Pragmatic Effects

New Melting Clock Coffee Table!

2012-02-04T17:22:00.001-05:00

I finished my second molded melting clock coffee table this week. It was a custom order and the really cool part was the customer gave me artistic freedom. He gave me an idea of what shape and size he wanted and picked the color. I got to take it from there. It is always so much fun when you get to use your artistic creativity to create something. This table lifted me out of my clock burnout leftover from Christmas and I'm finally looking forward to starting to work on my inventory again. Now if only I can get accepted into a show..............

My Clocks Are World Travelers

2012-01-22T22:03:00.000-05:00

My husband bought me a large map of the world for Christmas. I've been wanting one for awhile to keep track of all the countries I've shipped my clocks to. I finally finished putting the stickers on it tonight. 35 foreign countries and 49 states, all but North Dakota.

Europe likes me:

Not much action in South America, two so far:

Australia loves my clocks:

Not much in the east. Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea:

Come on North Dakota, you can't hold out forever! To be fair, I only went through my invoice books for the last three years, that leaves out the first two years of clocks sales.

Stop and Appreciate the Beans

2012-01-15T15:36:00.001-05:00

I have been a total blogger slacker. The last half of 2011 was so busy I think I finally burnt out. I have some orders, some big orders, but no shows lined up as of yet, so the motivation to bust out some inventory is very low. I think I needed a break from clocks.

I have gotten three no's so far from shows I have applied to. All in Florida. I guess the sunshine state does not like me. I'll try again next year. I have to admit the rejection is getting to me a bit. What if I don't get into ANY shows this year. That would be a bummer.

I have some past order photos to share. The man I made the Camp Crystal Lake sign for emailed me some pictures of it hanging from a beam he built for it. I think it looks great!

Yesterday I was cooking beans. First I cooked up some delicious chickpeas. I love chickpeas. I have finally figured out how to cook them from dry perfectly.

So after the chickpeas were done I cooked up some black beans. As I was rinsing them off after their overnight soak the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window hit on the beans. Amazing! Who knew that black beans were such beautiful shades of purple? I was instantly inspired and took some photos for the sole purpose of blogging about the amazing beans. When was the last time you stopped and appreciated something so simple as the sunlight shining on the lovely surface of wet soaked black beans? It's worth taking the time to notice the little things sometimes.
Check out the bean towards the bottom right. I couldn't get a crystal clear photo, but notice it's amazing multi-colored texture.
Beans, beans, the magical fruit, the more you eat the more you...........................

Karina Cottage Pics

2011-12-24T08:15:00.009-05:00

Pictures of my latest non clock project. This cozy animal abode features three floors, large neatly trimmed picturesque windows, stylish crackle finish floors, brightly painted walls, and a lovely pink facade complete with climbing ivy.

Two Days to Go

2011-12-22T21:46:00.002-05:00

I am ready for Christmas! The dollhouse is finished and ready for wrapping. All of the other presents are wrapped and under the tree. All of Santa's presents are wrapped and in hiding. All clocks are shipped and all presents to relatives are shipped. Now if only it would stop raining.........
Australia has 270 sunny days a year. I want that without the deadly land and water creatures.

I was going to post pictures of Karina's Cottage tonight but I am out of batteries. I just bought a 100 pack before Winterfair! So I'll post pictures of it tomorrow.

Don't Pet Your Goldfish

2011-12-18T12:03:00.004-05:00

The kids and I are going to buy a couple of goldfish for their fishtank today. I was looking up water temperature for goldfish when I found this useful tidbit in the wiki article: "Like all fish, goldfish do not like to be petted." Thank god they cleared that up for me.

I just realized that most of our pets are hands off. The turtle always stays in the tank and I'm sure she is happy about that. The fire belly toads never come out. We do occasionally play with the fish. I guess that will have to stop, darn, they are such fun in the bath tub.

Where oh where have my Christmas sales gone? The holiday sales rush has most definitely peaked. I will be shipping out the last of my custom orders tomorrow and then I will have no clocks to work on. That will feel a little odd. It will give me time to finish up the critter house. Check out the progress:

Nick and I are done with our Christmas shopping. Woo-hoo! I don't think we've ever been this on top of things. And not only are we done shopping, everything is wrapped. This may be the least stressful week before Christmas ever.

Hurry Up Christmas!

2011-12-12T10:32:00.005-05:00

I am so very excited for Christmas this year! I have so many fun things I can't wait to give people! Thanks to the internet we are 90% done with our Christmas shopping. I signed up for the free 30 day trial of Amazon Prime (free two day shipping) and got my money's worth (ha ha) and more. I'm cancelling it today, though. It was really nice, but $79 a year is a bit steep.

The bunny cottage is coming along. I didn't realize how tedious it was going to be. I cut 48 Popsicle sticks for the inside window frames last night and glued them all in place. Once it is assembled I'll have to do it again for the outside windows. The inside walls are all painted and so are the floors. I had thought of doing wallpaper, but was worried about how it would all stick together when we glued the wall and floors together. Plus I'm in budget mode and I already had paint on hand. I'm hoping to have it assembled in the next day or two so I can started painting the outside. Here is a picture or the fantastic model my dad put together last week.

It has been clock madness around here. Yesterday I literally stayed in the basement all day painting. It was worth it because I have clocks completed that aren't due to ship until the end of the week.

We got a Christmas tree this weekend. It is huge, but it looks nice. Now if only we can keep the kid's hands off of it and keep the giant dog from hitting it with his tail. He launched two ornaments across the room this morning. We may need to move ornaments higher up the tree.

Isn't the garbage bag under the tree a nice touch. I'll add buy a tree skirt to my to do list today.

Dear Mother Nature,

2011-12-05T22:58:00.003-05:00

This is Ohio, not Quibdo, Colombia. You have made your point, whatever that may be, and we don't get it. Turn off the faucet already. This has been the wettest year on record and we have all had enough. There is NO reason why Cincinnati needs twice the average annual precipitation. No reason AT ALL. If I wanted enough water in my back yard for water fowl I would dig a pond. Stop it already.

Thank you

I don't think Mother Nature gives a pooh what I think, or reads this blog, but it's worth a shot.

My son turned seven today. Holy ^&*^%, how did that happen? That means I am getting old. Before I know it he is going to be driving and not wanting to have anything to do with me. Karina and I went to the school and had lunch with him. We also brought along cupcakes for his class. Am I a bad mother that I ran out of time to make cupcakes and bought discounted Christmas cupcakes instead? It's the thought that counts, right? Besides they tasted good. Who cares if there were little Christmas tree sprinkles on them instead of regular sprinkles. He got his dream birthday cake on Saturday at his party. Today's cupcakes were bonus. I need to have better time management next year.

I did some Christmas shopping this weekend. I am so friggin excited. I bought some Calico Critters for my daughter. What is a Calico Critter, you ask. Feast your eyes on this overload of cuteness:

It all started when I was flipping through the Toys R Us ad and saw the critter cottage on sale. I have been eying the critter dolls for awhile and it finally hit me, I will make her a Critter dollhouse! My dad made me an awesome barn for my Breyer horses when I was growing up (along with a Brenda Breyer house and outhouse) and before that he made me the best My Little Pony castle ever. So now I get to build cute stuff for my kids. I have enlisted my Dad's help so it should turn out better than a previously blogged about kitty condo. My daughter has a super active imagination and she loves to role play with her My Little Ponies so I think these critters are going to be perfect. I can't wait to play with them, I mean with her and them, right.

On the clock front business is booming. Thank you Christmas. I'm excited because I've been getting lots of inquiries and orders from people that saw me at the shows I did this fall, that is very encouraging.

Since I'm planning on really revving up my Art Show activity next year I am thinking about forming an LLC for tax purposes. It's a bit daunting, though, because I know nothing about it.

Planning on trying for 15 plus shows next year is daunting as well, but I'm confident I'll pull it off. If I'm accepted to them, that is. I've learned to jump in with both feet and even if I don't know how I'm going to make it work I know I will somehow.

Post Wintefair Report and Artist Block

2011-11-28T23:45:00.009-05:00

I've been pondering all day what I could share about Winterfair. The show was a success as far as sales. I expected to make more than I did, but I walked away with a decent profit so I feel weird complaining.

I guess it comes down to the show had quite a different atmosphere than the other two shows I did this year. Winterfair felt much more somber and serious. The crowds were not big and the other vendors weren't overly friendly. Everyone seemed a bit let down by the lack of crowds and lower than expected sales. Even so, I will most likely apply to it again next year. It dragged and wasn't the most fun show, but I did make money and that's all that really matters in the end I suppose.

Nick and I also got quite a bit of our Christmas shopping done. That helped us and the other vendors.

On to my artist block. I keep getting hit with the urge to draw, but when I do it ends up looking stupid. I've accepted that I'm just not meant to do realistic portraits. I'm like Salieri envying Mozart in Amadeus. I wish I could create amazing true to life portraits, but I just can't. Or at least I just don't have the time and patience right now. I have pulled a couple of great portraits out of thin air, but not consistently. I feel like I'm trying to find my new niche, my own style. So I started sketching tonight and as usual it all looked dumb. Then I sketched a sort of creepy little puppet girl.

