Card Example three

Info here to what exactly this card is and what I need from you guys.  This is the third example I finished and test printed.  It is quite lovely printed!  I just need you guys to help either spread the word or donate!  You can see more prints like this and better prints to come!

Another one for the Unitarian Universalist Church.  I just felt like they didn't have a lot of art for them and decided to try my hand.  I may not be part of their church but I do like their beliefs and what they stand for.  For those of you out there who are part of the UU please, tell me what you think and throw out ideas to me.  I love suggestions!

Card Example #2!

Info here to what exactly this card is and what I need from you guys.  This is the second example I finished and test printed.  It is quite lovely printed!  I just need you guys to help either spread the word or donate!  You can see more prints like this and better prints to come!

This one is for the Unitarian Universalist Church.  I just felt like they didn't have a lot of art for them and decided to try my hand.  I may not be part of their church but I do like their beliefs and what they stand for.  For those of you out there who are part of the UU please, tell me what you think and throw out ideas to me.  I love suggestions!

Card Example 1

Info here to what exactly this card is and what I need from you guys.  This is the first example I finished and test printed.  It's amazing!  I just need you guys to help either spread the word or donate!  You can see more prints like this and better prints to come!

GoFundme! Pass it on!

One day my brilliant partner and muse came up with the suggestion of actually creating blank greeting cards with some of my artwork.  Thought about it and thought about it and took it to heart and figured, why the hell not!

So, with a few designs, a few estimations and a bit of testing.  I think I finally have things down to the basics to try this out!  They are going to be wide and varied sources, probably mostly nature and fantasy, with a bit of fan art if the moment is right.  There will also be some UU cards as well seeing as there seems to be a large lacking of cards for the church out there.  And while I may not be part of the church, I would like to give something to them in the form of some art and cards that aren't out there for them.

The cards will start out as blank cards, the only text, if any will be on the outside of the card and part of the art work. Further down the like I'd like to incorporate text into the inside but that's going to be a little while coming.

The estimated 250 dollars is the cost covering 400 cards to start out, ink for my poor, poor printer which is running excruciatingly low, shipping and product packaging.  If I raise more then it also goes to a printer that will be strictly for printing cards only.  If I get even more then I can branch out into cards with pre-colored edging!  Which to me is very exciting!

The cards are the typical 5" x 6 7-8" and come with envelopes. Fluorescent White or Ivory.  I can work with the announcement sized cards as well which are 3 1/2" x 4 7/8".  The paper is a very nice, rigid, 80lb paper that has a wonderful feel to it.  I've run several test prints and the colors are amazing.

So, please look into it and if you don't donate at least pass the link on!  It would be a great help!

gofundme! Please!

Air Mother

Wind Mother

The Wind Mother is one that doesn’t seem to quit talking.  She is the hub of communication and always aware of everything and everyone around her.  She seems to know everything that’s going on whether she’s seen it herself or knows of it somehow that people aren’t quite sure of.

She’s the essence of purity of the spirit.  Of wisdom.  Of intuition. When talking to the Wind Mother all your cares seem to flow away.  She seems to know exactly what to say to easy your worries and fears.  She knows if you hold onto the negative that it can bring you much unhappiness and weigh your soul down.  So speaking to her is like a breath of fresh air and allows you to understand what you’ve been missing.  The bigger picture and not just the details that often hide what’s there.

Though she is a care free type Mother you have to be wary of the Wind Mother.  She can be as light and carefree one second and then as violent as a tornado the next and then in the next second as sweet as can be again.  So be careful what you say or even do.  They know and will tell you exactly how they feel about it.

In essence, be wary of the Wind Mother.  While she’s intuitive she can be flighty.  While she’s good at communicating she can easily stick her foot in it and mess a few things up but easily fix them.  But she is one of the only Mother’s to be very flexible.

Water Mother

Water Mother

The Water Mother is the essence of purity and fertility.  She works well with the Mother of Earth because they often share the common traits of wisdom, life, transformation.   But one has to watch the Water Mother for she is the embodiment of emotion, empathy, intuitiveness, and the seat of the nurturing of the elements.  Her imagination has no comparison seeing as, even though she’s a nurturing element, piss her off and she can be just as negatively moody and cold. 

The Water Mother is able to find the balance in her home life and work, between nurturing her family and her friends she’s able to be fulfilled in her knowledge that she’s able to help so many.    Her still waters comfort those around her and with that also connect us with a deeper connection. 

The Water Mother can be one though that has many tempers.  Warm and inviting when sick, allowing you to breathe easier.  Nurturing and quenching when you need that relief that only water can provide.  Chilling and slightly terrifying when angered, so much so they could destroy something or someone with words or actions alone.

Stay well on this Mother’s good side, for if you do, cookies, cuddles, and comfort is a bound.  Anger her and you will regret it with every fiber of your being.

