Digital Painting Giveaway

To enter giveaway you can:
Subscribe to this YouTube channel and comment this video
Subscribe to my blog and comment on this post

Bonus entries (bonus entries will not count unless you have done one of the above) are:

Like me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ArtofArmadaVolya (1 extra entry)

Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/ArmadaVolya (1 extra entry)

Tweet about this giveaway or post about it on Facebook (1 entry each) 

Or join my mailing and email lists by emailing me at armadavolya[at]hotmail[dot]com with your mailing and email addresses (1 entry each)

To purchase this and other prints by Crazy Tatyana please visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/ghostlydigital

PS: this is based on a true story, I swear

Do You Want Sugar In Your CoolAid? Extra Bonus: Giveaway

I don't believe I wrote about this character on this blog, so here it is. Her name is Tatyana, and she is an artist. You can see videos with this character on my YouTube channel every week and follow the insanity.

Oh yes, and the prints really do cost $1000 each, so if you win this giveaway you will be a proud owner of a $1000 print from her greatness Tatyana

To enter giveaway you can:
Subscribe to this YouTube channel and comment on this video
Subscribe to my blog and comment on this blog post

Bonus entries (bonus entries will not count unless you have done one of the above) are:

Like me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ArtofArmadaVolya (1 extra entry)

Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/ArmadaVolya (1 extra entry)

Or join my mailing and email lists by emailing me at armadavolya[at]hotmail[dot]com with your mailing and email addresses (1 entry each)

UNik Creations by Sara Aviva and Many Buttons

Bags, earrings, necklaces, pedants, it's all there, at UNik Creations. In this shop you can find tons of fun items that will add a little bit of fun to your everyday life. Her items are unique, one of a kind and are made from reused/recycled materials.

I have Diamond for your Pennies earrings myself and they are adorable. It's a shame I can't wear them myself, but I'm sure my friend will love them just as much.

Unfortunately this shop doesn't have enough sales to judge customer service by feedback, but from my personal experience, customer service is great. I got my earrings very fast and they came in a handmade box that I fell in love with. Policies are well written and are easy to understand, so there shouldn't be any problems there.

And this is a video where I'm talking about this wonderful shop. Enjoy :)

Rouge and Whimsy

Rouge and Whimsy is a good place to find handmade hair accessories. I got yellow headband myself and Love it. It only took a few days to get here and shipping was very reasonable. No damages, no problems, all was very nice and smooth. Headband itself looks great, feels great and is very comfortable. I often had problems with headbands being too tight or too lose, this one fits perfectly.

I have little cousins who love cute hair accessories, I bet they aren't the only once. I can definitely see all the girls in school turning green with envy if my cousin was to wear one.

All in all, great headbands for both kids and kids at heart. Girls, go get them.

And for your viewing pleasure, a YouTube video of me wearing and talking more about it. Well, I'm talking about it at the end of the video at least lol.

Last but not least, This seller has 100% positive feedback and policies are very reasonable and easy to understand. Great seller, great crafts woman, great hair accessories.

The Painted Sky and Nancy Jean's Painting

Paintings of birds, nests, farmhouses, all so lovely and bring so many memories to mind. In The Painted Sky I found many of them, all so charming and all painted very well and skillfully. These charming paintings are done in acrylic, which I personally love. Many artists don't like working with it because they think it's not as good and oils, but I personally like acrylic a lot better. First of all, they aren't as toxic (though I wouldn't try eating them). Vapors from oil paint are very harmful, which is why many artists who work with them get sick from it. Acrylic also dries a lot faster, which means it will not be all sticky when you will get it. So, there you go, these paintings are non harmful and are easy to handle. They will not smudge, stick to packaging, the dust will not stick to it.

Now a short personal story about birds. When I was little, we lived in this apartment with a bird nest over our door. For some reason these birds figured that it's a perfect place to raise a family, don't know why. As a result, our door was constantly covered in... bird waste products. We didn't want to harm them, but everything humane we tried to do to get them to move was rather unsuccessful. In the end, we were the once who moved. I wonder if these birds are still living there.

And going back to The Painted Sky. This shop has 100%positive feedback and it's not surprising. Besides the fact that these paintings are absolutely adorable, this seller is also very pleasant and has everything in place to make your shopping experience better. The shop policies are all in place and are perfectly reasonable, so if you like her work, you can buy it with confidence.