Don't ask, I have no idea where this idea came from. It was an evolution from earlier dumber sketches. I actually liked it, though, but thought the x eyes were a little too creepy. So I switched them out.

Then, because I feel like I haven't shared any artwork on here for a while I decided to see this weird little drawing to completion.

I am actually quite happy with it. Better than nothing, I guess, which is what I've been coming up with lately. Well, since the beginning of the year. Maybe 2012 will be my year of art, cause 2011 was the year of the clocks!

First Day of Winterfair

2011-11-25T20:45:00.003-05:00

So far so good at Winterfair. It is nice to be home after a show instead of in a hotel. I started some veggie soup in the crockpot before I left today so we had a nice hot yummy meal waiting for us when we got home.

The crowds didn't seem really big, but the convention center is a large place. I think there were quite a few people spread out. My sales weren't bad. I'm interested to see how tomorrow goes. The hours are good too. Eight hours on Saturday compared to the eleven hour Saturday of the last show I did.

I also got two totally out of the blue compliments on my hair. One was from a lady I was talking to and the other was from another vendor I passed as I was walking around. I just got it cut shorter than it's ever been so it was nice to know it looks okay. I don't think I've ever received unsolicited compliments on my hair before. I'll take it. :)

My booth ended up being a corner booth of sorts so I had to readjust my booth set up. I think it worked out well.
Wish me luck tomorrow! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Winterfair is Nearly Here

2011-11-19T20:41:00.003-05:00

Winterfair is a mere five days away! I am much more prepared for this show than the last two. I just did an inventory count and I'm at 96 clocks. 13 of those are molded clocks that will be finished up this weekend and a handful of wall clocks need to be assembled, but I should be done with clock stuff by Monday. Amazing! No sleepless all nighters and stabbed fingers this time.

My sales this November compared to last November are quite sad. Can you believe I sold 59 clocks last November! I remember it being chaotic, and that's why. This November is at half that so far. Thankfully I have the show next week so I am unstressed by the lower sales figures. Unless I sell nothing at the show and then that would just suck.

My melting clock chair has been postponed. I'm a bit bummed that it won't be ready for a show this year but the base just doesn't want to fit on the seat. I need to completely redesign it which is too bad because the base was very cool. Maybe in January I can start messing with it again.

Another postponed project is my, oh wait, I can't tell you. But it is going to be awesome when I get it finished!

Other than clock making not much new is going on. My almost 4 year old daughter got her ears pierced a couple of weeks ago. Every time she watched me change my earrings she asked to get her ears pierced. I kept telling her it would hurt but we could do it, so finally one day we went and she sat like a champ! No crying till after both ears were done and only for a couple of minutes. She was VERY proud of her new earrings. Her six weeks of healing is up right before Christmas and we can put new earrings in so I can't wait to buy her some Christmas themed earrings. She is very girly girly and I am not, but she brings it out of me a bit. My son adamantly proclaimed that he will NOT get his ears pierced ever, and that is fine with me.

Some of my clocks:

Jigsaws and Juicers

2011-11-06T22:42:00.003-05:00

I was merrily cutting away with the jigsaw today when the knob thing on top fell off and the blade stopped going up and down. Clearly you can see I don't know much about jigsaws except how to change the blade and cut stuff with them. It has been randomly making high pitched screeching noises all summer and it gets hot quickly. I use the jigsaw a lot, probably more than "normal wear" so after a five year run I'm not too shocked it broke. I don't have time to wait for it to be repaired since I have a show at the end of the month and I need to do lots of cutting. So I went out today and bought a new Bosch jigsaw. It was even on sale. Now hopefully none of my other tools take a crap because my bank account has taken a hit this past month.

To add insult to injury (to my bank account) I also ordered a fancy new Breville juicer. Hey, it's for health and I've been wanting it for a long time! I think another juice fast is forthcoming as my autoimmune skin rash is threatening to flare again. I know, I know, everyone loves to hear about weird skin rash things. Don't worry, it's not contagious so you won't get it from buying a clock. So feel free, buy a clock. You'll be helping me fund my veggie filled grocery bill, thus aiding in healing myself. You could almost consider a clock purchase as a gift to a charity. What? Is that pushing it too far?

My pour room is complete and has been used. The basement is cleaned, for the most part, and organized so working on inventory and orders is actually enjoyable.

I've also been hit with a wave of creativity. I have started on my latest product, I'm going to let it be a surprise but I'll give you a hint: Wax, wicks, and melting clocks. I'm hoping to have the first prototype ready to share within the next couple of weeks. Don't steal my idea.

Hope everyone had a happy weekend!

Blog Feature and Pour Room Progress

2011-11-03T21:19:00.009-04:00

One of my clocks was featured on a blog today along with some other cool Dali finds and the amazing Dali/Disney collaboration Destino. You can see the post here.

I am almost done with my pour room. All that is left is putting the top on my large workbench and the shelf underneath. I have a giant sheet of half inch Plexiglas in the basement that was supported by two sawhorses and a desk that was serving as my pour table/ work table. I decided that I would cut a piece to size for my workbench top. The trouble is cutting thick Plexiglas is not as easy as cutting wood. I went through three jigsaw blades tonight and still didn't finish. I'll have to run out tomorrow and grab another pack of blades to get the job done.
When I was cleaning all the crap off the Plexiglas I found a mirror clock I started working on a couple of years ago and abandoned. I quite like it, though, and I think I am going to finish it when I get some spare time.

I have given up all artistic endeavors the last seven months or so and have concentrated solely on melting clocks. I have started things here and there but have been uninspired. Seeing the mirror clock gave me a little spark back, I may start messing around with new projects just for fun. I've been so business minded and worried about turning a profit with everything I make it took the fun out of non clock stuff.

I searched and searched and the only kitty condo picture I could find is a partial picture that really doesn't do the condo justice. You can't see the two uneven levels or the jacked up crooked arch doorways. But here you go, it's on the right side of the picture next to my son drooling Oreo four years ago.

I'm Back!

2011-11-01T22:41:00.009-04:00

I fell off the map a bit, sorry. I've been busy. Of course I just paused trying to think of an example of what's been keeping me so busy and didn't come up with much. An exciting tidbit is that I am writing this post on our laptop. Hooray! The computer guy was able to fix it. I thought for sure it was a goner so I am so very happy.

We are building a pour room for my clocks. An actual room with walls and a door and everything! No more ducking in and out of hanging drop clothes when I have to pour resin. My dad, Nick, and I put the walls up on Sunday and Nick did the wiring. I painted two of the inside walls yesterday and cleaned. Then today I built my two workbenches. I built them! I have totally redeemed myself from the kitty condo I built a few years ago. Let's just say it looked more like a junkyard kitty fun house than an upscale kitty condo. My workbenches are solid and level, yes level!! I actually measured stuff and everything. I hammered nails in without bending them or hammering myself. I also overcame my fear of circular saws. I feel invincible. Tomorrow I will put the top on the large workbench and build a shelf underneath it. I am also going to put up strips of wood on the walls to hang clocks on. It will be a pour room/storage room for completed clocks. I am on my way to complete organization!
Okay, so the picture isn't too super exciting. I will post more pictures when the room is all done. Plus I'll try to dig up a picture of the kitty condo for comparison.

The rest of the basement is a disaster. I think once the pour room is completed and I have moved everything into it I will be able to organize everything else pretty quickly. I need to because my next show is only three weeks away. Holy crackers! I haven't done anything to add to my inventory yet. Well, that's not totally true, I cut and sanded 38 wall clocks and started painting some of them. I just haven't completed any new inventory clocks. I have 40+ clocks left from the Columbus show but I need to get my rear in gear and start stocking up on more. I also need to tweak my displays (make them look nicer).

Sales have dived. I haven't crunched the numbers yet but it sure seemed like last October was much busier than this October. So far I have already exceeded last year's sales so I can't complain. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out. I have been tweeting away, with no response whatsoever, and I have been facebooking regularly. My melting clock facebook page gains new likes almost everyday, but I have no idea if any sales have come from it.

My last super exciting bit of news is that I discovered that my car can do a new trick! I have owned this car for over a year now and just now today I accidentally discovered that the back window can open separately from the back door. This is so very exciting. I will be using this new feature every time I load groceries and every other time I can find an excuse.

Hope everyone had a good Halloween! My kids had a great time dressing up and collecting candy. Our little village did Trick-or-Treat on Saturday. Which was not cool because I think the whole county drove in to get candy. We ran out of candy in one hour. Oh well, the kids had fun and that's what matters. My half assed last minute pumpkins looked okay too. All in all it was a good day.

Feeling Inky

2011-10-11T23:16:00.002-04:00

I got a new tattoo yesterday. It has been five or so years since my last one. I got a pink lotus and some Sanskrit words that mean Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. It is on my left forearm. I won't spout my reasons why I got it, everyone has their own set of beliefs and I respect that. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I have to admit, though, that some family and friends seem a bit uncomfortable with my interest in Buddhism. I hope in time that will pass when they see I am the same old Hilary just happier, calmer, more confident, and more responsible.

