piddix

Goal Setting for 2012

2012-01-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

My very fancy goal setting program (aka, scribbled on paper), that I keep taped on the wall next to my desk.

Last summer, whilst seeking enlightenment in which direction to take piddix, I started doing what I often do at the crossroads: lots of research, lots of list-making, and asking anyone and everyone I knew for advice.

My general goal was to:

1. Make enough money to cover half of all household expenses, plus a couple of extras, like a new computer (essentially double current gross income)

2. Work 20-30 hours per week (25-50% less than currently)

So yes, I want to double income while working less hours. Wouldn't we all? But how could I do it?

And did I mention that baby boy #2 is on his way in February? So there's a definite deadline for getting everything in place before my brain officially turns to mush from lack of sleep.

By focusing on these two elements (gross receipts and time spent working) I came up with my 12x12 plan for 2012. It is to:

1. Develop and maintain 12 major licenses for my artwork (like Target and Trader Joes).
2. Add nine new retail stores to carry piddix printed collage sheets (for a total of 12).
3. Continue to maintain a reduced presence on etsy for digital collage sheets (with a set average financial goal for each of the 12 months).

Guess what? So far, it's working (knock on wood). I had a ton of different directions that I could head.....make prints, work more on my etsy store ... but probably the most helpful element in the decision making process was getting an outside perspective. For me, this came from my Full Time Etsy Crafter's Team. They were great in that they are all in a similar boat--running crafty-type business more than full-time. And they had the ability to cut through a lot of my wishful thinking and really look at the bottom line. In editing we call it "killing your darlings." Being able to let go of parts of a story that you love, but that no longer work to advance the tale. My team advised me of things that I sometimes gloss over (like that shipping dozens of items a day isn't fun), and helped me focus on elements where I'd receive the most return for my time investment.

I also found this video by Designing an MBA to be especially timely and helpful. It reminded me that setting an actual, month to month budget of income and expenses can be a very helpful tool. At my last job before piddix we worked with detailed monthly excel spreadsheets and found it useful, so I'm kind of excited to use excel, Outright, and good old-fashioned paper to set more measurable concrete goals.

I'm sharing this all in part because I find it's often helpful to write things down (you know, somewhere where actual people might see them). It can keep me accountable when I might want to give up on something. I also enjoyed reading all the goals for 2012 over at OhMyHandmade and in my Full-Time-Etsy group, so thought I'd share how I came up with mine.

Do you have any business or personal goals for 2012? I'd love to hear. Here's a couple more planning tools that might be useful:

From the Business Ladies section over at DesignSponge: Planning a Blueprint for the Year

And Marie Forleo's always silly videos on: Free Planning Tool to Help Set and Reach Your Business Goals

Best of luck to everyone in 2012!

First-Time Tradeshow Round-up

2011-12-31T14:00:00.000-08:00

My wholesale catalog of printed piddix collage sheets.

For the past two years I've been hard at work on a line of printed collage sheets. A couple of stores have tracked me down and carry the line. The collage sheets do well, but for some reason I've been scared to branch out. All the "hard" work is done (design, paper sourcing, printing, etc.). But still, I sit on them. I have a lot of fear around cold calling companies, "selling," rejection, and so on.

So the question is, do I take jump in with both feet for wholesaling? I was seriously looking at the Craft & Hobby Show this February. But after talking with the lovely Katie of Tradeshow Bootcamp, decided to postpone it for another year. (I'd be 35 weeks pregnant, and Katie, having done similar shows very, very pregnant, kindly suggested to wait if possible.)

But while debating whether to sign on for the tradeshow, I found some tips online for other first-time trade show participants that might be helpful. In no particular order:

Katie Hunt of Tradeshow Bootcamp writes about a "First Timer's Perspective at the National Stationery Show." I especially like her day-to-day summary of events. I also sprang for a couple of her classes and found them very, very helpful.

One of the blogs I most enjoyed on attending tradeshows was by Fig2Designs. You'll have to hunt around a bit to find everything in the right order, but it's worth it. I literally started at the very beginning and read every post in chronological order. Love all the lists (that's how I work, too).

Here's a simple, straightforward article summarizing Eight Success Tips for Your First Trade Show Booth.

And finally here's a ton of articles on tradeshows from Designing An MBA. I can (and did) spend hours and hours reading articles just on this one site.

For a detailed process of exactly what to bring to a wholesale tradeshow, I may end up getting Megan's ebook (from Designing an MBA) Guide to Wholesale and Trade Shows. I also need to re-visit the tradeshow section in Craft, Inc. (if I can find it somewhere on my shelf).

Now that I've decided to postpone the tradeshow until February 2013, I'll actually have time to prep everything and do it right. Wish me luck!

Finding Inspiration at the Crossroads

2011-09-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

I'm at a bit of a crossroads with piddix. For me, this is fairly exciting, because crossroads = possibilities. Everything is open. I get to dream and brainstorm and research and question what I'm doing now. Should I come out with a new line of prints? Focus on the etsy store? Spend all my time on licensing? Find a distributor for my printed collage sheets? Oh, what to do?

