Double Birthday...

Happy late birthday to my sister Faith, and her husband Bruno!  We filled Saturday night with beers, a projected soccer game, grilled steaks, and a rainbow cake!

Unfortunately, in the excitement, only a couple of our photos really came out... But check out those rainbow stripes!

edit: oops!  I meant to include the recipe I used.  A quick search resulted in many recipes, some more free-form, but the most gorgeous one and our inspiration is from Whisk Kid.  We accidentally had to skimp on the frosting, but she knocks hers outta the park...

Sept Goals + August Goals Recap

I did really well on my August goals-- see below.  I think reading and then posting that bit about " 'quick implementation' being the key to success" was a bit of dare for me.  Like, I dare you to finish this list.  And it worked.  So I double-dog-dare me this month:

1.  Make a list of all the reasons marketing is fun. Because sometimes it is fun!  And it seems to very, very easy for me to forget that.

2. Finish drawing Fall Mailer and send it off to get printed.

3.  Get a wholesale account for Magnetic Kids.

4.  Make a list of blogs, and then contact 3 each week for both Magnetic Kids, and Other Such Things shop.  Ask if you can do a give-away for Other Such Things.

5. Be brave and buy an expensive printer.  It will be worth it.

6.  Use said printer and put some prints in Other Such Things!

7.  Make a letter mobile.  Or two. List in Other Such Things shop.

8.  Research holiday guides.  Ideas anyone?

9.  Go. to. the. beach. Contrary to popular belief, September at the beach is lovely.

10.  Get a dog.  yup, I dare me.  (The gorgeous pup modeling in the above photo is Miss Dottie, who lives in New York with her lovely parents and kitty sisters.  We miss them all the time.)

10 For real.  (c'mon we're not gonna get a dog just cause its on my September Goals list.  We are waiting patiently for the right one to find us.  So patiently.) Think about updating portfolio site: new homepage?  add pencil drawings? new spot for them?  Add "as seen in" section?

•••••••

Here's how I did on my August Goals:

1.  Send out new Mailers at the end of the month.

Happening tonight! In front of guilty pleasure tv brought to me by hulu!

2.  Start sketches for a fall mailer.

yup.  Though emphasis on "start"

3.  Contact 3 more agents about possibly representing me.

Just contacted one as I've been reading it's rude to contact more than one at the same time...

4.  Go to the beach. Its August and I haven’t been yet.  Not even once.  And now I live in the “Ocean State.”

I cannot believe this didn't happen.  Seriously.  Pathetic.  The hurricane really put a damper on my plans.  Well, I'm going to Martha's Vineyard in a few weeks...

5.  Add a newsletter sign up page to my site and blog.

6. Contact Thumbtack Press to see if they’re interested in carrying any of my work as prints.

7.  Send out a newsletter announcing opening of my online shop.

Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here!  And get a little goodie!

8. Make a list of possible wholesale stores for Magnetic Kids. (what’s Magnetic Kids? My new{ish} project in the works!)

9. Finish Magnetic Kids wholesale line sheet.

10. Contact two blogs about my online shop.

Magnetic Kids!

{Re}Introducing Magnetic Kids!  We're back!

Magnetic Kids are magnetic "paper dolls" drawn and designed by me.  This project has been on the back burner for several years due to other commitments and priorities.  But I've just relaunched and I'm really excited about it. So here's a bit more about Magnetic Kids and a small goodie for my readers, as well!

Currently there are five different sets, each of which include a Kid + 3 Outfits + 1 Pet.   If you absolutely must get a kid with a different outfit or pet, let me know and we'll talk.

It's important to me personally to do as much as I can to produce environmentally, ethically and economically responsible products.  So I've kept the production close to home and I use recycled materials when possible. The magnets themselves were manufactured outside of Boston, Massachusetts.  After you order one they are  individually packaged by me, a hop and a skip over in Providence, RI.  They come wrapped up in a cute biodegradable and compost-able box made out of sugar fiber  from a company in Pennsylvania.

The hangtags are made by the wonderful MOO, Inc. also located in Rhode Island.  Soon the cello packets I use for wrapping will be recycled as well.  I find the packaging seems to be a work in progress to find the balance between being earth friendly, while pleasing to the eye, but easy for me to work with, and of course easy on the wallet.  I'm doing my best.

