Famed Comic Book Artist, Michael Turner Died

You might not know the name Michael Turner but you might recognize some of his work. The comic book world certainly knows his name. He drew some major covers for "Superman / Batman," "Justice League," "The Flash" and "Civil War."

Michael Turner passed away on June 27 due to complications related to bone cancer. He was only 37. He has battled bone cancer for eight years.

Turner is absolutely amazing at his craft. Not only is he in high demand for comic covers, he also adapted NBC's series "Heros" into an online comic. He created "Fathom," a deep-sea femal superhero and co-created "Witchblade," a female detective who battles evil after discovering a mystic glove. Witchblade was the comic that pushed him into the fame, setting standards for his works to come.

The 500th issue of "Uncanny X-Men" is due out next week, and it will feature a special edition cover by Turner.

Half of Dali's Works are Fake??

Say it ain't so! Salvador Dali happens to be one of my favorite artists, now a new book by a Belgian former art dealer and fraudster claims that half of Dali's works are fake!

The book is Dali & I: The Surreal Story by Stan Lauryssens. He claims that Dali authorized thousands of forgeries of his own work in the later years in order to fund his lavish lifestyle. In the book, he quotes several people who worked closely with Dali saying that Dali indeed signed off fake work as his own and get half a million dollars of them.

Lauryssens also writes about Dali's orgies with actresses and with young boys and suggests that his wife, Gala, stole money from Kirk Douglas's wallet. This is not surprising since Dali is known for his extravagant lifestyle.

Spain is angry about this book and its author since they uphold Dali as their national hero. And I don't blame them. The guardian of Dali's estate is pursuing legal action for the release of this book.

I don't know about this guy. Lauryssens can quote anyone he wants but none of it is concrete evidence. Right now, everything is just hearsay. Besides, Lauryssens doesn't exactly have great credit. He was often criticized regarding the truthfulness of his work. In the past he wrote fake interviews with Hollywood film stars for a Belgian magazine - so I wouldn't hold my breath that what he's saying is true.

Apparently this book is interesting enough for Hollywood because next year, it will be a movie. Dali is played by the great Al Pacino and Lauryssens is played by Cillian Murphy.

Colossus - Goya or Not?

Spain's Prado Museum's most popular exhibit, the Colossus, is under dispute of the actual author of the work. Prado is claiming that it is certain the painting is not done by the 18th century master. The large oil painting depicts a giant walking above a village through clouds. It is supposed to b e a highlight of Francisco de Goya's series on Spain's war against Napoleon.

Last week, a Goya expert claims that the painting is filled with stylistic points that does not match up to Goya's work, citing that the giant's raised left arm is too crudely painted for Goya, who is an expert on anatomy. Also, Prado thinks there appears to be an initial at the bottomof the painting that points to Asensio Julia, a pupil and assistant of Goya's.

But not everyone agrees. Some still thinks the painting is an authentic Goya work. And since the Colossus is one of Goya's most celebrated work, many are refusing to believe that it could've been done by someone else.

Rather it was really Goya's or not, I think it's safe to say, whoever painted the Colossus is a true master.

Laziness + Sadness = 0 Post

Sorry folks. I know I haven't posted of late. Seriously though, I've been looking out for art news and haven't found anything interesting.

Also, this past month, one of my immediately family member has been in the hospital. For privacy's sake, I'm not going to reveal what the condition is, but it is a very serious matter. My family and I have been trying to stay strong but it's getting harder and harder to go through the day. In between work and visits to the hospital, I am dead tired. Therefore I haven't attended to anything else, like this blog.

I did stumbled upon a hilarious blog recently: PhotoDisasters. It showcases any bad photoshop jobs. Here are some of my favorites:

I guess models don't have belly buttons, I knew they were aliens:

Poor kid, they totally sawed him in half just so they can fit him on a toy firetruck:
How about photoshopping some believable waistline. That waist looks like it'll snap in half if she stands up:

'Rembrandt Laughing" Portrait is Authentic

Everyone thought that the "Rembrandt Laughing" portrait was a 17th century Rembrandt knockoff and it was valued at just $3,100. The painting had been with an English family for more than 100 years and all this time, they thought it was a painting done by Rembrandt's students or an imitator.

