My Painting in Progress

Sneak peak into my Creative world !!

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The Garden of Eden Painting Preview

From the Sketch to the painting in progress. I will come up with a video as soon as I am done with the painting. This is for my new Painting series. Just wanted to share it because I am excited on how it is turning out. Hope you enjoy viewing it.

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www.miczedesignstudio.com website revamped...check it out.

My website has been revamped...less confusion and overload of information.

It has been simplified for easier navigation. Check it out and let me know what you think?

Ever Wonder what Artists' do with paintings?

When they are not amongst their favorite creations...this is what happens.



I promise something amazing will be created on this same canvas. ;0)

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Sneak Preview of New Painting Series

These are just some rough sketches of my new "Garden Of Eden" upcoming Painting Series.

MOVING BACK TO HOUSTON,TEXAS---MY HOMETOWN

For those of you that have not heard from me for a while...this is why..new opportunities back in my favorite city and hometown...Houston...here I come.

I will be back online with more news and art after February 5th.

Starting the Walking/Exercise Routine Again

About 10 days ago I shared the story of my girlie dog getting spayed with all of you. Well, due to the fact that she had stitches I did not want her to strain herself and wanted her stitches to heal properly so we did not go walking each morning. Today, she had her stitches taken out so early in the morning we are going for our 1-2 mile walks. It is amazing how a little exercise can improve your physical senses and allow you to be refreshed for work. I am glad to have my exercise coach back.

Ever Feel Like This????

Today I realized I had not heard from my mom in a while...she usually calls and leaves messages for me to call her back...she hasn't even done that in a while. Yesterday, I had a phone call from one of my sister's friends needing her phone number....I didn't even have that handy. That's when I realized,geez... I have been disconnected from the world that really is supposed to matter to me the most. How can you not talk to your loved one,like your mom or your sister, your best friend in over a month? How does that happen and does that make you a selfish person? Life, business, everyday mediocre chores that have to be done can get you to feel like a rubberband that cannot extend any further without popping. That is the answer to that question. Then I asked myself, how can I improve? Do I break down to get a personal assistant,maid service, cut down, ignore some of my mediocre duties or just live life and take the who care's attitude?

Well after searching around for answers. It is ultimately called not taking on so much and prioritizing, scheduling, skipping on the non-essentials in life. It is essential to make time for what is most important to someone and make it a part of my weekly schedule. Therefore, I have come up with a list of musts and live withouts. There are none in the middle because obviously those cannot be that important. The list is made up of either a must or a live without. This really does narrow your list when you get a clear picture of how to juggle life/work balance.

For the meantime, I have developed a game plan that will help me prioritize my life with a virtual assistant to remind me of my musts, who, when, what and where and the goal is to stick to it.

Happy Balancing to all!!!

My Pup is all Grown Up according to the VET

I am having a difficult time dealing with the fact that I will take my girlie dog to the Vet tomorrow, Tuesday to go under the knife...she will get spayed. Why didn't I have this emotional issue with getting my cats taken care of...Are dogs really that different from cats where they suck your emotions up..like this????

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How Bad do you Want to Reach Your Goals?

It doesn't matter if the economy is bad or good. Imagine if everyone sat in despair about this...could we reach our goals. The answer is NO!!! Let's think for a second here...if you have the drive you should just GO FOR IT! But how you ask? Picture what your goal is and write it down...then you have to have a plan at how you are going to get there. You will have to go through some wins and fails..but, if you keep your eye on the end goal you will supersede your fails and re-strategize. Both Candidates, McCain and Obama had goals and came up with a plan to get there...not all are winners but, the result is there.

This can be accomplished by anyone at any age depending on what your goal is. It can be big or small. An example that was sweet to me to learn about is of one of my young art fans and her recent goal to become president of her student council. Alexis told her mom that she wanted to be the president of her 3rd grade student council and that is where her goal began. Her mom, Liza and supporter (everyone needs cheerleaders--so look around and see who can become your supporters) helped her come up with a marketing plan...posters, t-shirt and give aways (Halloween pencils and erasers with notes on them) to help spread the word of her election goal. Then here came the speech that Alexis had to practice to share with her 3rd grade class so that she could earn her votes by persuasion (great sales tool). Her Dad, Ruben helped her with that...another supporter.

Then came the votes after her speech and it was a BIG DEAL for a 3rd grader. Alexis did not win the president slot,...but, she did get voted in as the vice president..which everyone was very proud of her work towards that goal. Now she is busy leading in her role and seeing how her and her co-workers can improve the 3rd grade experience as a whole. What a neat story from one of my biggest...littliest fan...very inspiring if you ask me. Congratulations Alexis...and I wish you luck with your newest endeavor.

