I just found out about a giveaway on Jolly Mom's blog for a Nookcolor. You can read books, magazines, listen to music, check out your facebook and much more. It has so many cool features, my favorite being that it is backlit for reading at night. I love falling asleep reading but I don't like getting up to turn the light off. This would be so cool to own. I hadn't even heard of this little gadget until today.

Check out Jolly Mom's blog at www.jollymom.com to find out more about this giveaway. You can also purchase the Nookcolor at Barne's and Noble www.barnesandnoble.com.

A New Year

Happy New Year 2011!

I resolve to be very creative this year.

I'm seriously thinking of getting involved with Illustration Friday. It looks like they have a lot of fun and it's a great way to get the creative juices flowing. This week their theme is "Resolutions". I love looking at all the eye candy.

Check it out....

http://illustrationfriday.com/

Website

I'm FINALLY updating my website at http://www.sweetartworks.com

I'm looking for licensors! I have a lot of work ahead.

These are some etsy banners, with matching business cards and avatars that I have completed.

I don't have time to do fully customized banners and business cards, as I'm concentrating more of my time on my art licensing portfolio, but if you like any of these, I can customize them with your business info or change the colors a bit. Just let me know. My fees are reasonable. I use http://www.overnightprints.com or http://www.vistaprint.com specifications for the business cards so you can upload them to their websites yourself from your own account and only re-order as many as you need at a time.

I created this design for an acquaintance of mine that needed an image for a t-shirt for little children. She had adopted a precious little Chinese girl. They were having a reunion and she used this design for t-shirts for the purpose of raising some funds by selling them on cafe press. This was completed in Adobe Illustrator. She provided the Chinese text for me to use. She also gave me the idea of what she wanted so between us we came up with this. I made 2 versions in different colors.

http://www.sweetartworks.com/orphanage/ornamentroundGaoanborder.png

My ultimate goal is to get some of my work out into the marketplace via licensing my designs out. I am slowly working on a portfolio of patterns and eventually would like to get a website up with some samples so I can start approaching manufacturers with my designs. The website is the easy part. I also know who to approach, as I've done some "homework" in that area. Getting a large collection of designs totally complete is challenging for me, as far as finding time to work on them. I have heard you should have at least 90 designs before even considering approaching manufacturers, so I have my work cut out for me.

I learned of a company called Spoonflower that will print small quantities of fabric on demand. I might give them a try, because I'm kind of curious to see how my own patterns would print out on fabric. It could be a learning experience also. My monitor is not calibrated so I'd get some idea of how much color shifts from what is seen on screen and the actual print color. I really should get some monitor calibration software and I wouldn't have to think about this, but it's a bit on the pricey side. Their website states they print on Moda brand cotton and I've heard that this is a very high quality fabric. It might be fun to have a couple yards made and then sew up some prototype handbags with the fabric.

I don't really have much of a background in business/marketing but for the time being, when I'm ready to start approaching manufacturers, I will have to wear all the hats of a business and try to juggle the business side of art with the creative side. Maybe after awhile I will be able to delegate the business part to someone who is more knowledgeable in that area so I am free to spend my time just designing.

I think that once I do get one license, that it could very well start a snowball effect and possibly so fast I couldn't keep up (yeah I'm dreaming here) and I'd find that I had no more time on my hands for designing. I guess that is a fear of mine that keeps me from moving forward but I have to put that fear behind me if I'm going to be successful in this endeavor. I need to keep plugging away and keep my eyes on my ultimate goal and hopefully everything will fall into place without a hitch.

http://tokidoki.it/downloads/desk3_800x600.gif

I love Tokidoki by Simone Legno. He's a young Italian guy who's art has a Japanese influence. He licenses his designs onto all kinds of products, from stationary, apparel to skatedecks.

Here is his website for more of his designs and products. http://www.tokidoki.it/

http://shop.tokidoki.it/_images/products/pinkminibag.jpg