</i>

</i>

So I got my new premium account in less than 10 hours.

THANKS


FEATURE OF HIS ART


He is brand new to myspace so go on and mosey over to his main page and say hello [link]


Thanks again EbooksAsArt!

My premium super awesome membership is up in three weeks.

So anyone want to be a pal and fork over the 30$ for another year?

*smiles*

I could do a manipulation of a portrait for you.

Or something.

Laters
CV

Ok everyone. My cell phone died. I lost all 180 gamers numbers.

EVERYONE.
So if you think I need to have your number (because you have mine) call, email, or text me.

Email is crimsonscarletvermillion@gmail.com

Be sure to write your name in your text/email.

Leave your number with your name in messages please!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!


Today is my birthday, YAY!

Normally I hate birthdays but I am spending this one at home. I wisely threw myself a birthday party on Saturday and told my friends I am getting an MP3 player and if they wanted to they could chip in.

The party was great! There was white wine cake, three types of ice cream, strawberrys and pound cake, eggplant parmesan, fish curry, chips, macaroni salad, two vegetable trays and much more! (Of course I took a free day for my party!) My favorite thing was the ice-cream because I made a root beer float. I just love root beer floats. I never would have thought of icecream though because it is one of those things I just never buy.

The best part was that my friends brought all the food. I only brought ice, water, cups, plates, silverware, and paper towels.

On top of that many of my friends were VERY generous and helped with my MP3 player fund. I really wanted a good one for at the gym… since I work out every day I would use it every day.

I am torn. I could get an ipod but the costs are outrageous, you can only use their itunes on it, and you can't change the battery, so basically you buy something that is only useful for two years. (Paying to have the battery changed by Apple costs nearly as much as a new ipod.)

I looked into other MP3 players and realized that if I got a smart phone I can have an MP3 player with internet connection, that can play movies, use ANY MP3 and that way I don't need two things in my pocket to have music. Besides a smart phone has a built in speaker, you can change out the battery, and the insurance is cheeper. As it turns out you can get a brand new Blackberry Curve and 16 GB memory card for about 150$ which is the same cost as a Refubished Nano. And if you want you can get 32 GB of storage on a Blackberry. You can't get that with your ipod Nano. Furthermore a blackberry has BlueTooth tech, which means cord free headphones. How high-tech is that?

Having already done all the b-day faldaral I feel free to go home and rest for my birthday. It's kind of funny but I was planning my day, you know things I want to do and was trying to schedule in my workout when a little voice in the back of my head said, "You don't have to go to the gym, it's your birthday!" Which is true. It is my birthday and my knee is killing me, but part of me wants to go anyway. Even a light workout is better than nothing.

I did the numbers and my cake would be 400 calories a piece. SHOOT! That is a bit high.

Oh well, one day a year won't kill me.
Party on!



Here is my latest art work:


Winter Moon Wolf Song

WOW! I got in the top 50 finalists for the “Adidas Finger Painting” contest.

Read more about the contest here:
[link]

The other finalists can be seen here:
[link]

Being picked out from the hundreds of other contestants for this honor is simply amazing.
(724 total)

I am deeply grateful to both Adidas and Deviant Art for this opportunity to shine.  

Please enjoy “Grace And Strength.”




After six months of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and losing so much weight over the last two and a half years I do fully appreciate the value of good athletic equipment, clothing, and shoes.

I am so happy that my painting got this far, but of course many of the other contestants are much more experienced pros.

I am just happy I got this far.


Here are 6 of my favorites from the semi finalists:

(Posted this on my myspace, facebook, and lj and thought I would post it here too.)
So someone asked the question "How are you losing
weight?"

.. ......

That could be seen a lot of different ways, and I am feeling
chatty tonight so I will answer them all.

.. ......

