What is it about Crows these days?

 

Did you know that a group of crows is called a murder? Well, that is only if there is probable caws.  (Joke)

Actually, that is more of a poetic reference to a group of crows while a scientist will refer to them as a flock.  Somehow I think that the "murder" is a more fitting term for these black winged creatures.  They always appear to me that they are watching, waiting and planning their next attack.

What is it about these noisy birds?  I'm told they are one of the most intelligent animals on the planet and as I did just a little fun reading about them, I wholeheartedly agree.  They can solve puzzles, make tools, remember face, hold grudges and even have regional dialects.  Isn't that fascinating?

Last fall, I had the pleasure of drawing several birds that are members of the corvid family.  Ravens, crows and magpies are all part of this species of birds.  Magpies are probably my personal favorite because my husband had a pet magpie named Rascal when he was a boy.  He has lots of funny stories about that bird.

I designed this particular crow thank you card towards the end of last year and it has become one of my top selling items this year.  The crazy thing is that I'm not really 100% sure why.  I drew a fine looking crow and all and he is so sweet with that single daisy.  I just wish I knew for sure what makes this design outsell my cows and goats.  If you know why crow stationery is so popular right now, please comment below.  I would love to know.

If you are interested in grabbing a pack of of these cute thank you cards then click the link below and you will find yourself in my website shop.  Look around and enjoy!

CROW THANK YOU CARD SET OF 10 - JULIE TOWNSEND STUDIO 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have You Ever Had a Daisy, I Mean Lazy Day?

Well, that is what kept going through my mind as I tried to come up with a name for my newest drawing.  I like to come up with clever or catchy titles but I did have a bit of a struggle with this one.  Sometimes coming up with just the right title is as stressful as bringing the artwork to a finished piece.  There are times that I know exactly what I'm going to call the piece before I even start drawing, but that is not my normal art piece progression.

After I have finished the drawing and have worked out all the aspects of the composition on my computer, I leave the piece open in its largest size so that it fills up my entire computer screen.  This way I can walk by it throughout the day and think about what I'm going to call it.  I often will go to the online sites to look at a list of all the rhyming words or use a thesaurus to maybe find a more interesting word to use as part of the title or description.

Another resource I will often turn to is doing an online search for puns or memes about the subject.  The marketplace sites are also a place to get inspiration.  Funny cards and posters will often give you a spark of "clever".  And sometimes there is not "clever" to be found and then the piece might end up with an obvious name such as "Goat in a Tub".  I mean that works, especially if you have several pieces that focus on a goat in a wash tub and the obvious clever title of "Tub Goat" is already taken from your last piece.  

This new mouse drawing is so cute that I felt it needed a cute name but all I could come up with is "It's a Daisy Day".  The name works for this piece and while it might not just have you rolling on the floor, the cuteness level that I have captured here is pretty high up there on the cuteness scale.  So I think that I'm at least going to get  a smile out of you.

I'm really loving this chubby mouse look.  I've been drawing a number of mouse pieces as of late and I think that for my future pieces will all focus on the adventures and antics of this chubby little guy.  I might give him some friends to join on his little forays.  Now, if you don't like mice I need to state right up front that "I'm sorry." Mice have always been something I have enjoyed drawing and so you are probably going to be seeing more of them.  Don't worry, I'm still drawing plenty of cows, goats and other cute critters too.  Mice may be my current muse, but farm animals are my addiction.  

What would you like to see me draw more of in 2024?  I would LOVE to hear from you on that topic.  

 

http://www.julietownsendstudio.com/store/p1106/mouseyadventures-itsadaisyday.html 

 

Two Spring Collections - Am I NUTS!

These boxes of Spring Collection goodies and adorable critters is bursting at the seams and no amount of packing tape is  going to keep it sealed for much longer.   I'm telling you that it is getting more difficult to keep all these critters under wraps.  But there is only 16 more days until I can show you all the cuteness that I have been working on.  I can't wait!

So mark your calendars for April 12th at 5 pm PST (remember that I'm way out west in Nevada) I will be hosting a FB live event along with making both of the  collections available on my website and Etsy shops.  

I'll have plenty of fun gift items for you to see along with the usual art prints and note cards.  I think April 12th will be perfect timing for all your Mother's Day or Teacher Appreciation Week shopping. 

I'm really excited because I just finished the last piece on my  "Spring on the Farm" collection this morning and he is a real crackup.  I know you are just going to love him. These next few weeks are just going to fly by and I have SO much to do to be ready.  

Be sure and keep up with all my studio goings on by signing up to be part of my VIP email list.  

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The GranddaughterTea Party was a Success

 

I'm thrilled to report to you that the 1st annual Granddaughter Tea Party was a big success.  We all had such a great time just enjoying the snacks and watching the children play.  I opened the invite up to include my grandsons and the grandchildren of my best friend.  I think that made 9 children total.  They ranged in ages from 9 years to 20 months.  It was just as I had hoped for noisy, chaotic and full of laughter.

