Knock Knock

"Who's there?" you may be asking. Well, it's ME, silly - THE QUEEN. Yes, I'm back from the seemingly black hole of single parenthood. The vast pit of medical issues still hangs onto my ankle with voracity, but I'm trying to ignore that pit right now...but it seems that once you put on the "Hello My Name Is..." badge, you become something akin to a dusty misfiled medical journal in the hosptial bowels, never to be truly free from the medical establishment again. Or something like that. (The parallel I was trying to draw just isn't coming out right...which isn't surprising, since I think one of the medical tests performed on me sucked my brain clean out. Or wait - maybe that was one of my childebeasts!)

I have loads of new art to share and I've even been working on a really cool new technique. If it works, I will share it with you guys first. (Of course!) If not, well then we'll have found something you shouldn't try. Anything I can do to help my fellow artists, you know.

I do have a new announcement...(can you hear the drumroll?)...we have five adorable new additions to the castle! I apologize in advance for the terrible pictures - my digital camera broke and I haven't gotten a new one yet. The royal cat, Princess, gave birth to these guys - two gray & white and three gray ones - on July 20 & 21. They've grown at an amazing rate - and are all just now starting to really walk/get into trouble. Five pairs of eyes are now open and the big blue eyes almost seem to take over their sweet little faces! Princess has been a fantastic first-time mom, still so protective of them that when we're playing with the babies and she decides she wants them back, she tromps out, heads straight for her babies and swoops in to grab them. She carries them off to the closet with only a flip of her head, telling us we'd do well to get permission before just taking off with her babies. Altho we had no idea this was to come, it's been a fascinating adventure and I dread the time when four of them go off to their new homes. I have wicked thoughts of keeping ALL of them...yes, the Queen is worse than the kids!

They keep switching sexes on us (lol), but as it stands now: the 3 gray ones are Lola, Lucy and Ferris...and the 2 white-and-gray ones are Squeak and Squawk. It's so easy to lose an hour or two just watching their silly antics. So adorable!

So here are a couple pictures of the palace's beautiful kitties...and in these pictures the kittens are less than 12 hours old!

One more thing...to mark the Queen's official comeback, I thought it would be nice to give something away. Although the first thought that came to mind was to give away one of the childebeasts, I just don't have the time to deal with all the red tape that would require. SO, I chose to make the give away something you would enjoy much more...ART SUPPLIES!

In order to kick off my return in the proper way, I am going to bequeath a wonderful little envelope of supplies to some lucky reader. I can't take a picture of them due to the broken camera (drats!) but trust me, this is a great little package. (Would the Queen offer prizes that weren't royally awesome?!) The winner will receive FOUR WOOD MOUNTED RUBBER STAMPS and a delightful assortment of FIBERS!! The amazing fibers will include ribbon and clippings of various other fibers I have collected. OH MY! Retail value of the HERO ARTS rubber stamps alone is over $12! And did I mention the stamps are BRAND NEW?? Oh yeah - no yucky seconds for my readers, no way. (Each wood block is approximately 2" x 3".) And here is the best part (ok, not as good as the goodies, but pretty close!)...all you have to do to win? POST A LINK TO MY BLOG/THIS CONTEST ON YOUR BLOG OR WEBSITE...and POST A COMMENT (make sure at least your name is on your post so I know who to announce as the winner!). Could that be any easier?? I think not. I will, however, give you a hint. Once all comments have been verified as eligible, the winner will be chosen at random. Your link must be posted (and comment left on my blog) by 11:59 pm MDT (US) August 31, 2008.

It's really easy...1) Post a link to my blog (or this contest specifically)...2) Leave me a comment so I know you've done it - and make sure to include your name!

So there ya have it. That's it. Pretty simple...assuming I put in all the information to make the rules clear I also wanted to let you guys know that in addition to posting some great art on my blog, I have some great new plans for The Queen Speaks as well. Featured artists, links to blogs you've just got to visit, specials for my readers only to really cool online art shops, and new contests are all in the works. So if you've subscribed to or visited my blog just for the great art, now there will be even more reasons to make this one of your daily stops! So stay tuned...and it's nice to see you again!

PayPal Alternative

This is my "gearing up to return" post - and it should be really helpful to a lot of us. Whether you sell on eBay, privately, or whatever - you are most likely just as sick of the mounting fees as I am. By the time you get your portion of the money, it's likely a good portion of it was added to the pockets of PayPal - and they didn't have to do a whole lot to earn it! I'm tired of it and while mentioning it to a friend of mine, she suggested the button I'm including at the bottom for you.

The best part of Money Exchange? There are no fees. They are backed by a bank and are in direct competition with PayPal. AND they will send you a card to use - so you can either have the funds transferred to your bank account, or use the card at a growing list of places.


Money Exchange is backed by First Bank and Trust in Brookings, SD and is an FDIC Member. You can get all the information you want just by checking out their site. I like it because it's easy for people to send you money thru their site - without them taking fees they didn't do anything to earn! They don't offer interest on money kept in that account - but if you're like me, money doesn't sit in there long enough to earn enough interest to care about. lol

So check it out to see if it may be right for you - just click on the button below. Give them the same information a new account requires and then sit back and enjoy accepting the payments you rightfully deserve...and no more making another company rich!