And when someone bought the painting, surprising at $4.5 million instead of $3,100, everyone at the auction house probably thought the guy was dumb for spending so much money for an imitation. Well the joke is on us because when the painting was bought, the buyer had the painting cleaned and examined by experts. "Rembrandt Laughing" turns out the be an authentic self-portrait painted by Rembrandt himself and it's actually worth $30 million - $40 million!! The buyer actually bought it at a super bargained price! Plus a sale for Rembrandt's works is rare since they only come on the market once every few years. This mysterious guy who bought the painting obviously knew what he was doing!

The self-portrait was painted in 1628 when Rembradt was still in his early 20's. Apparently he painted that picture to experiment with a mirror and his own face to capture expressions.

The auction house claimed they failed to realize the authenticity of the painting due to poor photographs of it. Oh well, they just lost out on a lot of money.

Quarter Mile Drawing Snatched Record

Mexican artist Filemon Trevino entered the Guinness Book of Records with his quarter mile long pencil drawing as the world's largest drawing.

The artist spent 6,600 hours in a stuffy hot room and 800 pencils to complete the art. The drawing depicts the heart and circulatory system, with symbols including doves, geometric shapes and intertwined tubes.

The drawing began in July 2004 and completed in August 2005. But he could not enter into the world record until he can display the work somewhere and pay the $600 entry fee for the Guiness World Record. Finally the Regiomontana University agreed to display his work.

The record was not without sacrifice. The artist's obsession with this project led to him being hospitalized seven times for dehydration, heart and kidney problems and fainting. The artists says sometimes he forgets to drink water. He grew a beard and lost 35 pounds.

Catholic Group Protests Sexually Explicit Paintings

It's not surprising that a Roman Catholic group is protesting a NY student art exhibition - they're always protesting about something. This time they're angry that a Cooper Union school is displaying an exhibition which showcases a series of paintings by one of their students.

The paintings features religious symbols depicted in sexually explicit ways. For example, a man with his pants down and a crucifix in his rectum with a Latin caption that says "The day I became a Catholic." Another painting shows rosaries with a penis. Another shows a man with a halo and erection.

The Catholic group should be happy that a man of Catholic faith is so excited about his religion that he's getting an erection!

Cooper Union released a statement that they hold an annual exhibition displaying hundreds of student works without censorship. After all, what's art if it's censored? Art is expression and open to interpretation. What the Catholic group deemed as offensive, it might not seem that way to others.

These religious nut group needs to loosen up. I'm not trying to put down anyone's religion but these guys can put their time into better use than protesting art - like really helping people in need (a suggestion would be the people in China still suffering from the Sichuan earthquake)

I couldn't find the paintings in question on the web, so for anyone who's interested, the Cooper Union exhibit began May 27 and ends June 10.

Featured Seller of the Week: Felt Like Stitchin

I'm a fan of felt dolls and I'm seeing more and more sellers of felt products. But none of them are like our current featured seller Felt Like Stitchin. This seller has very unique felt products - like Elvis and Charlie Chaplin. And I absolutely LOVE Mr. Potato Head. Check out the store at FeltLikeStitchin.etsy.com

New York Gallery Owner Arrested

Hello readers! It's been a while since I blogged - I've been busy working (my day job) and spent a weekend at Atlantic City, loosing about $150 on blackjack and Let it Ride Poker. It was my first time playing Let it Ride, I wasn't cleared about the rules which is probably why I lost. But I have a feeling I'll do better next time (0r worst...)

Anyways, onto the headline.

An East Hampton art gallery owner was arrested for serving alcohol without a license. Ruth Kalk (aka Ruth Vered) was celebrating the opening of a celebrity photo exhibit with about 200 guests and was serving alcohol (wine and Champagne were free.) The police stopped by and demanded her to stop, she didn't and was handcuffed in front of her guests.

