the sloth bear

This sloth bear made his way onto some watercolour paper I had prepared earlier in a green shade. Just when I thought I needed to get to sleep he wouldn't let me go...

...and the two designs above have been prepared for greeting cards 

to be listed on Etsy very soon.

(let's hope the first experimental batch ordered is exceptional!)

Fishes Foxes & Abstract

Abstract English Town Pink 01

English Houses & Fox

I've finished up a few little paintings in rare moments of clarity the past few days after struggling with a rather nasty bug that still has a bit of a grip on me. The two above are available for sale in the shop, but the fishies below... well I'm just not ready to list it yet!

one mouse / two birds

This painting 

I've been thinking about for 

a while 

has been listed on etsy. In the end, it didn't want to be filled with any more colour, but it did want a lick of varnish and to be inhabited by some three tiny creatures. Late this afternoon a little mouse and two lovely birds decided to move in. 

goals of the day

My 3 main goals today were:

• wake up early to get a head start on creativity - I think 6:30ish is early enough on my day off from the day job, don't you?

• start, finish and list a new painting - seemed like a tall order, but I did it! Part of my self-imposed rule was that I couldn't just list anything to achieve my goal. I had to actually like the result. Mission accomplished! English Housescape #2 below. Phew!

• read - somewhere between my first couple of rounds on the painting and taking a shower (I think it must have been about 1), I grabbed my Haruki Murakami (now on page 530 of 1Q84 Book One & Two), cozied up under the covers in bed and read until I felt like dozing off, which I happily did! The only thing about having a cat-nap after reading Murakami is that I'm almost guaranteed to have a freaky dream.  

**felt something** - this was a fall-back goal that was only required if I was feeling like I wasn't going to have any chance of completing the painting goal. As it turns out, that wasn't an issue! The good thing about this fall-back was I was up for felting a bit throughout the day so it felt like I was choosing between two really desirable activities.  

•  Note to self: give myself a get-out plan with another creative activity in case motivation is lacking in one or unexpected technical hurdles arrive.

Random discovery of the day - If you put a price in your pin description on Pinterest it automatically creates a little corner sash on the pin with the price displayed! So I guess they are all for promoting 'sale' items. I found out by accident because I was mentioning the exorbitant price of this lovely Crystal Bud Chandelier which is indeed gorgeous, but at a daunting cost of $2000! I'll have to sell a lot of paintings to achieve that goal!

the perfect tool...

... for removing the top sheet from my watercolour block! My expired Howlett's Animal Park annual membership card that I just haven't been able to bring myself to throw away. I mean, what's wrong with having that lovely tiger face in your wallet even if its only purpose is sheer cuteness! Now its new home will be by my paint supplies. 

Sooo... I DID IT! One of my house-scapes has made it to my Etsy shop at last! Again, I had the usual perfectionist trappings, and there are definitely some trial and error aspects to this first one for sale, but I still was really happy with the result and happy to list it. It turns out it wasn't too much longer ago than a year that I first shared this style in THIS POST from 3rd December, 2010.

The biggest hurdle was working out the best way to remove the top sheet (problem now officially solved thanks to Mr. Tiger), and then figuring out how to take some interesting photos of it. I plan on having a few little set-ups where I could show the painting "in situ", but the light and my eagerness to just get on with it disturbed that plan somewhat. There's time for that. For now, I think I just have to keep doing what flows easily and try not to put too much pressure on myself. I actually am reasonably pleased with my paper clamp/yarn compromise. This is the finished product by the way:

In other news: I woke up to find that one of my photo prints had sold! It's one I like too, and I wonder if someone didn't find it through the bunny up a tree, because the colours are remarkably similar, don't you think?

I've sold two prints this month and it's only since I have NOT been concentrating on them! Funny ol' thing, that.

Neeep!!

I've managed to put my first original art listing on etsy!  

 

The photos aren't all that (kind of ridiculous considering I'm a photog-er, but never mind). I think I might actually be shaking a little. Kind of a big step, but seemed like the next logical one. That, and I REALLY enjoyed doing the painting yesterday and look forward to doing more. It felt right, so that's that. Hopefully everyone else will love what I produce, not mock me for switching things about in my shop (and there will be more added to the pot I'm sure as I'm thinking about listing some spare merino wool roving I have, and I might even do a bit more felting). I think the name of the game is this: if it stops me, it's no good. If I judge myself too harshly and overthink every creative step: it's no good. So if I feel like doing ten different things any given week and it looks like I have a confused shop, so be it. I figure that's better than NOT doing anything because I'm worrying about my shop's look or coherency, or whether each little thing will 'come out right'. Things can certainly be adjusted later... and for the mere 20 cent fee, why not?

