Stacking the deck

It's been a busier-than-expected week, but quite productive. I managed to get a whole bunch of pieces finally finished - mostly cutting hanging threads, putting buttons on, that kind of thing; also updated nisseworks' Facebook page with photos and some links to my work so it's not quite so blank; and ventured full steam ahead into the world of custom work.

Taking on four custom orders in the last week has opened a new venue for revenue (ooh, rhyming), one that I had considered, but decided against because I thought it would just lead to headaches. Well, after almost 6 months of my Etsy shop being open and only selling 3 pieces, it's probably time to start looking at other ways to use my creative skills to help pay the bills.

Hence, my Cargoh shop. Let me just say that Cargoh is awesome. Just awesome. Sure there were a few hiccups earlier this month with the jurying and eliminating sellers and all that, but they've come out ahead. I like being part of Cargoh and hope that it succeeds, and I'd think that even if I wasn't a seller there. It's got a very close-knit feeling to it, unlike some other online venues that make the seller feel like they're just a cash cow for the owners.

Then there's the request for a quote to do up some wedding invitations which came right out of the blue. Back in January, I had given Keith a stack of flyers to post up around town and pass on to people he thought might be interested. He dropped by a small wedding boutique here and they were quite happy to take 200 smaller flyers to put in the goody bags they gave to prospective brides. Fast forward 8 months, and I get an email from a bride-to-be... so I sent her a quote and a basic outline of what she can expect/what I need from her and I'm hoping to hear from her within the next week or so. I had assumed that the boutique just stopped handing them out or no one was interested, but lo and behold, someone is. Hopefully.

August has been the month I didn't expect, but hoped for. I've been really busy coming up with new designs, trying new promotional ideas, doing research, as well as selling and taking orders. Keith is leaving for a week on Saturday and I'm planning on taking some time while he's gone to figure out where I should take this little business of mine next. I've got a couple of ideas - like the paper/digital design line that I'm 99% sure I'm going to launch in the next month - simmering away, but need to figure out how to get them out of my head and into action. I know that I'm farther ahead today than I was a month ago, which is all anyone can really hope for... I just need to keep the momentum going for the rest of the year.

Animals on the walls

When I cleaned out Maddy's room last week, the walls ended up looking pretty bare. We've had a quilt hanging in her room for the last year or so, courtesy of my mom, and she's got a couple of shelves of toys way up high, but the room still seemed pretty empty. Taking out a crib and boxes of clothes will do that, apparently.

Maddy has always loved animals. Her curtains and quilts are animal prints. Most of her stuffed toys are animals. She's a very animal-friendly kid. I've been trying to come up with something I could make her for a few months now that not only took care of her love for animals, but was educational at the same time.

I've mentioned before that I'm a graphic designer by trade, but haven't been really doing any design since I left my job last winter. Lately, design's something that's been popping up in my head more and more frequently. So I decided to take that need and apply it by making something for Maddy.

These prints are OOAK (one-of-a-kind, for those not in the know... I wasn't in the know until just recently, so don't feel bad), completely original, home-printed... I have a kick-ass (for me, anyway) Epson Artisan 50 printer that I picked up on sale last winter. I love this printer for what it can do for me - clear, crisp lines, beautiful colours... it the perfect printer for my needs. I used Epson's Premium Presentation Paper in Matte, which is perfect for what I'm planning on doing with these prints - frame in simple wooden frames behind glass/plastic/whatever I can find that doesn't look like crap. I'm a big fan of Epson, from the printer to the ink to the paper... the prices are really decent and the quality is amazing.

These prints turned out so well I'm debating selling them - not these ones specifically, but a short-run of maybe 10 sets (there are 2 prints/set - I could have put all 26 animals on one page, but it would have been really crowded, and I'm using 8x11 sheets, so yeah...). I'll be sure to announce if/when I put these up for sale and where (again, more on that later).

That nagging voice in my head that's been demanding more design work has been quieted for now, but I'm sure it'll be back, with a vengeance, soon. And based on this project, I'm pretty sure I'll listen to it and do some more design stuff.

Pin it on

I recently opened an account on Pinterest, a kind of virtual inspriation board. While I'm not the most prolific pinner, I'm loving exploring other people's boards and seeing what they're interested in. I've stuck to mainly design pins, but I think once I figure out how to pin things via my iPod Touch, my pins will start picking up.

I'm about to start doing some more graphic design work (couldn't stop myself...) and just clicking through the different boards being curated by designers and bloggers that I follow has been a massive inspiration. Following trends and seeing what other people like, especially coming across something you've never seen before that just sticks in your brain for days on end, helps stir up the creative juices more than anything else I can think of. But that's me. Sign up for your own Pinterest account and see what you can find to inspire you.

A new coat of paint

I'm in the midst of (re)branding my business, so I decided that the happy-happy, lovey-dovey background I had on my Twitter account (you can follow me @nisseworks) had to go. Too bright, too flowery, too cute.

So I changed it this morning.

And I have to say that I'm becoming more of a fan of this cream-brown-green-pink thing I came up with last week, although the pink may have to go, if only because it's getting lost in the cream. It's becoming almost fluorescent it's so bright... hmm.