During this mental walkabout I've found inspiration in some fun and random places I thought I'd share.

I first stumbled upon the story of Florence Broadhurst on designer Brooke Luder's blog. I love Florence's wallpaper and designs and how they've made a comeback nearly a half-century later. But what I most appreciate about Florence's story is how varied her life was and that it wasn't until 1959, at the age of 60, when she launched her wallpaper studio. I love stories of people running marathons or starting new careers later in life in part because it gives me hope that I don't have to have absolutely everything figured out quite yet.

Danielle LaPorte's post on time management (especially her numbered list about halfway down) struck a nice cord with me in large part since I have similar thoughts on throwing detailed to-do lists out the window and really focusing on what you're most passionate about at the moment. When I'm feeling inspired, I design. When I'm scatter brained, I organize and take on detail projects. Though crazy deadlines do also tend to pop up and determine what my day looks like, too.

I am--by far--not a classically trained designer. I picked up what I know mostly by working in journalism and publishing over the past 20 years, along with a couple of Photoshop and Illustrator classes along the away. So I found it incredibly helpful last year when my mom (the real artist in the family) sat me down for basic design lesson on things like balance, repetition, alignment, and so on. I'm slowly making my way through this post on "45 Free Lessons in Graphic Design Theory." Some of the examples are better than others, but in general there's some good, basic tips that I always appreciate.

And finally there are three artists I thought I'd share who all have different takes on growth. Rebecca Pearcy of Queen Bee Creations is a bit of a craft-star legend in these parts. She started making bags in her bedroom and now is pretty huge by crafty standards. This panel on intentional growth with Rebecca, along with Duane Sorenson of Stumptown Coffee, is worth a watch. My favorite part, which comes right at the end, is where Rebecca says one way to gauge the best way to grow your business is to ask yourself:

1. What do you want to get out of your craft (e.g., trips to Mexico every year?)
2. What does your business need?
3. Where do the two items above match up? How big of a business does what you want require?

Too often I feel the pull to hire people, grow faster, do more work. But really I just want to enjoy what I'm doing and have enough money to pay the mortgage (okay, and an annual trip to Hawaii).

Heather Moore is a newly found illustrator for me. What blows me away about Heather's business model is that she started not too long before I launched piddix, yet seems much further down the road of being a real, grown-up business (with catalogs, press tours, a business partner, and a group of folks in Cape Town doing much of the actual production while she focuses on design). There's quite a few profile pieces on Heather on her blog (this one's my favorite), but the bit of advice she gave that stuck with me most: design your own website rather than outsourcing it elsewhere. Okay, okay, I'll get to that soon.

And finally there's Dolan Geiman. While there's plenty to admire about his artwork, I'm especially impressed by how he and his wife have created such a cohesive and comprehensive brand that includes art shows on the road, partnerships with companies such as Pendleton Woolen Mills and Fossil watches, an amazing website full of great content (check out this gorgeous catalog), a blog, etsy site, newsletter, and on and on.

And then just when I start to feel overwhelmed, thinking things like "do any of these people have children!?! How do they find the time to do so much??" I remember that Mary Engelbreit launched her now-multi-million dollar greeting card line when she was eight months pregnant. And then I get back to work.

How to Use Microscope Slide Images

2011-06-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have about 100 new microscope-slide-sized images coming to the shop soon, so I thought it might be helpful to share some of the fun and creative ways I've seen this image size (three inches tall and one inch wide) used.

The original use for these images is microscope slides. Yep, those same glass slides that you might have used in biology can be repurposed to make lovely pendants. I've had good luck finding the glass on ebay. The slides with ground edges are nice to save getting cuts on your fingers. There's also a shop on etsy that I've had nice interactions with called GlassSupplies who carries pendant glass in 1x3 inches. Robin (the owner) knows a ton about glass soldering and her shop carries all kinds of soldering supplies.

For basics on soldering I highly recommend the book Simple Soldered Jewelry & Accessories by Lisa Bluhm. Lisa runs the company Simply Swank and also has a super-cute soldering starter set (though the customer service reviews on amazon for fullment are iffy, so perhaps try it from Stampington instead). Stampington also has the best video I've found online for soldering basics.

If you're looking for something waaaay more simple, Ranger has a whole line of memory glass with pre-made frames that are super-easy and are available on amazon. You basically cut out your images (they're great double sided), put them between two glass slides, foil tape/glue/sticker the sides closed, the slide it into the frame. Totally my kind of crafting.

I've also seen some really great greeting cards made using the tall, thin images. Plus lovely bookmarks and window/Christmas ornaments.

If you have any examples of crafts you've made with piddix 1x3 images, send them my way and I'll add them here, or put a link in the comments below. I'd love to see them.