The police said they were just doing their job, and I'm sure they were... but what's a party without drinks? There are so many private parties going on in the world with alcohol involved, are the cops going to knock down everyone's door and arrest all the hosts?

Heath Ledger Portrait Wins an Australian Art Award

Vincent Fantauzzo's portrait of Heath Ledger, painted weeks before his death, won second price by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in its annual national portrait competition. (Del Kathryn Barton won first prize with a self-portrait)

"Heath" features a bare-chested Ledger in the middle of the canvas, while two other Heaths are at his sides whispering into his ears, sort of like the angel/devil or good/evil subconscious battling for him.

Heath Ledger passed away early this year due to an accidental drug overdose. He was only 28 years old. He will be on the big screen as the Joker in The Dark Knight. The movie should be releasing on July 18.

Featured Seller of the Week: Red Thread Plushies

You just can't say no to plushies. Red Thread Plushies' little animals and monsters are so adorable, you won't able to resist. Don't take my word for it, look at what they have below. Visit their store at redthreadplushies.etsy.com.

$15 Million Pittsburg Subway Station Tile

A Pittsburgh subway station that's about to be demolished decided to check into the value of a 60-foot-by-13-foot tile mural by Romare Bearden. Good thing they did because that mural is worth $15 million! The port authority didn't even think it was worth much. Now they're scratching their heads in what to do with the mural.

The mural entitled "Pittsburgh Recollections" was installed in 1984. Bearden was paid $90,000 for the work.

Now it is going to cost about $100,000 a year just to insure that mural. the Port Authority is now looking for art organizations or philanthropist to handle the cost of removing, restoring, relocating and maintaining the mural. If no one steps up, they will look for a museum or art group that are willing to either exhibit it or auction it off.

If You're Dying, You can be an Art Exhibition

Along with my recent posts of crazy extreme "art" that involves death, here's another one. But this one, finally, is more appropriate and tastefully done that we can actually dub this as art.

German artist Gregor Schneider is looking for people that are about to die and are willing to be a part of his exhibition. He wants to display people dying naturally or somebody who just passed away. The purpose of this is to display the beauty of death. Schneider is currently working with his doctor to look for possible participants.

Unlike the Yale student who induces abortion as "art" and French artist Adel Abdessemed's video exhibition of bashing animals' head with a sledgehammer, this death project can actually merit as art. What's the difference?

Gregor Schneider's project:

• Participants are aware of the project and will give consent before they participate
• Their deaths are natural death, they're not being brutally killed by the artist for the sake of art. Although there are extremes of this, like participants who are willing to be killed by the artist - well that's a whole different controversy all together that will not be discussed here.
• This art exhibition has a purpose. The artist wants to display the beauty of death. This isn't some random senseless act.

The other two so-called "art":

• Participants are NOT aware of the project, or did they give consent. (I am aware that they're fetuses and animals and they can't really give consent. But unless they're creatures who are aware and consciously agree to the project, it's simply not humane.)
• Participants were forcefully murdered, or lied about being murdered. This crosses the line of what's art and what's not. Now you're just playing with lives- you're not an artist at this point, you're a liar and a murderer.
• Those art exhibition has no real purpose. The Yale student claims the "purpose" of her project is to spark conversation about the woman body's functions- by faking stories about purposely getting pregnant just to induce abortion? That's just sick. If she's a real artist, she would think of more tasteful way to achieve her goal. And Abdessemed's animal killing has no purpose at all.

Adel Abdessemed's Don’t Trust Me Exhibition Cancelled

This actually happened a week ago but I'm just catching on to it now.

The San Francisco Art Institute cancelled an exhibition by French artist Adel Abdessemed. The exhibition is "Don't Trust Me" and it involves 6 looped videos of animals being hit in the head with a sledgehammer. The 6 animals being viciously killed are a sheep, pig, horse, goat, deer and ox.