Through Magnetic Kids, I donate a portion of the proceeds to charitable organizations that benefit children. Currently, I find projects to fund through the wonderful DonorsChoose.org, which works with public school teachers to “provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack.”  I've been picking projects having to do with art for the younger elementary and preschool age set.

Right now Magnetic Kids is donating money to a New York City kindergarten class for new art supplies.  They want to work on some self portraits and I'm really looking forward to helping them do just that.  You can read more about it here.

And now for the goodie:  To mark this happy occasion you can get free shipping until September 15th if you mention ...and Other Such Things blog in your checkout form.  Spread the word!  Whoo hoo!

Moleskine Exchange 2

Some images from the Moleskine Exchange, week 2:

I've been musing about doing a portrait series of houses in my neighborhood.   The area is called The Armory because its adjacent to what used to be a huge armory built in the early 1900s, complete with ten acres of "marching grounds"-- now a park.

The houses surrounding it are mostly incredible "3 family" victorians.

Anyhow I started playing around with that idea here...  ( Above you can see a bit of Nicole's star on the left side...I should have taken pictures of the other images in the book.  Darn.)

Though I should note these houses aren't in my neighborhood, just random ones.

"To be a country or a city mouse..."

Ah yes.  My eternal dilemma.

Mid-Month Goal Check In

Jena from Modish Biz Tips has kindly posted a reminder that it is indeed half-way through August.  Here's what's up with my goals:

1.  Send out new Mailers at the end of the month. 

I have the cards, but I need to   

    •buy more stamps,

    •print out labels

   •spend an hour watching something fun and slapping it all together.

2.  Start sketches for a fall mailer. 

Um, nope. I have some ideas, but nothing on paper yet.

3.  Contact 3 more agents about possibly representing me.  

I have a couple in mind and have the materials to send.  Just gotta schedule it in.

4.  Go to the beach. Its August and I haven’t been yet.  Not even once.  And now I live in the “Ocean State.”

Sort of.  We went to one of the many beautiful state parks, and while this one was gorgeous, it definitely wasn't indicative of your typical RI beach experience, complete with waves and soft sand and clam cakes.  I've got such a trip planned for this weekend though. 

5.  Add a newsletter sign up page to my site and blog.  

6. Contact Thumbtack Press to see if they’re interested in carrying any of my work as prints.

7.  Send out a newsletter announcing opening of my online shop.

Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here!

8. Make a list of possible wholesale stores for Magnetic Kids. (what’s Magnetic Kids? My new{ish} project in the works!)

9. Finish Magnetic Kids wholesale line sheet.

So close!

10. Contact two blogs about my online shop. 

I really just need to bite the bullet on this.  I hate to admit it but I think I'm just a little scared.  

But I feel good at where I'm at so far.  How is everyone else doing?

Anyhow, I'm supposed to be concentrating on a pretty fun illustration project, but I've got friends coming for dinner tonight, and I keep getting distracted by the cooking possibilities.  Chocolate mousse...?  Watermelon Basil Salad...?  Agggh!  Gotta get my head back in the game!

Lemon Cucumbers and Wise Words

I was reading the blog over at Lilla Rogers Studio (--an amazing illustration agency, whose roster of artists is truly impressive and always inspirational, and of course I would die to be among them, but I'm getting off subject--) and I came across this post about Lisa Congdon's  promo card.  This sentence caught my eye:

 Here’s how it works: really good artists have lots of styles and media because they have so much talent and a delicious greed to try everything. Then, over time, the styles often morph together to become one’s own distinctive style.

That's a breath of fresh air to me.  I feel like I definitely have those tendencies--ooh look at that, let's try this... but as I read the post I realized I  tend to reign in my experimenting.  Like I'm getting off topic.  Or my because style isn't cohesive enough.  This is a good reminder that experimenting is a good thing.  And that styles are evolving creatures.  And that at some point, I guess when it's supposed to, it will all come together.  

Coming from an animation world, where you're supposed to be able to draw anything in whatever style they throw at you, its been particularly confusing for me to find my own one style.  I feel like I'm coming into it, but it can be a little scary.  Anyhow, thank you Ms Rogers for the encouragement.

Gift Tags

The first time I ordered promotional postcards, I ordered a lot. Not only do I have a bunch leftover, but the contact information is out of date, which means they've been packed away for a couple years.  

But the other day I realized they would make cute gift tags.  

