My Cheesy Cards and E-Commerce

Wow...Where has this week gone?  It is THURSDAY already!   That means the weekend is almost here.  When I look back on this week I feel I’ve been both productive and creative and that makes me feel good.  While I didn’t spend a ton of time in the studio creating new original art, I have worked hard on coming up with some new designs that I have uploaded online to RedBubble.com and my new print on demand love, Cafe Press.  I've created a number of new Etsy Shop listings and updated my EBay site. 

RedBubble.com logo

Yesterday, I just happened to log in to Cafe Press (I guess almost 2 years ago I created an account and uploaded 4 images but I had forgotten) and I was completely amazed to learn that I had sales and I have a whole $10.18 in my Cafe Press account.  What would happen if I uploaded my really cute designs?  So, I think I will give this site a chance also.  I love how Cafe Press automatically matches your image to their products.  RedBubble is a bit more time consuming to add a new images because you have to manually adjust your images to their products.  I can spend up to 15 minutes fixing all the shirts, cups, clocks and duvet covers to make my image look good.  With Cafe Press you just have to add a title, description and keywords and that is it.  Super easy!  So let that Cafe Press royalty checks start rolling in. 

One other difference between the two print on demand sites is that RedBubble pays you the royalties right away even if it is only pennies, while CafePress pays out when you reach a certain dollar level of royalties.  The least amount you can select is $25 but as you can see I am almost half way there now.

Amazon.com logo

Also, as of yesterday I began uploading coffee mug designs to my new seller account on Amazon.com.  Now that is a bit more complicated.  I had to even buy 1000 UPC codes on EBay to actually get my first listing to upload.  I’m not sure they are actually sellable yet.  As of my last check last night the 5 cups were still showing unavailable.  Today, I will try to figure that out.  Maybe it seems to you I am spreading myself a bit thin over all these sites, but I am determined that by 2019 I will start making a regular passive income from my art designs and I just don’t think you can expect that without spreading your work around to more than one major internet commerce site.  

Simple Drawing

So let me talk about my newest design for a moment.   I had so much fun coming up with this fun piece.  The design goes from an idea in my head (I know scary right?)  to a simple pencil drawing in my sketchbook.  Here is the scan I did from the sketch.  So far I have outlined the drawing in a fine pen line but with my next drawing I’m just going to try it with pencil or lighten the lines in Photoshop.

Original Artwork with Color

After I have the image scanned, I print it out on art paper.  In this case, I used watercolor paper but sometimes I like to use my Strathmore Bristol paper if the medium is going to be color pencil or pen and ink.  I then add the color and all the pen and ink detail.  At this point, I have created an orginal artwork that I can matte and sell but I’m not done.  The really fun part is yet to come.  I return the piece to the scanner and scan my image again.  This gives me the ability to print our prints to sell or to use to create greeting cards and magnets to sell at festivals and galleries.

The scanned image is valuable because I can then pull it back into Photoshop and use elements of it to create brand new digital compositions.  I can add text to create funny posters and cards.  Really the sky is the limit.  This little mouse has all kinds of future potential.

Here is some of the examples of designs I created using this little mouse in a hole idea and the my Etsy Shop link that will take you to some of the products.

Julie Townsend Studio-Etsy Shop

Birthday Card 1

Birthday Card 2

    

Mockup I created of the poster

8 x 10 poster on my Etsy Shop

Then I decided to use some royalty free digital images to have some fun with the same mouse and cheese design.  I created this image for a "CHEESY MUG" and then even added a "CHEESY GIFT" variation for be printed on other types of merchandise.  I think it is eye catching and humorous and I'm hoping to have many sales in the future from it.  Only time will tell and I will keep you all informed as to this journey I am on and the lessons I am learning.  Cheesy Mug Listing on Etsy

I can spell CHIHUAHUA now!

My Original Watercolor/Pen and Ink Sketch turned into a Poster

Ginger

I always struggled with spelling the word Chihuahua but not any more.  I guess all it takes is for me to create a piece of artwork and then type the word about a bazillion times as I'm coming up with all the keywords and social marketing posts.  I think I've got this word figured out finally and that is probably a really good thing since I actually own a chihuahua named Ginger.

