Bobette Bryan's News

  Announcements
        July 27, 2010
Lessons of Death

I'd said months ago that I'm going to continue to create cards along the lines of my Lessons of Life and Lessons of Friendship. Well, here's a third in that category: Lessons of Death. That's right, even death holds many important life lessons that we should remember each day. So share this card with your loved ones and friends to remind them about what's really important in life.

Also, I'd said that I've been suffering severe abdominal pain. This weekend, it worsened to the point where I had to go to the ER, and I spent the whole day there on Saturday. They put me on morphine and ran a bunch of tests, including a CT scan, but the results were inconclusive. The only thing it showed was a kidney stone (which is not causing problems at this time). So we still don't know what's causing the pain. The doctor thought that it could be ulcerative colitis or some other type of imflammatory bowel disease. They sent me home with pain killers and orders to see my regular doctor in a couple of days. The pain killers are helping, but I really wish that the problem had been resolved--or, at the very least, figured out.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        July 24, 2010
My Wonderful Friends

Yeah! I've finally updated ButterflyWebGraphics.com. It has been a slow process, because I've been so ill, but I did it at last. It seems like a major victory. Here's the link: Summer Floral Scrapbooking Kit.

I've not updated BobetteBryan.com for the same reason, though I jotted down some ideas and snippets of poems on various scraps of paper today. Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll be able to work on some poetry and new cards.

I also started a poetry blog, but it's by invitation only, but I'll continue to post my poetry here as well.

I'm sorry to those friends who feel that I walked away from them a few years ago. I had no idea that it would cause so much hurt. I certainly never intended to hurt anyone. It wasn't personal. It was about me and wanting to forget who I was for a while. I suffered an identity crisis, and I needed to switch hats. And I needed some time to recover. Some people haven't forgiven me for this, but my true friends have, and, thankfully, they understand. I'm lucky to have so many wonderful and supportive friends who've helped me find my way back to who I am. I feel like I can accomplish anything again.

If you're an old friend and/or one of my Silver Quill Members, many of us are reconnecting on Facebook. Drop by and add me as a friend. Here's my profile: Bobette Bryan.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        July 22, 2010
From the Heart

I noticed that my new card, From the Heart has been popular. It's being sent a lot.

It's nearly 6 AM. I've been unable to sleep, because I've been having such horrible abdominal pain--it's up there on the scale of kidney stones and child birth. But, thankfully, I don't have it all the time. It usually strikes once or twice a day, cutting through the pain medication I'm on, and when it does, it lasts about 2 hours. I saw my doctor again yesterday, and he thinks it's an infection and put me on two types of antibiotics and scheduled an ultra sound for this morning. Whatever it is, it's dragging me down. I haven't felt like creating much lately. I'll be glad when whatever it is is resolved.

In my last message, I'd said that people from the past keep coming back into my life and an old friend contacted me. Well, I believe this old friend's sudden desire to see me was God's doing. I've been down about the direction I should take my writing career. Yes, I want to return to novel writing, but I've been unsure about which genre I should focus on. I prayed for guidance. And, I believe God answered through this friend who said he'd had a sudden pressing need to give me a gift. And the gift was a romance novel, Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers. I've not yet read it, and I've never read this writer's work, but the friend insisted that it would be "life changing."

The gift also contained a letter, saying, among other things that: "Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." I'm very touched by it all. But I think the big message is clear. I'm supposed to return to romance writing. So that's what I've decided to do. I'm not going to quit my greeting card or clipart site, but I'll start working on a new romance novel.

Another odd thing that happened the same day that I got together with this old friend, was that I ran into a family member who hasn't spoken to me for more than 10 years. She put her baby in my arms and introduced me to her son. We actually talked.

I'm still trying to digest the strangeness of it all.

Bobette

  Announcements
        July 18, 2010
Old Friends and Romance

Today an old friend whom I haven't seen or spoken to in over ten years, called upset, crying and wanting to see me. I'm happy about this turn of events, as someone who's a friend is forever part of my heart, but I swear, life never stops being weird or throwing out some very unexpected surprises. It also shows that anything can happen in this thing called life.

I ran into a couple of other old friends recently too, and we're going to get together. I think I'm in the Twilight Zone. Maybe this shock affect is just what I need right now to bring me out of the mid-life mental slump I've been in.

Despite suffering writer's block for the past few days, I wrote tonight, and I created a couple of great new romance cards (and I wrote a lot of other poetry this evening which I've not posted or even transcribed yet), Here are the links for the new romance cards:

Only When Postcard Version

Only When Full-page Version

From My Heart Postcard Version

From My Heart Full-page Version

Bobette

   Announcements
        July 15, 2010
A Beautiful Day

I haven't updated the site much during the past few days, because I've had so much going on in my life. But tonight I put up a new bright and sunny full-page greeting that you can send to your family and friends to let them know they're in your thoughts. Here's the link:

A Great Day

Bobette

  Announcements
        July 15, 2010
A Beautiful Day

I haven't updated the site much during the past few days, because I've had so much going on in my life. But tonight I put up a new bright and sunny full-page greeting that you can send to your family and friends to let them know they're in your thoughts. Here's the link:

A Great Day

Bobette

  Announcements
        July 10, 2010
Thank God For You

I'd said that we're going to install a new greeting card program, but that task has been delayed, because of unexpected technical complications. I learned that I have an older version of PHP installed on BobetteBryan.com's server, which the new program can't operate on. I could easily update the version of PHP, but if I do, the old greeting card program may no longer work, and I don't want to interrupt service on the site, since it's rapidly growing. So my son and I have decided to tweak it on another server and will transfer it to BobetteBryan.com when it's 100% functional, which will, hopefully result in no downtime. That's disappointing, but we'll have it up soon.

I've been in a web design mood, which is rare as I'm so burned out on web design after the many years I've done it, but I've been trying to increase my CSS knowledge and have spent a lot of time doing so these past few days.

Somehow between all of these activities, and a lot of personal stuff going on in my life, which includes replacing a burned out washer, I put together some new romance cards. Here are the links:

We Are One
A very flowery, feminine card with a beautiful love poem that I wrote this morning. I put a lot of design work into this card, during a moment of inspiration. There's also a postcard version on BobetteBryan.com, but, unfortunately, I had to resize it.

Thank God For You
A touching inspirational love poem from the heart. The music on this card, "Keeper of the Stars," makes me feel melancholy whenever I hear it, as it was the song I'd used on one of the early PassionUp cards. I think of it as kind of a "classic" song from the internet as it was very popular in the late 90s and was floating around all over the net.

I also worked on graphics for ButterflyWebGraphics. I made some adorable little brownie-like male fairies that I'm going to put on the site sometime this weekend.

I've been so lost to my work these past few days that surely, my friends must think I've abandoned them. Hopefully this weekend, I'll find an opportunity to get in touch with them.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        July 7, 2010
Changes coming!

I've not had time to update this site during the past few days as I've been so busy. I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I believe that ButterflyWebGraphics.com has a lot of untapped potential. So I've been coming up with ideas to make the site grow, and I'm considering redesigning it and have been playing around with a new design. That's always a scary move as a redesign can mean less search engine traffic. So changing it poses a risk, and that's not comfortable to me, since the site is my primary source of income. So I need to think about it more.

The other thing I'm about to do, is put up a new version of the existing greeting card program for BobetteBryan.com, which has so many more capabilities, including the ability to embed Youtube Videos, add text inside Flash greetings, send invitations, send cards to Twitter, Facebook, etc., and the ability to import an Explorer address book to make sending cards easier. The problem with installing a new program is that the site may be down for a few days during the conversion. And, again there's risk, because the site is growing right now, and doing anything major could shrink the traffic.

But I'm the kind of person who's willing to take a risk for something I believe in...so I'm going to start working on both projects, giving the greeting card site priority.

My son is still working on another program for the greeting card site, which will make the full-page greetings customizable, but I don't know when he'll get it done, and I've grown impatient. So hopefully, this will be a step in the right direction until we get the other program finished and online.

I'll let you know how it all progresses. But don't be alarmed if the greeting card site is down for a few days. It will be back up as soon as possible. At this time, I'm not even sure when we'll begin the conversion, probably this weekend when my husband is at work.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        July 3, 2010
Christmas is coming!

Since a couple of readers and friends have expressed concern about the content of my poems, I just wanted to remind you all that my poems are merely fiction, and do not represent any real life person, place, or thing--except for the ones about the dogs.

I'd said before that I intended to have a "Christmas in July" celebration. So I'm working on an index page for Christmas cards that I'm going to put up on the site soon. Ha, ha! I'm going to take it a step further and mail Christmas cards to some of my family and friends this year--not everyone is online so I can't send everyone my cards. And I'm thinking about surprising my husband and kids with a Christmas celebration. I still have the tree up in the parlor--because it looks so great in there that I hate to take it down. I could get some small presents for them and wake them up early for Christmas festivities, holiday music blaring, of course. I don't know if they'd find the whole thing fun or want to wring my neck.

I could even make a simplified version of the Christmas dinner.

And I said yesterday that I'd written a beautiful love letter. I've finally finished fighting Flash and was able to get the card up online. Here's the link:

As Long As Forever. Express the depth of your love with this love letter.

Now I need to get back to that Christmas card index page. I hope to get it done today.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        July 2, 2010
A New Friend

I haven't been too productive the past few days--there are times like that. I've had a lot on my mind. But I made a new friend who has a lot in common with me, and so I'm happy about that. We've been through some similar experiences and so we're able to share with each other and bring healing to each other's hearts. So I can't say that these past few days have been wasted.

I did write a beautiful love letter, but I don't have it online yet. I'll update this post when I do.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 28, 2010
You Full Page Version

I made a full-page greeting from my new popular love poem, "You," because I felt that this poem deserved a beautiful page full of romantic red roses.

Here's the link:

You, a beautiful and unforgettable love poem for the one you love.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 27, 2010
Postable Cards

I finally updated ButterflyWebGraphics.com. I had a bad week graphic wise. It seemed that anything I tried to work on went wrong, and so I abandoned two projects, and then I decided to work on the Mad Hatter. I spent the past two days posing the Hatter and rendering him only to realize when I was getting the images ready for the site that his lace cuffs were poking through his wrists, and so I had to go into each file, repose the cuff, and render them all again, which is why I was up all night. I'm so glad that I finally got them done. I think they came out nice despite the trouble they were, and they're certainly something different. I have the White Rabbit from the story too, which I'll render in the near future.

Here's the link:

Mad Hatter Graphics.

I haven't had much time to work on cards because of this, but I did create a new type of "postable" card, which is a card that can be posted on social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, and on blogs, or sent directly through email. Visitors merely copy and paste the code. I'm only going to create a few of these for now to see if visitors use them.

Here are links to the first three:

Like A Rose

All I Desire

Beautiful and Bright Birthday

So we'll see how my latest experiment goes. There are so many things I could do to drive more traffic to the site and improve search engine rankings. The trouble is finding the time to do these things in the midst of creating content for two websites. But I keep telling myself that there's really no need to hurry, and the site is growing well as is.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 24, 2010
You

I don't usually talk about this stuff here, but this case disturbs me greatly. There's a missing boy out there named Kyron Horman. I asked my psychic friend, Marie St. Claire, who wrote articles for my horror magazine, about it. She says, in her opinion, the parents know what happened to him and the police should investigate the stepmother.

Please do not write and ask Marie to try to solve other cases. For personal reasons, she will not answer questions about missing persons unless they are unsolved historical cases.

While I'm on the subject, for those of you who've asked about that horror TV series that I'd mentioned a few years ago, I never did it. A producer, who owned several production companies, found me through my horror magazine and was very interested in it and wanted me to create and write a 13-part TV series, but I just had no interest in writing screenplays. And I've heard from so many other writers how Hollywood chews you up and spits you out. I bought the program "Final Draft" for writing Screenplays, but could never talk myself into installing it. I didn't think screenwriting was the direction I wanted to go. I know William Faulkner went that route, but I don't have to, and I don't want to. I have to admit that many great opportunities have come my way since I left PassionUp in 2005, but I haven't accepted any of them, because I'm enjoying the freedom of doing things my way. For so many years my time belonged to someone else. I want it to belong to me now so that I can create whatever I want to create. And I do want, more than anything, to renew my commitment to novel writing.

As for new cards:

I put a new love poem on the poetry page yesterday, and I extended it and created a new romance card this morning for BobetteBryan.com.

You

I still don't feel like I'm done with this poem yet, so it's subject to change.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 24, 2010
Taking It Easy

I've not updated this site for a few days, because I've been very sick from diverticulitis, which I was only just diagnosed with during this acute attack. The doctor told me that I may have to be admitted if it doesn't calm down within a few days so I've been trying to take it easy and stick to the diet I was put on, which amounts mainly to liquids. The pain can be horrible at times, and so I've not been able to get on my computer much. But I've been playing, "Rabbids Go Home," on the Nintendo Wii, off an on. I love this game. And there is something about the wild care-free spirit of the Rabbids, which appeals to me on some level. You can learn more about the game on Ubisoft's site here: Rabbits Go Home.

Anyhow, I've been working when possible and tonight, I put up a page on this site featuring my artwork with some links to some mermaid graphics. check it out:

Bobette Bryan's Artwork

And here's an adorable new mermaid clipart greeting gift: Little Mermaid

Hopefully, I'll get some more new cards up sometime today.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 20, 2010
Happy Father's Day!

I hope all of my male readers are having a great Father's Day.

If you haven't sent a Father's Day card to your Dad, love, or spouse, it's not too late. Click here to send a Father's Day card.

Yesterday, I also put up several new cards, including some simple, sexy romance cards for you ladies to send your love--yes, you men can send them too. But I highly recommend that you ladies send one of these as these are four of the things that men want you to say most. This isn't just something I'm making up but is based off of some research I did. And these cards will help keep the passion raging in your relationship. So give them a try.

Here are the links:

Real Naughty

Ravish Me

Turn Me On

I'm All Yours

But if you'd rather send a softer, heartfelt card, to an online love, this card is for you. I Love You Too!

And here's a tear-jerker for those of you who are heartbroken.

Don't Promise Me Forever

All of my sites continue to do well. BobetteBryan.com has risen way up to 390,000 worldwide and 81,920 in the USA according to ranking sites. Yeah! It seems to be going up by at least 10,000 each day!

P.S. To Becky Carnes, who recommended a certain clipart site, thanks!

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 18, 2010 continued
Let your Dad know you're thankful!

I'm dropping by with another Father's Day card. Send this Flash card if you want to send a message from the heart to your Dad!

Thankful

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 18, 2010
Send a card to a true hero!

I created a hero card for Father's Day--I'm a Superman fan and there could be no better symbol to represent a great dad, who truly is a hero in countless ways. There's a version of this card for your Dad and one for the one you love. Here are the links:

My Hero (For Dad)

My Hero (For Your Love)

I got the idea when I purchased some Superman gift bags for my husband and father-in-law a few weeks ago with Father's Day in mind. But, unfortunately, I waited until the last minute to get them something for Father's Day, so I placed an overnight order from Amazon yesterday. As a result, I had to pay nearly $40.00 for shipping. Ouch! But at least the package came today--in time for Father's Day.

Someone told me that the song played twice when the replay button was clicked on my dog and cat birthday cards. So I've fixed that problem.

Happy Birthday to You (Dog version)

Happy Birthday to You (Cat version)

I'm off to work on more new cards.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 17, 2010
Still Doing Great!

Today, I converted my popular Memorial Day card, A Time of Peace, into a non-holiday card so that it can be sent all through the year.

And I created a couple of Flash birthday cards.