Fire Mother

Fire Mother

The Mother of Fire is the essence of passion.  They can either be passionately loving, extroverted, brave, or passionately pissed off, uncontrollable, and furious.  You have to tread carefully around someone of the fire element.  Choose your words carefully because this epitome of a warrior will either stand beside you or take you down.

This element is quick to change moods, as wild and untamed as the flames that spring forth during the dry season in a wild fire or the flames of a forest fire.  Though you can tame the flames enough to reside in a hearth in the home, you must always be respectful.  The fire is quick to burn and quick to spread, to destroy.

But just as quick as it is to destroy the flames of Mother Fire can inspire and cleanse.  She knows when change is needed but you need to keep her in check or she’ll overdo it.  Follow her guidance carefully and she may help you when you are at your lowest to inspire you with a much needed boost of inspiration.

But underestimating this mother is not wise for even while passionate to inspire, anger her and she’ll destroy you just as fast.

Earth Mother

Earth Mother

The Mother of Earth is the essence of stability.  The foundation of life, wisdom and knowledge, she is the keeper of the circle of life and death.  Nurturing she raises the seedlings and the young till they reach adult hood and when their lives are at an end she releases that which she raised back to the beginning to nurture the new generation.

If you know someone of the earth element they’ll be a nurturer.  They are steady and reliable and will try to give all they have in nurturing the future.

Though like the element they are made of they are quiet in that aspect they’re always watching and learning and will speak up when disturbed.  And though they may seem calm, cool and collected on the outside, when angered they can erupt like a volcano.  So where they are the foundation of calm, they are a broiling powerhouse of emotion below the surface.

Never underestimate an Earth Mother.  They will prove you wrong every step of the way because they are so in tune with their surroundings.

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The first care of my Oracle deck that I'm trying to work finishing.  So far I've been working slowly through the meanings of the cards.  I'm halfway through I believe.  So expect more of these from my tumblr of the same name as this blog.  And please, feel free to leave comments!  I'd love to read them!

So, Jam day!

This year was a first for me.  I've canned foods before.  Tomatoes, beans, berries, and meats but I've honestly never, never ever, made jam before.  Which is very sad.  That changed a couple weeks ago.

My girlfriend and I had stopped at a farm on the way back from a fiber festival to pick up some Honey Crisp apples.  We had a couple of bruised ones but Honey Crisp apples actually hold very well and these were ginormous! The size of softballs!  And soooo very juicy and crisp.  Well, with so many we decided to try a jam that my girlfriend had found.  This Jam right here!  It smells amazing and tastes amazingly sweet. It should for how mush sugar is in it!

Well... we tried it and jarred some and it was delicious!

So my plans for today are going to be to peel the apples my future mother-in-law brought us and make another batch of jam with those and with the left overs some apple butter!  I'll post an update with pictures later for you guys and maybe see about posting some of the process but I'm not so sure since I only have one set of hands!

If anyone's tried this recipe I'd love to hear your experience!  Feel free to comment!

Random Thoughts

Sometimes I wonder who the hell actually follows my blog and how the hell they find it.  Randomly or because they searched for books I've reviewed..... What is it?

Honestly I could care less.  It's just weird in my mind that people actually find this blog.  It's sporadic at best at being updated and when it is it's never anything that's worth mentioning.  In my mind at least.

If I ever become known for  something though I'm guessing I'm going to kick myself for this post later......

Book Review - Area 187: Almost Hell by Eric R. Lowther

In the year 2007 an accident at a clandestine U.S. government facility in rural West Virginia releases several test subjects infected with a necrotic virus. Within weeks the U.S. military and the Department of Homeland Security are forced to declare the bulk of the state under quarantine. Defensive lines are fortified and nothing is allowed in or out, damning those missed in the short period of evacuations to a living hell and locking away the real truth of the virus’ creation. The government transfers the responsibility of maintaining the quarantine from the military to the Department of Homeland Security, which christens it “Area 187”. Suits and claims are dismissed under anti-terror legislation as the rest of government scrambles to cover their involvement in the original project, distancing themselves and their reelections. Seven years pass. Homeland Security enforces a total news blackout on all things Area 187, and as with other disasters before it the bulk of America is more than willing to move on. Conspiracies continue to thrive outside the now-immense defensive wall and fortifications, and mercenaries known as “grave robbers” regularly slip in and out of the Area, stealing valuables and taking contracts to bring back specific items for well-paying customers. Our story follows Josephine Terrell, a television reporter and John Heath, once an Air Force search-and-rescue team leader that escaped the Area after five years of fruitless searching for his wife, as they risk their lives from both the dead and the living inside Area 187 to rescue a group of survivors. Josephine is looking for the story of the century, one that will prove living, breathing Americans still await rescue inside the Area and that Homeland has been covering up their existence. Heath joins her mission after he sees what may be his wife, Eileen, in a video message from the survivors. Personal rivalries, government conspiracies and a simple man’s simple promise weave together with death incarnate to follow their every step as they make their way through a blasted, nightmarish landscape full of the hungering dead. But the peril offered by the mindless corpses behind the wall becomes second to the danger presented by the living beyond it…

Area 187: Almost Hell by Eric R. Lowther
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not going to lie, I wanted this book because of two things. Zombies and the fact that it's based around West Virginia my home state.

