I am still thinking about the mercantile market that I sold at on Saturday. I met soooo many talented artists! I met this one woman who even was published in Bella Amoire Jewlery Magazine! I went home with one of her Frozen Charlotte Angel pendants. It looks very similar to the one pictured above. The doll also has an interesting history...

http://reviews.ebay.com/Frozen-Charlotte-And-Charlie-Antique-Doll-Buyers-Guide_W0QQugidZ10000000000915405

I also found her website/blog http://bellalunaarts.blogspot.com/

She also has a facebook page which lets you know where she will be

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bella-Luna-Arts/35916190188?v=wall

Mother's Day is next month... wouldn't she look great wearing one of Bella Luna's one of a kind jewlery pieces?

Let me start off by saying... I am typing with 2 Chihuahuas and a cat on my lap... I need longer arms...

I worked at Treasures from Paradise today... I really enjoy it! People who shop in antique shops are shop interesting... at least I think so. Business is picking up... even I sold lots of treasures from my booth! yippee!!! for me!!! I am sad to say I have decided to close my booth at the end of the year though, because I need to concentrate on moving down to southern California... even though the move probably will not happen before June. John is flying to Switzerland to visit his sister in April... a trip planned a long time ago... so it is pointless to move before that and for him to start a new job and ask for time off... I was hoping to move sooner but that is the way things go sometimes.

I am just ready to move on... we miss the ocean; I want to sell at flea markets and the ones around here are terrible; I will be closer to family; John and I don't relate to people here... we do love our home though... I had to look at 34 places before I found this place. I was shocked at how the rentals are kept around here... the excuse is the college students will mess it up so why maintain the property. There was one place I looked at that I thought was a crime scene! The college students are used as a scapegoat for alot of things in Chico like the low wages, but if you ask me I think the business owners are just cheap! I read that 60% of the jobs here pay below $10.00 an hour! How can anyone live on that?

I learned a valuable lesson though for the next move... research median income and use the demographics and stats page on Google! When we moved here it was at the end of the hot housing market and everything within 200 miles of San Francisco was priced crazy! We liked the environment... hey they had two health food stores and Trader Joes was on it's way... great parks and hiking trails... it's a college town so it must be pretty liberal right? Wrong! I'm not knocking Chico but it is far away from family and the nearest airport is 90 minutes away... John and I are just ready to go. We think that Chico is great if you have alot of money and are retired but we have some years left in us and the business ideas we have will not work here.

So I will use my time learning new job skills, researching places to live (any suggestions you have are welcomed), crafting, playing with my furbabies, working in that crazy restaurant, etc. Oh, and surfing the web...

I snooped through etsy today and found www.ohmybuttons.etsy.com/ Another fun and fabulous shop! She has terrific gifts to get you ready for the holidays. I especially like the ornaments made from silverware. The owner has one son and 11 kitties!!! I think her 4 legged friends also work as models for alot of the artwork she makes! I am sure you will find the perfect gift for you or that special animal lover in your life in Oh My Buttons Shop.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Don't forget to laugh outloud!

Inge

New Biz Card

I designed my new biz card today...it only took me 3 hours! What do you think?

I was chosen to be part of...

Treasury West on etsy.com http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=23735

How lucky am I! I feel truly honored to be chosen to join these talented artists! I worked at the antique shop yesterday and noticed business is definetly picking up, but the customers are paying with cash. Last year the sales were higher but about 80% used their credit cards. Well, at least they are shopping again. I figure by early next year most of the homes that were lost in the fires will be rebuilt and people will be looking to replace furniture and trinkets to decorate their homes...and will come to shop in our fabulous antique mall.

Rock the Vote was a success at Chico State last Friday night. I registered alot of first time voters...mostly 18 year olds. They were excited to be able to vote this year... which I think is another right of passage like getting your first drivers license or turning 21 and throwing away that fake id and getting into bars legally. Cyrus and Brooke from MTV's Real World were the guest speakers and they had a passionate discussion with the students about our government
and the issues that impacted their future. I was happy to hear that this generation is interested in more things than Xboxes and MySpace! After the event I was able to get my picture taken with Cyrus and Brooke...when I looked at the picture later I noticed my legs are in desperate need of some sun! I better sit outside for a few hours today!

This weekend has absolutely flown by! I plan to make some art and play with my critters...what are you up too?

Rock The Vote!!!

I'm working the Obama Campaign booth at Chico State tonight. The temperature is expected to climb to 105 degrees. Yuck! I'm ready for the Fall weather... hopefully we will be set up inside. For now I have a few hours to myself so I plan to practise some of the collage techniques I learned from Nancy last Sunday. I had a fun time and took some pictures of what I made. Tommorrow I take a friend, Dave...I mentioned him before...he helped me learn the computer and I owe alot to him...we are going to Sacramento to visit some doctors...he is diabetic and needs a checkup. We have doctors here in Chico but it seems all the specialists are moving away to bigger markets. It is becoming a trend around here!

