Tuesday, December 29, 2015

What I've been painting lately

I think I've got a thing for ocean creatures.  And sea plants.  And other sea-dwelling beings.  I started a kind of series of paintings recently, and they are undersea scenes.  All similar, as of right now, which is nice, I think.  I'm experimenting with layouts, and I haven't quite gotten my vision right yet.  But the paintings are still cute!  Check out my purple rock/blob things.  Loving those, and can you see my tiny sand dollars?  Enjoy!




Tuesday, December 22, 2015

My cards in a local shop!

I had some Christmas packages to mail last week, and there was NO WAY in heck I was going to the depressing and soul-sucking Ballard post office again.  There are a couple of nice shops that double as mailing centers near me, so I went to one of those instead; the one that happens to be carrying some of my watercolor cards.  I had my entourage of little girls with me, and before we left I told them to "look for mommy's/auntie's cards".  So it was like an Easter egg hunt.  This shop also has a tiny kid area, with toys and a little easel, so I was hoping it wouldn't be too boring if we had to wait a long time in line.

I needn't have worried about a line, I waited a total of about 25 seconds.  And it took only that long for the girls to find my cards, too!  The whole shop was full of their delighted squeals, the ladies working that day found it hilarious, thankfully. 

As I was getting my packages weighed and stamped, I told the lady helping me that the kids were so excited about the crab and octopus because I was the artist who made the cards.  Then it was even cuter to them because they were so excited.

The cards were displayed in two different places in the shop, and it looked like they had already sold about half of what they had ordered from me, which is great!  Mostly the octopus card, there was only one of those left that I could see.  And of course I took some sneaky photos; it felt weird to me to take photos, but I really wanted some!


Card display in local shop

Card display in the shop



So there you have it!  I will be working harder on getting more of my cards in other shops in the Seattle area, Just waiting until after Christmas to do more sales calls.  Not really the best time of year to do it, but I made a personal commitment to go every week, so I need to stick with it.  Until next time guys!

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

My First Craft Show

Hi guys!  This past Sunday I had a table at a local trunk show, for the first time ever.  It went really well!  There were about 12 local artists participating, including a friend of mine, (who was the one to tell me about the show).  So many amazing hand-made things, it was great.  I did a little Christmas shopping at my fellow artist's tables, too.

I did manage to make a little money, which was great; I wasn't sure what to expect.  I found having a table at a craft/trunk show to be easier than listing items in my Etsy store; no need to take perfect photographs, write the listing, etc.  Just make the cards, package them, and sell them!  I plan on doing more craft shows in the future, so if you know of any good ones in the Seattle, area, let me know!

Over the next few weeks I will be adding a few more art prints to the shop, as well as the cards I have been making to sell to local shops.  Stay tuned for that!  And just so you can see what kind of cards I have been making, below are some photos from the trunk show, enjoy!





Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Guess what I did today?!

I went WAY outside of my comfort zone today.  And guess what?  It wasn't as bad as I feared it would be.

You know how we are our own worst critic?  No matter how much someone else may say how much they believe in us, or tell us how well we do things, there is still that little voice inside our heads telling us we suck.  And I am certainly no different there.

Today I took a stack of my hand painted cards, some order sheets, business cards and a bunch of sample sheets and went to several different local businesses to see if they would like to order some of my cards to sell in their shops.  HOLY CRAP GUYS.

The first shop I went to, the lady oohed and aahed over the cards.  She was very excited about them and was quite sure that the owner would want to order some, possibly 3 dozen.  WHAT.  I left the shop walking on air.  Anything after that would be icing on the cake, I didn't even care anymore if I got one order at all.  Just the fact that a total stranger liked my art enough to want to sell it in a shop was good enough for me.

I went to 5 shops in total, and in not one shop was the owner there, but I left all my sample sheets and contact info and everyone reacted positively to the cards.  It was great!!!  I will certainly be doing this again, because in Seattle there is no shortage of little shops carrying local artist's wares.

And now I have some more ideas for cards and I can't wait to paint!  Hurray!

Getting ready for some sales calls...

Monday, September 28, 2015

Finally!

Alright guys, I have finally, finally gotten the first batch of art prints listed on Etsy. 

Man, what an ordeal.  By the time i got the mat board I had ordered, it turned out to be...not mat board.  Arg!  I had to return it, which took 10 days to get the approval from the seller to send it back.  And the shipping (non-refundable) cost almost as much as the not-mat-board, so I should have just kept it and found a way to use it.  Oh, well.  I did find and purchase and receive some actual real mat board, and then I spent a few days learning how to use my mat cutter.  Which was super fun!

After that I cut mats for each of my prints, then spent a few days setting up and taking photos of the prints in frames, etc.  That was fun, too, but I spent so much time on it my feet were sore.  Then I had to edit the photos, which was a quick process (just had to color balance and crop).  And then...I listed the items in the shop!  Phew!