I am lost the first 47 pounds being very stupid and barely
eating. I didn't realize I was starving myself because I ate a meal a day and
had several bowls (up to five) of whatever was in the crock pot. However most
of the crock pot meals I make only have 150-200 calories per bowl. SO, even
though I thought I was eating a bit much I was only getting 750-1000 calories a
day from that. Most people need 1200 calories a day to survive, 2000 to
flourish, but a large person like me needs about 3000 to live comfortably
without weight loss. Essentially I was starving. Some people wonder why, if I
was eating so little was I not anorexically thin. Two reasons, my body isn't
built that way, and two occasionally I would binge on chips and dip, or maybe
something really fatty about once a week. So 6 days a week starving and one day
feasting on fat. Because the calories were so low for slow long I DID manage to
lose weight but it was painfully slow to the point of being almost
unnoticeable. I honestly thought my clothes were getting stretched and worn
out. It didn't occur to me that I might be losing. (I didn't have a scale.) I
never noticed a change in the mirror.

.. ......

After seeing absolutely no results from my so called
attempts at "eating better" I decided to declare war on my fat and go
full out. That was four and a half months and 50 pounds ago. I basically eat
two to three times what I used to and I still find it pretty hard to get to my
daily caloric goals. (My body is willing but my mind is messed up. It thinks
"Eat Less" is the only way to lose weight. Obviously I was severely
brainwashed by Lord Television.)

.. ......

To start my war I cut out all the fat, I mean like 97% of it
and stopped using butter, margarine, sour cream, mayonnaise, miracle whip, or
oil. I cut out all the sugar but a tiny bit in granola bars, and I really
focused on getting the healthy protein, veggies, and simple carbs that I need
to live. (Though I will never be a person who eats enough carbs. I am allergic
to wheat and never really took a liking to oatmeal or rice. I love potatoes but
they are just too heavy for me most of the time. They make me feel too full to
eat anything else and that is counter productive at this time.)

.. ......

Another major factor to my weight loss was my insomnia. My
daily ritual to go to sleep is long and complex but it works! Exercise,
melatonin, and Valerian root are the most effective things I use, but also
ritual, a firm sleep schedule, lavender oil, and warm milk and honey before bed
all help too. Getting sleep is massively important for my weight loss and if I
wasn't sleeping it would all be for nothing. I just wouldn't have the energy to
go on.

.. ......

When I started to exercise I went to the gym six days a
week, now I exercise 5 days a week. The
first month I didn't exercise at all and I lost 10 pounds. As you may realize,
working out is not required to lose weight. To be fit, to be healthy, to be
strong, but not to lose weight. I find that it helps me more with my insomnia
than anything else. It also eases my anxiety, which I never knew I had before
but as it turns out I am a bit of a worrier. Exercise and sleep really calms those
nagging worries. Now that I am sleeping and exercising I notice that when I
don't keep to my rituals I get really anxious and I realize that was my normal
state of being. I am much calmer now. One funny thing is that I have to eat
even more food now because I am working out so much. And I find that on days
where I weight train I can become ravenous. (Not a state of being I am used to
at all.) So it is a funny balancing act. Five days a week I can barely get the
minimum on my daily caloric needs. Two days a week I go to the very top of my
daily caloric needs, and sometimes just a bit over.

.. ......

As for how my body is shaping itself... it is interesting.
Logically I KNOW the weight is going. I see the loss on the scale and I know it
isn't lying. I measured myself when I started 4.5 months ago and I have lost 5
inches on my waist, I am down a shoe size, I am down by 6 pant's sizes, 30 to
24, and two cup sizes on my breasts. Some of my bras are just becoming almost
useless. Still my worst features, my upper arms and lower abdomen seem to be
the same. Though the measuring tape says I have lost inches there as well. But
really I can't see a difference.

.. ......

Just recently I looked in the mirror and "thought"
I saw more definition in my chin, more of an edge to my already high and sharp
cheekbones, but then the light changed and I lost it.

.. ......

Because I quit soda and candy years ago I don't have any
massive sugar cravings. Because I never ate fast food I don't have any dying
need to seek out hydrogenated oil in burgers or fries. Because I never could
eat pizza I don't miss it at all. I would say I am one of the luckiest big
girls in the world because when I decided to make a change it was all for the
better. The only thing I miss from time to time is potato chips and butter. And
you know if I really want it of course I can have it. I will go buy a small bag
and budget it in to my daily food schedule. But the need hasn't really been
that pressing.

.. ......