Paper Heaven

2011-06-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to a vintage paper fair. Did you even know there was such a thing? I didn't, which is probably a good thing since I could easily spend an entire month looking at every bit of goodness.

I think it helps, when running your own business, to truly love what you do. I spent hours and hours at the fair and didn't even make it past the first booth. I use a ton of vintage ephemera in my collage sheets, so it helps that I find the whole process of finding new imagery to be an exciting treasure hunt. I ended up with about 60 new postcards from the day, one of which I'll include as a free download in the piddix newsletter today (sign up here, if you're not already on the list).

I also thought I'd include a shot of my new photo staging area. Our new house is surrounded by trees, so finding a sunny spot in a typically overcast-Portland-day is a challenge. By the way, this view off the back deck is essentially the same as I have out my office window. We're still wondering how we got lucky enough to find such a lovely new home.

Notes from Surtex, the National Stationery Show, and the Archives

2011-06-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

I've been back a week or two from my big trip to New York, long enough to collect some thoughts on what turned out to be an amazing visit. I traveled to NYC to attend Surtex (a licensing show) and the National Stationery Show, both held in the same hall in the Javits center. I felt like a very-excited high schooler far away from home for the first time, in large part since this was the first solo airplane ride I'd taken in five years. I had a new, cheesy novel and eight whole hours of sitting time on planes, buses, and in airports. In other words, pure heaven!

Rather than spell out every single moment of the shows, I thought I'd share a few random thoughts of what I learned and what I'd do differently next time:

Where to Stay
The first night I arrived at LaGuardia airport around midnight and hopped on a $15 bus to Manhattan. You can see from the first photo above that it was dark and cold, and I had about 10 blocks to walk to the Chelsea Star hotel from where the bus dropped me off. I tend to travel cheap-backpack style, perhaps left over from overseas trips in college, so I had booked a dorm-style room for the first night. By the time I made it up to the room, it was 2 am and the other three bunkbeds were full. I hopped up to the upper bunk as quietly as possible, tossed a sheet over the unmade bed and called it a night. Now for me, this seemed entirely reasonable for my $45. Even the European-style walking around in underwear the next morning of my bunkmates was par for the course. But when I mentioned my sleeping arrangements to other artists at Surtex, they were absolutely horrified and starting talking about bedbugs and all kinds of icky things. While I made it home bedbug-free, perhaps next time I'll spend the extra bucks for a more "normal" hotel just to assuage any fears (though yes, I know expensive hotels have critters, too).

I Love My iphone
The night before I left my cell phone died, so I splurged on an iphone. I'm completely, totally in love. I emailed, texted, took photos, tracked my flights, used coupons, booked bus tickets, and used the map constantly to avoid getting lost. Worth every penny.

What to Bring
I didn't have a definitive plan of what to do at the shows before I got there, but it all worked out. I ended up meeting with several folks to whom I sell my images and met a ton of other artists. The photos above and below show some of the brand new cards with piddix images, made by Marian Heath publishing, that I saw for the first time at the show. I also met with some potential customers, often quite randomly (by sitting with them on a bus, for example). Especially for these meetings, next time I would bring three things: a nicer business card that has a sample of my artwork on it, an updated portfolio--either printed or on an ipad, and some type of giveaway item, such as a brochure or postcard. I was often asked "do you have a portfolio I can see?" and while I had grabbed some examples of my work at the last minute, I would do a much better job next time. Similarly, for future trips I'd love to have an emailable portfolio available to send almost immediately for follow-up.

Best New Discovery
Truly bite-sized cupcakes, cookies by the pound, and all-you-can eat veggie falafel.

Worst Idea
Not checking the weather right before coming out. I packed for typical mid-May NYC weather and was instead greeted by constant rain. I didn't bring a coat or enough warm clothes and pretty much froze the whole time.

Best Idea
While wandering around the shows I wore a necklace with piddix images (made by Matahari Jewelry) and carried one of the new piddix Target journals. It was a good conversation starter and a quick/easy way to show what I did.

Grumpiest Booth
As an artist, I'm very careful when looking at other artists' booths not to take up their time or take printed materials that could be used for their real customers. That said, I had some really lovely interactions with fellow artists such as the super-funny boldfacecards and amazing Suzanne Nicholl (plus a really wonderful time with other artists from my agency). I'm also completely in love with Ray Hooper and the great women staffing his booth (check out his amazing cards with images from the New York Botanical Garden). But one company literally told me to "step away from our booth" when they saw my artist name tag. Yes, I realize you may be weary of people copying your ideas. But really, a little polite is going to get you much further than a whole lot of grumpy.

A Visit to the Archives
After two days at Surtex and NSS (which was a perfect amount of time), I headed off to visit three different east-coast archives and gathered up more than 500 new images. By this point I was exhausted, dirty, and cold from the unseasonable weather and too much public transportation. But just look what I found!!! Visiting archives makes me really, truly happy. I guess I'm in the right line of business.

