Day of the Dead Valentine Gifts

New items on Etsy.com ---30% off everthing in my store use code at check-out NEWYEAR. Check out Facebook page check LIKE button√√√√√
 https://www.facebook.com/Mujeres-Gonzalez-Art-Permilia-Jewelry

 These items were created by popular mixed media artist Dolores Gonzalez-Jarvis  by hand in her home studio in Laredo, Texas
 What is most unique about my mosaic/collage style is that I am fascinated by life and death so most of my work revolves around Dia De Los Muertos, Frida Kahlo and Virgen de Guadalupe.
My Dia De Los Muertos items are colorful and reminders that dying is only the beginning of our life. Frida Kahlo items are a reminder of all the tribulations and suffering one goes thru in life. Virgen de Guadalupe items The Lady of Guadalupe has always been a part of my Mexican heritage I am constantly compelled to show her in my art ..


Most of the items in my shop are (one of a kind).


See more items---
http://www.ebay.com/usr/doloresgjarvis
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MujeresGonzalezArt

Visit her blog at http:// doloresjarvisfoundobjectmosaic.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/ Mujeres Gonzalez Art Permilia Jewelry

Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com Mujeres Gonzalez Art & Permilia Jewelry

Instagram --- doloresgj


#diadelosmuertos #dayofthedead #Frida #folkart #Fridakahlo #sugarskull #dayofthedeadart #skeleton #skull #calavera #latino #mexicanart #mexican #mexico #arte #latinart #fidakahloart #mexicanskull #mexicanwomen #sale  #latinwomen #skulls #sale #creativepowwow #laredoartmovement #holalaredotx #iloveldotx #visitlaredotx  #valentine #valentinegift #love

Winter darkness, season depression

This is what happens when November comes !! I personally dislike this change of time, because it seems something changes in me!!!

Winter Darkness, Season Depression

Winter depression is still a mystery to scientists who study it. But researchers agree that people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder are particularly sensitive to light, or the lack of it.

WebMD FeatureReview

Winter depression is still a mystery to scientists who study it. Many things, including brain chemicals, ions in the air, and genetics seem to be involved. But researchers agree that people who suffer from winter depression -- also known as "seasonal affective disorder," a term that produces the cute acronym SAD -- have one thing in common. They're particularly sensitive to light, or the lack of it.

Starting online business

Starting online business
One of the easiest businesses to get started is an eBay business. It has low start-up costs and it can be started out of your home selling items you no longer want or need. You can work at your own pace and on your own time. I  have been selling on eBay since 2008 and I  have learned a lot about what works and what doesn't.
I started selling online after participating in several art shows and selling my Mosaic Wall Art,  Sugar Skulls , Mosaic Long Horn Skulls and my Christmas Ornaments and original paintings.
Here's are some of my items that I have listed on eBay.com.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/doloresgjarvis

Sugar Skulls

Items for sale

Mosaic Peacock not for sale 

Virgen De Guadalupe Ornaments- plenty onine to sell

Sugar skull Ornaments

Mosaic Longhorn decorated with

Turquoise stones 

Here is a little information that my be useful in making your decision t sell online.

Even if you are only an occasional user of eBay, there is a lot of resource and  useful information online.

There are fees that need to be paid to eBay and PayPal account when you sell a item.

SETUP YOUR ACCOUNTS
Before you can get started using eBay, you need to open two accounts.

1. EBAY ACCOUNT :  The first thing you need to do is sign up for an eBay account, if you haven't done so already. It is free to sign up, but you need to give your credit card information before you can begin to sell anything. On the eBay registration page. All you need to do is enter your name and contact information and select a user ID. The whole process will only take a few minutes. Selecting a user ID that you like may take a bit of effort though. Most of the common user IDs have been taken already.

If you use one of those free email accounts (hotmail, yahoo) as your email address, eBay will ask for a credit card to verify your identity. This is eBay's method to make sure that you are not a scammer trying to open several eBay accounts using free email accounts. Until you verify your identification with eBay, there will be buyer and seller activity limits placed on new accounts. This will limit the number of items you can purchase and the types of items you can sell in a period of time.
Starting on Thursday, October 15, the following price and listing changes will go into effect:
You can open a store and pay a monthly and yearly fee
For sellers without an eBay Stores subscription:

You’ll get an increased monthly allotment from 20 to 50 zero insertion fee listings for auction-style, or fixed price listings, in nearly all categories. This increased allotment also replaces the 20 zero insertion fee listings dedicated to auction-style listings in Collectibles categories and, for those of you ready for the next level, you can try a Basic eBay Stores subscription for one month—FREE. But, space is limited, so you’ll have to activate it by October 31.