Melody Milleker from Inky Strings and Recycled Goods

I ran into Inky Strings and simply couldn't not share it. It's so unusual and cute, so unique. I love finding such great artists with all these cool items in their shops. These earrings are made from paint swatches. Who would've thought of using it to make jewelry? This isn't all there is though, there are some felted key chains and last but not least watercolor and ink paintings. Those paintings/drawing are actually my favorite items in the shop, she has such interesting, style. Well, what am I telling you all this for, you can go to Inky Strings and see it for yourself.

What I do want to tell you about is that this seller is keeping her shop in good condition. All the policies are filled and they look really good. It's always good to know that if an item is defective I can return it or have it fixed. There are also some good deals you can find on Melody's tumbler. Since it's a new shop, there isn't much as far as feedback goes, but there is a coupon code for free shipping for the first 10 customers, so if you want to use it, hurry.

Wedding Invitations and Mind Blowing 3d Art

Do you need wedding invitations? This is the season. I was just directed to this site with many different wedding invitation designs and found these lovely creations. Aren't they increadable? The beautiful 3d design makes it really stand out and gives it a magical, romantic feel. I am honestly in love with it. It's a shame I'm not planning a wedding, I would definitely pick these invitations. This invitation is created by Taviori. If you wish you can also visit her site and find more of her 3d creations. It's mind-blowing as far as I see it. This is exactly why I love artistic community, you get to see so many talented people and so many wonderful pieces of art

Working Together

'Working Togather' by ArmadaVolya

Items from members of teams who work together to help one another

Original Abstract Drawing wi... hypnoteyezed $17.00	Cottage Fancy - Fabric Cover... veryprettythin... $14.00
Crocheted Extra Long Fire En... StitchKnit $17.00	Customizable Reversible Hemp... ZimikasTreasur... $3.00
Strawberry Fields - Locket N... LoveMontreal $22.00	Blue Crystal Earrings DazzlingAdornm... $12.00
Balance Good & Evil 6x6 Prin... ddfoto $28.00	Blackberry Pepper Jam - Like... dasweetzpot $7.95
Your Custom Monster Portrait... UnnervingNight... $80.00	Beach and the Palm Tree. 9x1... ArmadaVolya $150.00
Margarita Shower Invitation LJLDESIGNSSTAT... $25.00	green and cream striped slee... Faerieladyclot... $100.00
Purple Butterflies klmram $5.00	Vintage Recycled Ice Cream R... adnagam $10.00
Black and White Flocked Clut... sewnanacreatio... $26.00	Personalized Wine 8x10 Inch ... nameyourwishim... $34.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio. 

These are items from some of the members of etsy teams dedicated to working together. I hope you'll like these beautiful choices.

Top hats From Mad Little Hatter

Do you want to get the party started? These little hats from Mad Little Hatter are absolutely perfect for the costume parties. There are many fun styles that would fit just about any outfit and they are so adorable. To put it in the crazy cat lady's words, I want to have them all, with a cute little tops, and the cute little rims and the bows, I want a house full of and I want them of a rainbow..."

Seriously, these hats are adorable. They are also made from some recycled goodies, which makes them perfect. These hats are also for some strange reason are very cheap... but that only makes it easier to have a house full of them doesn't it?

And the last but not least, this seller has 100% positive feedback, although she hasn't sold that many yet since she started selling them on etsy recently. She does have easy to understand policies as well. Oh, and if you didn't find a hat that would match your outfit, you can always ask for one to be designed specially for you.

Go Top Hats!!!

Collaborate and Grow

'Blasting Away' by ArmadaVolya

Working with others is always easier then on your own. This is a collection of items from Network Blast team where a group of highly dedicated sellers are helping one another by promoting each other.

Set of Four Bright Cheerful ... TheBlueLantern $8.00	Pink wire and black swarovsk... DazzlingAdornm... $12.00
5 Prints fo Letters of your ... ArmadaVolya $40.00	White Eyelet Petticoat/Skirt... StitchKnit $32.00
Burgundy Feather Masquerade ... deesdreammasks $25.00	Blackberry Pepper Jam - Like... dasweetzpot $7.95
Original Colored Pencil Abst... hypnoteyezed $13.00	Hopebasket Tea Towel - Hand ... veryprettythin... $12.00
Free Shipping Vintage Lot 4 ... gem6691 $25.00	HUGE Sesame Street inspired ... delightfulprin... $20.00
Stock the Bar Invitation LJLDESIGNSSTAT... $25.00	Your Custom Portrait as a Fa... UnnervingNight... $80.00
Birdy Birdcage 9 inch russia... vanrobmac $25.00	White Bells - Quartz Earring... AndreaFuentesD... $15.00
Blue Ocean 8x8x1 Mounted Pho... ddfoto $35.00	TeeLosophy 901: V-Neck Tank Sol9 $19.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Why would you want to promote others? Isn't it a competition? This is actually what I get asked all the time, and here is my answer. No, it's not really a competition and you need to promote others to help yourself as much as others. People love being promoted, honestly. And those who you promote will often promote you in exchange. As for competition, well, we all work in different styles and mediums. We have different taste and vision. No one will paint what I paint, no one will create what you create. Just because someone bought your painting doesn't mean that the same person will not buy mine. Just because someone likes your watercolor paintings doesn't mean he/she will like mine. We are all unique and because of it we really aren't competing for the same customers.