Killing animals is NOT art! There is absolutely no purpose in senselessly killing animals and documenting it. Bashing an animal's head with a sledgehammer - not art and definitely not humane. Shame on SFAI for actually agreeing to display this brutal documentary. If it wasn't for the numerous threats and complaints to SFAI, they won't even cancel the exhibition.

I understand that art can be shocking at times, and if done tastefully, it can be educational and revealing. But cheap shocks like this is disgusting and it's nothing more than the "artist" trying to gain his 15 minutes of fame.

Abortion as Art?

A Yale University art student, Aliza Shvarts, claimed that she induced repeated abortions on herself and used the blood for her senior project. She said she used artificial insemination on herself as much as possible, while taking herbal drugs to induce miscarriages. Apparently, this "project" is supposed to be an art piece. She planned on displaying the project by showing a cube lined with plastic sheets with a blood and petroleum jelly mixture in between, and showing a video of herself having her miscarriage in her bath tub.

Yale issued a statement saying that they investigated this so-called project and found that it was all a hoax. Shvarts however still insists that everything is real. At this time, whether she really did it or not, no one really knows. Shvarts said that the goal is to attract conversations about woman body's functions. What? Is she saying she can't think of a more tasteful way to achieve her goal? And this is a Yale student, she's supposed to be "smart."

The topic of abortion itself is another subject. And you can bet that anti-abortion organizations are already voicing their disgust at this "art project." Hoax or not, should this kind of abortion be treated as art? What this girl does with her own body is her business, but if what she's doing is real - that means she is purposely creating life, just so she can destroy it... again and again. There are a lot of extreme art out there, but art that involves playing "God" and destroying lives draws the line. And if this was a hoax, then she's nothing more than a liar.

2,008 Naked People

Contemporary artist Spencer Tunick from Brooklyn, NY (my hometown!) gained fame for photographing lots of people in the nude - by lots, I mean thousands. Now he plans to pack a Vienna soccer stadium with 2,008 naked people for the Euro 2008 tournament. Austria took a liking to the idea. They are actually going to offer free travel expense to the first 2,008 people who wants to participate on May 11.

It would be a pretty easy way to get a free trip to Austria, but do I really want to be packed with 2,007 other naked people? Might be a little gross. Especially since Spencer Tunick sometimes poses people in positions where you might be smelling the other person's crotch or butt.

Here's some of his work:

Featured Seller of the Week: Meero Designs

Meero Design's stricking colors on her jewelry designs caught my eyes. I especially love her Fish Tail black bead earrings, very unique. Visit her shop at meero.etsy.com.

And for no Reason Whatsoever... Here are a Bunch of Bananas

Yes, lots of bananas on a wall. I'm not sure who the artist is but I find this amusing. There will be lots of smelly rotten bananas after a week or so.

Austrian Artist Mikl dies

Josef Mikl died of cancer at the age of 78. He was considered one of the most important Austrian artists of the "informal" style, whose abstract works went toward rehabilitating Nazi-ravaged Austria's visual art scene. Mikl's artwork spanned more than half a century. Mikl's abstract paintings and sculptures were different from the more strict artists during the Nazi eras.

His most famous work was the renovation of the "Redoutensaal," a huge hall of Vienna's Imperial Palace after a 1992 fire. This hall was where the first performance of Beethoven's 8th Symphony took place. When the hall reopened in 1997, it was docked in vibrant reds and yellows, depicting famous themes and figures of Austrian literature.

Featured Seller of the Week: Donandtinash

Check out Donandtinash, they sell beautiful silver pendants and jewelry. Go visit their store at donandtinash.etsy.com

Featured Seller of the Week: DAMdesigns

DAMdesigns have very artistic and original artwork. I especially like Number 3 in Tree Series painting, reminds me of Thom Yorke's (Radiohead's frontman) cover art of his solo album, "Eraser."

Go visit her shop at DAMdesigns.etsy.com

Enjoy!

Free Sexy Art Prints!