 

 

 

 

 

Besides the greatly anticipated macarons, I had baked a batch of lemon scones that wound up looking a little wonky but were very tasty.  I added plenty of sprinkles to the scone batter and then also with the glaze for decoration.  What child doesn't love sprinkles?

 

 

 

I had assorted berries, cut carrots and celery, deviled eggs, pickles and Shirley Temples to drink.  It was all laid out buffet style on my long kitchen counter.  I wish I had taken more photos but I'm just loving the ones of my adorable granddaughters.  We waited until the party to actually taste the macarons for the first time.  For two weeks the girls would open the freezer and ask if they could taste a macaron but we hung in there and I can actually stay that this was my first time.  

 

 

What was my impressions you might ask?  Well, I have to say that they tasted okay.  While they are very pretty and look great next to my beautiful tea cup, I'm not really sure that I would spend the extra money and make a special trip to serve them at my next tea party.  I honestly enjoyed the homemade scones that I baked much better.  They were pretty and they were so easy to make.  Definitely think they will be a repeat item on the next party menu.  

Granddaughters are such a blessing and I'm thankful for these two the memories we made that day.

Our first bite of a macaron

She loves that Grandma is taking so many pictures of her

Hanging with "The Girls"

Here is another favorite painting that I did in 2020, during the long days of lock down. It is amazing just how creative that year was for me.  I remember just trying to block out all the crazy that was going on around me and keep my focus on creating.  

  This original piece was painted on a panel of old wood that Brad put together for me.  Painting on old boards adds an element of challenge to the painting process, but I think I pulled it off.

These girls are just so sweet and I love how the middle girl is crowding her way in to see what is going on.  Maybe there is a visitor at the fence or they are standing at the food trough.  No matter, she is determined to be in the center of the action.  

Here I am, holding the original painting before I have to package it up and ship it off to its new home.  I actually had that painting hanging in my entryway for sometime and felt a bit of sadness when these girls were no longer serving as my welcoming committee.  I just hope they are loved and appreciated in their new home. 

It has been some time since I've picked up a painting brush.  I've become obsessed with drawing digitally on my Ipad.  Whether the medium is acrylic paint, colored pencils or drawn digitally, I am still featuring cute cows in my art.  If you want to check out my online website shop you only have to hit this link to browse to your heart's content.

Julie Townsend Studio Shop Here

I'm Not at all Adventurous but Check out these Two

Oopsie Daisies Art Print

 This is the first piece in my new "Mousey Adventures" collection.  I'm calling this one "Oopsie Daisies" and I'm in LOVE!  I have always loved drawing little mice and while some may not appreciate this series as much as they like my cows or goats. I'm excited to see where this series develops.  There are just SO MANY cute possibilities because mice are so small.  

You can see that these two cuties have decided to deliver the spring flowers via air mail.  Things appear to have gotten just a bit out of control and they are losing their load.  Being the adrenaline junkies that these two are, they are taking it stride and hanging on to enjoy the ride.

I've designed not only art prints that always have a note card and a magnet included, but I  have worked out the details on both a set of smaller A2 size cards and stickers.  Of course, that isn't the end of these two.  They are certain to appear on my cute items and so you will have plenty of mousey gift giving opportunities very soon.

Oopsie Daisies Vinyl Sticker

Oopsie Daisies Bookmark Gift Set

Oopsie Daisies set of 10 little note cards

You can find the whole collection on my website shop.  I promise there will be new things to see there often -  Just remember, to be sure to hold on the rail, watch your step and stay safe when you come to visit!

http://www.julietownsendstudio.com/mousey-adventure-collection.html

I've Got Your Goat

I've made no secret of the fact that I just LOVE painting and drawing goats.  I've always dreamed of owning a goat and now I have come to the conclusion that the goats that live in my studio are way less trouble to clean up after and cost me nothing to feed them.  I still haven't given up on my dream to have some chickens someday, but goats are probably not going to be a reality.

They really are such cute critters, with huge personalities and get themselves into some real predicaments.  I'll just stay content to watch them on my social media feeds.

This piece was special to me just because I loved the depth and interest that the doorway gives to the piece.  Not to mention the fact that this goat is just bursting with personality. I hope you enjoyed taking this little journey back to 2019 on this episode of my Flash Back Friday.

Spring Under Wraps this Year

 

Spring Launch - April 12th 5:30 pm (PT)

Spring under wraps this year.  I should clarify that I mean to say, "I'm keeping my spring collection under wraps." 

Let me tell you that it takes some willpower to not show all the cute things that I am working on but I'm determined that for 2024 I'm going to have a number of new art launches throughout the year.  This will help me stay more focused and create collections of art and then show them off all together.  How exciting will that be?  

