Project of the Week!

If you are anything like me, you don't really want to think about the holidays yet. But they are only 3 months away now, and if you are planning on making your own gifts it may just be time to get started if you want to avoid the last minute panic! So, whether you are setting out with gifts in mind, or you just want something fun to do, I am now introducing the "Project of the Week!"
Every week from now until the holidays, I'll be introducing something fun and creative for you to do.

This weeks project is throw pillows! Indigo and I spent the day yesterday working on these guys. The inspiration came from my beloved Joy Division t-shirt. It was part of my high-school uniform (along with combat boots, ripped jeans and a trench coat--haha!), and through all of the wear it has seen in its sad little t-shirt life, it was just no longer suited for wearing. Threadbare and torn, but I simply could not let it go. So I decided to give it a 2nd life as an awesome throw pillow!

Since it is Joy Division, it lends itself automatically to some gothy-punk tears, so I layered it against some black velvet, gave it a black velvet backside as well, and left the tears right where they were. I added some safety pins too, in memory of my high school fashion sense :)

Of course I can't leave Indigo out when I'm doing a fun project! We found a little pillow that I had started ages ago but never stuffed or finished sewing. She went through my pile of fabric remnants and found the colors and patterns she liked, then drew and cut out these cute little zebras, hearts, and stars. Neither of us being master seamstresses (and I don't have a sewing machine so I am all about the short cuts!), we glued her little scene on with a hot glue gun. The bottom looks a bit ragged because we ran out of stuffing, so I just stuffed it with some other fabric for the purpose of the photo, but we still have to stuff and sew it this week.

Want to try your hand at this, but don't have any fabric? Here are some great Etsy fabric shops from my Etsy Supply Street Team (ESST):
http://tliss.etsy.com
http://beesquarefabrics.etsy.com
http://fabricstash.etsy.com
http://fabricstash2.etsy.com
http://kimonomomo.etsy.com
http://EllaHound.etsy.com
http://FabricSamples.etsy.com
http://samplescrap.etsy.com

Annual Autumn Post

"Swing" 2008 by Lea Keohane. All Rights Reserved.

Every Fall I seem to find myself writing about my absolute love for this season. This year, however, I think this drawing says it all. Sold yesterday to a lovely friend, but I will certainly be offering prints in the near future. Enjoy!

Oh! Before I go, I must send you over to Indie Parade, where one of my little pendants is being featured today.

New Supplies and a feature from TinyFig!

Today I was one of the featured Etsy supply sellers on TinyFig's blog! Thank you Tiny Fig!!

It is a busy day, because I am also listing a lot of new supplies, including four new prints of Japanese Washi paper and a super-cool butterfly ephemera kit. You may have also noticed that I have been adding a lot of other great supplies, including scrabble tiles (don't forget to enter my scrabble tile challenge!), wooden disks, Diamond Glaze, gold-toned adjustable rings, and more! Some of these are limited stock items, and others will be continuing inventory. All of them are a lot of fun, though, so come and take a look!

Why?!? Please tell me why!

Okay, normally I don't blog about t.v. Normally, I prefer to watch t.v. series on dvd, at my own pace (which, admittedly, is usually marathon). But this Fall I don't have a lot going on Monday nights, and I *LOVE* Heroes. I have watched the first two seasons (marathon style!) on dvd. I may have even watched the 1st season two times....

Anyway, season 3 is not yet out on dvd. Yet season 4 is starting tonight on NBC. Am I advertising for them? Heck no! I am pissed! (Okay, so maybe "pissed" is a little overboard.)

Dear NBC: You will get more prime time watchers if you release the previous season on dvd BEFORE you air the new one!!! Will I be watching tonight? No, my dears, I most certainly won't. I should be thanking you for keeping my Monday nights free for things like painting rather than rotting my brain on your show. So there. Hm!

p.s. Netflix, please send me Heroes Season 3 asap. I think I am getting cold sweats and shivers from withdrawal...

p.s.s. I know, I'm a dork :)

Latest and Greatest

2008 by Lea Keohane. All Rights Reserved.

