Wednesday, August 5, 2009

True Friends Leave Footprints in Your Heart - Today's Best at Zazzle


Anyone in need of encouragement and inspiration, like someone fighting cancer or another illness, will find the words on this greeting card will uplift their spirits.
Let someone know you love and support them by sending a greeting card with a positive message to let them know how much you cherish their friendship.

We are very happy that this card has made it into the Today's Best selection at Zazzle!

You'll find more of our encouragement cards here

Monday, August 3, 2009

Cow-a-bungee!

It's cow time again!
Take a flying leap with this fun cow-a-bungee design.



Looks great on a white


Looks great on blue, too!


And what to think of a cool tote bag?


To wish someone success on their (first) bungee jump, we have this fun greeting card

And this "wow, i can't believe you dit it!" to congratulate them on their bravery!
All these (and more) are available in our Zazzle store!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Miss Smith & the Devil's Library



An action/adventure novel set in the late 19th century, this brand new offering from Nene Adams (to be published by PD Publishing - date to be announced) will thrill readers with its twists, turns and non-stop breathless action!

One chapter per week will be posted to the group. To reduce the possibility of spam, no one may send message to the group except Nene, but if you have a comment or question, you can write her directly: wynna1@yahoo.com

"Every Adventure Begins with a Single Step... and a Loaded Revolver"

Held at bay by an armed and desperate madman, librarian Felicity Smith thinks her troubles are over when she is rescued by the enigmatic Minerva Walcott, but within minutes of their meeting, Felicity is drugged, kidnapped, and whisked away from London to a stranger's house where she learns about a stolen book of prophecy and the cult led by a charismatic woman who will stop at nothing to get it, including murder. To save her missing father's life, Felicity crosses the Continent with Minerva following a string of clues that will lead her to the mysterious Maiden Prophecy... but only if she survives the journey.


Want to join the adventure? Go here

Saturday, July 25, 2009

"I love you every day of the week!"

We've added a set of new encouragement greeting cards to our Zazzle store.

"I love you" Greeting card front

and the inside of the card.

Also in this theme (yet in a different color) we have: "I'm here for you", "Thinking of you" and "I miss you".

The cards are also available for purchase in our GCU store (but without the colored inside).

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Zelda Mae is chillin'

How does our garden grow II

In a previous garden post we were very excited about our kiwi plant having fruit for the very first time. Alas, shortly after that the snails came in and killed them off (they attached themselves to the tiny fruit resulting in them falling off the stem).
So there are no new kiwi pics to show you :-(

However...

...we do have blooming chives. Isn't that pretty?


And blooming Oregano as well!


And our blue grape is getting along very nicely. Our neighbor has done some pruning to give them all the sunlight they need.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Scooter Cow - Relationship Specific Bday Cards

Next to our age specific Scooter Cow Bday cards, I would also like to share our relationship specific version (all available in our Zazzle store). So if you are looking for a fun birthday card to send to your mom, sister-in-law, personal trainer or second cousin...we have it!


This is on the inside of the cards, though they are fully customizable.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Birthday Whale 6 years old - Today's Best at Zazzle




I'm very happy to see that one of our Whale Age Specific Birthday Greeting cards has been given the Today's Best award at Zazzle.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

WTFBBQ?! the sequel

By pure coincidence my eye fell on a blog that showcased my designs.
Now that always makes me sit up and take notice. Sometimes they do a little article about my work, show something out of one of my shops with a link or just share a pic of a design they really like.
I was not that lucky :-)

This blogger used GCU as her main hunting grounds (I know this because she gives 'credit' to GCU) to get to my images, alter them to make into buttons and other elements, then put them together in themed scrap booking kits for the digiscrap crowd to download and enjoy. The kits were labeled 'freebies' and even though my name appears at the bottom of her post as the generous benefactor, she makes sure her own brand is on the kit itself. She had made several digiscrap kits using my material (and that of others).




She never asked me if she could use my stuff (even though she states earlier - back when she started to make these kits - that she would probably have to ask the artists for permission. Yup folks, you should always ask first.



This is one of her mixed kits, some of the stuff is mine...the rest is from other GCU artists. She's clearly having fun and there is nothing wrong with that. I know that as soon as you put your work out there it will be taken and 'doodled' with. What bothers me is not so much the gathering or altering, but the re-distributing of my work to other scrap bookers and putting your own name on the package. Freebie or not, it is still illegal!

Anyway, I wrote her a nice letter asking her to take all of my material off her site and explained her why it was not OK to play with my stuff the way she did.



Along with my email she must have gotten her fair share of messages from other GCU artists as well. She says she is giving credit to the artist (where is the back link to the store?) and never claimed it as her own (then why put your name on the kit?). I appreciate that she likes my work, but a real fan would support me by purchasing something or promoting my work with a link to one of my stores, or a blog post about a design they like - not theft. The only "freebies" of my work are ones which I might give away myself.



It looks like I just robbed her of a hobby, but my violin is very small, I'm sorry. Fact is, she could still enjoy digiscrapping (or whatever they call it) if she wanted to on her own computer, not distribute it to her friends and anybody else who happens to wander by.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Corrieweb store on Skreened

We've decided to start up a new Corrieweb store at Skreened.