Inspirational Birthday Card

Birthday Sunshine Card

Also, I finally gave the inspirational card I added a couple of days ago a title. I've dubbed it: Ten Virtues

Traffic has continued to be at a record high and growing. In fact, all of my sites are doing very well right now.

Now I'm thinking about getting off of my computer for a while. Maybe I'll play something on the Playstation 3. Speaking of the Playstation, my husband and I were playing a game on it the other night, and we hooked it up online. I wanted to see some of my cards on our big screen television so we tried to access BobetteBryan.com. The site was hard to navigate with the Playstation, but the funny thing is that when my husband typed my name in the Sony search engine, the first entry that came up was "Local Naughty Girl." My husband and sons have been teasing me about it ever since.

Bobette Bryan,
The Local Naughty Girl

   Announcements
        June 15, 2010
Mermaids

I've been quiet, because I've been sick with strep throat, (brought home by my youngest son) and because I've been working on a great mermaid package for ButterflyWebgraphics.com, which I've finally uploaded. Here's the link:

Little Mermaids

Maybe I'll make a unique mermaid graphic for BobetteBryan.com that you can share. I've enjoyed working on these as I like mermaids. I'm about to put up my mermaid image, "Light Above," as the first in a wallpaper section that I'm starting on BobetteBryan.com. The image was published by Daz3D in 2005. It was the first of my 3D art, and I was shocked that Daz wanted to publish it. It served to inspire me to stick with 3D artwork, and I'm glad I have as I find it fulfilling on many levels.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        June 10, 2010
New Games

I've been messing around with Adobe's "After Affects." Like Flash, this program also has a steep learning curve--and a $1000.00 price tag. Right now, I'm experimenting with the trial version to see if it would be worth buying. With it I could make video greeting cards. And, in fact, I'm working on a cool romance card right now, which hopefully, I'll be able to finish and publish on the site soon.

Flash and projects like these have taken a great deal of time away from my writing, and that's a concern for me. So I think I need to slow down and start spending more time writing.

Last night, I put up a new game. Here's the link:

Solitarius

Someone wrote and asked if it can be beat. Yes, it can. But I can't tell you how. I've not done it. The best I've come out with is four marbles. See if you can beat it. If you can, let me know. It's similar to "Chinese Solitaire" so if you study strategies for that, you'll probably figure out how to beat the game.

And here's another game I uploaded tonight.

Off Road Ralley

Give it a try. It's a fun game. I'm awful at it, but I still enjoy playing it.

Today, I finally got my Certificate of Registration for the first Collection of Poems I registered with the Copyright Office in the fall. I admit it, I was getting worried about not hearing from them for so long and thought that my claim had been lost. It normally takes six months, because they have to investigate the claim, but, in the past, they've contacted me with questions. This time, however, I heard nothing. But this is such a feeling of relief as it helps protect me. Just last week, I fought a major web corporation over copyrights. They'd published my "Love Letter," as a poster, and then refused to remove it. It was exactly as it is on the card, along with my rose image. People could download, share, and print, it from their site. I had to get really nasty about it and threaten legal action before they finally removed it. I still can't believe that such a site acted so unprofessional about it.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 10, 2010
New Cards

I've had a hard time focusing today. My mind kept drifting. I found myself surfing the web, listening to music, or thinking about something that strikes me funny to no end. As a matter of fact, I've been laughing about it all day. I'm just in one of those silly moods.

Still, I somehow managed to get a couple of new cards up--and I almost finished a third. One is a romance card converted from my poetry page.

Never Adrift

The other one is a beautiful new inspirational card that I wrote today and have not yet given a title to--maybe tomorrow.

Inspirational Card

I can picture a swan gracefully dancing on the water with the beautiful song, "Remember," by Bruce Deboer, which I've used with the card.

Now I'm going to try to get some sleep. I've not been sleeping well again. So hopefully, I'll sleep more than 3-4 hours tonight.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 9, 2010
Sexy Cards

In my last entry, I said that I've been backtracking my life like a detective trying to solve a mystery by reading some old emails. They say that sometimes we have to go back before we can move forward. I now know that's true. My investigation revealed something important that I needed to understand, things I'd completely blocked out and banished to some far corner of my mind. It worked better than psychoanalysis, for this solid, written evidence diffused the roadblocks I'd thrown up and made me see things for how they really were.

Maybe now I can get past something I was stuck on and move on.

Besides spending the past couple of days doing this, I've converted the full-page erotic greetings into postcard versions as you readers requested. I intend to convert all of the full-page greetings into postcard versions in the near future.

Here's the link:

Sensual Romantic Cards

And I created a cute romantic card tonight that is already popular:

A Great Big Kiss

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 8, 2010 update
A Strange Day

I went to the doctor, and they're going to do another ultrasound. She didn't think it's cancer. She thinks it's just that cyst acting up. So that gives me some peace of mind. It may have to be aspirated. That isn't a pleasant thought, so I'm trying not to think about it. I'll let you all know what the ultrasound reveals.

I've spent the day going through old emails. I have all of my emails from when I first got online in 1998 stored on an old Gateway laptop, which, though it's about 10-years old, still works perfectly (it has Windows Me. Can you believe it?). I'm going through these emails and trying to make sense out of a relationship issue that baffles me--and I've come away from it all so far, even more confused.

I have discovered some missing pieces in the puzzle of my past, which I'd apparently blocked out. I believe certain areas of my conscience has been looping non-stop as a result--sort of like that blue Window of death message my computer keeps displaying at startup due to a missing or corrupt kernel in the operating system.

Oh course, it's insane, but that makes life all the more interesting. And there is a lot of grist for the mill in those emails.

I also cut off 8 inches of my hair today--which was way past my waist. I really hated to do that, but the ends had become flayed, because I kept brushing my hair while it was wet. That's okay though. It grows quickly.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 8, 2010
Middle age--a scary time of life.

Last summer, on a routine mammogram, they found a small growth in one of my breasts. The hospital called and told me to come back out "at once" to have a sonogram. That scared the hell of me and my husband. They could have used a bit more tack and told me that most of these growths are mere cysts and not to be alarmed, but instead, they made it sound dire.

But the radiologist who did the sonogram said he thought it was just a cyst, not to worry about it, and to come back in a year for my routine mammogram. We were both so relieved.

So, nearly a year has passed and the past couple of weeks, I've been having problems in the same breast--pain, a feeling of pressure, and extreme itchiness. I looked up the symptoms and learned that they're consistent with breast cancer--I never knew itchiness was a symptom of breast cancer. So, alarmed, I called my doctor's office yesterday, and I have an appointment today.

Needless to say, I'm worried. A nagging, little voice keeps telling me that maybe the radiologist was wrong, and it's cancer. Then I tell myself that it's probably nothing, and I just have myself worked up about it, especially after reading those medical articles. And at my age, it's common to develop cysts in the breasts due to fluctuating hormone levels. They usually resolve on their own.

But I will be so relieved if this mammogram comes back negative.

That was the bad news. Now the good news. I'm back on my computer. By some miracle, it came back up on a restart. No, it's not fixed. So whatever caused the "blue screen of death" a few days ago is unresolved. My son thinks it's a corrupt Windows start up kernel, but I still think it's a registry problem. Both of us have scoured tech forums. But, at least this gives me an opportunity to save some important emails, etc. that are on my main hard drive before we start experimenting with a possible cure.

I even created a few new clipart greeting cards on this computer yesterday, including one with red roses. My husband and I had gone to the park for a picnic on Sunday, and I got a few good shots of roses, some of which I've cut out and "Photoshopped." So I thought I'd share them with you and give you some roses to offer your true love or to use in your own designs. Here's the link: Red rose clipart.

And I need to exchange the Memorial Day main banner with a father's day one, but I plan on putting an alternating Flash banner there instead of a static photo so that's the reason for the delay. So maybe I'll work on that this morning.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        June 5, 2010
Undefeated

Something good came of this though as looking at some of my recent Flash cards on my husband's computer, I noticed that the text on some of them isn't formatting properly. I realize this is because he doesn't have certain fonts installed on his computer and so the browser is substituting them. I thought the font would be embedded in the flash file and display properly regardless of whether the viewer had it installed. I was wrong. So I'm going to have to fix those cards.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to fix all of them until my computer is up and running, because only some of my original source files are available to me at this time.

I fixed this friendship card though:
Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        June 5, 2010
Undefeated

My computer is still down, so I'm still working on my husband's computer.

Something good came of this though as looking at some of my recent Flash cards on my husband's computer, I noticed that the text on some of them isn't formatting properly. I realize this is because he doesn't have certain fonts installed on his computer and so the browser is substituting them. I thought the font would be embedded in the flash file and display properly regardless of whether the viewer had it installed. I was wrong. So I'm going to have to fix those cards.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to fix all of them until my computer is up and running, because only some of my original source files are available to me at this time.

I fixed this friendship card though:
Appreciate You

A few months back when my old computer fried, I was going to get a new computer, so that I'd again have a second working computer and be able to separate my 3D artwork from my other work. I never got around to doing that, but this has convinced me that I need to take the time to order a new computer soon.

Despite my computer problems, I still updated Butterflywebgraphics with my Summer Flower Fairies, and I added two new romance ecards to BobetteBryan.com:

For Your Love

Light of Love Love

And I created a list of some of my Top Romance ecards that you can easily add to your favorites.

I'm not about to let a bit of bad luck defeat me. I'll just commandeer other computers in the house if necessary.

P.S. BobetteBryan.com is doing very well. In internet rankings, it has climbed to 142,000 in the USA--630,000 worldwide. I'm surprised that it's doing so well this time of year. With advertising, I could take it so much further, but I'm not ready to do that yet--maybe this fall after the new ecard program is up and running and we're on a more powerful server.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        June 4, 2010
Computer Blues

I stayed up all night long last night to get a package of fairies finished for ButteflyWebGraphics.com. And then, since I'd used so much memory, I decided to restart my computer before I uploaded them.

After I did, my computer seemed to literally scream. Then it brought up a blue screen that said, "System Service Exception Error," which had all of these numbers.

I tried restarting it and, of course, that didn't work, and it keep shutting down when it tried to load Windows.

I got on my husband's computer (which I'm on now) and did some research and found that the problem is due to corruption of the registry. This probably happened when I had that 2010 Internet Security virus a few months ago.

I tried numerous recommendations to fix it, but nothing worked. I even tried to install a registry repair program, but it wouldn't install, because Windows was so corrupted.

So tonight, I'm so down, because we're going to have to wipe my drive and reinstall windows. My son has been dilligently working on this problem all day. Right now, we're transferring files from my main drive to another drive--at least they weren't corrupted, and there are several more hours to go due to all of my 3D models, which are huge.

I was so frustrated that I went downstairs to watch the Dark Shadows series (not the original but the 1980s remake), and I fell asleep on the couch. Several hours later, I awoke in a dark room with flickering lights and creepy music. I was terrified, because I was half-asleep and couldn't remember where I was. He, he! Oh, I love that series though. I loved the original when I was a kid.

Maybe I'll go downstairs and watch more of it tonight and work on poetry as well to temporarily escape my computer woes.

As for that fairy package, I hope to get it uploaded sometime later this morning.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        May 31, 2010
Arms Around Me

I've received several reader emails about my new and popular romance ecard, "Arms Around Me." A lot of readers wanted to know who created that beautiful song and say it's perfect for the card. I agree, it's a lovely song. The composer's name is Michael Kakhiani, and I've added his credit to the Presentation. He is very talented! Let's hope he creates more music for my cards.

Here's a bio about him:

"Michael Kakhiani was Born in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia on October 7-th, 1986. Started studying music at the age of 6. Graduated several music schools (classical piano and vocals), Got the Bachelor’s Degree from Tbilisi State Conservatory. Won several International piano competitions. As a Pop/Rock Musician, Emkay has Released one independent album “Listen to the voice” in 2005. Received airplay on the local radio and TV. Emkay has 6 Music videos mainly made using 3D Graphics. He also writes music for Film/TV as well as Web Sites and etc. Studied Songwriting at the world famous Berklee College of Music in Boston. Recently, He was selected as one of the songwriters to have personal master classes with the Grammy Award winning Singer/Songwriter John Mayer. Currently, He is working on several projects as an artist and also as a film composer…

Here's the link to the card:
Arms Around Me

I hope you had a great Memorial Day! My family and I had a big barbecue.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        May 30, 2010 continued
Birthday Cards For All Ages

I made some cool birthday ecards with age specific candles from age 18 to 101. I may make some for younger recipients, but I thought I'd change the background to something more youthful.

But creating these 84 cards was a huge amount of work, so I hope you'll like them and send them.

Here's the link:
Birthday Cards By Age

To find a certain age, just select the search function and put the age in the box.

If you see any errors or if there are any missing ages, please let me know, and I'll fix it ASAP. Juggling this many cards at once isn't easy and increases the likelihood that I'll err.

I also think specific year cards would be interesting too, describing what happened the year the recipient was born, and I have that project on a back burner, but they will take a lot of research.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 30, 2010
Poetry

I've not been happy with much of anything I've written lately. But today, I wrote some poems I like. I posted one of them on the poetry page. We artists go through stages like this. Sometimes it happens when we're growing, and sometimes it's from stress or other things that are going on in life. I think my problem is that I've been spending too much time on my computer and way too much time struggling with Flash.

I'm thinking about creating cards featuring some of my darker romance poems, including break up ecards, as many people have requested it, and I know there's a need for it.

My husband and I are going to take a short getaway trip to Chicago soon. We could get on a train in Kansas City and arrive at Union Station in Chicago in only about 7 hours. It takes 9-10 hours to drive there. Yes, it would be faster to take an airplane, but the idea of a train ride appeals to us. And both train stations are historically significant and worth visiting--both have had a lot of gangster activity. What's known as the "The Kansas City Massacre" took place at Union Station in Kansas City in 1933, where Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd, Vernon Miller, and Adam Richetti attempted to free their friend, Frank Nash, who was in Federal custody. Four peace officers and Nash were killed in the shoot out.

There are a seemingly endless number of gangster-related places to see in Chicago as well--though that wouldn't be the purpose of our trip. We just want to get away from it all and do something different.

So I'm working on a plan of the places we'll see while we're there, including the museums. We'll probably only be there a day or two, and since we won't have a vehicle, we'll need to stick to things that are near the train station or are on a bus route. so I need to plan the trip carefully.

We're going to go to the Lou Mitchell Restaurant, which is supposedly a classic. And there's an art gallery on Washington Street, and the Willis Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, is near there. It has a "sky deck," where you can "walk on air." No thanks. I'm terrified of heights, but he's welcome to give it a try.

If you know of something that is a must-see in Chicago, write and let me know.

Maybe if this train trip goes well, we'll get on one and head to Los Angeles in the near future. We've always wanted to see the Queen Mary.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 29, 2010
A new Sensual Romance Ecard

I'm in a rush, but I wanted to drop by long enough to let you know that I've created a sexy romance card from a poem I'd posted on my poetry page as you readers requested.

Here's the link:

Twilight Dreamer
A love poem with extra fire for the one you desire.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 25, 2010 continued
Growth!

I'm so happy that the site has grown a lot these past couple of weeks. I thought the traffic would decline this time of year. It's nice to see that it's growing instead, and a record number of cards are being sent.

Here are my top two Ecards:

Top Romance Card:
Journey of Love
An unforgettable Flash egreeting with beautiful images, music, and a touching love poem.

Top Inspiration E-Card:
Your Span
A egreeting card that everyone should read and give serious thought to.

As ever, I'm working on new cards, so keep dropping by.

I've been somewhat confused the past few months, but I've cleared some issues in my mind, and I can see what I need to do. I now realize what I hope to accomplish with BobetteBryan.com and the direction that I need to take it. It's going to take a lot of work and time, but it's going to be a great site!