I have been painting here and there in between all of that, so I actually have about 6 more paintings that I need to scan and order prints of to list for sale as well.  I am happy with the ones in the shop now, but there are are few really good ones that I can't wait to get prints made for.  You guys are gonna love them!  I think I will also work on listing the originals of all the paintings I have made prints for, since you really can't beat having an original painting of your very own.  Stayed tuned, and go see what's new in the shop!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

What I've been working on today

Here are a couple shots of what I've been working on today.  The flowers I started last night, and (I think.  Maybe.  Might need a few more things...) finished today.  The little breakfast quote is inspired by that quote, that The Hubby sent to me via text today.  He read it somewhere, and said it made him think of me.  So true.  Breakfast is my favorite meal, hands down.  I go to sleep dreaming of what I am going to have for breakfast the next morning!  Mmmmm, bacon.  I might do a really nice one for the shop, but for now I had to get it down on paper.

flowers

Brekkie time, still drying!

Friday, August 28, 2015

First items listed!

Woohoo, I listed my first items today!  I couldn't wait any longer, those darn mat boards I ordered are taking forever to arrive.  The shop is going to be mainly for art prints, but I can't get the prints photographed and listed until I get my mats in, so I decided to just go ahead and list some of the lower price points items since they were ready to go.  Go check them out!

Right here!

Keep checking back in the next week or so as I get more items ready to list, including some great art prints.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

I love getting mail!

I came home today from visiting a friend and saw a package had arrived while I was gone.  Hurray, it was my first order of prints of my artwork! 

yippee!

 I'm so excited to get them photographed and get some listings up in the shop, so you guys can see what I have been working on.  There are a few things I need to do before that can happen, though, like getting some mats and shipping supplies (details, details).  But it is getting closer to shop opening day!

I haven't had any time to paint the last two days, but right now the girls are having some TV time so I can get a few things done, and so I can work on a couple paintings.  The thing about watercolors is that you have to let the painting dry before you can add more to it, so it takes a bit longer than I might like.  Right now I'm working on something rather detailed so I have to let it dry completely, partly because that is just how it works, and partly because knowing myself I will smear the wet parts if I try to paint an area that is dry already...ask me how I know that!  Alright, just a quick update, I need to get to work!

Monday, August 10, 2015

Welcome!

Welcome friends, to my newest venture!

Once upon a time, I had this idea.  I thought about opening my own Etsy shop and had dreams of making and sewing things to sell, which sounded fun and would bring in a little more income.  It would give me something fun to do which was not being a mom, something to keep me...well, me.  This was all perused over thoughtfully, and I even took the steps to begin opening that Etsy shop.  I got so far as to set up the name of the shop, and made a long list of "to-dos" to get it going.  The sheer number of items on that list caused me to say to myself, "Ugh, this is going to take a lot of work!  Never mind."  It was, and is, a familiar scenario in my life.  I am a starter, but not a finisher, a continue-to-do-it, a stick-with-it person, etc.  I opened that shop on March 22nd, 2012.  Over three years ago!

I had a talk with someone recently about how they are the same way.  They like to try new things, and it is fun and engaging for a long time, but then...things just...fizzle out.  And all the supplies and things purchased to pursue this new hobby are just there, taking up space.  And taking up mental space.  Making him feel a bit obligated to keep it because maybe someday, he would get back to that fun thing that just isn't that fun anymore.  The moral of this story is: it's okay to stop doing a thing if you aren't drawn to doing that thing anymore!

This was a big "a-ha!" moment.  I still love to sew, but I sure didn't want to sew things to sell anymore.

A couple weeks ago I had conversation with someone who I had never met before.  A life coach.  And she is the reason for my new venture.  Well, at least, she has helped me to start this new venture by being that person who I feel accountable to.  If I have to be accountable only to myself for something that is challenging or difficult, I will never do the challenging or difficult thing.  I now know this is because I have a fixed mindset instead of a growth mindset.  But with this knowledge comes power!  I know I am this way so I can take steps to improve myself and work hard and push myself to do things that I may have never even thought of doing before.

So my latest project is to re-launch and re-open that Etsy store from long ago, to sell my artwork.  In the last year or two, I have been painting.  I never realized how much I really loved painting until I started to do it.  I had taken one of those paint and drink wine classes for fun, and learned how to use watercolors.  And I was HOOKED.  I cannot express how much I love to use watercolors.  They way they look, the rough paper, the blending of the colors on the paper, ugh, I love it!  It makes me feel happy inside.

And the life coach is the one who coaxed this out of me, in that brief phone call, and she encouraged me to get to work on it.  It has only been 14 days since I spoke to her, but already I have made huge progress on getting this thing really truly going.  There will be no going back.  There will be no giving up.  I am going to do this, and I am doing it for ME.