For eBay Stores subscribers:

Basic-level subscribers will get an increased allotment from 150 to 200 zero insertion fee fixed price listings per month and—for all eBay Stores subscribers—the monthly allotment of 100 additional zero insertion fee auction-style listings.


2. PAYPAL ACCOUNT:  Opening a PayPal account should be mandatory if you use eBay. It doesn't matter if you are buying or selling. Having a PayPal account is crucial for safe trading on eBay.
 A.) Buyers should make all their eBay purchases using PayPal. There are no transaction fees for buyers and you get up to $2,000 of buyer protection. If you fund your purchases with a credit card, you are also protected by your credit card company's fraud protection program. Since your payment is sent to the seller instantly, there is no need for the seller to wait for your payment to arrive in the mail. This will allow the seller to ship the item to you sooner. With all these advantages, there is no reason to make another eBay purchase without using PayPal. Avoid sellers that don't accept it.

B). SELLERS:  After you have sold something on eBay, you will need to get paid. There are the usual forms of payment: money order, cashier's check, personal check and cash. However, if the buyer wants to pay using a credit card, you are stuck unless you already have a merchant account with your bank.

This is where PayPal comes in. It provides merchant services so you can accept Visa, Master Card, American Express, and Discover cards. PayPal is the most widely used payment method on eBay. It also happens to be the only payment service on eBay.

C.) COST: All these services come with a cost. There is a transaction fee for every payment that you receive. The fee is $0.30 + 1.9% to 2.9% of the total transaction. The transaction amount includes the shipping charges paid by the buyer. Be sure to take this into account when calculating how much to charge for shipping. Relative to other merchant accounts, Paypal is a great deal.
There are several other issues that need to be look at when your starting a business (business licenses & permits, tax issues).

3. TAKE PICTURES : After setting up your account, your ready to take pictures and write your description of what your selling .
A). Check out what your wanting to sell online and find out what the price is, so you will stay in the same or lower price range.
B). Need to write the description and be truthful of what your selling, described it as much as possible.
C). Shipping: its up to you if you willing to ship it for free or charge a flat fee or calculate the correct amount.

READY TO SELL ??

 Whether you are running an eBay store or just selling items without a store front from you will need to drive traffic to your business. Social media brings traffic to your eBay site, I use Facebook, Pinterest,  and Instagram

GOOD LUCK
Dolores Gonzalez-Jarvis
Mujeres Gonzalez Art & Permilla Jewerly
http://www.ebay.com/usr/doloresgjarvis

Http://www.ebay.com/usr/doloresgjarvis

ebay.com
http://www.ebay.com/usr/doloresgjarvis
Check out my page starting at .99 cent

Introduction to Day of the Dead

Introduction to Day of the Dead

November 1, All Saints Day, and November 2, All Souls Day are marked throughout Mexico by a custom that vary widely according each region in Mexico. Common to all, however, are colorful adornments and lively reunions at family burial plots, the preparation of special foods, offerings laid out for the departed on commemorative altars and religious rites that are likely to include noisy fireworks.

In most localities November 1 is set aside for remembrance of deceased infants and children, often referred to as angelitos (little angels). Those who have died as adults are honored November 2.

The spirits of the dead are expected to pay a holiday visit home and should be provided with an enticing repast and adequate sustenance for the journey. Frequently a wash basin and clean hand towel are provided so that visiting souls can freshen up before the feast. The offering may also include a pack of cigarettes for the after-dinner enjoyment of former smokers, or a selection of toys and extra sweets for deceased children.

In setting up the altar, a designated area of the home is cleared of its normal furnishings. The arrangement often consists of a table and several overturned wooden crates placed in tiers and covered with clean

linens. The offerings are then laid out in an artistic and fairly symmetrical fashion. The smell of burning copal (incense) and the light of numerous candles are intended to help the departed find their way.

Meanwhile, at the family burial plot in the local cemetery, relatives spruce up each gravesite. In rural villages this may entail cutting down weeds that have sprouted up during the rainy season, as well as giving tombs a fresh coat of paint after making any needed structural repairs. The graves are then decorated according to local custom. The tomb may be simply adorned by a cross formed of marigold petals or elaborately embellished with colorful coronas (wreaths) and fresh or artificial floral arrangements. In many areas children's graves are festooned with brightly colored paper streamers or other festive adornments.

