Visit to Abuelita Sarah

My niece Claudia and I went to visit my grandmother last Saturday. Our previous plan was that we were going to see her to spend time with her and bake some of her fabulous desserts! but unfortunately she wasn't feeling so much up for it so we just spent time with her until we completely exhausted her from our visit. Claudia had a wonderful chat with her about her life and what she wants to do in the future, maybe a future vet? Needless to say we enjoyed spending time with her, she told me some stories about her life in Cuba that I could include in her book, and gave me a couple of her wonderful dessert recipes (which I am not sure if the amounts are correct, "un poquito" = a little bit of this a little bit of that" kind of recipe. When we left, we promised to come back and the three us will bake together. After our visit, Claudia and I went to Merrick Park Village, had some lunch and window shop for a bit. It was a beautiful day spending time with my two lovely girls!

Personal Project

I am lucky enough to say that I still have a grandmother alive; her name is like mine Sarah and she is 95 years old..there are no words to exactly describe her except that she's truly a inspirational woman. There has always been something about her and my grandfather Gerardo (who passed away many years ago) that is just special, as a couple they were the kind people that when they walked into a room everyone wanted to meet them; both always made everyone feel special. Months ago, as you may know now I am always brainstorming projects, I wanted to do something special as a tribute to my grandmother and write a story about her...and yes! it will also have a deadline: December 2009 (as a Christmas present). I will also be sharing with you the process and please feel free to give "constructive criticism" I always welcome it!

Julie and Julia

This weekend Jim and I went to see the movie Julie and Julia. Needless to say, I loved it! I have always had great fascination for people who follow their passion regardless of age, financial situation and peer pressures. Maybe because deep inside they have the incredible faith and courage that for so long I haven't had. This movie was inspiring and I felt that I could relate so much with Julie. For one, I have been the person that always had so many ideas and started many things but never finished them and second, I didn't truly believe in myself to be able to succeed.

It has been over a year since I created this Blog and having this outlet made me accountable to finish my projects, as well and most importantly keep my passion about art alive. I realize that responsibilities and just "things" can continuously distracts us from our goals, but this should never be an excuse. Through this Blog I have learned that sometimes we may not know where this journey will take us but it’s definitely good to be true to yourself.

Among my goals were opening a store which I have done. I have quite a long list of things to do such as: Include more art for sale, prepare a small press release, mailing lists etc.. but in the midst of this, I have been working on a personal project that is very dear to me and will be sharing with you more about it this week. Whoever you are in this Cyber World, I hope you can share with me your comments that are so much appreciate it!

Opening the store

I have been preparing this weekend all the written information for the store. I read many shops' profiles from both Etsy and Artfire to sort of give me an idea of what I need to write. Knowing myself I will be going back and editing. Most importantly, in this process is to keep the ball rolling and remind myself that nothing is perfect and I just have to make changes as I go. When writing your profile always remember to be yourself but also keep your information simple.

The next step has been setting up the stores at Artfire and Etsy. This is a snapshot of Artfire. I will give you more feedback as I learn more.

Experimenting

Remember when I mentioned that in this process you have to be open for trial and error? Well, As much as I wanted to include my bicycle in the shop banner it just didn't look right. Here is the final banner:

STEP 2: Pictures and Choosing Art Work

This step and pricing are probably one of the hardest things for me to do. Many questions arise: What "print size" options should I offered? How many prints should I start with? and so on.. As I went through a series of pictures, I decided that maybe starting with too many may not be a good approach, perhaps around 10-12 to start of would be a good idea and see what kind of responses I receive (I hope I do!). Also, I decided to start with an 8x10 print and offer the option of 5x7 as well. Quality and presentation are important, after all aren't people buying the art work because its soo appealing? Print Quality is important, the kind of paper you use and how the packaging is done. I have purchased my shipping materials at two places that I highly recommend (Actually it was recommended by our teacher from the Fish Bowl :): Uline and Clearbags.

I know I have mentioned it before but take advantage of the Sell Guides that ArtFire and Etsy offer. I was reading at Etsy on advice in how to take pictures and it has been extremely helpful. You just have to sign up with them so that you can have access to these hand manuals.

Oh! did I mentioned pricing? As an artist is always difficult to put a price in our work and really value ourselves. In the online course "Fish Bowl" I learned that one of the tools that can help you out in pricing is keeping in mind the following: YOUR COST, TIME and what do you need to make in order to live comfortably..after all we are allowed to make a living out something we love...but I will leave this topic for next time!

Banner for the Shop

I got so ahead of myself these past few days that I forgot to post my two final banners for the shop, I am more inclined to use the bicycle banner and try to keep everything consistent and go from there. My recommendation is that always be sure to read the specs from the online stores, for example in Art Fire's the banner needs be 760x100 pixels. Always work with the size that is required from the beginning so that you don't loose any quality/resolution.


Next Step: STORE PICTURES
This weekend I started taking pictures for the store, I am soo excited!! I will post some this week.