IM BACK, Seriously.....

Okay, Back from Vegas and since what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas I can't talk about it. Kidding, Other than Hubby getting the flu mid flight to Vegas and Grandmother getting the flu one day into our trip - it was fun! :( He stayed in bed alot and since my grandmother really doesn't let anything get in the way of her and a slot machine, her flu didn't keep her down! We gambled and did the usual, sharks, dolphins, gambling, drinking,e eating.. Usually we see 1 or 2 Big Vegas Shows and this time we saw 1, The Bealtes, LOVE . It amazes me, the types of shows you can see in Vegas. Every once in a while I have a conversation with someone who has never been to Vegas...they say all sorts of negative things.. well, I say "keep your comments to yourself until you go and experience a Wonderful Cirque Show"...it will change your opinion very quick. For those of you planning a trip - try to see it. We stayed at the Mirage last year and didn't think about seeing it..crazy us (we did see La Reve though) which was fabulous as well.

I did leave on the positive ($) side, so Thats really all I can ask for. Our hotel was beautiful, the first time we stayed at the Palazzo which is new for us and we really loved it - the Suites are gorgeous for anyone planning a trip, I just loved my room..and if you are going to be sick in Vegas, might as well do it in a gorgeous Suite with a Flat screen just about everywhere you look.. Eating is so tricky because everything else gets in the way so we usually eat breakfast InSuite and Snack for lunch and then go all out for dinner..My favorite this trip was CarneVino., though I could have done without the long wait Wednesday Night -- the X Games were in town!

So until next year -- Thanks Vegas for a wonderful Time!

"What about WORK", You say? Work, Work, Work. Saturday we filmed all day for our Short Film, (DP - title secret til next year) and Yesterday I was exhausted and spent all day putting away props. Today I was supposed to start some work, but I didn't.. I have been filling my etsy shop and have a nice sale for the BAOIOTW.. Bead Art Originals is such a fantastic group! So professional I am honored to be a part of them! Check out all the wonderful artists on our website BEADARTORIGINALS

Til Next time! When I have something BEAD Like to say...

(Notice the concentration on Grandma's face, AS IF, she was really going to hit the JACKPOT!)

COLLEGE FRIENDS, YELLOW BRAS AND MY ETSY

It was really great to see photo's of a trip we took as a group of friends to Hilton Head Island or candid shots we took of eachother in school. This morning I was equally happy to see 29 more photo's had arrived to her facebook page -- it appears that the digging has begun! A few more friends have gotten on board and I can only imagine how far they have to dig to come up with some of these great photographic memories. Here is the link to the photo's if you would like to take a peek at the newest upload: PHOTOS and here for another album: PHOTOS and here for the album I uploaded: PHOTOS
They are all just too precious.

I would also like to tell you about an event in which I participate each year. It is called The Yellow Bra, hosted by the Best Little Frame Shop and Art Gallery in Mahwah, NJ. Each year artists exhibited works depicting a Yellow Bra to help raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness. The shop Owner Ruth Ann Hawkins and her dedicated staff, family and friends really put together a fantastic evening of art, poetry, food and prizes. I am happy to report that I was also the recipient for Best In Show for the 2006 and 2007 exhibits, click here to see my artwork. This year things are going to be a little different: Below is the prospectus for the show. Anyone can join. It would be lovely if you were local and could come to the exhibit for the reception but if you cannot and would like to participate you could always mail your piece with your $10 entrance fee. 40% of all sold artwork proceeds this year are being donated to The Avon Foundation Cancer Crusade.
PROSPECTUS - THE JOURNEY - The Yellow Bra Event 2008
Once again, it is time for The Yellow Bra Event art show and sale. This year we have renamed the show "The Journey: The Yellow Bra Event, 2008", so that we can experience broader creative images relating to the emotional, physical, and psychological journey that breast cancer survivors face each day. In the past three years the Event has donated several thousand dollars to breast cancer research and awareness. ARTIST GUIDELINES: Open to all media (watercolor, acrylic, oil, pastel, pen & ink, mixed media, collage, intaglio, photography, textile art, 3-D). The artwork DOES NOT have to include an image of a yellow bra, but must represent the beauty, strength and courage of breast cancer survivors. Think of faces, relationships, landscapes, towering mountains, stately trees, endless oceans -- let your creative energy flow. There are size limitations. The minimum art size is 8" X 10" and the maximum size should not exceed 32" X 40". Artwork can be framed or not, but unframed artwork must be matted. Artwork can be matted at the shop for a minimal fee (be sure to leave a border beyond the image). Please submit your artwork on October 1st and 2nd, and October 8th and 9th between 1:00 and 4:00 pm. Pieces needing matting or frames should be submitted sooner. There is a $10.00 entry fee payable by check or cash for each piece. Multiple entries are accepted as space allows. The Gallery retains the right to not accept artwork if not deemed suitable due to execution or content. The show will be on display in the Gallery from October 26th – November 21st. The opening reception is scheduled for Sunday, October 26, from 2:00 – 6:00 pm. There will be prizes awarded at the opening reception. A portion of the proceeds from artwork sold will be donated to The Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade. New artists, and those that have participated in the past are called to join us in the celebration and participation of this anticipated event. For more information please contact: BEST LITTLE FRAME SHOP & ART GALLERY64 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ 07430Tel: 201-529-3030 • http://www.bestlittleframeshop.com/
*** IMPORTANT NOTE *** If you do not wish to participate in this event but you would like to donate something you may do that as well. Please contact me for the donation form.