I didn't include some people in this treasury because they didn't fit in btw, but I will post about them in a near future to make up for it.

Call for Photographs - EXPOSED: The Contemporary Nude

Just a really, really quick note. This juried show is for photographers. It will be featuring nude photography. It will take place at 1650 Gallery at 1650 Echo Park Ave, Los Angeles, California, 90026, United State. The deadline to enter this show is June 13. The entry fee is $25 for up to 5 images. Additional entries may be submitted for $5 each. 20-30 workes will be chosen to be displayed at the EXPOSED exhibition.

For more information visit 1650 Gallery's official website

Black and White Juried Art Show

Black and White show will take place July16-Aug 21 in New York City. They are inviting artists to submit their art for a chance to win one of two prizes, $1000 Best of Show award and $500 People's Choice award.
The submission deadline is June 8, so if you would like to enter, hurry. You can find all the details as Black and White Art Show web site

And on a totally unrelated topic, woo hoo, I just finished another painting. Took me long enough....

Networking for Success

We, humans are social creatures. We like to talk, we like to listen. We like knowing about other people. Everything we achieved is because of communication. If someone made a discovery, but didn't tell anyone about it, it would die with that person. We would have to rediscover the wheel over and over again. Internet makes communication a lot easier. We can be talking to people in any part of the world at any given time.

My mom told me the other day that she was very surprised I put my videos on youtube. Her reason was that she would never have the guts to let the whole world see her. My response was "if I want to make a living as an artist, I have to let the whole world know I exist." In fact many artists who make a living selling on the internet spend more time promoting themselves through every social media outlet there is then actually creating. This is the place I find myself at. People simply will not buy your art if they don't know it's there. If there is the slightest opportunity to get extra eyes, use it. Communicate your ideas, talk about yourself, talk about other, get noticed. Get a blog if you don't have it already. Start a youtube channel. Get on all every social media sites you can. Do guest blogging, work on projects with other artists. If you read a blog post you like, comment on it, if you saw a video you liked, comment on it. The more time you spend commenting and networking, the faster your art will sell.

Oh, and I still have that giveaway... so if you want a free painting from me, join in and you just might get it.

Giveaways, Why do Them?

There are tons of blog giveaways you can enter and all of them have basically the same reason. Get more traffic to the site. Get more exposure. Let people know you exist. With a giveaway you basically give people a chance to get something for free and in exchange they do things like: follow your blog, twitter, like you facebook page and so on and so forth. Some of those who did follow to enter the giveaway will stop following as soon as it's over, but as long as your content is interesting enough for people to read, most will remain to see more and more of your posts. Giveaway is a good way to celebrate something. Me, I'm celebrating my new youtube channel with a $50 giveaway.

What can you giveaway? If you are an artist, you can giveaway something you have made. Otherwise, you can find sponsors who would like to get some exposure (you need good following already for people to agree to sponsor). You can giveaway something you bought, something you no longer need or something you won yourself. There are thousands of giveaway going on every day, so you can easily win some goodies for your own giveaway.

The rules of the giveaway should be easy to follow. It should be easy to enter. People are not likely to jump through hoops to enter a giveaway when there are many more out there. The gift has to actually be worth something. The higher the value, the more people would enter, the more exposure you will get. The best one I have seen was a $550 value. It was a huge amount of gifts combined into one.

Just because you posted a giveaway however doesn't mean people will start flocking in, you have to let the world know it's there. Luckily there are hundreds of websites and blogs where you can post a link to your giveaway so that people can find it there.

Oh, yes, and you can also win tons of gifts for yourself and enjoy all the goodies. They are always good to get.

