Working It Wednesday: Creating a series

As those of you who have been following my blog know, I've been pondering the idea of no longer painting my Nativity sets. I've gone back and forth about it and decided to do both. That's right, both!

I'm going to retire the current Nativity set at the end of this Christmas season. I will then reveal a newly designed Nativity set next year in October for the 2017 Christmas season. I've decided to start a series where every year I recreate the Nativity set with a new design. This will keep my best selling Nativity sets available while also keeping my design unique and fresh. I'm excited to see how it all turns out! Note to shoppers, if you want one of the current Nativity sets you need to go to my Etsy shop and order one now because it disappears forever on Christmas Day!
You can visit my shop here: Etsy Shop

I've read before that artists should try and create a series out of items that have been successful sellers. I've never done it but feel it's a good time for me to start focusing on that. I've got my Nativity set that sells wonderfully but I've also got a few canvases that sell consistently that I may try to turn into series as well. There is a canvas I sold back in April that I've missed like crazy ever since then. It's a bird silhouette with a perfect turquoise background. On Pinterest, it's my most repinned pin. Seriously, it's at like 9,600 pins! That means 9,600 people liked my painting! I'd like to do a series spinoff of that. I honestly think it's my best painting I've ever done. And I never even took a truly decent picture of it! I've done other bird paintings but nothing ever looked quite as good as that one.

And there's a colorful, whimsical tree painting that almost always sells every time I paint it so that's a thought too. You can check out the colorful tree here: Whimsical Tree

While craft fairs are on hiatus until early Spring, this might be a great project for me to work on. So stay tuned for insight into series I'll be creating!

Working It Wednesday: Holiday Season Prep

This week I've been getting a jump on something that I completely missed the boat on last year. Holiday items. More specifically, the Nativity Story Stone Set that I make every year.

Last year, amidst moving to a new state and taking on the largest commissioned project I've ever had, I missed out on several chances to sell Nativity Story Stones. I had several people request them via Etsy and Facebook that I unfortunately, I had to decline simply based on the time I had available. I hate turning down any chance to create something for someone. So this year, I've decided to get a head start and I've been pre-making several Nativity sets. I know it's early in the season for holiday items but I really regretted not having them on hand, already made last year. I'll be selling them at all my Fall Craft Fairs as well as through my Etsy shop.

The Nativity sets are a favorite of mine. And a best seller in my shop. Since I began making them, several other Etsy shops have started making them too but I'm of course partial to my own style and design. They're simple and childlike. Bright and colorful. Perfect for those little ones with curious, need to touch everything hands. Definetly more durable than the porcelain set my mother had when I was growing up! If you want one of these sets for your little one (or just for yourself!) you can find them in my shop here: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com  or if you're local to Memphis, pick one up at one of the following Craft Fairs:

Bartlett Hills Baptist Church Fall Craft Fair 10/14-10/15
Bartlett UMC Fall Craft Fair 11/4-11/5
St. Louis Catholic Church Annual Holiday Craft Fair 11/19

Or, if you want to score one for free, follow me on Instagram (@wishesandwonderment) and watch for a giveaway coming soon!

Working It Wednesday: Cooper Young Festival

What have I been working on this week? Prepping for the Cooper Young Festival of course! I am so incredibly excited to announce that I have been accepted to participate in the 2016 Cooper Young Festival in September!

For those of you unfamiliar with the event, it's a massive annual arts festival held in Memphis every year. And by massive I mean MASSIVE! Like 130,000 people attending the event, massive. There will be music, food, art and so much more. You can learn more about the event here: www.cooperyoungfestival.com

Now I realize that September is still a good ways off but if I plan on doing an event with traffic of 130,000 then I have to build up my inventory asap! The booth fee for Cooper Young is $225 which is more than double what I would usually pay for an event but this one is so consistently successful that I feel comfortable that I'll be able to make my booth fee back and still have a nice profit. But I'll need lots of inventory. Over the next several weeks it's likely anything I work on will be for my inventory stash. So this week I've been painting my mini-canvases (8x10) . I usually sell these between $10-$12 each at my events and do pretty well with them. Usually at events I'll have just one of each painting. For this event, I'm doing it a little different and having several variations of the same painting so that I can replenish as I sell. I'm starting by duplicating my best sellers,like my colorful trees for example, but I'll be adding new works too. Here is what I've done (so far!) this week:

Some of these can be found in my etsy shop here: 

www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

But others I'll only have available at Cooper Young.

My booth assignment is A75, which will be just past the intersection of Cooper and Nelson. If you're local, I would love for you to stop by and say hi! For now, back to work on my paintings...