Suicide of Robin William and my Brother Dennis

 

            Suicide of Robin William –I read an article in today’s paper Laredo Moring Times by Christine M, Flowers from the Philadelphia Daily News. She wrote about hearing the news of Robin Williams’s death and her thoughts and personal grief of suicide. I read the article and tears rolled down my cheeks of my personal grief our family suffer in 2004.

 I remembered my brother Dennis death in November 2004; he was only 47 years old.

 We grew up close together we were only 2 years apart and did everything together when we were young; I moved out of my parents’ home first and only saw him when I visited my parents’ home. I started visited him more than usual due to our father passing away in April 2004 he had more responsibility now in managing the grocery & liquor stores. We the family knew about his drug habit and tried to get him to a rehab center but nothing worked I offer him our home to live with me but he refused. My older brothers Oscar, J.C. and I would take him dinner every night. My brother J.C. would arrive at the store in the evening and would help stay at the store so Dennis could go home and get some rest before closing.

 Dennis managed to do this 6 months.

When J.C. called me at work around 930am to tell me he found Dennis dead at the store apparently Dennis had been sleeping in the store and not going home, he died of an overdose of heroin & cocaine.

When I heard that he was found dead I too felt a pulling pain. It was a physical and mental hurt pain. What the writer writes is the sadness of survivors, anger of not being able to help. I too feel that way.

 In my mind my brother Dennis committed suicide by using heroin and cocaine together and made the choice of ending his life.

I know he felt the pain that our family had experienced of all the deaths (Mom 1999, Norma 2001, Dad 2004) that had occurred and he could not handle the stress, depression of our father’s death. Dennis adored our father he was his hero.

 I know about depression it runs in the family and Dennis took drugs to handle his daily living.  

Depression is an illness that needs attention as the writer writes depression is coming out of the shadows of shame.

Robin Williams made everyone happy and laugh out loud, my brother Dennis did the same as the writer writes but they were unable or unwilling to manage their hidden pain.

I too am depress and taking medication, having all the deaths in our family is unreal for any family it started in 1998 with Ashley my niece ,1999 my mom, 2001 my sister, 2004 my dad , 2004 Dennis, 2007  my brother JC, 2008 my grandson Miguel. The last death of Miguel I realized I needed something in my life to help me in my daily living I was depressed and did not work for 3 months until the medicine kicked in.

It’s hard for me at times but one gets thru the day with prayer, meds and exercise.

As she writes at the end of the paragraph -in their honor, we need to stretch our hands out to those who are falling off the cliff and scream at the top of our lungs “stay”.

RESTART BUTTON !!!   

                                                                                         

                                                                                           

                                         

 We are deep into the season of heat and flies! That means it begins to feel like a long slog to me. Vacation is far off in the distance, the air-conditioner is working overtime. We keep planning a vacation but it is seems that it always in the planning stages, we just have to do it.
 It’s not necessarily a seasonally-related thing, it’s a heart-centered thing, but for me, it always seems to hit in Summer and Christmas.

Without warning or reason, my life gets a heavy feeling. And it can be especially crazy when everything seems just fine. Life looks the same––to everyone else ----but not to me and somehow it feels different.

There is not a big problem to deal with I actually take a little comfort in knowing that something small might set me right again, like a yoga class, guitar/ piano lesson, a weekend away with a friend. If my life feels out of balance, I’m probably not getting enough of what really keeps me going and brings real, meaningful pleasure to life. It seems like a big blah/smog

But sometimes a person requires more than just a little reminder of what you care about. You want to reboot, have a clean slate, a restart button, an IV to get the life put back into me ….. I’m ok with having the routine––the ritual of going to work, eating lunch at my desk, drinking coffee in the morning, my art work does help, BUT the desire for a fresh start in a way that surprises me.

The craving for neat, tidy house, office, and vehicle must in some way be a reaction to my life’s messiness. I sometimes feel overwhelmed with the reality of what is; the view of what could be is appealing. A fresh start, for sure, would make things more manageable, more organized, happier. That’s the thing about the unknown: we always think it could be better or like my mother would say ---the grass is not always greener on the other side.

I ‘m here today wanting to ask about a useful way I can have a fresh start in the day-to-day routine. I wanted to ask how you give yourself that clear sense of a new beginning when you’re having difficulties in life. And I still want to know, for sure. But at times it occurs to me that a having the need to reboot my life is a question of how to make peace with one self and others in an everyday situation. I’m not saying I want to change my life , and yes I have bad days and good days I’m rarely in a bad mood and most of the time I go with the flow of the moment, I’m very spontaneous and ready to go at the moment notice. 

 I guess having these feelings is being alive!