It is important to understand that I am not on a diet. I
have changed the way I eat, but not for today or tomorrow, but for the rest of
my life. If I want a burger I will go buy one and eat it with absolutely no
guilt. I know how to eat within my needs without going over and if I want a
thousand calorie slice of cheesecake, I can have it. I am an adult and I can
eat any damn thing I want. Denial leads to binging, and binging leads to a
feeling of failure, and that leads to getting out of your good habits and going
back to your bad ones. So do figure out what you NEED to have in your daily
diet to be happy or you won't succeed at having a healthy lifestyle and lots of
healthy habits. Just whatever it is, do it in moderation. I personally don't
have a chocolate addiction, but if I did I would budget in a teaspoon of
M&M's a day. If I needed to eat a burger at lunch I would have a Wendy's
Jr. Bacon cheese burger and budget it into my schedule. If I just LOVED bacon I
would buy a microwave safe dish that lets me cook it with the fat dripping off
and I would budget in 3-5 slices a day. Seriously. You can eat whatever you
want as long as 90% of the time it is good low fat low sugar stuff in moderate
portions. The problem with my life before was I never had that sort of thing. I
never felt entitlement. When I ate for pleasure I ate bad things and way too
much, and the rest of the time I treated eating like a burden. Now I treat
eating like it is fueling my body. It is a ritual that gives me strength and I
do it six times OR more a day. I respect food now, and understand how it
relates to my body and use it wisely.

.. ......

Now I am slowly working fat back into my diet, focusing on
healthy fats. Things like avocados, cottage cheese, almond butter, and so on. I
do use a bit of margarine from time to time and I have been meaning to buy some
mayo and miracle whip for use in some healthy recipes. (Deviled eggs for
instance, since Easter is coming up.)

.. ......

Soon enough I will be out fishing more and probably cut back
on the gym to three days a week, but I really LIKE the gym. They are nice to me
there, and now that I have been going for three months almost daily it is
starting to feel like home. To be perfectly honest though, weight training
isn't really fun for me yet. It is work, hard work. You go and do something
that you KNOW is going to hurt. When I lift, I lift heavy and I feel the burn.

.. ......

Other types of workout, specifically heavy cardio, like the
elliptical machines, recumbent bikes, and stair climbers aren't so bad. They
can hurt too if you work too hard but for some reason the pain isn't as
intense. I can deal with it better. And when I work out I try to work HARD. I
am trying to get the most out of my gym membership, and I do that because right
now I weigh enough that my weight allows me to burn more calories. And since my
BMI is so high I can lose more weight that would normally be recommended right
now than I will be able to do safely in the future. Soon enough I will have to
slow down a bit and let my body take its time.
I'm losing about 11 pounds a month rather than the recommended 8. I know
enough to understand that to lose faster than that I will be attacking my
muscles and using that fuel rather than the fat stores I have. I REALLY don't
want to waste my time burning up muscle, hence the weight training. It
maintains the muscles.

.. ......

And to be perfectly clear, YOU DO NOT NEED TO WORK OUT TO
LOSE WEIGHT. You need to eat within your necessary daily calories, about 1000
calories less than your daily calorie maintenance levels and cut the fat,
complex carbs, and the sugar. I am working out for three reasons, to help with
my insomnia, to maintain the muscle mass I have under my fat, and to accelerate
the weight loss process. Also as I said it can help with my appetite and I
personally feel it is something I need to be doing. I want to be strong, not just
thin. Actually I don't even want to be thin. I want to be BUFF. I don't care if
I am a size 18 so long as my muscles are ripped and I am strong. I want to lose
weight so I can SEE my muscles. So I can use them for other things than just
getting around. And I have some pretty kick ass muscles under all this fat. My
body has been carrying around 100 to 200 extra pounds for the last 15 or so
years. If I can maintain my muscle mass as I lose weight, and finally eat and
sleep right, I will be damn strong. I am already damn strong. I just can't
apply my strength because I have been shackled by my body's attempts to keep
from starving to death. By this time next year carrying 200 pounds in a
backpack hiking in the mountains when camping will be nothing to me because I
have been practicing carrying that much weight for years.

