Ornaments galore

A box of "ornaments" waiting to be finished... These are some of my new designs---I think I like the HOHOHO and WISH the best, but who knows what the customer will like, right? I've taken small wooden tiles and glued them together and spray painted them silver. Then I attach the letters and the "jewels" --thats the fun part. These are waiting for the the hanger--which I finally found an easier way to do. Before, I was, believe it or not, poking a hole with a large safety pin. But doing this many ornaments killed my hand so I finally went to Lowes and found a TINY dremel drill bit and it works like a charm! I'm actually looking forward to drilling those tiny holes for the tiny loops. Then the last step is to add Diamond glaze to the top. I love the way it looks---really finishes them off---but too much of that a one time gets my neck and shoulders! Wow, after explaining all of the steps I feel I should be charging more for these!

Package delivery day

I came home from painting furniture at my son's high school and had 4 packages in the door! Two for my oldest son and 2 for me. One was the notecard order--shown above--that I had made for a customer from Art in the Park. I took the letter photograph of the L with tulips, and used it as a border and I think it turned out really cute. Looks kind of like a garden.

My other package was my business cards--yay!--because I had run out of them at my last show. Didn't plan very well ahead.... And just a minute ago UPS rang my doorbell and left another package--a large bottle of Diamond Glaze. If you don't know what that is, it makes a crsytal clear raised finish on top of anything you want...I use it on ornaments. And it is almost as valuable as diamonds and rather hard to find around town.

So now I can work on my new ornaments. I'll try to take some pictures and post them later. I'm coming up with new Christmas words to use and my favorite new ones are HO HO HO and WISH.....

Family letter frames

This is a photo of my family sample of letter frames. Using my last name (because it's short!) and displaying it on a stand that I made/found. That was fun...I found this wood at Lowes back in April and it has a track in it that fits the 1/4" foamcore. But then I accidentally got 3/16" foam and they wouldn't stand up! But I figured out that if I nailed straight nails in I could set the letter on the nails which works pretty well and even gives the 1/4" stability.

But then, in September, when I was getting ready to offer them at Art in the Park, I went to Lowes and they didn't have the boards anymore! Luckily, just this past week I found some and bought a few extra just in case. I have them cut to size and then I prime, paint and polyurethane. Lettering on the side is a bit tricky, but I'll figure a way to make it work. I just like how they look in a stand! But I also like that they fit perfectly above a door frame!

If you want to see your name in letter frames, leave a comment and I will post your name here!

Letter frames

This is another example of my letter frames and how they can be used ---above a door jamb is the simplest because they are the perfect size and weight. They do need to be attached to the wall though because these fell whenever the air vent went on! I use 3M command strips and they work great.

I offered these letter frames for the first time at Art in the Park. I had inventory of 4 different frame styles with coordinating letters in them--already printed and attached to foamcore. I sold about 40 of them and was happy that people actually understood the concept and thought it was cool. And I took only a few to a high school night and sold those too! I know they sell because they are reasonable. But I also think they are cool looking--including the frame already with the letter. My tag line on the sign I used says: Fun framed photographic letters light enough to go anywhere.

Artstravaganza

Now its time to gear up for my next show in 2 weeks....Artstravaganza! It's a nice show at the St. Louis Artists' Guild. I have a problem this year, though, in that the Friday night opening conflicts with a big parish celebration. So I am trying to get my son and his girlfriend to cover for me from 5 to 9. I'm sure I'll have to pay him, and I won't be able to offer any personalized items or credit cards, but I hope that it will work. My friend, who always helps me at Art in the Park, will also be at the 75th anniversary gala, so I can't ask her! I hate when things conflict like this---especially since for this weekend and last I've had nothing to do. Figures!

Art in the Park

Art in the Park, the art fair in my neighborhood park (the one I walk around everyday) has come and gone. We once again had a gorgeous day! How many years can we pull this off? I think we had record crowds and I was so busy, even with my friend, Anne, helping that I didn't see most of the people who might have come to see me! We hardly sat down all day. I had some new small items--magnets and Christmas ornaments--and they sold like crazy! But I wasn't sure how well I did because it was $1 here and $5 there.....until I got home, exhausted, but with enough energy to total it up. And it was the best show I've done yet! Selling 200 magnets and 57 ornaments put me over the top, I guess!

The program cover, above, was another of my designs. Not as great as last year's close up lily, but good enough. They didn't put it on T-shirts or coffee mugs though! Below is a picture of my booth. The big frame to the right is all of the magnets---small painted wood tiles with one letter per tile so you can spell anything you want! I also had another new item--letter frames--- in the center of the stand. They sold pretty well too! I will post more on that later--and actually, my April post was about them too.



How about this--posting 2 days in a row! Having it pouring down rain outside kept me from running errands though. Most of them are getting moved to Friday's list cause I hate running around in the rain. I do have to get glass though for a rush name frame order from etsy.

Getting back into blogging and writing...

Okay, I have got to get back into blogging. How does everyone do it? I can't seem to find enough time in a day to do my work--especially this time of year with fall shows. I don't know how I'm supposed to keep up with etsy, and blogging and now facebook! I know it's good exposure and should link and all, but obviously I'm lacking motivation or energy! My brother would say its because I don't drink coffee!

But today I got a convo from a lady in St. Louis, my hometown, who has a blog called http://dandygiveaway.blogspot.com. She is working up to a month or more of giveaways and she asked if I want to be featured. It will just cost a couple of donations so I think it may be worth it. She has so much energy, writes everyday featuring different on-line shops. And she inspired me to get back to it. Of course, she has an 18 month old so she's alot younger than I am!

I am working with my Sign Language letters for upcoming shows, but did take a break to take a 2 day workshop with Laurie Doctor entitled The Poetry of Handwriting. The photos above are of a small book we created in that time. Will get more of my commercial work up soon. There's always etsy to check out if you just can't wait.