Some of my newest art offerings on zazzle.com

Just a few of my zazzle.com art creations to include sneakers, hightops as well as ties for men (and women!) also featured in my zazzle panel on the right side of my blog page. Here's the link to my zazzle account with tonnes of new animal print offerings:

http://www.zazzle.com/artbysonya

A Cottage Industry: www.zazzle.com/artbysonya

Here are some of the items that I've been busy creating for my new zazzle.com store, www.zazzle.com/artbysonya. I hope you like them as much I enjoyed making them...

Dia de los Muertos Tie

Kokopelli Tie

Luna Purpura Tie

paper parasols tie

autumn leaves tie

Egyptian Archer Tie

Groovy Flower Power Tie

Aboriginal Dreamtime Magnets like this one...

and this one!

Sumo Wrestlers Bag

Frutti di Mare Bag

green dreams butterfly T shirt

Conch Hat

Japanese Whirlpool Keds Shoes

Irises Keds Shoes

Three Samurais Mug

and many many more, one of a kind items lovingly created by me for those who love Art! Many thanks for visiting my page at: www.zazzle.com/artbysonya.

Ancient Coins From the Roman Republic

After having read the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough and learning about all those fascinating historical figures and perhaps ficticious characters thrown in here and there taking literary license, I was curious to see what sort of coinage was minted during their office. Here are some of the very interesting coins minted in the time frame covered by her series that I was able to learn about online...

It interested me to discover that denariuses were issued by moneyer Quintus Pompeius Rufus to commemorate both his grandfathers, Pompey and Sulla, shown here with portrait head of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, which is thought to be the only authentic coin portrait of the famous dictator.

Sulla 55-54 BC denarius

Lucius Cornelius Sulla 83 BC silver denarius

Mithradates II 123 to 88 BC Drachm (Pontus, part of Parthia in Northeastern Iran)

Julius Caesar 49 BC Denarius

M Cipius MF 114 BC Denarius

L Torquatus 113 BC Denarius

L Valerius Flaccus 108 BC Denarius

C Piso Frugi 61 BC Denarius

M Herennius 107 BC Denarius

Lucius Caesius 111 BC Denarius

M Furius L f Philus 119 BC Denarius.jpg

C Servilius M F 136 BC Denarius.jpg

M Aurelius Scaurus 118 BC Denarius

Hope you enjoyed them!

Snow Comes to the South

the people next door were chopping down their trees(waaaaah waaaaaaah waaaaaaaah of the saws...yeeeesh!) and mostly cleaning up the next day, so I thought I'd ask the fellas to haul away some large twigs and branches which incessantly fall... :~( Something I'm loathe to do, but I was game... It was blowing and freezing out there and to add insult to injury, flurries began...little milky white dots floating in the air and then covering the ground...
just a light dusting of the white stuff...then it was soon gone!

none today! But then it's much colder...funny thing, it doesn't need for it to be super cold to snow...

Scored: Argyle Sweater

So it's December(my how time flies!)but fall isn't quite over, if the Winter Solstice is on the 21st then we're not quite into winter, right? But anyway, this argyle sweater, which did not photograph all that well has these gorgeous fall leaf colors on a heathered brown background, I'm thinking of a pumpkin spice mixture of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon... So, with a $10 rebate towards purchase I got it under $5 with tax! Can't complain...

Found: Leather Huaraches

Back in the 1980's you could get these well made leather huaraches from Mexico at your local Target or Kmart at a very affordable price - usually under $10 at full retail. I remember I had three pairs, one each in emerald green, hot pink and mustard yellow. I word them till they virtually disintegrated! These days with most of their stock manufactured in China and usually of synthetic materials which don't last as long as genuine leather, it's a rare find to encounter a pair of leather huaraches... That being said and leather huaraches on my mind...
...Though these are Chinese made(sorry Mexico or even Brazil for that matter!)these white leather huaraches I just scored for a few bucks at a thrift take me waaaaay back to the 80's - they're really a sling-back adaptation with synthetic non-skid soles, whereas authentic huaraches are all leather. But, I think they're back!

Found: 90's Leather Footwear

These will pair perfectly with the Poet Smock shirt dress posted below...

Victorian styled leather boots, Brazilian! gorgeous...
and these gorgeous, rustic looking basket weave mules with lace tie backs...also Brazilian...

1980s Retro Poet Smock Shirt Dress and Oxfords

So I made this gorgeous little bronze hued scarf out of crinkly upholstry material that picks up on the bronze colored stitching and bronze carved buttons...
and here are my "biscuit" colored oxfords paired with lace trimmed socks that'll be just perfect with the smock!

or perhaps I should pair the smock with these shiny black oxfords with lace-trimmed spotted socks?

This is so great!!! I get a second chance at the 80's and I'm not all that decrepid yet...

Butterflies, Butterflies, Butterflies...

I came across these absolutely stunning creatures, which are actually butterflies, moths, grasshoppers and a beetle. Forgive me for not including their names this time - that's a lot of work for a very small, shall I say negligible, readership? ;-) But anyway, enjoy...

a 24karat beetle!

Blue Morphos...be still my heart...

a fine collection including my fave, Blue Morphos...which always remind me of the movie "Angels and Insects"

Ok, it was a very naughty movie, if you will, with adult content but I do love the scene with the Blue Morpho butterflies filling up the very Victorian sunroom...