Redneck Hillbilly Search

Friday, July 30, 2010

Wishin' we were Fishin'

Day jobs tend to get in the way of all the fun stuff we'd be doing if we didn't have to deal with the 9-5.  or (10-2 in my case) Given the opportunity, I'm sure we'd be out havin' fun in the great outdoors every single chance we got.

I came up with a few new products after our trip to the river for salmon fishing last weekend. I've got a few more photos to work with, but this week has been CRAZY and I haven't had much computer time. I'm missing the one-on-one time with my beloved laptop!




This  was taken at the mighty Fraser River, along a bar not already crammed with fisherman or strung with nets for aboriginal fisheries. Spring Salmon are starting to come through and while the restrictions are extremely tight by allowing only one  in a very narrow size range to be retained, the odd fisherman is able to catch one.

Sockeyes are also coming through this time of year, but due to drastic reductions in the number of returning fish, this salmon fishery is closed and all sockeye bycatch have to be released. (For the sport fisherman anyways) I'll refrain from ranting about the poaching, the drift nets run along the same bar where we are forced to use a single barbless hook, and  "ceremonial" catches sold off the back of a truck. I suppose by mentioning it I have begun a rant... but I'll bite my tongue.

We tried for two days (half days) and got a bite or two but didn't manage to catch any. Mr. Redneckhillbillies was the only one with a hook in the water though, since Kidlet and I wandered around enjoying the water and snapping photos of the amazingly beautiful scenery.

Like the majority of products that I make in both the CountryCorner and RedneckHillbillies stores, the saying can easily be changed, but I thought it worked well with the two front row seats.






Life is beautiful. Get out there and enjoy it!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Going Nowhere?



I actually figured I was goin SOMEWHERE, but there may have been a few people who thought otherwise. Luckily for me I married someone headed somewhere other than nowhere, or I'd possibly be stuck en route to this fabled destination with a flat tire and a box of KD.

I've been selling quite a few bumper stickers recently which is out of the ordinary. Usually my main seller is T-shirts. Bumper stickers are quite a bit cheaper which may be a contributing factor, and maybe people are stickin' 'em on Quads and ratrods, or fishing tackleboxes even.

I suppose it could also have something to do with people heading out on roadtrips and wanting to let the other travellers know that they're bonafide Rednecks. This latest bumper sticker ain't really Redneck, per se.... but since alot of us rednecks tend to end up in that general location I figgered it fit just right.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Herded by an Aussie

Getting tired of hearing about Australian Shepherds yet?

NO?!?

Great! Have I got a treat for you then! I've come up with a couple new designs using a different photo of our smiling Aussie, Blue.

Many owners of Australian Shepherds will know that they are bred to herd small animals. In the absence of said small animals they will resort to herding any smallish type creature, including young children. They will nudge them, circle them, creep along the ground, nip at heels, pantlegs or arms, and generally be a nuisance while they are puppies. Aussies are puppies for A LONG TIME! It does take a while for them to learn who and what to herd, even though they are the second smartest breed of dog next to Border Collies.

With that in mind, I came up with this toddler shirt. Of course, if you are still being herded around it can be changed to any size or style of T-shirt.




They don't only herd though - they love with so much enthusiasm that it's contagious! Wiggling butts and smiling faces go hand in hand with awesome doggie personalities. They dutifully warm a spot on the bed for us, nuzzle and hug us by bashing us with their big heads, look at us with loving big brown or blue eyes, and give us big sloppy kisses They love kids of all ages, so I came up with this one shown on a baby sleeper.




and since us grown up kids love Australian Shepherds sooooo much,


Thursday, July 22, 2010

My heart belongs to an Aussie

After sifting through the various products tagged with "Aussie" or "Australian Shepherd", I've decided that the world really could use some more of the classic I love type designs.

Many of the items I came across were text only, the odd one with some pawprint clipart. So I figured I'd come up with my own and try to add an extra little something to the marketplace by using my watercolor painting effect photograph of our own black tricolored Australian Shepherd, Blue.

I started with the picture that looked like this:




Carefully cropped out her sweet, smiling face and softened the edges a little bit, added a bright red heart to her long, flowing and extra soft chest fur, and added some text. (oh I want to go snuggle with my puppy!)

