Walk in the Woods

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield is just waiting for exploring. The battle of June 27, 1864 left behind  many earthworks to explore. Now there are many trails on the mountain. The park is just 3 or 4 miles off of highway 75 at Barrett Parkway just north of Atlanta. We went hiking with the puppy on a leash this past weekend. What a great family outing! Here is my treasure from the trip. Just listed on Etsy.

Open Doors and Windows

The New Year is fast approaching... In many ways the holiday is like Yom Kippur where personal reflection is in order. I like thinking of a couple manageable new habits each year. Once children are in the mix, life is so different and not about ME. So, it's a good time to take a look at my career and jobs and see what directions I should pursue and/or continue next year, too.

I believe very strongly in writing down my goals. I remember when I wanted a BMW and didn't have one. I cut out a photo in a magazine and voila. Bought it! I loved it! And, I miss it, but I long since traded that in for more seats, but it's a good lesson to write it down!

Professionally, next year I would like to be featured in a gallery show. I have already met with an Atlanta photographer, John Clemmer, who had some pointers. Take a look at John Clemmer's work for his great photography. My favorite of his shots is the black and white of the girl... running with such speed... on this page. I would also like to participate in at least four juried art festivals. I really enjoy being outdoors and showing my work.

Personally... that's another story, but I'm going to write them down. I think it takes 21 days to learn a new habit. I think I'll get a head start.

Pictured is my latest treasury which is expiring shortly. I was thinking about all the opportunity awaiting me through so many easily opened doors. Happy New Year!

Juried in SouthEastern Flower Show

Wow! I applied to the SE Flower Show recently, as my biggest work of art is flowers, and 4 of my images were juried into the show. Here is a list of images that were juried in and will be on display at the show. It is February 4-6th at the Cobb Galleria.
Pictured to the right is Waltzing. The links below are to listings in my Etsy shop.
Christmas Mag P09 Flowers, Flowers, Flowers
Waltzing P09 Flowers, Flowers, Flowers
Joy P13 People and Other Critters (not for sale)
Spring P09 Flowers, Flowers, Flowers
 
And, as if that weren't enough... three flower canvases (and other works) sold at the chanukah bazaar last weekend: Perfect, Zinnia c/o City of Pittsburgh and Spinning. I'm not sure if I should spend the day celebrating or working! I have printed 13 more canvases and am painting away!

Ballet Treasury

My ballet treasury is about to expire. The artists in this treasury were very generous with their kind comments. Thank you! GoodLookinTreasures said, "What a beautiful treasury! Thank you for including my little red carrying casse amongst such GoodLookinTreasures (PS... For those who look at this treasury, also take the time to visit the curator's shop. She has some lovely photographic prints.)" You can find all these items below on http://www.etsy.com/.

Introducing ACEOs

Don't miss my work at the OVS Chanukah Bazaar tomorrow, Sunday December 6th from 11 AM - 7 PM. This synagogue serves the most amazing food. I can't wait to have a potato bureka!

Just to make the day special I am introducing ACEOs of five of my photographic images and 4 of my religious works. I can't wait for you to see them. One is this Spring image shown to the left.

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. Learn more on Wikipedia. They are art trading cards, which fit into baseball card sleeves. The movement to create, sell and purchase these works began in Switzerland. I think the Challah card will be just the right size to display in the kitchen. Can't wait to show you!

Here is the link to my ACEO section of my MagMoment shop on Etsy. Take a look.

Mints and Olives with Pepper

I really LOVE making treasuries. It is so fun to pull together random items from Etsy that look good together and form a theme.

"Definitely my favorite color forever... I love green!" was my comment on this treasury. I thought it funny to use the food names for this treasury right before the last listing expired. Kind of a take on Christmas without using the traditional Christmas green.

Treasuries expire soon. So click and comment right now. Mints and Olives with Pepper.

Lots of Christmas treasuries out there. And, tons of items tagged with Christmas. I added my Christmas Mag as an alternate in this treasury, but in the end decided to use other people's work. Here's my image. It is a photograph I printed on canvas and then highlighted with acrylic paint. I am enjoying painting and look forward to creating many of these works. Ultimately I want to sell these in art festivals. This retails for $39. Here is the Etsy link to Christmas Mag.

Parenting by Counting to Ten

Ok, so I found myself counting to ten today while I was waiting for the puppy to "Come" as I commanded. I laughed my way to ten, and I ended up carting her indoors. But this has worked great with my children all these years, so I thought I would share...

Originally, we started counting to ten when the children were first learning to buckle their car seat belts. They had to be finished by the time we got to ten.

In the preschool days, I found this a great way to keep calm and it gave me something to do while waiting. I paced the counting according to the child's ability. Now that my children are in grade school, I just breeze through all the numbers and it's an or-else kinda thing. But it still moves them into cooperation. We use it to stop inappropriate behavior and to elicit desired behavior. I just start counting after several requests to stop or start a task.

It's like magic! No yelling required. P. S. nothing happens when I get to ten and they aren't cooperating because this rarely happens. When it does happen some love and attention are in order because something is very wrong.