.. ......

As for what other things I am using to make this happen,
pretty much nothing. I don't go to Weight Watchers, I am not doing Atkins, or
the South Beach Diet. I had some Slim Fast that a friend gave me but as it
turns out there is a LOT of sugar in that stuff. I used it mostly for if I knew
I was going to be too busy to stop and eat, so I put it in my car so I could
just grab one and slam it when necessary.

.. ......

So yeah. I use a food journal, eat breakfast within an hour
of waking up, set my alarm on my cell phone to remind me to eat, and eat about
three times what I used to. I eat lots of fruits and veggies, of all types,
dried, frozen, canned, and fresh. I still make my crock pot meals and eat a bowl
of soup or chili or whatever about three times a day but I also get lots of
snacks of things like plain yogurt with dried fruit, string cheese, hard boiled
eggs, nuts and dried fruit, etc. I am teaching myself to count calories and I
portion my snacks when they come in the door and label the ziplock bags with
the amount of calories in the food. The portioning is very important to stop
over eating. You need to break out those Ziploc bags otherwise you will just
munch all day not realizing how much you have eaten. Like I said, most days I
under eat but on weight training days I am ravenous so having controlled
portions is important. If I really want to, of course I can have two, or three
portions if I want to but really often one is enough. I just need to be aware
of what I have eaten. And it is important so you can toss a snack in your bag
or coat pocket and take it with you. Often I am away from the house at food
time, and I NEED to have the food in my pocket where I can reach it or I will
forget to eat. Sleeping is massively important to my weight loss and so I now
keep a very firm sleep schedule and keep at it. My sleep ritual is long and
complex but it is working. I have made sleep a priority in my life and

.. ......

.. ......

To sum up:

To lose weight I:

Sleep 8 hours a day

Eat breakfast

Eat 6 times a day, (sometimes/often more) and about 1600
calories a day (often less)

Set my cellphone alarm to remind myself to eat.

Keep a food journal to make sure I don't go over or under my
goals.

Count calories.

Package all of my food into single servings and keep snacks
on me at all times.

Work out 2 hours a day 5 days a week. 2 days of weight
training and light cardio, three days of heavy cardio.

.. ......

I avoid:

Sugar, fats, complex carbs, and negative ignorant jerks who
don't know anything about weight loss or nutrition.

.. ......

The only other thing I use is SparkPeople. It is a website
that gives you advice, nutrition education, lets you keep a diet blog and gives
you lots of support for your journey. I highly recommend it. It doesn't do the
work for you but it does all the stuff about 20 other different pay websites
do, in one free website, and lets you talk to lots of other successful people
who have lost weight.

.. ......

If you go there, say MissZ1 sent you.

.. ......

So, that is how I am losing weight.


50 pounds down, (97 if you count the 47 pounds I slowly lost over two years and didn't notice.) And about 100 left to go (this year.) I should be to my true goal by Samhain this year.


OH and before anyone asks. I did NOT use magic to lose any of this weight. I thought about it, considered it carefully, but every time I did I saw myself getting cancer or some other fatal disease and dying but leaving a very thin corpse.


Never use magic on problems that can be dealt with mundanely. The universe will teach you a harsh lesson on that one.


I did use magic for moral support. I have a daily ritual and a mantra,


EACH DAY I BECOME MORE ACCEPTING OF MY STRENGTH!


I say it about a thousand times a day, have it posted up around my house, on my laptop, on my networking websites, and anywhere else I can think to put it. And it is working to help keep me focused. Most people wash out on breaking their bad habits in two weeks. Seriously you should have seen the gym in January, it was a madhouse, but by February it was quite again.

If you can do it for a month, you can do it for a season, if you can do it for a season you can do it for a year, and if you can do it for a year, you can do it for the rest of your life. ......

[link]

You know back in the day proud Americans would hang pictures of the presidents past and present in their homes. It was a quaint and sweet gesture that spoke of loyalty and patriotism.

In many other countries this tradition of having an image of their leader hanging in their home is a proud tradition.

I personally have never felt the need to hang a president's image in my home, until now.

Tomorrow Barrak Obama gets sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. He is just a man, but what he represents is Hope. All of our hope lies in him.