Now I'm back home, already planning the next trip in my head. I'm thinking it might be time to visit CHA again. Disneyland, here we come!

Beautiful Brooch Backgrounds

2011-05-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker for good product packaging. I especially love how jewelry looks when photographed on beautiful backgrounds, like these vintage French postcards. So I was very excited when Leslie of microniche sent me these brooch cards she sells on etsy and at the The Dandy Lion Market in London.

The backgrounds Leslie uses are from my grunge playing card collage sheet in ACEO size (2.5 by 3.5 inches). First, Leslie takes the time to pair each of her lovely "vintage pins, brooches and trinkets" with exactly the right background.

Then she displays them in this lovely wooden box.

Or puts them in a lovely black envelope for gift giving. Each card is stamped and signed on the back, making each piece a little work of art.

I'm completely smitten.

For more amazing packaging inspiration, two of my favorite places to look (for hours and hours) are the etsy packaging group on flickr and The Die Line package design blog.

Nine Days and Counting to New York City

2011-05-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

Next Saturday, May 14th, I board an airplane headed for New York City. It will be my first solo flight since my son was born four years ago, and the thing I'm perhaps most excited about is having eight uninterrupted hours of time to sit and read whatever cheesy sci-fi/romance novel I pick up at Powells.

I'll be going to NYC for two shows: Surtex (licensing) and the National Stationery Show, both held at the Javits Center in Manhattan. I've never been to either, and have no real plan other than to wander around and soak it all in. I will be able to meet a couple of folks in person to whom I've licensed images, so that's pretty exciting. There's also at least one party to attend, and my agent will have a booth at Surtex with some of my artwork (#408, if you'd like to come by).

I've also tacked on two days at the end of the trip for archival work. Scanning images in archives is more prep work than perhaps you'd imagine. I've spent weeks emailing and calling a dozen different archivists to figure out what I can and cannot bring (camera, scanner, tri-pod, etc.), what I can access, what might be in storage, and above all the intricacies of seeking permission to use the archival material in my own artwork. I have my eye on some amazing vintage travel posters and French postcards, so depending on what I end up with I'll definitely share.

A very wise woman once told me that attending a trade show is almost always worth it for your business. Last year at the Craft and Hobby Show (CHA)--my first trade show for piddix ever--I came away with my agent, who has been amazing to work with. This year I'm not 100% sure what to expect, but I am most definitely very, very excited to be going. I hope to write a bit about my experience and the shows, so if anyone has any questions about what it's like to attend them, definitely send them my way.

What Kind of Paper Works Best When Printing Collage Sheets?

2011-04-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

Last year, while researching the best system for printing my wholesale collage sheets, I spent a full six months visiting a dozen commercial printers and trying out close to 100 different types of paper. I learned the difference between pounds in text weight and pounds in cardstock, and whether a satin finish is the same as smooth. I also created a mini Q&A lab where I stuck every possible type of glue or glaze imaginable on the laserprints and tried to get them to smudge or crack (surprisingly, even basic Elmer’s glue worked pretty well). Rather than keep all this info in my head, I thought I’d share some of the tips I learned.

Of course, the type of paper you pick depends on what you plan to do with your collage sheets. If you are printing at home and want to just jump in, I'd suggest picking up a ream of any paper labeled "premium" that is 24-30 pounds with a matte finish. That should be pretty good for most applications.

But should you want to get fancy, paper quality really does matter. Here’s some good things to know:

Paper Weight
When you buy paper by the ream, it should have a label somewhere that tells you how many pounds it is, normally labeled as "weight." It's a bit complicated how they come up with the poundage label, but basically, as long as you're comparing apples to apples (text weight to text weight, cardstock to cardstock), the higher the number, the thicker the paper. At copy centers you can ask for the poundage if you don't see it listed.

I have a personal preference for thicker paper. I think it looks better, you don’t get as much “show through” on the back, and it tends to hold up. Basic copy paper is 20 pound text weight. Most premium laser and inkjet paper is either 24 or 32 pounds and works well for scrabble tiles, scrapbooking, decoupage and putting paper into bezels. Paper labeled as brochure or flyer paper is often 50 lb text weight and is a great catch-all size. For glass tiles and some other instances where a slightly thicker paper works well, I love a light-weight cardstock (under 80 pounds). Photo paper I’ve found to be too thick for cutting out small images, though I will use it for collages on wooden blocks when I want a visibly raised look.

Summary: pick 24-50 pound text weight or a cardstock under 80 pounds for most
applications

Brightness
Printer paper should have a brightness label on it, usually ranging from 80 to 98%. This number represents how much light reflects back from a sheet of paper. The higher the number (and thus the brighter the paper), the more vibrant your images will look. Stock copy paper is often in the mid-80s, while better paper will be in the 90s. If possible, try to find at least 97% brightness (US scale). Labels such as “Bright White” or “Ultra White” are imprecise but might work if no percentage is listed.

