New Western Items!

Western Skies gallery now has new western and southwestern imagery on both cards, postcards and posters!
Endo Valley Poster

Endo Valley by WesternSkies
Browse more Colorado Posters

and Oldest Church~Santa Fe,NM card

Oldest Church in North America by WesternSkies
card online with Zazzle

Plus several others!

Stand With Iran shirt

Stand With Iran shirt
Originally uploaded by CrypticFragments

Show support for a free Iran with this green tshirt from Tam's Tees.
A part of the Tees for Peace line. "Stand with Iran" is green in honor of many of the Iranian people's support of opposition candidate Mousavi (green was his official campaign color/symbol).

You can also choose to design your own shirt in support of the Iranian people's rights!

End of the Trail

End of the Trail
Originally uploaded by CrypticFragments

My main focus has been on photography since my move to Estes Park. My job at trail Ridge Gift Shop keeps me super busy, but on my days off I try to explore the surrounding area. It can be hard to get around w/o a car in this region but I make the most of it.

This photo illustrates why I am calling Estes Park, Colorado "The End of the Trail...how could I ever look elsewhere for a home?! It has all the rugged wilderness I could ever want, it's GREEN (unlike NM& AZ) and it has all the attributes of a real town.
Ok so it's still unsure if Estes or Denver will be the final parking place but at least I know I'm finally in the right state.

All the images I have taken since arriving here are in my Estes Park & RMNP set on flickr. I would love to try an interesting "experiment". I encourage everyone to visit the photos in their set, and leave a comment if you deem it worthy of being made into a poster/postcard or other item to post to Western Skies.

Thanks for looking at my work, and for participating in my experiment!

New Nature Products from Colorado!

I have been in Estes Park,CO since April 19, now...mainly working. I have only had three days off since starting,so there has not been a lot of time for art, crafts, working on galleries, and so on. I have, however, managed one nine mile hike into a stunningly scenic area called Moraine Park, where I did a lot of photography.
Thus far, two of these images have made their way into my Western Skies gallery.
The first is Marvelous Magpie:


The second is Early Wildflowers


My full line of Western Landscapes can be found HERE, including Grand Canyon and Grand Tetons, as well as these new Colorado images (of which many more will become gallery designs).

In other news, my Asia Major gallery was voted #2 top Zazzle Dazzler gallery for May, and Tams Tees placed #3! Find out more by visiting Zazzle Dazzlers, and then help me become #1 for June!
Thanks for your continued support.

ALL Zazzlers! PLEASE protest!

ok if I was nagry before I am flaming red FURIOUS now>:( >:( >:(

I just got this email from Zazzle...you are NOT going to believe it:

copied verbatim
"Dear crypticfragments,

Thank you for your interest in Zazzle.com, and thank you for publishing products on Zazzle.

Unfortunately, it appears that your product, Peace is Patriotic!, contains content that is not suitable for printing at Zazzle.com.

We will be removing this product from the Zazzle Marketplace shortly.

The details of the product being removed are listed below:
• Product Title: Peace is Patriotic!
• Product Type: Postage
• Product ID: 172837000420778948

• Result: Not Approved
• Policy Violations:

o Design incorporates material the primary purpose of which is to advocate or protest any particular religious, social, political, legal or moral agenda of any person or entity.Design incorporates material that is primarily partisan or political in nature.

We apologize for the inconvenience, a detailed description of the policies are located here.

If you have any questions or concerns about the review of your product, please email content_review@zazzle.com
Best Regards,
Content Review Team
Zazzle.com, Inc."

I wrote back that this MUST be a joke. There are anti-war, PRO war, anti-Obama, anti-Palin, and PRO Bush etc etc etc products all over Zazzle!
They simply CAN NOT be serious about removing PEACE products!

By their own standards this means they are obligated to remove every single one of the other products in violation.

