Bchrisdesigns 

169 creative works found

• About Me
  by bchrisdesigns

  I love art. I can’t even define what type of art I love best, because I am moved by so many different forms of expression. Film, Music, a…

  I love art. I can’t even define what type of art I love best, because I am moved by so many different forms of expression. Film, Music, and Theater have always been mediums that have influenced me. However, I love the written word almost more than any other art form out there. I feel like sometimes I have so much to say. Sometimes, having that much to say can make a person chaotically mute. Living and growing up in Southern California can be frustrating and awesome all at once! It is a muse beyond muses and, yet, sometimes I feel like everything is so overly suburban. Maybe that is because I live in the burbs? I hail from the San Gabriel Valley, one of the most culturally diverse areas of the entire nation, which is why I am open-minded to all types of foods and cultures. I love living here, but sometimes I wish I were somewhere else because of the “go-go-go” atmosphere around here. Either way, I have a love-hate relationship with my wondrous state! The only other place I have lived was in London, which I loved beyond belief and miss everyday! I am slightly bohemian by nature and a true Pisces!!! For me, “Art” is everything, “creativity” is a driving force, and I have a feeling that, no matter what I do, I will always be creating something because that is what I am drawn to do. My second love is photography – digital photography in particularly. I am never without my digital camera (and even when I am, my cell phone has one built right in, so I am never truly without one). A few times I have been left stranded – no camera, no phone – and it feels like sickness, like part of me is missing. I need to capture images as much as I need to put thought onto paper. It is like a secret drive deep inside. I can hardly explain it or expect anyone else to understand it. It is like, when I am driving and see a beautiful sunset or a building whose lines arch across the horizon like some beautiful poem made into design and then not being able to pull over and capture that onto film makes me sick and leaves me empty. As you might imagine, I am a pain to travel with because I can spend hours in one spot capturing its essence over hundreds of clicks of the camera’s shutter. I particularly love to photograph architecture, cityscapes, nature, and people in those environments. I also have a love for common items that most people surpass, but when studied they offer some insight into humanity and some inner beauty that only the lens of a camera can capture. I am also getting the hang of this graphic arts thing. I love Photoshop. I would not be able to go on without it. It is almost becoming as valuable as my camera…or my pen. My favorite digital art mediums/techniques are: photo illustration, creative portraiture, pop art, composites, collage, lomography, cross processing, tilt shift photography, selective coloring, mixed media design, vector art, and t-shirt design. In fact, one goal is to eventually have my own t-shirt line under my design name: b.christopher designs. My creativity also flows beyond the computer, camera, and page. I have a soft spot in my heart for all things handmade. I am currently learning to sew because I love plush and want to design some. I like working with paper arts, mixed media, and jewelry. I am also a fan of ATC’s and ACEO’s and have created a few. Greeting cards also speak to me. Another goal of mine is to have a greeting card line. Greeting cards make everyone happy. I like that about them. As you can see, I have so many areas of interest. And, because of this, I am constantly busy with something or other. But, I always have time to make new friends and give feedback – so, don’t be shy. I would love to know what you think about my artwork. There is more to come, so stay tuned! And, if you are interested in hiring me or commissioning/purchasing one of my works, please contact me at b.christopherdesigns@yahoo.com. Thanks! Best Regards ~b.christopher

• 

  Power to the Masses
  by bchrisdesigns

  WE have the power because we are the masses! / So fight even hard for alternative resources! Wind is a natural power. More of us should use it. / CREATION INFORMATION Medium: Vector Art, Typography, Mixed Media Design, Digital Art, T-Shirt Design. Tools: Photoshop CS2, Digital Camera. NOTES: This shirt was inspired by this photograph that I took in Palm Springs. However, this shirt graphic was completely designed using vectors. / ALSO AVAILABLE / Mill on the Horizon Cards & Wall Art /  

• The Monkey's Top 11: Eleven Facts I Hold to be True
  by bchrisdesigns

  #9 – If I were you, I’d be reading this right now.

  This piece of creative prose was written in March of 2005 for the, now defunct, web journal “Pretty Witty”, where I used to write a monthly column entitled “Save a Cow, Kill a Chicken”. I am not sure if the links in this piece are even still accessible, but those are just bonuses anyway. Enjoy and let me know what you think! Remember, this is merely an opinion piece created for the purposes on entertaining and humoring and nothing more. / CREATION INFORMATION Medium: Writing – Creative Prose, Humor, Lists Tools: Microsoft Word, My Brain/Imagination Topic: Top 11  

• Sitting
  by bchrisdesigns

  Who here can claim that driving is power? / Probably all you who call this rush hour.

  I wrote this poem in August of 2003 and it has gone through many tweaks since then. It has never been published and I am a little wary of putting on RB because of the First Rights issue. However, I wanted to join the Boredom Competitions on the 24/7 group’s latest competition What Moves You. I may decide to take this down after the competition or not, depending upon the response it receives. I chose this piece because, while a car and driving do “move” a person – traffic does not. So, while this poem may appear to reflect something that does not move me, it is actually depicting something that IS moving me…just at a slower pace, which is aggravating. I also think it works on two levels and has a metaphorical connection to being “moved” as well. Sometimes, what moves me not to get into the car and go is the thought of traffic and “rush hour”. I think it is also what moves many people to exhibit signs of road rage. I hope you enjoy! As always, feedback is sought and appreciated! Cheers! / CREATION INFORMATION Medium: Writing – Poetry, Social Satire Tools: Microsoft Word, My Brain/Imagination Topic: Satire, Social Commentary, Driving / CONTEST & CHALLENGE HISTORY 04/07/08 – Written Finalist for Boredom Competitions on the 24/7’s What Moves You Competition Members can see all finalists and vote here for their favorites. Voting closes on 04/08/08. 04/06/08 – Entry to Boredom Competitions on the 24/7’s What Moves You Competition  

• Emotive Photography's Artist Spotlight
  by bchrisdesigns

  I have been given the wonderful opportunity to interview artists for the Emotive Photography group’s Artist Spotlight section...

  I have been given the wonderful opportunity to interview artists for the Emotive Photography group’s Artist Spotlight section. I think this is going to be a great project for all of us to get to know, relate, and learn from each other on a more personal level. A new artist will be interviewed every two weeks and the interviews will be posted every Saturday/Sunday. So, make sure you check back every other weekend to read up on the new artist in our spotlight! I will be going through the group and picking random group members and contacting them to see if they are interested in being interviewed. If they are chosen, I will also choose one of their pieces that best represents why the artist is part of this wonderful group, and include that piece with the interview. The spotlight will consist of 21 questions, pertaining to Emotive Photography, art in general, facts about the artist, and about their collection and chosen piece. I will never ask the same set of questions and will always strive to ask questions that will help us get to know the artist and what makes them tick! As a little bonus, the 21st question will ALWAYS be an off-the-wall style choose-your-own-adventure type of question – just for fun and just to keep us artists on our toes! Each spotlight will be posted in the Emotive Photography group’s forums and a snippet will be posted in my Red Bubble journal and in my b.christopher designs blog with a link to the entire interview (just in case a non-member would like a peek). These interviews have lots of great information about photography and life and do not just apply to our group. Every RB member would benefit from reading them. I will be choosing the first artist this week and will get the interview up by Saturday/Sunday. So, check your Bubble Mails, because it very well could be YOU! So, remember to stay tuned… Plus, if you are not yet a member of the Emotive Photography group, you should check it out. It is a great group of people with some amazing images!

