It's been a busy week in the office. I got two new illustrations done and several consignment orders packed up and shipped!

The first illustration I finished was this crow. I need to get better at process photos. I've been thinking about getting one of those tripods for your phone so that I can do those cool time lapse videos that I see so many artists using these days. 

This guy is listed in my Etsy shop!

I also got this fun illustration of my clogs finished and listed in my Etsy shop. Coincidentally, the price of this piece is what my health insurance costs next month, so if you purchase this, you'll be paying for my health insurance!

 I love these shoes. They're so cute and comfortable. The purply grey ones are my everyday clogs. I swear I get less foot pain and injuries because of these. I love them. I want them in every color. 

In other news, it's going to be 100 degrees here today. Hot. I'm hiding out in a closed up house thinking about some new Christmas cards...Retail is weird. 

Anyway, hope you have a great weekend!

We've had a few really nice, summery, days here in Portland so I've been in my backyard quite a bit. I've been mowing and weeding and trimming and drawing and playing with Chloe and drinking a little wine. It's been good.

As you can see, Chloe has been having a pretty great time playing fetch.

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the first day of summer. The longest day of the year. This means that the days will slowly start getting shorter and Fall, my favorite time of the year, is next up in the line of seasons. I'm already looking forward to it. I do like warm weather days, but I know the summer heat will be ramping up and I don't like hot weather. I like cozy socks and hoodies! I also really like wearing jeans. Shorts and skirts are probably my least favorite clothing article.

In other news, my calendar is in production as I type! I'm really excited about this. I really hope that they're received well. I kinda went out of my comfort zone with this project and I'm worried it might fall flat. But, if the Instagram photo I posted is any indication of whether or not people like it, I think that it will be well received. 

Today is my Monday and I've been working on a few orders and updating my Etsy shop. Last week I was feeling pretty disheartened by Etsy as well as how slow my wholesale orders have been. Well, almost immediately after I posted that post, a shop I had contacted almost a month ago e-mailed me and offered to do some consignment! The shop is called Gather and it's in Bloomington, Indiana. 

I also contacted Tender Loving Empire last week and they were interested in selling my work at a couple of their shops here, in Portland. So really good news all around. I feel like I have a little more of my confidence back!

I got three new cards listed in my shop today! You can find them here:

Thank you

Poppy Birthday 

Bon Anniversaire

Well, hopefully the week will bring some new illustrations, more wholesale and consignment orders, and some more backyard time. 

I started a new greeting card design the other day. 

This is it, almost done.

I used this bird cage that my friends gave me a few years ago as inspiration. I recently planted some hens and chicks in it. I'm not really sure if I'm happy with the card. I might re-do it. 

I've been doing that a lot recently, second guessing myself and my work. I've been having a lot of feelings of not being good enough, lately. I think it's a normal though process to have when you making a living as an illustrator/artist. Especially when business slows down, and wow, Etsy has slowed down for me significantly.

They recently changed their stats and before I'd receive between 150-200 views a day, or more. Recently I've been receiving an average of 30 view a day. The traffic to my shop has stopped. I don't know if it's because they've weeded out search bots, or if their search has changed. Maybe my search engine optimization is really bad?

I feel like I'm getting buried under thousands of other shops. It's discouraging and disappointing. I've been working on my Etsy shop for 10+ years. All that work. Nothing.  I feel like somehow older shops don't get the traffic that newer shops do. I can't prove this, but I do know some other very well established shops that have seen a huge decrease in traffic too. 

I'd love to invest more time and money into this site, to make it a commerce site, but I just don't have very much of either right now. And building up traffic to your own site is no easy feat. 

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. I think focusing on doing more craft fairs, farmer's markets and really working on my wholesale business are the best bets right now. I'm going to also try to stay positive, and try not to be so hard on myself. 

I've been pretty quiet this week, I know. I've been working on several new card designs and taking some extra days off at the same time. Nate has a 9 day work week coming up so I took a couple of extra days to hang out with him. I tend to work when he's working, so I know I'll end up working 9 days in a row too.

I've been trying to make a few new birthday cards and some thank you cards to add to my line. I didn't realize how few of them I had and I'm hoping that by adding more specific card designs it will up my wholesale game a little bit.

Yesterday I checked out my calendar proof! I think it's looking good. I do need to do a little more work on it, but it's really coming along. I'm hoping to learn everything I need to about doing a calendar this year, so maybe it will be a little easier next year? I hope so. I knew that it would be a bit of a learning curve, but I guess I underestimated just how big that curve would be.

I really hope people like it. It's scary making something so different than what you usually make, but I think it's necessary. Learn and grow and take some risks. If this doesn't pan out, then I guess I can say at least I tried. 

Well, day one of nine is almost done! 8 more to go. This will be good. A chance for me to really buckle down, focus and crank out some new work. 

Have a really great weekend!

I live in the Cully neighborhood and we've had a small farmer's market on Thursdays for the past couple of years. I was asked if I wanted a spot at the community table for the months of June and July. It's a free space with the notion that you'll help set up or take down the market. Last night was the first farmer's market of the season, and my first time at the community table.

I wasn't really sure what to expect. It's a small space, and a rather small market, but I did sell quite a bit! I was also able to get out and meet some more of my neighbors too. It was a nice change of pace for me, because I tend to feel a little isolated working from home every day.

So, if you're in Portland, come by and say hello! It's from 4-8 every Thursday on 42nd and Alberta. I have special prices on my cards and prints too!

Speaking of special prices...

I currently have a sale section in my Etsy shop. I've marked select original watercolor and oil paintings to 30% off. Some of these pieces have been around for a little too long, and need a good home to go to.

Maybe you can get some early holiday shopping done? Maybe there's something that would work really well with your current art collection? Maybe you don't have a collection and this would be your first piece!

Whatever your art needs may be, I hope you might find something you like! And as always, if you have any questions about the pieces, please contact me!