Australian artist Hazel Dooney is offering print downloads for free here. If you print it out and send it to her, she'll sign it for you.

But.. I wouldn't print her art out in public settings...

Central Park Bathroom - toilet, sink, stage

Public bathrooms are obviously not pleasant. The Central Park ones are not that different, the smell, the mysterious puddles, the dark and the creepy.

But for Irish director and playwright Paul Walker, the Central Park bathrooms are the perfect settings for his play "Ladies & Gents." The play is set entirely in the bathroom, both men's and women's, the show portrays the seedy underside of 1950s Dublin, where politicians dished about corruptions and call girls (call girls, politicians? Sounds familiar lately?)

The audience stands in front of the rows of stalls to watch the play. During intermissions, they switch facilities to watch the other half of the play.

Apparently a man actually ran in to used the bathroom in front of the actors... it is still a bathroom afterall.

Featured Seller changes and Weekly Featured Seller: Mikiye Creations

I've been trying really hard to maintain a weekly schedule to feature other sellers on my blog. Usually I'll send sellers with shops I like 4 questions for them to answer, a short Q&A session. But this format hasn't been working out. Sometimes people gets too busy to answer them in time, or they forgot to do it and I have to constantly follow up. I totally understand these situations, and right now I do not have time to follow up anymore as I once did. Although I would still love to do my Q&A sessions (anyone who wants to do this, just let me know), from now on I'm just going to pick shops I like and feature them on my own.

So without further ado:

Our Weekly featured Seller is Mikiye Creations. You can visit her store at Mikiye.etsy.com Besides maintaining a great blog which I enjoy, Mikiye has beautiful jewelry and accessory pieces. Currently I'm digging her floral hair accessory.

I've been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Mikiye Creations. The rules go:

1. Link to the tagger.

2. Share 7 random or weird facts about yourself.

3. Tag 7 people, post their names and links to their blogs on your blog.

4. Tell the 7 people you tagged by posting “Tag you’re it” on their blogs in their comments box and explain the rules to them.

Ok, 7 random or weird facts about myself.

1. I recently dyed the tips of my hair purple.

2. My cats are trained assassins. Look how well behave they are.
I'm just kidding, they're not really that well behaved. This picture just showed one of those rare moments when they're being peaceful. They usually fight each other a lot, like any siblings would. The big one is Jack and the tinier one is Cali. Jack is actually my bf's cat but I've also claimed him as my own. Jack was a stray and my bf took him in. I adopted Cali from the animal shelter my brother works at about a year ago. We took her in since she was only a couple days old so I practically raised her. She grew up so fast.

3. I will never get sick of eating rice, even though I eat that almost every day of my life.

4. Out of boredom, I caught the movie The Wicker Man recently starring Nicolas Cage. That has to be one of the worst movie ever (definitely one of the worst ending ever.) I found this compilation of scenes from the movie much more entertaining.



5. I'm not good with kids.

6. None of my friends share the same musical taste as I do and that makes it really hard for me to go to concerts, unless I go by myself like a loser.

7.Thinking up 7 random and weird facts about myself is actually harder than I thought.

The bloggers I'm tagging:

MizDragonfly
Sweet Irie Originals
Tiger Girl
Visiting the Muse

Google Sky

Have you visited Google sky yet? If not, go visit www.google.com/sky right now. For those of you who are familiar with Google Earth, Google Sky offers an amazing look into our galaxy. You can browse through planets, stars, milky ways... they're absolutely beautiful. The nerd in me is very excited.

Most Popular Art Museum of 2007

Art Newspaper released the most popular art museum of 2007. Also, the most popular exhibition, which was displayed at the Tokyo National Musuem in Japan. The exhibit is "Annunication" by Leonardo Da Vinci.

