Never Ending Shoe Saga

Oh so inhumane. Before my coffee at a ghastly morning hour, (Anything before noon qualifies as ghastly.) and still not yet fully recovered from prying my oldest out of bed & shoving her patooty out the door to barely grace the school bus driver with her omnipotent high school presence. We have Autumn. And guess what Autumn cannot find? Oh why, that would be her shoes, again, as usual. Keep in mind she has puma's and nike's and slip~ons and sketchers, but will she wear them? Just one day please for your traumatized mother? Emphatic "NO" bellows out of her mouth. The clock is ticking, the bus is coming, the 11 year old is blaming mysterious forces for ONCE AGAIN moving her shoes to a place unbeknownst to anyone in the universe. Beat up faded black high top converse with stars. Worn sole, frayed fabric, & on their 3rd pair of laces. Secretly I sort of hope they remain un~found. They should be put out of their misery instead of put over clean socks. I tried to get the dog to chew them, but I think they scared her. "Where were you when you took them off?" and a reply of "Definitely in the family room by the couch, I am absolutely sure!". We found the star stamped sneakers in her room, under the clothes she took off before going to bed. With 3 minutes to catch a bus that is 5 minutes away, Autumn flies out the door wiping her frustrated tears, shoes untied and backpack clutched in her arms. She must have caught the bus, because she didn't come home in need of a ride to school. Magic high tops not only have the power of invisibility but must make you run very very superkid fast.

Calgon Take Me Away!

"Mom, I can't find my other shoe! Somebody moved it, where did YOU put it?

"It's in the fridge where YOU also put your homework, now leave Mommy alone so I can Twitter."

http://twitter.com/sparkklejar

MaGiC LeTTeRs

When I was unfortunately a slave to eBay, I got a reputation for using the "sparkklejar MaGiC LeTTeRs". ~Which became a running joke that using lowercase alternated with uppercase letters in your listing title somehow magically attracted hoards of bidders with a phenomenal closing bid.

Someone in an Etsy forum likened the look to a ransom note which I think is quite hilarious.

I also gained the MaGiC LeTTeR bLoX reputation, & once sold a set of 4 shabby pink letter blox that said PINK to a woman in France for 42.00~CrAzY. Then as typical non creative eBay droids do, I got copied by about 20 sellers. It's tough being an innovator. Etsy artists are respectful, and talented enough to have their own ideas & don't need to rip off someone elses.

MaGiC LeTTeRs bring wOrLd PeAcE!

Vintage Upchic'd Wooden K block available:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23955559

~Lisa

Echoart Shares Some Bliss

My Beautiful friend, Etsy user echoart, was phenominal enough to write about herself and share her wonderful art with my blog readers & explain the beauty & creativity involved in mixed media ACEO's. I first met echoart on eBay, and we migrated to etsy about the same time. Her art is truly inspirational to me.

Echoart's words~

I have a passion for collecting assorted bits of ephemera, mostly vintage (usually from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s), and recombining them to create something new. The juxtaposition of initially unrelated items is exciting to me, as I see the new ways in which those items interact, the new ideas they bring forth when combined. I am a poet, and I find that the idea in poetry of “disparate ideas yoked together” also holds true regarding my collage and mixed media ACEOs, as well as larger pieces.The inspiration for this particular ACEO, titled “a more blissful life”, was my longing for a life in which I can actually “follow my bliss”, as mythologist Joseph Campbell famously philosophized. We all have days (weeks, months, years) when we must simply put our hearts and minds to the business of slogging from day to day, without being able to focus on the goals we truly wish to achieve. This ACEO was my way of reminding myself that the life I want might be just beyond the next door, beyond my next effort – that attaining the life I desire is possible.As with most of my ACEOs, I spread out all the pieces of ephemera in my collection and waited to see what would call to me to be used in this piece. As it happens, “a more blissful life” features mostly more modern bits of ephemera. The background shrubbery image and the text came from a discarded fashion magazine, and the red door was originally part of a photo of an armoire in a discarded design magazine. I cut the twig with three green leaves from a roll of wallpaper I purchased at one of my local thrift shops. I layered the images used in this ACEO, as I do with all of my ACEOs, using Mod Podge. Once a given ACEO is complete, I coat it with a few layers of varnish to seal it – usually matte varnish, sometimes glossy, depending on the feel of the piece. For “a more blissful life”, I used glossy varnish, to emphasize this ACEO’s inherent optimism.“ACEO” stands for “Art Cards, Editions and Originals”. The only requirement for creating an ACEO is that it must measure 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. ACEOs may be created using any medium and materials an artist desires; my own preference is to make ACEOs via collage and mixed media. Initially these small creations were called “ATCs”, or “Artist Trading Cards” – artists made prints of their art, measuring the standard 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, and both traded them with each other and sent them to galleries to introduce them to their work. Once artists realized that people wanted to own these small versions of their work, some began creating them specifically for that purpose, and the ACEO market was established. Personally, I find that ACEOs are a wonderful way to create small pieces of affordable art – to my mind, they are very much like visual haiku.

Echoart's Art Cards, editions & originals~Beautiful Vintage~Collage~Assemblage

'Tis truly a treat to visit her shoppe.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5965465

'A More Blissful Life' available:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15680091

Thank you so much to my friend echoart and just a big hug to her for her patience in letting me get this blog entry up & running. I enjoy our convo's, they brighten my day, ~Lisa

Hanging In Limbo

Lately, I have been in a fog. Floating around in Lisa Universe & being unproductive & lazy. Us artistic types tend to bathe in our depression.

I have actually been writing. I ignored listing new stuff on etsy until recently & I must confess Bonanzle is in the back burner for me right now.

But I did do something kind of different for me and actually listed an item on ebay. I use them as nothing more than ad space because that's all they're good for. Actually, this is the nicest thing I have said about ebay in a year and a half. I pimp out a nice item cheap there, and will have no profit but be able to lure that buyer to my etsy shoppe & gain a customer.

~Lisa