Working It Wednesday: Watercolor Pencils

This week I played around with watercolor pencils for the first time. Until recently, I'd never even heard of them and had no idea such a thing existed. They're kinda cool in that you can use them dry just like regular colored pencils or you can wet them and they turn into watercolor paint. There are different ways to get the wet effect. You can dip the pencil tip directly into the water and then color on the paper or you can color dry on the paper and then brush water over the paper. I tried the second, using a paintbrush to spread water over the paper.

Here's a step by step of what I did:

I started by sketching out my picture. I used watercolor paper and dry watercolor pencils. The pencils genuinely feel like plain old regular colored pencils when you use them dry.

Once my feather was sketched out, I added a short quote.

Then came the fun part! I took a clean watercolor paintbrush and carefully brushed water over the paper. You have to be extra careful on this step because using too much water will smear all your colors together. Sometimes this could create a nice effect but in this particular case, I didn't want all my feather colors blending together so I tried to use my water sparingly. On the short quote part I used the water a little more liberally and you can see in the picture below how the color spread nicely across the paper. 

As a final touch I took an extra fine sharpie pen and went over the lettering and the stem of the feather to make the detail pop a little more. Here is how the finished project turned out:

All said, I liked how the lettering turned out with both the pencils and the sharpie. I think this would be a great technique for me to make some greeting cards with. I will need more practice playing around with the pencils and water on the multi-colored pictures. Not over watering the colors and blending them together definetly takes practice. In the meantime, I may take a few quotes and paint them/color them onto blank greeting cards and list them in my Etsy shop. You can watch for them to appear in the shop here: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

Working It Wednesday: Just For Me

This week I've been working on a little something just for me! Several years ago I took some sharpies and wrote all over a canvas some of the cool things I've gotten to experience in my life. It wasn't anything fancy but I've always liked looking at it, thinking back over fun times.

Since I created it, I've done so many more things since then (I've lived in 4 states since then!)  that I decided it was time for me to create a new one. And this time I wanted to make it prettier.

I started by painting a few bright watercolors on a blank canvas.

Once that was dry, I used a sharpie paint pen to put an Oscar Wilde quote in the middle. It's one of my favorites. I could've just used a regular sharpie marker for this but the paint pens have a glossy finish that will make the quote stand out a little more once it's surrounded by a bunch of writing.

Then, I grabbed a sharpie marker and got busy writing my life experiences across the canvas. This is where I messed up by assuming I didn't need to use a ruler. I always need a ruler yet always convince myself that I can freehand without it and still keep my lines straight. In truth I could've used a larger canvas as there were many things I wanted to add but couldn't because I was out of room. I may end up re-doing it on a larger canvas and with the help of a ruler, but for now, I'll just let it hang as it is on my art room wall. So, imperfect as it is with my uphill slanted handwriting, I still like it. For someone like myself who loves taking trips down memory lane, this is just perfect.

Working It Wednesday: Mother's Day Gift

This week I've been working on a little gift for my mom for Mother's Day. I'm actually giving it to her today so that's why I'm able to blog about it without ruining the surprise. Awhile back I'd seen a picture of an angel on a greeting card on Pinterest and immediately thought of my mom when I saw it, planning to paint it for her at some point. Well, with Mother's Day around the corner, I figured it was a good time to paint it. 

I began by painting the backdrop of the canvas. This is probably one of my favorite parts of canvas painting. I absolutely love how the paint colors blend together. I used dark brown, tan, emerald green and turquoise to create the background of the 12x12 canvas.

Once the background paint was dry I started working on the angel. The picture that inspired this had a beautiful pale blue on the dress of the angel but I prefer turquoise (and was also out of pale blue paint) so I started with that and then slowly blended in touches of the emerald green, brown and gold.

Once the angel itself was dry, I painted a clear gloss finish over the whole thing. This is something I just started doing in the past year. It gives the painted canvas a nice, completed feeling and helps the colors stand out better. I'm pleased with how her painting turned out and I'm sure she'll like it!

Then I wrapped it up, adding one of my polymer gift tags to the wrapping. I am NOT a present wrapper and am in fact, Queen of the gift bags but canvases always look nicer when wrapped in brown butcher's paper so when I give paintings (or sell them) I usually wrap them. Under normal circumstances though, if you get a gift from me it will either be in a gift bag or not wrapped at all. I'm incredibly terrible at it, ask anyone in my family.

Anyway, I've also been working in my Etsy shop this week, getting things replenished now that I've gotten a few craft fairs out of the way. I'll be adding a few new paintings this week so if you like my work, feel free to check them out here: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

Working It Wednesday: Last Weekend

So this week I'm busy doing more of the exact same thing I was doing last week-bulking up my inventory. Why? Well, last weekend's East Buntyn Artwalk was such a huge success (best show I've ever had) that I am way, way low on inventory and that's not good because this coming weekend is the V and E Artwalk.