For anyone who may doubt my true love of Dali here is one of the tattoos I got those five years ago. This one is on my right wrist:

The picture isn't the greatest, but you get the idea. :)

Happy tattooing (or not) everyone!!

Post Via Columbus Report

2011-10-03T21:12:00.008-04:00

This weekend was an interesting one. First off the weather sucked. It was cold, windy, and rainy. I still did okay with sales, though. Most of that I have to thank Art Bucks for. The show handed out $10,000 worth of these Art Bucks to local college students. $100 to each student that could only be spent at the show. As a vendor I accepted the art bucks and turned them in the next day for cash. I took in 7% of the Art Bucks handed out. Not too shabby. If it hadn't been for that on Friday night it would have been a much more disappointing weekend. I still did okay and I plan to apply again next year.

There were a few vendors that packed up and left Saturday night/Sunday morning, and only three of us stayed open until closing time at 10:00 on Saturday night. Most people closed up around 7 and 8 o'clock. Granted we were all cold, there was hardly any patrons there, and it wasn't much fun, but when I went up there I planned to be there till 10 so I sucked it up and stayed.

Sunday I went on the trade hunt. I had my eye on some glass lanterns all weekend and I lucked out that the man selling them was willing to trade a clock for a lantern. I would have bought one anyways, but it's always more fun to trade. I LOVE my lantern and have it hanging in my dining room. I wish I would have gotten two of them instead of just one!

There was a very nice photographer and his wife down the row from us and I stopped to chat with them for awhile. That led to me finding out he is a big Dali fan and I loved his prints of lotus flowers so naturally a trade ensued. I can't wait to get them framed. I am going to put the two shown in the photo below above the t.v. and a third print I got is going to hang behind my Buddha statue in the kitchen.

I also traded with the man next to me. He had amazing pottery. The coolest pottery from either show we have been in. We got a long bowl from him for our dining room table. I also bought a jack-o-latern from him for my mother as a thank you for watching our kids so much these past two weekends. I really am fortunate to have parents willing to help out with my kiddos so much.

After the show Nick and I drove off into the sunset:

Totally not show related but:

I found out today that my son has pneumonia, he's six! A couple of weeks ago he had a high fever for four days and right when I was ready to call the doctor it broke. Then he just had a bad cough and stuffiness. Well, the bad cough has stuck around so we took him to the doctor today and it's pneumonia. Even the doctor was surprised. Eli acts pretty normal and says he feels fine. He can't hear well, though, and the Dr. says that's due to an ear infection that is most likely related to the pneumonia. Poor kid! He is on antibiotics and has a follow up appt. in two weeks.

Stab Wounds Aren't Fly Like a G6

2011-09-30T01:25:00.004-04:00

I recently discovered that time management is not one of my strengths. I think grossly underestimating how long something is going to take is more my specialty. It's 1:30 in the morning. I have to be in the car and on my way to Columbus in four hours. I still have clocks to assemble, stuff to pack, and molded clocks to spray. Yes, spray! How did this happen?

Good thing I discovered Pandora. I've been listening to it through my phone, a constant stream of music helps keep me sane. I've been listening to the Lady Gaga channel. It's less Gaga and more stuff that supposedly I should like because I like Gaga. I have no idea what a G6 is but I find myself wanting to be fly like one.

What is totally unfly is the stab wound I just gave myself with a box cutter. You see I have to use a razor to trim up the little wood and resin shavings around the hole in the clock so that the movement fits in nice and neat. Well, I got a little too aggressive, I suppose, and stabbed my thumb. It hurt and surprised me so much I dropped the clock I was working on. The clock is okay. My thumb is not.
Yes, I let it bleed while I fumbled getting the memory card into the camera to take a picture just for my blog. After the picture was taken and the thumb bandaged I surveyed the floor. It looks like a small animal got murdered down here. Gross.
One more picture for you. This one is a little more artsy I think.

Well, I better get back to it. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll have the post show report ready no later than Monday I promise.

Publicity and Time Crunch

2011-09-28T23:23:00.002-04:00

Two days till Via Columbus. I'm excited to see how it goes. I've been busting my rear to get ready. I went to bed at 7:00 this morning and got up at 8:00, yep one hour. It's 11:30 at night now and I've got a few more hours of work to do. The problem is that paint takes soooooo long to dry. I feel like most of my working time is waiting for paint to dry. Paint and lacquer. My basement is quite stinky right now. The humidity outside is high so when I spray a final coat of lacquer on a molded clock I have to run it inside as quick as possible so it can dry inside. This keeps the finish from hazing. All that fresh lacquer is quite potent.

Tomorrow I have to somehow cut, sand, paint, and spray ten molded clocks. Then I need to cut tops for my shelves and paint the backs and legs of my display. I need to finish painting the backs of the sixty wall clocks I am taking and put the movements in all of them. Then I need to make sure the car is completely packed because we are going to have to leave around 5:30 in the morning on Friday. Right smack in the middle of all this I have to go get my oil changed. I am not complaining, I knew this was going to be a chaotic couple of weeks when I decided to do back to back shows.

I had an extra fire lit under me today when I discovered that Via Columbus' facebook page has my clocks on the pictures across the top of their page and in one of their galleries! You can see the album here and the show page here. Then I found out tonight that the commercials they are running in Columbus have a picture of one of my clocks.

Via Columbus has an interesting incentive going for college students. They are handing out $10,000 in "Art Bucks" to college students. That is money that can only be spent at the art show. If you accept the art bucks you turn them in Saturday morning for cash. Sign me up. My clocks are very college student friendly.

On a completely different note:
Oh how I love my Bionic. Let me count the ways.............................infinity. My poor little old Blackberry doesn't hold a candle to this new phone. The reviews I read were correct, it really is a laptop in my pocket.

DAI Oktoberfest 2011

2011-09-27T22:15:00.011-04:00

Before the show..............

After the show.............

Time for the post show report. Oktoberfest was a big success! It was my first major art show and I was surprised by how well it went.

Friday I got there at 2:00 and with the help of my Dad got the booth set up and ready to go. The booths were under larger tents and somehow I lucked into an awesome spot right. The first booth on the left from one of the main entrances. The large tent roof was a bit low in the corners so I wasn't able to put up my tent, but it didn't matter. It was raining when we arrived but thankfully it cleared around 4:00 and stayed pretty much rain free for the rest of the weekend.
I only made four sales on Friday night, but one of those clocks was headed to the office of the new executive director of the Art Institute, which I think is pretty cool.

Saturday was a fantastic day. The crowds were steady and in the buying mood. Not only were the patrons friendly and nice, but the other vendors were super nice and helpful. Several of the other vendors have been doing Oktoberfest for many years and had good advice and knowledge to share. I am thankful to how welcoming everyone was to a newcomer!

Sunday morning started with a good luck sign. At breakfast I received a free meal courtesy of getting the "blue plate". I guess someone randomly gets the blue plate each morning and gets their breakfast free. Sunday was my lucky day to get the free breakfast. I ordered strawberry pancakes thinking I would be getting plain pancakes with fresh strawberries and cream. Instead I got plain pancakes smothered in thick strawberry pie goo, but hey, they were free, so oh well. I had a good sugar buzz going from that for awhile afterwards.

Sunday sales were much slower, but not bad. I think having so few clocks left actually hurt sales as people realized they had such a limited selection. Packing up was quick and easy and we made it home at a decent time.