Here's the list of popular art musesums, including numbers of visitors, name of museum and city of the museum:

8,300,000 - Louvre Paris
5,509,425 - Centre Pompidou Paris
5,191,840 - Tate Modern London
4,837,878 - British Museum London
4,547,353 - Metropolitan Museum of Art New York
4,518,413 - National Gallery of Art Washington
4,310,083 - Vatican Museums Vatican City
4,159,485 - National Gallery London
3,166,509 - Musée d’Orsay Paris
2,652,924 - Museo Nacional del Prado Madrid
2,650,551 - National Palace Museum Taipei
2,435,300 - Victoria and Albert Museum London
2,395,075 - State Hermitage Museum St Petersburg
2,232,475 - Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Glasgow
2,219,554 - Museum of Modern Art New York
2,133,149 - Field Museum Chicago
1,772,255 - Tokyo National Museum Tokyo
1,674,607 - CaxiaForum Barcelona Barcelona
1,650,000 - Moscow Kremlin Museums Moscow
1,649,969 - Museum of Fine Arts Houston

I've only been to 2 out of these 20 (the two in NY.) I got to travel more!

Monet's Painting on Auction

"The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil" will be on the auction block at Christie's impressionist and modern art sale on May 6. This painting is expected to break an auction record for Monet, with the current record sold at $36.5 million for his 1904 painting, "Nympheas."

The painting to be auctioned shows off a bridge with two passing trains in the rural settings of Argenteuil. Monet painted it when he rented a house near the railway bridge in1873. It represents union - of old and modern times, of calm and the industrial.

George Bush and Jesus?

So this photo was in the NY Times today to accompany this article:

Look familiar?
I don't know if NY Times was trying to be funny or not, but taking a photo of George Bush, Last Supper style, makes me laugh. I mean Bush as Jesus? The photographer probably thought it was pretty funny too.

Not Selling Your Art? Raise Your Prices!

I've actually gotten this advice through various sellers in many forums. We've been having trouble selling our Swarovski jewelries and everyone advised me that I need to raise my prices. I thought that was the weirdest thing I needed to do, I initially thought that simply no one liked my products, or even the opposite, that my jewelry was too expensive. Raising the price would throw the laws of supply and demand out the window, right?

Well according to Clint Watson's Blog, he gave the same advice - if your art is not selling, raise the price! He gave couple examples of how that actually works. Apparently by raising your price, subliminally it makes your art "seems" better. I guess it's all perspective. Something expensive must be great, and if the art is cheap, it might appeared to be shoddy.

Well we raisedour Swarovski bracelets from $24.99 to $34.99 and am thinking of raising it even more. Frankly for us, the tiny raise in price did absolutely nothing - but perhaps it's because the jewelry market is so over-saturated these days and getting exposure amongst millions of other jewelry sellers are pretty competitive.

We would love to know if anybody has some experience in raising their price and whether or not that worked out for you.

Oh and of course, you can buy our jewelry at www.daibebeads.com or www.daibebeads.etsy.com.

Herbie Hancock Surprise at Grammy's 08

I know everyone is surprised that Herbie Hancock won Best Album of the Year with "River: The Joni Letters," beating out the 2 favorites, Kanye West and Amy Winehouse. But I don't think it should be such a shock. Both Kanye West and Amy Winehouse did have great albums and great record sales, but the Grammy's is not about who put up the best numbers, it should be about musicianship. Not to take anything away from West or Winehouse who did a great job with their respective albums, but Hancock is definitely the better musician comparing to them both and I think he deserved the win.

Robbers steal $160m in art from Zurich

Three armed man in ski mask broke into the E.G. Buehrle Collection, a private museum at Switzerland and stole 4 paintings that are worth $163.2 million! This is one of Europe's biggest art robbery ever in history. The men entered the museum half hour before closing on Sunday, force personnel to the floor with pistol, went to the paintings that were behind glass, and as soon as the paintings were touch, the alarms went off. The police are saying it is possible that the paintings were sticking out of their getaway vans (yikes! I hope they are not damaged!)

