Happy Wholesaling

Planning is in full swing for preseason buying for the wholesale gift shows and markets. I’m lucky to be hooked up with a really great sales rep, Karen Sobolesky and Company. Karen and her team are creative, sincere, professional and rep a bunch of really cool lines. I’ve decided to build a wholesale line of my work and reprint the Alaska Animal Alphabet book, print a new line of children’s art prints, design and illustrate a new Alaska children’s activity book, offer new releases of my Art Quilt Patterns along with a couple more of my creations for the wholesale gift market. The souvenir gift market in Alaska is very strong and with proper profit margin planning, creating for selling wholesale is a lot of fun. With a good sales rep it’s also a lot less work for me than me trying to regularly sell retail or only have my work on consignment at Galleries. I still need to put together my wholesale order sheets for Karen and design some custom foil labels for the art prints and books but I’ve had my hands full getting all of the creative components designed and "sample ready" for her showroom. Several of my original designs I’ve decided to scrap. Sometimes right after I finish an illustration or design I really love the work but I've learned I need to have a “cooling off period” and try and look objectively at the work when considering if it will be a good seller for the retail market. Even then, nothing is a sure thing. I’m reviewing the budget and timeline with my printer in Hong Kong for the reprinting of the hard bound Alaska ABC book. The over sea printing costs make it much more cost effective for me to be able to wholesale a professional, hard bound book that will have a reasonable retail price of around $10 each. The activity book, the art prints and patterns are all printed here in Alaska –an important point to most souvenir shoppers. I’m a bit out of practice juggling all of the new deadlines for the various projects I have going on but would rather be working on the wholesale line than packing boxes for the move! 

A Birch Tree at Gus' X-Country meet today near the APU Mosley Sports Center.  The colors were so vibrant they made me happy but made my eyes water! 

NEW Art Quilt Pattern Available!

Happy Husky Howl! is my latest Art Quilt Pattern available. The finished size is 14" x 14". Contact me if you'd like to place a wholesale order or to find a Quilt Shop nearest you, see the link on my website under "Art Quilt Patterns."

Work Space

It appears we have sold our house. Our real estate agent, Jamie Harvey, did a fantastic job of marketing our house, even having it professionally photographed. There were back to back showings within the first 24 hours of being listed and the first people to look at it made us a full price offer. Of course, there are still lots of details and paper work to follow but we are thrilled! Our offer was accepted on the “new” house we are buying downtown (only about a mile away) and all parties involved in the transactions are looking forward to speedy closings. I’m thrilled to not have to keep our home as clean as it’s ever been on a 24/7 basis any longer. By getting the house ready to sell, it meant I had to have my entire work area and studio presentable with not one article of clothing left on the floor or dog hair evident. We bought extra paper towels, 409, new rugs and even a new and improved wet/dry Swiffer once the house was listed! I hauled over 2,000 pounds of scrap steel to the metal recyclers and parted with the majority of my steel stash. My studio and garage got a deep cleaning and purging. Unfortunately, with the need to keep the house in “show ready” condition I haven’t dared plasma cut or weld in the garage/shop area. All metal work production has had to be put on hold. I’m a little nervous to be changing up the way I work –just when I was feeling better about HOW and WHERE I work. It’s exciting but also making my tummy a little rumbly…

Giving and Sharing

DeDe and me at the Oklahoma Commons, Habitat For Humanity Project. Hopefully, in February or March he will move his family into a new home that they will have purchased after also have contributed to over 500 hours of labor on. Construction will continue throughout the winter months and volunteers are always needed (see my link below).

Dark skies and cool sprinkles greeted us Sunday morning at 6am as we started hauling our “inventory” out onto the driveway. We raised our favorite Jolly Roger pirate flag, hung the posters and balloons letting Garage Salers know they had arrived at “Garage Sale Nirvana!” I’d used social media streams to alert everyone that my “Artist’s Garage Sale” would be open for business by 8am sharp, rain or shine. By 10am the sun was shining and all of the steel sculptures and the best of the artist supplies had homes! WHEW! I STILL hauled a TRUCK LOAD of leftovers to the thrift store Monday morning but the dirty deed of the big cleanout and purge was done and we had a pocket full of cash for pizza and beer!

