Pay It Forward!

It's as cliche as "Seeing is believing!" It's as overused as "What the ....?"
Ok! And you're telling me this because.....?

Call it what you will, there is a growing group of folks on Etsy and I want you to know about it!!
Etsians who believe in offering incredible deals way below cost, to those who want to do the same for others, and create a spirit of good will and nurturing for our businesses!

It gives the shop owner a lot of exposure and it gets some really great handmade items into appreciating hands! The only thing that these shops asks is that when you buy an item, you also offer something to Pay It Forward in your shop!

Here's some items that are featured by beautiful selling souls on Etsy right now!!

FOXY G KNITS

"...where every scarf, shawl and wrap is designed with you in mind – to both complement your style and enhance your comfort. Foxy G. Knits run the gamut from simple ribbon scarves that can be tossed into a weekend bag to beautifully choreographed goddess shawls that can take you all the way to the red carpet! And each item is hand knit with love – from my heart to yours.

Foxy G makes beautiful handknit items. You will want to remember her when you need that very special gift for your girlfriend!!

Twistedstring
Twisted sells great supplies, all at great prices, so you will want to stock up!

I urge you to remember that these hard working sellers need your business too, so please throw an extra item in your cart along with the PIF item! It's good for everyone and you probably have someone else in mind for it anyway!

SunnyDayCreations


SunnyDayCreations has a great shop with very pretty soaps and bath and beauty products.

She also has a huge pif (pay it forward) inventory, which is so wonderful and generous!

The prices on items in these shops is so reasonable anyway, that you can buy a regular item, and with the Pay It Forward item, it will be like 2 for 1 !!! Heck, you can get a basket full of soaps at a bargain! So, go help a handmade crafter, buy local even to go green, and spread the joy!

REMEMBER, by accepting a pay it forward item you are making a pledge to perform a random act of kindness for someone else.

Here are just a few more Pay It Forward shops and items! There are sooo many shops that it would take me hours to list them all, so please search for "pay it forward" or "pif" to view them all!!

Moonshadowdesigns
SunnydazeBoutique
Businessminded
Dolphindaze
PlunkettDesigns

Chileandreamer

Thebearfootshaman
Ferrytales2000
Weedesigns
JacquiJCrochet
crochet18banner
grigiodesigns
artandsoulgallery
kokovanilladesigns
snookybootzi

Pay It Forward!

Episode 64: A Weird New Hope

I'm staying optimistic. You never know. A day in the dark sure can make your attitude dull. Ah, but a day in space?--Now there's a morale booster!

Here are some pics from the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Huntsville was the long term home of some very important people, like Dr. Wernher von Braun, who in his early life was instrumental for inventing technology that would be used for missiles that bombed England, yet later settled in Huntsville as a friend to England and the United States, and invented the rockets that brought us to the moon!

"The Davidson Center for Space Exploration is like no other in the country. In its 476 foot long, 90 foot wide and 63 foot high structure, suspended 10 feet above the floor, is a national historic treasure, the mighty Saturn V, restored to its Apollo era readiness."

Holy cow, now who doesn't get excited about peeing in space? (What? -you must have no sense of humor and should probably retire to seclusion in the mid-west somewhere.)

This space suit was almost creepy...I wonder if someone was really inside there waiting for me to make my move...I really wanted to go home with this suit!

Even though the rockets and parts were very cool to look at, this pic below was really the star of the show for me...to see the actual Apollo 16 command module that re-entered the atmosphere and landed safely back to Earth is nothing short of a miracle for sure..at least by 1972 terms!!


















A pretty cool shot of the Bottom of the Saturn V rocket, a shot taken looking up at it, as it is suspended 10 feet above our heads. It almost looks as if you could walk through the field of engines!


Naturally, I took some liberties...Flash photos of the inside of engine modules made for a few interesting shots.















WHAT THE HEY??? -- Adults aren't allowed in space camp!!!
Think of the revenue that could be generated if only they would change that policy!!

Sure, lots of us have great ideas...It's implementation that's the problem! Now, go write an Iphone app or something! Go create your own fly-me-to-the-moon excitement! No time like the present. Can't wait for Government funding, ya know, NASA can't even get that!

Episode 64: A Weird New Hope

Waiting

Do you know how that feels?

Yesterday was not the most artistically inspiring day. It was cloudy, windy, raining...wet. Generally yucky.

I have been obsessed recently with creating little characters for my children's writing project, and I'm lucky to get to constantly observe my goofy dogs in amusing poses all over the house.

So, despite all else, I did manage to come up with this little daydreaming lonely dog, who I think expresses my feelings for the day.....

Waiting

April Fool's Masterpieces..

April 2nd blog entry rewrite:

Quote from friend:

"Rebecca, you are such a wanker!"

April Fool's Masterpieces..

Changing name to Pooping Rhino!

So a while back, I decided I might be able to make a few bucks by painting mini versions of the masterpieces. I've been working on these for a while, but I'm finally ready to show them to the world. My problem is I never know when to quit.

Here's my knock off of "La Jaconde", portrait of Mona Lisa, on 8x12 hardboard. I think my ability to paint her stems from harboring deep within me a bit of the subtly indecent seductiveness that she had. I think I did a pretty good job, but I kind of went crazy with the yellow ochre and could have toned it down a bit more, she looks like she has hepatitis. Also, looking back, I wish I had made that green in the background less seafoamy.

Ok, I admire Gallileo's contributions, but DaVinci to me was the President of geniuses, a real all-American, a grand story teller, inventor and artist...treated the way an artist should be treated; (a real Renaissance man). I can't get enough of him. I liked him long before the movie and the "Find the hidden meaning through a psychotic wave of conspiracy" fan club!

I don't tell many people this story due to the obvious display of vanity, but DaVinci died on my birthday, May 2, and I have been told that I am an incarnation of his brilliant soul. I know, it seems a little far fetched, but if you knew me, you would understand. Plus, I also design things that sink and can't fly.

Here's my knock off of "Lady with an Ermine", 8x10 hardboard. Weird, people liked weasels back then too.

I had a hard time painting those muscular forearms like the original, because I kept thinking this was a bit overboard! They were really into muscular function back then. There was a large underground movement of the macabre, where they used to take cadavers and skin them and pose them to study the muscles. This was used for medical and artistic study, and was highly illegal. Nowadays, they collect and display skinned people and charge admission! Gotta love capitalism for education you can't get at home!

Well, stay tuned as I prepare to recreate some more less than perfect masterpieces for profit and please let me know what you think of these. Really, though, you're opinion probably means nothing to me anyway. (How was that? I was trying to be aloof)

You know, DaVinci himself said art is never really finished, only abandoned...I know how he felt; literally.

Changing name to Pooping Rhino!