I've been so busy with work the past few months that I haven't taken time out to make art. This...is bad. I discovered that it makes me kinda sick in a way. Bad stuff. So, I've started working on my shrinky-dink jewelry when I have time and it's given me a great outlet and I'm pleased with the results. My latest batch is now finished and uploaded here and I'm taking them down to the tattoo studio today to put in the sale case.
I started a new job officially this week. I'm now a school technology coordinator at an elementary school in the city just north of us. I'm very excited about this and it will give me more time to create and work on art. The downside is I don't get to see my husband much through the week as our schedules are opposite each other. Things will work out somehow though.

So I finally uploaded all the new stuff that Mum and I have made to Etsy. It took for bloody ever- close to 30 pieces to photograph, write descriptions for and post. But, it's done! We now have over 60 pieces for sale! I'll be posting my creations here over the next few days. I swapped out pieces at the tattoo studio yesterday and I sold a pair of earrings on Etsy within and hour of posting them. w00t!
so yeah...new stuff coming very soon. Huzzah!

Dingbat Creations on Etsy

New stuff will be posted as soon as I get off my lazy arse and take pictures...
Also, I'm very lucky in that my lovely tattoo artist Renee is allowing me to display most of my jewelry at the studio ([link]). So, all of my stuff is available on Etsy ( [link]) and live in person in Berea. ^_^

Holy cheese, an update! Not much happening here in the land of make-believe. I start a new job in May, and possibly another new job in July. Not climbing the ladder so much as jumping ladders completely. Oh...right...I haven't updated this thing in forever...I lost my job almost 2 months ago. Things have been a little rough since then, being broker than broke, being depressed over being broke and jobless and feeling worthless...etc. But, things are looking up, what with the job upcoming and all.
What else...Oh! My beloved husband is going to be joining the Navy at some point in the next couple of months. He's looking into the Cryptology program, which is right up his alley. It will be a trial for us both to be apart for that long, as the longest we've been away from each other in the past 4 1/2 years is a week at most. It will be hard, for sure, but I think it's a good thing for our future and he'll get training he'd be unable to get anywhere else.
On a making-stuff sort of note, Mum and I are combining forces to produce jewelry. We've a load of new bits and baubles coming in soon so hopefully I'll have new pieces to post soon rather than more tattoos. Not that there's anything wrong with tattoos, obviously...but I've not made any art in forever and my brain is twitchy because of it. (among other reasons...)

So I got this tattoo. I find it humorous, it makes me giggle every time I look at it so I took a picture and posted it to share with my friends on DA. Not the best photo, mind you. It was still swollen and fresh and I took the pic myself, though not with my cell phone as someone inferred but with the same digital camera I take ALL MY PICTURES WITH. (Once the tattoo is healed I'll post a better photo of it to abate the "cell phone picture quality" haters. You can't please everyone but I can at least do that.)

So it's posted, I get a few nice comments from friends and a few random people. No big deal. I don't check my DA for a few days due to other obligations. I log on Sunday night and BAM I got a DD on the tattoo. I'm confused as hell. I have over 850 messages in my inbox and a note from the Moderator who awarded the DD apologizing for the rudeness of some Deviants. Now thoroughly confused I start digging through my messages and find an entire string of verbal garbage from someone who considers himself a national treasure as an artist. I mark it all as SPAM and go on. I find a rape threat, a "hope you get HIV" threat, more verbal diarrhea and more than a few "you'll regret that" messages. No, I won't regret it. I'm 27 years old. My entire back is tattooed, both shoulders are tattooed, my chest is tattooed. I'm married, gainfully employed, I own a house and I will be graduating with my 2nd college degree this December. I'm pretty sure I'm not a decrepit social failure just because I have 10 tattoos and stretched ears. as for the other threats, the 15-year-old kid who sent them has been reported to DA for harassment. That should cover the personal end of the debate. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. I'd like to think we can all act mature enough not to go there.

Now as to whether or not tattoos are "art" well...I call bullshit on the naysayers. "ART", as one jackass kept typing it, is subjective. It has different meaning to different individuals. Simple enough, non? Wrong, evidently. Just like religion people seem hellbent on impressing their ideas of what is or isn't "ART" on everyone else. Open minds should have open mouths but closed minds should not. I personally believe that tattoos are "ART". As a collector I can appreciate the execution of the "ART" as much as the end product. If you've never been tattooed or watched a good artist at work, I highly recommend doing so. Yes, there is blood and needles and yes, it does hurt BUT the process is worth seeing and understanding. I have researched methods of tattooing from all over the world, both historical and modern. it is something I LOVE and to have it torn down by my fellow "artists" is painful and uncalled for. You're not hurting my feelings, you're bringing down my belief in the "ART" community even lower than it already was. Stop being pretentious fucks for gods sake. Don't take yourselves so damn seriously. We all have to shit and it stinks so don't think you're any better than the rest of us. (As my Grandmother would say.)