I just finished painting this little gentleman yesterday. Today I got to go to Rose City Vet Clinic to pass it off to Becky, the person who commissioned the portrait. You may also remember her adorable dog that I painted earlier this year:

2008 by Lea Keohane. All Rights Reserved.

Becky is the sweetest! She is so happy with her portraits, she's waiting to get a photo of her 3rd baby for me to do another commission. I was also really exited to find that all of the portrait flyers I'd left at the clinic had been taken, so I left a few more and talked to another employee and one of their customers about having their pet's portraits done too! Yay for networking!

When I started out with this portrait venture, I was really nervous, as I normally paint people (of course, I am also doing people portraits!!). I know that I have very good drawing and painting skills, but still my confidence wavered as I moved into a new realm. Honestly, I wasn't even sure whether or not I would like painting pets! But with each new commission I find it more and more enjoyable. It is so much fun to capture the expression in these furry friends, and the happiness it gives to their owners is irreplaceable.

Speaking of which, I have two more to get to work on! Here I go!

Scrabble Tile Challenge!

By now most of you are probably well aware of the ubiquitous scrabble tile pendant. My friend Ryan of LittlePutBooks covered them in beautiful Italian and Japanese papers and sold them hand over fist in cute little decorated tins. Many other Etsy sellers took up the same idea and ran with it, and Ryan has since sold the scrabble tile business in exchange for some personal down-time.

Still, the cuteness and craft potential of the Scrabble tile has not disappeared! I am now selling the tiles in packages of 100 in my shop. If you want to make your own washi-covered pendants but aren't sure how, Ryan has a fantastic tutorial. I would like to challenge you, however, to make something new and different with these multi-purpose little tiles! Perhaps a different type of jewelry, your own game, even a sculpture or fantastic piece of altered art or collage. Send me your photos of your finished projects, and I will post them here in my blog. At the end of September, one lucky winner will get a $10 gift certificate to be used in either one of my shops. I can't wait to see what you make!

The first entry is from http://LydiaLayne.etsy.com This is her own version of a scrabble tile pendant in which she uses graphics that allow the natural wood of the tile show through:

Being Green!

"What She Becomes," 2008 by Lea Keohane. All Rights Reserved.

I have always been passionate about taking care of the environment. At the same time, I love cute packaging, and I want every one of my customers to know, when they receive their order, that it was packaged with care and that I am grateful for their business! There are some things--like bubble envelopes, for example--that simply can't be replaced for the safety of shipping my items. I wanted to make my business more green-friendly, however, so there are some simple steps that I have taken. Some of them I have always done, others are more recent changes:

*Rather than using the plastic baggies that have a sticky flap, as often as possible I use zip-lock bags. I keep more than one size on hand at all times, and always try to use the smallest one possible for the order it contains. That way I can use as little plastic as possible, and my customers can find ways to re-use them!

*When I receive orders in plastic bags, I store them away and re-use them whenever I can.

*I rarely need to use packing peanuts, but when I do need them, I NEVER buy new ones! I save the ones I receive from the orders I place and just use those. In the rare cases in the past when I have needed to buy them, I went to a fantastic local store--Carton Services--which sells secondhand shipping supplies. I can buy a 6 foot tall bag of them for around $20! Which saves me money and keeps them out of the landfill.

*I used to print out every single transaction receipt. I felt bad about using so much paper (although I do buy recycled printer paper), but I thought it was easier to track and ship my orders, and double-check Etsy vs. PayPal addresses. Then I did a test-run without printing. I found it just as easy to keep track of everything and it stopped me from getting a cramp in my back from being hunched over my orders on the floor for hours on end (now I have to get up and down on a regular basis--yay for my back!). To keep track of packages and correct addresses, I now write my customer's names and the 1st line of their address and zip code to double check agains PayPal when I go to ship. Now I hardly ever have to buy printer paper, and I have saved myself so much filing space! I just print out a CSV file of all of my Etsy transactions at the end of the month--3 or 4 pages versus 2-300!