Summary: get as high of a percentage as possible, at least 97% (U.S.)

Recycled Content
From an environmental standpoint, the more recycled content—especially post-consumer (PC)—the better. Sadly though, basic papers with a high PC-recycled content tend to be “toothy.” In other words, a little bumpy or with tiny little divots. It is almost impossible to find 100% post-consumer paper that is super bright white and perfectly smooth. If post-consumer recycled content with a super-smooth surface is very important to you (as it is to me) you’ll most likely have to head to a specialty printer or paper store rather than an office supply store. Here in Portland I have access to a good option only by going through a print broker who purchases the paper directly through a mill by the crate (we’re talking thousands and thousands of large sheets of paper). Short of that, it’s a question of balance. You can try a lower total recycled content, or find sustainable papers certified by organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). There are some good options that are 100% recycled but have a lower post-consumer content (10-20%). For example, most of the paper used in my local Kinkos is FSC certified, and while the standard laser paper they use has no marked recycled content, you can ask for 100% recycled paper for a small extra charge that works very well (though there’s no acknowledged post-consumer content).

Summary: go with the highest recycled content you can get that still looks good

Finish (Gloss vs Matte)
Similar to house paint, papers can come in a variety of finishes, including (in increasing levels of shininess): matte, satin, semimatte, or glossy. Most of the difference is a matter of personal taste, with glossy papers tending to make the images “pop” more. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that super-glossy paper can sometimes cause some issues, such as shiny spots showing under glass tiles or soldered pendants. In contrast, matte paper can sometimes accept glazes better. So if you’re running into any problems with shiny spots or lack of adhesion, trying a duller paper might be a good solution.

Summary: when in doubt, stick with matte paper

I think that’s it for now. There’s a couple of other special doo-dads that some papers have, such as fancy fast-drying or color-lock technology. But in general, sticking with paper that is at least 24 pounds, 97% brightness, and matte will work for 90% of what you’d want to do.

photo credit from top: a random range of papers from www.staples.com

Local Girl Meets Target

2011-03-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've been dreaming of writing the super-cheesy-headline above for months. More than a year ago I first started working on some items for Target. It's been my little secret. But now they are finally in stores and I am so excited!These three journals were produced by Innovative Designs using my collaged artwork. The general look and feel is based off of my Paris collage sheets, but for these we added a couple of other iconic images to round out the line--The Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Arc de Triomphe. While the designs look fairly simple, there's actually about 40+ Photoshop layers in each postcard. In the Pisa journal, for example, I used scans from four different vintage handwriting samples to create just one line.Needless to say, I'm quite thrilled with how they turned out. I think the maps on the back may be my favorite part. The overall quality turned out great, too. Thanks all for letting me gush a bit.

What Stops Good Ideas From Happening?

2011-03-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

Creating an award-winning, top-ten blog is fairly formulaic.

Step 1: Start the blog
Step 2: Work your tail off

But if the process of creating an amazing blog seems so simple, why don't we all do it?

I have a feeling it's similar to working out. You know how when you first start a new exercise program it feels energizing and rewarding? And then at some point (when we get sick or hit a plateau) we take a little break or stop working out as frequently. Then months go by and we're back where we started, debating whether to buy larger jeans or start a new, more exciting regimen (not that I'm, ahem, speaking from experience or anything).

For example, how many times have you seen (or written) "I know it's been a while since I've posted, but…."

At my previous job, one of the questions we frequently asked ourselves was "what stops good ideas from happening?" We found that starting a project can often feel like a sugar high. Everything is "go go go!" Then something happens (funds run out, life changes) and the sugar low hits. You sink into that valley and instead of rising back up, you back up or switch directions.

I hit the low point with full-time-piddix about six weeks in. Sales just weren't coming in like I had planned and our financial situation was getting a little scary. Then I took a good look at the options: head back to my previous job and see if they had any work for me, or recommit myself to making a go of full-time-crafting. I weighed my options and decided to move forward (and haven't looked back since).

I think the moment when we're first truly tested during a new undertaking--whether it be a business, blog, or new body--is absolutely critical, and where so many of my own projects falter (new jeans, here I come). In part it's the sugar-syndrome of newness. Crafty "Sister Diane" has a great podcast with Scott Belsky, author of Making Ideas Happen. In it they highlight why it's so exciting for creative individuals to start new projects, but equally difficult for them to complete them. Belsky's solutions include increasing focus, making goals public, creating opportunities for feedback, and plain "old-fashioned passion and perspiration."

If you look back at the top of this post, you'll notice I said that starting an award-winning, amazing blog is formulaic. I didn't say it was easy. As one of my favorite sayings goes, "if it was easy, everyone would do it." My own blog definitely does not fit into the top-10 category; nor do I have plans to make it happen. When starting any project, it won't always be easy. You will have ups and downs. There will be failure, as well as success. The trick then becomes how to sustain, how to persevere when roadblocks occur.

