2010 Calendars Are Now Available!

This just in! My latest MonicArtista Calendar is hot off the presses. 12 months of all new paintings make "MonicArtista Goes Fourth" 2010 Calendar a must have for planning the new year and adding a dash of original art to your walls. Available for $20.00 ($25 including shipping). To purchase one, two, five or ten, contact me via email and I'll gladly take your order. The painting shown is "Winter Storm," featured in January. I've also got notecard set available for $10 each.

Soroptimist Spring Specials

I'm getting ready for the Desert Coast Region Spring Conference where I'll have a booth selling some MonicArtista products and My Classy Glasses. Anyone who's visited my site knows that I donate a portion of sales of particular items to charity. For example, Pretty in Pink benefits Between Women, a local breast cancer resource organization in the Imperial Valley and Pride Rainbow benefits the Tijuana AIDS Project through the Imperial Court de San Diego. At Christmas I also started donating a portion of Our Flag sales to the USO. Since I am a member of Soroptimist International, I decided I'm going to add Red Hat Dazzle to my list of "special" products. A portion of sales will be donated to Soroptimist International to help improve the lives of women and girls. As an added bonus, if you are a Soroptimist, type "SIA" in the comment section of the order form and I'll donate 10% of the entire order (not just the regular special items) to Project SIerra.

Be-Decked

I can't believe I broke my resolution to blog within two weeks...I blame the holidays! I'm back on track now and working on a few more projects. The only painting I've been doing lately is outside on my new deck. No, I haven't set up an easel in the manner of the masters, but rather I've been literally painting the wood posts and handrails, balancing precariously on a rickety ladder at times. However, it is in true MonicArtista fashion: midnight blue, rather than a boring beige or washed out color. Once the sun beats down on it for awhile, I'm sure it will acquire a distressed, weather-beaten patina reminiscent of a Mediterranean villa. El Centro is no Positano, to be sure, but there's no reason I can't open up a bottle of sangiovese, fill one of my classy glasses to the rim and dream of a more romantic, picturesque locale!
One more coat and I can move on to smaller painting projects. Lucky for me we built it in December, so it's only in the 80s. The pergola goes up next weekend and the entertaining will begin. I'm polishing up the stemware for a little mardi gras soiree/deck-warming party.
Speaking of Mardi Gras, I have some really cool Mardi Gras Mask themed glassware available if you're looking to toast in Lent. I'll be at the Calexico Chamber of Commerce's annual Mardi Gras Beer Tasting Xperience on February 20th, call 760-357-1166 for tickets, or just show up at the Historic DeAnza Hotel at 7pm. Tickets are $25 for all the beer, beads and Mardi Gras fun you can handle.
Well, that's all for now. I'm off to cut off my golden tresses and donate them to Locks of Love. If you have at least 10" of hair to spare, it's a great thing to do. The organization collects hair to make wigs for children battling cancer.