End of November?!

I cannot believe that it is the end of November already! I have my first craft show on Saturday and I am exceedingly nervous and excited all at the same time. I have been spending my free time working on stuff for the show and have consequently sadly ingored most of my online activities (like writing blog entries) in exchange for time making jewelry or painting.

Hopefully all goes well tomorrow and I make some cash!

I have found a new way to be an even more obsessed Doctor Who fan… as if it were possible! I carpool to work, so I have 2 hours every morning (5am to 7am) where I can sit at my desk and not work. Theoretically I could join a gym or find a place to nap, but computer access and a comfy chair will do wonders to eliminate the will to work out).

All this has led to my new found obsession- watching Doctor Who episodes on youtube. I have found episodes I never saw and episodes I hadn’t seen in years! I can easily say that this is now the only was I want to start my day!

I have to add that by a budgeting miracle I managed to get dual screen monitors installed on my desk so I can both surf the web AND watch Doctor Who episodes!

I have been working at home on some artwork and eventually I’ll have some finished pieces to share.

On a related note- all the calendars at my storefront are currently on sale for just $14.88. This sale will be running until Halloween at midnight- so save on the pre-season sale price and pick your new 2008 calendar now.

See them all here!

I have a selection of UK calendars featuring gardens, landscapes, and London landmarks. I also have some beach calendars- perfect for any beach lovers!

So- don't miss out on the sale. After October 31st, regular prices will be back!

That would be my shameless plug for the week…

Playing with You Tube

After about noon yesterday my head began to clear and started to feel much better. I felt well enough to go have a nice dinner with my hubby at a local Chinese restaurant (proper Chinese food- no fried rice and triple battered chicken in red sauce).

I started a new project last night. I felt like I wanted some cool black and white head shots for a bio on my website (yeah- that's not done yet either) so I shot 176 self portraits in front of a black curtain with a black wrap over my shoulders. I did four different hair syles and threw on some make-up. Black and white photography helped to hide a lot of the blotchy skin so I was rather amazed to find out. In fact, I had about 35 shots I was happy with this morning when I downloaded them.

Since I had so many pleasing shots I thought, "why not play with Window's Movie Maker" and create a youtube video. So I threw them all together with some titles, exploding graphics, and an audio clip and I created a self portrait video. It's on youtube and also on my profile here (I think).

Perhaps I should think about making more videos- they're not too hard to do (a little time consuming for the perfectionist) and I could start showcasing artwork too.

Hmmmmmmm.... more projects to do...

Sick again...

After my hubby got sick, I knew it was only a matter of time before I received the scratchy throat and runny nose of death...

Luckily I came down with it Friday afternoon and now on Monday at lunch I'm starting to feel better. Lucky lucky lucky- wouldn't want to miss work...

That being said, I still sound ubber masculine with a voice that is both husky AND an octave lower than normal. Sweet- I can pretend everyone who calls me at work got the wrong number. Bwahahahahahaha.

Being sick sucks.

Dragon Con 2007!

I went to Dragon*Con in Atlanta Thursday through Monday and I had the best time! I have been hearing about it from friends and looking forward to it for months. I went with my friend Christy and members of our Amtgard group. The drive up was not so great- one speeding ticket and a tire that lost its tread on I-75! But once we arrived it was all smooth sailing.

Dragon*Con 2007 was everything that I had been imagining! It was full of sci-fi and fantasy panels on art, writing, Star Trek, Ghosthunters (TAPS), British Sci-Fi (Doctor Who!!!), Comics, costuming, Stargate, Harry Potter, and much more.

I attended mostly art panels, though I did catch a couple of Star Trek and Doctor Who panels too. My friend juried into the art show there so I got to help set up and watch the booth a little too. I was surprisingly sober for a good portion of the event (with the big exception being Thursday night) and our group from Florida did group themed costumes on Friday night (Greek and Roman Gods/Goddesses) and on Saturday night (Monty Python's Holy Grail).

I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I could have but I did get some video of John De Lancie (Q from Start Trek) and the TAPS group. It was an AWESOME trip and I am counting down the days until the one next year!

Where does all the time go???

Here's to getting stuff done...

I am not really sure how or why, but I seem to get way more stuff done after work during the week than on the weekends. No clue why- I don't spend all weekend drinking (well, not usually) or working (anymore) so where does the time go? My PS2 is broken, I don't travel all that much, and I'm not into parties and all day social event.