I've set April 12 tentatively as my spring launch date.  I'm hoping to have 2 collections finished by then but for sure I will have my "Mousey Tea Party" collection finished.  I've given you more hints that I probably should have by just telling you the name of the collection.  Yes, it features cute little mice and tea.  I hope that keeps you on the edge of your seat for the next 37 days. 

Don't worry.  I will do my best to keep you informed of my progress. Just no peeking allowed!

Flash from the Past Fridays - Hogs and Kisses

I'm really going to enjoy these Friday posts where I can poke around in my archives and dust off some much loved and almost forgotten pieces and show them to you.  

My journey has now exceeded a decade and I've started to amass quite a few past works.  Even though, I haven't picked up my painting brushes for the last few years, I have a number of paintings and color pencil illustrations that are dear to my heart.  Some of the pieces are still available and some, like this piece has been sold.  Selling an art piece is like having your adult children leave your home, they maybe all grown up but they will always be your babies.  That is what it is like to be an artist.  You put all your heart and soul into that creation process and then someone shows up that loves and appreciates your piece almost as much as you do.  You're happy that your art is appreciated but a tiny bit sad that you won't be able to see that original piece again.  If you are a busy artist like me, you would soon run out of room to store your art and you would run out of wall space quickly.  That is one positive about switching to digital art.  My Ipad doesn't take up much room. 

It seemed fitting to talk about this piece since today is National Pig Day.  I don't draw pigs as often as I do cows or goats, but they have a sweetness about them that just make them irresistible.  I LOVE drawing their wrinkled snouts.   We often underestimate them because of their love for the mud.  I understand they are very intelligent creatures and can make great pets.  

I would love to hear your own pig stories.  Do you have pigs or grew up with pigs?  I would love to see any favorite pig photos you have. 

 

My Generation doesn't do SELFIES

It's SELFIE SUNDAY

I was doing a bit of research into the origin of the "Selfie".  I was surprised to find that the word is supposedly used for the first time in 2003

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna is given credit for taking the first teenage girl selfie in 1913 using a brownie camera and a mirror.  Who would have guessed it would be a teenage girl.  According to what I could find on Wikipedia, the first published online use of the word is recorded in 2001 and did you know that "Selfie" was the 2013 Word of the Year?  It has quite an interesting history for use.  

I know that I never feel completely comfortable with this forward facing camera option and even with my fancy selfie stick, I still feel a bit of anxiety.  I'm always squinting and never really sure how to tilt my head.  So you might wonder why I would designate Sunday as "Selfie Sunday" on my new marketing plan for 2024.  

Well, I have several reasons that I have convinced myself that this is a good idea.  1.  It is proven that people want to see the face behind the art.  To effectively sell art, you really have to sell yourself.  People are more likely to purchase from you if they feel a connection to you.  So selfies are a way to get myself out there.  2.  They document the time when I created the piece.  For some time now, I have tried to take a picture of myself holding a new piece of artwork when I finished it.  This gives me a memory of the piece and is something that will help me promote my art down the road.  I guess I have been doing selfies for a while, except I have my husband holding the camera.  Does that count as a selfie?  3.  Taking selfies is going to improve my photography skills by looking for fun and creative ways to take photos.  It will get me out of the house and out into nature or always looking for cool or fun places to take a photo.  I promise that I will not be doing any risky selfies on the edge of a ledge. You know that this girl is scared of heights!

So, my first Sunday Selfie to share with you is this one that I took back in September of 2019.  This is a picture of us off of Pole Line Road in Ely, Nevada.  That particular year we enjoyed staying at the Valley View RV Park for a whole 2 months.  This was the last year that we were able to find a long term space at the RV park because once COVID broke out, there was never any space for us.  I guess we showed them, because in 2023 we purchased our own 5 acres just a stones throw from there.  We just fell in love with the little mining town and the beautiful mountains and all that amazing wildlife.  Quite a contrast from the Wild Life you find living in Las Vegas. 

I Love Me a Good Spreadsheet - 5 spreadsheets that I use to run my small business

 

 

I have always loved a good spreadsheet. I remember the first program I tried to learn was called Lotus 123 but that was just too hard for me to figure out and since I didn't have a good practical application for it at work at that time.  That was so many years ago and I was one of those girls that would grab a green column work pad and my trusty Monroe adding machine to keep track of my numbers.  Do you remember those really long pads that had like double pages in them?  I sure do.  

Well, it wasn't too many years and I was converted to using an Excel spreadsheet.  I was never a master at it but I sure loved how it could do calculations along with sorting numbers.  I used spreadsheets often  in my daily career.  