The stolen paintings were:

• Claude Monet's "Poppy field at Vetheuil"
• Edgar Degas' "Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter"
• Vincent van Gogh's "Blooming Chestnut Branches" (see picture)
  
• Paul Cezanne's "Boy in the Red Waistcoat"

Jaws Actor Roy Scheider Passed Away

In the midst of Heath Ledger's and Brad Renfro's death (which the recent coroner results reveal he OD'ed on Heroin), Roy Scheider's recent passing probably won't merit as much media attention. But I feel like he should be tributed.

Scheider played the police chief in "Jaws" - the first movie that earned $100 million at the box office, meaning it was the first Hollywood Blockbuster. That's a pretty big deal. Scheider also delivered the famous line of the movie, "You're gonna need a bigger boat," which was voted as #35 on the American Film Institute's list of best quotes from U.S. movies in 2005.

R.I.P.

Featured Seller: Mizdragonfly

Mizdragonfly has the coolest jewelry - I especially like the Swarovski Skull Earrings. You need to check out her store. The seller is a very awesome person to chat with as well :-)

What is the name of your store and what do you sell?
Store name/Company name: Mizdragonfly. I sell handcrafted jewellery made with love from new and recycled pieces.

How did you get into your craft?
I’ve been into Crafts since Kindergarden! My favourite was painting, drawing and collages. In High School my favourite classes were arts. Then went to University and studied 4 years to get a specialization in Communications. Worked for 7 years in advertising agencies… In January 2006, I was looking for a change and took an initiation to sewing class. Loved it! Wanted to start my own clothing line… In the meantime, I was crafting jewellery as a hobby… and upon presenting my collection to Kafi D., owner of le Marche Mtl, her enthusiasm encouraged me to continue… Here I am two years later! :)

What is your latest project?
My Spring/Summer 2008 collection! It consists of a series of 17 limited edition pieces! Gorgeous creations featuring luxurious Swarovski crystals, recycled pearls and funky charms!

Where can we find your products?
My line is offered exclusively:

In Canada:
Victoire Boutique, 246 Dalhousie Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Blanche sur St-Joseph, 182, boulevard Saint-Joseph , Gatineau , QC J8Y 3W9
Nokomis Clothing, 10838 82 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 2B3

Worldwide: www.mizdragonfly.etsy.com

I also have a website should you need more info: www.mizdragonfly.com or simply contact me :)

Giants Win The Superbowl

In possibly one of the best Super Bowls ever - Giants beat the Patriots in a thrilling victory 17-14 (I actually predicted that Giants will win by 3 and I was right. Damn! I should've placed some bets!) Patriots had the perfect season before they enter the Super Bowl, all the sports analyst predicted they will win. Giants was the underdog, last place of the wildcard, but was in a winning streak on the road. For those who ever doubt the Giants, even after they won against the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers at the Packer's own freezing home turf where Packers should've had home field advantage, the Giants prove all these tight wads and sport analysts wrong. It's not all about the numbers, it's about heart and resilience- The Giants never gave up. With so many lead changes during the game and the Patriots keeping pressure on them, the Giants fought back. The last quarter has to be one of the most exciting moments in football history - Eli Manning somehow wrestled out of that Patriots defense, while they all grabbed a handful of Manning's jersey, and threw the ball perfectly to David Tyree who made the miracle catch with his hands and his helmet. Then the final winning touchdown to the sure handed Plaxico Burress (though pretty quiet for the beginning of the game).

Tiki Barber must be hitting his head on the wall repeatedly right now.

In another related topic, this Super Bowl definitely made Fox very happy, it was a record breaking most watched Super Bowl ever and the second most watched event in TV history, second to the MASH series finale. 97.5 million watchers tuned in, (about 67% New Yorkers were watching). Those advertisers got their money's worth, paying only $2.7 million per 30 second spot, which is a bargain since so many people tuned in. According to TiVo, the most popular (and in my opinion, probably the best) ad was the E-Trade one, with the baby talking about trading than spitting out his lunch in the end. Here it is:

Chinese New Year Items - On Sale Now!

This year, Chinese New Year is on February 7! Time to gear up those Chinese decorations. Daibe Beads have great Asian goodies, check them out!