• The Lovers
  by bchrisdesigns

  Even the dusty butterflies and swaying tree had felt the need to pause and reflect on the power of love’s spell.

  [Note: The above image, Faerie Dust, was created to accompany this Flash Fiction/Poetry piece.] / CREATION INFORMATION Medium: Writing – Flash Fiction, Poetry, Fantasy, Romance. Tools: Microsoft Word, My Brain/Imagination. Topic: Magic, Love, Faeries/Fairy

• Artist Spotlight - 21 Questions with Philip Rogan
  by bchrisdesigns

  / Artist Spotlight – 21 Questions with Philip Rogan...

  / Artist Spotlight – 21 Questions with Philip Rogan   / by Brian Jaime This week, I had the awesome task of combing through the group to find someone to be the first victim…er…artist to showcase in the bi-weekly Artist’s Spotlight. It gave me the fantastic opportunity to view many, many outstanding RB Artist Portfolios and I was very surprised by the talent that is represented in this group. I wound it down to a handful of emotive images, which caught my eye and then narrowed those down based on the over all portfolios of the artists. So, if you did not get selected this time around, who knows, you may already be on the list! For this first spotlight, I chose a wonderfully talented artist, Philip Rogan , who is based in Spain and whose portfolio is one emotive trove of visual eye candy! If you have not had a chance to check it out, you really should. He captures piratically everything in the emotional gamut, from anger to love, with a keen eye for composition and storytelling. I was delighted to be able to pick his brain about everything from Ireland to filmmaking, and his wonderful piece Young Actor. He has also presented some wonderful tips to artists about the business of photography and on how to capture emotions on film. And, if that were not enough, he was also able to tackle the dreaded twenty-first question with an answer that is poised and, well…emotive! One / So, tell us a little about you and your life. Not so much the artist, but the person. I am married to Maria, who is a whole six years younger than I am and who I met in Dublin six years ago at a beach party in a house. We now have a wee son named Patrick (very Irish, I know, it just felt like his name so he got it and it’s him now.) They both have a great sense of humor and crack me up a lot. Work wise, at the moment, I am looking at a pretty intense week ahead of me starting tomorrow. I am shooting an Incentive Trip, basically thirty business managers from around the world hiking through two canyons (river gulleys); and, I am more than a little worried about surviving the trip myself because my fitness levels, which were never great, are probably at the lowest I have ever known them to be. Living here in Mallorca it’s a bit of everything type existence. Two / You say that you were born in Ireland. Did you grow up there as well? Yeah, born and bred in Dublin. I am from Raheny, a suburb on the Northside of Dublin, whose recently most famous former-resident would probably be Ronan Keating of Boyzone. It’s a nice place, in many ways—near to the sea, Dollymount Beach and the great and magical St. Anne’s Park (formerly owned by the Guinness family). Three / Give us a glimpse into your childhood… Childhood. Mostly good. My dad, George, was an office clerk for Sealink, mostly accounts and suchlike, though he wrote a lot of Poetry and was quite a romantic at heart. There was never a shortage of food or clothes, though my Dad’s sister from Chicago used to send us awful, out of fashion stuff that my Mom eagerly dressed us in so that I ended up wearing flairs whilst everybody else was in drainpipes. I got slagged a lot for that and my straight hair and being so skinny. I was not a fighter but was okay in schoolyard fun fights, so I was never really picked on as a target in that way; but, I hated school and the taunts as I was so bloody sensitive. At twelve, the time you go to secondary school, I sort of made a vow that I have stuck to ever since, which was that nobody would fuck with me ever again. I hit a few idiots over the years and I do not believe in pacifism as a couple of cracks to the head of a bully is much, much better than stoic resistance. I had great friends over the years and we had some great times and some wild times too (nothing overtly mental). Mitching off school was great, as was smoking fags (cigarettes, to you Americans) and all that. Also, it was in secondary school that I was introduced to the likes of David Bowie, The Doors, Lou Reed, Led Zeppelin and Van Morrison. So whilst everybody else was mad about Duran Duran or Haircut 100 (or even the Cure), I was back in the 70’s with a BASF tape of some pure genius. Bowie is still my hero. Four / You are now located in Spain, how has that been different from where you lived previously? Well, the weather obviously is completely different. The languages are different—Castellano (Spanish) and Mallorquin (Catalan), and a lot of residents of Mallorca are German, so English comes in 4th place. I live in the weird society of ex-pats living in Mallorca, united by that alone whilst touching on the Spanish and Mallorcan societies through my wife and other colleagues via work mostly (well, existing, of course, but work is a common shared experience rather than just buying something or asking for a service). Mallorca is very, very beautiful and, as Gertrude Stein said, ”...it’s Paradise if you can stand it.” Read “A Winter in Majorca” by George Sands and you will understand something even though it’s over 150 years old, the character is still there. It’s an island with a massive airport and the number one tourist destination in Europe that is not a big city. Five / Is your art (or has your art ever been) affected by the places where you live? Yeah, to a degree of course, because you learn different stuff and the light is also different. Like, here in Spain, its sun-sun-sun with very little clouds, so, with no real soft light, it’s harder for me to take a portrait here than in Ireland. I honestly prefer the simplicity of a soft light, like Ireland’s, where the face is the issue rather than shadow management. That said, the fact is that here you can shoot cleaner images as you have all this light, lots of it, and almost everyday the chances are 70-90% that, yes, it’s going to be sunny. Otherwise, people are people and, as you can see, I like shooting them, and, to some degree, I have been doing a little less of that here over the last five years as my work has been about the film festival. Six / What mediums do you dabble in (i.e. photography, painting, writing, graphic design, etc.) and where would you say you are at in terms of an artistic career? Well photography, filmmaking and scriptwriting, poetry and writing stories (though I have the knack of not finishing them), and hopefully we will be doing a TV series soon (a pilot proposal and all that) with a writer friend of mine, Barbara Jago who has twenty-two finished movies to her credit. I draw in the doodle sense, but used to love it as a teenager and would spend hours, days, weeks drawing and usually copying material from a comic called “2000AD” of which I was a mad fan. In terms of graphic design, I wish I had more skill sets and tools that I was good at using, but I do art direct material particularly now for the Expo and before for the film festival. The good eye comes in handy and the brain for imagining stuff. We produced three years worth of visual material for the MFA Planet Europe Short Film Festival and I think I should post some of it up. Seven / Why is photography one of your chosen mediums? If I am anything, I am a photographer. I did not choose it as a medium per se. I would not really regard myself as an artist but as a photographer. I do not see photography as being art all the time, in fact most photography is not. It serves a purpose and art by definition, though this is a sticky one, does not. So wedding photography, no matter how wonderful, is a service and a product first and foremost and reportage is visual reporting, etc. Eight / What advice would you give to anyone who may be thinking “Gee, I sure would like to be a photographer…”? I suppose the only advice is go for it. If it’s in relation to making it a job, there are so many possible lines of advice, though one of which is that, to make money, you should follow a particular line of commercial work if you want to make a living. Unfortunately, for most it is true that, if you are shooting this and that and the other, you have to spread yourself thin and it’s hard to make a rep in any of them. So whether you do weddings, catalogs, fashion, reportage, etc., then do that as best as you can. Any other stuff, keep it as a hobby and enjoy it, and if it happens to generate some work on the side that you get paid for…great! Nine / Do you