Jewelry from Beading Inspirations by Darla

Oh my, I don't remember it ever taking me so long to pick a photo I would like to use for a feature. This Jeweler has so many incredible pieces though, I just couldn't make up my mind. Beading Inspirations by Darla  is a wonderful shop on etsy where you can find beautiful and elegant jewelry. I am not impartial to beaded jewelry myself since it was one of the first crafts I got interested in and because it was the first one I learned on my own rather then being taught. I absolutely love seeing the wonderful items that can be created with all these tiny beads and how well people combine them. I guess this is why I picked this shop for the feature, I write about what I love, because I love writing about it. Beading takes skills and lots of patience. I was very surprised to find these beautiful necklaces so cheap to be honest. They are beautiful and took a lot of time to create. I really think it's worth a lot more. Oh, what am I telling you this for, I'm sure you can see it yourself. Do you see it?

That's it, I can't look at it anymore, I have to stop or I'll spend all my money on it. On the other hand... I do know the password to my husbands paypal account...

As always, this seller is very pleasant. Policies are very clear cut and fair. Feedback for the shop is 100%. All in all a perfect place to shop.

Greeting cards by Ryan and Breia Mallett from Brush And Mallett

Greeting cards and wedding invitations are always in demand, add a little bit of humor and artistic talent to it and it's a gem. I often see greeting cards on etsy, but there is one problem I keep on having with them, artwork. As an artist myself, I can't in all consciousness  give someone a card where an illustration looks a step above stick figure. The card itself might be really sweet or very funny, but the artwork itself is far from good. When I ran into Brush And Mallett shop, the artwork and the humor, both, captured my attention. The art was great, especially on those sweet, romantic wedding invitations. So, yes... I got exited and decided that you might like them as well...
Have I mentioned they are also eco-friendly? yep... that's right, my eco-mania is showing again. Can you blame me? These cards are not printed through some giant printer ether, they went through loving hands of their designers instead. Each card was cut, scored, fold, and corners clipped by hand. I remember in the good old days when I worked in Staples and our folding machine would break... oh the time it took to do it all by hand... And it's much more expensive to do as well since it's so time consuming. These cards haven't caught high price virus though, they are very cheap, only $3.50 each. For an eco-friendly, handmade card, and this price, it's a crime.

The minds behind these cards aren't only talented and have a funny bone, but they are also very nice and willing to work wit each and every buyer. Store policies are very easy to understand, and if you have any questions, you can always ask. Oh, and the shop also has 100% customer satisfaction.

Well, I'll go back to my own artwork before I procrastinate too much (yes, this is exactly what I am doing now) and you guys should really check out that giveaway I have going on...

Youtube For Learning and Selling

Youtube is a great tool. You can have a few laughs as well as learn something there. There are many videos on youtube showing how to do certain things. The drawing and painting tutorials are always helpful. You might think you already know how to draw it, but after watching a few videos you might find a few more tricks. You might simply find a new way to do something. You might figure out how to do it faster. Or you might decide to combine what you are already doing with what you have seen and develop a new way do draw or paint the same thing. Simple watching others paint helped me a lot in figuring out how to draw and paint realistically and it gave me ideas for my future projects.

You can also find new was to promote your art and how to add new gadgets to your site. I am not very good with programing for example. If I have to add something to my template, it's a disaster. It's always helpful to read how to do it, but to see it being done makes it ever easier.

Last but not least you can always promote yourself through youtube. There are many great artists who became very popular because of youtube. It takes some time to make a video, but it's worth it. People like to see the artist behind the art, youtube is a great way to give people what they want. Starting a youtube channel is very easy, so there really is no reason not to do it.

Forgotten Fortune and Yummy Jewelry from Chellsea.

mmmm... ice cream. I can eat ice cream all day... now I can also wear it on my finger. If you don't like ice cream (what is wrong with you why wouldn't you like it?) there are other treats you can wear in Forgotten Treasures: burgers, cakes, donuts, cupcakes, you name it. Now just to show you how uncool my husband is, when I asked him what he thinks about ice cream ring he said "that's for fat people." I immediately retaliated by saying vegan ice cream made from coconut milk (my favorite) and raw cashew ice cream. Both perfectly healthy and much loved by your truly. As far as I can tell, that's chocolate coconut ice cream looking at me right now. Well... maybe not coconut... maybe polymer clay... Seriously though, these rings and earrings are so adorable, it makes me hungry.

Chellsea makes these yummy looking jewelry from polymer clay. There is something for every taste bud out there, so do stop by her shop and take a look. If you are on the diet, and don't want anything eadible looking, there are always polka dot bows and flags. It's inexpensive, so a little gift to yourself is always an option. 

