Well, the apartments in the previous post didn't pan out, income too low.  Seems there's this tiny little window you have to fit into, you can't make below $28,000 and change and you can't make more than $31,000 and change for the apartment size I wanted, tight fit eh?
Regardless, I've once again thrown caution to the wind and given 60 days notice.  I've no idea where I'm going from here,  I just know I can't afford to stay here any longer.  I'm sorry to have to give this place up.
So.......sigh........its a wide open field, we'll see where I end up this time.  I'll post as I search the possibilities.

I'm so honored to have one of my ACEO paintings chosen to be the header image on a facebook ACEO group page that I recently joined.  I gather that they change them out every couple of weeks, I'm really flattered.

I was doing some more apartment hunting again today, and not 'feeling it' for any local areas I decided to take another look at So Florida where I lived for many years.  I came across one senior community in West Palm Beach that I thought looked pretty nice and wrote to them.

Not too shabby eh?  I got a response right away and chatted back and forth via email with a really lovely person, she was so helpful and friendly. There's no promise of a vacancy that would work with my needing to give my 60 day notice at the end of this week, but my goodness she was certainly pulling for me. I find out at the end of the week or early next week if there will be a vacancy, they also require 60 day notifications from their residents.  I can't imagine anyone wanting to leave but.....fingers crossed.

I'm so happy!....all my small paintings have sold, time to get back to producing.

I spent allllllllll day online looking for a more affordable apartment.  My rent here is going up beginning in May and with the loss of some of my 'outside' jobs on top of that, its getting harder to justify staying here.  I have the rest of this week to decide for sure if I'm going to leave, I need to give 60 days notice.  I hate when that's required, it leaves finding a new place so hard, not to mention scarey.  What you see available now isn't what you're going to find two months from now.  I don't have a particular location in mind, its all about the money this time.  I looked at so many places....sigh.  Pottstown, PA looks affordable, its about 45 mins. to an hour west of here.  But then again I saw some apartments that may be affordable (conflicting reports online about price) that are still here in Philly.  I have always loved these buildings and someone has finally renovated a few of them, they were so run down as was the neighborhood.

Some sites say they start at $900 and another site (senior housing site) says they start at $600.  Right across the street from these is Fairmount Park....what a view!  I've inquired about these and a couple of other places.  I'd love to get this settled in my mind asap.

New ebay listings:

It scares me what could be out there to help me that I still don't know about.  See lists (and links) of the top ranking etsy sellers at Craftcount.

Check out these cool rings I discovered on etsy made from silver coins.

Another online art lesson site I just discovered: http://www.artapprenticeonline.com/

Just another day in the life of me

Well things just keep getting better.............NOT!    How could I have had things set up so perfectly just a few short months ago......back in my favorite apartment, 5 days a week of work all close to home.......and now?........down to two days of work a week and my car breaks down.
Yesterdays wind chill was near zero, I went out to my car and surprisingly (remember its a 1991 no frills car) it started right up but.......nothing would work, radio, heater, wipers etc all would not work.  And without the heater it was harder to chip the ice off the inside (yes inside!) of the windshield. I kept the car running for a long time to see if it was just a freezing event.   I gave up about twenty minutes later, called my job (offered to pick me up), turn off the car but then turned it on again right away to see what would happen and boom!! everything came on in a flash!  But what's that funny smell?........it smelled like something was burning but only for a few seconds.
I called my job back and said I was on my way.  I got there fine but now I couldn't get the key out of the ignition?  Went in the house did my work, went to leave and the car would not go.  The engine turned on but then would shut right down.  Had to call a tow truck ($80, my days wages and bill money), left the car with my mechanic and walked home in below freezing weather.  The mechanic called and said the ignition is broken and it'll be $550 to fix.  He did offered to rig it (cheaply) so I could use it cause I told him I was thinking about getting a newer car.  I spent the rest of yesterday afternoon and evening looking at cars online and contacted two dealers.  Daydreaming my life away.
This morning I woke up and knew I could not afford to buy a car.  I would of had to use a credit card for a down payment (then have to pay that off) along with monthly car payments and higher insurance rates.  There's no way on $200 a week I could afford to do that and pay my rent and bills too.......I'm so sad this morning :-(  I'm going to have to get the car fixed for real ($550) so I know its safe and now I'm going to have that credit card bill haunting me.  It'll be the first time I can't pay it off when its due, I'll have to make minimum payments which means I'll be charged interest (at 22+%).  Oiy vay !! 
Why is that the people who can afford it the least are always charged the most????  What kind of stupid sense does that make.  People with a good credit number can buy a car with little or 0 down with really low monthly payments........a person with limited income...NO.....the very people who need those kinds of deals?.......NO!!  You can go to a 'buy it here/pay for it here' place and buy a car for twice the monthly payment amount and of course the car cost more than at a regular dealer.  Its just like when you have a monthly utility bill and you can't pay it on time you get charged a late fee. If you're struggling already why are you being punished with additional burden??  How many people do you really think don't pay their bills on time on purpose?!  Ahhhhhh......and then there's the dollar stores......low prices?..sort of, but are they really?  Cheaply made, poor quality products that break and will need replacing, or food products sold in smaller quantities than normal or in smaller than normal packaging/containers. And grocery stores that claim to save you money then charge you to use a grocery cart and pay for the plastic bags to put your stuff in......guess you could just pull your car up to the cart that's now trapped behind the poles that prevent you from taking the cart into the parking lot and throw your loose groceries into your trunk and deal with it when you get home.  It was my first experience having to do that so of course now I know to take my own bags and use a basket instead of a cart (or not shop there anymore). The world just makes being economically challenged so attractive doesn't it?  The hole just gets deeper and deeper.  It just seems so unfair.
And me with no beer in the house ugh :-(

