Ways and Means

No one asked, but I feel this is a valid (and necessary) PSA. I'm an artist. I sell my work online and locally. I also create content around my work. I take pictures and videos, I write and edit all of these forms of content myself.

Connections

I've recently mentioned here and across other social media that I'm finally getting the ball rolling with both my dormant YouTube channel and Patreon feed.

 

I'm thrilled to be flexing some creative muscles that I wasn't sure I was ready to use. But in the process of creating new content in new ways, I'm realizing that it's not a far cry from what I've already been doing, and actually feeding my inspiration to create even more. It reminds me of a quote attributed to Pablo Picasso: "inspiration exists, but it has to find you working", meaning, you don't gain inspiration being idle, you start, and then the ideas start flowing. Crazy, right? 

Merry November

Let's face it. The holidays are in, like, five minutes, like it or not. I actually had my first orders for Christmas gifts this week. I hate to say it, but I have joined the ranks of those who dread the holidays, even though I love the family time. The yearly premature push into the gimmicks of the holidays, the rushing around, the endless to-do lists. So there's no explanation for how gleefully I gift wrapped the items for my customers, except my love of pretty packaging and giving smart, thoughtful gifts. Luckily, I've been preparing for packing holiday orders early, because I love to enclose some extra special touches.
 

For starters, I reordered a favorite piece I like to stick in with all my orders. Moo.com  offers these high quality, affordable mini cards that I make into little bookmarks for my customers.

These have been a fun, easy way to remind people where to find me. Next, I ordered some tiny jot pads inside matchbooks, for which I designed little stickers. These were super affordable, and will hopefully be fun and useful for my customers.

 

Then, I designed some new care labels to enclose/stick onto various items for which I felt

 

customers would benefit from instructions. Also from moo.com. 

 

 Finally, I snagged some gorgeous ribbon and tissue, at half off their regular price. I love combining texture and color to give a preview of what's inside, so I picked some things that I hope will excite their recipents. I feel like I could go all "Martha Stewart" on these orders now. Alright, holidays, bring it on. But please be gentle!