My first sale on Etsy. Looking back on old product photos makes me laugh. They're so bad! My photos have really improved over the last 10 years. Although, they can always use improving.

I put some etchings and a painting up and waited. Waited. Waited. A month later I sold an etching. I didn't even have the packing materials to ship it! I really didn't think I'd sell anything. I clumsily packaged it up and headed to the post office. I wouldn't get another sale for several months.

I moved to Pontiac, Michigan with my then boyfriend because he had gotten into graduate school.  I tried to find a job but it was really tough. I didn't want to work in a grocery store again but I applied to work in the produce department at a local grocer. They wanted to hire me as a cashier, something I told myself I would never do again, so I turned it down. I regretted it as soon as I hung up the phone. I had just turned down a job that I really needed, but I knew that I would just be miserable if I had accepted it. I also had a gut feeling that I would find something better.

A book I sold on Etsy in 2007.

No job and my savings dwindling, I turned to my Etsy shop and crossed my fingers hard. I started making small paintings, books and little illustrations. I couldn't believe it when I got another sale. Then another and another and another. Soon I was paying bills with my art. My. Art! 

One of the first paintings I sold on Etsy.

It was like magic.

Etsy has changed my life. I don't sell as well as I used to there, but it opened up several different avenues for me. It lead me down the road to wholesale, where I make the bulk of my living. It also opened the doors to several gallery shows.

Paintings that have long sold.

A few years later I did end up working at the grocery store I started at. Etsy sales were few and far between and I had moved back to Portland. After breaking up with my boyfriend and moving out, I went back to working for New Seasons to help pay my bills. Luckily, I worked in a department that allowed me to work part time so I could still work on my art. 

Typewriter Painting 2008. I made and sold a lot of these the first couple of years.

I worked in the Home Goods department and it actually taught me a lot about how wholesale works. We worked with a lot of small card vendors, as well as some rather large companies. Working there taught me about invoices, packing slips, customer service and gave me some insight into how to operate a tiny business. I will always be grateful for that job because it taught me so much.

One of the card images I don't sell anymore.

While there, my manager pushed me to make my own card line and I kind of scoffed at her. At the same time we kept getting requests from people for Portland postcards. So I started there and I also took a few of my paintings and turned them into a card line of 6. 

Illustrated postcards.

The illustrated postcards sold like hotcakes! I could hardly keep them in stock. The cards didn't sell as well, but I didn't let that discourage me. I added more designs and polished them up a bit. I designed birthday cards, anniversary cards, new home cards, thank you cards. The more cards I added, the more I sold and the more accounts I received. I edited my line and added to my line and I continue to do that today. I really owe a lot to my manager, Amy. She was my cheerleader and she really helped to change my life as well.

Card designs that I've discontinued.

I ended up quitting my grocery store job after working there for 4 years. It's been 3 years since I left and I'm still plugging along every day. I feel like every year I get better and I learn new things. I know that there are still a lot of things for me to learn and adapt to. The internet is an every changing, growing thing, and because I rely on it for my business it's important to keep myself updated on its evolution.



I hope that I can continue to keep up and grow. I love what I get to do everyday and I feel lucky to have gotten this far.

So now, let's celebrate this milestone with a sale! From today, March 18th - March 21st at 12am Pacific Time, enjoy 30% off everything in my Etsy shop! No coupon code is needed, prices are marked.

Thanks to everyone who supported my work over the past 10 years. I literally could not do this without out you and I am so grateful for that.

Today is my 9 year Etsy Anniversary! Holy moly, that's a long time. Etsy has changed so much since I first started. I've changed so much since I started selling on Etsy. I've learned how to take product photos, edit them, promote myself, do taxes, set up a craft fair, packaged art and prints, how to charge for shipping... the list goes on but you get the idea.

I've also made a lot of friends, joined a community of other artists and makers and started a career I never really thought was possible.

There's also been a lot of lows to all this too. Putting yourself out there and not having people respond the way you would like can be difficult. Struggling to make money and working a day job to supplement my income was tough some days. I'm still not quite where I'd like to be financially, and knowing that I may have to take a day job again is always on my mind.

I feel like the highs are still outweighing the lows and I'll continue to sell on Etsy until I feel like it's not longer worth my time and energy. 

I really wouldn't be able to do what I do without the support and encouragement of friends, fans and followers. Being an artist can be lonely at times and the amount of self doubt can be disabling, but when someone leaves a positive comment, review or sends me an encouraging message it makes it all worth it.

To celebrate my customers and those who support me I'm having a sale in my shop! Everything is 29% off, no coupon code is needed. The sale goes from today through tomorrow, until 12am Pacific Time on Wednesday. 

Thanks so much to everyone who reads my blog and who enjoys my work! Hope to continue this journey for many more years!