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 22, 2010 continued
A Dog Birthday Ecard For You

I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, creating the cutest Flash Birthday card. It has adorable puppies and a cool birthday song. I'm going to have to make a kitten version for cat lovers.

Don't miss it! Here's the link:

Happy Birthday To You.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        May 22, 2010
Like A Rose

I've been very busy, creating a lot of new cards, and the site has been doing well--a record number of cards have been sent these past two weeks. Here's a rundown of my latest.

Find out how Friendship is like a rose with my new heartfelt friendship ecard:
Like A Rose.

New Memorial Day Cards:

Last Weary Mile
Remember someone's life with a smile. A touching poem with a beautiful forest image.

We Shall Remember
Remember Our Fallen Soldiers.

Our Fallen Heroes
Find out what binds our hearts to our fallen soldiers.

These cards are tear-jerkers, so if you're looking for a more upbeat Memorial Day card, check out these cards:

America's Finest
Express your appreciation for a veteran on Memorial Day.

What It Means to Be An American
A Flash presentation in celebration of the USA.

A Time of Peace.
A beautiful card that will encourage peace. I'd announced this card a couple of days ago, but have slightly modified the design. I liked it before, but I like it even more now.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 21, 2010
All of My Heart Postcard Version

I created a postcard version of my popular romance card, "All of My Heart," as requested by my readers. Here's the link:

All of My Heart.

My new: Journey of Love is another very popular romance card. So don't miss that.

I've been thinking about creating Flash presentations of some of my most popular romance cards, including Love Letter.

It will take a lot of great photos for them though, (and it costs a lot for me to license them as I have to pay for the extended license from the few stock photography companies that even allow licensing for greeting card use) and so I'll need to proceed slowly with that endeavor. I created the rose image used in "All of My Heart," but I can't create all of the graphics for the cards due to time constraints. It takes a huge amount of time to operate ButterflyWebGraphics.com--let alone the greeting card site. So, it just isn't feasible for me to create all of the graphics for the cards.

So if you know of a great photo site or other graphic source, drop me a line.

Today, I also put up this Flash card: "What It Means to Be An American," just in time for Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day--or simply to share with another patriot.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 20, 2010
Memorial Day Cards

I created a special card for Memorial Day, A Time For Peace. Share it with your family and friends and keep the dream of peace alive in all hearts.

A Time of Peace.

And I'm creating more Memorial Day cards so I better get back to work!

P.S. My family and I have been dealing with a sick dog. Our 6-year old English Mastiff, Belle, had been having difficulty getting up, and she wouldn't eat well. At first, we just thought this was aging, (6 is old for a mastiff--their average life span is only 6-8) but her condition grew progressively worse and she started having a discharge with pus over the weekend. That alerted me to the possibility that she could have pyometra, which is a deadly infection of the uterus and can result in death within 48 hours if the cervix closes up. The pus-filled uterus grows huge and can also rupture, causing death.

This disease happens in dogs that haven't been spayed and is the result of a hormone imbalance. She was never spayed, because she'd had a seizure from anesthesia when she was young, and we were always afraid we'd lose her if she had surgery--all of our other pets have been spayed or neutered.

So, we rushed her into the vet first thing on Monday morning, and, sure enough, she had pyometra and had to have emergency surgery.

The vet said her uterus was huge, but luckily, not closed up as we caught it early. He said her fallopian tubes were as wide and long as human arms.

She did well during the surgery and is now home recovering and is being pampered like a queen. She's lying beside me as I write this. Though she's in pain from the surgery, there seems to be a huge sense of relief about her.

The medical bill in itself was painful...over $1,000. But had her cervix been closed, it would have cost much more to treat the illness and required her to be hospitalized for several days--provided she even lived.

Anyhow, if you have a female dog that hasn't been spayed, it's important to note the symptoms of this disease as if your dog develops it, it will need treatment as soon as possible. This disease kills many dogs each year as owners don't recognize the symptoms, which can be vague or minor at first. Symptoms include lethargy, drinking more than normal, licking the vulva area, a strange discharge, difficulty getting up or walking (this is due to the huge and swollen uterus), a lack of appetite, and depression. It often occurs within two months of a dog going into heat.

Here's some information on it on AnswerVet.com.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        May 16, 2010
Father's Day Cards

I've been so busy the past few days that I've not found the time to update this page. Mainly, I've been working on Father's Day cards, and I still have many more to create--because I've written some great text for them.

The first batch are funny cards, but I'm also creating some heartfelt cards for dear old dad. Here's the link:

Free Funny Father's Day ECards

I probably will not create full page father's day greetings this year. I'm just too "into" experimenting with new formats.

I've also been messing with Flash and have added a few games to the site.

There's a Gunslinger game under the Father's Day Category if you want to share something fun and different with your dad this year. And I added a Halloween version under the Halloween category.

And there are two other games under a new "Games" category. Here are the links:

Clever Frog Game

Nasty Star Game

I haven't forgotten you star-swept lovers, here's my latest romance card for you:

Your Arms Around Me

And here's a beautiful Flash heartfelt friendship ecard for an angel in your life.

Appreciate You

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 11, 2010
Bride Graphics

I spent the past two days working on bride tubes, and I think they came out nice. So I wanted to drop by long enough to announce them before I head to bed. Check them out!

Goth Bride Tubes

Tomorrow, I hope to work on new greetings, and, of course, poetry.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 9, 2010
Mother's Day Greetings

Don't forget your mother today! Let your mom know just how much you care. Express your love and appreciation.

Send a Mother's Day E-greeting!

And if you're a ButterflyWebGraphics member, don't miss my latest fairy tubes.

Summer Meadow Fairy Tubes

Happy Mother's Day!
Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        May 8, 2010
Free Clipart Greeting Gifts

Today I'm trying to get some adorable fairies finished for ButterflyWebGraphics.com. They're so cute. I can't wait until they're done.

I've also added several more Greeting Gift Cards to BobetteBryan.com and now have 14 of them up in various categories.

What are Greeting Gifts? They are ecards that you can send that contain a downloadable graphic that the recipient or you can keep and use for various projects.

The download links work now. So if you tried downloading the graphics before, and it didn't work, please try again. You may need to temporarily set your browser to allow pop-ups.

And keep watching for more free graphics, because I intend to add Greeting Gifts to BobetteBryan.com on a regular basis. In fact, I'm excited about this. They're fun to create, and I think they'll be popular.

I have so many graphics that I've created and never used on ButterflyWebGraphics.com, and this gives me a chance to put them to use. Why haven't I used them? Well, because sometimes I'll start a project and lose interest in it or maybe it's a difficult thing to render and only a few turn out. There are lots of reasons. But any graphics I share on BobetteBryan.com will be of professional quality--not the ordinary clipart freebie. I'll also create some exclusive graphics specifically for BobetteBryan.com.

Here's the link:
Greeting Gifts

And note, that the downloadable graphics in my greeting gifts are useable for just about any project except for redistributing them in and of themselves as clipart or tubes. The only requirement I have is a link back to BobetteBryan.com wherever the graphics are used. They can even be used for greeting cards, flash Presentations, slideshows, commercial projects, scrapbooking, paper cards, print projects, web design, graphic design, embroidery designs, and just about any other thing you can think of. If in doubt, ask me. And they're all on .png files with transparent backgrounds, making them more versatile for your projects and can be used in just about all graphics editing software.

I hope you like these new cards and find a use for the graphics.

P.S. Tom Turkey, I remember you. When I first met you, I thought you were an SOB, and I've not altered my opinion.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        May 7, 2010
Copyrights

Thanks for your comments and emails, readers. I've fixed the linking problem with the greeting gifts. So please try them again. I'm so glad you gave me the heads up. I didn't realize there was a problem.

Sharon Stone, thanks for letting me know. That's exactly what I intend to do. From here on, I'm going to file copyright infringement notices with their web hosts and/or have my lawyer initiate a lawsuit if I learn that group is using my work against my wishes. They've been told several times that they can't use my work on their presentations. Yahoo groups are notorious for having no respect for copyrights.

I agree with all you said. And as a matter of fact, my work is protected by the U.S. Copyright office.

As for the lame excuse that it's sent in a mailgroup and the implication that it thus doesn't constitute theft--I'd love to see someone use that defense in court.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        May 5, 2010
Fried Chicken

Today is my 28th wedding Anniversary, so I probably won't get a chance to create new cards.

I'd hoped to create more new "greeting gifts" last night, but I konked out after trying to make fried chicken.

I'd found a recipe on a chef's website that looked delicious. Well, it didn't turn out. I don't know if I didn't have my oil hot enough or what, but the crust came out hard instead of cripsy. It was just awful chicken--not the worst I'd ever had but it was up there in the top ten.

Making fried food is rare for me anyhow, as being diabetic, I have to watch out for fat, and I'm terrified of causing a grease fire, but since fried chicken was one of the meals my husband and I had on our honeymoon, I thought I'd give him a special treat. I've always been terrible at making fried chicken, which is amazing as my southern family are great at it. There are always heaps of delicious fried chicken at every family gathering.

Anyhow, it seems like all I made was a huge mess, which is still waiting for me in the kitchen--it's scary when I use flour. Throw in oil and it's a nightmare.

I got up this morning, made a pitcher of ice tea as I always do, saw that huge pot of oil on the stove, the flour, the sink full of dirty dishes, and retreated quickly to the safety of the second floor. Apparently Martha Stewart does not live here.

That's okay though. I have some other...much better...surprises for my husband today.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 4, 2010
Greeting Gifts

I thought I'd drop by to let my readers know I'm still alive.

I'm trying something new on BobetteBryan.com in hopes of making the cards more viral and attracting a larger audience. I'm creating what I call: "Greeting Gifts," which are cards that contain downloadable graphic files that viewers can use in various projects, including blogs, on social networking sites, web pages, graphic design, etc.

I'd tried this with one of my popular fairy images on PassionUp, and though it did okay, I think it was too small of a sampling to determine whether such cards would help increase traffic. And since there was just one such card on PassionUp, there's no way to tell if creating these types of cards on an ongoing basis would result in increased return traffic.

So I'm going to create many of these regularly, and I have six of them up so far. Check them out:

Greeting Gifts.

I suspect they'll be very popular especially during the holidays, because I know there is a demand for my graphics.

If that doesn't work to increase traffic, I'll be forced to go to phase three, which is uploading nude photos to the site. Just kidding!

Seriously, I do have many other ideas, which I'm hopeful about. But I'm especially excited about this idea as it combines two of the things I do, graphics and greetings. And though I know it could take BobetteBryan more in the direction of a graphic site, I can't think of a reason why that's bad. Am I overlooking something?

Anyhow, it will be interesting to see how long it takes "other" greeting card companies to imitate this. LOL!

P.S. Some of you have made several comments that I need to address, and I will when I find the time. For the person who said it's Easter on PassionUp. Well, it's Christmas on BobetteBryan.com. He, he! I don't know if that makes either site ahead or behind.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 2, 2010
More on Redheads

Here's a funny video a friend sent me about a red head protest march on Wendy's:

Redheads Protest Wendy's

Would I have joined? Probably not! There are limits to my insanity. It would have taken at least 2-3 shots of whiskey to get me to join that group.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        May 1, 2010
Writing and Ecards

Well, I'll likely turn that writing job offer in Washington down as, as besides the other problems I mentioned a couple of days ago, my husband told me last night that if we lived in Washington, D.C., he'd be too worried about me getting involved with someone and cheating. Ha, ha! I could just as easily cheat here if that was my desire. He won't even let me go to church on Sunday, because he's so worried that I'll meet someone and have an affair. Unbelievable! After nearly 30 years of marriage, I've never cheated on him so he has no reason to distrust me or to be so worried that I will.

I'd also said a few days ago that I thought the social networking sites were responsible for the decline in the popularity of ecard sites. I found a couple of articles today that confirm that opinion. This doesn't look good for those of us who are in the ecard business.

Ecards Are Dead Except on Mother's Day

Social networks displacing e-cards

Here's one dissenting opinion: Are Ecards Dead?

Now I'm starting to think that if my son and I are going to continue to develop BobetteBryan.com, we would not only need to add more dynamic features, but also, maybe make the ecards secondary to something else. It gives us both a lot to think about.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        April 30, 2010
Red Hair

Anonymous, I took great offense at that video about redheads--for those of you who don't know, I'm a redhead. I realize that the video was probably just meant to be a joke and not intended to be offensive, but, nevertheless, it is. Any redhead would tell you that it is. And we don't find such things amusing as many of us have suffered abuse through our lives, because of our red hair. Yes, even me. Some people treat us like we're a different subculture or a different race. Many of us have suffered some form of prejudice.

When I was 13, the boys at school started throwing rocks and snowballs filled with rocks at me, and calling me "red." A group of them would follow me home each day, taunting and physically abusing me the whole way. As a result, I got so that I wouldn't go to school. I realize now that my red hair was bringing some budding sexuality out in those boys that they didn't know how to deal with, and so they took that out on me, but back then, it made me feel like there was something wrong with me and with my red hair.

As a result of such experiences, I've dyed my hair most of my life, trying to hide the red, which always broke through to some degree. I had to go black as it was the only thing that would cover it well. And now that I'm an adult, some men still have this strange angry sexual reaction when it comes to red hair. I was accosted by a man at Walmart a few days before Christmas last year.

Only recently, have I realized the mistake in trying to hide my red hair. This happened back in 2007 when my aunt died and my niece put her 3-month old baby in my arms whom I'd never seen before. The first thing that amazed me were her dark eyes, which were just like mine. In fact, she looks very much like me. She had a hooded jacket on, and I pulled the hood down to see that she also had red hair just like mine. LOL! I realized that I needed to set a good example for her and show her that red hair is beautiful.

So I finally went back to my red hair. I now feel, for the first time in my life, that I'm lucky to have red hair. And I hope any red head reading this realizes their own unique beauty and will stay away from hair dye.

Here's some advice for those of you who aren't red heads. Don't call red heads "carrot tops," "Gingers," "red," or any other such names. Most of us find these terms offensive even if you don't mean it to be offensive.

Don't you dare tell me or any other redhead that we need sun. We don't. We're beautiful pale, and I, for one, love my fair skin. In fact, I won't tan anyway and have a high chance of getting skin cancer if I try.

P.S. One of my three sons had red hair when he was very young, but his hair turned dark brown. He has the pale skin however. In fact, two of my sons got my pale skin.



  Announcements
        April 29, 2010
A Time of Change

I'm busy today, trying to get some graphics ready for ButterflyWebGraphics.com, but I decided to drop by and post some news as the past couple of days have brought unexpected changes to my life.

For one thing, to my great shock, the National Democratic Committee offered me a writing job. I'd have to write speeches for candidates (including the President), material for campaigns, etc., and plan and organize campaigns. It's supposedly a very demanding job, which would require attention to detail, tight deadlines, and pretty much having to work anytime I'm needed. It wouldn't be a 9-5 type of job but more of a 24-hour a day commitment.

None of that bothers me, and, though I've never thought about political writing, I'd probably be good at that type of writing, because I'm known for being able to write strong and with great passion.

But I would also have to move to Washington, D.C., and that does bother me. My husband is a RN, and he'd have no problem getting a job there as nurses are in high demand everywhere, especially a nurse with ER and dialysis experience. But it's expensive to live in Washington and there's a lot of violent crime there. The last I heard, it's the murder capital of the world.

So I will likely turn that offer down. But I'm flattered that they thought of me. And it has served to revive my spirit somewhat after recent events in my life.

The other thing is that after smoking for 32 years and being absolutely certain that I've just about destroyed my lungs, I've quit smoking thanks to a device called the e-cigarette. It's an artificial cigarette that delivers nicotine just like a real cigarette without the harmful affects of a real cigarette. It emits an odorless vapor that emulates smoke and has a cartridge attached that holds the nicotine. The tip lights up like a real cigarette, only there's no fire--just the orange glow of an LED light.