A few notes:
-my credit card reader sucked. Friday night was fine, but on Saturday three cards read wrong and would not process and two didn't show up at all. That means five customers should be super happy because they got their clocks for free. Having to wait to run the cards at the end of the day was no good. I had to hope that they would all go through without problems and then suck it up and take the loss when they didn't.

~~~My solution? The Square. The best damn invention for a mobile vendor EVER. You plug this tiny little square into your smart phone and swipe the card. It immediately processes the card and lets you know if the transaction is good. The customer signs your phone and puts in their email or phone number for an instant receipt that shows their signature, the transaction info, and even a map of where they were when they made the purchase. Awesome. It gets even better, there is no monthly fee, no per transaction fee for swiped cards, just a flat percentage rate which is only .005% higher than other plans with monthly rates. I won't be using it every month, maybe only 4-6 times a year so I don't want to have to pay for a service when I'm not using it. So how much is it, you ask? $10 at Best Buy. That's right. What are you waiting for?

My prize for show success was a brand new Android Bionic. Hey, I needed something to plug the square into and my two year contract with my current phone was due to end. I was ready to move onto a new phone so I decided to get the best I could. Nick and I got bargain Blackberries last time around and knowing I would be stuck with this phone for two years I wanted to make sure it wasn't bottom of the barrel. Don't get me wrong, I liked my Blackberry, but it was soooo slow and Blackberries are not compatible with the square.
My new phone with the square......
A great perk I found out about working a show? Trading with fellow artists. I got two pretty pairs of earrings from the super nice man in the booth next to mine and two pairs of earrings from a lady a few booths down. I also got two beautiful glass pumpkins. Something I never would have thought I needed, but now I'm so happy I have them. I told Nick we will have a house full of wonderful handmade creations if I keep up on the art circuit.

Earrings can be found at www.guustie.com:

Earrings by Bart Ziegler:
And last but not least my lovely glass pumpkins by Jack Pine Studios:

I feel like I made out like a bandit with the trades. Plus I have a pair of totally amazing cast glass earrings on order from an awesome husband and wife team. They are also going to be at Winterfair in November so I will get those earrings then. Can't wait to post pictures of them.

Now this week. I have been distracted by the mad dash to figure out the phone and credit card situation. The rush was because the account that supported my card reader expires Friday and I wanted to find an alternative before then so I wouldn't have to renew. Now I have to catch up on orders and stock up on molded clocks for the show this weekend. It's going to be a very late night.

Wish Me Luck

2011-09-23T00:17:00.002-04:00

It is 12:19 in the morning. I am getting ready to FINALLY go to bed. I went to bed at 6:00 am this morning after pulling an all nighter getting ready for DAI's Oktoberfest tomorrow. Then my beautiful daughter woke me up for the day a little before 8:00. I don't drink coffee anymore, but I did today.

The weathermen are liars, apparently. The extended forecast a couple of weeks ago said 70's and sunny for this weekend in Dayton. Now they are saying showers all weekend and temps in the 60's. Boo. Guess I'll just have to see how it pans out.

I'm feeling good about the inventory I'm taking. I have just under 60 wall clocks and about 25 mantel clocks. Plus two fantastic looking accent tables. It will be fun to get feedback in person on the tables.

The chair didn't pan out for this show, but I'm not giving up. It is so close, I just need to get the seat mounted to the base. Much trickier than you might think. The bottom of the seat is curved and the base is flat. Not exactly matching puzzle pieces.

Okay, I'm off to bed! I will have a full update and hopefully plenty of pictures by Monday. Happy weekend everyone!

Progress

2011-09-16T22:08:00.005-04:00

Here is some evidence of the clock chaos raging in my filthy basement right now:

I'm getting there. I have all but eight wall clocks painted and poured. Now I just need to sand the resin drips off the back, paint the backs, and assemble them. All 100 of them.

I'm also making steady progress on the molded clocks. There is no way I will have enough molded clocks done for both shows by the end of next week so I will have some more hustling to do the following week to prepare for the second show.

I have a table coming out of the mold today and a second one going in. Those will be done in time for the show. Then I just need to finish my melting clock chair. That's right! The first and one and only melting clock chair. I really want to get that done in time for the show so I can get customer in person feedback on it.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Home Depot to get the rest of the supplies I need to revamp my display and light my booth.

Have a happy weekend!

It Was Nice While it Lasted

2011-09-12T01:04:00.003-04:00

Our brand new laptop is no more. My dear husband spilled coffee on it and now it won't work. What a pisser. We are going to take it to the computer doctor, but I have a feeling there is no hope. Maybe they will at least be able to save my super nifty excel sheets that I made in my short time spent with the new computer. So sad.

In clock news I have been a busy busy clock maker! I have over 90 wall clocks made and 40+ mantel clocks in production. I think I may just pull this off before the shows in two weeks. TWO WEEKS! I really would like to take a couple of tables but all the wood I bought for tables is going to table orders. Which in all honesty is a good problem because those sales are funding my supply buying for stocking up inventory.

I bought an EZ up canopy last week. I am going to mess with it towards the end of the week to make sure I know what I'm doing when putting it up and taking it down. Plus I am going to build new displays out of nicer looking wood than the junk I used last year. So aside from some lacquer for molded clocks, some wood for tables, and lighting for my booth I am good to go! I think.

My sales so far this year have far surpassed last year's sales. This is very exciting and also very scary because my busy season hasn't even started yet. Last holiday season was chaos so I'm a bit frightened of how this year is going to pan out with an increase (hopefully) of sales and three shows on top of it all. It will be very interesting. Maybe I'll make enough to buy a new laptop. One that will not be allowed on the dining room table if food or drink is around. Just saying.

(What does the skunk looking squirrel pic have to do with this post? Nothing. I was looking for a sad squirrel picture to help convey my distress over the lost computer and found this pic instead. Look at it! It's a squirrel that looks like a skunk! I want one.)

Split Teeth and Booth Fees

2011-08-28T07:00:00.003-04:00

This has been a busy interesting week. Eli started first grade on Monday. I can't believe I have a first grader! Of course, I couldn't believe I had a kindergartner last year, so I'm sure every year I'll say the same thing, "I can't believe I have a ____".

He started the week off with an emotional breakdown after school. That was fun. It takes him a little longer than most kids to adjust to big changes so I think he was just on stimulation overload from the excitement of the first day of school. He decided to follow that up on Tuesday by jumping off the top of the monkey bars. That's about 8-9 feet up. Needless to say he got hurt. Thankfully not as bad as he could have. He hurt his foot and then right before bed informed me that his tooth was split. Indeed it was. So Wednesday a trip to the dentist ended in the split tooth being pulled. He was excited that the tooth fairy would be coming for her first visit. She left a dollar. I think I got .35-.50 cents when the tooth fairy visited me. Inflation is tough!

I finally paid my booth fee for Winterfair. Hooray! That was a major load off my back. I went out the next day and bought all the wood I am going to need to finish stocking my inventory for the September shows. Which are only four weeks away. It's going to be a time crunch.
And last but not least I have a facebook page now for my clocks. I was informed by a customer that I really needed one and I had been meaning to make one so here it is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MeltingClocksorg/115537218546297.

Be sure to visit the page and "like" me. There is also a facebook like button on my website so you can "like" me there also. Hint hint.

Have a happy Sunday!

Winterfair Acceptance

2011-08-09T23:15:00.003-04:00

I found out yesterday that I have been accepted into Winterfair. Yey! Okay, my first reaction was "Shit". Why? Because my sales have nose dived these past two weeks and I have a lot of money to pull out of nowhere by the beginning of next month. I need to place a large order for clock movements and pay my booth fee for Winterfair and I also just found out that I need to buy a tent. The one I was planning on borrowing is not available. I have a lot of miscellaneous expenses too, but I'm keeping my head up. It will all work out one way or the other, it always does. And hey, I'm in three 3 day long art shows. Pretty cool! That is a big step up from my one single day show last year.
So I just need some sales...............
To entice you or someone you know feel free to check out my new extensive clock galleries on my website: http://www.pragmaticeffects.com/#!galleries
Our new computer has inspired me to become super organized. I'm all over Microsoft Excel. I'm trying to be anyways, I don't quite understand it all yet, but the hubby is very helpful. I guess he uses Excel all the time at his Industrial Engineer job. Doesn't that sound fancy?
The point is I pulled up my old Excel sales spreadsheets to put on the new computer and update them and whoops, I haven't updated them since December 16, 2010. I guess it just slipped my mind these last eight months. I'm going to be taking that a couple months at a time when I enter all that data.

New Computer for a Pair of 30 Year Olds

2011-08-05T23:05:00.005-04:00

Today we got a new computer. Yey! After researching reviews on-line we decided on an Acer Aspire laptop. It has fancy things like an i5 processor and other computer jargon that I don't understand. Good thing Nick knows about all that stuff. So no more computer crashing while editing my website. Computer slowness and crashing problems is why my website is long overdue for updates. I want to add galleries for clock colors and shapes as well as a gallery of past custom orders. I also need to add an extra large clock product page.

I have been busy busy this week working on clocks and orders. I am just about caught up with orders. The extreme heat and humidity have made finishing a bit of a challenge, but I should be completely caught up on orders by Monday.