have a muse? Or, perhaps some other “person”, “place”, or “thing” that has inspired you to create works of art? My friends have been muses as such and their interaction as well, though I suppose some of them have been more interested in collaborating in front of the camera than others. Friends and actors, I suppose, have been the most like muses though there has never been a consistent one. Ten / Some artists are self-taught and others get degrees (and, still others learn what they want and then leave school). Would you mind sharing your educational background with us and how it has or has not helped you in your endeavors? Oh I am highly educated! I went to Colaíste Dhulaigh in Coolock Dublin in 1989, after secondary school (high school), which was a PLC or Post Leaving Cert course in communications. There, I studied TV, Sound, Photography and general Media studies for three years and specializing in photography in the third year. For example, the picture Orla: 70-80 Leeson Street was from my third year there and a project I did on seated or, as I called it, Chaired Portraits. Later, in 1998, I went back to college as a mature student and did four years in Dun Laoighre’s College of Art & Design in Film studies. That was a very practical course in the business of making movies, particularly shorts. By the time I finished, four years later, I had worked on somewhere like 30-40 short films in one capacity or another. Eleven / While viewing your RB portfolio, I noticed that you take a lot of photographs of people, both portraits and candids. Would you say this is your preferred type of subject matter? And, if so, can you elaborate as to why or why not? Absolutely preferred subject matter. I get more satisfaction out of a good portrait than any other type of picture. To get a good portrait is a collaboration between the photographer and the subject. People are simply more interesting to look at, particularly in a voyeuristic wondering sense—who are they, what are their lives about, why do they look so in this picture, etc. Also its where photography performs it’s most subtle, yet dramatic transformations. People are not as we photograph them, at least I think the better photographs do not depict people as they are but as something else all together more powerful. Look at Sebastioa Salgado’s biblical portraits of people, generally poor, all over the world. They are transformed into icons. The portrait of Che Guavera by Alberto Korda provided the raw communications material for legend building. I love portraiture from Korda to Leibowitz, from Avedon to Newton. Twelve / What’s your favorite photograph throughout your entire RB portfolio, it does not necessarily have to be an emotive photograph (but bonus points if it is)? I love Bikers at the Man o’ War because it’s probably the best photograph in my portfolio in terms of quality on all points; but, I also like Shopping with Mom because it was a street capture and it’s so balanced on normality and has an angelic quality that this bored shopping girl possesses. It switches I suppose, I love the portrait of Nuala in Irish Girl she is just stunning. I have an image that I have not posted yet of a friend chewing on his thumb whilst staring out the window all pensive, and that has always been one of my favorites. Thirteen / Do you have a favorite emotive photograph, other than your own, that you have sighted on RB (it does not necessarily have to be from our group, but bonus points if it is)? Why? Well looking through my favorites, I saw J+D by Paula Birch which I saw months ago on RB and which I really like for its fresh, natural and loving sense. It was a picture that I would have been very happy to have taken and to have in my portfolio. Fourteen / One of the photographs in your RB collection is “Young Actor”, can you tell us more about the background of this shot and why you chose to place it in your collection? Well I just uploaded it before I got your mail for this interview. I do not know the name of the child anymore, but the woman yes. Both were acting in a film I was producing in Dun Laoighre for my classmate Danny O’Dwyer, who had written the script and was directing it. It was a week of great madness in Cashel Co. Tipperarry. The story was about a young girl who wrote fairytales in which she featured as a defense or escape because her real life was just so awful. The actors in “Fairytale” were all non-actors as such (bar the hunchback, played by JP Dunleavy) and some of them were not too far from their characters. Danny weaved a certain grubby magic that week, and the film, though somewhat slapped together, was quite harrowing in its entire thirteen minutes. It´s there because the kid is staring at me like he wants to punch me for taking his picture. Fifteen / While the child in the photograph is extremely adorable, he looks rather unhappy. Was this the case at the time of the shoot? Adorable? Yeah, he was a bad tempered kid who was not happy to be on the hot set, but as he was there anyway he decided to stare us all out of it and let us know how unhappy he was. Sixteen / Some people say that children and animals are the hardest subjects to film and photograph. Was it a daunting task photographing a child? What has been your experience? This was not daunting, and, though kids are hard to photograph, they also present you with a million opportunities where adults have learned to clam up and provide you with three or four faces only (usually the camera “smile” which is about 85% of all the posed photos in the world). I think with kids you can have great craíc photographing them and though you might burn more film, nowadays with digital it’s not an issue. Seventeen / What advice would you give to other photographers about capturing the different states of emotion, which you have captured throughout your portfolio? Well keep looking, pre-empt if you can and, in posed images, work hard to get it right between you and your subject. I can be quite demanding of a subject and sometimes resort to “look here”, “raise your chin”, “now close your eyes…on three open and stare at me”, etc. I also move peoples bits and pieces, arms and legs primarily (ha ha ha), into positions that work for the camera. I also ask a lot of questions of the subject to see if we reach a common conclusion. They are transformations with elements of truth, but they are not “true representations capturing that persons soul”, that’s rare or maybe just bullocks. Eighteen / Are the people in your photographs acting for portraiture? Or, did you just happen to be in the right place at the right time to be able to capture such great emotiveness? As above yes, though not all of them. Sometimes, like in Love at the Man o’ War or Small Job you see something that is already a photograph and you just got to click fast. Nineteen / Acting in portraiture vs. real life candids, which do you prefer? Why? Real life candids, in terms of just getting a great lucky shot, but that’s normally a surprise, unless you are working a social occasion like a wedding and picking them off. But, more work goes into getting a posed portrait right and, so, it’s a different maybe more complete sense of satisfaction. Twenty / Where do you see yourself and your artwork in the next 5 years? What would you like to happen/accomplish? Nowhere, particularly, but I would love to exhibit on the physical plane and see how that might go down. Otherwise, I want to make a short film or two in the next few years, and my major ambition is to make a feature length film that’s worth making. I do not want to make a feature film that sucks or is just alright but not very emotive. I would like my audience to sit in their seats somewhat stunned, awash with conflicting emotions and unsure as to what to do next. I would make a rip roaring horror where its a laugh a second, as a second best option. Neither is an easy to achieve ambition and I have them on a long finger, before I am 50 is my general aim. And, now for the 21 million dollar question… eh, just adding dramatics… Twenty-One / If given the choice to either never take another photo again OR live in a world where you can take all the photos you want but everyone else would go blind and would never see those photos, which would you choose? Remember, you have to choose one of them, but you can tell us why you chose it. I would never take a photograph ever again and I would not be in the least bit bothered knowing that I had saved the world from blindness. Photography is important to me and images are important to man, but way, way down the list whereas music would be way up the list by a few hundred places. I can’t sing nor play an instrument, so go figure, but music moves me and I think almost everybody much, much more than a photo or painting. Stories are just after music or maybe before?

