So what have I been doing with myself?  I've been writing.  

Yup.  Writing.  Don't look so shocked; I've actually been writing since I was 14 years old.  Back then, I read the novelization of The Empire Strikes Back  by Donald F. Glut and said to myself, "Self, if this guy can do this, you can too."  Haven't looked back since.

In around 1986, I started a fantasy novel that has taken many, many, many twists and turns.  It's gone through tons of re-writes, a loss of the entire manuscript (typewritten before I had a computer -- ack!), entire character changes and scene changes, and picking and paring.

I finally decided to get off the pot and publish this thing.  But I decided to go about it in a way that hasn't been tried in a long time.

The Defender's Burden has finally taken flight ... in serial form.  Each chapter will be published on a monthly basis (perhaps earlier, if I can get a move on), ready for download to your Kindle.   Just in time for the launching of the new Kindle products!

Don't worry, though.  If you don't have a Kindle, you can still download the software for your PC, your MAC or your smartphone.  

The print version will be available soon, in a larger grouping of four chapters at a time.

So go have a look-see!  Each chapter will only be 99 cents, so you can feed your epic fantasy monster without breaking your piggy bank all over the place.

And yes, I am working on the final edits of Chapter Two, so you might see that earlier than you think.

Devolverme el aire

Okay, so I stole the title from "A Puro Dolor".  I always get stuck on eternal rotation every time I hear this song.  So beautiful!

But I have been so busy with Avon these past few days my head is spinning.  I didn't believe I'd have so many sales with them, in only 6 campaigns.  I only wish the landing page on my website were as pretty as the page that comes up when you click "Shop Now".

One thing I've learned these past few days is that organization is KEY.  Got to keep EVERY order organized until they are delivered the happy customer, or else.

I've even got two returns; my bad.

This is the princess shower bag.  It's a cool little bag for carrying bath accessories.  It's terry cloth and very super roomy.

Then this is the shark shower bag.  They're both so cute, I stand to see them go back to Avon.

If you'd like them as a gift for your little someone special, let me know.  It' can be on the first thing to you for $14.99 each.  I'll even throw in the shipping for being so nice to get it off my hands.

I've also been real busy moving my keshkingirl jewelry BACK to viadellaRosa.  Four shop are REALLY too, too much for me to handle right now.  I'm slowly scooting all of the pieces back over there, with better pricing and prettier pictures.

Whew!  I think that's all for now.  I'm going back to Son by Four.  Who are now doing Christian music, which just rocks my socks!

Viadellarosa's September Collection

It's about time I give some love to the mother shop:  click a pretty and get it for 50% off! 

Viadellarosas September Special

Curated By: ViaDellaRosa

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Photography

A Recipe for a Beautiful 'Do

I actually have a culinary degree.  In 1997, I decided that it was not a goodthing for me and my son that I couldn’t boil a pot of water without burning it,so I took a year long course.  I leftwith a degree and a healthy idea of how to put ingredients together to createedible – and even delicious – recipes. 

Sometimes I even shock my husband, who I think was born with a chef’shat on his head.

One of the things I learned that carries me through manydifferent things in my ventures is the importance of a good recipe.  What is a good recipe?

A good recipe is ingredients that work together, blendtogether in that perfect way.  A goodrecipe makes the tummy happy and puts a smile on your face.

I just finished exploring the Advance Technique System andrealized that the whole concept of synergy works just as well for hair care asit does for yummy tummy care.

I’ve done my homework on this one, just like I had to inculinary school.  Yes, we had homework,and yes, sometimes it involved crafting an edible product without burning downthe house.

Take a look.  There are 6 different recipes here.  Each one is perfectly blended for just about any kind of hair. 

Color Protection                                    Frizz Control                                               Keep Clear

Daily Shine                                                         Volume                                                     Damage Repair

 Like a good recipe, the Advance Technique Systems are perfectly blended and waiting for you. 

Any questions?  Feel free to ask.