In this store we will showcase environmentally friendly designs that will not be available in our other online stores.




Skreened = Ethical Custom Apparel.
What does this mean?

No Sweatshop Labor. Everything Skreened offers is made in the United States by American Apparel.

Skreened exclusively uses water-based inks that are more environmentally friendly to produce.
They use minimal packaging to ship and every month Skreened gives 10% of their profits to projects on Kiva.org.


We also like Skreened because they offer practically the whole front (or back) of the shirt as a print area. So for the first time we are able to drop a design (like this love whale) all the way to the bottom of the shirt. Cute, no?

So you can look forward to more special 'green' designs from our Corrieweb store at Skreened.
At the moment they only have apparel and a totebag, but there will be more merchandise to choose from in future.

Stay tuned!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Hot and sticky

It was waaaay to hot and oppressive to get any major work done today. I can forget about painting...when it gets above 25 Celsius the acrylics dry too fast and I get all sweaty and stick to every surface anyway. Bleh!

So I uploaded some new bd cards to GCU, did a white laundry (dry almost instantly) and drank plenty of water.

Then finally some thunder came our way to break the heat







Zelda Mae, also very hot, came out of hiding and plonked herself down as close to the rain as possible (without getting wet).

They say it cools off a bit after the weekend...here's hoping :-)

Thursday, July 2, 2009

This seat is taken


yes...I am laying on your chair


and because I like it sooo much, I show you my fur bikini.....


so blob....where are you going to sit, hmm?

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Only Courage That Matters - Today's Best at Zazzle



If you know someone who has cancer, another chronic or serious illness, or needs encouragement, this card will give them a much-needed morale boost. Sending a greeting card can really bring sunshine into someone's day, and let them know they're not alone.

I'm very proud that one of our encouragement cards has received a Zazzle TBA today.

On our Cancer Touches Everyone blog you find many helpful tips on this subject.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Gotta scoot!

The cow themed designs continue (I warned you I would)....so I've got a cow on a Vespa for you today!

Always wanted to do one of those :-)


You can also get your cow on a scooter without text.


The "on the moooove" alternative shown here on a grocery tote.


And for a splash of summer color go for this version!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Kitties rule my world




I had to work on some Father's day cards with a cat theme for a charity card site (I will tell you more about that next week). And as it happens sometimes....out popped a new design that was perfect to use on some of Zazzle's great merchandise :-)

If kitties rule your world, this is a perfect shirt for you! (also comes in stickers, mug, apron, magnet, tote bag , button and key chain).

Friday, June 19, 2009

No Spring Chicken - Today's Best at Zazzle



Hurray! My "No Spring Chicken....but you're still a tasty dish" humorous 'getting older' birthday greeting card got a TBA at Zazzle!


There is also a shirt design!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

The ladies do battle


This is Indie, the 4 month old neighbor kitty. Indie is a Persian/tabby mix and a real talker. She likes to climb the fence whenever her blob isn't paying attention and show off her skills. She is very cute, this grey ball of furr with a little wet point on her tail (she sucks it).


Zelda Mae and Indie like to do some kung fu through the slats of the fence. Like most female cats, they don't really like each other. So there's lots of growling and hissing and paws going back and forth. Zelda Mae does her best to impress Indie with her warrior kitty moves, but....


...it is in fact the 4 month younger female who comes over the fence to dole out some whoop-ass!
Run Zelda Mae, RUN!! :-)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Interview on J. Goode's Blog


Friend, colleague and penguin fancier extraordinaire J. Goode recently placed a very nice article of your's truly on her blog.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Of thunderclouds and paper recycle bins


The sky sure looked menacing this morning, but nothing came of it, really. That made our kitty Zelda Mae happy! She hates the rain and oddly blames us when it's wet outside.

She had us all riled up BTW by catching the same unfortunate bird twice. First she ran upstairs with it but I followed her and so she changed her mind and went downstairs again (I just know that I will find some ripe dead bird corpse under my bed one day and it will freak me out!).

Nene caught her - still holding the bird - and yelled for me to come down (I was closing all the bedroom doors just in case). When she finally dropped her prey we put the cat in the hall and pursued the fledgling ( a female house sparrow) ...under the table...behind the kitchen cabinet...table....under the cabinet again....


It wasn't flying well but it disappeared in the neighboring gardens so we went inside to do some work. When she brought the same bird in again some two hours later Nene decided to take it further out. I don't think it will make it to adulthood :-(


Yesterday I bought some fruit plants for the back garden. We prefer usable (read edible) plants like herbs, fruit and veg over just ornamental ones. I was lucky to grab the last set of three small raspberry and 3 blackberry plants. Last week I just missed out on some nice blueberry plants so this made up for it!


What's this? We got paper recycle bins delivered in our hood today. The city had a test drive with these and it turned out to be a great success so it is official. Normally our old paper was collected by a local church once a month...I guess they are out of business now.


Kiwi update! The white flower has turned into this alien looking thing. In the heart of it you can already make out a little 'bub' that will turn (hopefully) into a kiwi.