I am deeply considering buying a print of him and hanging it in my home. Here are a few of the options I have:




:thumb105464068:

UPDATE:

As I was unable to find one I really wanted I made this one:




All American by Crimson Vermillion January 19, 2009

Hey,
My article is up on the front page of Witches' Voice. [link]

As many of you know I am a bi-sexual and pagan activist and like to share the little I have learned with others.

Enjoy!

[link]

*sigh*

Well I know that few deviants need to be informed of this but I have to say it anyway. Art theft is wrong. You can't just nick somebodies artwork and put it out there without crediting them. Send it back you know what I mean?

Recently this little treasure trove of nicked works turned up on Picassa (like photobucket only for art theft. Wait, isn't photobucket for art theft? Heh.) [link]

Ok so here is the deal. Most artists don't mind you taking their art and putting it on your computer in an art file, or even posting it on your myspace or gods forbid on flicker or photobucket but you have to CREDIT them. Do not chop the work, edit it, or forget to credit. And to cover your ass, ask permission.

Amy Brown (of Fairy Fame) absolutely fricking hates it when people post her artwork anywhere, so you know what? Don't do it. Just don't. Go buy a box of her postcards for 5.95$ and just put them up in your office or locker.
Don't steal her art. Don't steal anybodies anything. Seriously it just makes you look foolish in the end.

I have a personal website COVERED in my favorite artists work, chopped and even lightly edited, and you know what? I ASKED HIM. He said yes. He is very cool. But every work is linked back to his website. So just ask. The worst they can say is "No."

Anyway all that to say TIN EYE   [link]

Tin Eye is your friend. You just sign up and then you can left click on your artwork here on dA and find out where it is at. (So long as they didn't fricking edit it.) And then you can go poke your fans in the gut and say "IF YOU LIKE ME THEN FUCKING CREDIT ME!"

Nice hungh?

Have fun.

Hi,

I got asked to forward this information to the local gamers/comic geeks but I figured "Why stop at local?" there are a lot of gamers who like my art and who can help.

CARLA AND LANCE HOFFMAN are video gamers, table top players, comic book geeks, SCA members, and all around wicked nerds. Carla works at a local comic book store and keeps a comic review blog. They live(d) in Montecito a small town near Santa Barbara California. They are truly awesome people who you would find at any good con.

Unfortunately they have had some very bad fate dice rolls lately. On Thursday Nov. 13, 2008. (About 6 days ago.) Lance and Carla were caught in a flash fire/wildfire that overtook them as they were fleeing their home. Fortunately they have survived.

Badly burned they drove themselves out of the fire and to the Montecito fire station and from there were taken by ambulance to a Santa Barbara hospital. They are in stable condition but both have suffered sever burns on their arms and legs and Lance has 3rd degree burns on his head.

Their house was incinerated by the Tea Fire, the huge fire burning around the cities of Montecito and Santa Barbara. It is my understanding that the house was rented and they had no renters insurance. They lost everything. Ever game, every game system, their laptops, everything. They have no clothes, no beds, nothing.

For more information you can check this blog: [link]

And here is the official announcement of the fund [link]

I know money is tight right now but if you want to help your fellow gamers there is a few things you can do.

Send a donation to:
The Lance and Carla Burn Fund
Santa Barbara Bank and Trust
1483 East Valley Road
Montecito, CA 93108-1248

Even donations as small as 10$ would be most appreciated.

If you can't send money you can repost this call for help in your own blog/webpage/myspace account. If permissible you could post it on other gamer forums and let others know that two sweet gamers need help. If you are in the SCA please let the locals know that these two need help. Get the word out to others who might be in a better position to give.

And finally you can pray. I know many of us don't usually do that but please keep these two lovely people in your hearts and minds and thank the Power(s) that be for getting them out of the fire and ask them to continue to care for them. They are lovely individuals. They are doing better but they still need our best prayers to avoid further disaster.

I CrimsonVermillion (AKA thewylddream) wrote this and you have my permission to cut and paste it in your own blogs or to put it in emails or where ever you wish, no credit needed. Also you have my assurance that these are in fact real people. They need your help.