Hosting an Event for Customer Appreciation and Public Awareness

It is important that businesses show their customers that they are appreciated by hosting an event that is fun and gets them involved in meeting other people as well. The goal is to continue your relationship with your existing customers which helps in retaining their loyalty and in the long run getting more referrals. I read in a marketing journal that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your existing clientele. The other 20% will be new prospects and referrals from existing customers. It is extremely important to meet new people all the time while at the same time strengthening existing relationships. This can be done through hosting a fun event in which your customers will help you get the word out for you to new prospects. Once your attendees are at the event you can ask them to join your email list and by doing that they get entered into a drawing for prizes. This is a great way to reach out to potential prospects. Once the event has passed you can continue reaching out via email by providing your email database informed by educating them about your product and services through an e-newsletter.

Cost vs. Efficiency

My Grandfather always said..."You get what you pay for"...yesterday evening I confirmed it. As I was trying to save the planet by creating less waste and recycling my ink cartridge...by having it refilled..I ended up dissolutioned and wasting my time. Time is money. I had a huge spillage of ink all over the place ..it was a complete disaster. I had to go buy a brand new ink cartridge to save my day and complete my business tasks. Will not try that again.

This goes for services as well...just because you pay less does not mean you will get the best service..so make sure to ask for references or testimonials before the buy in.

Marketing Your Website

As some of you may or may not know. My career background is marketing/Design. I have been in the business of marketing for over 10 years and just recently have begun to design websites for some of my clients. Tips that I can share for creating a website is do not accept to have your website to have a subdomain name. This process does not give you the exposure as if having your own domain name. It makes it harder for the search engines to find your website unless your graphic designer has implemented the proper tags within your internal website so that the search engines such as google, yahoo etc. can find you. For instance...subdomains can be hosted by lets say a design company ...making it less expensive for the client but, expensive if you think about the outcome...this would be an example of main domain http://www.websN.com...a subdomain can be hosted under this maybe being yours and it would have the title of http://www.websN.com/johndoe

This would not give your company the importance it needs as a web presence and as far as professionalism goes...therefore...why not pay a little extra and go for the http://www.johndoe.com effect.

Another tip to ask your graphic designer is how many websites they currently maintain and do they update them monthly. This is also very important because each time you add content or refresh your website...the search engines get to crawl through your website looking for keywords and other descriptive content that will get picked up when someone is doing a search. The more often it is refreshed the better it will show up online.

Here is one of the websites I have designed and update on a monthly basis. I also check to see how this website shows up when searching on the web....not doing too bad without paying for dynamic ads.

http://www.santaanitagallery.com
in McAllen, Texas which is a host for the McAllen Artwalk.

Support Breast Cancer Month-NEW Women Wine Glass Charms

Support Breast Cancer Month-NEW Women Wine Glass Charms
SeeMore photos of these wine glass charms.


Just came up with these new Designs reproduced from my Women Series Paintings.

Check them out. With each purchase, a donation will be made directly to the American Cancer Society to help raise funds for more research.

Find out More About Breast Cancer Awareness...

I met these Young Designers and Entrapeneurs this weekend!

I met these wonderful young designers and entrapeneurs over the weekend. Their jewelry designs are fabulous and candy -licious. I had to buy some for my young fans and cousins. Great jewelry for young girls and teenagers. Great gifts for the holidays. Check them out and add them as your friends on myspace...I did.

It is great to see young productive teenagers following a dream. Please support them.

http://www.myspace.com/alamodeapparel

Closeup of my Latest Commission I am working on.

Art for the Bachelor Pad---Commission Work

My husband has a friend that has always wanted a copy of this painting so he asked me to paint it...However, I decided to do a Homage of this painting with a personal twist...check it out..the dogs have a painting of humans drinking beer and tailgating..the owner of this painting is in his own painting...I am still not finished but there will be a neon light sign with his name in the background. Too much...I have been getting some interesting commission work. It's hilarious.



check out closeups of the painting at http://artchatterboxmiczedesignstudio.blogspot.com…

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Jeweled Cat Wine Charms Now Available

Hey...just wanted to let you all know that I have just produced beautiful wine charms from my "Cat Days of Summer" paintings. Now available for purchase through my Etsy Store. Hope you like them.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15351192

The Fall

This was me last night...I was holding my cat's gourmet bowl in one hand and a cosmo on the other...and lord and behold my puppy had set me up.

She left one of her doggie toys in the middle of a doorway. I stepped on it and lost my balance...but, not really..still had the cat bowl in one hand and my cosmo on the other hand. I fell flat on my but. I only lost part of my cosmo and the cherry that was in it. My puppy, the opportunist...ate the cherry and whatever cat food was around on the floor.

I am surprised that I am not aching today. Maybe later.

Another Example of a Big Painting in the Small Room

MAKE A STATEMENT!
I hear it all the time...but, I don't have space in my little house....well check this out...some galleries and artists offer payment plans...so don't let that deter your buying budget.