Guitar Chair

I finished painting the guitar chair last night. It was a custom job done for someone who had purchased one of Rick's chairs on Ebay. You can check out Rick's chairs here.

They picked out a pin-up type painting on a Gibson and I did my best to duplicate it. The original was air brush so I wasn't going to be able to make it exact with brushes. I think it turned out fantastic and I can't wait to see it with lacquer on it. I'll definitely be posting pictures of the completely finished chair.

Rick is participating in the Home and Garden show this February/May. He is going to have me paint a chair for display at that show. I can't wait!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are having dinner at my parent's house. Yummy Honey Baked Ham, fresh rolls, sweet potato casserole, green beans, and stuffing. Yum yum.
So what is everyone thankful for? I am thankful for a wonderful husband, beautiful children, great parents, our house, my lovely pets that itch too much, my little business, good friends, energy drinks and my espresso maker.
Tomorrow morning my mother and I will be heading out into the shopping madness. I have always sworn that I would never participate in the after Thanksgiving craziness, but we need some things and why not go when it is on sale? A couple of mocha's from Starbucks and we should be good to go.
Business is definitely picking up. Thank you Christmas season! It is keeping me busy busy.
Well, add this to the growing list of boring uneventful blog entries, but I thought I should write something since it has been awhile.
Happy eating everyone!

Need A Chuckle?

I think Thursdays will be funny YouTube video day. This is one of the funniest skits I've seen on MadTV. Enjoy!

Fecal Float verse Fecal Smear

My cat Sophie is about a year and a half old. I always thought she seemed kind of thin. That combined with noticing her pooh wasn't quite right, I took her to the vet. Turns out she was fine and we can solve her feline irregularity with Activia. They prescribed a low dose antibiotic. I'm not sure why they couldn't have prescribed a trip to the grocery store to pick up some yogurt, oh well. I was looking over the bill when I got home and saw that not only did they do a fecal float they also did a fecal smear. Now really, is that necessary? In all of my trips to the vet they always do a float and I've never seen a smear.

Most Boring Blog Ever?

Perhaps this is the most boring blog ever. Anyone reading it may liken it to watching paint dry. Although, I'm half convinced I'm the only one that looks at this thing. Maybe that means I can say things like WIGGITY WIGGITY WHACK ATTACK!! and no one will ever know. Hmm.

Speaking of entertaining things, we watched Get Smart this weekend. That was one funny movie. I highly recommend it. It was right up there with Fun With Dick and Jane. Although not quite as good as Too Wong Foo Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar. Then again, nothing is as good as that movie. Okay, that may be a bit of exaggeration. Go watch Get Smart.

Salvador is Missing!

I am so heartbroken right now. My sweet cat Salvador has been missing since Friday. He is an inside/outside cat that is usually in more than out. We haven't seen him all weekend or today. I have a bad gut feeling that we aren't going to see him again. He is only eight months old so we haven't had him that incredibly long, but it was long enough for me to get very attached. He was the perfect kitty. Friendly, laid back, affectionate, good with the kids, he played with the dog. I put a missing cat ad on Craig's List and I'll put signs up tomorrow. Hopefully someone found him and he is safe.

Show Dissapointment

The art show this weekend was a bummer. I sold one magnet. After setting up I looked around at the other tables and thought, "uh-oh". I was looking at kitchen towels and tote bags. I didn't fit in at all. People were there shopping for crafty stuff at bargain prices. I did learn some things, though. The most important being don't assume that people know the clocks are melting. After an hour or two I realized that people didn't understand what the clocks were all about. They didn't know who Dali was and they didn't know they were melting clocks. I think that most people that find me on the Internet are looking for Dali related items or melting clock items and so they understand my products. Not so at the church arts and craft show!
I'm glad I did it, though. Like I said, I learned some things and I know not to do any more small arts and crafts shows. There is a art show in Hyde Park square each year and I think I will try to get into that next year. It is a juried show so I'll have to submit photos. I think I would fit in there better. It is more of an art show. No penguin egg ornaments or crocheted pot holders. There is nothing wrong with those things, but melting clocks don't fit in with them so well.
Thank you to the lady that bought the magnet!
Ah, it is late. Almost 11:00 and Karina is fussing. Both kids have been sick this week so fun fun. I call Karina my growth because she is attached to me like glue normally, but when she doesn't feel good it is even worse. She is so stinkin' cute, though, I don't mind.
Hope everyone had a happy weekend.
Oh yeah, my hits have been crazy all of a sudden tonight. I'd love to know where people are finding my site. Feel free to let me know where you saw me. Thanks!