LISA PETERS ART - ETSY SHOP NEWS
(Info repeated from yesterday's blog)
As for work. Well, I have been filling my etsy shop with items getting ready for the holiday's so I can think about getting back in the studio and creating new designs. I love etsy, but as you all know it is pretty time consuming...so thats kind of where I will be til I leave for Vegas on the 21st. I want you to know that I appreciate you for reading my blog and having an interest in my work. To show this appreciation I would like you to use the code: BLOGDISC on your next order(s) or etsy shop order(s) for a 20% discount on orders over $50. Discount will appear after I adjust your invoice through pay pal if that is your chosen method of payment. (I also take MC/VISA) You can convo me or add that to the notes to seller. This discount is good on all orders until October 15 (One month from today) and is only being advertised here, on my blog.

COLLEGE PALS MAY HAVE E.S.P.

So I write this blog post last week regarding Photography and Way Back When and then BANG Sunday morning rolls around and I see I have been tagged in 19 photo's on someone else's facebook page. How excited I was and anxious to see what they were so I clicked on the link and spent the next hour or so with the biggest smile on my face looking at Courtenay Gilberts SVA Album circa 80's something (was it 87,88, I dont think it was 89?) It was an assortment of SVA Candid Shots with the unforgettable Hilton Head Island Trip we took (was it during spring break?) and the memories just came flooding back. My friends Courtenay Gilbert (Fl.), Gary Goldberg (Canada) and Glen Feniger (?) (Courtenay and Glen were a couple, Gary and I were just pals)

We are very lucky. As photography students we will forever have a documented account of just about every moment of those 4 years. I promise I am going up in the attic or into my many, many, many binders filled with negs and contact sheets, blow the dust off my slide scanner and see if it still works & get some on uploaded also! (SOON) I know that today it is easy for just about anyone to document every second using cell phones, digital cameras, helmet cams..but back then that was not the norm and I cherish the opportunity to have been able to document my life and my time spent with people who are very important to me.

I look forward to blogging more about this in the future and I hope I don't bore you with the details..

As for work. Well, I have been filling my etsy shop with items getting ready for the holiday's so I can think about getting back in the studio and creating new designs. I love etsy, but as you all know it is pretty time consuming...so thats kind of where I will be til I leave for Vegas on the 21st.

I want you to know that I appreciate you for reading my blog and having an interest in my work.

To show this appreciation I would like you to use the code: BLOGDISC on your next order(s) or etsy shop order(s) for a 20% discount on orders over $50. Discount will appear after I adjust your invoice through pay pal if that is your chosen method of payment. (I also take MC/VISA) You can convo me or add that to the notes to seller. This discount is good on all orders until October 15 (One month from today) and is only being advertised here, on my blog.

Til then I will be searching for photos & reminiscing about some really great times!

To see all the tagged photo's click here: PHOTOS

I also added some photo's myself at 12pm today click here to see those: PHOTOS

Lisa P.

THANK GOODNESS ITS FRIDAY! Reminiscing about Photography - Blogging about another time

Why? Why? TGIF? Whats so different about today (for me)

If Iworked a 9-5 maybe I could say that but I don't so Thank Goodness its Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc, etc, etc

- that's what I have always loved about being an artist and maybe some of what is hard about being an artist.

