This was my 4th year having a booth at a local art show put on by the Draper Visual Arts Foundation and it was my most successful year yet! I sold 3 original paintings along with a handful of giclee prints and vinyl stickers.
Delicate Arch in Watercolor
Two New Stickers
I added two new stickers to my shop this week.
The first one is a line I saw from a friend a long time ago. It’s always a line that has stuck with me growing up as a woman in this world. This is the first time I’ve opted to try for a glitter border too and I think it turned out pretty cool. The sticker is 3x2.5 inches and durable vinyl.
The second sticker is a quote I read a while back from author Glennon Doyle and it’s one that I really relate to.
I will have plenty of these stickers in my booth at Draper City’s Art in the Barn on August 25 and 26 and possibly Draper’s Int’l Arts & Crafts Festival too.
Also remember that any sticker purchases include a free 2x2 inch circle sticker of Sundial Peak. You can read about that one here.
New Stickers
Draper's Art in the Barn
Valentine's Day 2022
Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate! This is not a holiday we typically do anything for; feeling that’s it’s mostly driven by retail companies. That being said, creating fun valentines for school parties has become something I do look forward to each year.
This year my oldest son proclaimed “we don’t do valentines in middle school.” I rolled my eyes at him, but whatever.
At least my second grader still does valentines! We opted to go with non-food valentines again this year right when Sticker Mule was having a great sale on 3x3 inch holographic stickers. So he and I worked on a quick and fun design and I got them ordered. Have I mentioned that he loves bacon?
Next up was some kind of card to put the stickers on to give out at his party. We needed something for folks to know who these were from. I created a 4x5 inch card so I could print four on a page. I added a bacon border that matched the sticker and added his name. I had them printed and trimmed at my local Office Depot and they were ready within an hour.
I LOVE how these turned out! Here’s a breakdown of the pricing:
50 vinyl, holographic stickers, roughly 3x3 inch - on sale - $31.10 (incl tax, shipping was free)
12 pages printed on card stock (4 cards per page) and trimmed - $11.84
double-sided tape (we already had some)
Total: $42.94
That came out to $.89 cents per valentine for 48 valentines. There are only 25 kids in my son’s class, but he will also give one to his teacher, the class aides, specials teachers (music, PE, art, Spanish, etc), and the two administrative assistants. The minimum order for the deal on Sticker Mule was 50 stickers, so even if he only gave them out in his class, we’ll have leftover stickers to share with friends or I can list them in my sticker store for a few bucks.
Overall, this wasn’t crazy expensive and I love coming up with a fun way to do non-food, non-candy, allergen-free valentines.
15 Stocking Stuffers for Artists
Artists are often pretty easy to shop for. It’s even easier when you know what kinds of materials and tools they already love because they will always be appreciative of you restocking their supplies. I always have some art supplies on my wishlist; whether they are items I already use and love or items I want to try out, but maybe I’m not willing to spend the money on them yet.
There are lots of affiliate links in here and some that aren’t. If an item isn’t available on Amazon, then it’s not an affiliate link. Shopping thru Amazon links earns me a few cents and is greatly appreciated. If you shop from any non-affiliate link, then you’re just supporting an awesome, small business.
Pocket Palette - The first on my list are my Pocket Palettes; hands down. They are compact, convenient, and customizable. The creators of the Pocket Palette have made three different sizes: the Original Pocket Palette, the Demi Palette is a little smaller, and the Folio Palette is the largest of all three. I have two each of the Pocket Palettes and Folio Palettes; keeping my cool colors in one and warm colors in the other. The magnetic base makes it easy to remove pans for cleaning, refilling, and reorganizing your colors. Pans are available separately too in multiple sizes. I wrote more about my love of the Pocket Palettes a while back, you can read it here.
Collapsible Cup - For watercolor or acrylic painters who love to paint en plein air, there are lots of water brushes on the market that have a little reservoir of water in the handle. Honestly, I don’t love using those brushes. I much prefer to have a cup of water to use and I was thrilled to remember there are about a million collapsible cups on the market that will work. After reading reviews and thinking about how I would use it, I settled on a cup from Sea to Summit. It’s large and wider than most others, so the risk of it tipping over is less; which is nice since it’s usually perched on a rock or tree stump. It fits perfectly in my Art Toolkit too.
