Paul Overton of Dude Craft and Sister Diane Gilleland of Craftypod launched a new blog today called Make and Meaning. The intent of the blog is to explore the larger issues of crafting including materials, process and crafty business topics. So far, I’m a fan. The articles do indeed raise some meaty issues and the discussions are intelligent and thoughtful. I just spent some quality time on the post about craft book publishing. I’m also totally digging the magazine layout. Well done, guys.
Last week A. and I got back from our week-long Caribbean Cruise with Sweet Travel. It wasn’t the ideal trip since both of us had to work, but it was still a lot of fun and we hung out with four of the most amazing women you’ll ever meet. Also, the comedy shows were really great–Erin Foley and Sandra Valls were my favorites.
I mostly worked on my sticker mandalas while we were on the boat. I didn’t have time to make all my own stickers, so I just used the Mrs. Grossman’s stickers for these. I’m hoping to do more in the future with my own stickers. It took me a few days at sea to not get dizzy staring at them, but by the time we made it home I had five completed. I printed and mounted them on thin plywood and now they are at The Lab gallery here in SF waiting for Postcard Show 13.
If you don’t know anything about The Lab’s Postcard show, you should really come and check it out. Dozens of artists participate, and all of the work is affordable. Original works max out at $50 and multiples max out at $20. Awesome if you’re a collector or you have art lovers on your gift list. I’ll have the mandalas there for $15 if you want to take one home. You can also find me volunteering there the night of the 6th, but I recommend going to this show as early as possible. Most of the best pieces sell out right away.
Whenever money is tight, the same dilemma comes up: shop at a discounted big box to save money, or shop from small businesses to stimulate the local economy? Most people would rather do the latter, but we simply don’t have the cash this year. Luckily, there is a solution. Ever the creative problem-solvers, many Bay Area businesses are participating in programs that give serious discounts (usually 15% and up) to local shoppers.
If you live in San Francisco, you can take advantage of Only In San Francisco’s ShopSF program. Just show your driver’s license or other ZIP code-bearing ID and you’ll get great deals at their participating merchants. Some of my favorite stores are on that list, like Urban Fauna Studio and Candystore Collective.
Want to add your business? Sign up here.
If you live in the East Bay, wear plaid this Friday to show your support for local businesses on Plaid Friday. Their participating businesses include a lot of artists, including Ezme Designs, which makes beautiful ceramics, and TWO art subscription services–The Present Group and Art in a Box. If you are an East Bay business, there is still time to participate. Visit this page for details.
Whew! I’m finally back in town for a couple of days before heading to NYC on Wednesday. I can’t WAIT until all of this traveling is over.
Just got back from the DesignerCon show in Pasadena. I was pretty unprepared so I didn’t do very well there. My intention was to split my booth between selling Sweet Meats and promoting my custom plush services. Not knowing the set-up or having enough time, however, I lacked the appropriate signage and display materials to make this apparent to the attendees. I could have used some kind of collapsible shelving and a banner or two, or at least a second table. As it stands, this is what my table space looked like:
Pathetic, no? How the hell was anyone supposed to know what I was there for? Well, they didn’t, and it was sort of a mess all around. People kept trying to buy the things that were not for sale and they seemed surprised that I was the designer of all of the toys on my table. Maybe for WonderCon I will make some huge buttons that say “I AM THE ARTIST. I am not the girlfriend of the artist.” and hand them out to the other artistic ladies there. I will also make a giant banner to hang behind me that says something like “Custom Plush Toys from YOUR Character!” and shows a drawing of someone’s character next to a photo of some plush toys I made of that character.
DesignerCon was also the first stop on the Custom Yoka show’s tour. I brought A.’s Yoka down but mine didn’t make it. Oh well. I will mail it to DKE for the show’s next stop at Black Maria Gallery.
All in all it was a good learning experience and a (relatively) cheap way to prepare myself for WonderCon in April. I definitely need to get my name out there a little better and make sure I have a well-publicized “exclusive” for sale at the show. Those exclusives seemed to be the main focus at DesignerCon. Sure, some people were interested in the toy giveaways, artist signings and live painting on bikini-clad girls, but the lines really formed for the exclusive toy releases. This designer vinyl business seems to be a serious investment strategy for a lot of collectors.
Some show highlights for me included meeting Ze Frank (to whom I gave a Shapin’ Bacon), being asked to sign a customer’s deli-wrapped Hambone, and being interviewed for Electric Playground. I also sold enough to pay for the trip, so I really can’t complain. Now if I can just catch up on my sleep, I’ll be all set.
Got an idea for the next hot toy? Put it to the test over at Patch Together.
Here’s how it works: you submit an image of your awesome resin or plush toy design and Patch Together members vote on which designs are worth prototyping. If your toy gets chosen, it will go up for pre-order in the Patch Together store. Once it has enough pre-orders (20), your toy will be produced as a limited edition and you share the profits with Patch Together (40% you, 60% PT).
This is a pretty good deal if you consider that average licensing fees max out around 5% for artists and you get to keep the rights to your designs. If you want to skip the contest part, you can pay PT outright to manufacture your toy. They’ve also recently started accepting ideas for Flash animations and “products in general.”
“Mason” the vengeful birdhouse by Wickedbird. Currently available for pre-order.
No embroidery on the Yoka bear. Even with his appendages removed, his body is still too small to handle even a tiny needle. The plan now is to turn him into a gryphon. He will get polymer clay claws and a beak, and otherwise be covered with small felt “feathers.” On Friday I ordered a hole punch that makes teardrop shapes and works on felt. Hopefully it will arrive in time. These are probably not the colors I will use, but this is the general idea:
