What's that song?......

Oh yes.....Welcome Back, the theme song for that 70's show Welcome Back Kotter, it keeps playing through my thoughts right now.  Its been some time since I've visited my blog and as I'm sitting here I'm trying to pin down the reason(s), not sure that's even really important though.  Life is all about changes isn't it.  This blog was (is?) mostly about my time being an artist and I don't seem to be doing much of that, at least not in the last few months, not sure if that will change.  I've been stuck in this fork in the road totally unsure of myself and its like my feet are planted in cement, I can't seem to move in any direction.  Certainly can't go backwards and there's not a lot of forward left.  Aging is a crazy thing, realizing you have 10 maybe 15 years of life left if you're lucky, what a strange concept.  What's it all about?  You're just a tiny, insignificant speck in the realm of things, think of the billions of years before us and the billions more to follow.  I feel so small.

Enough of that!  I can tell you what is new........I moved again!  I moved at the end of April from the lovely suburb of Narberth to the edge of Philadelphia back into Germantown.  My rent was to go up again in Narberth and $1055. was just too much for a studio apartment, at least in my income bracket anyway.  I found a charming 2 bedroom apartment for $950 right off of beautiful Wissahickon Drive.  I'm still trying to get use to having all this space! A living room (with a fireplace), dining room, kitchen with all new appliances (even a dishwasher, but I don't use it), two bedrooms and a bath, plenty of closets, and my own thermostat!....no landlord controlling the heat.
Even though I'm not painting much, artist that I am, I claimed the largest bedroom (no, not as a master bedroom) as my studio!  Pictures don't do it justice, to me its huge.....

Lots of shelving on one side and a huge closet on the other as you approach the door to the studio (ex master bedroom/dressing area), plenty of storage and room to work.  I'm still working on the space, I need to get some lighting set up and better organize my different work stations.  But what fun to have all this space to create in, this one area is almost the size of my entire last apartment!
This is the building I live in now, built in the early 1900's, she's a bit tired looking inside but still charming.  I should go back and look at older posts.....I feel like I may have shown this already?? I'm having a deja vu moment......oh well.

And I have to show you this building down the street from me on Wissahickon Dr, Alden Park Apts (view from my living room). I remember posting about this place before, I was considering moving there but it was too expensive, has a gorgeous indoor pool. Grace Kelly's mother used to live in a penthouse there.  Its such a beautiful building. Philly has some of the most beautiful old architecture.

Although I'm not painting right now I am still working with my ACEO paintings.  I'm having prints made of some of my best ones and putting card collections together, note cards.  I will add them to my website for sale and probably here and on facebook as well, craft shows are also under consideration although I'd include actual paintings to the mix as well if I do that.

Don't judge the picture quality of the cards, the prints are in clear sleeves so there's a dull glare in the photo. The cards themselves are very bright and the image very crisp, I'm really happy with them.
If you are considering having prints of your own made I can recommend two places I use.  One is iprintfromhome.com , they are who I use to do giclee prints of my ACEO paintings, I think its 8 prints on a sheet for $10.  For the prints for my note cards I'm using printfirm.com , they print 'collector' cards in various finishes and papers but don't do giclee printing.  I get the cards done on 16pt card in a glossy finish with a UV protective coating and its just $5 for 25 cards.  You can order a sample package from them for just the cost of shipping.  Just to share more info.......I'm using pocket frame note cards/envelopes from Jerrysartarama (online), the only place I could find such a product made for an ACEO card specifically. they're Strathmore brand and don't bother checking Amazon for better pricing cause Jerry's is the cheapest....I checked.   I have to say though that once I received them (and I do like them) I realized I could probably make them myself with pretty paper and a steady hand......still they're reasonably priced and nice quality (and I'm lazy hahaha). For clear packaging ie sleeves/card boxes I discovered Clearbags.com , good prices and selection.  Hope this helps anyone who has thought of doing something like this and spent hours and hours and hours searching for good products with reasonable prices.
Till next time :-)