Over the next few weeks I'll be checking in with some crafty folks who are in various stages of their own endeavors, asking about their own goals and how they addressed--or plan to address--the critical moments that make or break a project. And of course my sneaky, ulterior motive is that by making their goals public, we can help provide that positive peer pressure and feedback that I think can be so essential for success.

So how about you? Have you ever felt that make-or-break moment? What do you think stops good ideas from happening? And what can we personally do to find and sustain success?

How to Prevent Smudges and Bleeding when Using an Inkjet Printer

2011-02-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

Look familiar? A decoupaged bird I made long ago that bled pink onto the wooden block.

Here's the conundrum: You love the convenience of inkjet printing your collage sheets at home, but hate that your images smudge when applying a decoupage-type glaze. Happily, there's several tricks you can use to seal your collage sheets and keep them looking crisp and beautiful. These tips were developed through trial and error on literally tens of thousands of test products by myself and several amazingly brilliant piddix customers who have agreed to share their trade secrets.

The core issue that causes smearing is that the ink used in most inkjet printers is water-based. If you put a drop of water on the print, it will run or bleed. Glazes such as Mod Podge and Diamond Glaze are also water-based (do you see where I'm going with this?). Thus, when you add these water-based glazes on top of your print, it can cause the images (especially the red colors) to bleed.

Most of the solutions to this issue revolve around two techniques. You can: 1. Add a water-resistant barrier between the ink and your glaze so they can't mix and thus bleed, or 2. Make your ink and paper as dry or fixed as possible before applying the glaze. Here are some specific ways to go about it:

1. Acrylic Spray Fixatives. After printing out your collage sheet, you can seal it with a permanent, matte acrylic spray fixative. Plaid Enterprises (the company that makes Mod Podge) recommends spraying one very light coat of fixative, waiting for it to dry, then spraying one additional coat. Read the specific instructions on the cans for drying time (normally 2-3 hours) and spray distance. You'll want to find a spray that is 1. permanent, 2. non-yellowing, 3. moisture-resistant. Examples include: Krylon Spray Finish; Folkart Clearcote Acrylic Sealer; Patricia Nimocks Clear Acrylic Sealer; and Print Guard Spray.

2. Polyurethane. Ryan of Littleput Books, who has sold tens of thousands of Scrabble Tile and Lucky Penny pendants, uses this process to coat her inkjet prints and has kindly agreed to share her secret. After printing the collage sheets with an inkjet printer, she brushes on several coats of a clear polyurethane with a foam brush, allowing for time between coats to dry. One benefit I've found to this process is you don't seem to get quite as many fumes as you do from the spray fixatives.

Butterfly Lucky Penny pendant by LittleputBooks.

3. Nail polish. In a quick fix (you know, when it's 2 am and you really need to finish that necklace for your friend's birthday) I've been pretty happy with one coat clear nail polish used as a sealer. You do run the risk of the polish yellowing over time. I made some pendants as gifts this way about year ago and they're still looking good, but I'd definitely try to avoid the super-cheap Wet-n-Wild-type brands.

4. Hairspray. Another good quick fix recommend to me by Laurie's Custom Thingz is hairspray. Laurie uses VO5 Extra Hold that came from her super-crafty Mother. Rumors around art schools say to use the cheapest aerosol can you can find, but expect that the images will yellow over time.

5. Freezer. I had never heard of this tip before Molly Smith wrote this super-sweet blog post and shared her secret for preventing smudges. Molly prints out her collage sheets and then puts them in her freezer for six to twelve hours before applying Mod Podge. I am quite excited to try this one myself. See below for how beautiful her prints turned out:
6. Oven. Another DIY trick for drying your prints is to put them in the oven at 250 degrees for five minutes, then let them cool off before applying glaze. This suggestion comes from Linda and is another one I haven't tried personally, but seems promising.

7. Drying Time. Most inkjet printers (especially ones under $100 or that come free with your computer) come standard with dye-based, water-based ink. According to Annie Howes, who is probably the most knowledgeable professional I know when it comes to this type of work, dye-based inkjet prints become more stable the longer they're allowed to dry. Annie says "My HP Photosmart Inkjet printer works great after two weeks on glossy non-fast-drying paper (fast drying paper has a film that can be troublesome)." The paper drying time varies by printer and paper brand and may take some trial and error to perfect. If you're making pigment-based inkjet prints, however, Annie has found you can speed up the whole process with only a 24-hour waiting period. Especially for making glass tile pendants, this "waiting" option will cause the most professional looking results since the various spray fixatives and varnishes mentioned above can stay tacky under the glass and never fully cure, resulting in a slightly fuzzy appearance.

Crisp & clear glass tile pendant by Annie Howes.

There are two more things to keep in mind. First, the type and quality of ink, printers, and paper can definitely affect how smudge-prone your print is. There's tons of information on matte vs glossy, paper weight, quality of printers, etc. that I may go into at a later point, but generally, the better the paper and printer, the better the results.

