ACEO's

I have been following a thread on etsy about making and selling ACEOs - which are the same as ATC (artist trading cards)- excepted they are sold instead of traded- i had made a few in the past- but now found that it is VERY addicting- any easy to fit into my evening after work- i lay it all out on the counter, chat with my husband after the kids have gone to bed and multitask while the layers are dying.

I was inspired to list some on Etsy, just to see how they did And- to my surprize they are selling. And i was told that i am pricing them too low, because they are originials, so i've been asking a little more on the latest listings. Hopefully the sales of the ACEOs will lead to more exposure for the shrines and books- cross your fingers

sold

sold

newly listed

listing tomorrow

Let there be light!

on etsy.com your photos are everything! i mean everything! if you have crappy photos the item won't sell. if you have crappy photos people won't put your stuff in the treasuries. so i am determined to take better pictures of my stuff.

i read on someone's blog- now i can't even remember who and i really should give her credit- that you can make a "light box" to photograph you product. it's like a mini photostudio, with a direct light source. that way you don't need to use a flash and the light is even. supposed to look very professional. with nothing to loose but an hour of my time cutting up a cardboard box, i decided to make one. luckily for me- i already had a great even light source- the portable light desk that was collecting dust in my studio-

so- a cut off the top flaps of a strudy cardboard box- and laid it on it's side. i cut a large hole in the top. i laid in some white cardboard to help reflect the light on all sides and cut a piece of nubby linen fabric as a drape. Voila! I have a light box.

I re-shot a bunch of items that were on Etsy and not going anywhere. ( Probably, the really bad photos, who knows...) I'm going to up load them and see what happens. You be the judge- does my product have a more professional presentation??

old photos

today i received an old photo album that i bought on ebay earlier in the week- the pictures are of one family dating back from late 1890s to mid 1950s.

really interesting mix of emotions in the expression. some are incredibly beautiful and candid. trying to find a way of getting the photos out of the book without causing any damage to them- this time it's the freezer method- i put a few pages in a freezer bag, sealed it and then put it in the freezer. almost all adhesives fail under three points, heat, humidity and cold. since i don't want to bake them and i don't want to submerge them in water- i have decided to try the freezer method- cross your fingers!!

the ghost in you

here's the gyspy girl making her way out of me- Blecha- you would be proud, i know you secretly enjoy the psychic connection courtesy of Ltrain, it brings you back to your own gyspy roots.

you would be very interested in the latest and greatest spookiness i have been encountered- some of which hit to close to home for me to share just yet- some of you know what is happening- there rest will have to read about it later when the whole thing matures a bit more- maybe when i write the great american novel- ha!

at any rate- i have been thinking about ghosts lately- being haunted by past lives-

Funny that i would pull that card yesterday- from the osho zen tarot deck -especially since i was thinking about it in the car on the way into BTV- AMAZING HOW WE CAN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN JUST BY THINKING ABOUT THEM! THIS IS REALLY WHAT MAGIC IS!

So there it is- the ghost in you- the thing that brings you back to all the people you knew once and will know again- it's all part of what i am now calling the cosmic conspiracy. the interlacing of possibility and fate. i digress and i will digress again- without fail- i'm certain of that-

"the ghost in you" is a new AB that i have started to collecting materials for- it is coming from deep inside me and is definiately a journey- probably one of the biggest artist leaps of faith i have to make- but needs to be done- it is the next step from "angels have wings"-

tonight at the opening for the Hearts Aflame Show at the Rose Street Gallery showed me so much about where i going- all the pieces just seem to be lining up so well. the book, as a work of art, was so well received by not only other artists in the Burlington Community, but also by art lovers- it was surprising to me and somewhat overwhelming.

back to the new book, girl, i have to stay on task...

"the ghost in you"

so with out telling you too much- the ghost in you- comes from many points-

1-ghosthunters (thank you sarah normandine for orginially tipping me off to this show and the bizarre nature of people who actually go looking for signs of ghost activity- sometimes that show gives me goose bumps and makes my eyes well up.

2-a waking dream- or out of body experience- (or whatever you want to call it) that i experienced about three months ago- it freaked me out for days- but now i know where it came from and what it was about ( i think)

3- an old cabinet photo that i recently found and the backstory that i have started to unravel- that in itself has been a treasure hunt.

4-yes, and if you recognize it- the song

the AB will be a visual novel that fills in the back story of the two people in this old photo i found- it tells ( in letters, journal entries, collages, etc. ) about their relationship and how their souls are intertwined over the course of time- (twin souls, as heather calls it? i don't know yet,) what i do know is there is something very deep there- something sad and full of longing- why? it's in his eyes. the why- just waiting to be uncovered.

about ghosts...

ghosthunters has this idea that places can be haunted- i have another deeper idea- that the haunting is really a residue of the lives people leave behind- almost like a smell that lingers in a room. that residue can be electric, charged and effect a multitude of people. there in lies the haunting-

but i think people can be haunted too- i woke up one morning with the phrase "i have been chased by ghosts all my life" in my head- left over from a dream i do no longer can recall- all i have are the words. they linger with me- like a ghost- they hang over me- almost pleading with me to understand what they mean. so - in my mind- people can be haunted too-by real ghosts? this i do not know - but haunted by memories- from their current life times and past lives- it is embedded in our DNA- like the Jungian collective conscious. it reoccurs in the present as instinct, feelings and deja vue.

so- if you have ghost stories send them my way- if you have past lives that linger- and want to share- fill me in- this feels like it is coming back to that book Speciem Days again- for some reason- it just keeps effecting me over and over again.... strange-----

hearts aflame

Hearts Aflame Group Show-

Angels have wings is in a group show that opens on Friday at the Rose Street Gallery in Burlington. The theme, burning hearts, things that make us feel passionate, is one that hits home- as this is the last page in the corset book- So cool to be in a show in Burlington, that is not a Book Arts show. I'm planning on going to the reception on Friday. I hope it works out well. I've only ever shown my work in Book Arts Guild Group shows. Stepping out.