So they're in the shop.  -- 20 tags for $5.  Skip on over to Other Such Things to get yours!

Wedding Fun

This past July, on the only sunny weekend, Austin, my friend (since nursery school!) was married in her parents' beautiful backyard overlooking the water.  I made a few items for the event and I'm really happy with how they came out. 

Wedding programs waiting to be cut:

Printed Pablo Neruda poem read in Spanish by Austin followed by the English translation by Oliver.

Place cards made from vintage National Geographic Maps:

Can you tell I'm a little obsessed with my round-corner-punch?  

Congratulations Austin and Oliver!

Moleskine Group week 1

I've been doing a "Moleskine exchange group" since July and I keep forgetting to share my drawings. It's been super fun to do-- the book has 60 accordion pages, there are ten of us, so we each draw on 6 pages and then pass it on to the next person. Sort of like Exquisite Corpse. Or a chain letter?Anyhow I started off my moleskine with this:

My (2nd?) cousin had just been born and everyone was over-the-moon thrilled. I was in Vermont with my family when she arrived.  The coyotes were howling that night.  

Hence the baby and the coyotes.  

Its been challenging to just draw.  Right on the page.  No scanning, no rearranging, no computers.  Not much planning.  Coloring with whatever I feel like.  It feels like a good stretch.  

There are more images on Flickr if you're interested.

Are you a "Cooking Animal?"

Did anyone else read Michael Pollan's article in the New York Times Magazine, "Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch"?   I just finished it last night (-- I love that magazine so I like to make it last.)  To summarize it briefly: it details how people in our country, despite being obsessed with channels like The Food Network, are cooking less and less.  Let's say I found it not a little depressing, but also totally the opposite of my reality.  

I am cooking more and more.  I love to cook-- actually cook, not thaw or reheat (though I do those things as well.) I love farmer's markets, my own little vegetable garden, and, once I'm actually there, I usually find more than one thing at the grocery store that I'm really excited about.  Yes, I read about food and cooking-- in books and blogs-- and I enjoy all the competitive cooking shows.  But I mostly find them inspiring.  They're certainly entertaining, but they also make me want to go cook.  I recently stopped eating wheat gluten.  Yes, it can be a drag, but its also been fun learning how to bake without reaching for the regular flour.  

I am surrounded by people who love to cook.  We can talk on end about various kinds of ingredients with most of our old and new friends.  I just spent the weekend with my teenage cousins from Atlanta who both happily received cooking-related presents, of which they both put to use within hours.  (The cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and a sweet mechanical pastry bag, if you're wondering.) Another cousin is a vegan personal chef.  My family's idea of a good time is cooking up a storm and then sitting around a large table to enjoy it.   The majority of the children I watched as a babysitter in New York, loved to cook-- and knew how!

So.  While apparently, not indicative of the nation as a whole, being excited by cooking and real food is definitely a trend in my life.  And certainly one I plan on passing down to my (eventual) children.  It cannot be a lost art-- to go the way of "horseback riding," or "...sewing or darning socks."  Please, Mister Pollan, cheer up.  There must be others like me out there.

 

 

 

A funny aside: After I finished the article I flipped through it again filled with despair and sinking feelings.  Then this photo illustration by Erwin Olaf caught my eye.  

Isn't that kitchen AMAZING?  The counter space alone still makes me faint...just needs a little cleaning.

August Goals

June{!} Goals:

1. Send out Newsletter announcing Other Such Things online shop!  

2.  Research specifics for new kid product.   If it seems doable, plan out and work on the drawings for it. 

3.  Contact Thumbtack Press and possibly others to see if they’re interested in carrying any of my work as prints.     I didn't end up contacting Thumbtack specifically, but I did contact a few others.

4. Get my two promo postcards printed and mailed out.   

5.  Contact two blogs about my online shop. 

6.  Add new work to site and HAI!

Yikes.

July seemed to creep up on me and as I clearly didn't finish my June Goals, ahem, I didn't make any new July Goals. And then July flew by.  But its the summer right?  Here are new some goals for August.  