My newest Etsy Shop listing is of this in adorable Chihuahua dog poster that is completely downloadable and printable.  This gives you the ability to instantly print it out as many times as you would like for the one low price of $5.25.  You can even use the image to print out your own greeting cards.  As long as you are using the file for your personal use only and  not selling the image I'm good with you using the file over and over. I'm just thrilled that you like my work.
  
Julie Townsend Studio on Etsy

I have also listed this image on my Redbubble.com site.  The think that I love about Redbubble is that they print your art out on all types of merchandise and pay you your royalties right away.  That is important as artist.   

 Julie Townsend Studio on RedBubble.com

T-Shirt on Redbubble

IPhone case with my artwork on RedBubble.com

I Love my RedBubble Bubblebees

A Bumblebee that I sketched

I am at about a week and half of my proclaimed "Art Sabbatical" and I'm trying to stay focused.  I have probably spent more time on the computer in Photoshop than I have creating art these past couple days.

My time has mostly been spent working out designs on a number of products to fill my Zazzle Shop.  While I have had no sales yet on Zazzle, I am having a lot of fun creating this unique items that feature my artwork. I do believe that if I keep creating cute designs that sales will come.  Right now I have mostly focused on t-shirts and coffee mugs, as these I would guess would be favorites for gift purchases.

Here is one thing I did manage to create in the past few days.  Just a little sketch in my sketchbook of a bumblebee.  Funny enough, I actually got a lot of positive response from this little sketch on my social media accounts.  One thing I do not have access to is my scanner/printer here on my little art get-away so I have only my cellphone to capture and share my artwork right now.  That didn't stop me as you will see further in this blog post all the designs I have created using just this one little lone bumblebee.

A t-shirt created from my artwork "Up, Up and Away" 

I'm trying the service out by ordering two matching t-shirts for my granddaughters whose birthdays are coming up in just a few weeks.  I was very pleased yesterday to find that I was ordering them just as Zazzle was offering a 50% off on all t-shirt orders.  That was a double bonus in my books.  I will blog about the quality of the t-shirts and how I feel as the artist when I see my design on printed fabric.

The one thing I really like about Zazzle.com is the ability to actually design your item.  You can upload multiple images and add text using a variety of fun looking fonts. This gives you the ability to make a variety of text or image changes to your product allowing for the ease in creating similar but unique products.  I like this freedom.   My other shops on Etsy and RedBubble do not allow this freedom.  You will have to work in Photoshop to have the designs completed first and then upload them for each item separately.  Etsy charges you .20 for each product and the stress there is having up to 10 really good photo images of your handmade item.

Redbubble.com, like Zazzle, offer a wide variety of products for you to put your image on.  It states on it's website that it is a Global Marketplace for Independent Artists.  What I really appreciate about Redbubble is the fact that it allows your image to be uploaded on all the products at the same time.  You just can work your way down the page making edits to the images based on each products. There is a wide range of products range so your image can be ordered on items like t-shirts, scarves, notebooks and clocks.

Bubblebees added to my pink peony design

Here are a few of the images that I created this week that focus on just that one bumblebee sketch.  I have added flowers of different varieties, scriptures verses and created a repeating pattern that would work well on gift bags, wrapping paper and maybe even tablecloths.  I fell I am getting one step closer to creating a portfolio for art licensing.

flowers from pngtree.com - bumblebee is my original artwork

 Artwork used to make the repeating pattern

Creating a repeating pattern using the Bumblebee

Email from RedBubble notifying me of 1 of my 2 sales for the day

I should note that I have had some of my images on RedBubble for quite sometime but have just recently started updating the site with my newest works.  I was beyond thrilled yesterday when I received notification not once, but twice that I had sold items on RedBubble with my images on them.  Now royalties are much to really write about, but the great thing about "Print on Demand" is that once you have taken the time to upload the image the money is really effort free.  I just wait to collect my automatic PalPal deposit.  The image "Bees in Flowers-Yellow", I had just uploaded a few hours before.  Here is the email notification I received.  I love how encouraging it is.  I'm hoping to start seeing royalties from both Zazzle and RedBubble become a monthly occurrence.

I just wanted to show off one last thing I created in Zazzle yesterday.  I created buttons for Brad and I to wear at art shows or festivals that identify who I am as the artist just like a name badge would.  The button I made for Brad is rather humorous so I just had to share.  He claims he WILL wear it but we shall see.