This is the first one




and then I figured I'd try to squeak another design out of my copy paste efforts with this beauty!




Now I'm off to see what  I can come up with that involves butt wiggling, nub wagging, or sloppy dog kisses since that's what these awesome herding dogs are all about!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Hunting Rednecks! Take 2.

Ssssshhhh! Be vewy, vewy quiet!

This was the original.



I tweaked a couple things on this design to avoid being flagged *again* and removed *again* for copyright violations. If you read my post a few days ago, titled Content Review, you'll know that I recently had multiple products with the original version deleted for trademark.

Here is the redone version. 



You'll notice I changed the WE'RE to I'M (since the two designs allowed to remain on the marketplace both had I'M.) I also changed the wednecks to rednecks. I like the wednecks better, but perhaps it's changing all of the r's to w's that caught their attention. My request for clarification didn't get a response and it's been a few business days so they are not interested in explaining their reasoning, or how to get around it.


So far so good.

I love my AUSSIE

On the Zazzle board yesterday there was a request for Australian Shepherd items by a shopkeeper who was going to be putting together a squidoo lens. I don't know a whole lot about squidoo, and have never looked at the site long enough to attempt putting one together, but I do submit my products for inclusion wherever they will fit.

Many hours later, it has dawned on me that I should make a blog post about Aussies since they are really special dogs. 

I have posted countless photos of my dear sweet Blue, a purebred Australian Shepherd in the black tricolor pattern. Instead of plugging up this blog post with my own stuff this time around I thought I would show you some of my favorite aussie dog items that I've come across so far.  Aussies come in four standard color patterns. Black Tricolor (like my Blue) Red Tricolor, Blue Merle, and Red Merle. Black Tris are usually predominantly black, with gold and white accents. Red Tri's are mostly a red brown color. The merles are blotchy messy spots everywhere, sometimes with blue eyes. I'll try to find examples of each.




This photo below shows the quirky personalites of Australian Shepherds. Hundreds of different expressions convey all sorts of messages. People aren't kidding when they say these are one of the smartest breeds of dog! Sometimes they are playful, sometimes they are questioning, sometimes they are stubborn - I'm not sure exactly what this dog here is thinking, but I bet it's surprise!




The neatest thing about Aussies is that they really do look like they're smiling. There's something about the jowls and the jaw, the teeth - their happy sunshine attitude comes through and makes YOU smile.






These dogs are usually high energy, and have a very strong herding drive - if they don't have animals to corral, they WILL herd your children! They need to be discouraged from nipping at pant legs and heels, which is instinctive for them, since they would nip the hooves of sheep.




Of course, when they are done for the day and tuckered out, they do know how to rest.





and when they're done resting, they are really good at sleeping. Our Blue could sleep 20 hrs a day. She's REALLY good at it. Her official title is "couch warmer".  One of these days I'm going to get a photo of her sprawled out like she owns the place, with her feet in the air and her belly exposed!

Our two dogs are like kids in many ways. So when I saw this t-shirt, I liked it right away and had to include it here for you to see.


Australian Shepherd Mom 2 shirt


Looking at all of these fantastic designs, I'm inspired to create a few more of my own! Check back later to see what I come up with!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Genuine Merchandise Continued

New! Create your own original genuine authentic certified t-shirt by adding your own text.

I've designed a completely customizeable tee for men or women where you get to choose what you're sellin'!




(If you're looking for Redneck, Redneck Woman, Bubba, or MILF I've got those ones already in the store for you.)

Beyond those, the choices are endless!

Some suggestions for Men                     

Hoss
Boss Man
@$$hole
El Supreme Commander
Gearhead
Geek
team name fan
Garage Monkey
Knuckle Dragger
Wood Butcher
Beach Bum
heartbreaker
Bad Boy
milf hunter
iron pumper





and for Women:

hottie
hoochie mamma
trailer park queen
diva
princess
eye candy
bad girl
dragon lady
boy watcher
maneater
heartbreaker

I'm sure you can come up with something far more creative and original!  The perfect choice for fans of sports teams or groups, adTry out the handy dandy Zazzle features and whip up your own tasty treat.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Genuine Authentic Rednecks!