I learned about electronic cigarettes after an ER doctor told me that he and his mother were able to quit after smoking more than 20 years. I was skeptical at first, but after waking up each morning with terrible pain in my lungs, I was ready to try anything. I got mine from freshsmoking.com, and the moment I tried an ecigarette, it changed my life. I find it so satisfying that I don't see a reason to smoke a real cigarette. I can sit here and smoke it all I want, knowing I'm not bombarding my lungs with thousands of carcinogens.

This device might actually save my life.

I'd started smoking at 13 when I stayed all night with some girlfriends. They had cigarettes and tried to get me to smoke them. At first, I refused, but they kept pressuring me, saying they wouldn't be friends with me if I didn't join them. so, I tried it, liked it, and got hooked.

And I'm so relieved that after all these years, I've finally found a way to break the habit.

The bad news is that the tobacco industry is exerting major influence to get them banned. In fact, they have been banned in New Jersey. I'm glad that I don't live in New Jersey. In California, Arnold refused to sign a bill to get them banned. Unfortunately, the issue is still up for debate in some states. In the National arena, there's debate as to whether ecigarettes should fall under the rule of the FDA. And a lot of other countries have also banned ecigarettes, including Canada. I guess I won't be visiting Canada anytime soon.

It seems like there's always someone trying to tell us what we should or shouldn't do with our bodies.

You can learn more about the ecigarette here.

As for me, I'm very happy to have found this life-saving product. They're great!

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        April 27, 2010
Copyrights

I discovered that someone created a slideshow with my inspirational piece, "Alphabet of Thanks." The slideshow is being tooted as one of the most popular on FaceBook. The person did create a beatufiul slide show, but used my work without my permission, and so that was very upsetting to me, especially since a slideshow or Flash presentation directly competes with my site at BobetteBryan.com.

So I'm posting this message as a reminder that copyrights are serious business, and you should always ask for permission before using someone's writing, graphics, or other intellectual property. Please do not use my poetry in a greeting card, postcard, online slideshow, or Flash presentation.

Thanks for understanding and respecting my copyright,
Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        April 24, 2010
Journey of Love Flash Greeting

I stayed up all night long to get my latest Flash romance card finished, and then, when I was ready to upload it this morning, my internet service went down, because of a bad storm. But it's back up, and I was finally able to upload the file.

Here's the link to the first version. Know that it's a large file, nearly 10 MB, due to the music file. It's also a long presentation, but very beautiful.

Journey of Love

Bobette Bryan



  Announcements
        April 22, 2010
Romantic Flash Greeting

I've had a lot going on in my life the past week, so I've not updated this site, but I wanted to drop by and reassure you readers that I'm still working on greeting cards. In fact, I've been working on a romantic flash greeting for the past couple of days and will announce it here as soon as I get it done. This card is going to be a long one, and I'm worried about how big the file size will be. LOL!

I'm going through an experimental stage right now, trying to come up with new ways to present my poetry and create cards.

As for BobetteBryan.com, I have a lot of ideas. For one thing, I hope to expand upon the inspirational section, but I better keep the rest to myself for now. I do intend to add a lot of dynamic features to the site.

Bobette Bryan



  Announcements
        April 19, 2010
Fifty Great Ecards

I'm sorry that I've not been keeping these posts up the past few days. I've been so busy with other things in my life, and when I'm on my computer, I've been studying Flash and working on some technical things, mainly 3D related problems. I spent the past couple of days trying to get a new 3D model of a baby to work in my 3D software, and couldn't as it wasn't compatible. So I tried using other 3D software and ended up wasting a lot of time. I did, however, have success with another new 3D model, which I'm fond of and created some new children graphics for ButterflyWebGraphics. Check them out: Cute Kids. This model will be great for fairies as well.

I haven't given up on the baby, but I want to put my effors toward learning Flash right now rather than another 3D program. I'll get back to that baby eventually.

I have been upset that these other activities are taking so much time away from my poetry. I need to dedicate some time to writing this weekend.

While I'm on the subject, this inspirational card has become quite popular: Expect the Best.

Here's another new inspirational Flash card that I added to BobetteBryan.com a couple of days ago. Pray to Him.

I've also put up a page that features my top 25 postcard and top 25 full-page greetings. Top Ecards.

P.S. Thanks for your emails and messages. Japhet, hopefully you will soon. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Barb, I haven't heard from him in a while. Someone knocks on the door occasionally, and I don't know if it's him or a prankster. When I get there, there's no one there. A police officer who patrols this area is watching for him though so he would be wise to stay away from my house.

Bobette

   Announcements
        April 14, 2010
Christmas Ecards in May

Why have I been so quiet? Because I've been working with (struggling with) Flash. I've decided that I'm going to work on holiday cards from now through summer so that I can build up a good supply. That's right, through those hot summer months, I'll be thinking snow, Santa, and holiday cheer. The good thing about that is that I get to keep Christmas all summer long and remember the miracle behind it even during the summer barbecues.

In fact, I'll think I'll plan a "Christmas in July" Celebration this year.

And I know it's silly to announce these cards in May, but here are some new Flash Christmas cards that I really like, and I couldn't wait to share them with you.

Build a Snowman A flash ecard that allows you to build your own snowman.

Merry Christmas A totally awesome Flash card that you'll want to send this July or on Christmas.

Holiday Break A flash ecard where you can sit back by the fire and enjoy some hot chocolate, read a paper, and relax.

Santa Party Celebrate the holidays with this cool flash ecard.

Santa Dance A celebration worth dancing for.

P.S. Tonight is the anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. It went down on April 15, at 2:20 AM. I'm a big Titanic fan--I was well before the 1997 movie and have researched it extensively. I've always been fascinated with that ship. So each year on the anniversary of the sinking, I fix a Titanic meal, which is like the original meal served on the ship. I have some original recipes for it. The kids always liked that when they were young. LOL! I'd even have them dress up, and we'd pretend to be passengers all evening. Kids love stuff like that. This year, however, I've been unable to find the recipes and so I decided to skip it this year. My husband and I watched the movie last night though and enjoyed it as always. I just wish that there was a way to slip back in time and change that ending.

In Branson, Missouri, there's a Titanic museum that has a half-scale recreation of the ship. My husband keeps nagging me to go see it--maybe one of these days I'll get around to it.

Merry early, early, early Christmas!

Bobette

  Announcements
        April 11, 2010
Mother's Day Ecards

Well, after a few days of hard work, I've managed to create some new Mother's Day Cards, and a new Mother's day index page, and I updated Butterflywebgraphcs. Whew! I need to relax tonight! Maybe my husband and I will watch a few episodes of Lost. We're on Season 4 now.

Here are the links to the new pages and cards:

I was playing around with CSS to give my Mother's Day Card index a more feminime look, and I love how it came out--lots and lots of soft pink and roses. Check it out! Mother's Day Ecards. I realize there's so much I can do with my base design, especially for the holidays.

And I still have a lot of index pages to make, but I'm getting there.

As for ButterflyWebGraphics, I put up some Painted Ponies. I'd created some horses about a year ago, and everyone loved them and begged me to do more. And so I've finally done it.

Now, I need to get off my computer for a while.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        April 09, 2010
Making Progress

I got the first version of the Romance Ecard index pages up on BobetteBryan.com. I'm going to make index pages like these for all of the card categories to make finding what you're looking for easier and to give greater emphasis to the full page greetings. I'm also working on making the site more search engine friendly. So that's what I'll be busy working on for the next few days.

My son is still working hard on that greeting card program, and soon the site will be so much better all around and you'll be able to add a personal message to the fullpage greetings, and so much more. I can't wait! I'm so excited about this.

I'm waiting to do anything major with the site and with advertising the site until that program is up and running, because I simply couldn't handle a lot of traffic yet.

But I wanted you readers to know that I'm not defeated. Far, far from it. In fact, I'm more optimistic and determined than ever.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        April 08, 2010
Still Writing

I wrote some new poetry today, and I posted a new poem on the poetry page. I also added some new postcards to BobetteBryan.com. I need to update ButterflyWebGraphics.com too, and I'll work on that this evening.

I'm sorry if you've emailed me, and I've not gotten back to you. I've had a lot going on in my life these past couple of weeks. But I'll get in touch with you soon.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        April 06, 2010
New Cards

I'm busy working today, but I wanted to drop by long enough to announce my three latest cards. Here are the links:

Expect the Best
Are you expecting the worst? If so, find out why you should expect the best instead.

Spring Blessings
Wish a friend a beautiful spring!

Miracle Cure
Sometime laughter is the best medicine. Send this card for an unforgettable get well wish.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        April 05, 2010
Great Things Ahead

My family and I had a good Easter. It was a bright and sunny day, and we had a big feast, my son, Patrick, helping a lot with the cooking this year. And the dogs had a good time too. They weren't too interested in the easter egg hunt but enjoyed getting a bath in the new children's swimming pool we got them. The mastiffs are too big for the bathtub--we have a claw foot Victorian style tub--and so the only way to bathe them is to do it outside. They love water though and find a bath in the pool refreshing. The Doberman doesn't. I've never seen a Doberman who likes water. And bathing a Doberman can be a task--though they bask in newfound exhilaration afterward and are ultra full of friskiness.

I didn't work on cards this weekend like I'd planned, but I accomplished another big task--I did my taxes. Yipppeeeeee! Even better, my husband and I don't owe anything this year. It's always such a feeling of relief to get the taxes done. Since I'm self-employed it can be quite a task to figure up all of those business expenses and so hard to keep track of them through the year. It takes quite a bit of back tracking and a huge expenditure of time. So I'm very happy I got it done, and happy that I'd paid enough in estimated taxes through the year.

I will work on new cards this week though and am anxious to get back to work. I'm convinced there are great things ahead. I'm more hopeful than ever.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        April 03, 2010
Happy Easter

I've been sleeping a lot. I slept most of the day yesterday and all night too. I think it's the medication I'm on--or my body is trying to make up for lost sleep. I hope I can stay awake today, because there is so much I hope to do. I want to work on some new cards, and I need to cook for Easter dinner tomorrow.

I plan on having an Easter egg hunt for the dogs. LOL! I don't know if it's going to work or not. I've never tried it before. I got some plastic eggs, which have some holes in them, and I'm going to fill them with snacks and see if the dogs are interested in finding them. Some kind of edible egg shaped snack for dogs for an Easter egg hunt would be a great idea. Of course, the Easter rabbit is going to leave treats and toys for those dogs too. These are some spoiled dogs.

Here are some great Easter cards that you can send.

Easter Rabbit Lessons. Find out what you can learn from the Easter rabbit. There is also a postcard version of this card if you'd like to customize it.

Jesus Obituary. A great card that celebrates Jesus' life that you can send to just about anyone on your list. A postcard version of this card is also available.

Spring in My Heart. A beautiful springtime card to send to the one you love. A postcard version of this card is also available.

An Easter Blessing. Send a wish for a blessed Easter. This card is available only in a postcard format.

Loving Thoughts. A simple yet great card to send to everyone on your list.

Candle of Hope. Send the gift of hope this Easter with this postcard.

Wishing you a Happy and blessed Easter,
Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        April 02, 2010
Easter Cards

Today I put up a few new Easter cards on BobetteBryan.com, which I created on the fly. Here's the link:

Easter Ecards

I know I'm posting them late, since Easter is on Sunday, but hopefully, they'll still be sent. I don't know if I'll create any more Easter cards this year or not. It depends on what mood I'm in tomorrow.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        April 01, 2010
Doing Better

I'm feeling so much better that I've been working hard and got a lot done. I transformed all of those new cards I made for PassionUp into a format for BobetteBryan.com, and I've listed most of them on a temporary index page under nice, neat categories that will make the card you're looking for much easier to find. Here's the link:

Bobette Bryan's Fullpage Greetings

PassionUp still has some of my new cards, which are temporarily on loan, in case you're wondering why there are still some over there.

Thanks for all of your well wishes. I appreciate it. All of you online friends have helped me get through this rough time and gave me hope.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        March 26, 2010
Not Giving Up!

Today, I'm busy trying to remove and/or replace all of the links I've put up all over the internet for PassionUp, including on my own sites. That is a lot of work. I've removed them from BobetteBryan.com and most of them from this site. I also need to reformat the cards, over 100 that I've submitted to them, into a format for my greeting card site. That too will be quite a job. It will help BobetteBryan.com grow though, and, hopefully, start building up traffic again as it all but disappeared with all of those links going to PassionUp.

After I do these things, I will probably take a break from greeting cards for a short while--just to recover from it all. And then, I'm going to return to it and make the best greeting card site ever. Make no mistake, I'm not giving up on this.

Thanks for your emails and comments. I appreciate the support.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        March 25, 2010
No Longer with PassionUp

I'm no longer with PassionUp. They decided my new cards aren't "viral" enough and that the viewership had only "increased marginally." I think they failed to give it enough time as I was only back for a month, and during the past couple of days, I'd noticed that everything had increased considerably, including the amount of visitor time on the site and page views per visitor--not to mention the fact that my new cards had become their top cards. But if that's what they want, that's fine with me. I'll just keep doing my own thing on BobetteBryan.com and expand the site. I have a lot of exciting ideas for it.

And I wanted to share this card with you as it's very important to me.

Here's the link to the latest new card on BobetteBryan.com:

Your Span

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        March 24, 2010
Choices

My husband and I went bowling today. It has been several months since we've gone. I was in such bad shape that I was exhausted after the first game. And I was just using a 10-pound child's bowling ball--it seemed heavy to me. Pathetic! He, he! It opened my eyes to the need to get off of my computer and exercise. I need to lift something more than a mouse.

I've also been thinking a lot about my writing career these past few days. I've decided that I'm going to dedicate myself to my novel writing again as I feel that would be in my best interest. And whether I continue to create greeting cards or not in the months ahead, I'll continue to publish my latest poetry on this website as promised.

I've been confused about some things, and that confusion has given way to the realization that, though some things haven't turned out how I hoped they would, there are a lot of promising options in my life. They just might require taking a different path than the one I'm on now.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        March 22, 2010
New Moon

Last night, my husband and I watched New Moon, the latest movie in the Twilight series. We didn't think it was as good as the first one. The writer took a ridiculous detour from the story line by moving the romance away from Bella and Edward to Bella and the wolf guy, Jacob. LOL! That's really bad, because fans are in love with vampires, and especially, vampire Edward Cullen--not the wolf guy as gorgeous as he is. But, I think I'd pick the wolf over the vampire any day. He may have a few fleas, but at least he'd be warmer to curl up with, and he always seems so sincere. Okay, maybe he was a bit strange for a time there when he was maturing into a shape-changer, but, we're all entitled to moments of insanity, and his was short lived.

Of course, both choices would bite from time to time, but no one's perfect.

And at least the wolf guy didn't break Bella's heart. That was pretty lousy the way Edward took off like he did, even if he did it in Bella's best interest.

I was also pretty upset at the way that wonderful wolf Jacob's heart was broken at the end. It left me feeling empty, despite the fact that Bella and Edward got back together, as we all knew they would.

Added to these things, the dialogue was awful--I don't think I've once seen Edward talk with the eloquence of a 109-year old man. People spoke much better way back then. He'd be so much compelling if he did from time to time.

Oh, and I can't forget to mention how awful the 3D wolves looked, downright comical.

And then, I'd also have to throw in the lousy, predictable, and cliché plot--nothing unusual here. In fact, it was Romeo and Juliet retold.

But I'd very much like to know which one you'd pick for a mate...Edward or Jacob. Write to me and let me know.