I've been working on this design for a bride to be this week. It's for their wedding invitation. I always feel so honored when people approach me for wedding invitations. They've picked me, out of all the thousands of designers out there. So cool.

I'll share the finished product once it's all printed up and ready to go.

In other news, my 9 year Etsy Anniversary is a week from today! Holy Moly. I can't believe it. It does not feel like it's been 9 years since I started selling there. I say that every year, I know, but it's so true. I feel so unbelievably lucky that this is my job and that I have the opportunity to do what I love as a career.

I've also made so many great connections through Etsy over the years. I've met so many people and I've had some amazing experiences. Etsy has changed a lot over the past few years, so good, some bad. All in all it's still a great place to share my work. 

I'll be announcing a big sale next week, so stay tuned! And to those who have been following me the past 9 years, thank you so much!

I really hate when my body is in pain. It's been a struggle for me to do work this week because my back has been hurting me. I went to the doctor on Wednesday and she suggested a chiropractor if it doesn't get better. I'm going to wait another week in hopes that it improves. It's so frustrating, not to mention, uncomfortable. 

Hopefully it goes away soon. I really want to get into my garage and paint. I also want to be able to take Chloe for long walks and go running again. I feel like my body is failing me. I can't do the things I like doing and it's bumming me out.  

Anyway, I've been adding a couple of old prints back to my shop! The Hive and The Wait are back up. Not sure how long they'll stick around, but it's kind of fun reintroducing prints back into my Etsy shop!

My Etsyversary is in a few weeks! I've been selling on Etsy for nearly 9 years. That's so crazy to me. Thinking back on how much Etsy has changed has kind of blown my mind too. I was updating tags and titles for SEO on the two prints I relisted and was amazed at how I only had two tags for them. I used to sell a lot of art on Etsy and I can't believe I only had two or three tags for my old listings. Now it's necessary to use all tags as well as use as many keywords as possible in the title. 

Anyway, look for a big sale announcement coming soon to celebrate my 9th year selling on Etsy. Hope your Monday is going well so far!

New print in my Etsy shop! I thought that Mother's Day card would make such a nice print, so I made one and it's now available in my Etsy shop!

It was absolutely beautiful in Portland yesterday. I spent some time outside working in the yard and playing with Chloe. She loves the sunshine and savors every opportunity she has for a good lay about in it.

We did watch the Super Bowl too. Nate and I actually won a super bowl party at our neighborhood bar in a raffle. We don't really like football but it was still fun to invite some of our friends to the bar to watch the game and the commercials on a big screen. I wasn't even really paying attention to most of the game until the half time show, and I only really watched that because Beyonce was in it! And she's going on a world tour! What?! She's not playing Portland, unfortunately... I've already looked into it. 

Maybe one day she'll come here... Oh well :) Happy Monday, peeps. Hope it's a good week.

I'm thinking of discontinuing selling original illustrations in my shop and just focusing on greetings cards and prints. I would still be making originals, I just won't be listing them for sale in my Etsy shop. I think that it would help streamline my store. Of course, I would still have the originals on hand in case someone was interested in purchasing it.

When I started selling on Etsy, almost 9 years ago (!!!) I only sold originals. They sold really well for me! My buyers kept asking about prints so I slowly started making and selling them in my shop. Now I mostly sell prints of my originals and I rarely sell the real deal.

I think that by limiting the amount of originals I have for sale will help streamline my shop and make it a little more cohesive. By streamlining my items I'm hoping that it will be helpful for people shopping in my store. Less distraction, less items to sort through, less questions they may have. All good things!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend! It poured buckets here in Portland. Many areas were actually flooded and we didn't get many trick or treaters. That's okay, more candy for us!

I wasn't really sure where to start today. I had a lot of ideas but just didn't seem to go through with any of them. So, instead I just found some little pieces of paper and decided to paint free hand. No sketching, no references, just going for it.

I like how they turned out! I'm thinking this is a new way for me to work. Sometimes I rely too much on sketching and reference pictures. I think it's good to get away from that and just go with my gut and memory.

I'll be posting some of these in my Etsy shop tomorrow!

I finished up these two cuties on Saturday. I'll be making some prints and a new card design with them. I think they're pretty cute!

I'm hoping to have prints of them by the end of the week!

I'm also slowly adding some new versions of some of my prints to my Etsy shop. These are giclee prints printed on canvas and stretched on stretcher bars.

They came out really nicely!

I'm not quite sure how many of these I'm going to make just yet. I think it depends on how well they sell. I feel like my Etsy shop has been in need of a somewhat new kind of product and I think this is a good direction. I think one of the most important things about running an Etsy shop, or any kind of business, is keeping things fresh with new products and designs. 

So, hopefully these sell really well and people really like them!

There's a new bridge in town! Tilikum Crossing opened last month as Portland's newest bridge. It's a pedestrian, bike and public transportation bridge only. No cars are allowed. 

So naturally I had to make a new postcard of it!