I rattled the old noggin for some more funny redneck idears and this is what tumbled on outta there.




Not just any run of the mill, average joe type Redneck.... but a Genuine one. And authentic. Oh, and even Certified! That sounds purty darned special if ya ask me! We ain't talking no cheap imported knock off here, folks!

Then I figured there may be some out there who aren't fully accepting the label of Redneck - but they're ok with bein called BUBBA. So I modified it a tidge and spewed out this 'un.




Yes, note it is almost exactly the same design with Bubba instead of Redneck. I also made a Redneck Woman version with and without the sexy rebel confederate flag silhouette image I created long ago. I won't post links to them here since four of virtually the same thing might be a tad irritating.

Then I made a vertical design and changed it up a bit for the women who are used to being thought of as "meat". Why not make it prime Grade A meat while we're at it, and guarantee it to be tasty and tender?! Exactly what I was thinking!


Fluttering Wings

I love the two best photos I got of the Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly SO much that I created a couple business cards with them.  I think they turned out pretty well, and would work for many different types of businesses as well as personal profile cards.


First up is a close up macro image of the top half of the butterfly wings on the flower bloom. You don't get to see the fancy tail, but's it's a pretty black and yellow butterfly to anyone (like me) who doesn't know much about butterflies and doesn't need to know what kind it is to know it's a black and yellow butterfly!




It could be the Western Tiger SwallowTail or the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, and there is also apparently an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail  but I didn't look any further on wiki to determine if the east and west and canadian versions of the tiger swallowtail were actually different or this butterfly actually had multiple names.

Ah, but I babble once again. Let's take another look at that lovely butterfly! This time it shows the entire butterfly and the fancy eye markings on the swallow tail, and more flower. This is closer to the original photo that I took.




and a bookmark style business card. I figure some people read for fun even if  I don't have time to anymore! Might as well use this very feminine butterfly bookmark to mark your page!


Sunday, July 18, 2010

Blue

Not the color, our lovely little Australian Shepherd.


Have you heard the story of how she got her name? We had our baby girl "RED" and planned on getting a male, blue eyed, blue merle aussie as doggie number two which naturally would be named "Blue"

Red and Blue. Get it? No, we're actually NOT american. Although with all this rednecky stuff lately it does make PERFECT sense. We still need a white. Maybe a "Blanc"? French IS Canada's second language afterall.

We ended up with a small and runty Black tri-colored, brown eyed girl that got stuck with a masculine name. It's been amended with a dozen alternatives that are a little more girly like "Boo" or "Booboo baby" or "Blooober" She's the perfect dog for our family though and we love her to pieces.


Anyhow - since we take a bajillion (that's alot) of photos of our two lovelies (our dogs)... it's only natural that I would use a portrait of them now and then.

I made a few new business cards today for australian shepherd puppy breeders, or dog rescues, or agencies that place specific breeds perhaps. Guess who's photos I used?

ahhh, the title must have given it away.


Here is my darling Blooober Boo-Boo-Baby Blue.



I even got a couple shots of her playing in the snow. She has *alot* of hair (just visit my house in the summer months and it'll be obvious!)and can handle the cold weather for quite some time. She wasn't happy with little kidlet sledding down the hill in the backyard and ran alongside her trying to bite at her arms to save her from danger. I caught a tender moment between a child and a dog and really love this photo.

In the next one her paw pads are starting to freeze. Done outside! Time to go thaw by the toasty fireplace!



Saturday, July 17, 2010

Moo Heads

I was in a bovine kind of mood today. It helped that two days ago I sold a card with my lonely cow design from the RedneckHillbillies store a couple days ago, and then a set of business cards with another cattle photo.

So I let out a little moooo myself and plopped out these patties for your viewing pleasure.

Hank, our gorgeous Holstein or Fresian black and white cow. Actually he was a bull when this photo was taken, and is now a steer, but most people would just call him a COW.