My card reader showed up a mere two days after I ordered it. Super fast shipping! I hooked it up to the new computer today and registered it to my Propay account. I did a test run with my Paypal debit card. It worked great. Just a quick swipe and the info was easy to access, encrypted so the only card numbers I saw were the last four. Safety for my customers which is very important to me!

Oh yeah, I turned 30 this week. Holy crap. If you had told me a year ago that I would be a non drinking vegetarian Buddhist when I turned 30 I would have laughed my ass off. But here I sit, a non drinking vegetarian Buddhist. Life is quite a ride!

Credit Cards Accepted

2011-07-28T11:20:00.004-04:00

Thanks to a rash of sales this past week I was able to order a credit card swiper for my upcoming shows. I'm pretty excited about it. The card reader is small enough to fit in my pocket and will hold and encrypt the card information with one swipe. All I'll need to write down is the card holder's name, the last four card digits and the amount of sale. Then when I get to a computer I will be able to plug the reader in and process all my sales. Much better than what I had to do at the show last year which was write down the card number and all info. This way will be much faster and my customers don't have to worry about their card info floating around. I won't even be able to see the whole card number once it's swiped.

In other news I completed a 30 day juice fast last week. The results: 3.75 inches lost from my waist, 2.5 inches off my hips, 2.5 and 3 inches off my thighs, and 2.5 inches off my chest (measured just under my bra). Weight went from 138 to 118.6. I expect my weight to stabilize at about a five pound or so gain now that my digestive system isn't completely empty anymore. I'm 5'10" by the way. I didn't do this for weight loss though, not that I'm minding my new shape, I did this to heal my skin. You see I was prescribed prednisone in March and it wrecked my face. I had horrible embarrassing steroid acne for four months. So basically I got fed up and decided to heal myself since the doctors screwed me up. And it worked! My face is 95-98% clear and looks better every day. I started another blog called After The Fast you can see here: http://www.afterthefast.blogspot.com/. It will be about my experiences after fasting exploring a new mostly raw lifestyle. Lots of yummy good for you recipes! Like the forthcoming raw peanut butter cup smoothie that contains no peanut butter, is good for you and really tastes like a Reese Peanut Butter cup. Impossible? No, check out the After the Fast blog later today!

Okay, off to work on clocks clocks and more clocks!

Another Art Show

2011-07-20T23:50:00.002-04:00

I have been slacking big time on the blogging front.

A few weeks ago I found out that I got into the Columbus Riverfront Art Festival. Hooray! It is a three day event, get this, the weekend after the Dayton show I'm doing. That means twice the amount of work in the same amount of time. It's a bit intimidating. Especially because the only show I have ever done was the one day Hyde Park Square Art Show last October. I have been stocking up on materials and working on increasing inventory. Admittedly I have a long way to go, but I'm excited.

So that is the main thing in my brain right now. Working on clocks, clocks, clocks. I have had really good sales all summer but hit a bit of a slump this past week. I've had a sale each day for the last three days so that is encouraging. I spent all my money on booth fees and supplies, with still more supplies to buy so I hope the sales keep rolling in! Want to buy a clock, or better yet a table?

New High Tech Finishing Room

2011-06-20T19:23:00.006-04:00

I work out of my dirty, dusty, messy basement. Clean it up, you say. Well, I try. I was having issues with little dust fibers and what not finding their way into the epoxy on my clocks, which would then make me have to pour additional coats of finish. Then I had a genius idea, with just two cheap drop cloths I fashioned a totally awesome pour room. Check out the photos. I turned the light on for you.

I feel a little Dexterish when I'm inside, which is creepy. Plus I use a propane torch during the finishing process so I have to be very aware of where that is pointing at all times. But so far it is working. The first batch of clocks were dust particle free. Don't be jealous now, not everyone can have such lavish work areas.

I realize it's June, but mark your calenders for September 23-25. That's when I'm going to be exhibiting at the Dayton Art Institute's Oktoberfest. It is official, I have paid the fee and have been assigned booth 123.

My First UFO Experience

2011-06-12T13:22:00.005-04:00

Last week we spent a week in Surfside Beach with my husband's family. If your unfamiliar Surfside is right next to Myrtle Beach. My mother-in-law rented a wonderful beachfront house. It had a great balcony that overlooked the beach. I was sitting on said balcony with my husband at around 9:00 on Tuesday night when I saw a red light rising straight up in the sky from the horizon. I watched it rise about a quarter of the way into the sky and then the light went out. I commented to Nick that I thought that was strange. A plane wouldn't just blink out and not be seen again. He told me he had seen a red light just above the horizon line not long before my sighting. We discussed cloud cover and what not and then let it go, I didn't think anything more of it.

But on Wednesday night something truly amazing happened. Again I was sitting on the balcony with Nick when all of a sudden the same red/orange light appeared. This time is wasn't alone. Five more lights appeared forming a crescent line and they were closer than the previous night. I about fell over my chair trying to get to the door to knock on it and let everyone inside know what was going on.

Everyone came out and for the next hour we all watched the orange lights. They would appear in a line, sometimes alone, sometimes right next to each other. They would stay lit for 30 seconds or so and then fade out. They didn't move much while lit, maybe a little from side to side. After 45 minutes or so I noticed two tiny flashing white lights right next to each other in the sky. I thought it was an airplane high in the sky but as I watched the lights grew brighter and seperated moving farther and farther apart while they moved in land. We saw three pairs of lights move at the same rate of speed getting brighter and brighter as they moved in land. We lost sight of them as they passed over our house.

After seeing the white lights we saw the orange lights one more time only this time there were only about three instead of the seven we had seen before. Again we saw the twinkling/flashing white lights pair up and move over the house.

It was an amazing thing to watch. I put two and two together and realized that what Nick and I had seen on Tuesday night was the same lights we saw Wednesday so on Thursday we went outside at 9:3o and watched again. This time we sat on the walk way to the beach away from the lights of the pool and houses. Sure enough the orange lights appeared. First directly in front of me in a group of three. The light in the middle seemed slightly larger than the two on the sides. Then the lights appeared off to the left four or five more times. Each time they faded away they gave the impression of a disk or saucer, the lights faded out in a semi circle. I should also mention that Thursday night the orange lights were proceeded by random flashing white lights, tiny and star like, but they moved in erratic patterns.

I tried taking some pictures and at the time it looked to me like I wasn't getting anything so I gave up. Imagine my surprise when I put the pictures on my computer today and found that I had three images of the lights. The were just little specks in the photos but after zooming I found the three images below.

No they were not helicopters, lanterns, lasers, airplanes or fireworks. Which is another thing I should mention, there was a fireworks show going on down the beach several miles. The lights were out over the ocean and not near the fireworks.

I've done some searching around the internet and have found that these orange lights are quite common. I have always been one to look up in the sky just in case. You can be sure I'll be looking even more now.

Thanks for Dissing Me Hyde Park

2011-06-02T00:12:00.002-04:00

So I didn't get into the Hyde Park Art Show this year. I think it's a little odd that someone can get in one year and have a packed tent the whole time but then not get in the next year. But, it's okay! I was pissed so I rebelled and applied to a much larger three day show, the Dayton Art Institute's Oktoberfest, and I got in. So thank you Hyde Park for rejecting me. Now I just need to pay the booth fee. Anyone want to buy a clock?

Speaking of which I've been a clock making fool lately. I am caught up with all but the two orders I got today. Plus I cut out 36 clocks on Monday and have sanded half of them. Gotta stock up!

If you haven't seen the new website check it out: www.meltingclocks.org.

It is so nice to have sunny warm weather finally! I was reading the forecast on May 27 and it said that in the 27 days so far in May it had rained 22 days. Bleh. My backyard is starting to look normal again and not so swamp like.

And my final thought, I don't care what anyone says, Lady Gaga rocks. She has created audible crack. Heavy Metal Lover, ScheiBe, Bloody Mary, Government Hooker,etc. Thank you Gaga for the new album. I made Nick listen to a few songs in the car. He suggested I try listening to something else for awhile. Um no.

Almost Success!

2011-05-09T00:11:00.003-04:00

Check out my new website! Click Here

I'm going to make it private so it won't have any adds and I have more stuff to add like a gallery and store with shopping cart. But it's getting there! I think it looks way better than the old website. Well, the current one I guess, I also need to direct my domain names to the new site. Hopefully that will get done in the next couple of days.

Mother F@&^*#)$

2011-05-07T23:53:00.003-04:00

I just dug myself a lovely hole. I got annoyed with my current website hosting service because they are charging me out the butt for hosting and for their website builder thing that I don't even like. So I got all rebellious and signed up with a new hosting service. The catch is I don't know squat about creating a website or computer stuff in general. It's like reading Chinese to me. It is a miracle that I somehow stumbled through the last five years running my own site. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm on the verge or self pity tears right now so I'm going to bed. I will tackle it tomorrow.

Hopefully a wonderful new website is in the near future. I may have to get my husband to translate the foreign language for me (computer jargon). Either that or I will be annoying the shit out of the live chat help guys. I'll just tell myself that surely duller crayons than me have pestered them for help in the past. At the very least my dumb questions will give them something to complain/laugh about over the water cooler.

Rain Rain Go Away

2011-05-03T11:33:00.003-04:00

The rain just doesn't want to stop! This April was the wettest April in history with Cincinnati getting more rainfall than ever before. I feel like I live in a tropical climate during rainy season only we don't have the tropical heat to go along with the rain.

