..really important. I have been blogging for sooo many years, and before that, I had an online journal. heh! Remember online journals? All hand coded and flowery. Mine was never flowery, but I did hand code everything. html was my best friend.

Anyway, I guess that practice doesn’t make perfect. It makes “burn out”, which is what I’ve been for the past few years. I want to change that. So, from now I’m going to start documenting more. There will be progress shots of what I’m doing. Not so much for you, but for me. I hate to be selfish, but I need to keep better track of where I came from, so I can get to where I’m going a little easier.

Right now, I have six paintings started, but none finished. I am standing right in the middle of the process!! This is where all the drama starts happening. Frustration. Nervousness. Panic. And, little tiny breakthroughs. Ah! Love the breakthroughs. Hate the rest of the stuff, but I know it’s necessary, at least for me. I kinda wish I wasn’t at this stage with ALL six of the paintings because it makes going into the studio a dreaded chore right now..but, it’s okay.

So, I’ve been working on this one for a couple weeks now..maybe a month? I have no idea how to proceed at this point, so I’ve stopped. I’m going to look at it for a while until I decide where to go from here. I’ve been leaning it up against the wall, and it stares back at me while I work on other stuff.

It makes me think a lot. My eyes are constantly examining every detail. I can’t say that I like the background at this point. It was white with layers. I changed it to blue. Then, I changed it back to white. Then, back to blue. I can not make up my mind. Perhaps blue and white are not the answers I’m looking for.

I can’t say I like the dresses either. I have changed the color of them several times, also. First, mauve with no layers. Then white, cuz the background was blue. Nope, that didn’t work. Now, it’s a mixture of layers, white and mauve. I’m not in love with it.

The faces need more work. The one on the left has a droopy eyelid. I haven’t decided if I’m going to fix it or not. I have a droopy eyelid, and no one fixed me. heh heh But, I may spare her a lifetime of people pointing out her droopiness. I know it kinda gets old after a while.

Needless to say, this will be on my work table for many more hours before I’m anywhere happy with it. If I was to guess, I’d say I’m about in the middle of the process. The part where I start to sweat and wonder if I’m ever going to like it. The part of the process that really makes me uncomfortable. But, I know, I have to push through this stage in order to get to the finish line.

Stay tuned for more photographs and further updates.

I got an invite from Suzi Blu a couple weeks ago for this 3 Week Challenge going on over on ning. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was joining when I signed up, but I figured anything Suzi was doing would be fun.

I gotta say I wasn’t all that excited when I found out what it was about, though. I don’t know. I hate to be negative. I really do, but I have reason, see? The group is based on a ten year old book that I didn’t like when I read it all those years ago. And part of the challenge is reading it. I had another look at it on Amazon..

I won’t go into all my reasons, but let’s just say I can’t. Not again.

Putting aside my thoughts about the book, and I have decided to do the 3 week challenge, anyway. There are some great women in the group, and I really like hanging out with them. Three of them wanted to buddy up with me, and well, how can I say no to that sweet gesture.

I’m just going to modify the challenge to better suit my needs, that’s all.

The one thing I can say that I got out of the book are the morning pages. 3 pages, handwritten, in the morning, don’t stop..go! I’ve been doing this exercise for ten years, on and off. So, today I made a little book. I made it small because I don’t feel wordy right now. But, I figure I can handle writing 3 small pages a day for 21 days. It won’t kill me.

I also did some art in my art journal, and I walked 1/2 hour on my treadmill this afternoon. So, it’s off to a flying start. Only 20 days left to go.

If anyone would like to trade Etsy minis with me, let me know. I will be featuring a couple Etsy shops here in my blog each week, probably on Fridays. Leave a comment or email me - mizkatie228 @ gmail.com if you’d like to do a swap. Close up the spaces around the @ sign before sending email.

Oh, and when sending the mini code, my blog can only use flash. You can make it whatever size you like. My blog is wide enough for 5 x 5. Please let me know what size is good for your blog.

I sent in an application to Trunkt this morning, and within an hour, it was approved. Pretty cool.

this is an original, hand painted collaged cover - not a print.The cover has been sealed with beeswax, so it has a soft textured feel. I have buffed it, so it’s shiny. It lies flat, so it’s easy to use.

available in my etsy shop

it must be fall. i’m hungry all the time, and i want to go to bed early every night. i seriously need one of those sad lights, so i can feel better during the fall/winter months. actually, i’d use it year round. i love my house, but man, it is DARK. i need to have lights on during the day, even when it’s bright and sunny outside.

has anyone ever used one? does it work? or, how about the full spectrum light bulb that just screws into a lamp? i had one in my shopping cart at amazon the other day until i found out i was going to get charged over $10 for shipping. for a light bulb??!! i think not.

sooo, they think they’re going to arrest casey anthony on homicide or murder charges. you think?!!?

i don’t feel like typing correctly right now. i’m too tired to bother with upper case letters. hm..i just tried to add new links to my blogrolling account, but it’s been hacked. oops! i’ll try again later.

here’s my latest mixed media painting…dandelions daisies violets

available in my etsy shop

I got a little tired of my old blog look. I know this isn’t a BIG change. I kept the same colors, for now. I’m still tweaking it here and there (ljers i’m talking about the blog on my website, not lj. i update my website and lj at the same time via a plugin on wordpress). But, it is wider, so my images can be, also. And, I made a new banner, which displays some of my recent art.

I also added monster avatars to the comment section. Now whenever you comment, you get a little monster beside your name. If you mouse over the monster, you’ll see it also links to your website, if  you filled in that info. I think you get a different monster each time you add a comment. Aren’t they cute?

Ooooh, and look at this!! I got a rebel art card made by Bobbi in the mail. She started making rebel art cards a few years back, and I was lucky enough to get a couple back then, too.

I just loooove this card. I never make my bed. It’s just wasted time and energy to me. I know it only takes a few minutes, but life is short. I have better things to do than housework. I guess it’s my way of rebelling. heh! So, I was immediately drawn to this card. Thank you sooo much, Bobbi.

that reminds me that i have totally dropped the ball on my pay it forward entry back in August. i’m so sorry. i told you ladies that i would send you something and i haven’t. it’s not that i’ve forgotten because i haven’t. actually, i have started to send you something a million times, but for some reason i freeze up. i can not decide what to send you. nothing seems good enough, and i think, ‘why would they want that???’ so, yeah, i haven’t sent anything at all. i know it sounds stupid, but it’s true. i need to move past my frozen zone, and i will..promise!

Last chance to own this mixed media painting for this cheap cheap price..

worldwide shipping. ending in a few hours.

If it doesn’t sell, it will be in my etsy shop tomorrow for a much higher price because it took forever to make, and it shouldn’t be sold so cheaply. ahem!

Oh hey, if you haven’t checked my etsy shop lately, I now have a SALE section. I’ve slashed prices on some stuff more than 50%. Go see! I want to clear out the old to make room for all the new I’ve been making lately.

She Carries Him Everywhere
8.5″ x 11″ original on birch plywood

it is available on etsy

and..

4″ x 6″ glossy print

“MIZ KATIE” does not appear on the print, only in the picture

available on etsy