Then I took this awesome photo of multicolored cattle (JimBob, Hank, and Bessie) in black, white and brown shades and figured that pretty much spelled out multicultural. I mean, Multi-cow-tural. Get it? Ok so it's my part to promote love of diversity, blindness to color, and acceptance of race.... with a little hick in there for good measure.

I also played on a couple other cow-isms with "Have you HERD?" and "We're Mooooving" I'm sure there are hundreds of other good lines that could be used. Feel free to customize any of the many items available with your own funny text :D


mooooooovelous!

Dogs. (wo)man's best friend

I love my two dogs. Some days I wonder how we ever managed without them! They love us unconditionally, staring up at us with loving eyes eager for a belly rub, a butt scratch, or a pat on the head. They wag their tails (or nubs if they lack tails) and play like puppies when excited, long after the puppy days.

I made a couple more business cards featuring dog #2, "Blue" since she's a purebred Australian Shepherd. She's a cutie, for sure! Our first dog Red is a mixed breed, or a mutt of unknown heritage so she doesn't get nearly as much attention on Zazzle  (although I think she's just as pretty)








Though I still think the first aussie business card I ever made pictured below is still the cutest :D  This one has  sold a couple times too which makes it just that-much-more special.

In focus

I'm so proud of my little kidlet, future famous photographer!

She snapped this one in black and white at the classic car show the other day. I photographed the same vehicle in color from a different angle, but I like how this one turned out so I decided to make a mousepad out of it.


There's something about those old cars that you know some old fart spent thousands of hours restoring! As much as I love and appreciate them, I must admit that I really love the modern conveniences of today's vehicles which outweigh the grace and style of the hotrods of long ago.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Kilby Museum

Mr RedneckHillbillies, little kidlet and myself took a nice leisurely drive out to the countryside on Saturday for an antique car show. It was hot and sticky, and the skeeters were out in full force in the shady areas so we didn't linger too long.

Dozens of polished, lovingly restored cars were parked on the grounds, reflecting the blazing sunlight, so many of the photos I snapped have nasty blinding glare and reflections of myself! Can't have that! Since the carshow was held at the historical Kilby Museum, it also gave me an opportunity to photograph vintage antiques inside the stuffy building,some farm animals, and feral cats.

Here's one that my daughter took of the store shelves inside the stuffy museum. Wooden shelves lined with old advertisements and household goods like batteries, seed packets and spices. She took it in black and white, which I think makes it even more old-timey.


I think it works well on this notecard - perfect for someone's retirement, or milestone birthday for the person who would remember some of the items on display!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Content Review

My only pet peeve with Zazzle is the content review policy. Zazzle has a remove product, ask questions later type policy, with very little explanation given as to WHY your products have been deleted. Oh sure, they'll tell you which products are the problem and give a standard reason, but with absolutely no clarification. It could be an image, a word, even a tag in the description.

The worst part, is that other products that appear to infringe upon the same trademarks or violate the same copyright laws are allowed to remain.

Case in point:


This morning I uploaded what I believed to be pure genius. (snicker)

SSSSSHHHHH! (big bold red letters proclaimed)
Be vewy, vewy quiet.... on the next line in smaller text)
We're hunting wednecks. (same size text beneath that)

It didn't even make it to the marketplace before it got booted the HICK out of there.

Let's see if I can get a screen shot and  post an image here....

Ah, it sounds a little like Elmer Fudd you say. A Warner Bros character that obviously shouldn't be allowed!

But see, we're NOT hunting wascally wabbits. We're hunting WEDNECKS.

There's a difference there people - no matter what school you went to! (or DIDN'T went to in this case) Yes, I do realize "didn't went" isn't proper grammer, I'm speakin' redneck, ya'll.










So THIS one was allowed to stay. Hmmmm I wonder if "Frozen Duck" is a favorite. Apparently moreso than RedneckHillbillies is anyways.


as was THIS ONE


So if I get this right, it's OK to hunt nooblets (WTF are  nooblets?) and acceptable to hunt Aliens... but it's not okay to hunt Wednecks. *shaking head* 

I think I'm going to try to reupload the design with "I'm" instead of "We're" to see if that's the problem.
Maybe it's the SSSSHHHH!  *shrug* Maybe it's the Wednecks. Perhaps if  had typed  Rednecks it may have passed. See my frustration?!  Tell me where I crossed the line so I can make the necessary adjustments!
I have no problem with rules. Draw the lines and I will do my best to stay within them. Maybe right on the line... but within them! Just make the rules the same for ALL the players.