The success of the Twilight series, though, has had me kicking myself in the rear a few times as so many people have tried to persuade me over the years to write a vampire series. I'd written an erotic vampire story over 10 years ago that readers loved, and they wanted more. I've never been too much into vampires so I didn't do it. I do enjoy some of the recent vampire series, but my favorite of all is Dark Shadows, including the 1980s remake. Now what woman couldn't fall in love with Barnabas Collins? He even had the debonair quality of a man from an earlier time.

Well, I intend to put up a couple of darker, Gothic, vampire type romantic cards on PassionUp to see if all of you vampire fans out there like them. I'll post links to them here when I do.

But for now, here are a couple of my latest cards. Both of these are Flash.

Online Friend
Send this card to your online friends and brighten their day.

The Whole Sky
A great heartfelt card to send to a thoughtful person in your life.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        March 18, 2010
Word Puzzles

So today, I'm doing something I've been dreading...no not my taxes. Not yet. I'll have to disappear for a few days when that time comes and enter a dark cave away from all other humans. And that's for the best, because many foul words will escape my lips.

Today, I'm not brave enough to take on that task, but I've summoned enough courage to go through some of those stacks of notebooks I've mentioned, which contain poetry I've written these past few months. It's a very difficult thing to do, as I can barely read my own writing. It's like trying to solve a difficult word puzzle--or trying to decipher a message on an ancient rock that only has a few letters from some long-forgotten language. It goes something like this: there's a word that looks like "cater," down there so that word up there must be something that rhymes with it, and if that's true, the word next to it can only be....

I'm sure you get the picture. Maybe those taxes would be easier to tackle after all. At least then I'd be dealing with absolutes.

I've often thought about burning all of my notebooks before I die. That way, my unpublished work can never get into anyone's hands, not just the very personal poems, but, especially the really baaaaaaad stuff that I'd never want anyone to read. But the truth is, no one would be able to read it anyway. Ha, ha! That's so reassuring!

Bobette Bryan



  Announcements
        March 17, 2010
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. patrick's Day! I hope you're having a good one.

My family and I didn't do much for the holiday this year. My husband and I sat on the couch and watched an old version of Dicken's, Great Expectations, over a corned beef dinner.

Charles Dickens is one of my favorite writers. In fact, A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite stories, but it was my husband's idea to watch Great Expectations today. We enjoyed it. Charles Dickens must have had such a beautiful heart. I'm always touched by the stories he wrote.

I haven't updated this site in a few days, because I've been so busy working on cards. And then, I didn't feel well for a few days, but I'm a bit better now.

Here is a card I wanted to share with you.

I Miss You
Don't miss this card if you're missing someone special!

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        March 13, 2010
One Hundred New Cards

Yesterday, I created some very beautiful cards for PassionUp, including some "new love" cards, which I'm about to upload. Unforuntately, though I've created nearly 100 new cards for PassionUp, there are no links to them on PassionUp--except for the thumbnails on the first page and the links on the St. Patrick's day index page.

The programmer tried to put the new cards into the database, which resulted in a lot of undesirable cards coming up--but only a couple of my new cards. Since I've announced everywhere that my new cards are appearing on PassionUp, I was aghast that readers would think those cards represented my latest work. That problem was resolved, but now, we have another database issue--for some reason, it's bringing up my earliest cards--and still not my new cards. He, he! Instead of St. Patrick's Day coming up under holidays, there are Thanksgiving and Christmas cards.

Here are a couple of new greetings that I came up...though they're on a back index page that few will probably see.

Love Letter 2
If you're missing someone, check it out. Even if you're not missing someone, take a look, because this is One of the most beautiful cards that you will ever see. With gorgeous pink rose hearts, it seems like a sweet confection.

I'm sure we'll get this database problem resolved soon. Hopefully!

Last night, I was trying to finish some cards for PassionUp, but it seemed like I was going slow and was having a hard time getting them ready. Then I looked at the clock and realized that it was because I'd worked 18 hours. I'm still having great difficulty sleeping. I hope this insomnia passes soon.

Merry Early Christmas!
Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        March 11, 2010
Something Borrowed and Something Blue

I'm working on graphics today. Art is a good way to escape it all when the weight of life gets too great. And I need to work on St. Patrick's day graphics for ButterflyWebGraphics.com anyway.

I'm dispirited. I learned that another greeting card company has "borrowed" ideas from me again and now has cards similar to my postcards on bobettebryan.com--even with falling graphics. Amazing! I never thought I'd see a greeting card company who'd gone totally to Flash cards drift back into the postcard type of greeting. I'm shocked...but not suprised. They never seem to get tired of imitating me.

The popularity of my work at PassionUp changed greeting cards as we know them. Greeting cards used to have a line or two or a short verse and relied more on graphics than the written word, but, following the success of my cards at PassionUp, greeting card companies jumped on the bandwagon and started producing lines of more intimate, poetic cards. I'm sure you've seen them and know what I'm talking about.

Another change I've noted in the greeting card industry following my success, is that they've started trying to promote their writers as they realize that a popular writer has greater value than one who's hidden from the public. Well, duh, book publishers knew that long ago. What took the greeting card industry so long to figure that out? But I doubt that any of their writers have attracted a following.

Ah, but they're watching me. I've found them on my server logs several times, and I received an offer from a competitive company not long ago. I'm sure they'd love to snare me and thereby eliminate two potentially dangerous competitors...me and PassionUp, or, even more dangerous, me with PassionUp. It's not going to happen. I would not dream of going with a competitive greeting card company and injuring the company I helped build.

But I do hope to turn PassionUp around and make it better than it ever was. That will take time and work, and I'm so glad you readers are with me in this and are continuing to support my creative endeavors and PassionUp.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        March 10, 2010
A Romantic Evening

I mainly created funny St. Patrick's Day greetings this year, because we have a lot of other types already, and because I've been in a silly mood these past few days.

Sometimes I lose track of time when I'm working. That's why I haven't updated my news in a couple of days. And tonight, I decided that I needed to spend some time with the husband I've been neglecting. So we went out for dinner--I was going to take him bowling too, which he loves, but couldn't convince myself to do so. But I wore a sexy black dress that I knew he'd love.

The problem was, however, that I didn't realize just how sexy that dress was before we left for the restaurant, because I'd never worn it before. And it only looked mildly low-cut in the bathroom mirror. However, at the restaurant, when I sat down, the fabric pulled tighter around me and pushed an indecent amount of me up and out of the bodice. Thus I repeatedly tried to pull the fabric up over my shoulders. The effort was futile. Not even a second later, it would be back to the dangerously low zone. Needless to say, I spent most of the meal with my arms in front of me like a shield. My husband found it all hilarious. I finally grew so tired of fighting the dress that I put my coat on. Ha, ha!

On the way home, my husband said the dress really stirred him. Yeah--it also stirred all the other men in the restaurant, including the waiter who couldn't seem to get our order right.

I'm never going to wear it out again.

Let this be a lesson to women everywhere. Always do a "sit test" before you wear a sexy dress out.

Anyway, the evening went well otherwise and ended with a trip to the grocery store. How romantic is that?

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        March 7, 2010
Ecard Newsletter

I've been trying to promote my new PassionUp cards on the social networking sites. Talk about overwhelming. I feel so lost in those places. I don't see what people find so fascinating about them. They're full of noisy, stolen graphics and a lot of lame one liners. Some seem more like dating sites than anything else.

There is one in particular that I'd rather stay away from (as if MySpace isn't bad enough) and that is Tagged. My email box is always full of male admirers from that site who want to meet me and most of them are local. I fear that I might run into them when I go out. LOL!

Of course, I've made it clear that I'm married and not interested in anything beyond friendship, but a lot of them won't take no for an answer and continue to write to me, ask me out, and send me love letters. There was one from MySpace who drove me nuts for months who came in the guise of wanting me to do a website for him. What madness!

I also saw that I've been "bought and sold" several times on Tagged. I don't like that either. I never agreed to participate in that. Now, I'm supposed to earn points in order to buy my freedom. How do I get these points? I have to send love and hugs to people. That would only attract more male admirers who are looking for a date.

Out of all of the social networking sites the one I find the most comfortable so far is Facebook-- though it seems to be going the way of the others.

How are these places working for promotion? I'm not sure yet. We'll see. Unfortunately, I only have very limited time to apply myself to such an endeavor.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        March 6, 2010
Still Working

I've learned that the leprechan card I posted about yesterday isn't coming up. I'd tested it and thought it was. I've removed the link and will let you know when the card is available.

I slept 12 hours last night, my body catching up on the sleep I've been missing. I awoke ravenous, went downstairs and threw a frozen bean burrito in the microwave--something I would rarely eat. As I ate it, I discovered that it was frozen in the middle. I ate it anyway.

Now I'm back at my desk, wondering what to work on this morning.

I've written a lot of great new text for cards, so I think I'll work on cards...but not Flash ones. I've lost enough time with that these past few days.

I said I was frustrated with Flash. Some of the frustration stems from trying to go between Swish (an easier program that creates Flash files) and Flash. And I had an older version of Flash, one that dates back to when Macromedia owned the program--Adobe owns it now. And some of the new Flash components I've picked up recently won't work in it or Swish. So it seems like nothing is working in anything. He, he! So I've purchased the latest edition of Flash, and I'm anxiously waiting for it to arrive. But until it does, I'm staying away from it, or I'll go completely mad.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        March 5, 2010
A Real Leprechaun Greeting Card

I've been up all night getting a new graphics package ready for ButterflyWebGraphics. I'd mentioned my Oriental package featuring my Cookie character, well, it's finally finished and on the site. I have a male character too and intend to create another package with him. Here's the link to this package: Cherry Blossom Cookie.

Beyond that, I got frustrated working with Flash last night, but I'm not giving up. Sometimes the more frustrated I get, the more determined I am to tackle something.

It's not too early to send St. Patrick's day cards. So share this with the ladies in your life and make them smile.

Bobette

   Announcements
        March 3, 2010
Mother Teresa's Heart

I'm back from my short trip. It was good to get away from everything for a day. I've been under a lot of stress and suffering from a lot of uncertainty about some things in my life. And I've been so busy these past few days. I'm sorry if I've not yet replied to your email. I will get back to you. I promise.

Here's another new card I created for PassionUp. We all love Mother Teresa, and she had so much wisdom and love to share with the world that I wanted you to see and share this card right away. It features many of her most beautiful quotes. So please check it out.

Mother Teresa's Heart

This is an "experimental" new type of card. I would love to know what you readers think about this format. Please email me and let me know. Be honest. If you hate it, tell me so. You won't hurt my feelings. It's just an experiment, and I'm creating cards for you--so I need to know what you want.

I also put a couple of short poems on the poetry page.

P.S. Thanks for the many wonderful comments you've left in my address book. Veronica, no he doesn't read my poetry. This is common when someone is married to a writer--or so other writers have told me. It doesn't bother me. I kind of think of my writing as my private thing. I think I'd be more upset if he did start snooping through it. And he has never expressed any jealousy toward the subject matter of what I write. A family member recently let it slip, however, that my mother-in-law drops by here occasionally. LOL!

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        March 2, 2010
Romantic Ecard

I've been busy working on new material, but I thought I'd drop by and post about another of my latest cards on PassionUp.

This was one of my most popular romance postcards on BobetteBryan.com. Readers absolutely love this card. So I converted it into a card for PassionUp.

Fell In Love

I'm trying to come up with some ideas that will make PassionUp an even better site. If you have any suggestions, please email me.

Now I really need to work on some graphics for ButterflyWebGraphics.com. I haven't wanted to pull myself away from creating cards to do so these past couple of days. And my husband and I plan on going out of town for the day on Wednesday, so I need to wrap up a project I'm working on this morning.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 28, 2010
Pug Friendship Ecard

Good morning, readers. I've been up working all night. It's hard to believe it's morning.

I just wanted to mention an adorable new friendship card I just put on PassionUp. Here's the link:

My Friend

There's no link to it on PassionUp yet, so you're hearing about it first here.

It has a cute pug.

I had a pug for a couple of weeks who looked much like the one in the photo. I was sitting on the porch, writing (of course) a couple of years ago when I saw a pug run up the busy street. He nearly got hit. I rescued him and brought him inside--and fell in love with him. I called him "Little Guy." He was a lot of work, but he would cuddle up in my arms like a baby as I worked on my computer, and I quickly grew attached to him. I took him to the vet for a check up and found out that he was only about 3 months old.

I watched the missing pet ads and notices in the neighborhood, but no one seemed to be looking for a pug. I'd assumed that he'd been dumped. I hoped he had, because I wanted to keep him.

I took him out late one night on his leash and heard people calling in the distance. A few minutes later, a man approached me, saying he was looking for a lost pug, that he was a pug breeder and lived a couple of streets down. Of course, Little Guy was the lost pug. The man told me Little Guy had been selected to be their prized stud dog. I had no choice but to turn Little Guy over to him. It was the right thing to do. I suppose he's happier anyhow, being a stud dog.

The man also told me that he'd see if I could have a pug from an upcoming litter. Of course that never happened. But maybe that was for the best. I have my hands full with three dogs anyway.

Still, I think of Little Guy sometimes...

Bobette
  Announcements
        February 27, 2010
New Egreetings

I've been so busy creating new cards that I haven't had a chance to update my news. I've created several new cards and have converted a few of my popular postcards for PassionUp. I need to get them all done and uploaded. I will let you all know when they're available on PassionUp.

I'm also spending some time, trying to find ways to help market my new cards on PassionUp--and that takes a lot of time.

It seems like the internet is very slow today. I studied some stats and learned that internet traffic slows down on the weekends. That's interesting, because activity on my graphics site picks up on the weekends. But I have noticed that slowing trend on the greeting card sites.

I also wanted to let you all know that my email may be down anytime between February 27-28, and will definitely be down Sunday, February 28, between 12:00 a.m. to 6 a.m Central time. My ISP is doing some upgrades. I'm hopeful that this will result in fewer email problems. It seems like so often anymore, I don't receive my email.

Bobette Bryan
  Announcements
        February 24, 2010
An Angel Ecard

My latest cards are now available on PassionUp.com. Please check them out!

There are several exclusive new inspirational cards that I created for PassionUp, including:

Divine Guidance, for those who want to get in touch with the angels that are all around and live a more fulfilling life.

Alphabet of Thanks, a long awaited addition to my popular Alphabet of Happiness.

The Most of Life. Some wisdom that will help you make the most of life.

I hope you enjoy them and will share them with your family and friends.

Bobette

  Announcements
        February 23, 2010
Rabbits and More Rabbits

I updated my graphics site with little bunnies...one hundred and seven of them. Here's the link: Easter Bunny Graphics. They remind me of those rabbits in those "Raving Rabbid" games that my kids play. I also put up my springtime graphics index so that members can download the springtime graphics from previous years. There are some cute Easter graphics and St. Patrick's Day graphics in the mix. One of my favorites is this rabbit family, and this St. Patrick's Day Scrapbooking Kit.

I also put a new card up on BobetteBryan.com today, here's the URL:

Someone You meet, a card with an important message that we should all take to heart.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 22, 2010
Inspirational Ecards

I didn't update this site yesterday, because I've been too busy getting graphics ready for ButterflyWebgraphics.com.

This evening I also did some research for another new inspirational card I'm creating about personal accomplishment. I think it's a great card idea--I'll let you be the judge when it's finally finished and published.

I'm sorry that I've been too busy to answer my address book comments and emails, but thanks for all of your well wishes.

Vince, how do you know it's my imagination? LOL! Just kidding. I probably shouldn't have said that. I can almost hear a massive number of eyebrows raising.