*My washi sample packs are one of my most popular items. One of the best things about these is that I can save great washi scraps from otherwise hitting the landfills. After I cut all of the best, most usable scraps up for the packs, I donate the rest to SCRAP--an awesome local non-profit that re-sells used craft supplies. I also have a box set aside to bring to them whenever I gather enough un-needed supplies that I can't re-sell. I LOVE that place!

I know there are other things that I do, but they are not coming to mind at the moment :) I always try to keep Mother Nature in mind, though, in business and in the rest of my life. If you have any great tips, ideas, or suggestions for greening your business, post them here!

Weekend Project--Crayons!

This weekend was a blast! Friday night was a great time at the show; I had a most delicious dinner and margaritas cooked by my lovely friend Katie and shared with her husband, Chris; I caught up with my friend Jill; I even managed to spend time with a new friend. I'm not normally such a social butterfly, but it was just what I needed.

Between all of this socializing, I also managed to get some new supplies listed in my shop! I recently added a destash/limited stock section with some really fun stuff. Finally, I did a new and super-fun project--made crayons!!! These whimsical lovelies were given a new, rejuvenated life from Indigo's old broken-up crayon graveyard. I have listed one set of three in my shop--the others will be coming throughout the next couple of days.

Here's to a great week!

First Friday SE Artwalk--come see a great show!

"Antiquated," 2008 by Lea Keohane. All Rights Reserved.

Several months ago I answered a call for artists by Yelp and Adrienne Fritze of Working Artists Network. The idea was to take phone books and create art with them. The artists involved created a wide range of very interesting pieces, from clothing to paintings and more!

For my own contribution, I decoupaged pieces of a phone book onto a masonite board, then created a stencil of a 1920's telephone and stenciled it on. I wanted to incorporated one of my female characters, but I wasn't sure at first how to make her an important part of the piece. So, inspired by my friend Cara's brilliant Art Nouveau paintings, I decided to put her in a great flapper costume. The idea behind this painting is that, in the age of computers, phone books are a thing of the past. Which they certainly are in my own household! I get a pang of guilt every time new ones show up at my doorstep, as they go straight to the recycle bin.

The phone book mashup project, in conjunction with rdEVOLUTION, a project in which artists explored inter-species survival, will be on display for two months, with an opening tomorrow, Friday September 5th, at the Olympic Mills Commerce Center, at 107 SE Washington St., from
6-8 pm. If you are in Portland, this is a must-see event with new work from over 20 amazing Portland artists!

September!

Wow, I know it sounds cliche to say this, but the months are flying by. What happened to August?!? Indigo is starting 3rd grade tomorrow! My poor little blog has been seriously neglected. Time for a review of my August goals:

ART
*I managed to stay calm during my show at the Show & Tell Gallery, despite a massive crowd! It was really fun, and I sold a couple of pieces at the closing reception at the end of the month.
*I also had a great attitude about the PDX Etsy show, and actually had better sales than any other fair so far this year!
*I worked on my grant application, but didn't finish it yet. I don't know what my block is--the application is not that complex >:(
*I also have not applied for more fine art shows yet--time to get on it!

SUPPLYRIOT
*Thanks to some of the amazing people in my life, I did find extra funding for supplies, as well as some great ideas on where to buy them!
*I created--and sold out!--shrinky-dink magnet diy kits, and created a bunch of great altered art kits as well!
*I destashed a number of my own supplies, and created a new section in my shop specifically for destash & limited items!


As for September, I am hesitant to post my goals for the month. I have been going through some personal issues that have distracted me from a lot of things, so my primary goal for the month is to deal with those issues. I have 2 shows this month (more to come on that!), so I need to increase my stock for the 2nd one. Beyond that, my goal is to prepare both of my shops for the holidays, increase my inventory in both, and go over my business finances to see where they can be tightened up. Which also means lots of blog posts to come! :)