I'm more irritated at the thought of an employee picking and choosing which rules to enforce, who to turn a blind eye to and who to make an example of.

We'll see if I get an answer to my request for clarification, and if the design can be remade to suit the powers that hold their fingers firmly over the DELETE button.

HAARRRUMMPPHH!

Yummy Peppers!

What says country better than freshly picked and washed homegrown veggies?

(Well, I'm sure there are alot of things, but work with me here)


A beautiful, perfectly ripe, sweet red bell pepper. Water droplets remain on the bright red skin, and puddles on the cutting board visible to the left. Super sweet, super yummy, super healthy and packed with vitamin C - we eat red, orange and yellow peppers sliced up as snacks and in my personal favorite: Greek Salad.

A few more photos to process and then I'll try to make another funny redneck tee for y'all! :D

Watch out for the horns!

You ought not to mess with anything that has horns. I think that's pretty sound advice.

So when I was waitin in line at the local Dairy Queen for a big ol' basket of not-so-healthy, greasy, crunchy oh-so-good onion rings and saw this beast of a truck waiting for the light I just HAD to snap a photo.

All this truck needs is a rebel flag and it would scream "REDNECK"
Perhaps a nice bumper sticker to put on the rear like this one:


Perhaps he should be wearing a redneck shirt too. You know, complete the picture.


oh! and let's not forget the retro trucker style redneck HAT for his head. We can't do much about the missing teeth, but let's at least try to cover some of the mullet. While we're at it, might as well make him an edumacated redneck. At least that way he can feel like he went to some kinda fancy schmancy redneck university instead of droppin out of elementary to start huntin turtles in the backwater with pappy.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Good enough to EAT

I thought I'd try my hand at foodie products for a change. So, after going through a couple CDs full of photos originally shot for stock photography I came up with a couple that I thought worked well.

First up, a delicious Ollie Bollen donut or fritter type baked treat loaded with raisins and apple bits, sprinkled lightly with a dusting of icing sugar.



Ollie Bollen (oolie ballen) is loosely translated as Oil Balls because they are deep fried and can be a little on the greasy side. They are not overly sweet, unless you liberally douse them in the icing sugar which is either offered in a side bowl, or sifted above a plate full of them.

The dutch cook up large batches of them to celebrate the New Year. Every January 1st we head on over to the inlaws to eat as many of them as we can without popping. They are a once a year indulgence, and a Holland tradition that many still carry on despite being here in Canada for generations now.

MMMM how much longer until New Year's?

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Wings of a Butterfly

This is my very first photograph of a butterfly, and I'm super stoked about it. I took 8 or 9 photos of this fluttering black and yellow Canadian or Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly as it went from blackberry blossom to blackberry blossom along the roadside across from our home.


I'm not much of a butterfly watcher, or "into" insects and creepy crawlies that inflict any kind of damage on my garden vegetables, but I do have to admit they are quite pretty. I made a few products with the photo late last night and I misindentified it as a monarch, silly me. A quick search tells me that it most certainly isn't a monarch. Sigh. I'll go back through them all and relabel them.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Genuine Redneck

I've been taking more photos lately and as a result, the redneckhillbillies storefront gets only one or two new designs for every four or five in the countrycorner store. Blame it on the nicer weather - when we return to our usual 5 degrees celsius temperatures and unending drizzle I will have plenty of time to redneck out.

Aren't YOU lucky?! It just so happens to be wet and rainy and miserable and dreary out there, so I hunkered down at the laptop and came up with this 'un.

Multiple bottles in various shapes and sizes carry who knows what inside, but I'm bettin' it's alcoholic in nature. Wine? Shine? Some kinda hooch for thirsty rednecks... and you'd better believe it's Genuine. Er,... I mean Gen*U*Wine since us rednecks are pretty much illiterate, ya know.