Nettie, I'll announce my new cards here, so keep dropping by.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 20, 2010
William Arthur Ward

I actually slept last night, a rarity lately. Today, my husband is home, but I hope I'll get a chance to work on graphics. I need to update ButterflyWebGraphics.com. And I'm working on a cute Oriental collection that would have been great for the Chinese New Year. I can't wait until I get it done. I know my members will love it.

I put a new postcard greeting on BobetteBryan.com, just a quote that I came across and liked recently by William Arthur Ward, 1921–1994, who was known for his inspirational maxims.

Bobette

   Announcements
        February 19, 2010
Making Progress

It's nearly 7 AM. I've made great progress on converting some of my top cards to PassionUp's code--only a few more left to do. Then I need to go over them all. I think I'll take a break for a while.

Update: 11:40 PM
I had a nap earlier and awoke to find that my Doberman pup, 11-months old, had chewed up my hairbrush. It's times like these that I have to remind myself that he's a gift from above.

When I knew my old dog, Ulysses, didn't have long to live, I fell into a depression that I couldn't shake, thinking I couldn't live without him. The thought was unbearable. Then, we went to a pet store one day, and I ran into a man with the cutest 6-week old Doberman puppy. Upon hearing about Ulysses, he said that he had Doberman puppies, and I could have my pick of a litter. This was odd, because you can't find Dobermans here. They are on a list of dogs that require a special and costly breeding license, and so no one breeds them. And to run into a man with a Doberman, a man with a litter of pups who was willing to generously give me one, at that place and time in my life, seemed like a minor miracle. What's more, they were all black, and he had some males. I wanted a black male like Ulysses, one who would be serious and dedicated like Ulysses who followed me everywhere and was always looking out for me.

We went to the man's house to get a puppy, and I chose the little black male who bravely came over and sat in my lap. He seemed serious. He wasn't shy like the other pups who moved away from me. He seemed destined to be the one.

We took him home and dubbed him "Perseus," but we call him Percy. It was like taking a new baby home from the hospital. We were all up around the clock to tend to his needs, making sure he was warm, dry, and fed. None of us got much sleep for the first couple of months.

He did lift spirits and helped us all get through the loss of Ulysses.

But it turns out that he isn't the serious type of Doberman, I'd hoped for. Instead, we ended up with a clown, one of the five distinct Doberman personalities. And this dog is the strangest dog we've ever had. He sits on the couch like a human. When he's told to sit, he goes over to the couch and parks his rear on it, back legs dangling over the edge. It's a sight to see. I'll have to try to get a photo of it.

He chews up everything, including plaster, wood, shoes, and whatever else he can snag. He leaves a trail of chewed remnants through the house. Whatever is important or meaningful to any of us, is definitely something he'll bag and eat. And he whines endlessly, especially when I'm trying to write.

His tongue and nose are always on me. I wrote that poem about him that I posted on my poetry page, and I didn't exaggerate. Sometimes it seems like he wants to eat me.

As for guarding me, he hides behind my legs if he hears a strange noise. He even ran to the back door in horror one day when he heard squirrels chatting on the fence. Ha, ha! Some guard dog.

He is smart, but he doesn't seem to want to use his brain.

I'm hoping that he's still just puppy-brained and will mature during the coming year, because he's driving me insane. I've always been a dog person, but I fantasize about living somewhere far away from him, just me and my cat, Romeo, who's likely the most wonderful cat in the entire world.

Puppy classes...that might be a good idea, that might be just what he needs, something I need to look into. It would be much preferable to strangling him.

Bobette
  Announcements
        February 18, 2010 continued
Continued

A creative spell is coming on. I'm burning with a desire to write, especially some intense romantic poetry. If I write anything I like, maybe I'll create a card to post here later this evening. I do want to continue to get my latest work out to you readers. I know that many of you come here each day for my latest and I don't want you to leave disappointed.

Bobette

   Announcements
        February 18, 2010
A Best Friend

It's 3 AM. I'm up early today, mainly because I'm not sleeping well. My husband works tonight, and I'm hoping to get a lot done. In fact, I think I'll go downstairs and write this morning.

I see that you readers are sending a lot of cards from BobetteBryan.com. That's good. I thought it would slow down after Valentine's Day. I'm glad to see that it hasn't--at least not significantly.

I created a couple of simple postcards this morning:

Since I received some emails about my poem, "A Valentine's Day Gift," I decided to make a postcard version...even though it's after Valentine's Day. You could send it as a belated Valentine. LOL!

I also created a friendship card, A Best Friend. A simple message that conveys the truth about having a close friend. Perhaps I should send it to my best friend. I haven't been in touch with her as much as I'd like to be lately. And she's such a good friend, always supportive of my schemes no matter how crazy some of them seem, accepting me for who I am always. She inspired this card. So check it out and send it to your best friend.

Bobette

  Announcements
        February 17, 2010
New Cards

I'm still working on new cards, and you'll be able to see them very soon.

My creativity is down. Words are coming but not very easy to me tonight. Hopefully, my creativity will improve this weekend. I admit it, I always get a little scared when this happens. Maybe all artists do. Even though I know, it will come back, and could do so at any moment--maybe even an hour from now, my hand will be burning across the page--I'm worried anyway.

To make matters worse, I have Laryngitis, making it painful to speak. That has me in a bit of a funk, because though I've had it several days now, it seems to be lingering.

I'd put a new poem on the poetry page, but I took it down as it seemed too personal--and way too rough. I hope I'm not getting stage fright. That can happen too sometimes and freeze up creativity. When it does, I have to pretend that I'm just writing for my eyes alone.

Oh, something funny to add. We went to a local Cajun restaurant for our Mardi Gras dinner. My husband, who is supposed to be on a low-fat diet, ran into his doctor there, who lectured him for eating such a meal. He, he! Something similar happened to me a couple of years ago, my endocrinologist put me on a strict diet for my diabetes. A couple of weeks later, I went to the store to pick up some things for my son who'd given me a long list. My cart was full of junk food like chips, cupcakes, candy, and deep fried frozen things and all kinds of sugary, sky-high-fat things, when I ran into my endocrinologist. I could have died from embarrassment.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        February 16, 2010
New Cards

I updated my poetry page with a new poem. A Valentine's Day Gift--a little late, I know. But it came to me out of the blue the day after Valentine's Day.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 15, 2010
ButterflyWebGraphics.com will Continue

I've received several worried emails from my ButterflyWebGraphics subscribers, asking if I'm going to quit running the site. The answer is no. Rest assured, that I'm dedicated to duty and will continue to create graphics for ButterflyWebGraphics.com. In fact, the site continues to do very well. I had posted a message about it in the member's area, because I was afraid my subscribers would be worried. I guess some of you haven't read it yet.

Also, I've found that I haven't been receiving all of my email the past few days. So if you subscribed and haven't heard from me, it's because I haven't received notification that you signed up. Please let me know, and I'll send your login information ASAP.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 14, 2010--continued
Happy Valentine's Day

It's finally Valentine's Day! I hope your day is full of love and beautiful memories!

I have a new Valentine's Day memory. My husband decided to surprise me with Valentine's Day cookies. I was upstairs in my office, working on my computer, when I caught a whiff of something burning. I was afraid the house was on fire, and so I dashed downstairs to find the first floor full of smoke. He'd baked the cookies on wax paper, and it started smoking and the paper, which hung over the sides of the pan, caught on fire in the oven. He, he! Luckily, there was no major damage. I'll never forget that.

Well, I'm up late, working on cards, but I probably won't get a chance to work on anything for the next couple of days as I have other plans, but I'll still try to update this site.

Ella: No! I don't know. Yes. I don't know. Yes. I don't know. And finally, I have!

There, the answer is a poem in itself. LOL! I'm not upset. I know you're just concerned, but remember that I always know what I want, even if it doesn't seem like it, and I have thought it through.

Vicky, I appreciate your message. Yes, all of my work is copyright protected and registered with the copyright office.

D. Estep, I agree. Thanks for saying exactly what I've been saying. Hopefully, this will end any lingering debate.

Happy Valentine's Day!
Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 13, 2010
Still Working on Cards

I stayed up all night last night to get a graphics package finished for ButteflyWebGraphics. It features that new model I'd mentioned a few days ago, "ScamPranx Pixie," a very unusual but cute character, with a mouse-like tail and ears.

I also worked on more cards. Today, I hope to get away from my computer and write. I'm fighting off a virus I picked up a couple of days ago so I'm trying to take it easy.

Thanks for your many warm messages. Sorry that I've not had time to address most of your comments and questions.

Mattie: Thanks for offering your opinion. As for the other thing you mentioned, yes, I've noticed that too. Quite a concern.

Brian: Thank you for considering me, but I'm not accepting any web or graphic design work. I just don't have time, but I wish you the best of luck with your endeavor.

Anita: Thanks! I'm glad you dropped by.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 9, 2010
Celebrating Mardi Gras and King Cake Recipe

Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, is on February 16 this year, only two days after Valentine's Day. Mardi Gras is not a popular celebration in this part of Missouri. For a few years, there has been a Mardi Gras parade downtown, but this year, the city nixed that short-lived tradition due to the celebration's "Immorality." Ha, ha!

My family and I never went to it anyway, and, usually celebrate the holiday by going to a local Cajun restaurant. Last year, I hung a sparkling Mardi Gras wreath on the front door, which I made with purple and green Mardi Gras ornaments and beads. It seemed to catch the sun and lit up the entire entryway and everyone thought it was gorgeous. In fact, I hated to take it down. It was so unique and bright. Maybe I'll get it out today and hang it up again.

Last year, I also added the traditional Mardi Gras King Cake to our celebration.

After trying it, my family and I felt like we'd been missing out. We've decided that serving a King Cake will become part of our celebration each year. It's hard to describe King Cake. It has a unique taste, is magnificently strange, delicious, colorful, and is a touch bizarre. In its base form, it's something like a giant cinnamon roll with sugary frosting, and topped with sparkling purple, green, and gold sugar. There's a fancier version that can have all kinds of fillings, such as raspberry or Bavarian cream.

It's definitely something worth trying.

And if you'd like to do so, I've added a simple recipe for a King Cake, here:

King Cake Recipe:

But if you'd like to try a more complex one, here's a King Cake recipe by the famous Chef Emeril Lagasse. Or you can order a King Cake directly from New Orleans. People tell me that Randazzos King Cakes are fantastic as well.

A tiny plastic baby is hidden inside these cakes, and whoever gets the baby Jesus is obligated to bring a king cake to the next party--traditionally, whoever got the baby was supposed to host the next Mardi Gras Party. My family and I have altered the tradition a bit--whoever gets the baby in our household is considered to be blessed for the year and can make a special wish. Why not? It's always good to make a wish and even better when a wish comes true.

Happy Early Mardi Gras,
Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 9, 2010
Celebrate Love

I'm in a hurry today. I'm off to work on graphics, but I put a new romance card. Here it is:

Celebrate Love
A special card for your long time love!

And I added a couple of poems to the poetry page.

As always, I will update this entry when I have more news to share.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 8, 2010
Always In Bloom

I'm up early again today. I actually slept last night. Yeah! I hadn't slept in days.

And I put a new and beautiful romance card up. You can't miss this one! Here it is:

Always In Bloom
Awaken to beauty that will ever bloom in your heart!

I'm in a very creative mood and hope to find a chance to write today.

I will update this entry when I have more news to share.

Update: I added a couple of poems to the poetry page.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 7, 2010
The Bird Sings

I realize that I accidentally deleted this entry about my new card "The Bird Sings," so I'm reposting it:

The Bird Sings
Celebrate freedom and possibilities.

I also slightly altered my card: "I Believe In You."

I Believe In You
So check it out.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 6, 2010
Another Day!

Well, it's another day...I sometimes don't know what day it is, because my sleeping pattern is so out of whack. I've been sleeping about 4 hours and then I get up for several hours and sleep whenever my body finally gives out. Not a healthy thing to do, I know. It seems like all I ever do is write, work on graphics, or create cards. My husband and I have decided to go out on Sunday. I need that.

I also wanted to announce that I've decided, though I believe in freedom of speech, not to allow any more guestbook entries that contain anything blatantly sexual, personal, or anything that might be offensive to others. I hope my readers understand. I hate to make such a statement as I don't want to scare anyone off, and I do appreciate your comments, but I want this site to be a positive experience for all who come here.

I've created another cute friendship card (and switched the midi I had in my previous friendship card as I thought it went much better with this one). Here is the link:

Very Best Friend
A friendship card for a friend who is the best.

And here's another heartfelt card that I uploaded this evening:

To Shine
A heartfelt card for someone special in your life.

I've created some others too, but I'm not ready to put them up yet. I've been in a very creative mood today, which is wonderful as I've gone through a bit of block the past few days. It's good that my creativity is high again. I suppose I should get offline for a while and get some much-needed sleep, but I hate to when the words are flowing with such ease.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 5, 2010
More Valentines!

It's nearly 5 AM. I've been up working all night. I'm going to get off of my computer for awhile.

I created several beautiful Valentine's Day cards:

Your Love
A touching message of love.

We Did It
This is a sensual Valentine card. Send it to ignite some sparks.

My Keepsake
Let a distant love know that he or she is in your thoughts.

I also added some new postcard Valentine's to BobetteBryan.com.

And I created a cute friendship card:

Sharing Our Hearts
This friendship card would be great for a close friend or even a relative.

I don't know how many more Valentines, if any, I'm going to create this year. I recall that I wrote a good poem for another valentine, but I don't know where I put it. LOL! Unfortunately, I lost a poem I wrote the other day. I was going to use it in a card, and had written it in notepad, but I took a break from my computer, came back, and found that someone had turned my computer off without saving the file. Arghhh! And I can't remember a single line of it, except that it was a good one. It may come back to me one of these days, but it probably won't.

Strangely, I'll sometimes, out of the blue, and for no apparent reason, realize something I should change in a poem I'd written earlier...sometimes many years earlier. The creative brain works in strange ways. I think it's always working even when I'm not--like a computer program running in the background.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 4, 2010
Thank You, Friend

I'm in the midst of converting one of the popular Valentine's postcards to a full page greeting, and fighting off a migraine, but I wanted to drop by long enough to address an alarming message left in my guestbook.

Update: I've finished the Valentine's Day card I converted from my postcard version. Here's the link:

Thank You, Friend

A feminine Card that's sure to appeal to all of the lady friends in your life.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 3, 2010
Most Popular Valentine's Day Card

I've added a new Valentine Card:

A Heart.
A cute verse, but a beautifully designed Valentine card that touch your love's heart.

I added some poems to the poetry page as well...I'm still going through a bit of a creative dry spell. I don't know what's up with me. I do know these phases pass.

I also wanted to announce that the most popular Valentine's Day card, is my Love Sonnet. Share it and fall in love all over again.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 2, 2010
Life Lessons

I added a wonderful new card today. Here's the link: Life Lessons.

If you like my "Lessons of Life," poem on PassionUp, you'll like this one. Don't miss it, or you may miss an important life lesson...and a chance to spread some sunshine.

Sikh: I appreciate your message. I do not allow anyone to publish my work. I reserve that right. Thanks for understanding.

Anonymous: I always see the truth through lies!

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        February 1, 2010
New Flash Card and Heavy Traffic

I stayed up the whole night and struggled with Flash. Finally, I put up the card I was working on in the wee hours. Will working with Flash get any easier and feel more natural to me? I don't know. One problem I have is that since I'm so artistically brained, I don't think in a linear fashion. My thoughts are all over the place all at once--like fog. Flash takes linear thinking, and that's hard for me. Still, I might get better at it the more I try. We never know what we're capable of until we put some effort into it. It will also help, of course, for me to get past the barrier of knowing how to use the program. He, he! I always just jump right into everything.

Here is the card.

The Whole Sky

A beautiful message that you can send to just about anyone on your Valentine's Day list.