SNEAK PREVIEW: New @ The Wheelie!!

First of all, my apologies for my absence for over a week! The last week has been crazy with preparing for the fair and getting a nasty cold in the middle of it all. The fair went pretty well all things considered. I sold some cards and a few prints, and when I came to the realization that it was primarily fashion focused, I was really pleased with that! Want to keep my eye out for up and coming events and try to get involved as much as possible, so if you hear of anything you think I might be interested in, do let me know!

I will be putting some canvases and the new retro prints up on Etsy, and possiblly Zibbet too! I just discovered Zibbet and it definitely seemed worth trying so I opened up a basic account to see what it's like. It seems to be getting talked about a lot more and to be gaining momentum as an additional crafty marketplace. With the day job and the cold, I haven't listed much yet, BUT I have gone headlong in to needle felting again in between everything else and will be listing a few little creatures on TheWheelie  (the softer side of BlackbirdExperience) in the next few days! 

FOR NOW: HERE'S A SNEAK PREVIEW! 

They have to have a little fuzz trim before they can

properly be seen in public :)

Squeee-bear

 

Billy Bub

I better get them listed quickly before I get too attached!

All new! Etsy banner & greeting cards!

Phew! Taking a breather from preparing for the craft fair on Sunday and I thought I'd share a bit of what I've been doing. Didn't remember that I never replaced my Etsy shop banner when I removed the old one! So here's what I came up with. Think it packs a punch (of sorts). I might like to switch it up occasionally depending on mood or season or holiday, but not sure if that's a no-go in the Etsy world. Perhaps the banner is meant to be more stable as a 'brand'? Haven't investigated the issue much.

and ... CARDS!!

 

Was going strong mounting a lot of 5X5's onto lovely white card blanks and then *gasp* I ran out of blanks!! Or maybe the gasp was from the fumes I was inhaling from the photo mount. Can't be too sure. I thought I had more supplies, or maybe I thought I wouldn't be able to make them as quickly as I did, or maybe... I don't know, but now I've run out and I have lots more photos to use! Put in a quick order for more, but not sure if they'll arrive in time for me to construct them and take them to the fair, despite my  shameless begging for immediate shipment.

All in all I ended up with about 46, so that's not too shabby. I'm very happy with how they came out too. The photos are a really good archival quality glossy, so there's no reason why they shouldn't have, but I'm never really confident until I have the finished product in front of me. Keep an eye on the shop, once I catch my breath I'll starting to list them for sale there. 

Off I go! Lots more to do...

Retro Prints and Etsy sale!

Before I go on about ANYTHING else. The biggest news I have to share is that I sold my first item on Etsy this morning!! Last night, quite late, I saw a mention of an etsy team called Craft Britannia and a treasury they were doing which was "BNR". Having absolutely NO IDEA what this was, I did a bit of digging. Turns out it's an absolutely fabulous concept! It's tricky to explain, and I've just deleted lots of words trying to do so because I think you'd be more confused! If you're interested have a dig on etsy and google... that's how I figured it out. Did I mention A SALE?? :)

It's been a very busy weekend and will continue to be so! A week from today I'll be joining in with a couple of friends at the First Folkestone Retrofair trying to sell a few items and hopefully connecting with some fun and like-minded people. Spent a large chunk of yesterday trying to get some more photos together to send off to the printer for the event. Obviously going for a retro or fairground type theme.

Here are some things I've come up with. Would love to hear any feedback anyone has! Prints of most or all of these will be listed in my etsy shop too!

Holiday madness begins!

My little vacation to the States is over, and despite the fact that I'm getting Christmas-related Etsy things together a little later than I had hoped, I have just sent off my first trial run to my printer for possible Christmas cards designs! One design I'm pegging some hope on is below which will be customizable, so whether you want to say HO HO HO, HUMBUG or Merry Christmas Broom Hilda, I can make it for you! If you happen to be reading this and want to get in on the action early, drop me a note and I can get started on yours right away! I don't foresee any major problems with printing these, but if something crops up, I'll post it here.

By the way, this is from one of the photos I took of the lovely wool I was selling for Christmas last year!

Poppy #1 listed!

I've FINALLY put a new print up on Etsy. I think, after a bit of trial and error, (and then a bit more, and then a tad more and, well, you get the point), this is actually quite a difficult photo to print. Anyway, the final product has come out a bit different than my original over-saturated digital representation so I've pictured it here again. Still trying to focus on the fun part to come once all of these beginner's speed bumps lessen! *Insert big sigh here*.