Remember when I posted some inspiration pictures of studio apartments to help guide me in setting up my own place?  This was one of my favorites....

and I always wished I could see more of the space.  Well ........... :-) I came across a youtube video of this apartment!!  And I was even happier when I learned it was (like mine) furnished mostly with thrift shop finds.


Oh......and here is my place, not quite as elegant or high end as the inspiration photo but its home :-)

 

Off and on light snow today and suppose to get heavy overnight.  Personally I'm hoping we just have over excited weather people on TV and the snow will be less than predicted, I don't like driving a 23 year old car in this kind of weather!
Got some more artwork done today and will continue on for the rest of the week.  I really depend on this additional income now that my outside work has been reduced to two days a week.  As always, click the link in the sidebar if interested.

I think if I hadn't chosen to be an artist and had had more insight plus a stronger ability to focus at a younger age I would have chosen to be an interior designer of small spaces.  I spent my entire day yesterday trying to work out how to fit a 'real' bed into my small studio apartment without it becoming the focus of the room, because (not) getting a good nights sleep has become an issue lately.  I love my little apartment, I don't love pulling out (or sleeping on) a sofa bed every night.  So I pulled out pictures I used for inspiration when I first moved in here......

and after hours of mentally rearranging furniture in my head and measuring more than twice, a plan was formed.  This led to more hours online trying to find the best deals (translation: cheapest) in new bedding.  Once again, Amazon and Walmart won, Amazon for the bed frame and mattress and Walmart for the linens.  Ninety eight percent of what I own has come from thrift shops but when it comes to bedding I draw the line.
I have to say I've never thought of myself as a girly girl but she must be in me somewhere because I (surprisingly and can't believe it) fell in love with this look I saw on Walmart....

And can you stand it?......the bedspread, skirt, shams, and small pillows all for $74!  Its not exactly a subtle or inconspicuous don't look at me look though is it.  Maybe more thought is needed.

So......back to painting.  The orange painting listed in a previous post will sell today and the peanut butter and jelly painting along with a cherry painting I neglected to post before have sold.

So today will be spent getting some more work up on ebay.  If I want that good nights sleep I have to be able to pay for it :-)

Check this out art lovers.......  http://www.faboverfifty.com/style/art-authority/#more-1240848

And check this out too if you're of the age where 'readers' have become part of your everyday life.  Have you noticed how difficult it is to find reader sunglasses at a decent price?.......not anymore!
http://www.readers.com/drama-bifocal-sun-reader.html

Some new listings for ebay.  I was contacted by someone requesting I do another peanut butter and jelly sandwich painting because she missed bidding on the last one posted.

I sat here this morning staring at this screen until my coffee got cold, trying to decide what and how much to say.  The past year while starting out brilliantly seems to be ending on a downward slide. If you follow this blog you know that when necessary I clean homes to make ends meet so that I can have some control over the time I have to devote to painting.  That was working out fine until I lost three days a week of work over the last couple of months. Two I could still handle things, but three has put me back in the welfare system for help, food stamps and health care.  Grateful for the help?......yes, depressing?.......totally.  Do I want to go out and find more cleaning work?......that would be a definite and resounding NO.  At 63 with achy bones and 63 yr old vision, not to mention the total repulsion at the thought of cleaning one more families toilets, I've no desire to find more cleaning work, and luckily at this age I'm not required to apply for work by the welfare system.  That said, this is not a situation that I want to be in, and how I will change this is (for now) a mystery.  Maybe I should look for a job digging holes, I seem to be very skilled at that.  Stay tuned.

You wouldn't think with my very traditional style of painting that I'd be drawn to work like this....

but its my newest acquisition and I love it.  Its work by an artist friend in Florida, Randy Jay Jimenez

Speaking of my traditional style, here are my latest up on ebay...

I stumbled onto a 'new to me' website for creatives called Skillshare.  You can (for a price) sign up for online classes, or if you've got skills you can use the site to teach your own classe(s).  I haven't looked over the entire site yet but here it is if you're interested Skillshare.