Big happenings this weekend. RENEGADE!

Today is my last full day of work before heading off to New York City as a vendor at The Renegade Craft Fair! I have been crazy nervous for weeks while I tried to amass inventory, work on my display and get a credit card machine. It's all coming together just in time and I'm finally feeling genuine excitement. I am so very thankful that I am able to participate in Renegade this year! I have actually had this as a goal in my mind before I even had a business! There are so many makers that will be showing at Renegade who I hold in such high regard that I am proud to be beside them. This is by far the biggest event I've ever been a part of!

Are any of you fine blog followers going to be selling or shopping there? Please let me know so I can look forward to meeting you!

My happiness-inducing three-step plan of attack:

I have given myself a few days to be miserable about not getting a spot at Artist's Row and I'm now actively trying to cheer myself up and move on. It takes effort but I'm feeling better.

These three things have helped the gray cloud pass:

1. Tasty treats: I bought a jar of candied ginger pieces and I don't feel the need to force myself to stop eating them.

2. Think about some other goal: It's a bit too depressing for me to think about the next phase in my business since it's such a pale shadow of what I hoped would be happening. So, I'm focusing on self-betterment instead of the usual business-betterment for now. Today was the first day of my new exercise regimen with my friend. I am giving myself a haircut tomorrow too.

3. Bunny power: I took a little time to lay on my couch with Hodge and Yoshimi at my side and draw the most deliriously happy thing I could think of. The result was the above Aladdin-like sketch featuring H&Y enjoying a magic carpet ride.

Design Hive is tomorrow!

I am currently experiencing the familiar nervous excitement that comes with trying something new. Tomorrow will be my debut at Design Hive which is a local designer's market in Cambridge, MA. I don't really know what to expect but I have a good feeling about this show. My nervousness comes from the fact that this is the first show I've ever done without a helper. When I applied, I was uncharacteristically confident that I could navigate a new route on the train and subway by myself while carrying MY ENTIRE DISPLAY. I was trying to be independent but I am beginning to think I was foolish. Wish me luck!

Vampire Hedgehog!

It has been months since Justin and I adopted Acorn (our curmudgeonly hedgehog companion) and I announced that he would surely inspire many Argyle Whale illustrations as our bunnies have. To my surprise, having him around didn't give me any ideas for hedgehog illustrations.

Acorn is kind of a hard guy to get to know. For starters, he's primarily nocturnal and even when we'd take him out to play, his idea of fun was crawling under a blanket to take a nap. It wasn't until I got a quick peek under his chin that I noticed he had a pair of little fangs and a slight overbite.

The discovery of fangs paired with his nocturnal ways finally triggered my imagination and I started picturing Acorn as a vampire. I considered the pairing of adorable woodland creature with the sexy dark imagery associated with vampires and realized that Acorn didn't have what it takes to be an immortal bloodsucker. Clearly he was disappointed but I was happy to finally have a hedgehog illustration!

So, I am delighted to present "Almost Vampire" featuring our dear Acorn sporting a high-collared cape, looking into a mirror and coming to the tough realization that "Little fangs and a satin cape do not a vampire make." His reflection mocks him with his own personal reality. *Le sigh*

I promise that I'll make him a more triumphant character next time.

I need advice.

I am trying to put work harder and expand Argyle Whale so that it can sustain me as a full time job but I seem to just be running around in the same circles just more frequently (ie Etsy, this blog, Flickr). I need to find new places to be seen. I especially need to find more boutiques to sell my items and new websites to advertise on. If you can think of any stores around the country or websites that you think my items would compliment, I would be grateful for the tips.

Here are some of the shops I already have in mind:
Magpie
Renegade Handmade
Cog & Pearl, Brooklyn
Rare Device
Jenn and I made these nice little solicitation bundles (see pic above) with a letter, a journal and some notecards to send out to the shops and hopefully peak their interest.

Here are a few sites I plan to use to get myself seen a little more:
Pika Package
Illustration Friday
Paper and Stitch
Modish

Any advice on how to proceed or hints to where my items would be welcomed are gratefully accepted!

Crafting spree!

If I was half as productive every day as I was yesterday, I'd be a crafty tycoon! I made so much new stuff that I'll have a consistently fresh shop for weeks. That is, if I don't get overexcited and list it all on the same day.

First, I got in a huge order of blank kraft Moleskine sketchbooks in the mail and printed them all instantly with two new designs.

The first batch I made features a pudgy mole relaxing underground. I'm so literal and therefore I thought a mole would be a perfect design for a Moleskine journal. I'm also particularly fond of moles because they remind me of my father with his glasses off. Oh the tiny eyes!

The second journal design is part of my new "animal advice" series (I'll talk more about this new idea in a later post) and features a clever little elephant reminding you to not forget "that thing you were supposed to remember". This journal is a perfect example of me designing for myself since I'm the most forgetful person ever and I love making lists. My problem is that I always have five or six different list/sketch books going at the same time so I still don't have my act together.