• WMG's Blogazine Issue No. 5
  by bchrisdesigns

  Writers’ Market Group’s Blogazine Issue No.5 is now up and it features some great jo…

  Writers’ Market Group’s Blogazine Issue No.5 is now up and it features some great journal entries, poetry, stories, updates, and information. If you have not yet had a chance to check it out, you should take a gander because there is something there for everyone! Also, be sure to check out the Stories section, as I was given the awesome privilege to choose some of the featured stories for this issue! I read through a lot of great stories, but in the end, three really stood out both on technique and substance. The three stories I chose came from some really talented Red Bubble writers: Jane A. Paris, Natella2020, and DKerr. Congratulations to all those whose pieces were selected!! If you are not yet a member of Writer’s Market Group, you should definitely check out the group and sign up! Cheers!

• I Know Where Mommy Is
  by bchrisdesigns

  *Bobby poked his tiny head around the corner and saw the man with the metal fingers pointing one, long silvery one at his daddy. Daddy l…

  This piece of flash fiction was written because I was in a state where all I could think of was “sad ghosts”. Hmmm… / CREATION INFORMATION Medium: Writing – Flash Fiction, Suspense/Horror/Mystery, Tools: Microsoft Word, My Brain/Imagination Topic: the Supernatural, the Mob / CONTEST & CHALLENGE HISTORY 05/21/08 – Winner of Flash Fiction’s May – first challenge ‘Witness’ (Somebody pinch me!!!) 05/13/08 – Entry to Flash Fiction’s May – first challenge ‘Witness’  

• Screenshot of My Woes...
  by bchrisdesigns

  Okay, so RB has been wigging out on me lately! What’s the deal-y-y-o? I AM GOING CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! RB spare me this insanity…. pwee…

  Okay, so RB has been wigging out on me lately! What’s the deal-y-y-o? I AM GOING CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! RB spare me this insanity…. pweese? :o( I have written two posts about this, here and here. And, now this journal to share with you the utter chaos I have been dealing with for the last 2 1/2 days!!! It totally ruined Drawing Day for me!!!! Oh pooh! This problem is not with FireFox or IE, because I tried both and the problem persisted with both. I have been dealing with pages like these the entire time as well as other minor things as stated in the forum posts. Oh, somebody help. OR, I’m gonna go postal! Flames…flames at the…side…of my face…heaving breaths…! Here are some screen shots I took today. The first is FF and the second is IE: /  

• First Sale on RB!!!!
  by bchrisdesigns

  Today marked my first ever RB sale. The lucky piece to be purchased was Mill on the Horizon...

  Today marked my first ever RB sale. The lucky piece to be purchased was Mill on the Horizon : I want to personally thank whoever it was who purchased this card! Thank you for making my day! Much love to you all! Cheers! ~b.chris

• North Tower
  by bchrisdesigns

  It was up to him to complete the mission. Failure was not an option.

  My brother, Jason, inspired me to write this piece. This is for you, bro! LOL! / CREATION INFORMATION Medium: Writing – Flash Fiction. Tools: Microsoft Word, My Brain/Imagination Topic: Action/Adventure, RPG, Counter Strike. / CONTEST & CHALLENGE HISTORY 06/17/08 – Entry to Twisted Tales’ Star Twister Week 5 – Tower  

• Dirty Little Secret
  by bchrisdesigns

  NSFW

• The Monkey's Top 11 Insights on Red Bubble Challenges
  by bchrisdesigns

  My quick rant on challenges: #11 – For those who do not want to take challenges seriously, you must remember that there are also the h…

  My quick rant on challenges: #11 – For those who do not want to take challenges seriously, you must remember that there are also the half of us who do. There are the half of us who want to be able to to say our pieces have placed in challenges and competitions because it is a great marketing tool and for some of us it is not some side hobby or thing that we do for giggles. For some of us, it is our livelihood and dream and anything we can add to make it more fruitful we will take. So, yes some people do take it seriously because we take our art seriously. It is not all fun and games. Sorry. #10 – The voting system now seems to be unfair but it is actually more fair than the way challenges have been run in the past. It is the lesser of two evils. However, I think that the system still needs to be tweaked. Some people have suggested that voters be forced to rate entries from 1 to 5. I have been part of communities where this type of rating system does not work and only leads to more bitterness. Other people think that contests should have a panel of judges. I am not sure if this would work here on the site because who is going to judge? It should not be any of us, if that is the case. Some have suggested that moderators pick. Which, I think, is ridiculous because you cannot guarantee that the moderator is not going to pick someone they know or give more leeway to someone they know. #9 – I believe that there should be two classifications of challenges/competitions: Group and Red Bubble. Group Challenges/Competitions should be group-based and offer recognition, feature placement, and maybe small prizes. Red Bubble Challenges/Competitions should be held by Red Bubble and should be open to anyone regardless if you belong to a group or not and should offer the bigger prizes: larger monetary prizes, exhibition placement, and/or publication. #8 – Okay, so who is the cranky pants who wants to forbid people form promoting their challenge entries in their journals? Some cranky people call this spam… only no one is forcing you to read the journal. If you don’t want to hear people promoting themselves in a contest, then just don’t click on it and read it! Let those who are interested in it read it! Simple as that! Why force everyone else not to do something just because you think it is an inconvenience for your eyes to see it? And, for those who say it is “cheating”...puh-lease! There is a link, in most cases, where you can send notice to “friends and family” to vote for you – and this is directly from the challenge page! Oh, but don’t write that journal entry you filthy cheater! LOL! Um, so which is blacker? The pot or the kettle? What happens if the way I tell my friends and family about these things is through my journal and not through e-mail? What next? I can’t blog about it? #7 – If a group is going to offer a huge prize (monetary/exhibition/publication/etc) for a challenge/competition, they should NOT take it lightly and ensure that the voting is fair. The current challenge system is not fair. It is a popularity contest and not a determination of the best work. But, even before the new system, it was like this. I remember entering a competition with two entries that I had worked really hard on and were, INMHO, outstanding and when I saw the rest of the entries I was sure I would win because all the rest looked very amateur. But, all the votes for the winning entry came from people whose works were very amateurish as well and were friends with the person. So, a substandard work won the prize – a work that would never see the light of day in a gallery or publication! Winners of challenges and competitions should be gallery-worthy or publication-worthy, the best of the best. But, because challenges are taken so lightly, a lot of wrong stuff wins! #6 – If challenges are democratically run and group members vote for their favorites, then the system will ALWAYS be flawed because people vote for all sorts of odd reasons: they are your friend or know you, you voted for them so they vote for you, you were really nice to them last time you BM’d them and so they are voting for you, etc. Not to mention the fact that a lot of people forget about the technicalities and are not judging works based on merit and craftsmanship but on content and popularity only. If you have birds, unicorns, babies, bright pretty colors, or teddy bears in your art then you get a lot of votes because a lot of people will ignore the fact that your art is over saturated or that the composition could have been better, etc. all because that puppy dog is so cute! This hurts Red Bubble’s image and makes us no better than “Hot or Not” or American Idol, where I can vote someone off because I hate the way they did their hair! #5 – A lot of people say that people will not take the time to vote if you make them jump through hoops. But, I say start jumping, honey! This is how it should work: Person A looks at the challenge entries and decides to vote for Person B’s work. Up pops a widget that asks Person A to vote for Person B’s work on five levels: Theme (does this piece meet the requirements of the theme? does it fully capture the essence of the theme?), Composition (evaluate the piece’s technical aspects, such as: saturation, digital or traditional effects, composition, sharpness, or grammar and spelling – for writing, etc.), Quality (is this piece worthy of being placed in a gallery or museum? would you buy it and hang it on the wall in your home? would this piece be published in a magazine, newspaper, book, or other periodical?), Inspiration (does this piece move you? does it tell a story? is it the best example of the challenge theme?) and Technique (did the artist make the best use of whichever technique they used? If it is lomography or HDR or traditional painting or sketching or vector art or writing or t-shirt design or Polaroid or TTV or whatever technique used, was the technique up to par?) #6 – In addition to the above, voters should be clueless about the artist who submitted the piece. The artists names should be hidden and they should not be allowed into an artist’s portfolio until AFTER the competition. This way, if it is a group or site-wide vote, it is fair. It is like taking the names off of three poems and then having someone else read them and pick their favorite without knowing who wrote them…a blind taste test if you will. This way, the truth comes out and only the best survive. #5 – If you would rather not have group voting, then you would need to have judges from outside of Red Bubble pick the winners. This only works for larger challenges and competitions that offer exhibition or publication because then you could have the venue or publication choose – if they agree to, which many do not have time for. Otherwise, how can you guarantee that a panel of judges from Red Bubble will be non-biased? THE ANSWER: You can’t. #4 – Challenges and competitions are a promotional tool for artists and writers and some can even bring in extra money. So, some artists and writers will do anything (and I do mean ANYTHING) to win. It is sad but true. So those of you who do not think that someone will create multiple accounts or do other dishonest things, be aware that there are people out there who are not as honest as the rest of us and will use and abuse the system and we have to be on the lookout for said individuals. If something smells fishy, it usually is fish…or deceit. And, honeys, this is not Red Lobster! #3 – This is to Red Bubble higher ups: If you are going to host a challenge/contest/competition for people to have their work exhibited/published then make sure everyone is able to participate or at least that there are these types of things all over the world for people to be a part of. It seems like a big job, yes I know, but you are not alone. There are members from all over the world who could contact local galleries and the like for Red Bubble sponsored exhibitions. It seems like most of the stuff on Red Bubble, for the moment, is all for those in Australia. I know that you all are based there, but this is not an Australian website. It is world wide but seems catered, which could hurt you. The last few major challenges offering exhibition seemed to cement that. Maybe you should create a team that searches for exhibitions all over the world that way NO ONE is left out? #2 – Everyone should take this seriously. Sure, some think it should all be fun and games, but it is not. For a lot of us, this is life and we do not toy with it. Sorry if our seriousness frightens or offends you in your hobby-eqsue world, but not all of us live there. Some of us live in a world where putting a blurb about winning a challenge can help us sell a few extra pieces and thus give us extra money for things like medicine and food and gas. it is serious business. Plus, a lot of things (i.e. a game of “Monopoly”) start off fun, but it isn’t long until rules are bent, egos crushed, tempers flare, and some are left disgruntled and vowing to never participate again. And, if you start off handling it serious, then the fun can come later because everyone will be happy. But, when you try to make it all fun up front it usually ends in disappointment. To quote Dr. Malcolm from Jurassic Park: The Lost World: “Sure, that’s how it all starts…but later there’s running and screaming…” #1 – There will always be ways to cheat and there will always be people trying to learn those ways. Did you know that there are programs that can switch your IP Address every few seconds? Or that no matter how many right click blockers you put on your profile, someone can still download your images from the web? There are people that will create fake accounts and e-mail addresses. And, some people will even hack into your e-mail, set up an account on eBay and sell fake computers in your name! (I had to add that last part because it actually happened to me. True story.) So, this stuff is real and does happen. All we can do is try to come up with something that is not so relaxed and something that will ensure that even if it is not 100% accurate, it is still close enough to count. I think Red Bubble is doing an admirable job in making challenges even better and that they still have a lot of work ahead of them. There will always be disgruntled people and you can’t make everyone happy. All you can do is assure that voting and entry are completely for the sole purpose of finding the “best of the best” and NOT the “best of the most popular”! Cheers! ~ b.chris / a.k.a. Brian / a.k.a. The Monkey / :o) P.S. I am a host over at the Twisted Tales Group and we welcome any and all RB members to come over and participate in our challenges. Our Challenges are very fair. Only entrants can vote and no one can vote for themselves. We have yet to have a problem with this type of voting and everyone seems happy! Come check us out as we are a great place for writers and readers! P.P.S. Check out this thread for more challenge/contest feedback.

• EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  by bchrisdesigns

  “Did you feel it?” That is the most common thing said after most earthquakes in California! And, today was no exception! I woke u…

  “Did you feel it?” That is the most common thing said after most earthquakes in California! And, today was no exception! I woke up screaming this morning as the earth shook viciously. Glass went flying and I cut my hand!!!! Ouch! It hurts! California experienced a fierce shaker just before noon (my morning, since I was still asleep). It was not as big as some of the shakers we’ve had in the past, but it was centered close to where I live (too close for comfort – 5 miles away, yikes) and so our house was shaken bad. It is true – I screamed like a little girl (and scared my partner awake) and ran to the doorway. I am so afraid of these things, so my nerves are jolted. Plus, it does not help that in the distance you can hear sirens. Phones were dead (including cell phones) for the first several minutes and the only way to contact anyone was through e-mail. My parents were eating at a local joint and they ran outside – mom left her cane behind. Well, I have to go nurse my bleeding hand and deal with all the aftershocks that are rocking our world currently. Plus, I need to run along and turn on the local news so I can here them interview everybody in the area and see if they “felt it”. Pray for us Californians. Please. Here is a news link on Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080729/ap_on_re_us/california_earthquake It says it was a 5.8, but the news is saying 5.9/6.0. One thing about every earthquake is that they always give a conservative estimate and then work their way up. By the end of the day, it could be a 7.0! LOL! It’s happened before! God bless everyone else in the Southern California area (I hear they felt it in Las Vegas too) and all those everywhere else…please send us your prayers! Our jolted nerves need it! We will be dealing with aftershocks for at least a week, if not more. And, we are praying that this is the actual earthquake and NOT a fore shock, cause that would be bad!!! I have to go. I am all shook up. I may be away for more than a day to recover… My best to all! ~ Brian P.S. Oh, and Milo, our cat, is okay too! He is old, so we were worried. He was shaken but not stirred! Although, he did refuse to come in the house for awhile! Pets are so easily forgotten during these times!

• The Plot Thickens Featuring The Creature That Walks on Four Legs in the Morning, Two Legs at Noon, & Three in the Evening
  by bchrisdesigns

  What story am I?

  I think I saw this on an episode of Jerry Springer, as well. I have decided to approach this challenge in a different way than most. I am trying to make my entries a reverse challenge to the reader by asking them to guess what story my plot summary is about. / CREATION INFORMATION Medium: Writing – Flash Fiction, Summary. Tools: Microsoft Word, My Brain/Imagination, and this book. Topic: Summary. / BUBBLE HISTORY 07/24/08 – Entry to Flash Fiction’s July 2nd Challenge  

• Last Night I Talked to a Ghost (a.k.a. My Widget is Haunted!)
  by bchrisdesigns

  [Note: This is long but worth the read, if you like stuff about the supernatural, ghosts, or hauntings. This is all 100% true. This is…

