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!

Groveling Gift

In an effort to make things up to everyone for being MIA for a month, today I'm posting a link to Lisa Vollrath's very cool holiday downloads. The best part? They are free! She only asks for a link in return, to share the holiday festivities. I've seen the first set - some adorable postcard ladies are the gift for December 01 - and you can't go wrong with these. They are lovely! She's offering a new download gift everyday from December 01-25...so don't procrastinate!

To take advantage of these great downloads, check out Go Make Something - just one of Lisa's websites. (She's a busy woman!) Clicking on the title of this post will also get you there. Thanks, Lisa!

I haven't been online much since the death of hard drive - since I'm stuck using a pieced-together machine that actually belongs to the beasts, it can take 45 minutes to load one page or one email message. The Queen is much too impatient & busy to wait that long! I have been trying to keep an eye on email and a few of my very favorite sites as time allows - so if you need my Royal Hineyness, drop me a note. I will respond as soon as the Kingdom allows.

The good news in all of this? I have been creating all sorts of art! If this computer could handle photo editing software - or even just the addition of my camera! - I would post some awesome eye candy for you. But for now you will take to just take my word for it. I have my fingers and toes crossed that Santa brings a new laptop for Christmas - but I'm not sure yet where I fall on the whole naughty vs nice list. If you see the Big Guy in Red, please put in a good word for me. After the year Ive had Id like to think karma would cut me a little slack!

I will keep checking in as I can - I hope you all are being good and creating some great art. Enjoy your last few days of 2007 - and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

A Kingdom of Peasants

I don't recall ever agreeing to lead this type of kingdom!

Contrary to popular belief (and an advanced apology to those whose hopes I'm about to dash), I did not run off to the funny farm like my hair was on fire. You'd have to have insurance for that. Neither did Prince Charming show up and whisk me off to some exotic island. That requires too much energy - what, with making the childebeasts pretend they are more human than beast. No, girls - your faithful and fearless friend has not dropped off the face of the earth...I can't afford to fall from anywhere these days. This would not include the fall from grace I've apparently taken. Which would lead you to believe I had grace to begin with, wouldn't it??

I was fulfilling my role as Queen Crazy (as only I can) - creating art, wasting more than my fair share of time on the Internet, and even combining those two passions into an investigation on somehow actually making a living on my art. I was furiously researching ways to sell my interpretation of the world, not entirely convinced I was the next Picasso...but more than a little confident that I could hold my royal own with the likes of Donna Dewberry, Jennifer Perkins & Sandi Genovese. Pretty sure that I could out-crown Cathie Filian & Steve Piacenza (of Creative Juice fame), shoot adhesive out of the top of my scepter faster than Donna Kato can work a block of clay, and grind out a royal funk design faster than Traci Bautista.

It is entirely possible that my crown is too tight and therefore my brain is in short supply of blood - or that I've spent just a little too much time around odoriferous art supplies without adequate ventilation. Then again, it isn't totally unbelievable (or unlikely) that my life of poverty caused delusions of grandeur...especially since the only "grand" thing this queen can afford is delusions!

That said, I decided that mixed media art is hot right now. (Well, I didn't decide this as much as society has decided it's popular right now.) Around the same time, it became impossible to ignore that a reliable source of income is pretty important in the scheme of things. For years, people have said I should sell my art - and when I put some of my jewelry up for sale online, it sold better than I expected. Everything else I've made has been either to decorate my space or to give as a gift...and as far as I know, nothing I've given to my friends/family has ended up in a dark closet, only to lugged out right before my arrival. (I've been known to make surprise visits to check...or compare dust levels!)

As usual, this is the long way to get around to the point...but really, wouldn't you miss all the commentary if I made this quick??

As I was researching the best way to go about selling my art, my computer became extremely unfriendly and began giving me this nasty message. Something about "fatal error". And no matter how many times I tried to ignore the doom-filled message and continue on, the machine would adamantly hold the "fatal error" stance. I finally gave up, admitted defeat and took it to the repair shop. (This only happened because I was too embarrassed to keep explaining to the landscaping crew why my laptop kept "falling" out of my window and landing on the grass they were trying to mow.) It only took the repair store techie .0035 seconds to diagnose the problem: dead hard drive. After all the surfing we'd done together, the upgrades I'd lovingly bestowed upon it, and the fun we'd shared with the canned air...it hijacked every morsel of information I'd shared with it. My computer selfishly grabbed everything I had freely allowed it to store. This betrayal was worse than any divorce. It shut down in angry silence, never once responding to my repeated questions about WHY. And although I had spent years taking care of it and fulfilling every need that it had, it was clear I wouldn't even get half.

Which brought the true level of this kingdom's sad state of financial affairs into immediate focus. Not to mention that the collapse of my computer clearly violates the sanity clause I have.

The positive spin? I've had lots of time to work on new projects and organizing a good portion of my studio...which has been nice. Not as nice as staying in touch with everyone and sharing art with all the talented people I know...but I'm trying to find the good side. Especially since I don't know when I'll be able to replace my computer and return to my incessant online gabbing. Waah!

I will be checking email and blogging as I can...so please don't give up on me or forget about me. I'll be working on buying another computer as fast as I can - but until that's possible, I'll be creating like a mad woman - and continue to keep all of you in my thoughts. I'll pop in as possible...and hey - if you see Ed McMahon wandering around with that Publisher's Clearing House check, point him in my direction, would ya?

A Quick Peek

Just in case there's a question, yes - I do realize I've been a total slacker lately! The craziness of life directly correlates to the amount of time I can put into my blog. I have lots of projects to post and different things to show you - and I promise I'm trying to get there. There should be a whirlwind of posts soon - so keep your eyes open! (I spent all day playing with polymer clay...so stay tuned!)

I still don't have any pictures of my Funky Art Journal (based on Collage Unleashed by Traci Bautista) to share with you - because it was so late, I was in a huge hurry to get it mailed to my partner - and I forgot to take pictures before I did. She has kindly offered to send me pictures of it so I can share it with you guys - and as soon as I receive them, I'll post the pictures.

This is a quick peek at the journal I made for Sherre, the hostess of that swap. This journal was much smaller than my original - and it had a completely different feel to it. I made the cover out of chocolate organza, then hand-stitched flowers and grass to the front. After sewing on blue buttons in various sizes and shades, I used a metallic pen to draw swirls on the back. A funky little beaded star I made adorns the lower corner...and on the front I attached a tiny silver tag engraved with "thanks" that I'd antiqued. The inside cover is made out of this neat collage-looking fabric I found. It's hard to see a lot of the techniques I used so I'm not going to explain each page - but if someone has a question, please post a comment and I will happily explain anything you're interested in. See if you can find my favorite page - a piece of 8.5"x11" acetate, folded in half, with a mix of colors and pressed flowers "mushed" in the middle (along with a couple of pine branches stamped in for good measure) and 2 pressed flowers with Magic Mesh - covered in Diamond Glaze...it's hard to see!

I had so much fun making my original journal that I decided to make a smaller version to thank Sherre for her patience and understanding regarding my serious tardiness, and her friendship. Sherre is an incredible artist who has limitless ideas and always inspires me. I am fascinated by her work and love reading her blog - and if you click on her name above, you will be transported to her mesmerizing blog so you can see her talent firsthand!

I am going to post the pictures of this journal - you can always see a larger image by clicking on the picture. This is not the entire journal - but scanning every page would have taken forever. Especially since the pages are all different shapes and sizes. This quick peek should give you an idea - and hopefully inspire you to create your own Funky Art Journal - to share or keep for yourself. Come on...you know ya wanna!