There is a postcard version of it on BobetteBryan.com as well. Here's the link:

The Whole Sky Postcard Version.

Keep in mind, that since this is Flash, the music is built in. So I suggest that you don't try to alter the music in the postcard section or two songs will play at once.

I received a server alert this morning that 814 people came to BobetteBryan.com at once. That's very interesting! A few days ago, over 2,000 people came to BobetteBryan.com at once, and that took my server down for a short time. I'm not sure what starts these sudden tidal waves, but I hope the servers hold up on Valentine's Day!

Kim, I never went to Benton High School. You probably saw that on one of those reunion sites. I signed up for that, only because I was looking for an old friend who went there (I never found her). But I never graduated from high school in the traditional sense. I was put in college when I was only 15. I was accelerated in the 7th grade to 8th grade, and then, when I went to high school, I was put in college before my Freshman year was out. This is largely due to a school counselor named Robert Vaughn who took great interest in me. Unfortunately for me, I got kidney stones and was in and out of the hospital for most of the year. I met my husband not too long afterward and got married when I was only 17, and so it was a few years before I got back to college...and then I had to lug a baby to class with me. There you go...there's some little known news for some of you biography hunters.

Shirley, thanks. I appreciate your message. And I do truly care about the site I spent many years building and would like to see it turn around.

Thanks, Brenda.

Jessica, I'm sorry for your loss. I know what it's like to lose a close friend. Laminate and read all you want.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 31, 2010
Dear Sister Valentine Greeting

Wow, it's January 31. This month has passed so quickly. And tomorrow, we can welcome in February and it's promise of spring.

I'll likely update this post again with new cards, depending on what I feel like working on today. I do hope to put some more new cards up. A reader requested a Valentine's day card for her sister, and so I created this beauitful ecard with lots of lace and pink hearts.

Dear Sister

A beautiful message for all of the sisters out there.

There is a postcard version of it on BobetteBryan.com as well.

Update: I've updated ButterflyWebGraphics.com with a new graphics package: Victorian Valentine's Day Tokens. I'm still working on renders of that new model I'd mentioned.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 30, 2010
To Psyche

My writing session didn't go so well yesterday or this morning. My brain feels tired--the passion in my heart dull and only faintly visible. Nothing good came from my pen. It may be because I haven't been sleeping well. So I quit trying to force myself to write and worked on graphics instead, which is necessary anyway as I need to update ButterflyWebGraphics.com. It's no big deal. I have stacks of notebooks full of poetry I've written these past few months, but I'm so intimidated by those mountains of pages that I'm afraid to approach them. Besides whatever clouds are hanging over my spirit and drowning my muse could break at any moment. That's how it works. An appointment between mind and that special place in the psyche of a poet have to meet in order for the words to flow.

What I did write, I've posted on the poetry page.

Please know that the poem, entitled: To Psyche, isn't about some secret lover, but about the creative appointment I mentioned above. I don't want readers to get the wrong idea.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 28, 2010
I Believe In You

I've been working on graphics today. I have a new 3D model, so I've been playing with my "dolls." But I stopped long enough to put up a great new inspirational card.

Here's the link:

I Believe In You.
A message that someone special in your life will never forget.

I've created a postcard version of this card as well that you can customize. I Believe In You Postcard Version.


I hope to get off my computer tonight and write. My husband is at work, and so I hope to get a lot done.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 27, 2010 Continued
New Birthday Cards

My brain is running so fast this morning that I'm having difficulty catching my thoughts.

I had a graphic design project in mind for ButterflyWebGraphics, but I needed my Photoshop layer styles to do it, which I lost in that hard drive crash. I have numerous hard drives and files from 1998 backed up on some of them. Since I lost my Photoshop layer styles, I decided to hunt on those drives this morning in hopes that I'd backed them up. I found things I didn't know I still had and haven't seen for a decade or more. It was like rumaging through old trunks in an attic. It was hard to stay on course, because I kept pausing to look at old photos, old poems, various graphics I've created over the years, music files, and other stuff. Needless to say, I didn't find the Photoshop Layer styles. So nix that idea. But I'm happy that I found some of my old writing. It will be interesting to look through it.

Since I couldn't work on the design project, I created another birthday card. Here's the link:

Birthday Wishes.
A beautiful card for someone special.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 27, 2010
New Birthday Cards

I saw Bright Star and enjoyed it. It's a sad but beautiful story. I won't comment on it, though I yearn to do so, in case you haven't seen it yet. I'd hate to ruin it for you. It does make me yearn to spend some quality time with my pad and pen. Hopefully, I'll get some time to do that tomorrow while my husband is at work. So many things have distracted me from that goal this week. I did stop writing that column I'd mentioned--for at least a year, maybe forever. It's not where my passion lies and is taking too much time away from my poetry. My goal is to have at least one thousand, new, high-quality, eye-popping, drop-dead gorgeous cards up on BobetteBryan.com within the next year--all, of course, with poetry and text that's delicious enough to eat. Maybe that number is too grand. I don't know. We'll have to see.

I intend to create some more quizzes too. I know my readers enjoy them.

I put up some new full page birthday cards.

Happy Birthday, Friend.
A beautiful card for a great friend.

Your Birthday.
A heartfelt birthday card that you can send to someone who's very close to you, including your love.

Happy Birthday, My Love.
A birthday card for the love of your life.

Jan Jonson. Thanks. I appreciate your message. It means a lot to me. May God bless you and yours too.

Richard Davis, Thank you. It's good to know that my readers are finding me. Your message made my day and inspires me to try all the harder!

Jan Tobiason. Welcome, friend. It's good to see you here. Thanks.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 26, 2010
Bright Star

Today is the day I've been waiting for...the day that Bright Star comes out on DVD, a movie about poet John Keats. I missed it at the theatre, because I didn't know it had been released, so I'm anxious to see it. Here's a trailer for the move: Bright Star.

It will be good for me to relax and watch something I enjoy tonight. I've been very upset about some recent developments...though I'm happy about how well this site and BobetteBryan.com is doing.

I will update this post when I put new up new cards.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 25, 2010
The Heart's Treasure

There was another huge jump in traffic this week for both this site and BobetteBryan.com, which increased this site and BobetteBryan.com to around 1.5 in the Alexa rankings. That's great news!

I should be going to bed, because I have a doctor's appointment in Overland Park, Kansas today, but I stayed up to put another Valentine's Day card up. I wish I didn't have that appointment, because I'd love to work on more cards. And we're supposed to get snow today. I hope the roads aren't slick.

Here's the link to the new card:

The Heart's Treasure, a lovely heartfelt Valentine's Day card that you can send to someone close.

K., thanks, but I can take care of myself, and you know it. I went up and down the stairs several times, because I was going to write, but kept forgetting something.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 24, 2010
Valentine's Day Ecards

Wow! There was a huge jump in traffic and card sends this past month. I'm very happy about that!

I've put up two new Valentine's Day cards and a Valentine's Day Card index. I will, of course, continue to create more Valentine's Day greetings. I took down the link to the New Years and Christmas Cards, but you can still access them here.

Here are the two new cards:

My Love Grows

Many Reasons

Now to answer my guestbook entries:

K., What were you doing looking in my windows?

Gerald, thanks. I'm glad you like it. That's a very popular card. You may have more luck if you send the card to yourself on the greeting card site. Then click the link to print it. Using your browser, be sure to use "Page Setup" before you print. In order to get the entire card on one page, you'll have to resize it.

Elizabeth, I'm glad you like my cards. It's always great to meet another cousin, especially a Stafford. LOL! I lost my geneaology files in a recent computer crash. If you could write to me and point me to the info you found online, I'd be grateful. I know I'd published it, but I've been unable to find it in a search.

Victoria, Thanks! I appreciate your message.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 23, 2010
Our Love

Yesterday, I was in a very creative mood and intended on creating several new cards as I've written a lot of text that is yearning to be read, but I had another computer mishap and I haven't been able to use my computer until tonight. I've had a lot of bad luck with computers lately. I'm lucky that my son, Patrick, knows how to fix just about anything that's wrong with a computer or I'd still be lost. He has the entire household set up on a network. I wouldn't know how to do that either. He can even build a computer...and I think that's really cool!

Here's the new romance card I created tonight: Our Love. Cherish a love created in heaven and blessed by God.

I'm very pleased to see that a lot of fullpage greetings are being sent. The site is growing.

I've split my news section into two pages. This page will cover January 2010. There's a link at the bottom of this page, if you want to catch my previous news.

BTW, if you're on MySpace, please add me as your friend. Here's Bobette Bryan's MySpace Profile. I probably should take down my Halloween graphics on my profile. He, he! I created several free MySpace Layouts a couple of years ago to promote ButterflyWebGraphics.com, but it appears that I've accidentally removed the link. Here's the link in case you'd like to see them: Free MySpace Layouts. Now I need to go put that missing link back up.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 22, 2010
Spring In My Heart

I put a springtime romance postcard on BobetteBryan.com: Spring In My Heart. Light up someone's heart with this touching message of love.

Here is the postcard version: Spring In My Heart.

In looking over the stats on BobetteBryan.com, I found that I have many male members. I'm glad that my work appeals to a male audience as well as a female audience. As always, my romance cards are very popular. I find it interesting that very often, someone will send not just one, but 30 or more different romance cards, to a single recipient at the same time.

Overall, things are going very well with the greeting card site, and it's growing. Some of you have written to tell me that the database is eating cards. This appears to only happen occasionally. I've written to the developer about this and am awaiting his reply.

Last night, I was updating my profile on LinkedIn, to add BobetteBryan.com, and I noticed that the listing states that there are two other "employees," including a physican's assistant and a chiropractor. Ha, ha! I guess you can not only send a card, but also get a checkup and a spinal manipulation. It's obviously some kind of bug. I wrote to their support about it, but it gave me a chuckle as I imagined having those two on board. But just think those medical professionals now have listings that include romantic poetry. I guess, they can not only fix your body, but also mend a broken heart.

I've been gathering my favorite songs on youtube to listen to when I work on graphics--and probably spending way too much time doing so.

Today, I hope to get several new cards up as I've written a lot of material that I like and want to share with you. I'll update this entry as I add new cards. I'm picky about my work. You will get quality here!

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 21, 2010
Sweet Bud of the Morning

It's just about time for my husband to get home, so I'll make this entry short.

I spent a lot of time writing this evening, but I found the time to put up another new bright and sunny card: Sweet Bud of Morning. Send it and make your love's heart shine.

I've also put a few new poems on the poetry page. I think the prayer will make a great card.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 20, 2010
Looking Forward to the Weekend

It's 5:18 AM. I'm up late or early, depending on one's perspective. I have a confession. I sometimes write responses to "relationship" questions in a publication by the New York Times--not under my own name. I do this only because I'm trying to help people deal with painful relationship issues. And that's why I'm up so late tonight. I'd stopped doing it for the past year, because a reader scared me with his sexual questions. I was afraid that he'd learn my identity. Hopefully, he has forgotten me and has moved on. And now, I don't know if I'll continue to do this type of writing as it's time consuming and emotionally draining. Whatever I decide, I fully intend to stick to my poetry and greeting cards. I do not make empty promises.

Today, I've wanted so badly to write poetry, but between that writing project and my husband being home, I only wrote a couple of poems tonight. I'm going to try to write something this morning after I get Butterflywebgraphics.com updated. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Hopefully, I'll get a lot done. I've been in a very creative mood for the past few days but with little opportunity to take advantage of it.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 19, 2010
The Real Thing

I'm dropping in early today with two new cards. Here are the links:

Wonderful, another bright and sunny card that will lend you hope.

Hello, Sunshine, a card to send to your sunshine.

I also want to remind my readers that should they see "Designed by Bobette Bryan," on any page, that doesn't mean that I wrote the poem on that page or had anything, whatsoever, to do with its publication. Make sure it's the real thing and also says, "Written by Bobette Bryan."

I'm writing and creating cards exclusively for bobettebryan.com, which I announce here. No other site has my latest poetry or cards. I've not written for PassionUp since 2004. And anything on that site, or their other sites, which says "new" and has my name attached to it, is either not new or is not my work. Don't settle for anything less!

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 18, 2010
How to Be A Poet and a Lost Island

I didn't put up a new card today, but I put a new poem on the poetry page.

My husband and I are in the midst of rewatching one of my favorite television series, "Lost." I have all of the available seasons on DVD. But I've not watched season 5 or the final season that's now being aired on ABC. So I'm going to watch them all again to build up to season 5. Right now, we're midway through season 1. And after we watch season 5, it will be very painful waiting for the last season to come out on DVD.

I'd mentioned writing a novel based around an island. It's nothing like the Lost series. It's a literary novel. And it was "Lost" when my hard drive failed, along with several of my other novels. Hopefully, a data recovery service will be able to restore them. If not, I'll have to rewrite the novel from scratch as I've never printed out a copy. I know it's insane that I didn't have them backed up! I thought I did.

I was stuck on that particular novel, because years ago, I'd read about an island off the East coast that's practically hidden. A man who worked at one of the auto plants owned it and used to go to it in the summer and on the weekends with his large family. One of the teenage girls in the family slipped and died and supposedly she haunts the island. That true account planted some creative seeds in my mind and a story grew around it a couple of years later. But when I started writing the novel, I got stuck and couldn't finish the story, (though I have the complete plot in my head) because I couldn't remember where I'd read that source--in a book, in a magazine? I read so much material, and I always read more than one book at once, so it's not an easy task to retrace my steps. And, worst of all, I couldn't remember the name of the island. I wanted to research it more--and, maybe even go there.

It's remains a mystery to this day.

I've hunted high and low. I've searched through tons of books and magazines looking for that lost island account. I could go ahead and finish the story without it, but I feel that if I did that and got it published, that I'd find the true account and later regret not including some important details. It's illogical. I know. And, because I don't recall exactly where the real island is, I can't decide whether I want to set it along the northern east coast where the weather is more frigid or south where it's more tropical.

So if anyone out there knows what island I'm talking about, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 17, 2010
How Much Do I Love You?

I put up a new Romance card. This is the lovely card with blue flowers I'd mentioned. Here's the link: How Much Do I Love You?

If you tried to send a card earlier, please try again. The server was down this evening.

There are a lot of guestbook comments I need to address:

Bogdana, thanks. Sorry you've had difficulty with the site. I wish I could tell you why, but I'm not sure. I think the site is sometimes overwhelmed by traffic like it was this evening and occasionally, a card won't post to the database. As for your questions, those are private. Sorry, but I can't answer them here.

Maddie, thank you. I appreciate your warm message.

Anonymous, at first I thought your message was a prank from a friend, but I realize you're serious. I've received other strange messages and emails that have suggested that all redheads go live on an exclusive island and mate. This is because, since only 2% of the population is redheaded, we're supposed to become extinct in the future. As for the redhead island, my husband said if such a thing existed, the redheads would kill each other off.

Jay, it sounds like fun, but I just have too much going on right now. Sorry. Maybe next time.

And Jason Milhouse, if that's you who keeps knocking at the door, STOP! It's getting creepy!

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 16, 2010
Meant to Be

I put up a new Valentine card. The text is similar to my "To Believe." I'll probably change it. I spent the most time on the design. These roses are so lovely. Here's the link: Meant to Be. I made another that is just as beautiful with blue springtime flowers, but I haven't put it up yet.

I also put a couple of Valentine's Day postcards on BobetteBryan.com.

I'm in a hurry, because my husband just came home and wants me to get off of my computer. It is late--nearly 2 AM. Sorry, but I don't have time to comment on my guestbook entries. I'll try to tomorrow.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 15, 2010
Together

I put up a new romance card. Here's the link: Together. This is a good card to send when your relationship has become serious.