  [Note: This is long but worth the read, if you like stuff about the supernatural, ghosts, or hauntings. This is all 100% true. This is not another hoax like the Blair Witch Project. Read with an open mind, please.] Yes, you heard me right. I talked to a ghost. Via a crystal ball. No, I am not crazy. No, I do not have a mental disorder. No, I am not having a nervous breakdown. No, I am not on Vicodin. No, I am not trying to be Sylvia Brown (although, I think she rocks). Yes, I am a completely sane and competent individual. And, I talked to a ghost last night. A real ghost. It happened while I was testing out iGoogle’s Crystal Ball Widget. I have a witness. Go ahead and scoff. Roll your eyes. But, if you do not believe me, consider this… My family and I (all six of us who currently live in this house), along with our extended family and friends (some of whom have also lived in this house), believe this house to be haunted by more than one spirit. One is friendly, and the other is not so friendly. More than one person has experienced the haunting that goes on here. At night, we can sometimes hear drawers slamming, things rattling, people talking, and people moving about. On more than one occasion, a television was turned on and then off upstairs while only one of us was home downstairs. (My mom had a hard time believing me until it happened to her too!) Doors get swung open, things get knocked off of shelves, and more than one person has sworn to seeing someone walk by in an empty room. Need further proof? On one occasion, my partner and I were heading off to bed and we heard a commotion downstairs in the kitchen. I am deeply afraid of burglars and serial killers, so I grabbed by baseball bat and ran down to attack. Only, I found no one. All I found was that the knife drawer in the kitchen was open. I was totally freaked out and started to cry because I felt the presence of something really bad. No one in my family could have done it. Anyone who had access to the house was already in it and already asleep upstairs. All windows and doors were locked – I checked. True story. Another time, a bunch of us were kicking it in the back yard (like we do on most nights because we are mostly bohemian and like to “chill” and play cards and do Tarot) and a friend of mine was taking pictures with her cell phone. So she told me and my BFF to get close so she could snap a photo. When we all looked at the photo, we freaked out because there was a face of a man in the house window behind us. There was a good five to seven people who saw the image and freaked. Some even swore to never stay the night over our pad again! But, what happened next is the clincher… My friend was not touching any buttons on her phone and the picture all of a sudden deleted itself. True story. This other night, a group of us were doing some Tarot readings while sitting in the backyard with candles lit all around us. I usually do the readings for people because I do not need the book to interpret them and sometimes I even see things (but that is a different journal all together). So, I was about to do a reading for my cousin, but she was not sure which question to ask of the cards, because she had two burning questions that needed to be answered. Well, she picked her question and as I fanned the cards out, she exclaimed “Shit, I am not sure if I want to know the answer or not.” I told her that she should have more respect for the cards and maybe not ask any question and let them tell her what she needs to know. As she chose her first card, the umbrella that we were sitting under came crashing down on us and the handle was turning as if someone was cranking it. That handle normally gets stuck and does not move too easily and there was no wind or breeze to speak of, so we were all freaked out and had all witnessed it. True story. One evening I woke up and it felt as if someone was touching me and then I was almost yanked off of the bed. I was so scared that I had trouble sleeping for a month! I am not the only person to have stuff like this happen to me. And, we are all not crazy! Last year, my partner and I were visiting Sacramento on our yearly October Road Trip. And, while in downtown Sacramento, we were stopped by a spiritualist on the street who, when she touched my hand, said she needed to talk to us and to tell us something important. I was very skeptical, because, while I have witnessed many supernatural occurrences, in my experience all psychics want to do is help you by burning a candle and doing some sort of cleansing… for $500. But, she told us that she was NOT a psychic and that she was able to read people by touching them. She touched my boyfriend’s hand and she told him that he was even more skeptical than I was and then proceeded to tell him everything about his life. He never said a word and just listened…amazed. Then she grabbed my hand and gasped. She said that she could tell that I practiced Tarot and that I had dabbled in Spiritualism in the past. She also said that I had great spiritual abilities…duh….and, that I got those from my Grandmother who is deeply spiritual and a devout Catholic. Then she asked me if I wanted to know the whole truth. So, she told me that my house is haunted. I figured, this was the point where she offers to light that candle. But, instead she said that there was a positive energy and a negative one and that the two were always dueling. That the positive energy wanted to keep us safe and that the negative energy wanted to harm us and bring us bad karma. She then spoke of car accidents, lost jobs, broken relationships, and other things that affected my family and that the negative energy was to blame. She told me that, because my mother and I collected too much junk and because we love shopping for second-hand items, that we had brought this negative energy into the house. That it was once attached to an object the we knew was haunted but had kept. She told me that this object was a clown doll. I started to cry. When I was in high school, my mom bought an old clown doll at the local Goodwill store. My mom loves clowns and had a clown doll collection. Anyway, so she piled my two brothers and I into our minivan to go to my grandparent’s house for a visit and brought the doll with her. The doll started to laugh. But the laugh turned into a low moan and then an almost demonic chortle. All of us were frozen but my mom said that it must be the batteries dying. But, when she opened the clown’s battery chamber…it was empty, and the clown was still laughing. So, she threw it to the back of the van and it stopped laughing after a few seconds. The spiritualist said that my mom had kept the clown in the attic in a trunk and had wrapped it in a plastic bag. She was right. She described the trunk and everything. She also said that we had moved the trunk, with the doll inside, to our storage facility, which we had done a month prior to our road trip. She, then, told me that we can move the clown, give it away, throw it in the trash, burn it, destroy it…but that it would do no good. That the spirit was no longer attached to the doll but to our house! And, then she said she could not, would not, help us. She told me to go to my grandmother and ask her about a Novena that would get rid of the spirit. But, the Novena could only be completed by a deeply religious and devout person such as a priest, nun, spiritual adviser, or my grandmother. I asked my grandmother about it and she knew which Novena but said that it takes seven days to complete. She said that when she did it for her house, that it drained her of energy because she was praying so hard. The Novena has yet to be done in my house, so the haunting continues. This all brings me back to iGoogle’s Crystal Ball Widget... It works like a Magic 8-Ball – you ask a question out loud and then click on the ball and it gives you an answer. Now, I never do Ouija boards or ask questions abut the ghosts during Tarot (I did once, and it told me to mind my business), BUT I figured that this was harmless because, after all, it is a Widget! So, I asked it some random questions. I asked it things like: “Am I drinking soda right now?” / “Is Greg (my partner) sitting on the bed reading Harry Potter right now?” / “Am I the bomb?” / “Was there an earthquake this last week?” / “Did I sell two t-shirts on Red Bubble this week?” / “Is my brother, Jason, in his room playing Counter Strike right now?” ...and so on. And, it was eerily correct in all it’s answers. So I decided to ask it some riskier questions about the past. And, it got all of them right! I asked things that both my partner and I knew the answers to and it always guessed accurately. I have NEVER had this happen with a Magic 8-Ball . So, then I started asking about the future and all the answers seemed plausible. And, then I had the urge (for some odd reason) to ask it if my house was haunted. “Most Decidedly.” “Is there more than one ghost in this house?” “Certainly.” “Are there more than two ghosts in this house?” “My sources say, no.” “So, only two ghosts are in the house?” “You can count on it.” “Did one of the ghosts leave the knife drawer open?” “You can count on it.” “Did the ghost close the umbrella on us in the backyard while we were doing a Tarot reading?” “Most certainly.” “Did the ghost appear in my friend’s cell phone picture and then delete it?” “Yes.” “Am I talking to one of the spirits right now?” “Yes.” “Are you the one who tried to pull me off of the bed?” “No.” “It was the other one?” “You can count on it.” “Are you the ghost that we hear at night?” “No.” “Is it the other one?” “Yes.” “Are you protecting us from the other ghost?” “You can count on it.” “Do you like us?” “Only time will tell.” So, at this point I freak out and get watery-eyed. My partner asks what is wrong. / MY WIDGET IS HAUNTED!!!!!! He does not believe it. So, he sits up and asks, “Am I gay?” “Absolutely.” “Is Brian gay?” “Of course.” “Is Jason (my brother) gay?” “Don’t count on it.” “Are we going to have another earthquake this year?” “You can count on it.” “Are you the one who turned the lights off on me while I was cooking in the kitchen earlier this evening?” “Perhaps.” “Am I doubting you?” “Yes.” “Is this for real?” “Of course.” “Am I scratching my nose right now?” “Yes.” Are both spirits in the room with us right now?” “Best that you not know right now.” My partner drops his book and tells me to log off! “Log off now!” So, there you have it. I have a haunted widget now. You can choose to believe what you would like, but I know the truth. This is all 100% true. I have no reason to lie. All of this has happened and can be confirmed with eyewitness accounts. I was just so freaked out that I had to write about it!!!! This is not a joke or a hoax. Sometimes I feel things, sometimes I can sense the presence of danger or know when something bad has happened somewhere but could never explain it. I do believe that I have spoken to the spirit realm both through dreams, prayer, tarot, and now iGoogle.

