Category: Artwork

Any and every kind of artwork I do.

Business Cards! (and craft sales)

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There I go, disappearing again…

November brings with it an extra year on my driver’s licence.

I was brave, and signed up for two more craft sales. I’ve attended one and broke even, so I should not complain. (I’ll be honest, it’s difficult not to question what I’m doing!) The second is set for the end of the week. Nothing has been unpacked, so set-up should be relatively easy, in theory. I’m nervous to find out there is a larger venue scheduled the same day, but the last one had a great turn out for being in a suburb at the far end of town.  I can only do better, right?

I’ve been knitting to pass the time… it’s been good for me. With my phone broken, (again!) I have something to keep busy while traveling. I actually replaced it with an old one while I wait for the Note 8 to come out, but it has limitations :P I spoke with the office staff at my daughters’ school and if none of my scarves sell this weekend, they are more than happy to accept the donations. So win-win for me in a way. I either recoup my costs, or I help my community. Even better if I can do both ;)

With Black Friday creeping into the Canadian shopping calendar, I scored a deal on business cards from Moo.com <3 What do you think?

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Granted, I should have had this design sitting and waiting, but I didn’t actually figure out what I wanted in a business card, until a couple of days ago, so… the digital version was flung together in a few hours. I think it’s good for what it is. (although I just realized there’s a typo. Can you see it? Oh dear.) 400 typos being sent off to the printer… nothing to do now but grin and bear it. ::laughs:: 400 typos at a 30% discount at least! I have two weeks to mull over what kind of white-out works best, heh. The nifty thing about Moo is being able to upload up to 50 different designs. I managed 33, so I’ve got quite the variety to hand out. I’m still rather happy.

Lastly, on the general topic of dragons… I made several dragon-be-speckled ornaments to sell. The girls have picked out which ones to decorate for themselves, and the very worst case scenario is keeping them for myself? (Oh, the hardship!)

Fingers crossed I do well this weekend!

 

Craft Sales Are… Learning Experiences

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So I showed my work at a craft sale over the weekend.
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Standing in the thick of it, I was worried it wasn’t a strong presentation, but I felt differently after reviewing this photo.

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Truthfully, I find it almost easy to forget this was my table. ::laughs:: Silly, but true.

Positives, to take away from the experience would be…

  • I earned enough to cover my table fee
  • I made business cards, and a few were taken by potential customers
  • Practice making a nice display and getting a feel for next time
  • learning from a very experienced artist that KeyCon’s art show will probably be a bad venue, unfortunately, so be cautious there.
  • I met some really nice other artists

Negatives are:

  • I barely earned enough to cover my table fee
  • There was hardly any foot traffic, which is almost a neutral, as I may have sold more, if more people had come through.

I made some new things that no one batted an eyelash at; I’m not terribly worried. Not sure if they weren’t well displayed, or thought to be over priced… I think I’ll turn my little “witch potions” into necklaces, and then they’ll be more attractive. Worst case  scenario, the snakes become dragons ::coughs::

Speaking of dragons… I’m working on custom USB keys.

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I don’t remember if I mentioned that? This is my second one, which is a work in progress. I think the side with the red dragon is a little… empty, and it’s the front, so I need to do a bit more before I can post it to Etsy. Already some love for it on Instagram, so that’s heartening. I have a second one waiting to be varnished at the same time. I have one pre-sold, so I shall let my customer pick their favourite, and list the other.

I am going to try very hard to post here at least every week. ::nods:: No guarantees, of course, but I shall try.

Colour Me Pink

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“You’re gonna miss me by my walk…Ohh
You’re gonna miss me by my talk
Oh, you’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.”
~Anna Kendrick

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Adult colouring books have been all the rage for quite some time now, and I’ve done my best to sidestep the entire fad until this point. Well, while brainstorming ideas for Patreon, I… sort of came up with an idea. :P I always liked those books as a kid, where the images peel back like an onion and have something in common between the pages. I’m now exploring the idea of expounding upon this idea, but the reader colours in the pages. I already whipped two pages together fairly easily, but I’m stumped for what adventure to tell.

The idea stemmed from the suggestion that as a one-time thank-you for subscribing, I send my Patrons a post card from Berryl, the character behind ElvenAssassin. I think it’s a lovely idea! ::grins:: I just need to make what I’m posting there…. cohesive.

Now if I could just nail myself down to an idea, right?

Patreon Vs Kickstarter

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“I begin with an idea, and then it becomes something else.”
~Pablo Picasso

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I think this sums up my art process to a tee…

A friend had suggested I try GoFundMe, and when he described what he was thinking, Kickstarter had come to mind; further discussion with other people leads me to believe his suggestion was more in line with Patreon.

Now the question is: Which do I want to do?

Continue reading “Patreon Vs Kickstarter” →

Failure is Future Success

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“The fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate.”
~ Thomas Watson Sr.

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I shared a booth at KeyCon, and to sum it up, things did not go as well as I’d hoped. I didn’t go home empty-handed, but I would preferred more in my pocket and less by way of life experience. However, you’ll never succeed if you don’t try.

Continue reading “Failure is Future Success” →