I've also updated the card pages on this site a bit and moved some things around for Valentine's Day. Soon, I'm going to reduce the card pages to one and put the rest of the full page greeting links on BobetteBryan.com. I thought about retiring the winter holiday cards, but some people are still sending them so I'll keep them up for now.

And I should be working on Valentine's Day cards, but I haven't much. Maybe tomorrow I'll be in the mood to work on some. For the past couple of days, I've spent a lot of time writing. I put up a new sonnet on the poetry page, thinking I'd gotten it just right, and then I noticed the "tongue" and "wrong" problem--these two words are not proper rhymes. So I'll be back to the grindstone on that one. At least I worked on a sonnet. I'd intended to write a sonnet each day. That dream is not panning out. I never seem to find the time between the greeting card site and the graphics site. Maybe one a week would be a more realistic goal. It takes considerable thought and time to write a sonnet.

Oh, a friend sent me an American Greeting card, and I saw an idiotic line on it--I see this line quite often (and hopefully it's not on any of my old cards on PassionUp. I'm afraid to look. I admit it--I often see things I'd like to edit on those old cards). Anyway, here's the idiotic line: "Put a smile on your face." Where else would one put a smile--on their backend? Ha, ha! It's even more ridiculous than the phrase, "New Beginnings." A beginning can only be new. Okay, I could go on forever about things like this so I better stop.

Bobette Bryan
Who's in love with the English language


  Announcements
        January 14, 2010
A Prayer

I'd mentioned using the Prayer poem from my poetry page for a card, and I've done so (I've edited it too). Here's the link: A Prayer. This prayer might be a good Flash candidate. I worked on another Flash card today, but I'm not ready to publish it. I still have so much to learn about Flash.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 13, 2010
I'm Still Here!

I didn't update this site yesterday, and I received panicked emails. No, I'm not "retiring." I'll retire when I'm dead. Yes, I'm still here and not quitting. I'm not going to go away this time. I'm sticking around until the mental ward finally collects me. I was just tired last night and dispirited over my friend's death, asking myself, perhaps a zillion times, if there was something I could have done to change what happened. I know this is illogical thinking, because many people who were close to him, including his best friend, had no idea that he was depressed and intended to kill himself. Still, we always feel like this when someone we care about dies and ask ourselves if there was something we could have done to prevent it.

I felt this way when my 10-year old Doberman died in the summer. He was diabetic, and I figured, being diabetic myself and knowing how to manage diabetes, that I could manage his and keep him alive longer, even though the vet said that diabetes is not very manageable in a large dog. I meticulously tested and charted his blood glucose each day, gave him insulin shots at a precise time twice a day, cooked special low-carb meals for him, ordered costly low-carb dog kibble to add to this food to make him feel fuller, made homemade snacks for him, spent countless hours researching canine diabetes, and spent a fortune on his medical treatment and insulin each month. I did my best, and took better care of his diabetes than I did my own. And yet, I still felt guilty when his liver failed and he died, asking myself if I could have done better.

I did put some new postcards on BobetteBryan.com from material I wrote today, including: God Speaks and a couple of simple thank you cards. Here's the link to Where We're Going.

I've also added several new poems to the poetry page...which I'm hesitant to do as I've not gone over them. I wrote many more as well, but I'll need to carefully consider whether I should publish them there as they are very erotic.

Thanks for your emails. If you left a message in my guestbook tonight, I haven't read it because I couldn't login.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 11, 2010
A Celebration of Friendship

A close friend of the family died. He committed suicide. I'm in shock. And am so sorry for his loss. He was such a wonderful person with so much to live for. Everyone thought he was happy. It seemed like he had everything. He'd invented a plumbing tool years ago that made him wealthy, and he ran a business he enjoyed. He'd bought a new Jaguar in December, a top-of-the-line computer, and had just returned from a lavish vacation. He had everything--except love. That's what he really wanted.

He had a seemingly tough exterior, and the things he'd say would probably send many people running. He ventured far from being politically correct and made no apologies for it. He would relay gossip to us about everyone in town. And, at times, he almost seemed like an Archie Bunker hold over. I loved to hear him talk, because the things he'd say were so outrageous that it always struck me funny. But his cold side was all an act. He had a soft interior with a heart that was warm and beautiful. He was always willing to reach out and help others. I learned tonight that he'd been taking in homeless people and doing other charitable work. That shocked me too. I would never have thought that he'd do that.

I wrote a friendship card in his Honor: Gifts of the Heart. It's not about death but a celebration of life and friendship that you can share with someone special.

A reader had said in my guestbook that he thought some of my poetry revealed that someone I cared about died. Since 2004, four people whom I was close to died, including an aunt and three close friends. In my Lessons of Friendship card, I say: "the people we love the most are often taken away from us too soon," and I truly meant that. We never know how much time anyone has left, including ourselves. No one comes with guarantees. So make the time you have left count. And if you have a friend whom you've been neglecting or perhaps a close family member that you haven't spoken to in a while, today is a great day to let them know you care.

Bobette Bryan

   Announcements
        January 10, 2010
A Beautiful Day

I'm so behind schedule today, but I wanted to drop by and announce my latest fullpage greeting, A Beautiful Day, which is a bright and sunny card to lift someone's spirit this winter. This is a great card to send to all of your family and friends.

I've also added a short poem, "For Love," on my poetry page.

I'm in the midst of creating Valentine's Day cards, and I intend to spend some time away from my computer today so that I can write some more Valentine's Day poems.

Sarah, thanks for telling me about my poem, "Love's Journey," being used on that blog. The text above it is also from one of my PassionUp cards: "Unexpected Rain." It upsets me when my poetry is used without author attribution.

Bobette Bryan

  Announcements
        January 8, 2010
I'm Not Ignoring You!

I've received a lot of emails the past couple of days from friends and ButterflyWebGraphics members, telling me they've tried to email me several times and received no response. I'm horrified that people think I was purposely ignoring them. I wouldn't do this! If you've written to me, and I didn't reply, then I didn't receive your email. I think this is due to that old hard drive not working properly--a few days ago my primary hard drive died. I knew that an occasional email would bounce but I'd thought it was just because my ISP has a strict email filter on my account due to all of the viruses I receive. I didn't know that so much legitimate mail wasn't coming through.

I'm getting ready to work on some new cards. I slept much of the day. I'm feeling worn out right now, following that surgery. And it's so cold outside. It's supposed to drop down to -15 tonight and with wind chills it will feel like it's around -35. That's too cold for me. It makes me want to sleep. I'll be glad when this cold spell passes. I look forward to February and its promise of spring.

A few days ago, I brought in one of the stray cats I take care of, out of fear that he'd freeze to death--a big black and white cat that I've dubbed "Hamlet." He was completely wild, and over the past few months, I've earned his trust and tamed him. People say this can't be done, but it worked with him, though he's having difficulty accepting being inside.

There's also a black and white female, probably his sister, who will let me pet her from time to time, but she's still wild at heart, and though I've tried and tried these past few days to catch her and get her in from the cold, I've been unsuccessful. We put a house on the porch for her and there are blankets inside it for her to curl up in, so she's not without shelter, but I'm still worried about her...especially tonight.

Well, I'll update this post when I have new cards or other news to announce.

Bobette Bryan
      Announcements
        January 7, 2010 Continued
A Prayer

Well, I got some writing done tonight, and I posted a few poems on the poetry page, but I'm too tired to make any new cards tonight. Tomorrow, I will, and I'll make a greeting card with that "Prayer" poem I wrote tonight. It will be interesting to see if people like a prayer that's a little atypical. I may remove the "casting off of clothes" line...I'm not sure. I'm too sleepy to think it out.

Oh, and Jamie Cameron, very amusing. Though some of what you said is correct, the same could likely be said for just about everyone.

Goodnight!
Bobette Bryan


      Announcements
        January 7, 2010
My Heart

I've updated ButterflyWebGraphics.com today with some adorable Goth girls and Scary Bears. I love Goth graphics; they're among my favorites. As I rendered them today and yesterday, I listened to one of my favorite groups Nickelback. I found a bunch of my favorite Nickleback songs on Youtube and saved them to my favorites. I have all of their music on CD, but it's easier to access their songs on Youtube when I'm working. You can check them out here. I listen to heavier rock when I'm creating graphics or doing design work, but I can't do that when I write poety and need quiet so I can hear my own words.

I also created a new Valentine's Day Full page greeting card: My Heart for your true love.

Now, I'm going downstairs to write some poetry...as it's possible that I lost much of the poetry I've written these past few months due to my harddrive failure. And unfortunately, I've been throwing away the pages in my notebooks after I transcribe them. I never used to do that. I used to keep every scrap of paper, but that builds up fast into scary mountains and so I was trying to avoid that. Too bad. I won't know what all is lost until I go over the external drive that now holds the remains of the old computer files. My son saved what he could for me, but found that much of the secondary drive was corrupt--all of the main drive is toast.

Well, I better run in hopes that I can claim the parlor before one of my sons puts on a movie in the adjoining room and drives me out. All three are home today as we've suffered yet another bad winter storm and the roads are dangerous.

Bobette Bryan
      Announcements
        January 6, 2010
I'm Alive!

I had my surgery and am doing well. Everything went smoothly. My recovery has been quick. I'm sure I'll be myself in no time. After my surgery, I was ravenous from having to fast overnight (I'm diabetic so this is always scary) so we stopped at a Chinese buffet on the way home. When we got home, I immediately went to bed and slept 12 hours. When I woke up, I felt wonderful, very little pain. In fact, I'm on my computer tonight, rendering 3D graphics for a new graphics package I hope to feature on Butterflywebgraphics.com sometime this morning.

I do have some bad news to report. My old computer died. Now I'm having to access the internet with the computer that I render 3D graphics on (which has the horrid Vista on it). It has a wide screen monitor and so everything looks much different. It's strange being online on a different computer. At first, I felt lost but I'm starting to get used to it. Apparently, the main drive died, and it's not fixable. I don't know what all I've lost so far other than many years of emails and a lot of treasured photoshop layer styles. The old computer is 9-10 years old, so it wasn't completely unexpected. All the poetry I've written these past few months is on a secondary (good) drive on the old computer, and I'm unable to access it. I can't stick that drive in this computer, because it's too old and incompatible, so I'm going to have to write something new for my latest cards until I can get the data off that drive.

Also, I fixed the New Year card, Believe realizing that it had an extra "Your" in it that I didn't notice--so embarrassing--this is from working many hours and not getting enough sleep. And then I noticed that the text on the new Valentines Day card and a couple of others, including, I Write For You wasn't centered. I probably wouldn't have noticed it at all if I hadn't gotten online with my widescreen monitor as it looks fine on my other monitor. I've fixed all of these cards. Please, let me know if you see any errors like these, and I'll fix them ASAP.

This is another example of why it's important to check a webpage on various monitors.

And I see that I accidentally deleted one of my entries below--I must be on a roll here--so I wanted to state again, that the site one of you mentioned in my guestbook who had stolen creative material from me was a competitive graphics site, NOT the site that was mentioned (I edited that part to remove the name) in the guestbook. And that problem was resolved. I also deleted another guestbook entry that I thought might be offensive. Yes, I was offered a position with another greeting card company, but I don't intend to accept it for many personal reasons, including the fact that I'd have to move to another state. I'm happy working online and doing my own thing. It's really not about money. My goal right now is to become a better poet.

My husband nags me too. He wants me to send my poetry to print publications. But I don't care about print. I can reach a wider audience online. And would much rather remain the "People's Poet" and be in touch with my readers rather than subject my work to some snobby literary magazine where some crusty old English professors can debate what it all means. I reserve print for my novels.

Thank you for your many warm comments and the wonderful letters you've sent me. And yes, Dustin Greg, redheads are magical.

Bobette Bryan
      Announcements
        January 3, 2010 Continued
Important Notice!

I've replaced the "Send this card to a friend" link on all of the full-page greetings and installed a script on my web server. So if you've had difficulty sending a card, please try again. The card notification program is now hosted on BobetteBryan.com instead of with a third party, and the recipient should receive the notification immediately after you send a card. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

I've also added a Valentine's Day version of my popular Love Sonnet...only this time with an adorable cupid. Here's the link: Love Sonnet Valentine's Day Version. For those of you who've asked, yes, I'm going to write some more love sonnets. Of course I am.

Bobette Bryan
      Announcements
        January 3, 2010
Full Page Greetings and Birthday Ecards

I've learned from some readers that the email notification, which is going through a third party, isn't working on the full-page greetings. Some have said that the recipient never received the new year's cards they sent. One lady has been trying to send the fireworks new year card since December 30. So I tried it myself, and, indeed, I never received a card notification. So today, I've been working to install a new tell a friend script. And I'll be removing that third party tell a friend link with the new one. I'll let you know when I complete the task. It's top priority. Hopefully, I'll resolve the problem before I have surgery on Tuesday.

I'm continuing to build up the postcard type greetings on bobettebryan.com and have added some more birthday cards. I need to add many birthday cards, and it will be a major focus during the next few months.

Here are the links:

Your Birthday (For your love)

Your Birthday (For a Close Friend)

Your Birthday (For your Daughter)

P.S. I noticed that I'd accidentally overwritten a birthday ecard I'd created in 2006, "Most Beautiful." I've replaced it, altered it a bit, and added a version with a blue candle for him.

Bobette Bryan
      Announcements
        January 1, 2010
New Holiday and Occasion Cards

I've been up working all night. I'm trying to get on a day schedule so I'm staying up today so I'll sleep tonight. I do this all the time--especially when I have something on my mind, and I do right now.

At least I used the time well and created some much needed occasion and holiday postcards for BobetteBryan.com. Here are the links:

Thinking of You
No text--just a cute teddy bear postcard.

Prayer for A New Mother
A prayer from a parent for a daughter who's about to become a mother. I'll also soon create a sister and friend version of this poem.

Thank You Friend
A friendship valentine with unusual graphics. I put a lot of design work into this one for a very unique look.

Happy Mother's Day!
I know...you're probably wondering why in the world I'm posting a mother's day card in January...or even working on them. I'm just working on what I feel like doing right now, and I need to create my holiday cards in advance so I'm going where inspiration is taking me. And I know it's early, but I'm mentioning it here so that you won't forget it, and because I did a lot of time-consuming design work on the card. LOL!

Valentine's Day Bear
This is a cute and cheerful Valentine's Day card, similar to the cards that were around when I was a kid--ages ago. This one took a lot of design work too.

Perfect for Each Other.
Just a simple and irrestible romance postcard. Not many words are needed here. The image says it all.

His Dream
A Martin Luther King Day card I created in Flash. That's the next holiday. MLK Day is on January 18. I'm trying to grow in Flash. I ordered the "Flash Bible," from Amazon a couple of days ago, and I'm watching the mail for it.

Well, that's it for now. There's sure to be much more tomorrow.

P.S. Family and friends, please, if you have something personal to say to me, email me or call me rather than put it in my guestbook. I have it set to be moderated, but that doesn't always work. Sometimes messages post without my approval. Maybe one of these days, I'll replace it with a better address book.

Bobette Bryan
      Announcements
        December 31, 2009
Happy New Year!

It will soon be a new year...I know it's already a new year where many of you live. So Happy New Year! I wish you great things in the year ahead, including a dream come true.

I wanted to mention another New Year card I added to BobetteBryan.com: New Year Hope. Even if you don't send it, I hope you will keep the message in your heart, during the year ahead.

I've also created a romance card with a beautiful lyrical poem, in both a full page version and a postcard version. Here are the links:

On Silver Wings Fullpage Version.

On Silver Wings Postcard Version.

Many blessings to you and yours in the new year,
Bobette Bryan
Click here to Read my Previous News


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