So what the HELL do I do all weekend???

During the week I get home around 4:30 and I go to bed by 10 pm (I have a 4am alarm). I clean, cook (sometimes), sew, bead, quilt, paint, sculpt, and/or read during the afternoons. Granted, this is all done in front of the television (my constant companion) but it gets done! I even go through bills and match receipts to charges a couple of time a month.

So, why can't I do this on the weekend???

I'm going to have to keep a journal for this upcoming weekend to figure out where all my time is going. My guess is sleeping or napping- but I can ever remember spending THAT much wasted time in bed asleep!

MIA- the week of bedrest...

This past week has been absolutely miserable. Last weekend I went out to Coronation for Amtgard and had a great time. I even felt like being social and participating in a belly dancing class… which led to a week of misery. Anyone who has actually met me will understand the issue- I have no hips. Or rather, my gut and my butt are the same size as my hips. So, isolating the hips for a presumably seductive dance led me to over compensate and throw my hips WAY over my center of gravity and resulted in a sprained lower back and nerve pinching all down my leg.

I tried to go to work last Monday. I lasted 3 hours before I had to go home, writhing in pain. I’ve spent the last week in bed and in pain. I have a new love of my job- simply because it gets me out of the house and away from the television. It’s horrible- if I’m laying in bed I can’t put in tapes or DVD’s (getting up was excruciatingly painful and bending down to the TV cabinet was out of the question. I couldn’t read because it hurt to sit up and I can’t read on my back (arms get too tired).

So I spent a mind numbingly boring week at home. I really feel as though I’ve lost some IQ points because of this. Sure, a marathon of America’s Next Top Model sounds like fun- until you end up watching 6 hours of Tyra Banks… Same thing with my beloved judge shows…

So I am back at work armed with pain pills, muscle relaxers, and a back brace.

I’ve definitely learned my lesson- people shaped like soup cans shouldn’t belly dance.

Saturday at the Miniature show!

Saturday I went to the annual Lakeland Miniatures Show and Sale and bought some very cool accessories for my Halloween Houseboat I am currently working on.

I also saw some very cool displays- really talented people creating art through miniatures. I have a video camer option on my digital camera so I took some footage of the best miniatures and of the collection so I could post them later.

Now it's later so I've posted them. The creations really give an idea of what I am striving to do through miniature work.

July Update

As it is now the middle of July, I realize it has been a while since I posted anything. I still love my new haircut- very easy to take care of. I may never go back to long hair! I have lost about 6 pounds on my diet (not too bad for 3 weeks). I feel VERY energized when I stay away from the carbs- too bad I also feel VERY hungry.

I have started participating in Amtgard, sort of a foam sword fighting club- like adult PE crossed with medieval role playing. I need to make some garb (right now I’m making do with some tunics and flowing maternity wear) - which leads me to last night’s adventure.

I cleaned up the bedroom and vacuumed (so I could lay fabric down and cut on the floor). I got the fabric, thread, and sewing machine all set up. I cut out all the patterns, and set up the pieces and began to sew. This lasted 10 seconds before the needle broke. I then tried to find the needle in the machine since the bobbin wheel stopped turning. 30 minutes later I realized the new needle was catching on something in the machine too (and would therefore break as well). An hour later and I figured out that the small plastic gears that drove the bobbin and stitching had some issues. And, by issues, I mean that the plastic had crumbled.

I knew this would happen. As soon as something comes out of warranty it breaks! And, the 30 year warranty on the Singer ran out last month.

So, off to the store to buy a sewing machine. Hopefully this new one will do more than one stitch.

June Update

I have been SWAMPED with "real" work (the whole working non-stop) but I'll be leaving my second job at Waldo flea market at the end of the month so I'll be FREE to pursue my art!
I have entered to be part of a craft festival in December so I am keeping my fingers crossed that I'm accepted!
I will be removing my free e-book from my storefront at lulu at the end of next week so if you want a copy- now's the time.
http://www.lulu.com/content/838507
Just create an account and click download- easier than Amazon!
I have also added new calendars: http://stores.lulu.com/victoria_masters and I am creating a bunch of interest pages at www.squidoo.com (a great way to drop and drag information and present pictures, etc).