Pretty Little Things in the House

Finally!  You can get ready for your holiday gift-giving over at KeshkinGirl Jewelry!  

It's been a l-o-o-o-o-n-g while since I've given some TLC to my Etsy jewelry shop; today seemed like a good day.  I touched up the pictures, so that you really see how pretty these little things are.

I also have a little plot in the back of your head and I need your help.  

Galaxy

Tell me in the comments below which piece is your favorite.  Tell me why you like it, what it does to you when you look at it. 

Then, tell me which piece you like the least.  Yes, the least. Tell me why.  Be honest -- I can take it.

You see, I wanted to do a giveaway, but I didn't want to do the usual kind.  You don't have to tweet or share anything.  No hoops, bells, whistles.  Just a little feedback is all I need.

Next Thursday, September 22, I'm going to pick three people from the comments.

Ruby Star

The Grand Prize winner will get their favorite piece for 60% off.

The second runner up will get their favorite piece for 50% off.

The third runner up will get their favorite piece for 30%.

Oh, and did I mention the complimentary shipping?

And because I'm the crazy kind of chick that I am, I'm sure to throw extra goodies in the box for you.

What's coming next at KG?  Gift certificates.  Pretty little gift certificates, just in time for the holiday season.

Good luck and have fun!

KeshkinGirl in the House

 

Where did I get the name KeshkinGirl?  Well, if you've known me for more than 10 years you may know that, on top of the other crazy stuff I can do, I am also an unpublished author.  I've been working on a novel (or series of novels) for QUITE some time.  The word "keshkin" comes from that world I've created.  You can check out the blog I have dedicated to that magnum opus and perhaps you'll learn more about the Keshkin and how they make a day interesting.

See Photo Below...

I've not been very motivated these past couple of days.  Probably it's because I'm dealing with a sick teenaged boy.  Suddenly, my baby's 8 years old again and needs his mommy to make tea for his sore throat.

I know, I'm loving every minute of it.

Anyhoot, viadellaRosa has been feeling a bit neglected as of late.  I check in every day, but I haven't done much in the way of prettifying it as I should.

So I go check in and what do I find?  I've been featured in a collection on Artfire:

Cross Your Heart

Curated By: BusyFingers

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Photography

That's me over there, second from left on the bottom row.  One of my glass tile pendants.  I had to smile and thank the curator for including me.  And look at the beautiful company I'm in!  I especially love the little cross that's first in the collection -- I might have to add it to my hotlist before I head off to bed.

 

Now all of this has inspired me to tell you all about my Rose Club.  As a member of the vdR Rose Club, you get a few perks that others don't.  First off, you get free shipping on everything you purchase in the store.  Join, get your code and you're ready to go.

 

You also get your own personal Patron Saint Pendant.  All I need to know is your birthday (or a birthday of a loved one) and you'll get your little pretty in the mail.  This alone is worth more than the whole membership, but it's a great way to get to know my glass tile pendants up close and personal.

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, you get once-monthly emails giving you an inside peek of viadellaRosa and getting exclusive savings on all of the cool things coming down the pike for the holiday season and beyond.  And when I say monthly, I indeed mean monthly -- I personaly enjoy quality over quantity, so I'm not one to bombard the email boxes of my loyal customers with all kinds of stuff.

And the cool thing is, you get this all for NINE bucks!  The pendant alone costs $12.  And since I always love to throw a surprise in every shipment, the good Lord knows what other goodies you'll get too.

Even if you're not ready to make any big purchases right now, go ahead and invest in a shot of free shipping, just for the holiday season.

Sellers - Time to Get Your Shops Ready

And you know exactly what holiday I'm talking about... that great holiday season where people start scrambling for gifts 

What better way to get your shop ready to welcome that rush of customers that we all pray for this year, than with a new digital identity.

What in the world is digital identity?  It's that banner on the top of your Artfire shop.  The avatar you use when you tweet.  That pretty picture on the side of your Facebook Fan page.  One of the most positive things you can do for your business is to give yourself a concise, consistent look everywhere on the internets.