• Be. Create. Do.
  by bchrisdesigns

  That has always been the official motto of B.Christopher Designs. It is a three-fold pledge to one’s self. And, now, it is on official …

  That has always been the official motto of B.Christopher Designs. It is a three-fold pledge to one’s self. And, now, it is on official B.Chris t-shirts!!!!! Be = In everything you do, be yourself and infuse your goals, desires, and creative sparks with who you are. Be yourself and make that self the best it can be. Create = Take those creative sparks and make them into reality. Remember, that it takes an act of creation to occur before art can exist. Do = To quote one of my favorite movies of all time, “Don’t dream it, be it.” Be it. Create it. And, DO it. The idea behind these designs is to inspire artists of all kinds to be the best they can be. It is a pledge that we can all take. I would repeat these three, little words to myself all the time throughout my past because I have difficulties in each of these areas and often need to push my self to succeed. Without one, the others will fail. I am horrible at marketing myself and even more horrible when it comes to living up to my potential. Sometimes, life just seems too hard to even try. Then, I remember this mantra and repeat it to myself. I often tell myself that I have to… be the artist that I know I am capable of being (no matter what anyone else may say or what odds stand in the way) ...and that I have to… create what my mind begs me to create, and strive to create something everyday because my main goal, as an artist, is to constantly be creative ...and that I have to … do it, because thinking it is not the same as doing it. The only way to be your ideas and create your ideas is to actually, physically, mentally, DO IT It is a constant struggle, but it helps me to start new projects, finish old ones, and get over my fears of self-marketing and not being good enough. So, take the pledge with me today to Be, to Create, and to Do. I figure, if this inspires even just one other person like it has done for me, then that is good enough karma to last a lifetime!!! Cheers!!! ~ Brian :o) P.S. One of these designs is part of the Promote Each Other Group’s Wear it on your chest Challenge. Feel free to check it out along with all of the other great entries!!!

• The 4-1-1 on Dingbats
  by bchrisdesigns

  As many of us artists already know, fonts are NOT just about letters. There are several fonts (some which even come installed with your …

  As many of us artists already know, fonts are NOT just about letters. There are several fonts (some which even come installed with your computer) that are not letters at all. Instead, each letter key represents a different picture, symbol, or shape (similar to brushes used in editing software). These types of fonts are usually referred to as Dingbats. Some dingbats are freeware or shareware (meaning you have to give credit, usually a link, where credit is due and or pay a small fee if using them for commercial use). Other dingbats are specifically created for personal use only and require commercial users to either gain permission (ahead of time) from the font creator and/or split royalties from products utilizing their dingbats. So, before you, the artist, uses a dingbat in your work, be sure to know what type of usage is permitted with the dingbats you are using. I have used some dingbats in my work, but only those that are deemed as complete freeware or shareware AND I always supply credit where credit is due. If you want to be sure what the status of the dingbat you are using is, be sure to read through the .txt “read me” files that are included in the font’s zip folder BEFORE you download them to your computer. I always read through every single file to educate myself on how I can use the dingbat. Also, save the original zip folders with the “read me” files in them somewhere on your computer in the event that the dingbat’s user status changes – this way you have proof that they were available for use at the time of your art’s creation. Installing dingbats is easy. Once unzipped, copy and paste the dingbat’s .TTF file (aka “TrueType Font” file) directly into the FONT folder in your computer’s Control Panel. After that, reboot your computer and you are good to go!!!! Like I said in the above paragraph, I save the original zip files on CD or in my external hard drive for backup purposes. Trust me, if you have to re-install your computer, you will be glad that you have these there and do not have to find them all over again and re-download them. HINT: I do this with brushes, plug-ins, and other ad-ins as well because I have had a computer crash once before and it was NOT pretty. After you have these little pieces of coolness installed in your computer, you can go to it and start seeing what you can do with them using whatever editing software you may have. (They work with Photoshop, Illustrator, Gimp, PowerPoint, Word, and so many other Editing, Graphic, and Desktop Publishing programs that you may already have installed on your computer.) Try adding color, combining them, or even using them in collage work! The possibilities are endless! Just always makes sure (I cannot stress this enough) that you are using them according to the usage permitted upon download. If all else fails, contact the original font creator to get more information! Here are some examples of what you can do with dingbats: So, where can you get some awesome dingbats? Get Yo’ Self Some Dingbats!!!

• Haunting Updates!!!
  by bchrisdesigns

  For anyone who is following the haunting that is going on in my house, this here is an update of more activity. For anyone scratching th…

  For anyone who is following the haunting that is going on in my house, this here is an update of more activity. For anyone scratching their heads and saying, “haunted house? what?”, check out my first post Last Night I Talked to a Ghost [a.k.a. My Widget is Haunted!]. Well, about a month ago, one of my family members (who prefers to remain nameless) went through something similar to what I had previously been through. This family member was awoken in the middle of the night because they thought someone had their arm around them, but when they woke up there was no one there. It was as if an arm was wrapped around them and they swore up and down that it was caressing them. The entire bedroom was checked for intruders but no one was ever found. A few weeks later, my partner and I were watching a television show with my brother and we heard a door slam shut from upstairs in my younger brother’s room. He was not home at the time and no one was awake upstairs. When we went up to investigate, the door to his room was slightly ajar, and he ALWAYS keeps his door closed at all times. We all got freaked out and went back downstairs. Later that night, my partner and I were in our room watching the show Paranormal State. We had Moxy’d (sort of like Tivo) several episodes. I was on the computer, surfing Red Bubble, when I felt a cold chill all around me, so I got into bed. During one of the episodes, I felt something brush by my feet, which were hanging over the edge of the bed. I started to cry. My partner thought I was crying because the show was so scary. But, he knows me better than that and asked me what was wrong. I told him that nothing was wrong. During the last one we were watching, which was a very freaky episode about a house with a demon in it, I told my partner to change the channel because something just felt wrong in the room. As soon as I said that, I felt as if a hand had come down on my right foot and was resting there, squeezing down on my foot. Tears literally poured from my eyes as I yanked my feet up. My partner changed the channel, but the TV screen scrambled. He sat up and told me to tell him what had happened because he knew I was never afraid of TV or movies. When I told him what had happened, he grabbed my hand and said we should go downstairs and have a glass of water. When we came back to the room, the TV was working just fine. On a side note: I have several Rosaries and Scapulars (from my Catholic upbringing) hanging in my room. Before leaving the room, I noticed that one of my Scapulars was hanging awkwardly from where it had been previously hung. I pointed it out to my partner and he said that we had probably bumped into it or something. The next day, as I passed by the place where the Scapular was hung, it was gone…missing. My partner found it later that day at the bottom of a clothing hamper. We have no idea how it could have gotten there or who put it there or why it was at the bottom of a hamper when we had just seen it hanging up the night before. Maybe it was just a coincidence. But I think it was the spirits. And, just the other day, we were all about to have breakfast, when all of a sudden we heard a radio turn on. We all looked at each other and then got up to investigate. We found the cat lying next to my brother’s radio boom box, which was turned on and playing music. The cat was asleep with his head against the speaker. Now, this radio is not easy to turn on—it is actually very complicated, so I doubt Milo Kittlesworth was the responsible party. Now, as I have said before, I have no reason to lie and I concede that it all may just be coincidence. However, too much has happened to make me believe that it is not the work of the super natural. I welcome any and all opinions. :)