Our basement which often leaks a bit during rain has had a constant puddle. The puddle has turned into a lake several times causing me some problems. The basement is where I work and when my molds are flooded it's hard to get work done!

I should buy some ducks. Basement ducks. If they get bored in the basement they could go swim around in one of the many large ponds that have formed in our backyard. If it was warmer I would be worried about alligators because the backyard is more of a wetlands/marsh than anything else.

The plants sure look happy, though. Everything is very green. I'm looking forward to one day (probably in June) when it dries out enough for me to plant a very large garden in the back. I'm wising up this year and building a raised garden. It will be six to eight inches higher than the rest of the yard. Last year my garden got off to a decent start and then all my plants drowned. Very sad.

Accent Table Photos

2011-04-15T10:28:00.008-04:00

Some pictures of past custom order melting clock accent tables. I need to add these to my website. Later today or tomorrow I will have some pictures of a matching table and large clock.

Last weekend was the pre-judging for the Hyde Park art show. I really hope I get into it again this year. I will be bummed if I don't. I have two new products to take if I do get in, the accent table and the Dali face clocks. I would love to get feedback from people who see them in person.

Rotating Mustaches in Action!

2011-04-07T23:20:00.002-04:00

That 1 Guy

2011-03-16T22:22:00.003-04:00

Hooray for That 1 Guy! We are going to see him on Saturday.

And because we learned of That 1 Guy by his opening for Buckethead here is a little KFC treat.

Yes it's weird. That's part of what makes it so great!

Finally, Pictures of Completed Melting Clock Coffee Table

2011-03-16T21:55:00.005-04:00

Here you go. Pictures of the completed molded melting clock coffee table. Say that five times fast. I think it turned out great. More importantly, the customer liked it.

Lethargic Sluggery

2011-02-23T20:47:00.003-05:00

I celebrated a year of no smoking last week. If you smoke and want to quit check out The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr. I never thought a book could help me quit smoking. I chain smoked while I read it then crushed the half a pack I had left, threw them in the trash, and never looked back.
This week I decided to quit my remaining vice, caffeine. A cup or two every morning is fine, I think, but I was addicted. I got anxious thinking about having to function without coffee first thing in the morning. No matter how much exercise, healthy eating, or sleep I get I still feel tired in the morning and drag in the afternoon. It's too soon to tell, but I'm hoping abstaining from caffeine helps with that. Two days in and I'm a cranky, lethargic, and unmotivated. I hear that clears in about a week. I'll keep you posted.
Okay, I need to get my unmotivated butt to work. Hopefully I'll have pics of some fun new lamps soon and a couple pictures of the completed melting clock coffee table.

*Update* I am back to swigging caffeine every morning and loving it.

Columbus Doesn't Like Me

2011-02-09T23:52:00.009-05:00

I got notice from the Columbus Art Show that I didn't get accepted for their Summer Art Fair. I'm surprisingly not disappointed. The pride part of me that doesn't like rejection isn't too happy, but I wasn't real excited about handing over $450+ for a booth, not to mention what I would have to put out for supplies to build inventory, plus hotel expenses, and hope that I made it all back. Why did I apply then you ask? Because I thought it would be worth the risk. Instead of that bundle of stress I will invest in building clock inventory for the fall and winter and I'll play in lamp land for awhile. I like making illuminated artwork. A lot.

On a completely different note, check out my biggest custom order to date. The melting clock molded coffee table. This one is a beast. I can't wait to get some lacquer on it tomorrow because then it will really pop. I'll also get the legs either tomorrow or Friday and put the whole thing together. This project has been in the works since early December. I'm sure the customer is more excited than I am to have it completed finally. Hopefully he likes it!

First Pair if Vintage Frames Arrives

2011-02-09T00:32:00.003-05:00

One of my new pairs of eyeglass frames came today. I like them, maybe not love them, but hey, they were only $12. I think they make me look older. Not a good thing when 30 is knocking on the door.
*Update* I have come to my senses and realized that these glasses look terrible. I give up on giant eyeglasses. *sigh*
Karina got in on the eyeglass action as well:

Still Lamp Obsessed

2011-02-09T00:18:00.005-05:00

Lamp number three! This is actually lamp number four, but number three sucks so you don't get see it. I am totally digging the lamps. I actually get to use nails and measure stuff and feel like I'm scratching at real woodworking. I don't count clocks because they just involve cutting, routing, and sanding. Melting Clock Tables are closer because I build the bases. Now if only someone would buy a lamp.............................

Lamp Number Two

2011-02-04T23:12:00.003-05:00

I was so inspired by my lamp from last night that I made another one tonight. This time around I had to actually make the lamp not just paint it. I show it hanging on the wall, but I think it will be better suited sitting on a surface like table or dresser. I need to put a back on and then it will be completed and ready for sale.

My First Electrical Fire

2011-02-03T23:18:00.005-05:00

I made my first lamp today. I didn't actually make it, I guess. I just painted it, but that counts I think. While working on it the switch on the cord caught on fire. Hence, my first electrical fire. The lamp is probably 10-15 years old so I wasn't really surprised. I unplugged it and no big deal, but the bummer is now I have to replace the light socket thingy and I don't know anything about that. Time to learn, I suppose, because this lamp has inspired me to build and paint more lamps. Gotta stock Hot Mess Express with some serious items! What's better than lamps that feature sultry hotties? Nothing.

I had to jerry rig it a little for the photo since the light wouldn't work anymore. So there is a bendy desk lamp pointing down into it.

Hot Mess Express

2011-02-03T00:33:00.003-05:00

I have officially opened my new Etsy store. Well, I opened it a week ago, but it now has a whopping six items in it. I even got featured in a treasury today. Fantastic! Feel free to check it out and stock up on gifts for yourself and everyone you know. Or yourself and five of your friends.

www.HotMessExpress.etsy.com

Hooray For Giant Eyeglasses and Slasher Films!

2011-01-31T23:42:00.002-05:00

I was asked by a clock customer if I could recreate the Camp Crystal Lake Sign from Friday the 13th. I said of course. I am one of those people that truly believes I can pull anything off no matter how hard. Cocky, I don't think so. Confident, yes. That mind set has gotten me through some tough projects. Anywho, you can see how it turned out. I think it looks great. The sign measures 36" X 35".

I declare this the year of giant eyeglasses. My husband informs me that I am behind on the trend because women have been wearing giant sunglasses for awhile. This is true. But just try to find a good pair of new giant eyeglasses. You can't. I had to resort to vintage stock.

Oh the choices! After much thought and worry I finally bought two pairs of vintage frames tonight. The maroon and olive ones made me gasp with wonderous delight when I first saw them. They will most assuredly make my green eyes pop. The tan Playboy model is fabulously large and oh so classic. Am I really this superficial? No. But when making a statement with your face you must give it some thought. Now hopefully when they arrive I don't gasp with disappointment with how terrible they look on me. If so I will be selling some vintage eyeglass frames.

Update:
I looked ridiculous in the giant eyeglasses. One pair went back and the other is hiding in the back of my bureau. We'll just act like this didn't happen.

Welcome to WTF!?

2011-01-18T16:33:00.010-05:00

Don't be alarmed, it's just Bigfoot Barbie (she still needs some work on her hands and feet). No there is nothing wrong with me, I just realized that I have been taking my art way to seriously.

A friend of ours was having a birthday dinner and I was wondering what to get him. He is a big fan of comic books, Batman in particular. I can't afford to buy any collector edition comics, plus he probably has most of them, so I did the next best thing. I made a diorama. Batman defeats the Joker at Beer Pong. It was a close match. I paid attention to every detail. The cups had beer in them, there were water cups with fake water. There was even the winning ping pong ball in the Joker's last cup. Regretsy is rubbing off on me I think. That little creation set off a frenzy of ideas.

Big Foot Barbie of course and Heavy Metal Barbie pictured below. She still needs some work. More tattoos, some piercings, etc. I have a notebook with a bunch more top secret ideas that I will show once they are completed. It's a good outlet to make humourous (at least I think it's funny) crap. I think I may even open another Etsy store so my whacked out creations can be purchased and enjoyed by others. Don't worry, they will be affordable, and I'll post the link when it opens.

A clock update: I sold over 200 clocks between November and December, plus three melting clock accent tables. It was by far my best Christmas season yet. Hopefully I get into some art shows this summer and fall and continue the sales through the year!

Little Sketch

2010-12-15T23:59:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted artwork on here for awhile. I either haven't been in the mood or I haven't had the time to do anything other than clocks. I had the itch to do something tonight so I did this quick little sketch. I'm hoping in the new year to get back into painting and maybe play around with some sculpture.

You can click on the picture to make it bigger. I think it looks better that way (and if you click on it a second time it gets crazy big and you can see all my little pencil strokes.) You know, if you want to or whatever.

Hope everyone is getting excited for Christmas! I know we are. I can't wait to see my kids faces light up when they open their presents. Giving really is better than receiving. Especially when it's your kids.

Once Frugal, Always Frugal

2010-12-13T01:32:00.004-05:00

Last night Nick and I got a rare night out. We stuffed ourselves full of fabulous Indian food and then played some pool. You can see from the picture how stealthy I can be at a pool hall. Who is that behind me, you ask? I don't know and I don't know what he's doing. Air guitar, a little personal adjustment, don't know. I was too busy being stealthy to notice.