I started Seriously Banners right after Artfire re-designed the studio/shop pages.  I love the new look, and I know a lot of others are raving, but there are some sellers out there (maybe you?) who just don't want to deal with redesigning everything to fit.

Isn't this the perfect time for a new design?  

Since I've been running business on the internet since 2006, I've gone from creating banners in PowerPoint, to MS Paint (yes, I used it), to finally PhotoShop and Illustrator.  Right now, I have four shops to design for, and you can bet that I've had fun creating new looks.

I finally got confident enough to design pieces for others.  My first sale came a couple of days after I opened Seriously Banners, with this cool shop.  This customer was a dream to work with, and I hope she has great success in her shop.

Today, I've started listing holiday graphics, three fantastic, colorful sets that I know you'll love to use in your studio/shop.

Click on each picture (of course) to get a closer look!

If you see something you like, let me know.  If you don't let me know what you'd like to see.  This shop is just for you.

Splish Splash.

 

So I was going to write a nice blog about one of my new listings at KeshkinGirl Jewelry, but instead, I think I have to vent a bit about how my day went, and what I did to fix it.

I walk into work today, with jobs already piled up to my nose, when someone decided to drop off a bus of the organizationally-challenged on the corner and let them come into my store.  Of course, I pride myself on my customer service skills so I do my best to help these people with their "last minute" needs when what I really wanted to do with scream at them to get out of my store and go take a few time management courses.  

It never ended.  From 9:00am to 3:30pm, it was a steady stream of people I will graciously term "special".  The medley of questions asked today rivaled someone running into a McDonald's and asking if they carry Big Macs.

About a metric ton of paper (recyclable paper, of course) later, and I was released into the wild.  I ran like my hair was on fire and jumped in my car.  I couldn't have gotten home faster if I'd jumped in a tardis.

Fortunately, all was quiet and peaceful when I walked in, so I high tailed it to my shower.  Blessed, hot water pounded all the stress out and I decide to try a new product I'd purchased as part of a bundle set from Avon.

<--- This is the set I purchased, and I took one of the shower gels out for my own use. The actual bundle is no longer available on my website, but I still have it available for a bundle price. Comment below if you want it, and it's yours.

I always like to try things before I promote them, and today was the perfect day.  

First of all, let me say that the scent is absolutely beautiful.  Not too strong, not too weak, it has a fragrance that I can only describe as "yummy-sweet-floral." All those tight muscles in my neck let loose and I felt all of the stress heading for the drain.

The shower gel is a moisturizing blend, like all Skin So Soft products, which is good for me.  I have to admit that I've always had dry skin, but this summer?  I feel like I'm sitting on a hot rock by some cactus in the middle of desert turning all kinds of colors.I guess I'm getting to that age... bah.  

My skin immediately drank up all the moisturizing goodness, and I can say now, almost 4 hours later, my skin is still soft and it still smells yummy.

Then I dabbed on a little of these ---->  They Hyacinth to be exact.  

This is the Limited Edition Avon Little Dot Fragrance Trio.  Shh!  It's actually not available until Campaign 21, but I have to rave about it.

While the original Little Dot Perfume Set actually contained five single-note fragrances and sold in 1886, this tribute set contains three of the most popular, Rose, Violet and Hyacinth.  

I find the Rose scent to be very light and delicate, and not the typical rose scent you would expect from a fragrance.  No heavy, cloying smell here.  The violet has a very vintage scent -- it actually reminds me of a perfume set I had when I was a little girl, and of course brought a smile to my face.  The Hyacinth, however, is my favorite.  It's light and sweet and I felt like such a girly-girl when I dabbed it on my pulsepoints.

Needless to say, all of the tension of earlier today is completely gone.  I absolutely ready to tackle this weekend of cleaning, Sunday School and the television, where I will be camped out all Sunday after church.

Hmm... perhaps after Sunday, I'll need another dose of Hyacinth to lift my spirits again. 

Oh, yes, and the pretty, I listed today?  

I call her Alhambra.