And finally, if all of this sealing just doesn't sound worth it to you, print with a laser printer. The printers at most print-shops (Office Depot, Staples, Kinkos, etc.) use toner, which essentially melts into the paper and creates a more permanent, water-resistant print that you shouldn't have to seal before adding glaze.

For any of you who've tried to fix or prevent the dreaded inkjet smudge, I've love to hear your suggestions (or horror stories). I am always so appreciative of the amazing piddix customers (like Annie, Molly, Laurie, and Ryan above) who help the rest of us by sharing their creativity and tips. Thank you!

Dream House

2011-01-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

I've had several people say to me over the years of house hunting "when you find the right place, you'll just know it." Well, that's really never happened...until now. Brian and I recently went on a house-hunting trek to end all treks. Having sold our old house in November, we had about a month to somehow combine our opposite tastes. I love old. Brian loves modern. School districts are most important to me. For Brian, it's more about the house itself. I love projects. Brian, not so much. So when we walked into our new house, I really did just know it was the one. I can't believe how lucky we got. So with a whole lot of knocking on wood and hoping not to anger any Greek Gods with our good fortune, I present our Dream House:You can see all the house photos here. They're by Jeffrey Freeman, and are from when the house was professionally staged, so it of course looks nothing like this right now. At the moment I'm calling our house "Boxlandia" and Declan is having fun playing Spiderman, jumping from any number of the dozens of moving boxes that fill the rooms. Still, it's all ours. I'm feeling quite thankful.

Of Cookies and Curiosities

2010-12-13T21:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight we ventured to the ever-wonderful Powells. I was on a mission to find a blank journal for all my work notes and lists (it is surprisingly impossible to find good notebooks with blank pages). At 7:20pm, having given up and settled for a plain black moleskine, it was my turn to keep Declan entertained. The overhead speaker announced "free curiosities and cookies" in the Pearl room and so we found ourselves at Emily Martin (aka, The Black Apple's) book signing. I had planned to steal a macaroon and run, but Declan, at seeing all the chairs set up and facing the front of the room, insisted we stay for the "show."

Book Cover & Macaroon photos from The Black Apple.

We perched in a seat by the aisle, ready to leave at any sign of a bored and/or exhausted almost-four-year-old's meltdown. Yet somehow, Declan was transfixed. He sat and listened to the entire introduction to the Paper Doll Primer, then half-way through questions started waving his hand in the air:

"How did you decide what to put in your book?" he asked.

Followed five minutes later with:

"Did you ever play soccer?"

Having miraculously sat happily through the entire reading and Q&A, Declan then insisted we get in line for the book signing because he "had more questions to ask," such as "Why did you decide to put on this show," and "Are there any super-heroes in your book?"

I'm always fascinated with what piques Declan's interest. A chance trip to the Walker when he was two resulted in a full year of Fancy Dancing and Pow Wows. I wonder if we're up for a year of self-published doll books next.
By the way, I didn't end up having to settle for the moleskine. Every person who attended the reading received a super-sweet package of The Black Apple goodies which included a blank journal! Quite a lovely evening indeed.

Glass Magnets and Pendants the Easy Way

2010-12-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start with a big ol' caveat. I'm a lazy crafter. If something requires sanding or stinking up my house with resin, I'll skip it. So this is a very, very simple process that I've developed over the years for making glass marble tiles, pendants and magnets. It may not be the best, but it is easy and fairly child-proof. To really make professional-looking glass tiles that hold up well, I highly recommend the tutorials and kits by Annie Howes.

Now, on to crafting....

For supplies you'll need:

Printed collage sheets. For tiles I prefer collage sheets printed on a nice, bright white cardstock to give it a little heft. Laser prints work great. If you'd prefer to print with an inkjet it's best to seal your image first with something like clear nail polish, a Krylon spray fixative, or paint on a coat of clear polyurethane (thanks to littleput for the poly tip). If you don't seal the inkjet first you may get a bit of running in the pink colors, which may or may not be noticeable. The collage sheet used in this tutorial is Flora & Fauna by piddix.
Glaze. I use DG3, diamond glaze, or silicone gel in a tube from a hardware store. I've even used Elmer's glue and it's worked okay in a pinch.
Glass marbles. Quality ranges widely on glass marbles. They're easy to pick up at the dollar store or a craft store like Michaels. You'll end up with half a bag of cracked ones, but they're good for beginners. You can also find good quality commercial glass online, or splurge for the amazing handmade options, too.
Scissors.
Items for finishing or backing. These might include paint, felt, polymer clay, pretty cardstock, coins, magnets, glue-on bails. You'll also need a fairly strong glue if you want to attach them to magnets, metal or wood. I love gorilla glue and super-glue, but plenty of others work well, too. Just make sure they're made to adhere different surfaces (like glass to metal, for example).