If you are a Zazzler and have not already signed Ranch Lady's petition against this random censorship, please sign it immediately (link forthcoming)

Thank you
CrypticFragments aka Tam's Tees
Wonder when they'll get started on that!


ps this is going on my Art on the Edge and Just Real Life blogs, being twittered, and being posted on facebook

Zazzle, get your act together!

Rusty Relics

"Rusty Relics" is a poster made from an original photography by myself (Tammy Winand). I spotted the scene at the edge of a junkyard in southern New Mexico. If I recall correctly the area was either called old King Mine or Copper King Mine...there was a weird tourist trap fake ghost town there...and a collection of whacked out rusted neglected vehicles and steam radiators, and an old "gypsy caravan" wagon with a giant teddy bear set up at a table inside.

At any rate, this old car caught my eye. It took on a personality...spoke to me with its sad "eyes"...a story of sitting alone, for a long time, waiting for someone to care again.

Rusty Relics by crypticfragments
See more Rusty Posters

I could relate to this feeling so well...and have been waiting almost 4 years turn it into a piece of art. Now it can have life again!

Two New Peace Tees!

I am so happy to be designing these great messages of hope! I was thinking about the Middle East since yesterday as the Pope (bless him, tho I am not Catholic) visited the Holy Lands starting with Jordan. He called for a free Palestinian State (YAY!) and encouraged all faiths to work together to "tear down the walls" of hate/division.
It made me think that, really, the history of civilization began in that region, and about how important it is (and up to US) to make sure it does not, ironically, end there, as shown in the design below.

Mid East Perfect Peace by TamsTees
Design Customized T-Shirts at zazzle.com
View more Peace T-Shirts

As I look forward in my personal life to relocating to Estes on May 19th through mid or late October, I am focusing my energies tighter and tighter. Although all 7 of my Zazzle shops will remain open, Tam's Tees and CrypticFragments will be my priorities, mainly a variety of designs promoting peace.
There will be a wide variety (I have 3 more coming out tonight!)
In support of that the Tees for Peace page will be updated frequently (sometimes daily!) as will my other pages regarding peace and cross-cultural/religious education.

I think I will be able to keep the etsy store open (see my etsy mini in top right sidebar!), as well.

I will remain online after my move, although my available time for it will decrease from 16 hrs/day to roughly 4 hrs/day so I have a lot of "prioritizing" to do...and stick to!
So if you only see me once a week after May 19th, that is why!

Then we'll just have to wait to see what happens come the end of October!

Peace Rocks/Peace in OUR Time

The two new additions to Tam's Tees Tees for Peace line are now available in all sizes/styles/colors offered by Zazzle!

Above is the fabulous "Peace Rocks" offering...sweet!
And below, "Peace in OUR Time"

Get on over to Tam's Tees NOW and support this growing movement! The full product line also includes baseball caps and ties.

Don't see one quite right for you? Well, come design your own!
I have "met" so many wonderful people since starting this promotion only two days ago...clearly this is a sign it is the direction I am meant to continue in.
:-)

Tees for Peace!

Woo HOO! There is a brand new line/focus for Tam's Tees( front page)...it finally hit me (like a ton of bricks).

If you know me via my Squidoo lenses at all, you know I am passionate about promoting cross-cultural/cross-religion education and understanding with the hopes that maybe even one person might broaden his horizons the tiniest bit more, become more tolerant, more open to those of different religions or nations.

I have always been anti-war. I was born during the Vietnam War and although I have no conscious memories of it being on tv/the news I am sure it somehow affected me (I was 7 years old when it ended).
I have always been for peace in the Middle East and, of course, the rest of the world. I believe there are non-violent ways of solving conflict...of course not that I know what those are or I'd be doing something MORE about it!

Anyway, I am now combining my passion for design/Zazzle with my passion for promoting peace! Tam's Tees already had a few "peace" shirts, but now we are expanding by the day (at least as often as I can!)
Here's a look at the full "peace line" as of May 12, 2009.

make custom gifts at Zazzle


There is also a great lens, Tees for Peace, where you can see products of this nature by other Zazzlers, too!
SUPPORT WORLD PEACE NOW!