My big seller this past weekend surprisingly was canvas paintings. I sold so many paintings that I've really got my work cut out for me this week in order to have enough to fill my booth again. This is the first time I've ever sold paintings so well before. Usually, it's always my rocks that sell best. They sold well too, but the paintings sold the best. It's the most awesome feeling to think that my artwork is actually hanging on someone's wall. And that they felt it was good enough to pay money for it. It's the best feeling, really. Some paintings were bittersweet to sell because I've become so personally attached to them but it was so exciting to see customers falling in love with them too.

My sister and niece were nice enough to come work the booth with me all day and I was so grateful. And the rest of my family stopped by the event as well to support me. I was happy to see them and it was fun getting to show them what I do.

My show this weekend will be my last for a little while. I don't have anything booked in May but I'm looking into a show held in early June. I'll keep you posted if I decide to sign up for that one. Hopefully this weekend's show will be as big a success as last weekend! 

As always, if you're local to Memphis, come visit me at the V and E Artwalk on Saturday from 11-6! 

You can read more about the V and E Artwalk here: http://www.vegreenline.org/ve-artwalk/

Working It Wednesday: East Buntyn Artwalk

So I didn't post last week as I was heading out of town for the Guns N Roses (soon good by the way) concert in Las Vegas. We got back Monday evening and I've been in "let's get ready" mode, preparing for this weekend's East Buntyn Artwalk. From gathering everything together, to pricing it, to to planning out my displays, it seems as if there is a never ending list of things to do.
I am worried that I don't have enough inventory and so I've been working like a madwoman trying to create extra pieces. More paintings. More gift tags. Wine glasses. More of everything.

Today, I'm working on individual story stones. They're one of my best sellers at shows and I sold so many at the Beeline Bazaar last month that I just felt the need to make more. I sell them for $1 a piece and kids usually love them while any parent is happy to let their kid have a dollar. It adds up fast! And I never sell them individually in my Etsy shop so it's the only place you can buy them this way. 

I don't have much blogging time today so that's it for now but if you're local to Memphis, don't forget to come visit me on Saturday at the East Buntyn Artwalk! You can get all the event info here:
Www.eastbuntynartwalk.com

Hope to see you there!!!

Working It Wednesday: Event Booth Prep

This week I've been working on my booth for my upcoming events. The event I have later this month is the Hutchison School Beeline Bazaar, which is an indoor event. I love indoor events! That means my booth doesn't need a tent and I don't have to worry about wind or weather situations. 

I haven't participated in any events since last April and that was an outdoor event so needless to say, my booth needed some re-vamping. I started by sketching out the vision in my mind of what my "indoor" booth should look like. Here's what I came up with:

How I hope the booth will look!

I still had all my old signs from events I'd done last year but they were the wrong colors so I repainted them and am so much happier with the new color scheme than my previous one. My previous colors were more primary colors and now they're more of a beachy pastel scheme. Yellow, Coral, Aqua and Light Grey. I also used my newfound skill of hand-lettering to redo my chalkboard sign. My writing still isn't where I 'd want it to be but it's much better and will do for now until I can sharpen my skills.

My pile of table fixtures and signage, all freshly painted!

Next, I needed a backdrop of sorts. I already had tables and shelves but have never had a backdrop because I've never wanted to shell out the money for one. Everything I found that would work in the past has been upwards of $100 or more. I hate spending a lot of money on display stuff and just won't do it. I'd rather put money into my products. Luckily for me, I scored a wonderful shutter folding screen on a yard sale site for only $40! It was old and dirty as the previous owner had used it outdoors but I figured it was nothing a little elbow grease and painting couldn't fix up. 

The shutter screen before my handy work.

Let's just say I had no idea how much work it would be to sand and paint shutters. All those teeny tiny wooden slats! It took 2 days of working on it to get it how I wanted it. Eventually though, I got it looking decent enough to make me happy. I was so happy to be finished with it that I actually forgot to take a picture of the finished product before I put it in my storage unit. I painted it a light grey and made sure it had a distressed and worn look to it. 

 Me, all smiles before getting started! I had no idea how much work was ahead of me!

I can't wait to see how everything comes together at my first event and I'll be sure to post lots and lots of pictures on here, Facebook and Instagram afterwards! If you're local to the Memphis area and want to come see the booth all finished and set up, please come visit the Beeline Bazaar on Saturday, March 19th! You can read more about the event here: https://www.hutchisonschool.org/beelinebazaar

Working It Wednesday: Record Bowls

So I haven't worked on anything at all lately because I was out of town for vacation. No worries though! I can still offer up a blog worthy post. Record bowls!