And remember every little bit helps. If 100 gamers give 10$ each it is 1000$ enough for new clothes and a bed. If 1000 gamers give 10$ each that is 10,000$ and that can replace game systems, furniture, and really get them back on their feet. You can make a difference. Please give today.

~flintlockprivateer has some of the best Day of the Dead things.
I thought I would share a few with you and some DoD crafts from other artisans.




And some more:
:thumb96996007:

I know I am late. Better late than never!

(Crimson Vermillion AKA thewylddream is a pagan artist and writer living in Missoula Montana USA.)



What you see above is "swag" AKA free shit I am giving away. For more info send me an email that says "I want CV swag." with a current snail mail address at crimsonscarletvermillion@gmail.com 

Otherwise here is some prices on CV merc.

Post cards are $2.50 each + shipping
Puzzels are $19.95 + shipping
Coasters are $20.25 (for 4) + shipping
Mouse Pads are $9.95 + shipping
Mugs are $10.95 or $12.95 + shipping
Greeting Cards are $24.95 (for 10) + shipping


As you can see some of these are a bit pricey! However the small prints are a steal!

A 4x6 inch postcard size photo print is only $1.95 + shipping!!! You could get a set of five for only 10$ (And the shipping is uber cheap!)

And if you really want to be fancy you can get larger prints for about $20 - $30. A HUGE print would be about $60 - $80.'

Click the swag pic above or here to find out more about all of my art prints and merc.



Some of the swag is huge and you may need to send me a large self addressed STAMPED envelope to get it.

[I am sorry I can only send small things for free in the US. If you are out of the USA email me we might be able to work something out.]






All items are first come first served and I am giving them away until I run out. (So for a few weeks or a month.) Happy Samhain!




*It's been an hour and I already got 20 requests so if you want something you best email me at crimsonscarletvermillion@gmail.com  fast!

             



This is my submission to the dA "Epic Logo Challenge."

You can read about this Challenge here [link]

Please note, "The logo design must be in black only. No gradients, no special colors. Just a black logo on a white background."

So the first one is one I submitted to the challenge and the second is one I polished for my own amusement.




And now my speil where I explain the logo:

I do consider the "Wrap Square" to be part of the Logo. I think it is important as it softens the effect of the exciting angular lines.

One of my favorite logos is Rockstar Games; [link] the makers of Grand Theft Auto.  My favorite aspect of their logo other than the star is the elegant look of the enclosing soft cornered square that compliments the soft angels of the star so I incorporated that look here as well.

I made my logo dA standard with a lowercase d with an uppercase A, per the usual dA look.

I felt it was important that the lettering contain artistic elements but still be clearly recognizable as the western alphabet symbols that the logo represents. And it needs to be bold and visible from a distance.

I can tell that this look is a bit more exciting than one might generally want so I softened the look of the logo with a curvy outer line that makes it more pleasing to the eye, not unlike any sports team logo lettering on their jerseys or ballcaps such as the Chicago White Sox logo. [link] see my logo as slightly inspired by that logo because of the outer line and the simple geometric shapes I used.

I wanted it to be exciting but balanced and so if you will notice the "weight" is reversed with the d being more heavy on the bottom and the A having a bolder stroke weight on the top of the logo.

And if you will notice the letters are not crowded together but they do connect and so I think this would look lovely even without the enclosing square.

Because the thickness of the white and black lines are within five pixels of each other one line doesn't get lost when it is reduced in size. I checked this at 50x50 pixels and it is still bold and clear.

I didn't use any font for this. I made it myself, from scratch.

And it is oh so pretty reversed!

Anywho, you can click the thumbs to get a closer look and read the critiques I have received so far. Enjoy!

Oh and this is what the current "new" logo looks like [link] and it will be the new dA logo if we don't find/make something better. I'd like to see everyone put in their own version of the dA logo just so we get a lot of great work to choose from.


-CV

My new email is crimsonscarletvermillion@gmail.com

Should anyone need to inquire about commissions/model/stock or whatever. (And I can always respond to Notes here on DA.)

Errr. I wanted to see my new css. Pretty no?