• Greg's Birthday Contest 2008 - Finalists Announced!!!
  by bchrisdesigns

  Yay!!!!!! Well, it took a long while to decide (because there were so many fantastic entries) but we got it narrowed down to 18 lucky …

  Yay!!!!!! Well, it took a long while to decide (because there were so many fantastic entries) but we got it narrowed down to 18 lucky finalists!!!!! And, here they are (you can click the image to make it larger): If your design was recently favorited by me, then you are an instant finalist! You can view them all here, as well (the entire first page of my favorites as of 10/02/08). Congratulations to all the finalists! You have made it super-difficult to decide! / Now, there is good news and there is bad news… / First, the GOOD news… You all have made it so difficult on us! Geesh! We will be purchasing more than one design!!!! That means that there will be multiple winners!!! All winning designs will receive the same prizes as scheduled in the first announcement. The prizes are: I will purchase your design on a t-shirt and Greg will model your t-shirt for a photo shoot that will be uploaded and promoted in the Buyer’s Booth and in a special journal entry by yours truly. The winning designers will be interviewed for said journal entry and featured alongside their winning design. The winning designs will also be featured in The Amazing Little Pieces of Awesomeness Gallery (formerly the B.Christopher Designs Virtual Gallery) and in my Monthly Addictions Showcase for October 2008. We will be announcing the winners tomorrow, October 3, 2008. / And now, the Bad News… There are two crucial pieces of bad news. The first is that we will not be revealing just how many winners will be chosen until tomorrow. So, that number is being kept under wraps. It will definitely be more than one, though. The other piece of bad news is that, because we will be selecting more than one winner, we will be purchasing the entire lot of winning designs on Sunday, October 5th (two days after the date we had originally intended to purchase the winning design). We are sure two days is a small price to pay for multiple winners. :) Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE BIRTHDAY WISHES & ALL THE GREAT DESIGNS! YOU ALL WENT WAY ABOVE AND BEYOND AND HAVE MADE THIS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!!!!! MUCH LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!! xoxoxo… ~ Brian and Greg :) p.s. Sorry for placing part of the above all in caps but I am so thrilled that I wanted to express it in a giant way. tee-hee. ;P p.p.s. I am submitting this to all the same groups that approved the first journal, as an update. My many thanks to all the wonderful hosts who have allowed us to add this journal to your outstanding groups!!!! :)

• And the envelope please...
  by bchrisdesigns

  / Greg’s Birthday Contest 2008 Winners!!! It was a very hard, tough, extremely painful decision to choose a winner for this conte…

  / Greg’s Birthday Contest 2008 Winners!!! It was a very hard, tough, extremely painful decision to choose a winner for this contest. In fact, so difficult, that we decided to have multiple winners!! Yay! We narrowed it down to THREE (3) choices – so three designers will receive the prize pack mentioned in the previous JE. We would like to send out big bear hugs and lots of thanks to all of the fabulous designers who submitted designs to the competition. It was so much fun and definitely exciting! We sincerely wish we could buy them all today, but, then that would not be very competitive. But I have plenty of birthdays to shop for in the next few months AND Christmas is a’ coming…so I will definitely have my eyes on these designs!!! I also want to send out a personal thanks to jemimalovesbigted who submitted her fabulous Closet Wear t-shirt (that she originally created especially for me). I love this design so much that I told Greg that it is mine…not his. Hahahahaha! So, he wants to buy it for me soon. (We don’t do the whole matchyy-matchy thing, so it is either one or the other and I am claiming this fabulousness, tee-hee) :) But, I digress… enough small talk. I bet you all wanna know who the winners are?!? Am I right? Well, then, someone hand me the freakin’ envelope please!!!! Drum roll… / So, without further adieu, the winners are (in random order): Wish… by thickblackoutline Road Trip by Patricia Anne McCarty Mystic Tree by Crockpot All of these designers are winners of the following prize pack: I will purchase your design on a t-shirt and Greg will model your t-shirt for a photo shoot that will be uploaded and promoted in the Buyer’s Booth and in a special journal entry by yours truly. The winning designers will be interviewed for said journal entry and featured alongside their winning design. The winning designs will also be featured in The Amazing Little Pieces of Awesomeness Gallery (formerly the B.Christopher Designs Virtual Gallery) and in my Monthly Addictions Showcase for October 2008. All designs will be purchased on Sunday, October 5, 2008. Designers, please check your bmails by the end of the week for instructions on completing the winner’s interview for inclusion with your winning design feature. And, as soon as the t-shirts arrive we will do the photo shoot!!! OMG, this is so EXCITING!!!!!! / BUT WAIT… THERE IS MORE… We know it is not part of the contest, but we will also be purchasing two card designs from the finalist list. With every birthday present, you need a card. Right? These two artists’ t-shirt designs are also card designs (as well as finalists), so they will be purchased and featured along with the winning designs. And they are… the robot and the turnip by Tashana Kjelland ‘A Night on the Town’ poster by Patricia Anne McCarty / Thanks again to all the fabulous designers for your wonderful talent!! See you all again for Greg’s Birthday Contest 2009!!! :) Bear hugs all around, xoxoxo… Brian and Greg :) p.s. I am once again submitting this to all the same groups that approved the first two journals, as an update. My many thanks to all the wonderful hosts who have allowed us to add this journal to your outstanding groups!!!! :)

• Pray for my Father, Please...
  by bchrisdesigns

  I just got a phone call from my mom telling me that my father has been hospitalized. They think it is his heart this time and are doing …

  I just got a phone call from my mom telling me that my father has been hospitalized. They think it is his heart this time and are doing tests. I have to get ready and run over to the hospital to see him before they close, but I just wanted to ask for prayers first. Thank you so much to you all. I am so emotional right now. Have to go. xoxoxoxox… Bri / UPDATE 10/29/08 Thank you for all your prayers and good thoughts!!!! All of the angels you sent to my dad really did help him! He is not out of the woods yet, but he is back home and resting well. He was released tonight because they found that it was not his heart and it was not a stroke. Rather, it was a combination of his diabetes and bals palsy. His eyes have been severely affected and he still needs much recovery, but he is in much better spirits knowing that it was not as bad as the doctor’s first suspected. Again, thank you for all the love and prayers! I really do appreciate you all being there for me during these times!!! Much love to you all!! I will keep you updated! xoxoxoxoxo, Bri :)

• Bchrisdesigns Does the Homepage!!!
  by bchrisdesigns

  Have you seen the homepage today? It’s monkey madness!!!!! “ (Bchrisde…

  Have you seen the homepage today? It’s monkey madness!!!!! I stumbled upon If You Could Do Homepage For A Day Which 8 Would You Choose? over in the forums and submitted my idea for a homepage featuring the two things I am addicted to (besides food): monkeys and tees! I had been away for a few days because my father was hospitalized and I came back to this wonderful monkey madness and it totally brightened my day!!! Thank you to the RB angels for selecting my fav RB monkey designs!!! There is a huge smile across my face!!! Also, congrats to all of the wonderful artists whose designs were featured here! Many of you may not know, but my fav animal is the monkey and my room is decked out with them. I literally have barrels of monkeys in my attic because I collect ANYTHING with a monkey (or chimp or ape or gorilla) on it. In fact, when I was little, they used to call me the little monkey. I think I used to be a monkey in a past life. MONKEYS RULE!!!!! MONKEY LUV (from my original post): / / / These designs kick bananas!!!! Congrats again to all!!! :)