Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

Hello all! I started a little Etsy shop called "Box of Art Creations" and I wanted people to be aware of it.
I don't have the items listed for sale as of yet, but I will post the pictures.

I'm starting out by selling my paintings, they will be $50 each, and 8x10.
With Christmas coming, they will charming gift ideas.

I would like to invite you all to like my Face book page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Box-of-A ... 527?ref=hl

This one is called "Moon Light Forest"
For those of you who love Halloween you may appreciate the dark atmosphere of this piece, as the moon shines through a dark forest at night with the stars twinkling between the trees.



This one is called "Snowy Cabin"
A charming snow covered cabin on a mountain top, with snowmen and evergreens, this piece will remind you of cozy winter days in December. A perfect edition to any Christmas or winter holiday decorating!




I'll officially list them on Etsy once I figure out the shipping cost. If you are interested in the painting prior to that, feel free to PM me about it or send a message here, whatever you wish to do.

Nice art work! Are they oils?

Thanks Murf! These ones are acrylics actually. I haven't tried oil paints yet.

I used to use some oil pastels though before, maybe I'll play around with some of those at some point.

Art is one of my favorite things to do.

My daughter is highly artistic as well. She took art in school one year and won the award for best student that spring, but she never returned to that course because she disliked being told what kind of project she should do, when she should finish it, etc.

I now have a red bubble account: http://www.redbubble.com/people/boxofar ... title_name

And a website! http://boxofartcreations.weebly.com/index.html

Yeah I know what you mean Murf, I always hated being told what to draw and stuff and how to do it. Sure it's supposed to help you improve, but the point of art is to express yourself. I did win a best of show piece once, but that was a long time ago.

I visited your red bubble account. I didn't realize you were in Hot Springs, VA. We drove there once for a fabulous brunch at that fancy hotel they have. Really beautiful area. I bet it is gorgeous at Christmas! You should get lots of inspiration for your art.

Haha, I guess the cat is out of the bag now. I gave some little hints here and there where my location was. Yes, there is the Homestead hotel and the area around here is quite beautiful. I thought about applying for the Hotel, but they make people work Christmas day. Not sure if I would like that. lol I have heard it is quite expensive to stay there.

Here are some of the earrings I have made so far:

Cute earrings!


That hotel is often featured in Southern Living magazine, especially around Christmas. It is a very swanky place. My husband and I didn't stay there, but we did go for a brunch one Sunday years ago.

Thanks Murf! I sold the cute snowman earrings to my Math Professor at college. He bought them for his wife. ^^

As for the Rein deer ones, I still have them for sale right now and plan to make more.

Funny, they don't seem to know about the Homestead up North. How was the brunch? I heard food is pretty expensive there as well.

Murfreesboro wrote:Cute earrings!


That hotel is often featured in Southern Living magazine, especially around Christmas. It is a very swanky place. My husband and I didn't stay there, but we did go for a brunch one Sunday years ago.

Southern Living has THE best Christmas special editions.

I seem to recall we paid a hundred dollars for that brunch, although there were several of us--husband, in-laws, young child, husband and I. I don't think we paid for our in-laws, though. The $100 was probably just for the three of us, and I don't recall if our toddler ate free or not. Possibly he did. It was pretty sensational, a huge spread, though I no longer remember precisely what was in it. It was almost 25 years ago! But it was the one time I'd seen that place. If you are curious, check with the hotel. It might have been a seasonal thing on Sundays, not sure. But I bet they have something special happening at Christmas, too.

I don't know that I had heard of The Homestead before living in the Shenandoah Valley, but it is well known in that area, and Southern Living has picked up on it. I see it featured there pretty regularly. Virginia is kind of funny. They think pretty highly of themselves up there. They may not even care if people from elsewhere know that much about their special spots.

Andy, if you are a fan of Southern Living Christmas editions, you should know there is a new coffee table book all about Christmas in the South out new this year, from SL, I mean. I am on a mailing list and got a preview copy. It is really pretty spectacular. I have already learned from it that Christmas in America was first celebrated in the South, in Virginia. It was first declared a legal holiday in Alabama in the 1830s. I hadn't known that. Of course, New England had that Puritan heritage, and the Puritans had actually outlawed Christmas at one time, so perhaps it shouldn't surprise me that the South was partying earlier.

I actually think some of the first Presidents stayed at the homestead. Plus, there are people who come from other countries to stay there and go to the Hot Springs.

$100 is a lot of money to me, but then again I always kind of grew up with a relatively low income. I'm going for teaching, but even so, they say teachers don't make that much money. But to someone like me, $35,000 to $45,000 a year is a lot. I can be happy making that much money. Although I may go for this Post Office job that makes $15/hour where I'd get holidays and weekends off and I believe state or some kind of Government benefits. Then I might drop down to going to school part time.

Mary Baldwin college's representative said I could probably just transfer to MB for the Spring Semester. I'm not sure if I'm ready or not, but DSLCC has kind of mad me mad in regard to scheduling, while MB seems to be more flexable. I might just consider that if I can get my college career done in just 2 more years instead of 3 more years. But if I get that Post Office job I'll probably just switch to part-time online classes where I'd have to drive to Roanoke maybe 4 times per semester. And when I go to Roanoke I'll probably make a day of it and go shopping and such.

Oh, $100 was a splurge for us, certainly, but I'm glad we did it. Sometimes you have to spend the money to make the memory.

Mary Baldwin is a small private school, so it is certainly more accommodating than any state institution can be. My second son is enrolled in a state univ. right now, and my husband and I , whose experience was exclusively private up until his enrollment, have been very struck by how inflexible it is. That is the main difference we see. That, and the way the classes close up for freshmen and sophomores because there are so many students vying for them. My son is a junior now, and he is just now getting to the point where he can maybe get the classes he actually wants in his English major--Shakespeare and Chaucer rather than sci fi and post-colonial African lit, etc.

Teachers' salaries are not very good in the South, but they will do for a single person or someone not raising kids. It has not been good for us that my husband has been a teacher all these years, and that I lost out on my career. If your BF is making at least as much money as you make by teaching, the two of you will do OK, even if you later change your minds and decide to have a child or two. The truth is, most families feel somewhat pinched financially, yet somehow most of them make it. My mother once told me there is a Spanish proverb that goes, "Each baby is born with a small sack of gold on its back." It means that, even though you think you can't afford the child, somehow, once they are here, you do. It's like that in life. Looking ahead, you think you can't, but then you do.

I signed up for a temporary job with the book store on campus. Hopefully I'll get it just to earn a little bit of Christmas money. Yeah, I'm sure Mary Baldwin is more accommodating, I'm just not 100% sure I'm up for that leap yet.

Speaking of school I'm going to do a demo on how to make a polymer clay snowman ornament. The model I have will be up for sale after that.

I already have someone interested in it! lol



I used my professional Deviant Art account for boxofartcreations for that one. That's why there's a water mark.

Neat little snowman!