Moving on. I'm sitting here sipping on a lovely cup o tea. Yep, tea. Don't get me wrong, I like tea, but I'm drinking it this particular frigid evening because I am sick. Again. What the hell? It's like I'm being stalked by evil little germs. This time around isn't so debilitating. I just have a sore throat and body aches. I am usually quite healthy, but I'm blaming this on the recent chronic lack of sleep and constant stress. Things will smooth out at the end of the month.

My hubby is upstairs asleep on the couch. I am downstairs in clockland busily toiling away. I wish I was asleep, but alas, there is work to be done!

But before I go I must update you on what you are dying to know about. The status of my shoes. I cancelled my Fluevog order and instead went with some black and white Dr. Martens. I ordered them at a shoe store then found them on Ebay that night for half price. So I bought those too. I will return the pair I ordered from the shoe store once both pairs arrive. You're lost and who gives a &@&%$ you ask? Me, the whole ordeal has been quite taxing.

Now away I go to make more tea!

Lucky 8000

2010-12-11T00:19:00.004-05:00

I just noticed that I have 8,000 emails in my in box. That should be illegal. I need to learn to let go, clean out the email from time to time. Number 8,000 was an order, so that's something I guess.

Shame on you Regretsy!! The last time I looked at Regretsy they had way too many pictures of weird knitted body suit things. So I stayed away. I checked it out again tonight, though, and it's just too good. I recommend checking out the Real Poop painting and the Primitive Dashund Doxie Santa Dog. I admit, however, that the wiener dog Santa is not the star of the photograph. Uh oh, did I give it away? No, no links, this is a family friendly blog!!

Okay, I'm off to dance like no one is watching (because no one is) and glue up some more wood and put it in the mold. It's okay to be jealous of my Friday night. I am a little. What? I don't know.

Watson and the Shark

2010-12-07T22:36:00.005-05:00

Meet Watson. He's having a bad day. A really bad day. Luckily Watson was saved. The orphan boy went on the become a wealthy merchant and even Lord Mayor of London. That's right, this painting is a depiction of true events and was owned by Watson himself.

I first saw Watson and the Shark when I was about eight or nine years old. It had a profound effect on me. I absolutely love this type of painting. Never had I seen subject matter this intriguing, this was a shark attack! My young mind was entranced, not only was the subject matter so amazing, would he live or die? But technically the painting is truly amazing. I'm no art genius, but even back then I obsessed over technical details in paintings, in particular shading. (Check out the horse's butt on Napoleon Crossing the Alps).

So what does this have to do with anything? It's a little window into how my mind works. This painting appeals to me on so many levels. The amazing execution, the griping emotion, the story of triumph over death, and sharks! It appeals to my irrational fear and strange fascination of sharks. Which I blame on watching Jaws at an early age. So gaze upon Watson and realize that no matter what life throws at you, you can move on and do great things, shark bite or not!

Holy Sh*t

2010-12-04T23:16:00.005-05:00

Welcome to my dirty cold basement where I am drowning in a sea of clocks! It's a melting clock factory down here right now. This is by far my best Christmas season so far. Hooray! To celebrate and as a little shopping therapy I bought myself the pair of Fluevogs I have been stalking for the last three years. Black and burgundy wingtips are coming my way! I can't wait to meet them......and I'm already eying my next pair of vogs, boots. (Don't you dare buy either pair of these shoes!! Go find your own shoes!)

This past week has been interesting and slightly terrible. Right after Thanksgiving an evil little stomach virus decided it would be fun to make me throw up every 15 minutes for an entire night. Needless to say I couldn't keep anything down and felt worse and worse. By morning I was very dehydrated and my lower back was killing me. I experienced a thirst I have never felt before. Knowing I was getting more and more dehydrated Nick took me to the hospital. An I.V. and some anti nausea medicine later I was feeling better, at least like I wasn't going to die. I spent the next two days basically asleep. And then.....................Karina started throwing up. My poor little two year old puked through the night just like I had. Thankfully she didn't seem to get dehydrated like I did and by morning she seemed better. To top it of Eli puked as soon as I picked him up from school that following Monday. He puked right into a plastic bag in my car. A plastic bag with a hole in the bottom. Great. I could go on, but you get the idea. Any who, none of us are quite right yet. Oh, and by the way, Nick is just fine. How he escaped I have no idea.

Okay, I'm off to go work on clocks. Again. I have seven orders waiting for me. It's overwhelming for sure. Especially because Nick has been working 12-14 hour days six days a week (UPS). I feel like a single parent with a full time job. But I am not complaining! Please, buy a clock!!!!

Don't Drink and.....

2010-11-17T00:20:00.004-05:00

Work! Come on now, drive is so obvious. Really, though, I don't drink and work. Not often anyways. Hey, I work at home!

The beer made me do it. That's why it's so prominently positioned in the photo. That was really an accident and I didn't want to take any more photos. I noticed when looking at them that my oh so stylish (don't be jealous now!) outfit looks a little too Dexter like. Maybe it's just me.

No really, it is late, which means I am super smart. What? You didn't hear about the study that showed that people that consider themselves night owls are smarter than morning people? Huh. I didn't either, but Rick told me about it. Of course, Rick also told me that baby back ribs come from baby pigs. I thought Montgomery Inn was lost to me forever. Thank you Google for clearing that up! Now if I could only afford to eat at Montgomery Inn............

I am drowning in a sea of clock work. I feel like my focus is worse than a, well I was going to put something really clever here, but couldn't think of anything. I can't focus.

Where do I turn, what do I work on? Computer clock stuff, custom order clock stuff, inventory clock stuff, new clock ideas that will flop? I just don't know.

Christmas sales have been good, I want them to get better. My November is looking like it won't match my October. I'm not complaining, I'm quite happy with how things are going. I updated my excel spreadsheet last night that tracks sales and expenses. Okay, I didn't update, I did it for 2010. That's how organized and on top of things I am. I thought I hadn't updated it since April 2010. It was August of 2009 when I updated it last. Oopsy.

Okay, my last ramble, I earned major mom brownie points today. Our gerbil finally died. Wait! I mean it passed away. Sniff. Hey, that little gerbil lived a long three year life. That is long for a gerbil. So anyways, that's not what I earned mom points for. Eli wanted another gerbil. Um, no. So I cleaned out the 10 gallon tank and we set it up as an aquarium in the kids room today. Eli was quite excited. We bought two female beta fish to start things out. They started fighting. Great.

Holy shit, this is a long post. It looks like an email I would send to Lisa. Wake up it's over! Now go to www.meltingclocks.org and buy five clocks. Thanks.

Hooray for Christmas

2010-11-10T23:00:00.003-05:00

Christmas shopping season is officially here! I have been busy busy. I had good sales last season and I'm hoping to have better sales this year. I've been more aggressive with listing on Etsy regularly and keeping stuff on Ebay, even though Ebay barely produces any sales anymore. It's advertising I suppose.

Art on the Levee has been good. I have sold at least on clock each week. This past weekend my orange Dali face clock sold. That's encouraging since it was the first in a new product design. I took several of my paintings down today. I would absolutely love to sell my artwork. We'll see how that goes. Below is a picture of my wall at the Levee. I will be down there for a few hours on Saturday along with other fellow artists hawking my wares in the lobby. Come on down and buy something! (From me preferably.)

Update: I sold nothing at the Levee this past weekend. But that is okay. I met some really nice fellow artisans.

New Clocks

2010-11-02T09:00:00.003-04:00

I recently made a few new clock designs. All four of them are in Art on the Levee right now. I figured that would be a good place to test them out.

I had been wanting to make a Dali face clock for quite some time now with the second hand being the mustache. I found these great twisted second hands and they worked perfectly. The orange face has a continuous sweep movement so the mustache turns in a smooth circle. The tan face has a traditional movement with a ticking second hand.

The frog and lizard are an experiment to see if animal clocks are something I should venture into. I think they turned out great!

Defeat!

2010-10-25T00:01:00.004-04:00

Oh the bitter taste of failure. I ruined my beautiful sharp table. The epoxy retained many of the tiny bubbles formed during mixing and it looks bad. So Nick gets his wish, the table will be here in the house. Boo.

That's what I get for not experimenting first and trying a new technique out on something large. This time I'm doing a sharp clock. I think it looks nice enough to stand alone as a mirror. I haven't decided yet if it will be a clock for sure or not.

Anyways, I love working with the mirror mosaic too much to give up. Plus, having access to a place like Art on the Levee is great to try out new products. Especially products that have a wow factor in person that can be lost in photographs.
Some pictures of my sharp clock in progress:

(Don't mind the messy work area!)

Art Gallery

2010-10-23T23:39:00.004-04:00

I finally have my work in an art gallery. I had to pay them to put it in there, but whatever. And it's clocks, not paintings. I've decided to focus all, okay 89%, of my creative attention on clocks and making that business grow to it's fullest potential. The other 11% of my creative juices will be working on other stuff. Like my sharp table. And that table is indeed sharp.

I was polishing the pieces of mirror (all 500+ of them) and the cloth I was using is now full of holes. I poured epoxy on it tonight, which was quite nerve raking, and got holes in both pairs of gloves I used. There are little bubbles in the resin I'm not loving, but Nick said it looked like the pieces of glass were floating. Plus it has a great prismatic glow to it when viewed from an angle that it didn't have before.

The sucker better sell! Nick is hoping it won't because he wants to keep it here, but I have literally put hours of sweat and blood, no tears, into that table and I want someone else to enjoy it! That will be my only non clock item at the gallery.

It is Art on the Levee by the way if you want to check it out. I signed up for a month to test the waters. If I make back my rental fee I will stay through Christmas.

The Sharp Table

2010-10-22T17:58:00.003-04:00

Working on this.................

leads to this:

More to come as the table progresses...............

Completed Melting Clock Table

2010-10-10T22:53:00.005-04:00