To the sales part now... She is a very friendly seller with really easy policies. You can always send her a message is you have any questions. 100% customer satisfaction is there as well.

A Great Tool to Make Your Tweeter and Facebook Life Easy

I can't for the life of me remember to log in to twitter and Facebook and get my updates out there. I might do it once or twice a day, but I feel that it's not really enough with so much going on. I found one site that was scheduling tweets to be posted at a later date, and that worked really well for me. I still needed something for Facebook though. This is when I found out that Stumble has a tool just for me, it's su.pr and it's a life saver. It shortens URL as well as lets you schedule your tweets and Facebook updates at the same time. It limits the number of characters to 140 however since that's the limit on tweeter. Not only does it schedule as many tweets as you would like at the times you would like, it also lets you see how many people clicked on it within the first 15 minutes. This lets me figure out once are most popular and how to write better quality tweets. I highly recommend it, it's great.

For your viewing pleasure I posted one of my small paintings from Ancestor Spirit collection. I'll be giving it away some time soon. Will post here once it's up for grabs. Have I ever mentioned how much fun those giveaways are? That's what I've been tweeting about all evening, what giveaways I found and how much I love them btw.

My Beloved Self. Because I Deserve It

I realized that Though I often talk about other artists, I don't really talk about myself much. I know it's kind of cool to be all mysterious, but I figured I'll tell you who I really am.

I was born in Ukraine in 1986, not long before Chernobyl accident. I got lucky, we went to the Middle East just a few days before the reactor melted, so I didn't get the huge dose of radiation like so many others. Naturally once my family learned about it, they had no desire to go back there. We were looking for better life, a better place and as a result ended up moving a lot. I lived in 6 countries and I don't even know if I can count how many towns and cities. US is actually the country where I wiled the longest, 8.5 years so far. Second place goes to Russia with 6 years.

Many people told me that I look Spanish (meaning South American), and even tried talking to me in Spanish. Didn't work all that well since I only speak Russian, Ukrainian and English. The reason I look Spanish is because of the mix of Russian, Tadzhik, Native American and a few other races in my blood. Tadzhik part is the main one to blame because the side of the family that is Native American looks more European by now. And don't even ask me how my Native American great grandma ended up in Kyrgyzstan, because I have no clue.

I wanted to be a shrink for a few years. Went to nursing school first with plans to go to medical school after. This was actually a good decision because by the end of nursing school I figured out it wasn't for me. I found art to be more healing. I was doing some kind of art or another my whole life without even realizing it. I actually thought I was bad at art for the most part. This was until I started taking pottery in college and realized that I can learn new skills very fast. Within just a few days I was able to make bottles on the potters wheel. All the little things I drew and painted started coming to mind, making me realize that although I might not be the best artist as far as realism goes (and as far as I'm concerned, the only way I'll ever be good enough in realism is if it looks like a photograph) I'm actually really good at abstract and surrealism. Most importantly my ability to learn fast allowed me to get better and better in no time. Looking at some of the "art" on displays in galleries I figured that I'm am actually rather good. Honestly, things that pass for art these days...

My journey through life and my own artistic path brought me to the stage in life where I spend 80 hours a week, sometimes more to create and promote. And a few more hours to convince my mum that I'm not just sitting home all day sleeping and that artists are actually making really good money and aren't all starving. I think the second part is harder then the first since my mum is even more stubborn than I am, and I'm really stubborn.

I'd like to add that my family made it very easy for me to choose my way in life (well, in a way, my mum still tries to make me go back to nursing school). Both my father and my mother are from well educated families that value knowledge. I had genetic advantage, since both my mother and my father are good at art and are very intelligent. Having thousands of books at my disposal and every encouragement to read them (my family had a huge private library) I learned to love good literature and was never intimidated by books. I consider myself a book addict who can easily buy 26 books in one day (I really needed to celebrate free comic book day). I only wish I had more time to read.

Now I live in Erie PA with my husband and two cats. Vincent (husband) is very supportive and helps me develop my skills. Cuteness (40lb cat filed with love from tail to ears) keeps me in line and reminds me to take frequent breaks from work to give him hugs. Monkey (crazy year old orange kitten with suicidal tendencies) gives me claw filled foot massages and reminds me to get fresh air by making me drag him back inside every time he walks on the wrong side of the rail around the balcony. 

I'll leave this self centered post on this note and will go read some blogs now.