Product of the Month - October 2021 - Companies

It’s mid-October and I’m running out of products to feature for this series! This may be the last month unless I can think of something to feature next month.

This month I’m sharing some of the companies I patronize to help run my small business.

Blick Art Materials - Blick has been my resource for art supplies since I was in college. Too many times, I would be on a deadline and need a specific color of oil paint, a canvas in a specific size, or some special type of paper. I would head to my local Michael’s and they wouldn’t have the ONE item I needed in stock. It’s something I still see, even after almost 20 years. I know that Blick will have what I need in stock. I’m lucky that I have a brick and mortar store within a 30 minute drive, but they are wonderful with online shipping too. I do have a Hobby Lobby close by, but I’d rather drive out of my way to shop at Blick than to give Hobby Lobby my money.

Office Depot - I have been using Office Depot for birthday invitations, announcements, signs, flyers, and holiday cards for years. I’ve tried Staples, FedEx Office and the UPS Store and I always end up back at Office Depot. The quality and turnaround time have always been wonderful. Their website makes it easy to upload artwork, select print options, and place my order at home. Very often, my order is ready for pickup within an hour. Depending on how quickly I need something printed, they have sometimes been able to print while I wait when I walk in with a flash drive. There have even been a few times where a flyer I needed printed turned out wrong or with some printing errors. They have always been quick to fix it and reprint with no issues.

Sticker Ninja & Sticker Mule - I have been using both Sticker Ninja and Sticker Mule to have my watercolor paintings turned into stickers. The print quality is fantastic and I love that I can choose my size and go with a matte finish. Looking and feeling them side-by-side, you can’t tell the difference!

Overnight Prints - I have had holiday cards printed with Overnight Prints multiple times and I have always been happy with the print quality and price. They are often a few bucks less than VistaPrint and I love that I can opt for rounded corners each once in a while. I have been considering having some calendars printed with them, so stay tuned for that.

Mpix - Mpix has been my go-to for high-quality photo printing for years and last year I started having some of my watercolor paintings professionally printed by them. The print quality is amazing and I love that they offer a paper that has a slight texture for their giclée prints.

SmugMug - I have been using SmugMug for years for photo storage and backup. I pay an annual fee and have unlimited storage for photos and videos. I had a hard drive completely die on me last year, but I knew I had a ton of photos backed up on SmugMug. I can easily set up different galleries and share them with friends and family so they can download them at full size or custom sizes; which I can’t do via email all the time. I can set the security so that it’s completely hidden from random internet searches and I can set up a password-protected gallery if needed. It’s been a wonderful tool to have.

Creative Market - Fonts, graphics packs, brushes, Lightroom and Photoshop presets and actions, fonts, templates, mockups, fonts, website themes, and stock images. Did I mention fonts? Creative Market is a wonderful resource for any designer. Their freebies on Mondays are really nice too.

What are some websites you use for your small business?

Watercolor Prints are Here!

I’m doing a trial run of selling watercolor prints. I ordered a few and I’ll list them for sale. If there is enough interest and I can get them shipped with little-to-no hiccups, then I will order more and in some larger sizes.

Right now I have these available to order as giclée prints. Giclée is a printing method that ensures vibrant color and fantastic detail using archival inks. These are printed on acid-free, archival paper that has a matte finish and a subtle watercolor texture. I’m really happy with the print quality.

There are only a few available for each of the 5x7 and 8x8 prints. You can order them here or click on any photo and it’ll take you to the link to purchase.

Sundial Peak and Lake Blanche - Brighton, UT

Lower Calf Creek Falls - Boulder, UT

Babylon Arch - Hurricane, UT

Coyote Gulch - Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Corona Arch - Moab, UT

I have decided that Corona Arch here won’t be available in any print larger than 8x8. The original painting is about 5x5 inches and when enlarged, the stars will start to look weird as they are enlarged too. Someday, I’ll repaint this on larger paper so it can make for a prettier print in bigger sizes.

What should I paint next?? I have a few pretty places on my list from the Uinta Mountains in Utah AND also a few spots in California. Stay tuned.

New Look!

I mentioned a while back that it usually takes me a long time to design a logo for myself. I think I went six years once with the same logo simply because I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. I made a new logo in 2018, and I felt ready for something new again in 2020.

Here’s my new logo; nice and simple. I’m kind of loving it.

The past few years have brought a little bit of a shift in the focus of my work; focusing more on contract work with companies and branding. I have reorganized the artwork on my website to focus much less on event invitations and party stuff. I am still happy to create that stuff, but it’s no longer my main focus. It turns out that creating a logo for myself kind of goes hand in hand with figuring out what the focus of my work is. I have been tremendously lucky to get to contract with a couple of amazing companies in the last few years and I really love the work.

I printed my business cards with Overnight Prints and I love how they turned out.

In addition to this refocus, I have always had watercolor as a part of my life, so it was fitting for it to still be prominent in my logo. With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing us to cancel travel plans, I took to my painting to virtually escape to the places I had hoped to visit and I built a little branch of my business with it.

I started with creating a YouTube channel (with some serious encouragement from my oldest son) and I started posted timelapse videos of some of my paintings. From there I started having these paintings printed as stickers and, as of last week, they are now for sale. Click HERE to see what I have for sale. I am going to try and get two more paintings done before the end of the year and then I’ll end my Utah’s Public Lands Series and look at starting a different series; or I may just paint some of my favorite outdoor spaces. I already have a finished painting of Delicate Arch from Arches National Park, but I’m not sure if I want to do a series on National Parks. We’ll see.

One thing I do know, I want to eventually have high-quality prints available of these paintings. In January, it’s on my to-do list to research printing options and find out what it’ll take to have a limited number of prints made, maybe I’ll sign them, and what will be involved with shipping them to customers and make sure they make it there in good shape.

If anyone has recommendations on a printer, please share in the comments! Even better if they can print on paper that feels like watercolor paper.