1.  Send out new Mailers at the end of the month. 

2.  Start sketches for a fall mailer. 

3.  Contact 3 more agents about possibly representing me.  

4.  Go to the beach. Its August and I haven't been yet.  Not even once.  And now I live in the "Ocean State."

5.  Add a newsletter sign up page to my site and blog.  

6. Contact Thumbtack Press to see if they’re interested in carrying any of my work as prints.

7.  Send out a newsletter announcing opening of my online shop.

8. Make a list of possible wholesale stores for Magnetic Kids. (what's Magnetic Kids? My new{ish} project in the works!)

9. Finish Magnetic Kids wholesale line sheet.

10. Contact two blogs about my online shop. 

 

Yes, its a lot.  But I've been inspired recently by an article that mentioned "quick implementation" being the key to success.   I don't know about that, but I do know that going from having an idea, to actually implementing it can be a lengthy process for me.  Sometimes unnecessarily.  So I'm going to work on that this month.

Packaging

I'm finishing up getting some packaging already for a new{ish} project.  I've been working hard on coming up with something that is sourced from local materials, biodegradable or recycled, is easy for me to work with, is cost effective, can function for both online as well as in brick and mortar stores, and of course looks really great and describes the item well AND appeals to potential customers.  

Phew.  Its a lot to think about. And to balance. 

But what should I find today but an article on all this over at Mint!  Ellie interviews 3 different business owners about their packaging.  "All three take packaging seriously, putting extra effort into making the outside look as pretty as the inside."  Thanks for another wonderful and timely article! Go check it out.

ps. the package above held the invitation for my friend's wedding this past April.

Interview with Lolalina!

Before I dash out the door to finish up some wedding preparations for a good friend (more on the goodies we made later!) I wanted to let you know there's an interview of me on Lolalina, Find Your Sweet Life blog!  

As Laura mentions, we met through the networking site HerFuture – I contacted her after I realized, not only did she just move to Providence, but she has a gorgeous design blog as well.   It's just wonderful and has become a daily read for me.   So of course I was thrilled to talk with her!

Thanks so much Laura. It was really fun.

We Are Wizards News

With the latest Harry Potter movie out, it seems appropriate to plug the documentary I worked on, We Are Wizards.  If you didn't get to see We Are Wizards in the theater, you now have several viewing options available! Hooray!

•We would LOVE it if you just bought the DVD from us right here.  

YOU will love it because it has awesome extras-- deleted scenes, commentary from various bands, more awesome Brad Neely etc, etc.  Buying the dvd is the way to go.  

But you can also:

•Buy or rent from iTunes

•Buy or rent from Amazon

• Rent it from Netflix.  

And FYI, a much shorter, more family friendly ( aka no swearing) version will be available on public television at some point.   

The latest very exciting news is that MSNBC's the Rachel Maddow Show used clips of We Are Wizards the other day:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xsk8iUHB7A&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0]

If you have no idea what the heck I'm talking about, We Are Wizards is a documentary that explores slices of the world of Harry Potter fan culture. Read all about it here.

Mailers and such

This is what my desk looks like these days.  Do other people feel like time moves differently  in the warm(er) weather?  I'm on summertime hours apparently.  But, however slowly, its all getting done.

New Cards!

I'm really happy with how these Balloon Cards came out.   The image is based on a photograph of my friend's daughter.  She and her pal were playing in the park under an umbrella.  But I decided balloons were more fun to draw.  Pop over to the Other Such Things store to check them out. 

Speaking of, Other Such Things has a new shop banner.  I had actually recently updated it, but after reading this article on Mint by Kim Ludy (from the vintage shop Trampoline) about product photos, I decided to rethink things a bit.  Kim made some really good points about a shop's visual continuity.   I really did like my then-new header, but it didn't make much sense in the theme of the shop really.  I think the new header ties in the products wood backgrounds.  

It's simple and clean, which I like as well.  I'm not totally in love with it, but its a step in the right direction.   I also took new wide shots of the cards.  I had this before:

I like elements of it-- the curtain pattern, that blue and green together-- but again, it doesn't really go with the whole look.  So now I have this:

It isn't a perfect solution.  I really wanted to show the cards in a frame. --They're postcards, but they look so great framed!-- But its getting closer.  If you've got a minute, head on over to Other Such Things and tell me what you think.

A very special Happy Birthday!

A belated happy birthday to the newest member of our family:

Miss Vivienne Linda Cornwall. Happy Four Days Old!  I can't wait to meet you.

And no, the drawing does not do her justice.  

An aside: Vivienne was born on July 3rd, the same day my aunt, Nancy, turned 70.  Isn't that lovely?  Happy birthday ladies!