The Essential Chinese "Luck" Sign


No Chinese New Year is complete without having luck signs hang throughout your house!

This Chinese "luck" symbol and the border are made of red crystal beads and the rest of the sign is made of glow-in-the-dark beads. The sign is completed with a red tassel and a loop on top of the sign for you to hang it anywhere!

Dimension without tassel: 11" x 11" Tassels varies in length.

Buy the luck sign - click here! (For etsy buyers, click here)


The Chinese Lanterns

This pair of chinese lantern is made of crystal beads. Perfect for asian decor and gift idea.

Dimension (without tassels): APPROX 4" x 4" x 5"

Dimension (with tassels): APPROX 4" X 4" X 10"

Buy these lanterns now - click here! (For etsy buyers, click here)

The Year of the Rat



2008 is the year of the rat and it's Machiko the Mouse's time to shine.

Machiko the Mouse figurine is made of crystal beads - complete with whiskers! Perfect for a fun decoration and gift idea!

Machiko is very sociable, clever and loyal to her family and friends.

Dimension: APPROX 1" x 2" x 3"

Take Machiko home now - Click Here! (For etsy buyers, click here)

Heath Ledger Passed Away

I normally don't care for celebrity deaths, but was surprised to hear that Heath Ledger passed away in his Manhattan apartment today at SoHo (near where I work!). According to New York Times and other news sources, he was found with pills near his body. (This, I'm not surprised)

The only reason why I'm surprised by his death is that this was so unexpected, especially since he had only good things coming to him with the Batman release, The Dark Knight, coming up. He's a star now, but that Joker role would've propelled him to superstardom. I'm a huge Batman fan and has been waiting forever for this movie to come out. When I heard that Heath Ledger was going to play the infamous Joker, I had my reservations (because who can beat Jack Nicholson? He was genius as the Joker.) But with more and more viral marketing and clips, I was becoming more and more convinced that Heath Ledger was able to fill the Joker's shoes.

But I didn't doubt that he was a good actor, especially after Brokeback Mountain. This is sad and surprising news indeed, and so, at only 28 years of age, another young actor is gone.

Check out these Toothpick Art!

When I stumble upon this model of the Golden Gate Bridge created with 30,000 toothpicks, it brings back memories. In high school, our final project in my Physics class was to create a bridge using only toothpicks and glue. The object was build an effective bridge model that will able to handle the most weight. Being more fascinated by the aesthetic of the bridge, I built a suspension bridge model, similar to the one shown in the picture. Of course, the first weight that hit my bridge, it collapsed in two and it makes me regret not taking any pictures of my finished product first.

The bridge shown in the picture is currently being displayed at "Ripley's Believe it or not" Museum in Hollywood, CA. The artist, Steven Backman created many models and portrait using only toothpicks. I can tell you by experience that it takes a lot of time and patience to do this. I always wanted to build another model again just for kicks, but I never have the time.

Weekly Featured Seller: A Breath of French Air

A store that has everything that makes you feel nice, A Breath of French Air offers body lotion, body butter to flower seed!

1. What is the name of your store and what do you sell?
A Breath Of French Air - I sell Bath and Body products for the whole family.

2. How did you get into your craft?
I have always loved Bath and Body products and was always curious how they were made. I researched on the internet, and read all the information I could get my hands on. I have never worked in retail, so the entire experience of making AND selling was brand new to me. I try all my products on myself and my family before it's introduced into my shop.

3. What is your latest project?
My latest project was the introduction of my lip balms. I have to wear lip balm on my lips almost all year, and it was hard finding a product that didn't just "sit" on my lips! I want to add tinted lip balm next, since I have had lots of requests for it.

4. Where can we find your products?
I have my products featured on my :
Blog: http://allthingsetsy2222.blogspot.com/
Indiepublic: http://www.indiepublic.com/profile/ABreathofFrenchAir
Ecrater: http://abreathoffrenchair.ecrater.com/
I'm still working on PayPals widget, and still need to work on the kinks!