Well, I better get the glue gun...three hours of art time goes by fast! Have a fun day and don't forget to make time for art!

I bought a rubber stamp to use on my sale tags. I bought it at Terbear, a shop at etsy.com. If your looking for handmade custom rubber stamps, check out her store.

My weekend will be action packed...My son James has been camping all week not to far from here and he will drive to Chico to visit me for a day! Yipee!!! I also will be working for the Obama campaign on Friday, registering voters and on Sunday I will meet with Nancy from Vintage Funk...she is a wonderful collage/mixed media artist and has agreed to teach me more about collage techniques. I am really looking forward to that because I have been looking for a local collage/mixed media teacher. I read other artists blogs and there are many that talk about collage parties and classes but they are too far away for me to attend...there is a scrap book store in the area but no collage classes and the store environment is a bit dry for my taste. I will keep you posted about my meeting and show you what I made.

Hot August Nights!!!

and that means ONE HOT SALE in my etsy shop! For the month of August lots of my whimsical one of a kind creations and vintage collectibles are on sale...so stop in and get that special gift for...who else? YOU!
http://www.junkstylediva.etsy.com

Groovy Saturday Afternoon

Well, after meeting the Chico Team etsy artists the other night I got my groove back! Artistically anyway. I spent the morning at the Chico cemetery taking pictures of the statuarys there...actually there wasn't a whole lot to photogragh...this confirms my opinion that there just isn't a lot of money around here. It has been my experience that one of the ways to tell the wealth of an area is to check out the local cemetery and look for elaborate statuary...and I don't mean plain headstones...I'm talkin angels, cherubs, family crypts, mausoleums, etc. One of the things I enjoy taking pictures of are statues and old architecture and I have found the best place to go for that is the cemetery unless I am in an older city.

Then this afternoon I started making jewelry pins out of old playing cards and collaging angels to them and adding charms cause I like dangly things! and any chance I get to dangle bobbles from art projects I do!

Now I'm blogging...listening to Jazz and plan to catch up with my favorite bloggers...have you checked them out yet? They are listed on the right side of my blog...take care and enjoy your Saturday!

No Winner Yet...Here's Another Clue

Here is Peggy with her gizmo that creeped out the customs agent. Do you know what it is now? If you are new to the conversation, scroll back two blogs for all the details of this contest. Remember you can guess more than once, but you must be able to tell me exactly what this gizmo is. I have to work today, but I will check my email as soon as I get home ...around 8 pm California time. Good Luck!

Here's a Clue!

So far, there have been several good guesses but of course not the correct one or the contest would be over...so I am adding another photo to help you out. Now this is the actual gizmo taken out of it's case. Does this help? Anyone care to take another stab at it? Oh, if you are just joining the conversation, please read my previous blog and it will bring you up to speed...oh yes, you are allowed to guess as many times as you like! Good Luck!

You can now purchase any of my mixed media and collage creations directly from my blog! Just send me an email , and let me know which item you are interested in purchasing . Go to junkstylediva@gmail.com and I will get right back to you. Ok, maybe not right away but it will definitely be within 24 hours. At the moment I am accepting personal checks.

It's Friday night and I'm learning how to do an etsy mini. There are so many computer things I am learning, I really can't believe it. Last year at this time I didn't even own a computer. I think the hardest thing for me so far is understanding the computer language. Thank goddess for Wikipedia! I look things up on that site almost daily. I also am grateful for Dave helping me learn how to use my laptop. If it weren't for him I would not be blogging right now, let alone selling on etsy and ebay! I forgot to feature a specific artist last Wednesday, so to make up for that, I will show another etsy mini that shows off some of my favorite etsy goodies.

I have found a terrific new shop at etsy.com that you must visit and buy their soap! http://www.whitelyesoap.com/. They offer a variety of essential oils, fragrance oils, and fresh botanicals. They are handmade and handcut. What I really like is that they offer specialty soaps for parties, hotels, special occasions, and healing soaps.

They have recently started featuring other etsy artists under the section, what is etsy? You must check out that section too!! I was chosen to be one of the shops featured for this month. I feel so lucky! So be sure to check out White Lye Soap Company . I know I will be shopping there.

It's Easter Already!

I spent my day working on my art and watching old movies, and of course wearing my Easter bonnet! My son bought this lovely hat for me over 10 years ago and everytime I wear it in public I get alot of attention. That is my idea of the perfect day! I also added some new goodies to my etsy shop. I also bought the U2 18 CD from eBay for John. I have been looking for that Cd for awhile and finally won it! My critters had fun too. They always like it when we stay home with them. They get extra hugs and petting. How great would it be to work from home! I have become such a homebody.