only backgroundI'm a wife, mother and grandmother. I'm opinionated. I contradict myself frequently. Most of all, I love my kids. I believe in them. I fight for them. They're weird and wonderful. If you want to know more, here's a bunch of other stuff from my old site.
Archive for the ‘Art’ Category
When we renovated and moved back into our home 15 years ago, I had room after room of walls to be decorated and shelves to be filled. I also had five children back then, all under the age of 14, so I wasn’t interested in spending too much on decorating. I picked up a couple dozen picture frames from yard sales and flea markets, loaded them with a variety of black & white photos handed down from our family and hung them in the family room. That turned out to be a wise decision. It was a lovely arrangement that began to slip away (to the floor) every time a nerf football sailed through the family room. The entire collection is now stored away on a shelf in my closet.
My kids are getting older; two have moved out and one is preparing to do the same. My youngest, at age 10, is pretty good about not throwing balls through the house. It’s time to invest in the kind of artwork I’d always wanted. After checking out several sites, including auction sites, I finally found www.BeautifulRealArt.com , a truly unique site.
Unlike other sites that sell artwork, the first thing you’ll notice at BeautifulRealArt.com is that the quantity available is always “1.” That’s right, there is just one of each piece. That means that if you purchase artwork from BeautifulRealArt.com no one else anywhere will have the same artwork.
Now I don’t know about you, but that matters a great deal to me. If I’m going to spend time and money getting my home just right, I don’t want to walk into someone else’s house, or even a hotel or store, and see my artwork hanging there. The few pieces I do have, one in my dining room and three pencil drawings in my office, were all done by family or friends. I want one-of-a-kind.
I’ve walked through my house and have decided that I need a wide painting to hang on one wall in my family room and two matching pictures for my living room. That should cover the main areas of my house.
My bedroom, though, is my special place. It’s my private retreat, away from kids and grandkids and telephones and the outside world. For that room, I want water. More specifically, I want ocean water and beaches and anything that makes me think of Kauai. BeautifulRealArt.com has a perfect acrylic painting as well as an oil painting that will be perfect in my jacuzzi room. As soon as I saw this artwork, I knew it was meant for me. Okay, I do have to talk the husband into it. But I’ll just point out that it’s a one of a kind and if we don’t move quickly, we may miss out. Besides, now through Sunday, June 3rd, BeautifulRealArt.com is offering Free 2-day FedEx shipping on all purchases. That’s right, unique artwork, professional packaging and no shipping charges! You can’t beat that deal.
BeautifulRealArt.com is not a consignment shop so you can be sure of the quality of the artwork you purchase. BeautifulRealArt.com owns each piece of art it sells and will pack it expertly and ship it out to you quickly. The site is clean and easy to navigate. Within less than 15 minutes, I’d found several pieces of artwork that I was interested in purchasing. I’d love to see a few more ways to search. For instance, I hope they can implement a “search by size” function eventually since I was looking for one piece with specific dimensions. Even without this function, though, the site was easier to use than any others I’ve visited. The simple fact that each piece is unique makes this site a must have when decorating your home. Even if you can’t afford unique artwork for every room of your house, one well thought out piece hung prominently in your home will speak volumes of your style and eye for beauty. This kind of artwork is an investment to which you can add year after year. That’s what I’m planning to do. By the time all my kids are grown and moved out on their own, my walls should be appropriately and beautifully adorned with artwork that can be found nowhere else.
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A very long time ago, I dreamed of becoming a published author. I always enjoyed writing and I truly believed that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Then I met my husband, got married and began having kids. Anything I’d wanted to do was put on a back burner while I raised my family. And 28 years later, I’m still raising my family. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be a writer or even a published author. Times sure have changed in the past few decades.
I write every day here on this blog or one of my other blogs. I’m doing just what I always dreamed of doing and I’m doing it from my home while I tend to my family. I supposed you can say that a blog is published, right? But what about being in published on paper? What about publishing a real book? Well, yes, I can do that, too.
The best way to get published today is to self-publish and the best place to do that is at Lulu.com. Lulu.com allows the author to set their own price and sell to over a million members worldwide. You can publish everything from your first novel, your blog or a photo book to CDs and DVDs, ebooks or software for download. Lulu.com opens up the world of publishing to every creative soul with an idea.
I’ve never even attempted to send off a manuscript to a publisher; the process has always intimidated me. Now, the process has been simplified and I can publish any of my creative writing projects that I want. With Lulu.com I retain the copyright to my work and I also earn 80% of the profit. Most of all, I control the publishing of my work. I can decide to publish in hard back or paperback. In fact, I can decide on every aspect of the publishing. I like that.
I know quite a few of my readers are also writers. (If you blog, you’re a writer!) Do yourself a huge favor and check out Lulu.com. There is really no reason why someone who wants to be published should wait around for the big publishing houses to take notice. We can do it ourselves now, thanks to Lulu.com.
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I’ve always loved to write but I’ve never felt that I have a very good imagination. I’m always in awe of those who can find unique ways to look at a situation. I wish I could come up with fascinating topics and perspectives.
My son is like that. He’ll blurt something out and I’ll just stare at him, wondering how his mind came to such a conclusion or developed such an interesting scenario. My son, though, doesn’t like to write. I suppose that’s because he’s dyslexic. Writing is as difficult for him as creativity is easy. Such a shame, really.
Of course, where there’s a will, there’s a way. And the way someone can express creativity despite barriers like learning disabilities is with a ghostwriter.
Yes, ghostwriting is typically associated with celebrities but that doesn’t mean that others can’t benefit from the service, too. The Penn Group is the largest ghostwriting firm in the US but has remained focused on individual customer care. Whether you are a business person, a celebrity or just an average guy with a story to tell, the Penn Group can assist you in finding the perfect ghostwriter for you. With a huge pool of authors, agents and publishers to select from, you’re sure to get the right people for your project.
The next time my son comes up with one of his wonderfully entertaining stories, I’m taking the opportunity to introduce him to The Penn Group. If you know someone who could use this service, why not pass the link along? It could open up a new and exciting career for someone.
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My friend Suni did a great graphic of the two of us. She emailed it to me and as soon as I saw it I knew. I knew that it was going to Ted at PayPerPost for his wall of Posties.
Ted needs to reserve a really great spot for this one. I got the frame this evening and the picture will be mailed first thing in the morning. I wonder how long it will take to get to Florida from West Virginia?
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My friend Drew has been posting a Photo-a-day on his blog for over a year now. And now I’ve added a little sidebar script to show his daily photo. Just look over to the left and scroll a little. You’ll see a thumbnail of his most recent entry.
Of course, you probably want to see a bigger shot to decide if it’s worth visiting Drew. (And yes, it is!) I looked through some his photos – over 600 so far – and just couldn’t decide. I mean, did you want to see scrumptious gourmet food? Beautiful architecture? Or maybe nature shots from Drew and his wife Allison’s hike? Ah, how about Santa on a hog (a motorcycle type)?
No, that’s not the photo that appealed to me. You see, I kept going back to the picture of Drew’s new closet. I loved how organized he is and remembered when my closet was as organized. I just stared at that nice neat closet and and became obsessed. So, you’re going to see Drew’s closet but you can still go and check out his great site. I know you’ll love his photography.
Oh, and did you notice his hangers all match? I love it!
Now, I’m not disciplined enough to keep up with posting a photo every day. But Drew is that disciplined and he’s also a very good photographer (which I am not). So be sure to visit him as often as you can. And when you stop by here, be sure to look for his latest photo in my sidebar.
Better yet, just bookmark Drew’s blog. And be sure to tell him how much you enjoy his work.
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