So its done then..

 You know, that book.  The book I've been whining about and working on and stressing about for far longer than I thought I would.  It is finally for sale in my etsy shop.  

I am also crazily having a coupon for 50% off for its introduction.  But the coupon isn't going to last long..  So, if you want it at the ridiculously low price of $6 (plus shipping, unless you are local..) then you should hop on it, because I doubt I'll ever go that low again.

Coupon code is FRIEND2012.

Hemisphere Wars

My creative beastie is sick and tired of table scraps and wants something substantial to masticate, and is fed up with all of my measly little sewing projects of late. So, my left brain has had to toughen up and put the smack down on its cranial counterpart. My right brain protests vehemently that it is being unfairly stifled, and that structure is so boring! (in that awful high pitched whiny voice that kids are so proficient at). And my poor corpus callosum is stuck in between as the bedraggled referee.
The fact remains however that unless I schedule and organize my sorry tush, I don't get nearly enough (or any, lately) illustration done. So with my dominant hemisphere kicking and screaming, I dutifully cleaned my cluttered house, paid the depressing bills and cracked open my dusty planner and set me some schedule to illustrate more. Nice stiflingly specific goals with deadlines and all. (ok, ok, loose deadlines... right brain put up quite the fight and threatened to strike if things got too stringent)
Soo-o, I'm going to finish (yes, really) the Ted the Hamster book my sister Meg so cleverly wrote and gave to me to illustrate all those eons ago. Its been disgustingly close to completion for way too long. The plan is to print it out myself and hand bind it. It will have both hardback and paperback versions. And I'll be selling them through my decrepit etsy shop. And if my kids have any say in it, a Ted the Hamster plushie may show up there in the future (they really want one, I'm not horribly keen on it, so we'll see). Meanwhile I'll also keep plodding along with my "Cora's Perfect Pet" dummy book in preparation for its sacrificial offering to a endless ocean of potential publishers and multiple rejection letters. Hopefully little and consistent bits at a time will keep both beasties at bay.

all the stuff I've been doing BESIDES blogging

yeah, I know I've been rotten at blogging lately. Really rotten. I did explicitly state it would be sporadic, so no apologies for you, too bad. Oh, well. I do think about and even take pictures for it, but to no avail. And then the longer I wait, the more daunting catching up on all the pictures and topics I've thought of the more heinous of a task it is. Its a vicious circle. So, I'll attempt now to break the cycle of blog neglect and perhaps a call to blog welfare services will not be warranted.

What I HAVE been up to:

1- Realized I was quite deficient in the earring department, so I went on an earring kick, and made a bunch of really cute earrings (and NO, I don't want to and shouldn't make more and sell them in my etsy shop, which is currently very much on the hate spectrum of our love/hate relationship, and even if it weren't, earrings are so not my focus). But it was fun, and much needed.


2- Went on a sewing kick, and made a crapload of baby diaper holders, baby headbands (and even documented both projects to possibly make into a tutorial, if you are interested, and ask me very sweetly I may even get around to posting it/them here someday) as well as diaper bags, and very recently Halloween costumes (despite my resolve not to go crazy this year). ...and I'll post costume pictures later.



3- I've been trying to be a grown up about keeping my house consistently cleaner, instead of just giving up on it in between cleanings. I've also started making my kids to chores now (I'm a mean, mean mommy!) so they are partly responsible and when its messy 30 seconds after vacuuming, its THEIR job to clean it up. As well as cleaning, I'm trying to be more organized too. In that vein I re-arranged my living room to accommodate part of my studio up stairs where I can work much, much easier (and not bogart the kitchen table). Which leads me to my last point...


4- I've been trying to really focus on illustrating my book. And realizing it is a massively overwhelming and daunting task. I still want to do it, but it scares the snot out of me and frequently makes me feel completely inadequate to the task. (then I wonder why didn't I go for my BFA and specialize in illustration, instead of just a general BA in visual art? oh, wait, a year or more of classes, plus another application to get into that program, a BFA show AND I couldn't decide at the time to focus on illustration or drawing/painting... right, NOW I remember. I wanted to GRADUATE) However I still can't decide between using ink and watercolor, or switching to prismacolored pencils. Both have plenty of advantages, and disadvantages. But I've resolved not to do another finished spread until I decide once and for all what medium I'll use. When I've done more little practice pictures in both, I'll do another blog entry, because I desperately need feedback. I wonder constantly if I'm totally crazy for trying to do this.

opinions needed: baby shower invites

I'm messing around with different cards for my etsy shop one of which is a baby shower invite. I have four different colors I'm going to use, but I don't know which layout I like best. (the watermark is just there for copyright, its not part of the design) Which one should I do?

Very small image with all the information on the front.......Small with info on the back (in matching colors)......medium.....or large image?I'm going to use a different font, but don't know which one yet. They'll get to choose between all four colors when they order. I just need to pick which one works the best. Any ideas?

Help.. please!

Every time I get really annoyed with the uselessness of maintaining an etsy shop, someone randomly buys something. Okay its not an exact formula, but it happens. Its not about making money for me at all, if I wanted to seriously make money with my art degree, it certainly wouldn't (and won't) be on Etsy. I'd go get a graphic design job, or better yet do enough paintings to do a show in a gallery, or illustrate a bunch of kids books. Those things may come eventually, but I can do an Etsy shop now. Its about still getting my art “out there” at all while I am mainly concentrating on being the mother to my kids. I can do it with theoretically minimal effort, and still be at home.

But, I am in serious need of some opinions here. I don't know what to price my stuff in my Etsy shop. If you look on the forums in Etsy, you will get all sorts of stuff about 'not selling yourself short' and spreadsheets on how to exactly price with charging as a professional for your time and materials and all, and thats your wholesale price, then you double THAT for retail. Most of the time its a plea for others to up their “too low” prices because then they can't sell their over priced ones. But guess what! Etsy is in a capitalist market, its all about supply and demand and undercutting is a way of life. I may have been forced to take econ101 to graduate, but I didn't completely zone out the whole time. There are an insane amount of sellers on Etsy, and it sure seems there is far more supply than demand. The supply tends to get buried pretty quick too.

So my economics class would tell me to lower my prices to be competitive, and the Etsy forums would tell me that by doing so I am undercutting 'serious-this-IS-my-day-job' etsians, and selling my work short. Then there is also an actual risk of cheaper prices making it look like they are lesser quality. Also I am totally cheap. ...and I wouldn't buy my prints at their current price (well, impulsively at least) I'd have to REALLY like it. Conflicting theories aside, I still have no clue what actually works. Obviously, I could use some feedback here. This is NOT a plea to go buy my stuff. (if you do happen to want a print, PLEASE let me know first and I will drop the price in HALF at least, if I don't find an excuse to GIVE it to you first)

So, should I lower my prices? ..and if so, by how much? Pelter me with your opinions. Feel free to critique whatever you want.