Ceramic Clock Photos

I just realized I haven't posted pictures of my ceramic clocks yet! I think they turned out very nice, much better than I expected for a first attempt. Especially since I have no experience working with clay. I learned a lot and I can't wait to make some more. I have some changes in mind, but overall I'm very pleased.

What do you think of them? I'd love to know your input!

My first batch of magnets is completed. I think they turned out great! I added a white highlight to the border and I think it made all the difference. I have two available on Etsy. I am looking forward to seeing the response I get at the art show this weekend.

I was an ornament/magnet machine yesterday. I painted 30 plus of the mini clocks. Now I just need to finish 20-30 more for this weekend. I want to make sure I have plenty of each color in case one color is more popular than the others.

Eli and Karina have been sick. I have to take Karina to the doctor tomorrow morning. Plus I need to get to the polls before Nick leaves for work. I was trying to pack a large clock up today and Karina was fussing and fussing. She had to be crawling on me to be happy which made packing a bit tricky. I got it done, though. Hopefully the customer is pleased. The clock does look very nice! One of these days Eli and Karina will be big enough to put to work. Sanding then eventually painting, spraying, and packing! It will be nice, but I would be okay if they stayed little forever. Well, little and sleeping through the night.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! We had a great holiday. Eli was an elephant and Karina was a flower. Eli was feeling a little under the weather, but we went around the block and he got plenty of candy. We had lots of trick or treaters and the pumpkins I carved were a hit. Particularly the puking pumpkin. I wish it was my original idea, but I saw it in an email once.
I started on a new batch of ornaments/magnets today. I am doing an small art show on the eighth so I am trying to stock up. I've never sold my clocks in person so it will be interesting to see the response I get. My Internet customers seem to be quite happy, hopefully in person people will like my products as well.
No movement with my ceramic clocks yet. My sales have been slow, but I blame it on the economy and the upcoming election. I expect sales to get a bit better after the fourth. Last year I had trouble keeping up with the Christmas orders. I'll post pictures of the ceramic clocks tomorrow.
Hope everyone had a very happy Halloween!!!

Help the Economy

So this is my third clock in a row that didn't sell on Ebay. That is strange. I usually always sell what I have listed on Ebay. I really think the economy is effecting my sales. Don't people realize that if they buy my products I will put the money right back into the economy? I swear, I will not hold on to it and hoard it! I have a trip coming up that involves driving back from Florida so I will spread the wealth at Cracker Barrels and gas stations all the way from Florida to Ohio. Buy a clock and help the economy!

Brand New Blog

Woo-hoo, a blog for my company. Hopefully people don't read this and decide not to buy from me because of it! I figured my customers may like to know a little about the person they are buying from. It is nice to know that a real person is making something just for you. That real effort and thought go into each item that is made.
Right now I am super psyched to be taking my first two ceramic melting clocks to be fired. I just put the final coat of glaze on them so they are a powdery pink right now. I know absolutely nothing about clay and glaze, so I'm trusting that the guy at the pottery supply place new what he was talking about when he picked out the under glazes and topcoat. Guess we'll find out in a few days. Ceramic clocks could be a whole new chapter for Pragmatic Effects! You can only bend wood so much, but the possibilities are endless with clay. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them back from the kiln.