Pocket Art Toolkit - I bought myself the larger of Expeditionary Art’s Art Toolkit years ago and I have loved using it when I travel, hike, or whenever I need to take a few art supplies somewhere I will be able to paint. They added a smaller, Pocket Toolkit recently and it’s so stinkin cute. It works wonderfully with the Pocket Palette, a couple of travel brushes, pens, and a 4x6 sketchbook or watercolor pad. It will be my go-to for backpacking next summer. A while back I wrote about how my Art Toolkit helped me get back into plein air painting in 2020, you can read it here.
Wireless Speaker - For an artist who loves to listen to music or an audiobook when painting, consider a portable, wireless speaker for their studio space. I have one from Jabra and it does a wonderful job and can get quite loud when I need it to.
DaVinci Cosmotop Travel Brushes - I stumbled on these brushes at random a few years ago and I bought one to give it a try. They fold down so tiny and they are fantastic. They fit beautifully in my Art Toolkit and can easily be thrown in a backpack pocket if I need them on their own. The handle comes apart in the middle and the brush fits inside the handle where it’s protected.
Fingerless Gloves - My hands often get cold in the winter when I’m painting, and it causes my joints to hurt. I started wearing fingerless gloves when painting or working at my computer and it has helped a ton with joint pain. The fingerless part still lets me have the motor control and dexterity.
Pocket Tripod - I bought this on a whim when I saw it advertised on Instagram one day. It’s a little device that’s about the size of a credit card. It folds into a tripod that can easily hold my smartphone for when I take video of me painting or even just a way to get myself into photos. I have used it quite a bit! It’s lightweight, durable and takes up hardly any space. They are adaptable to any mobile phone too!
Travel Sketchbooks - You can never go wrong with a travel sketchbook. They come in all shapes and sizes, with simple covers or something elaborate with leather. If the artist you know does mostly watercolor or gouache, then I’d look for a book of watercolor paper, or at least mixed media paper. You can level up on your gifting game and head to Etsy for a personalized sketchbook with the artist’s name or a favorite quote on it.
Brushes - For anyone who paints, doesn’t matter if they use oils, acrylics, gouache, watercolor, or any combination, they will always be appreciative receiving paint brushes. If you can find out their favorite brand, then I’d recommend getting them. Watercolor brushes especially, can be prohibitively expensive, so when I can find a brush that does an amazing job and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, I am happy to share. My current favs are Princeton Velvetouch because they’re versatile, can be used with a variety of mediums, and are quite affordable. Trekell is another brand I really love and I recently bought vegan watercolor brushes from an artist I follow, Polina Bright, and they are so dreamy to use!
Apple Pencil - For any artist with an iPad Pro or any other model that’s compatible with the Apple Pencil, consider getting one. It opens up a whole new world of digital media for your artist and it fits wonderfully in a stocking.
Palm Rejection Gloves - For the friend or family member whom you bought an Apple Pencil for, consider spending a couple more bucks for a palm rejection glove. This is simply a glove that only covers the pinky and ring fingers and makes it a lot easier to draw on an iPad and not have your palm mess with your drawing. This is especially handy with drawing apps like Procreate.
Electric Eraser - For artists who do a lot of drawing with graphite or even a painter who starts out with pencil drawings, consider getting them an electric eraser. This thing is awesome at erasing the smallest of lines and smudges and it’s wonderful at getting very precise areas. Plus, it's really fun to use!
Markers - For most artists, you can’t go wrong with some nifty new markers. Whether they’re high-end brush pens, calligraphy pens, or more, most of us are happy to have them to doodle. My favorites are from Tombow and Copic, and I love my watercolor brush pens from budget brand Arteza. I love Zebra Fude and Faber Castell for waterproof markers where I can draw first and then use watercolor on top.
Mini Canvases - Painting on an itty-bitty surface can be a really fun challenge; especially if someone is used to paining on a much larger scale. It’s amazing how small canvases come these days. I have a few that are 4x4 inches on my fridge and even some that are 2x2 inches that I’m hoping to turn into ornaments. I have even seen some that come with little easels to display the little canvases.
Stickers - Support an artist and buy stickers of their artwork. As an artist myself, I always love to buy stickers from fellow artists. Sometimes it’s the most affordable way for someone to own a piece of art. Artists I follow who sell gorgeous stickers: Drawn To High Places, Block21Prints, Claire’s Wanderings, Karen Hallion, Sophia Trinh, Lizzy Dalton and MY SITE.
I hope this list helps a little when it comes to shopping for the artists in your life. If you are shopping for a young artist then obviously all of these apply to them as well, but for even younger, check out this post: 15 Gift Ideas for Young Artists.
If you’re an artist or creative, what would you add to this list?
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?