Olympics = televised CURLING!

I have been curling for ten years.  That's not much, but for those of us in the USA who are curlers, that isn't insignificant either.  Most of us didn't grow up in a curling environment.  I also live in New York state, which I believe has four dedicated curling rinks statewide.  Finding curlers is like finding endangered pandas.

So when the winter Olympics come around, that means those of us who live in the backwater countries where curling is still small, we finally get to see curling on TV.  I grew up in Northern NY, where we had the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Channel) on our cable package, so I got to see curling on TV out of Canada.  I miss those days now!

So in honor of curlers worldwide, I have listed some items in my shop for curlers, or friends of curlers.

First up is greeting cards.  I have three designs.  They come in packs of two.  You can buy them in my etsy shop.

Next I have an ACEO/ATC in serval choice colors.  Also available in my shop.

And last but not least, a mini rubber stamp set!

Enjoy some curling on TV for a change!

Artist Card Giveaway!

I'm giving away and Edgar Allen Poe artist card called "Tell Tale Heart" this week on the RNEST blog.  You can enter to win it here.


I have made several editions of this design.  It always seems to be popular. There are so many Poe fans out there!  I always use the hearts suit of the poker cards to give that extra "love."

If you don't win and you really want one, you can pick one up from my etsy shop.

It's ALIVE!

How fitting. No, not because it is the Halloween season, but because Dr. Frankenstein's monster was his creation...his first attempt at life. And this is my first attempt as selling an ACEO!

So let me back up. An ACEO is an Artist Card: Original or Edition. Perhaps you have heard of an ATC (Artist Trading Card) or a LTC (Letterbox Trading Card). These are miniature works of art that are 2.5 inches wide, by 3.5 inches high, the dimensions of a poker card, or a baseball card.

Artist love to make these little gems, and I got into making them through my letterboxing addiction. We call them LTC's there, and the point is to use a hand carved stamp to create the card.

So, my Frankenstein card is technically also an LTC, in the fact that I made it from two hand carved stamps, but I'm going to sell these, so they aren't really "trading" cards anymore. So many definitions!

I created this for a couple reasons though. I am part of a team on etsy called the Mad Scientists of Etsy. They have monthly challenges, and for October was to make something about an upcoming holiday, and put a science twist on it. I can't think of a better mad scientist than good old Doc Frankenstein, so I carved a stamp of our favorite creepy monster. I liked the stamp too much to part with it, so I decided to sell a limited edition of it's print, in the form of ACEOs.

The great part about these, besides being small and collectible, is that they are cheap for Art! I called this one "Mad Science: Frank" because I might do other ACEOs based on the Mad Science theme, so keep checking back.

Keep you eyes out on my etsy shop for more, I have another already done and ready to post called "Danse Macabre"!