Crazy Burst Postage...Todays Best Award May 5

I found out this morning through comments on the CrypticFragments gallery that my Crazy Burst postage had won a Today's Best Award for May 5th, 2009!
WOOT!

I have only had 2 (or maybe 3) TBA's since joining Zazzle nearly two years ago, so it always makes me very proud when my work is recognized out of the hundreds (possibly thousands) of design submissions they receive DAILY!

Here's a pic of the winning item!

Now go and get a sheet of these awesome stamps for Spring and summer mail!

Me, the Artist

I don't know why but this afternoon I feel like sharing with you a little about my life as an artist rather than what's new in my shops etc

A typical "art day"...well, first off, I spend way too much time NOT doing art! I get online shortly after waking and get sucked into twitter or emails or surfing interesting sites I call "study" and "research". Sometimes I visit other artists' blogs for visual inspiration or sites devoted to creativity.
Usually I am procrastinating.
I have been told that is "ok"...

After my morning tea and twittering I might sort/organize some beads. As you probably know I have moved/traveled a LOT over the past 10 years so many of my supplies are in storage in other states. I make do with what I can pack along when I relocate or what I spend too much money on as soon as I DO relocate!

I like to play in my art journal but I always feel like I am doing it "wrong". I guess there is no right or wrong, really, but...my art journal is more of a vision board type book or maybe a place to practice. I collage in it, use crayon drawings, etc. Sometimes I paint pages, use stickers or add text. This is NOT a daily art activity.

When I have all my supplies with me I am most likely to be found working on acrylic on canvas paintings (abstracts, landscapes) or mixed media stuff. I love pretty papers & "ephemera" & have a LOT of wood, metal, game piece etc supplies stashed in a garage in Florida. If I'm lucky it will still be there at the end of October & I will be able to go retrieve it all!

My other "passion" is clay...but I am relegated to using air dry varieties or paper pulp imitations for financial reasons. I have at times been passionately into polymer clay art but again, those supplies are back in Florida. Most roommates won't tolerate the smell of pc baking in their oven...

A daily activity IF I go outdoors walking is picking up weird metal objects off the street...rusty washers, discarded nts and bolts, unidentified silvery shapes...I cannot resist them. I have them stored in three states.
While walking I am also obsessed with photo recording interesting sites. I am sometimes afraid people will come after me because I have been known to stop & photograph house/doors/gardens. I also love architectural details on churches, railroads/trains, & urban decay.

About 3-4 days a week I work on one of my seven Zazzle galleries. I also try to list one item in my etsy shop every week.

I am also a creative writer, which means I write, creatively, but not necessarily (at this point) with the goal of publication. Writing was once my primary creative passion. Although I am still in love with words, connecting words, alphabets both ancient and modern, and creating poetic sentences & descriptive paragraphs, I am no longer actively (for now) trying to earn a living from that aspect of my creativity.

I like to read books about creativity, look at stacks of decor & jewelry/paper crafting/mixed media/painting magazines and books (usually over tea or a breve at a bookstore cafe).

I spend more time admiring other peoples' art than I do creating my own!

So...there you have it. A not-quite-complete look at the workings of MY creative spirit.

Cool New Business Cards!

I am still hard at work on the CrypticFragments gallery, folks...and the latest things to develop are the Crazy Burst design line (also available on apparel at Tam's Tees) and a new line of business cards (growing quickly).
In fact the new business cards are my main focus at least for the next several days.

After that, as said in the previous post, I will be moving over to work on Asia Major!

At some point in the near future I will be adding a new line of typographic art posters/prints, as well. This idea is still in the early development phase.

Outside of Zazzle, I am designing some new jewelry pieces for Abundant Treasures, where I work part time, and my etsy shop. It may be a few weeks until they are listed on etsy but believe me they will be worth the wait!

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement!
Creativity is my life and without all your visits and purchases I would not be able to make it.
Please keep supporting your fave indie designers!
Thank you.