When I retired from the church and decided to start my own small business from home, the need for spreadsheets was even greater.  I didn't want to spend lots of money on accounting software so I just started keeping my books on Excel.  Eventually, my version of Microsoft Office became obsolete, so I was more or less forced to switch over to Google sheets.  I'm actually glad because I love the ability to have access from any computer and even my mobile devices.  Very handy.

So you might wonder what spreadsheets that I depend on to keep my business running smoothly.  Here are the 5 main spreadsheets that I use on almost a daily basis.

📈1.  I keep my books on a spreadsheet.  I have sheets for each month that I track the revenues and expenses on.  I can see how much sales revenue is generated from my website, Etsy shops, royalties and other sources.  Each deposit to my bank account is there and I then spread that revenue out into specific categories.  I know how much I have sold in stickers, greeting cards, recipe cards and so on.  I do the same with all my expenses.  Each monthly report is rolled into a one page summary report that I use when I calculate my schedule C for my income taxes.  I even have a sheet that calculates my quarterly sales tax liability to make it easy for filing my state reports.  I would be LOST without this spreadsheet!

📈2. Mileage Log - I have my business mileage log set up on a spreadsheet and it has been a game changer when it comes time to calculate my taxes.  It is so much easier to keep a perpetual record when I can just enter my odometer reading into the spreadsheet on my phone each time I head to the post office or to and art gallery.  

📈3.  Cost of Good Sold - I keep a spreadsheet on all my supply costs and have that roll into a finished product sheet.  It is amazing how you think in your head how much something costs you to make but this way, I know for certain.  When purchasing more paper or shipping supplies I can just update the per item cost and it will automatically adjust my finished product costs.  This allows me to price my art and gift merchandise accurately and I know my profit margin.

📈4.  One of my newer spreadsheets that I have started using is one I call my Art Inventory.  I have so many online listings between all my shops that I can't remember what I've gotten done and what I need to be working on.  This spreadsheet gives me a focus.  When I make a listing I document the name, the date I created the listing, and then if I have added the item to all of my online shops.  I also have a column to track if I have posted Pinterest pins, updated mockups and videos for each of the items.  This spreadsheet has really become an invaluable time saving tool for my business.

📈5.  My most recent spreadsheet that I have created is one I use more like a vision or goal board.  I know there are programs that I can pay to track my schedule and keep track of my goals and daily to do lists but I don't really want to learn another program or pay for another monthly subscription.  So I decided I could accomplish much of the same thing on a spreadsheet.  I love how it looks and there is just something about tracking your goals for each month and quarter.  It is available for me no matter where I am and I LOVE that.  

If you are interested in getting more information about any of  these spreadsheets, I would be happy to help.  Just send me a message or leave a comment below.  Just remember, if you are a small business owner,  A SPREADSHEET IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm Drowning Over Here! I'm Up to my Eyeballs in Old Inventory

I'm up to my eyeballs in critters

I wish there was a time in my life where I just knew how to do a process right the first time, but that just isn't the way life goes.  You spend countless resources and materials and time just to realize a year or two, and in my case 10 years, that there is a better way.  

That has been my art journey in a nut shell.  I have spent the last few weeks going through old art prints and cards trying to organize them into categories.  Most importantly, get them out of the bins with all my current work that is currently available for sale on both my website and online shops.  It's been overwhelming to say the least.  You don't want to pitch them into the waste bin, after all these meant a great deal to me just a few years ago.  I had great hopes of crowds gathering around my cute critters inside my tent space at some show and selling out.  Well, those were certainly nice dreams but not my reality.  

Art shows are exciting to participate in. The thrill of talking about your art until your voice is gone, meeting followers face to face and making new friends. With all the pros, they are a tremendous amount of work, and in my opinion, should be left to the younger artists.  Schlepping all that arts, heavy grid panels, tent and tubs of artwork are definitely for the young and young at heart.  Not to mention the adverse weather conditions you may have to contend with.  No, at this stage I think I'm done with trying those outdoor venues.  So, what should I do with all those prints and cards that I have clogging up my studio space?

MYSTERY BAGS! Offering mystery bags is my attempt to spread some joy and smiles that this older art around and recoup just a little bit of the material costs that I have tied up in the printing and paper. Oh, and postage is no little thing these days.  It is over $6 to mail a 16oz parcel almost anywhere in the USA.  So I settled on the price of $35 to help me cover my costs.  There are 8x10, 5x7 and 4x6 prints in the bag, along with note cards, bookmarks, stickers and the kitchen sink.  Just kidding about the sink.

 I've added a listing to both my website, Etsy and Makerplace shops in hopes that I can share some of this cute art and add a few more bucks to my bank account.  Do you think I will have a rush on these MYSTERY BAGS?  Probably not, but I am a believer that "SLOW AND STEADY" pays off.

 

Mystery Bags for Sale on my Website