When I began my career at the ripe old age of 20 (Photography by Lisa Peters - Commercial Still Life Studio - something, something 10th Street, Fort Lee NJ for a whopping $350/mos because I paid 1 year in advance) I always thought I would be a photographer, there was no question in my mind...then again, I never asked myself another question. What B-lls I had..fresh out of college - pounding pavement in NYC with my portfolio, something I cannot even lift now. Making appts with every BIG mag editor I could and had a shit load of confidence with no business sense. Sorry, I needed to say the S word for it to sound like me -- and I got jobs - mostly because I was there at the right time or someone knew my grandfather who knew my father who went to school with my cousin and so on. My work was good - for someone my age, at the time, with what was required to make a stunning photo back then - yes I was good but I was so in over my head it wasn't funny... I screwed up so many "really unbelievable opportunities" -- but that was me. I believe it was my 3rd Mag shoot and it was for COSMO ( Hello, what were they thinking?) Shooting with..hold on to your hats..Francesco Scavullo in his studio - a unique centerfold for the winners of the Hawaiin Tropic Some-kind-of-contest as a special insert for the mag. I think back now and wonder where they thinking "what is this kid doing in my studio"? Well, it was a very scary day and even though my ability to smile BIG throughout any disaster got me through the public aspect of it I was sure to have a twitch in my eye for weeks afteward (dont think i am kidding you.. after every huge job I had, I had a twitch that lasted for weeks) I did not take into consideration his "slave lights" (lights that see one light go off and they follow) went off each time I took my pictures (using his assistant and studio..giggles) therefore overexposing my film by a gazillion stops.. Cosmo wanted the photo's - ASAP, overnight, 24 hours..so had I been "experienced" I would have dropped them off at the lab and just charged them the $300 processing fee..but that is where in experience kicks in... I decided to save "them" money and do it myself, thus boiling my film to oblivian. OOPS. It was not save-a-ble

My mother keeps the letter, telling me how they would never hire me again - she thought she would hang it next to my diploma.

Just thought I would share. More stories to follow.. someday.

Anyway, I have been trying to get back into the swing of things - I even started to fill up my etsy shop.. oooohhh thats something I have not done in a while. After a while I have to evaluate my inventory and introduce myself to things I made only a few months ago and forgot I had. See them and like them again.

and I think I will take my grandmother to lunch..

have a great one everybody!

lisa

HOME SWEET HOME - At least for this week.

Home Sweet Home. I am finally back for more than one day. I arrived home late last night to find some really large beefsteak tomatoes in the garden and 2 of the largest squash I have ever seen waiting for me, which is a good thing because I believe I ate more than I ever have whilst enjoying the last of the summer on the lake. It is so sad saying good-bye to Pt. Penninsula, NY even though I dont go that often (thank you gas prices) it is sad to drive away and see the place all quiet and ready for winter..and what a winter it is there..I have been once and never again. NO THANK YOU! I also arrived home to find out my debit card had been compromised and the little thieves cleaned out my checking account. Sigh :( Its all fun and games until the money is gone! LOL. Hopefully the matter will clear up ASAP... until then can you tell the nice people at American Express the check is NOT in the mail? and the electric co, gas co, water co, phone co, etc., etc., etc.... hey, I didn't have any money to pay them anyway..who am I kidding?

I did arrive home to some really nice messages & photographs from my customers of work they have created with my pieces - I hope in the next few days I can blog about each person and show you their work.

One in particular I would like to showcase today is MaryLou Holvenstot from time2cre8.com. MaryLou creates intricately detailed and whimsical pen and ink drawings. She also designs and creates beadwoven jewelry and art pieces, some of which have been featured in Step by Step Beads. One of her newest creations includes a RAKU Shank Button she purchased from me recently. I love the way the ndebele rope was created. I think the twists and turns really add depth to the piece and I believe Mary Lou Matched the color of the RAKU (Not an easy task) really beautifully and brightened it up using the lighter shades of beads. You can view/purchase this piece by visiting Mary Lou's Etsy Shop . Thank you Mary Lou for turning my shank button into such a wonderful pendant! It is a great example of how versatile a button can be..turn it into a cab! It is so wonderful when I see my pieces in action., I truly admire all the bead artists, especially those members of Bead Art Originals who create such wonderful pieces. Where would we (artisan bead makers) be without you? (Photo: Turquoise with a Twist c. Mary Lou Holvenstot)

Til Next Time,
I will be doing vacation laundry...