June update

What have I been up to?
Long time, no post... I know.
I am in the middle of 5 weeks of double day shifts at my second job- which means I work M-F and then I work Saturday and Sunday at my second job, then work M-F etc.
It's almost an unbearable amount of fun! Anything for the moolah I guess. I have, however, put in notice at Waldo (my second job) so after June 30th I'm outta there. I am getting a position upgrade at my primary job (read: more work) so there is no way I can do both, and keep what little sanity I have left intact!
I have been spending at least a portion of my mornings working on my website. It's now on it's third revision and hopefully I'll have gotten the hang of this whole html thing by the end of August (all set for calendar season to kick in) and the tags and search engines and everything else. Can you say inexperienced? I can.
I'm planning on a trip down to see my dad next week (because I HAVE to get some time off) and so hopefully I'll have enough pictures to complete another calendar project!
In case ANYONE is interested:
My holiday book: http://www.lulu.com/content/838507
My website: http://www.victoriamastersart.com
I would love feedback on the website- does everything load? Do the links work? Obviously it's a BIG work in progress but I am trying to at least start on it. On the upside, I can now make my business cards and enter them all over town for free crap.

No humping zone...

Hump day again! Except, when you are working 7 days a week, there definitely no humping going on.
Yesterday was spent dealing with stupid people and dragging hideously old pieces of paperwork out of my boss's boss's hidden closet. Yay! Menial work all over again.
I did, however, finish the last illustrations for the children's book I'm working with an Internet partner on. Interesting short story and a chance to stretch my cartooning muscles!
Our roommates brought in cable so I don't think I'll ever turn off the TV again... Hubby and I cut off cable almost 3 years ago and just watch the free antennae feeds and DVDs/tapes. Now I'll be sucked back into the couch potato world of staring at the TV.

I hate credit card fraud!!!

I have several credit cards that I keep (mostly) paid off. So, imagine my surprise when my Visa is turned down at Dollar General (I was buying a covered cat litter box if you must know). I got on the phone with VISA and some @$$hole has charged a GRAND on my card...
SON OF A B*TCH!!!!!!!!
So, I have spent, literally, hours on the phone with the merchants, the credit card company, and the local police... GRRRRR
AND I am going to have to check my statements everyday from now on AND order all my credit reports. Sometimes people REALLY suck!

New calendar uploaded.

I finished another UK trip calendar:

http://www.lulu.com/content/866861

This one is from the Brecon Beacons and shows some very cool views of the countryside of Brecon. If I can figure out how, I'll be able to set up a better preview for the calendars- one shot doesn't tell everyone how the rest of it will look! I'm limited to 2mb so I can't upload the pdf proof since that's a HUGE file... I'm thinking I may be able to put all the pictures together through Paint and then save that as one jpeg.

I am consoled by the fact that I have another four months or so to get it all ironed out before calendar sales start happening (because who buys a calendar in May?) and by then I should be a pro!

On another note, I added some more elements to my lulu site: http://stores.lulu.com/victoria_masters

So now I have some more links and some personal information! I am seriously considering some more cafe press items using my photographs- making prints and calendar sheets, for one. I can then put those links in too.

Networking? Or making the net work?

I am now on:
myspace (http://www.myspace.com/vickiwho),
facebook(http://www.facebook.com/p/Victoria_Masters/644296684),
blogger (http://victoriamasters.blogspot.com/),
gather (http://victoriamasters.gather.com/),
and
squidoo(http://www.squidoo.com/victoriamasters and http://www.squidoo.com/chessart).

I also have a storefront at Lulu (a publishing website) http://stores.lulu.com/victoria_masters. All of these sites offer networking capabilities and also the ability to post one's thoughts, dreams, and for profit websites.

So, am I networking, by hooking up with friends from high school, fellow artists and writers, strangers etc? Or am I wasting time that I should use for other pursuits?

I'd like to think that by getting the word out about some capitalistic ventures I am attempting, it will make a difference to the sales, etc... But will it? Can I make the net work by networking?

There is always a word of mouth ideal that people want to achieve- having a few great friends who spread the word to all their friends and then they tell their friends etc... I, like everyone else with something to sell, would love to invest nothing but time and get sales- but am I just wasting my time instead? I suppose, only time will tell...

Welcome to Blogger?

As if I didn't have other blogs, I thought I'd set up a Blogger Account. We'll see how this goes!