The melting clock table is finished! I think it turned out great. I have enough wood on hand to mold two more tabletops so I will be working on that this week. I have a custom order clock to put in the mold first, though.

Did I go a little Dali overboard with the four Dali books stacked on top? It was seven, but Nick advised me that many books looked ridiculous. Oh well. I also considered wearing a Dali t-shirt for the photo, but again, didn't want to go overboard. For future pictures I plan on tracking down a thing of mustache wax and a lobster.

I have it listed for sale on Etsy and Ebay and I'm taking custom orders on my website so it will be interesting to see the response I get. I think it's fantastic, but we'll see if it sells. I think everyone should own at least two. Melting Clock Table.

Table Sneak Peak and Tattoo Sketch

2010-10-06T22:56:00.003-04:00

There you go, the first sneak peak of my forthcoming melting clock table. No, it's not the top of the table. I am super excited to get this table put together. I plan on having it built tomorrow and ready to paint.

I was looking around online today for art shows that I may want to apply to. I'm thinking I may just try for Summerfair next year and Hyde Park again. My first year out I think I should take it easy and not over do it. It is already a challenge getting everything done with two kids under six! That's assuming I even get into those shows. We'll see.

I also looked up Art On The Levee, by suggestion of a friend. Once I get a table or two completed I am going to see about getting some of my work in there. It is a gallery in Newport for local artist. Since it is shopping season now would be a great time to try something like that out. I would have to pay rent and split the profit 80/2o with the gallery. I think that is reasonable.

I had the itch to draw tonight. I haven't had that for awhile and it was nice to get an idea out of my head. I'm planning on getting a half sleeve one day and I've had ideas bouncing around in my mind for a long time. I finally got one of them out on paper. Keep in mind it is just a sketch! Not a final drawing. There is something funky about her right arm, but I can't quite figure out what. Something is wrong with the shading I think. Oh well, not bad for my first drawing in months.

Melting Clock Table In The Mold

2010-10-05T23:46:00.004-04:00

I realize I just mentioned in a previous post that I wasn't going to mess with furniture for a bit, but I changed my mind. I've decided to build a few small accent tables. They will be molded melting clocks with a pedastool base that I will build myself. I may even consider putting a clock movement in them. A functional melting clock table. The wood I have in the mold right now measures 30 X 19 inches and I imagine I won't cut much off the length. I have a vision in my mind of what the finished product will look like and I'm dying to put it all together. I can't take the wood out of the mold until Thursday. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have my first completed melting clock table!

On a completely other topic I have a little spider pet. I don't get to keep it because after doing some research I think it is a baby black widow. The hourglass is orange so I first wondered if it really was a black widow. I found pictures of brown widows which are not as dangerous, but they are tropical spiders and I couldn't find any mention of brown widow spiders in Ohio. After looking at pictures of immature black widows I'm pretty sure that is what I have. It is actually quite worrisome because this little guy was hanging out on a metal garden decoration right next to our front porch. One of us could have easily brushed up against it. Two years ago while pulling ivy out of the same front flowerbed I spotted a mature black widow. I freaked out at the time because my son, then three, had been helping me pull the weeds right next to where the spider was! So no pulling weeds without gloves on for me, and no pulling weeds at all for the kids. I don't get to keep my little spider because, well, it just doesn't seem smart to have a poisonous spider in a jar when you have little kids in the house. Plus it is kind of creepy to want to keep a spider, right? Hopefully he doesn't bite me on his way out of the jar when I take him to the woods and let him go. Nick wants to squish him, but I've heard that squishing spiders is bad luck. I'm attaching a photo of my find (Well, really Nick found it and showed it to me. He then regretted it because he didn't expect me to want to keep it in a jar) to give you the creepie crawlies. Your welcome.

Oh, and by the way, I am not some odd bug person. I'm actually quite grossed out by spiders, but this little guy intrigued me. Okay, I do like to hunt crickets with the kids and throw them in the garden spider's webs so we can watch them hunt. But that is completely at the kid's request. Sweet dreams.

Hyde Park Art Show

2010-10-04T10:34:00.002-04:00

I had a lot of fun at the Hyde Park Square Art Show! Everyone was so nice, from the other vendors to the patrons, it was great. I couldn't have asked for a better response. A lot of people stopped to look and reactions ranged from awe to out right laughter. Everyone knew they were melting clocks and most people knew it was Salvador Dali that inspired me. I also had a good number of sales. I can officially say that my first art show was a success! I will definitely be looking into doing more shows. I may wait until spring, though, so I can concentrate on Christmas orders for the remainder of this year.

I'm very thankful that my husband came along to help out. We make such a great team! I did notice that the few times I took a potty break or went to grab a warm drink he had sales while I was gone. Hmmm, maybe he is a better salesman than me? I'll have to bring him along every time!

Speaking of things to take every time, I had my grandfather's pocket watch with me at the show. I don't know why, but I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to take it with me. It doesn't even work, I need to get it repaired, but I had it in my pocket all day. So after the success of the show, that watch will be with me at every show.

It was a chilly day and the perfect way to wrap it up was dinner at Arthurs right there at the square. Their spinach artichoke dip is so tasty and the giant juicy cheeseburger I had really hit the spot. Especially since it was the only meal I had to eat that day after breakfast at 5:30am!

One interesting thing I noticed was that the bar stool wasn't as much of an interest as I thought it would be. People looked at it, but only one person asked me if it was for sale and what it's price was. I sold the same number of molded clocks as wall clocks. I thought that was interesting as well. I think I may not worry so much about furniture right now and concentrate on keeping my stock level high.

Oh No Mr. Skunk

2010-09-30T23:55:00.004-04:00

Dear Mr. Skunk,

Please do not spray your skunky stink so close to my house.

Thank you,
Hilary

Three more days until the art show. Hooray! Well, hopefully hooray. If I don't sell anything then it will be Boo. And not like Halloween Boo. It will be like stinky skunk Boo.

I have almost all of my clocks done. I need to put the last four molded clocks in the mold tonight. That means I will be cutting, sanding, painting, and spraying them on Saturday. That's on top of packing everything up and a making a errand run around town to grab the last few things I need. Errand runs are several hour ventures since I live in boo foo and it takes half an hour just to get to decent shopping areas. But that's alright since everything else is done. I painted my display walls tonight. They are a lovely shade of ? It was discount oops paint. Hey, I'm a starving artist here, I can't afford to decorate my booth with Ralph Lauren paint with fancy names like Bistro Fluff.

I signed up for a Propay account tonight. That means I can take credit cards at the show. Hopefully someone wants to buy something. I also get the occasional phone customer that is all set to pay with their card and I always have to send an invoice through paypal, so now I can just take the credit card over the phone. Call me anytime. I'm never too tired or busy to take your order.

My only sad point is that I was really hoping to have more furniture at the show. As it stands I only have one bar stool to take. My August sales and most of September were dismal so there were no funds for furniture building. This last week has been great, though, so hopefully this keeps up till Christmas time. I'd love to have a variety of furniture. Rick gave me a couple of molds so I can have several different shapes and sizes of melting clock chairs. Need some melting clock dining chairs, no problem. Need bar stools with or with out back rests, I got you covered. Want a table shaped like an ice cream cone? No way. Well, okay, whatever you want. The Paypal address is: hrwiez@yahoo.com. I was just thinking maybe I'll crank out a couple of melting clock coffee tables in the next two days. Okay, probably not. But I'll keep you posted.

I'm off to mold clocks. How do I do it? Well little magic wood fairies show up with a giant bottle of glue and

Going Primal

2010-09-07T19:52:00.006-04:00

I'm doing the 30 primal challenge from Mark's Daily Apple. I've been flirting with the primal way of life for a couple of months now. No grains, lots of meat, veggies, healthy fats, and some fruit and nuts. I have to say I definitely feel better. More energy and better muscle tone. But I've decided to go all out and join the challenge. Which means less fruit and no processed sugar. I'll report back on my progress. I expect to look something like this:

**Update** If it tells you anything about my experience on the Primal Diet, I have been vegetarian (and loving it) since April. Sometimes it takes trying all kinds of things to find what works for you.

Sixty One

2010-08-19T07:39:00.003-04:00

I got my booth assignment for the art show a couple of days ago. I am very happy to report that I have a great spot. Right in the middle of the show! I'm getting rather antsy for this show to come and go because I'm eager to know the outcome.

I have been busting my butt stocking up on clocks. I have over forty wall clocks painted, a quarter of those are finished and the rest are sealed waiting for their resin coating. I have eight molded clocks painted and sealed. I also found a great deal on wood shelving units at Michaels so I have my displays for the molded clocks already. I just need to make displays for the wall clocks, make more molded clocks, and pour the resin on the clocks. I still have five weeks to go! I'd like to make another bar stool and a matching molded bar height table as well. Stay tuned for pics!

Melting Clock Barstool

2010-08-12T23:18:00.005-04:00

I just realized I had forgotten to post pictures of my brand new melting clock barstool. I have it on Ebay and don't really expect it to sell because shipping is expensive. It's bulky and heavy. I plan on having it at the entrance to my booth to attract attention at the art show. I want to make another and have a pair, but we'll see. I'm starting to stress about the show. There is still more stuff to do, supplies to buy, and no money to do it. I have very nice clocks available in my melting clock store!! wink, wink.