Etsy Shop

So, since deciding on pursuing art as a major part of my life, one of my goals has been to open up an Etsy shop to sell original drawings and prints. Of course I still have many other things to do to prepare for the opening, but one thing which has been plaguing me is finally complete!

 

I finally settled on a concept for my etsy shop banner!

 

Well, at least for now lol.

 

I still want to play around with it of course, but I am happy with using this as a base to jump off from. I also now have something to base my business cards, thank you notes, and packaging designs off of.

 

The idea really originated from my love of topiaries! I wanted to use them in the same way many home and shop owners display them on each side of their entrances. I love the charm and welcome they always seem to convey. And its so English! Unfortunately with the dimension limitations set by Etsy, I wasn't able to design something incorporating them that I loved.

 

Solution? Lamp posts!  Don't ask why lol.

 

{Lantern #1}                     {Lantern #2}

 

I ended up drafting a couple different lanterns, then went into Paint and touched them up and incorporated them into a banner. I had to cut it up a lot in order to keep the size right, so afterward drew up a new lamp that fit the proportions much better.

 

Final result!

 

 

Its very simple, but I like it. And I can make it festive for holidays according to my whimsy. 

 

 

One little task officially complete!

 

 

Art, and Its Place In My Life

I finally made a decision about where I want to go with my drawing. I have had so many different things pulling me in different directions over the past few years... and although I am not out of the running with medical school, I think I have accepted that I am officially just burnt out on that track. Its been emotionally exhausting really, and seeing patients every day hasn't been very inspiring either. The job of a physician in this current time, is pretty crappy. Which was okay, but the thought of having to continue to apply just doesn't make me happy anymore.

While waiting for the spring to come to hear back from the schools I interviewed at, I really wanted to start working on something, ANYthing, career-wise. I realized the happiest moments during my day are when I am able to make creative decisions, and so thought about how I could incorporate that into an alternative career. There are certainly designing and coordinating jobs out there, but my lack of education in that field doesn't obviously put me at the top for applicants. Hence the following plan for my future while currently in limbo:

1. Create a collection of sketches that would be marketable to a large group
2. Come up with a business name, logo or quote, design, business cards, policies, and get a Tax ID #.
3. Perfect my ability to make professional prints from my sketches
4. Begin posting and selling prints and originals on Etsy.
5. Take community college courses in the evenings to develop my drawing skills, and get my feet wet with painting.
6. Develop my personal style as an artist.

Even if this "business venture" isn't able to support me, it could very likely at least offer some slight bump in income (especially since production costs would be so minimal), and at the same time allow me to develop a hobby I have always wanted to explore anyway.

Ultimately, the fact that I would be able to put all that on a resume, might seriously afford me the opportunity to climb up a more artistic career path.

I finally feel almost content, satisfied. Confident. Excited.

I made this decision Wednesday of this week. When I went home, after speaking with a friend about it, she immediately requested some Classic Winnie the Pooh prints with quotes. This idea (although not artistically original, still pretty marketable) sent me on the hunt for inspiration from other classic children's books.

I started that night on one from The Velveteen Rabbit. I still have to add in some grass and leaves to ground him, and then load it to the computer so I can add the quote and make it into a print. I am going to use this quote:

 "When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

All the sketches I do of this are going to be part of my Storybook Collection.




I also want to do original pieces for older children from classic books such as

1. The Secret Garden
2. A Little Princess



I know its a crazy optimistic plan, but in the end happiness is what matters, and I finally feel like I am going in the right direction for that. I feel peaceful, which I haven't felt for a long long time.

Etsy Shop: Fall Themed Sets

I started out just with the maple leaf idea, but then that evolved into trying out a whole "fall" themed set with a pumpkin and acorns!

I then thought I might as well come up with a whole fall leaf set! Im also going to paint a set green as well for the spring and summer weather.

 I took these photos with my homemade photobox, built out of a large cardboard box, tape, and white tissue paper lol! It totally works great though! Initially I was worried there was not enough light, but my new camera not only picks up light much better than my cameraphone, but also allows me to adjust the exposure manually!. How great is that! It definitialy came in handy when trying to photograph the black halloween napkin rings lol.

This maple leaf was my first design! I ended up using metallic paints for all of these designs, but am still tweaking with the color blending a LOT lol. Getting the exact right tint is harder than you would think...

Etsy Shop: Halloween Set!!!

Although I had actually completed these about three weeks ago lol, I finally have a camera to capture the ultimate awesomeness of this set hehehe.

I made both sparkly glitter sets (mainly to satisfy my crazy obsession with glitter!) as well as solid glossy black.



Somehow, even though these designs are all meant in a light humerous way, the glossy version seems to be approaching sophistication somewhat more than the glitter ones lol.

I was thinking of doing a spider... but the web won out in the end.

 The progression of each of the designs was actually pretty fun! I think I ended up always liking my third sketch lol.







I like the crooked witches hat! I didn't realize is reminds me of the sorting hat in Harry Potter until later hehehe.

No, my own Sasha familiar was NOT the inspiration for this lol. Although she was an avid admirder hehehe!

Etsy Shop Project: Woodland Musings

My New Hobby: Creating an Etsy Shop! At first I wanted to list art prints, but as I am most certainly not skilled enough yet for than endeavor yet still had the Etsy Itch... I decided to make napkin rings from clay! This grew from my own desire to make owl rings to match my dining room, and then developed into an entire design plan lol.

Fall Themed Napkin Rings:
- Autumn leaves: maple, oak, aspen,
- Fall: acorns, pumpkins, maple leaf, aspen leaf
- Pumpkins
- Maple leaves
- Halloween: witches hat, black cat, spider web, bat (painted glossy black with fine black glitter)

Winter/Christmas Napkin Rings:
- Snowflakes: white snow glitter! :P
- Christmas presents: red/gold, green/gold, white/gold color set options
- Holly
- Wisemen star

Wimsical:
- Birthday presents: pink glitter, blue glitter
- Antique keys
- Ribbon bows: multiple color options

These are just a few of the immediate ideas and plans I have set up, since there are too many in my book to actually write out lol.

I WILL be doing christmas ornaments as well, although that will be more on a whim.

These are the holly napkin rings I am in the process of working on. I am trying to mold and fire 3 sets all at once (12 rings), that way I have enough to validate using spray paint for the base coats lol. It saves a lot of money if I have a large set to paint all at once, as I am learning. After the base coat is applied, the next step is painting the faces (applying glitter hehe) and sealing the rings with a paint sealer.

These are the first protoptypes lol, the left is right before firing and of course the others are one set after applying the base coat, and painting just the leaves. I didn't have a primary red though to create the right berry color! Can you believe it? Crazy me, didn't get primary colors!

This is the face of the maple leaves I started on. I first mold the face I want, fire this, and then use that image to create a stamp of the negative. That way I have a stamp of the original face to try to keep the proportion of the napkin rings relatively the same.

 Spray painting on my patio hehe! I think my neighbors think Im odd... I tried using this type of drop cloth (cheap) but the plastic is just horrible. My solution ended up being to cut out the front face and half of the top of a wide cardboard box, and use this as a stage for spray painting. I tried that this weekend with my Halloween set, and it worked wonderfully!!!

The maple leaf napkin rings! I only painted these a simple brown, but I am going to try painting an autumn leaf set with fall colors (a bit more ambitious lol).

Current Inventory Stock:

- Halloween: 3 sets
- Fall- 3 sets
- Maple leaves- 3 sets
- Pumpkins- 3 sets
- Autumn leaves- 3 sets
- Holly- 3 sets

Its been a really fun project to work on at home! I have watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy with commentary hahaha.