I had no clue what to think of this book when I first started it. I knew Zombies and government cover up but I didn't know exactly what or how it happened. I just know that the government did something stupid and blocked off the entire state of West Virginia and parts of the other states surrounding it. Anyone in or out was shot, anyone investigating the area known as Area 187 mysteriously disappeared or ended up dead.

We start with Josephine, a reporter who's working on trying to bring light to the plight of those from Area 187. She risks her life to find someone who will take her into the area and get more information about those that are still trying to survive there. She finds the one man who escaped with more than his life and is haunted by what he left behind. And after some 'convincing' Jo is on her way with one time Air Force Search and Rescue agent John Heath as they make their way through the Zombie infested area. All in search of what Heath originally fought for.

I didn't know what to expect from this story really. I didn't expect many of the twists that were in the plot. I also didn't expect to see the human nature portrayed so well and almost realistically to the point I could see myself probably becoming as desperate as those within area Area 187.

I really enjoyed the book from start to finish and I'd really like to read it again. I just really, really liked it!

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Book Review - Icecore: A Carl Hobbes Thriller by Matt Whyman

He's a seventeen-year-old British computer hacker who penetrated the security systems at Fort Knox for a laugh. But the American government was less than amused. Since his prank, gold bars have been landing in the hands of terrorists across the globe.Now, Carl has found himself in a military prison deep in the Arctic and far off the grid. He's been caged alongside the world's most notorious terrorists, with no one to trust and no end in sight.Carl Hobbes may not be a criminal mastermind, but if he wants to escape this subzero prison with his life, he'll have to start thinking like one.

Icecore: A Carl Hobbes Thriller by Matt Whyman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't know what to think when starting this book. Not going to lie. This sort of book isn't my cup of tea. I'm definitely a fantasy, sci-fi sort of girl but this story drew me in.

The poor kid in the beginning getting whisked away by special agents because he hacked into Fort Knox. Thrown into a holding camp meant for mercenaries, terrorists, and high profile criminals. Carl Hobbs didn't know what hit him after that when a high level mercenary who was hired for a hit right there in the prison got out.

I never expected the events to happen at the end of the book. Actually took me by surprise. But I liked it. I did like this book. Well written, plenty of suspense and turns. I'm glad I read it!

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Book Review - Jenny Pox by J. L. Bryan

Eighteen-year-old Jenny Morton has a horrific secret: her touch spreads a deadly supernatural plague, the "Jenny pox." She lives by a single rule: Never touch anyone. A lifetime of avoiding any physical contact with others has made her isolated and painfully lonely in her small rural town.

Then she meets the one boy she can touch. Jenny feels herself falling for Seth...but if she's going to be with him, Jenny must learn to use the deadly pox inside her to confront his ruthless and manipulative girlfriend Ashleigh, who secretly wields the most dangerous power of all.

* * *

Not recommended for readers under eighteen

Jenny Pox by J.L. Bryan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What in the world did I just read? Really? What in the heck did I just read?

The story starts out moderately ok when you start to get to know the main character by the name of Jenny. We find out that this poor girl was born with the curse of a plague at her touch. Her mother was killed when giving birth to the poor girl, along with the the doctors and nurses that were there at the time. She seems to be cursed by this and can't see a silver lining to anything.

She's spent her whole life trying to protect those around her from her curse by wearing clothing that covers as much of her body as possible, wearing gloves and staying out of the lime light as much as possible while trying to survive high school. But that all changes her senior year when the popular Ashleigh's boyfriend begins to befriend her.

Then we're thrown into a whole wild ride of Jenny learning about Ashleigh's boyfriend's gift and then Ashleigh's. Finding romance with the one person that isn't harmed by her touch sends Jenny into a spiral of events that leaves several of the town girls pregnant and more than half the town dead.

Ashleigh turns out to be one of those sociopathic characters that you love to see get their comeuppance. She deserves every horrible thing thrown at her for every character she manipulated within the story and with how she handled everything. I actually cheered when she got what she deserved.

But after that I was confused. I mean.... what? Again, what did I just read? Past lives? Dead coming back to life? Whaaaat?

All in all it was an ok book. I'm glad I was able to get it borrowed because I don't think I would have wanted to own it. And the rating definitely should have been 18 years or older. Not just classified with a YA.

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