Last year I made a bunch of them and took pictures along the way intending to blog a tutorial about it but never actually did it. These are crazy easy to make and are a fun rainy day activity if you have kids. Super cheap with no mess.

You will need:
Old vinyl records (find them at Goodwill or yard sales)
Metal or Pyrex bowl (shape and size don't matter all that much)
Cookie sheet

To make:
-Preheat oven to 200.
-Place bowl upside down on the cookie sheet.

-Place record centered, on top of bowl.
-Place items in oven and watch through the window as the record begins to droop.

-Once record has drooped, pull cookie sheet out and pull record off. You may want to use pot holders when handling the record but I personally don't. It's too hard for me to follow the next step if I have oven mitts on. But for safety's sake, do what is best for you.
-Immediately mold and shape the bowl by pinching and bending the edges. The record will harden very quickly so you have to work fast.

-Let the bowl cool for about 10-15 minutes.

While these bowls are not food safe, they do make awesome decorative items. I've used them as a quirky catch all by the door for cellphones and keys and I've hung them like artwork on my wall. I've had a friend use one as a base for a cool gift basket. Every bowl will be different, no two alike. Whatever you use them for, it's sure to be a fun activity and create a conversation starter.

I'll be back in my normal groove of things next week and have a real post to share!

Working It Wednesday: Learning Hand Lettering

I am super excited about what I've been working on this week-Hand Lettering! All over everywhere I always see the prettiest script and I'm always jealous. See, my own handwriting is awful. I don't really print and I don't really write in cursive either. It's some hodge podge blend of the two and while my writing is legible, it's anything but pretty. Just ask my mom. She's a former teacher who grew up in strict Catholic schools so her handwriting is always, always picture perfect. As a child I can remember her buying handwriting workbooks and making me practice them during the summer. She tried but my messy, bubbly scrawl won the fight. And honestly, I never really cared all that much. Until I started seeing people do beautiful canvases and other art with hand lettered and artful script. Nope, then I was just jealous. I messed around with it a little on my own here and there, trying to see if I could figure it out but it was never what I would consider good work. 

And then I found, at random on Facebook, a local hand lettering workshop! Melody Tartera with Tartera Sign and Design was hosting the class and had just 2 spots left in the next class. I hesitated before signing up, not sure if I'd be good enough to learn how to do this in just one, 2 hour workshop. Finally, I decided to go for it, signing up for the class and handing over my $50 along with the hope that I'd get something worthwhile in the end. And boy did I ever! 

The class was great and I walked away with some great advice and instruction. During the workshop she taught us the basics of what we would need to know to get started and we worked on learning to write our letters. We were given pens and worksheets to take home and practice with. Much to my surprise, hand lettering isn't as difficult as I'd imagined it would be. It's certainly not easy but it is learnable and with practice (lots of practice) I am positive I will be able to do this well. 

All week I've been doing my worksheets and practicing writing my name and address. Usually until my hand cramps, insisting I stop for the day. I've burned through not one but two Sharpies and countless sheets of paper so far. Next week I plan to start trying to letter on canvases and eventually I want to get some of my favorite scriptures and quotes written out and posted for sale in my Etsy shop. I'll keep you guys posted on my progress but I expect you'll be seeing beautiful, handwritten words in the very near future!

Practice will make perfect, eventually!

My pile of practice worksheets!

Working It Wednesday: Garden Markers

This week my new project has been making Garden Markers! Now, I am not, have never been and likely will never be a gardener. Nope. This girl has black thumbs. I can't keep a plant alive to save my life. But, other people like to garden and two of those people actually sent me pictures of garden markers over the past week and suggested I make some. I've even had a couple people tag me on pictures of garden markers on Pinterest too. So, I figure, why not? Let's make some!

Normally the stones I use are relatively small in size since I use them for story stones but lucky for me, I had a few larger stones in my stockpile. If I end up keeping these in regular stock in my Etsy shop, I'll have to find a local place where I can buy larger stones. The first thing I had to do was paint them solid, bright colors. This step ended up being slightly annoying to me because I'm so used to painting story stones which typically only have one side needing to be painted whereas these stones needed paint on both sides. That meant I had to be patient and wait for the first side to dry before I could flip it over and paint the back side. But patience is a virtue, right? So I waited for paint to dry, flipped them to paint the back and then did it all over again when I decided they needed multiple coats of paint to make the colors more vibrant. 