Yesterday, I was invited to help our friends at Fire Island Bakery work on a Habitat for Humanity project for one of their long-time employees, DeDe. The project is called the Oklahoma (the name of the street where the project is) Commons located in a picturesque site on the East side of town. As the Chugach mountains received their first dusting of snow, and the Birch trees were glowing, our Fire Island Bakery work crew helped log man-hours that would count toward DeDe’s 500 hours he would need to put towards his home before he would be able to purchase the home from Habitat for Humanity. Not only did I learn some valuable construction skills, I learned that Habitat for Humanity does not GIVE AWAY the homes to the poor and that Jimmy Carter did not start the organization. It was a wonderful day of not only sharing, but learning about our community and even more about the “Myths (and facts) about Habitat for Humanity.” If you'd like to volunteer in Anchorage here is the link.

Will’s girlfriend, Kimberly is off to Washington D.C. for the Susan Komen 3-Day for the Cure Walk this week! The Susan G. Komen
 3-Day for the Cure® is a 60-mile walk over the course of three days.
Net proceeds from the 3-Day for the Cure are invested in breast cancer 
research and community programs. She wanted me to make her some flags to hang on the outside of their pink dome tents that the participants sleep in. I used Alaska Flags featuring the Big Dipper and the North Star with yellow flags that can be signed by other participants during the event as a keepsake for Kim. You GO GIRL!

From Alaska with Love!

A Breath of Fresh Air

The big news is we decided to list and sell our house in town and are buying another house in a downtown neighborhood we’ve been wanting to live in for a few years. We are a bit overwhelmed with the to-do list and all that’s necessary to get the house ready and sold quickly. I started with cleaning out the studio and the garage is already FILLED with “treasures” that I decided to sell at a garage sale on Sunday. I have extra art supplies, materials from various mediums I’ve tried once, artists seconds and other cr@p that’s making me think I may be a closet art supply hoarder! What inspired me to have the garage sale is looking at some of the price tags on these things that were hardly used AND some of the artists seconds shouldn't just be tossed -I'm hoping to give them good homes on Sunday. I also have easily filled several bags that are going to the thrift store. I must be a really GREAT organizer because stuff is coming out of nowhere! 

The Science field trip yesterday with Gus’ class was to Potter’s Marsh, Portage Glacier and hiking the Byron Glacier Trail. They needed chaperones and I needed a day off that was filled with fresh air and the fall colors. We had picnic lunches and even stopped at an overlook and watched the salmon that were spawning in a creek. Normally, Portage Valley is socked in with thick cloud layers and it rains sideways but yesterday's mild weather allowed us to see the glaciers and the 8^th grade class stayed dry the whole hike! We stepped off of one bus and Gus stepped onto another and as I followed in my car, we were off to his X-Country running meet in North Birchwood. We had a FULL day of fresh air and exercise and mom was ready for a Kodiak Brown Ale and a couple of Advil when I got home! 

Watercolor Week

Friends came over for Bear Tooth pizza and growler beer on Saturday and rather than let the kids plug in the Wii or a movie after dinner I wanted them come into the studio to create some fish prints. The last time I used the “squishy fishies” was in January. I’ve been meaning to play with them this summer…where does time go?!  The fish molds are from Acorn Naturalists and a few are part of the Gyotaku kit. Here is a link to a Gyotaku or “fish printing” video. I had the kids make fish prints on paper and after getting the desired image we printed onto blank note cards. I decided to further embellish my note card prints with water colors. Our young friend P screened the fish head on the front of her cards and the tail on to the back! They looked really good when the kids used the pearlized acrylic paints.

It’s been a busy water color week in the studio. I’m still working on the children’s illustrations and am so happy with how they are turning out I may consider creating matted prints and note cards from the designs. I need to figure out the details of the production flow and scanning, printing etc. if I publish them for a wholesale market -details, details, costs, and more costs! Below is the latest illustration which is about 8” x 10” and called “Moose over the Moon.”  It was supposed to be “The Cow Jumps Over the Moon” (play on the word cow –as in a female cow moose) but after it was done I remembered that Cow Moose DO NOT have antlers! –DOH!

This Old Dog Still Hunts

The Art Masking Fluid had a funky, stinky smell that wafted through the studio when I unscrewed the top. What was worse, when I brushed the chunky fluid on my illustration board it YELLOWED the paper! Aaack! It’s been a while since I used the masking fluid on an illustration project and even longer since I’ve purchased any new illustration board. Things have changed. The price on my old, stinky bottle of fluid says $6.09 and the new bottle I picked up at the same art store this weekend cost me $13.89. My favorite illustration board, peelable LetraMax 2200 is no longer carried and I had to buy several other sheets to “experiment” on. I’m picky about my materials, process and tools to achieve a certain look when doing illustration work. I’m fussy because I’m out of practice –way out of practice. The stinky, fermented, yellowed masking fluid said it all! Setting frustrations aside, I’m happy to have been commissioned to create some happy and whimsical illustrations based on my Children’s Alphabet Book illustrations. The sales girl at Blaine’s Art Supply was super patient with me –even letting me thumb through and finger every type of paper and illustration board they had in stock. She quietly listened to me grumble about the way I like the paper to have enough “tooth” to grab the inks (I use 25 year old Windsor and Newton Watercolour Inks) yet float long enough to suspend my stokes until I have a chance to blend and complete them. The paper or board needed to be bright enough to reflect and promote the colors and not suck them into the board like a cheap sponge or pill with too many brush strokes. I know, a bit over the top –but guess what? Even though I was reluctant and skeptical to try some new paper the sales professional recommend, she picked out the PERFECT substitute for the old illustration board! Beautiful, Strathmore Bristol Water Colour Paper that is working swimmingly –similarly to the old 2200 board I’d gotten used to and even better. The new fluid is fun (and clean) and I’m working out all the kinks as I try and remember the general tips and tricks for water color rules of application to achieve a successful finished design. I’m going to blame my pickiness on my inner Virgo, but me needing to now use my reading glasses to do illustration work is just another reminder of how long it’s been since I’ve painted!

 How fun is this?! Ever wonder how those "Street View" Google Maps shots were captured? Look what has been cruising around downtown Anchorage! I saw a guy working on one of the car top mounted cameras and it looks like a giant lens covered lolly pop when it is vertical! I've been told that the Google Maps drivers/photographers won't talk to anybody but I took these pictures early this morning on our dog "walkies" as the cars were parked at the Inlet Towers.

Art That's Easy on the Eyes

From my graphic design days I have an extensive library of stock images that I’ve kept and used over the years. Many of the images are on CD and are fun to sort through and use them now in my fiber art or metal work. I recently used the Artville Pop Life CD which contains over 50 images designed by Paul Gilligan whose bold illustrations were “inspired by Roy Lichtenstein and the 60’s comic book artists who inspired him.” One of the creative things I miss from working in advertising is writing headlines. By adding creative copywriting to some of my art making I can get  still my advertising “fix” now and then! My latest small art quilt is called “Art That’s Easy on the Eyes” and is about 17” x 17” using iron-on transfers, button embellishments and free motion sewing. My first transfer that I made I forgot that I needed to “flop” any text on the digital file so it will read correctly once transferred –DOH! I ended up just cutting of the backwards text and will use the guy’s head on another project. In trying to find a link for Artville, which produced great stock images, has since been bought out by Getty Images.

My artist friends Laura Walter and Wendy Gingell created pieces for the Art With Books Show at the Z.J. Loussac Library. I’m taking Gus to the library tonight for the opening and to vote on our favorite pieces.  “Local artists create artwork in which a key component is books as part of the 25th anniversary celebration of Z.J. Loussac Public Library. If you are in Anchorage, come to the reception on level 3, enjoy lemonade and cookies, vote for your favorite piece for the People's Choice Award and check out the amazing pieces created specifically for this exhibit. Don't miss this event which includes some very special suprises! The exhibit will remain up until the end of September.”