Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Merrry Christmas from the Boys!

A Merry Christmas to all my visitors from Pepsi and Max (The Creatures from the Black Lagoon!) Hope you all have a great Holiday period and wish you all the best for the coming New Year!

This image of the boys available on lots of goodies from my Christmas Shop


Card of Pepsi as Santa Paws available in my Zazzle store



Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Latest Kaleidoscope Kreations Video

My latest animation with a musical accompaniment.

If you like this video visit my YouTube Channel to see more.




Wednesday, December 09, 2009

5 Sales this week on Zazzle!

My Zazzle Store is doing well, I've had 5 Sales this week, mostly of the Elvis Happiness Quote in WordArt, and the others of my kaleidoscope designs.








Monday, November 16, 2009

On Boredom

Have neglected the blogs, especially this one, very badly lately! Unfortunately I have been spending more and more time with my online stores at Zazzle, Imagekind, America Fine Art and now Deviant Art where I display and sell my art work. I now also have 2 new website domains at http://www.charmainezoe.com and http://www.charmainezoe.net. The first is my personal 'web hub' and the second my website for promoting my art. I've also got 12 Squidoo Lenses which keep me busy as well as regular Twitterings, Facebook visits, a full time job and a Social Science course with the Open University!

I often find myself thinking there just aren't enough hours in the day! I can never understand people who say they're bored. Life is just too short to waste in boredom. This becomes ever more obvious as I get older and head ever faster to eternal oblivion. There's nothing wrong with enjoying one's leisure and I am reminded of that lovely poem by William Henry Davis, 'Leisure'.

"LEISURE"

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Sometimes I have to remind myself to 'stand and stare', but boredom is a completely different kettle of fish. It's such a shame that so many people seem to be oblivious of the wonders that surround them, from the diversity of life, both human and otherwise, out into the farthest reaches of the Universe or even the fascinating events of history, or all the modern discoveries being made in the Sciences. There is always something new to discover and marvel at!

Sorry this post didnt start out as a rant on boredom, it just seems to have ended up this way, but all I really want to say is, life is a wondrous thing, don't squander it in boredom. it's but a fleeting thing, make the most of it!


Sunday, August 16, 2009

My Little Bit of Heaven in Devon!

We are on holiday in our caravan in deepest darkest Devon and it's glorious! We are back at Wrenwell Meadows in Denbury, this time for a fortnight. We also managed to get the awning up we bought with the caravan (which we bought on eBay!) OK so we had to have help from a neighbour, who was very sweet and really mucked in with getting it up for us, but it is the first time we've used it and we're delighted with it. It's in great condition and came with not only a skirt for the caravan, but a ground sheet and a support bar so we can let one of the front panels down during the day. It's an NR Pullman model and has 4 zip out panels which is really useful, as we don't have to get the roof up with the full weight of the canvas.

Having the awning up also means we can leave the beds made up all the time in the caravan and not have the hassle of making them up at night (whch tends to be a real pain!).

Wrenwell Meadows is very peaceful as it's right out in the country and being a CL only has 5 vans max on it, and it's such a large area we're not too close to the neighbours, which is nice. Although there is only one toilet and shower, plus 2 sinks for washing we've never had a problem and Mr Partridge, the owner, keeps it all scrupulously clean. And the great thing is dogs are allowed, and our 2 are having a great time, they love being on holiday in the caravan. We like our creature comforts and have a microwave in the 'van, a flat screen TV and our laptops in the awning, in which we have a couple of tables, 2 loungers and a couple of folding bucket chairs for the boys or visitors. We also have a standard lamp. a desk type fan for when it gets too hot and a little fan heater for when it gets a bit chilly in the evening. So we are quite comfy cosy!
The view from our awning, peaceful isn't it?


Thursday, August 06, 2009

So Who's been using my Photo's?

It's amazing what you find when you Google yourself! I do it periodically as I have been on line for over ten years and have a reasonably large footprint on the web, and it's always fascinating to see what Google turns up.  But I got a surprise today when I Googled for images connected to my username.




I found that TowSure, a large Caravan and Camping supplier with 3 stores and a big website was using one of my Flickr photos on their caravanning page (that's it with the blue car, taken while we were on holiday on the Isle of Wight). I do allow a lot of my photos to be used freely with a Creative Commons License, and occasionally get requests in my Flickr inbox. I have had requests from a Danish University, a Californian nature reserve and a Tourist Guide website to name a few. But very often I just find them by doing a Google images search, as most people give me accreditation..

Todays discovery is the most exciting so far though and I thought it would be fun to add a page to my new website with a list of the sites that use my photos. Who's using my Photo's?




Wednesday, July 22, 2009

New funny Swine Flu T-Shirts now available on Zazzle!

Sold my first product on Zazzle yesterday, which really made my day.It's a Crazy Pink tie. Now I've just posted a range of funny Swine Flu T-shirts (all in the best possible taste - naturally) Check them out on my Zazzle Store. Have also posted more great tie designs.