These sketchbooks are now available in my shop and I'll be introducing the rest of the new stuff from my crafting spree in the next few days.

Montfest

I just got back from my college's alumni festival (aka Montfest) where I was selling my Argyle Whale wares with Justin. Justin was bored to tears while manning my table but I had a nice time socializing with my classmates and attending a lecture called "artist as a small business".

I got myself all worked up the night before Montfest and ended up with little sleep. I left so much to the last minute with my display. It's embarrassing to admit, but I was also afraid of seeing people I hadn't seen in a long time and especially intimidated that my old professors would be seeing my new things. My designs now are so different from the type of art I was making back in school that I feared being criticized for becoming too commercial. Y'know, I used to make installations and now I draw bunnies wearing scarves.

Of course, nobody was tacky enough to criticize my wares or comment on my belly fat and most people seemed genuinely tickled by my new work. I left with a pocketful of cash, some dates with friends and a free brownie. Yes!

August's Pika Package is here

I may have mentioned before that I'm a participant in this month's Pika Package. I sent in an ex-clu-sive edition of my barnacle whale prints on chartreuse paper to be divvied up amongst package purchasers. The August Pika Package contains the work of over 40 illustrators and I'm agog to receive my very own collection of loveliness. I'm particularly fond of the submissions of
What Katie Does, Fantasmagoric, Horrah! and Shelby Healey.

The Pika Package giveaway is happening right now so go on and put your name in the hat and you could receive a bountiful bundle of art in your mailbox!

~photo by Amy Ng~

Dramatic card set

I made these designs earlier this week but I held out on the printing until my Paper-Source order came in. I am pleased to present this dramatic duo of euphoric goat and despairing hippopotamus cards. This is the first time that I've made a design for cards and they please me. They are blank inside so they are very versatile and I've already had the opportunity to use a couple. I used the noooo hippo as an apology card for completely forgetting about breakfast plans with friends (shame!) and I'm intending to send the yes goat to my cousin because he and his wife just had a new baby.

I have been having fun brainstorming possible situations where the cards would be appropriate.

Some NOooo card suggestions:

- Disbelief... "Nooo! I am shocked that you got dumped/ fired/ injured/ pwned"
- A very emphatic written response to a question... "Nooo! I will sadly be missing your very important social gathering."
- Denial..."Nooo! I would never share that exceptionally juicy secret!"
- Despair... "Nooooo! I made a terrible mistake!"

Here are a few suggestions for the YES card:

- Congratulations on the new...baby/ lover/ job/ home/ tooth
- Generally excited thank-you card... "yes! I can't believe you brought me the guinea pig of my dreams!"
- Proud type card... "Yes! I'm so glad you got that sweet trophy."
- Gloating... "Yes! Never forget that I reign as Boggle champion!"

I am wondering if these would be inappropriate for more serious correspondences like death or divorce because they are pretty silly. I think their lightheartedness could be welcome but I am not officially endorsing the idea because it is pretty risky. I'm listing them on Etsy tomorrow because I'm too sleepy to complete the mission right now.

I welcome any more card message suggestions to add to my listing.

Holy Hawtness!

Sparkling silver and gold, jazzy jewels and trendy slang are combined in this drawing that I made with Paris Hilton in mind. I have to admit that I really love Hawt with a "W"!

I found that printing on the shiny silver and gold paper was tricky with the Gocco. I don't recommend it. I think the ink had trouble clinging to a less porous surface so I got lots of sad sad smudgery. I made 50 printing attempts and only made 15 prints that were good enough to sell. Boooo!

Oh well, I know now that I'm no match for the shimmer. I would do it all over again though because this design just wouldn't be the same on regular paper. I felt I needed to go for extra glamour with this one.

I have thirteen up for sale on Etsy now.

Also, I'm excited to announce that I sold my first print at ArgyleWhale.Etsy the other day! Yes!

gocco promo-stravaganza!

fronts

backs

bunnies helping to clean up my scraps

finished pockets!


I spent about eight hours today making new business cards and promo pockets for Argyle Whale. I am really proud of them even though the process may have been a little bit inefficient. I busted out my Gocco and got to work making use of a pile of imperfect prints that were too good to throw away. First, I screened my promotional designs on the backs of the imperfect prints. Then, I cut them all out and made pockets too. I'm excited to go pinning my pockets-o-promos on a few corkboards around town. I think they are pretty slick... and repurposed!

I've heard that business cards are one of the least effective forms of advertising but I enjoyed the process. I really would have spent my day just making more lolbunnies if I hadn't done that anyway. I'm addicted to the lolcat generator. I really can't understand why I'm so delighted by putting misspelled subtitles on pictures of my bunnies but I absolutely cannot stop.