Once all that was finally finished, I got to start working on the fun part-The details and decorating! With these being my first pass at garden markers I kept them fairly simple in design. If they end up being a popular item I may make them more elaborate. We will see how it goes. Once I had them all decked out, I applied a clear sealant to protect against fading from the sun. Overall these were easy enough to make (if you take out my annoyance at waiting for paint to dry) and I could easily make more. 

Just starting the decorative part of the project!

Want to see the finished product? They'll be up in my Etsy shop later this week and you can check them out here: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

Working It Wednesday: New Themes for Story Stones

This week I'm working on some new themes for story stones. When I first began making them and selling them on Etsy there were very few others doing the same. Now, there are pages and pages of story stones for sale on Etsy. That's okay though. Different styles speak to different people so I welcome the company. That said, I always try to keep things fresh and new in my shop. I never get rid of my top sellers like the Nativity Sets or the Pirate Sets but I feel like it's a good thing to offer something that others aren't yet offering. Setting yourself apart is a huge help on Etsy when it comes to getting noticed amongst the masses.

This week, I've been working on a few new themes but my favorite of those is Weddings. When you're a little girl, you daydream about your wedding and if you're lucky, you get a chance to be a flower girl. I was a flower girl in my Aunt's wedding and felt like such a princess. Years later, at my own wedding, I had not one but rather 3 flower girls.

The youngest of my 3 flower girls, only 2 years old.

I was given a jewelry box as my flower girl gift and did the same for my own flower girls. But what if there was something more fun that a bride could give her little flower girl? What if there was something that she could play with? Enter my new set of story stones! This new set would be the perfect flower girl gift for all the upcoming June Brides and with advance notice they can be customized to match the look of the Bride's wedding and the Bridal party.

Wedding Story Stones in the making.

I haven't finished painting them so they aren't in my Etsy shop just yet, but soon they will be and you can check out the finished product or buy them here: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

Working It Wednesday: Polymer Gift Tags

As I continue to try my hand at different crafts and projects, I thought it would be fun to start a recurring post that features what I'm working on. It'll post on Wednesdays and will give accounts of my current projects, be it a new craft or just my work refining an old one. So you may end up seeing some fabulous work or some fabulous Pinterest Fails, you never really know. And it will be your first sneak peek at potential new items for my shop!

This week I played around with rubber stamps and polymer clay. Until this year, I'd never used polymer clay but it's actually very fun to work with and as an added bonus, it is inexpensive. Only about $.99 for a small block of it at WalMart. It's a little reminiscent of play-dough but with a grown up feel to it. Earlier this year, I'd saved a pin on Pinterest of small, polymer clay gift tags. Such a simple project with such pretty end results. Side note: Don't you just love Pinterest? I mean seriously, what did we do before it existed? If you're on Pinterest and don't already follow me, hop on over and check out my pins! (Link in sidebar above Bio)

I used the handful of rubber stamps I had on hand to create tags for a variety of occasions. To make these, I rolled the clay flat and then firmly pressed the stamper into it. I trimmed off the excess outer edges with a toothpick and then very carefully peeled the clay away from the stamp. From there, I placed them on a baking sheet and used my toothpick again to create small holes in each tag. Popped them in the oven for a few minutes, let them cool and then broke out my paintbrushes! Once the paint dried, I sealed them with an acrylic varnish. Then, I threaded hemp cord through the holes and wha-la!

Stamping and cutting the polymer clay.

         

The Painting Process.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. They look like they're ceramic but are lightweight and not fragile at all. I'm considering making some to use in my own packaging for customer orders. Personally, I've never been much of a present wrapper (I'm incredibly terrible at it) but my mother can wrap a present like nobody's business and I can absolutely see her using something like this on her gifts. And I'm sure other people would use them too. It just gives it that little something extra, you know?

The finished gift tags!

If you like these but aren't into doing DIY and crafty things, you can buy these in my Etsy shop.
www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

One of my favorite things...

One of my absolute favorite things is painting on canvas. I still remember the very first time I ever got to do it. I have no idea what it is but there is something about the feeling of the brush gliding the paint over the canvas that just relaxes me. If canvases were cheaper, or free even, I could see myself painting one every day. No thinking, no planning. Just painting. It completely clears my mind and always leaves me happy. 

A few weeks ago, someone was moving out of my apartment building and they left several boxes of "free" stuff next to the trash chute. I actually racked up on free stuff, including 2 lamps, but I also scored a blank canvas. A blank canvas! Who throws those away? Not me, but I am thankful that they did! 

So today I sat down and started painting. In my favorite sort of way. No thinking, no planning, just painting. 

This is where I'm at so far and while I have no idea what the final piece will look like, I am enjoying the journey.