Can't Stop Laughing

Toni and I have been best friends since 1991. We used to spend the day together, then still talk on the phone later for hours. Now I live 4000 miles away, so it's usually Skype for hours and we still never run out of things to say. We can also stay on Skype, both working quietly, happy just knowing the other person is on the other end of the line. We often help each other brainstorm with business ideas and sometimes we manage to get a little off track or just plain silly.

Toni, who is a photographer, has been working on her spring advertisement. She was trying to come up with a clever offer that rhymes with April showers bring May flowers. It just wasn't working, so I suggested using another well known term like "Spring has sprung". I asked, "What can you think of that rhymes with sprung?" She answered, "Oops, I stepped in cow dung...everybody Wang Chung...don't kiss me with tongue...I'll have the egg foo young...I'm dying of black lung." She just tossed them out there so quickly and I was laughing so hard I didn't have time to recover before she said the next thing. Perhaps it's one of those goofy things only friends who have known each other nearly 20 years find funny, but I'm still chuckling!

Oh, and she settled on, "Spring has sprung, keep them forever young. Get a half hour free when you book a 2 hour family or graduation photoshoot by Mother's Day".

Hot Diggity Dog...My 1st Etsy Sale!

Yay! I had my first Etsy sale today (Stéphanie, the print
above)! I only opened the shop this week and just started listing prints last night, so to get a sale so quickly really surprised me. The buyer is super sweet and wrote me a note that made me feel all warm, fuzzy and proud. It's a great start for me and really makes me feel motivated to keep working hard at it. Here's to the first of hopefully many!

For any of you considering opening an Etsy shop, it's really user friendly, easy to set up and the forums are full of helpful people with great information. Give it a go!

The Great Print Experiment

As you know, I have been busy trying to build my Etsy shop. I have been painfully aware that I needed to create different price points if I want any success for my shop, rather than just originals. I know many artists print their own at home, so I thought I'd give it a go. Unfortunately, my first few tries did not meet with success. I bought some Daler Rowney art paper, which was nice enough, but not particularly heavy. That made it very tricky to embellish.

On the next few prints, there were very obvious horizontal white lines. I did some reading up online and it looks like it might be print head problem. Grr! I was so annoyed! This issue might be a blessing in disguise, as it forced me to look for other options. I found a very handy printer who does same day printing on canvas for quite a reasonable price. I got a bunch of pieces printed and am amazed at how well they turned out. While the actual texture is obviously not there on the print, visually, it still appears very textured. I got a whole bunch printed and cut to make various size prints and have been embellishing them all night.

I now have a whole page on Etsy in various sizes and price points. Over the next several days, I will just keep adding. I have LOADS to go! The painting here is one that I have gotten printed in a few different sizes and they all look great, if I do say so myself! :)

PBsArtStudio...an amazing artist!

I love to collect art almost as much as I love to create it. I recently discovered PBsArtStudio on Etsy and have been continually drawn back to look at her work over and over again. I've commissioned her to create a special painting and am so excited! If you aren't familiar with her work, do make sure you go and look at her flickr or her shop. I have posted a sample of PBsArtStudio's work here with her permission. Don't you just love it!?

Two New Etsy Paintings

Now that I have FINALLY jumped on the Etsy bandwagon, I want to make sure that I am constantly adding new content, so here are the two pieces I added today. I realize that originals may be out of some people's budgets, so I am researching print options too. I bought some Daler Rowney printer paper, but I was disappointed with the results. My guess is it's my printer or the print settings I chose, so I will have to experiment some more before giving up on it.

New Painting on Etsy

I finished this piece a few weeks ago and really love how her face turned out. She is called "Sophie" and I have listed her on Etsy.

Finally Listed on Etsy

As you know from my last post, things haven't exactly been easy lately. I haven't been blogging or doing much online, but I have been continuing to paint (though at a slower pace) and looking at lots of art that makes me feel good. I've bought a few pieces too!

I've given myself a break and not worried too much about whether I have been working on the goals I started the year out with. I've decided it's time to get back on track though, so I finally listed something on Etsy! I have a few more photos of my work ready to go, so I'll list some more tomorrow and hopefully keep up the pace everyday. At the moment, I'm only listing originals, but plan on offering some prints soon.

You can see my Etsy listing here. If you have any suggestions on how to improve it, I'm all ears...and unfortunately a bit too much tush too! ;)