Support Etsy UK #4 Treasury

Had fun looking for fab colourful items from UK sellers.
Wasn't easy to keep it to 16 this time!

Technical Difficulties

Okay, well in a very loose sense the difficulties I've been having are technical. The lack of calibration is certainly technical and I really don't want to list new items until I get this printing stuff sorted. I've set Friday to finally get that going, and hopefully it will only take me one go. Don't want to lose total momentum, of course. A bit of illness and completely unrelated time complications have set me off track a bit, but I'm so eager to get a good range of photos on Etsy!

Meanwhile, I posted the photo below on Flickr. The old Rio in Dalston. Made me reminisce about the old hood and the countless times I'd walked by that spot, head up and wits about me, smell of char-grilled Turkish food in the air, the off-licence opposite the entrance with it's enticing fruit stand and cheap goodies, the animal print seating in the old sticky floored screening room and the many many times I told myself "I should go see that" and didn't.

Rio | Dalston

Support Etsy UK #3 Treasury

Check out my latest finds from UK Etsy shops based in the UK!

Calibration!

I'm taking a step back from listing new items in my shop until I calibrate my computer monitor. (Read: ICKY TECHNICALITIES!!) The prints I've gotten have been pretty good (the ones I've listed have been anyhow), but there are slight differences in the colours that I see when I'm post-processing and what come back to me, some of which I'm not too happy with. So, I want to hold off listing more items until I know for absolutely certain the final product on my screen is the one I will hold in my hand! The colours on my monitor will almost inevitably vary from those of my potential customers, so I think it's VITALLY important that I'm consistently knowledgeable about the colours represented in my prints. Once I get this sorted, I'm hoping to get new items listed fast and furious!

Etsy Treasury curators are loving the SUCCULENTS which is so fantastic. Today I've been included in a Kent-based treasury which I'm so pleased about because it connects me to those that are just on my doorstep from the Etsy community! Thanks to kidacollective for finding me, supporting my shop and making me aware of other shops based in the Garden of England!

Support Etsy UK #2 Treasury

Okay, even though it took me AGES to do my first Etsy UK treasury yesterday, I wanted to do another because I think it's a perfect way to start meeting other UK sellers, support them and foster the growth of all of our shops! I thought I might do this once a week, but I suppose I'll just do them whenever I feel like it! There's lots of good stuff out there.

Have a look at Support Etsy UK #2 below and click away!

Incidentally, I'm pretty excited that I managed to do a screen capture AND linked the site to the photo! ... so here's yesterday's Support Etsy UK #1 also:

New Listing! Greenwich Angels

Listed Greenwich Angels at my shop today. Have a look!

Fumbling through trials and tribulations of printing and I think I'm overdosing. I'm so eager to get to a decent level of saleable stock! Thing is, until people start buying it's a lot of guesswork as to what's saleable. Hopefully soon...

Support Etsy UK #1 Treasury

I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and make my own etsy Treasury to support UK sellers. Please visit THIS LINK to have a look, click and leave comments!

HOLY TREASURY!

I've just discovered that there is a search option in Etsy Treasuries where you can see how many Treasuries are featuring your items. You simply enter your shop name in the search box. I found the result to be beyond my expectations! At the moment I'm in 10 treasuries! See here. :D

Hooray for days off!!

I have five days of from my day job starting today, and although I have some prior engagements (fun ones at least!), it will certainly give me some time to shape up some more photos to list on Etsy. Going to list the full size OH BABY now, but I'm planning on getting some of the photos which rated well with my Facebook Photo Feedback Project listed before long. I'm hoping that more people will start following this blog and my BBE Facebook page so I can meet some of these lovely people hovering around the shop, get some feedback, and become a more active part of the amazing crafty network out there!

Yesterday SUCCULENTS was listed on the Etsy Treasury Flower Garden by Silver Bloom Jewellery. Thank you Leanne!

In an unrelated note, my Invisible Man (also know as they other half) has suggested I start listing things that catch my eye and get me excited for one creative reason or another. I am quite the fan of the printed page and am a buyer by day, so a lot of these things might be books that have made me light up for one reason or another. However, I plan on spending a lot of free time now browsing (and fingers crossed once I get a bit of extra money coming my way) buying on Etsy so will feature anything that catches my eye from there as well!

I've bought three pairs of lovely earrings from
LuzDesigns on Etsy including the cute danglies shown here: I'm anxiously awaiting their arrival! Have a look at her shop. She has all sorts of cute designs and loads in stock to choose from.