To check out all my products just click on these links and let me know what you think.

Julie Townsend- Zazzle Shop

Julie Townsend- Redbubble

Julie Townsend- Etsy Shop

Etsy or Ebay....That is an Excellent Question????

Way back in 2010, when I had just begun to paint, I thought the thing for me to do was to open an Etsy Store.  I think I uploaded a total of 3 paintings, got a few page views and one comment and quickly I became disinterested in the whole thing. Frankly, the thought of paying $ .20 for each listing and the fact that poorly painted canvas pieces were not a good match for that platform.  Fast forward 6 years and today I'm chopping at the bit to get my artwork out there on Etsy. 

My artwork has changed a great deal and I feel that with these changes the pieces are much more suitable for an online marketing venue.  My illustrations and drawings are becoming more popular.  I have chosen Etsy along with FineArtAmerica.com, RedBubble.com and Zazzle.com as platforms to get my images out there.  Etsy is a bit different than the last three vendors I mentioned.  With FineArtAmerica, Redbubble and Zazzle I just upload my images and if that image is chosen by a customer to be added to some merchandise such as a pencil bag, pillow or a shirt, they handle the whole process and just mail me a commission check. This is pretty sweet way to make some money with just a little effort up front but so far I haven't made enough money to even blog about it.

Etsy is more like a real store that I am in control of.  I handle all the orders and inventory and I stand to make much more profit on each sale. It's constant work and needs weekly attention from me but I think it will be way more satisfying overall.   Again, like anything worth while, it takes time.  I understand very well that this isn't an overnight process but rather a slow building of a fan base.  

I am no Etsy expert so this past week to help my store performance I started to do some research. Why re-invent the wheel when there are some really successful stores out there who have all four wheels rolling at full speed?  I want to sell art prints, cards and magnets that feature my artwork.  So I found a store called Paper Llamas that had digital prints of baby animals along with a number of other subjects.  I checked their sales statistics and was very impressed that they had sold nearly 9500 sales since opening their store in 2011.  Compared to my 1 sale these guys are Etsy giants.  I noticed that I posted just a single high resolution image of my art while they often posted images that showed their work framed and matted hanging on the wall.  They sold their prints both individually and in groupings.  Having them framed and matted gives the buyer a chance to visualize the art nicely displayed on their own wall.  That was smart!

Yesterday, I set up a staging area and tried to get that same hung art feeling by adding a few Christmas props and a nice wooden frame.  I used the camera on my cell phone but for my effort I think I got a much better image to compliment my work and promote my listings.  My shop received 3 favorites just yesterday alone.  That is a good sign.

My titles were a disaster.  I thought they wanted the title of the artwork but I realized after studying this successful store that this is where I need to get creative and add as many searchable phrases as possible.  I just made the artwork title the first line in the description because the image is from an original piece of art that I have taken the time to give it a name I want to include that name in the listing, just not on the title line.

They also used a variation drop down menu that gave them the ability to offer different sizes and prices for their work.  Seeing this was like a light bulb going off in my head.  Why have a separate listing for a card, a magnet or a print when I could accomplish it all with one listing?  My store will forever be much tidier and easier to manage thanks to this light bulb moment. 

My goals for 2017 for my Etsy Store is 75 products in my inventory, 500 individual sales and 100 favorite rating for the store.  I am going to also give ebay a try and see if the potential for art sales is there also.  Some artists swear ebay is better than Etsy and so I need to figure this out for myself.  

As I learn from my experiences, I will be blogging about what I have found to be successful and what has worked for me.  To sell an original canvas painting for several hundred dollars is great and I surely appreciate those moments.  They just don't happen nearly enough.  I want to supplement our retirement income with art sales and perhaps even allow additional income to continue even when I am no longer able to create.  I want to never be tempted again to take an accounting or tax preparation job. 

I have come to the conclusion in my own art path that brick and mortar galleries can only do so much to get my work out there.  I have to take ownership of my own promotion and art destiny and those small sales, I believe will add up and surpass any sale of the original piece.  I am going to be building my business one greeting card, one magnet or one print at a time.

Here is the link to my Etsy Store if you are interested in checking it out.  Remember it's a work in progress and this progress has really just begun.

Here are some images I took yesterday for my Etsy Store listings: