Long Beach Comic Con wrap-up

Last weekend was the inaugural Long Beach Comic Con and Ryan and I shared a table there in Artist Alley. It was a lot of fun and a really good show! Sadly, we didn't make it to a single panel discussion or even get an autograph from Corin Nemec (for reals!), but the reason was good: the table was popular!

Firstly, I have to give credit where credit is due: LBCC made this an 'artist centric' convention, so the bulk (and literal center) of the expo hall was the artist area. Lots of big-name and well-loved creators came out, so the fans were in an extremely good mood (imagine getting to see your favorite artist, up close and personal, AND the show was less busy than, say, SDCC, so you actually got to chat and get sketches and stuff) PLUS the attendees walked every aisle, making sure they didn't miss anyone. Which meant, of course, that they strolled past our table too. So, thanks to the LBCC planners for a great job on focusing traffic.

My side of the table, as usual, had the benefit of bright colors. In a sea of comic book portfolios and sketches (mostly black and white), my giddy crafts stand out. So they caught a lot of eyeballs. This show, I had 2 offers: my dot paintings and my peg people. Both were very well received, I am grateful to announce! By Sunday afternoon, I was packing up nearly empty houses and had sold almost everything that I brought (sorry to everyone who asked, the houses aren't for sale).It was amazing -- THANK YOU to all the good people who came by and took some of this stuff home for me!!

Friday had a much higher attendance than we'd anticipated (seeing as how it was a 'work and school' day for most people, I figured if 50 people came, we'd be in good shape) and I sold several things right out the gate, which was surprising to say the least! Literally, as soon as I set some things on the table, they found new homes. I was blown away. By early Saturday, I was running low on several things and had to start painting Saturday night to replenish!

One of my display techniques was to use this cupcake, to demonstrate what-in-the-world-would-I-do-with-a-peg-person (hint: a cake topper!). This was a store-bought cupcake that had gone stale and then I coated it with acrylic gloss, so it was shiny and solid. Unfortunately, it was lost/stolen after the show closed on Friday night. My table neighbors were more upset than I was -- I just hope no one tried to eat it! But no matter, I have a more permanent version coming soon. This was just a quick-and-dirty way to show how the peg people could be used. And it served its purpose, so... bon voyage little cupcake!

One of the fan-favorite items was the tiny mailbox with tiny business cards. I have to admit, I'm pretty fond of it too. :)

I also sold some of the blank peg people (seen in the above pictures in a bowl and on the table) so that convention-goers could try their own hand at creating a masterpiece. I figured that the kids would think it was a great idea, but I was surprised at how many adults were buying them -- inspired by what they saw and chock-full of ideas of their own! The kids mostly wanted what was already painted, although there were a few kids who were determined that they could (and would!) do better than what I had. Every one of them said they'd email me a picture - and I hope they do!

I accepted only one commission during the show, which was from 2 fun gals who had recently learned of the meme to find out your stripper name (name of your first pet + first street you lived on) and they were collecting sketches and caricatures of themselves as strippers, so they asked me to paint them that way too. Strippers have relatively little to paint, so I said yes. I always love it when someone has a good, solid, silly idea!

I also was honored to be asked to contribute to someone's sketch book (full of awesome art from all the Cool People there) and I felt terrible that I CANNOT DRAW so I scribbled a peg-person form of me and Ryan (dorky) and the girl asked if maybe I could add something with dots. Well, markers don't really give the same effect, so I painted an artist trading card (ATC) made of canvas with Spider-Man for her to stick in her book instead.

Along the way, my table was photographed several times, including by the OC Weekly, the LA Weekly, a handful of blogs, and I did a video interview with the Daily 49er (Cal State Long Beach's news). So that was all really cool!

Plus, I'm waiting for the photos to roll in. I'm having a contest over yonder on ye olde craft blog, asking folks to submit pictures of their giddy girlie art to win $20! I've gotten a few so far, but there is still time to submit!

Oh! And we also saw a skateboarding shrimp!



And then were driving behind this... a sentinel from X Men. You're welcome.

Rod Serling embroidery

Now that it's totally done, shipped, and received I miss dear little Rod Serling. This piece was inspired by Scott Campbell's drawing of Rod Serling which immediately set my imagination in motion. I love the scribbles and multiple line weights on the original, so I sent off an email to Mr. Campbell, asking permission to stitch it and fortunately he said yes!

When it was done, I sent it to him as a keepsake and a reminder of why being nice to someone at Comic Con never pays off*! ;-)

This was stitched (and framed) in an 8" hoop on white fabric that has a white geometric print on it. Most of the stitches were seed stitches, made with 2 strands of embroidery thread, although some of the delicate lines are a single line of thread, made with a beading needle. The typewriter keys were my first attempt at french knots, so they're a teensy bit uneven but the best that I could do. The original image had circle lines for the keys, but because of the small scale (most of my stitches span 4-5 weaves in the fabric), I physically couldn't fit them in the space, so I opted for knots.

There are some small things that I had to change and some that I changed by mistake. I think I have spent entirely too much time staring at the original, that now I know it by heart. So now when I look at my work, I only see where I didn't 'shade' enough or where the spacing is different. *serenity now!*



*We met him at San Diego Comic Con this year and he was so nice and friendly and let me totally nerd out and have an OMGIloveyourworkandyouaresoawesomeandIamhyperventilating moment. Which was, really, too kind.

Crafty Boing Boing Birthday Week!

What is the best thing to get for your birthday week? ATTENTION. And boy howdy, have I got it in spades!

It started off like this:
Sunday night, Ryan and I are laying in bed giggling like a couple of girls at a slumber party because we're going to Disneyland in the morning with Bliss and Kate and everything is right with the world. So I'm busting at the seams with giddiness and he falls asleep, so I decide to check my old friend The Internet. Over on my Flickr page, Beefranck had left a comment that my hitchhiking ghost embroidery was featured on Craft Magazine! So I get very excited and wake Ryan up (note the screenshot: 2:54am) and shove the iphone in his face "look! look!" and did a little jig. He was very happy for me and so I was wiggling around and decided to Twitter about it (because I am a braggart at heart).

So I'm scrolling through Twitter (which I had neglected all day) and my friend Mark had tweeted that his friend Mia is a rockstar. He works for Fender, so I'm thinking it's an actual rockstar and decide to click the link, which goes to BoingBoing and hey! I am the Mia that he's talking about!

At this point, Ryan and I both get out of bed (much to the annoyance of the cat, who had just gotten comfortable and you know how he never gets to sleep) and dance around and smile a lot and then look at the clock and say "ok, now we REALLY have to go to sleep" and so we did, with gigantic grins.

So in the morning, we jump right up at the sound the alarm, happy as can be and I check my email and see that I have sold all of my hitchhiking ghost commission orders on etsy! Which is SUPER exciting! (thanks craft & BoingBoing!) and I decide that I can take on 2 more orders in the next week or so, so I post 2 more listings and bam! they sell right away! In between, I've also received numerous more requests for commissions (which have to wait because I am full-up at the moment!) and even just nice notes to say "congrats on being featured" which is SUPER nice. Man, sometimes internet people are the best, aren't they?

And THEN on top of that, I got to spend the day at Disneyland with some of my most favorite people and chit chat and go on the Haunted Mansion ride and eat pancakes! It was fabulous.

I could not have asked for a better start to my birthday week and, really, it's thanks to YOU! The people who have encouraged and enjoyed my art. I wouldn't be here without you. YOU are the ones who make me so giddy. xoxoxo

gratitude

I'm having a pretty good week. I've been able to squeeze in a lot of craft time and been able to post a few things to Flickr where everyone has been incredibly kind and left me lots of wonderful, uplifting comments. I know it sounds super cheesy and like I'm begging for validation, but it's nice to get compliments sometimes - sue me!

I've had some good traffic on my etsy site this week which is always positive and I've made some sales, which is greatly encouraging. Since I craft for the love of it I don't have any monetary goals for my shop, so it's always a happy surprise to see a sale come through. It's nice to know that someone else likes what I have done (enough to pay for it even!). I hope that my silly crafts can bring a smile to their new owners. I'm happy they've found new homes!

I've got a handful of new ideas clunking around the back of my brain and as soon as I get this last commission wrapped up, I'll be sure to share it with all of you.

Long story short: thank you.