Step 1: Add a pea-sized amount of glaze directly to the collage sheet (click photos to enlarge).

Step 2: Take your glass tile and place it directly on the image. Squish it down slightly and evenly so that any bubbles and a bit of the glaze are pushed out to the sides.
Step 3: Wait. This is always the hardest part. I'd suggest waiting at least an hour or two. But if five minutes is all your 3-year-old can stand, they'll still work okay. You'll just end up re-gluing some of the images or having torn edges, like the one below:

Step 4: Cut out your nice, adhered images.
My helper did the first rough cut and then let me do the finish work of getting nice and close to the edge. The trick is to cut close enough so the paper doesn't show from the front, but not cut so much that you leave part of the glass showing through.

Step 5: Seal the back of the image. For this batch we used some pearl-colored acrylic paint, being careful to cover the whole paper on the back while not painting the glass, then let them dry in a plastic egg tray. Another fun trick I've used in the past is to make custom bezels from polymer clay, bake them in the oven, then glue the clay bezel to the glass. There's a ton of other tips out there on backs and finishing, such as how to use glaze, fabric, stamping, etc., but since I haven't developed any of those techniques on my own I'll leave it to others to share their own creativity. Basically you just want to make sure that the paper on the back of the marble is protected in some way, but even if you just leave the paper as-is it should hold up decently.
Step 6: Finish up your tile by gluing on a magnet, thumbtack, or bail. This can be a great way to reuse those free business-card magnets that often get handed out. Or add a loop of ribbon to make an ornament. Bonus points if kiddos can hand these out as gifts while proudly proclaiming they made them all by themselves. Get creative and have fun.

The Great Divide

2010-11-25T22:05:00.000-08:00

One of the more difficult tasks put forth in my small business class was to create a divide between my business and personal life. I've failed miserably in most areas. My office has moved backed to the middle of my home. I have no set business hours. I drag Declan on all my business errands (not that he minds trips to craft stores too much, but still).

I have learned one trick that works amazingly, though. I set up a separate business phone number. It's through googlevoice. It's free (which is awesome). I can forward it to my cell phone, set up a separate voicemail, create different responses during different hours. It even emails me a text translation of any messages I receive. And I feel way more professional being able to hand out a business phone number when needed. Now I'm sounding like a commercial. But hey, it does rock, so I thought I'd pass along the tip. Here's the details.

Open House

2010-11-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

I've spent this fall covered in dust, mud, cleaning supplies and paint. We put our house on the market in October, so in addition to all of the cleaning, painting and fixing required beforehand (thanks for the help Mom & Dad!), we also had to keep the house obnoxiously clean while on the market. We hid the toothbrushes and the doggy beds. We staged all the closets and bookshelves. More than once I put the morning's dirty dishes under the sink rather than in it just in case someone wanted to come by while we were out.

Thank goodness that's all over (knock on wood).

Our current house is all set to close in a week, sold to a lovely couple who's a friend of a friend. Plus, we've found a new home that we love. Assuming all goes well (which is always a big assumption, so we'll see) we're set to be in the new place by New Year's eve. Party at our house?

For anyone who's curious, here are some pics taken by a professional photographer of our soon-to-be-old house. And here are my photos, too. Perhaps I'll post some of our new house in the next couple of weeks. All very exciting.

Housewife, Day #1 (cramming it all in)

2010-08-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

It's been over a year since I embarked on my full-time crafting journey. Today feels like the first day of a whole new trek. Brian was off early to the first day of his new job, which means it was my turn to get Declan ready and pack up the car to head to Grandma & Grandpa's for the day. With Declan now off being happily spoiled, I'm back home looking at the first day of my new "job," too.

As a creative person, change often is exciting to me. Since nothing is yet set, I can imagine all kinds of amazing possibilities. I have time, a great support network, and have relinquished the burden to Brian for household financial support. At the same time, though, I'm generally and genetically disinclined to do dishes or laundry. I don't cook often, and when I do it's not good. But project management? Sure. Or house painting or organizing? Love it.

So what's next? Do I fall back into the trap of working 70 hours a week on piddix? Will I become a trapped housewife from the Feminine Mystique?

If today's to-do list is any indication, it seems I'm once again trying to fit everything in:

1. Call contractor to figure out why lead abatement on the wood floor isn't done yet (which is why our entire lives are currently crammed into the only room with carpet; see above photo)

2. Pick up new book I ordered from 1838 to scan. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

3. Get back to agent with designs for possible inclusion in Trader Joe's stores. Also sign and return contract for new images for Target.

4. Everything piddix (26 new designs needed for wholesale order due in 8 days). Oh, and send all the etsy orders, too.

5. Submit application for winter craft shows (because I haven't nothing better to do with all my free time, yikes).

And then of course the things I want to do in theory, but probably won't happen in actuality:

6. Work out.

7. Make dinner.

My guess is I'll fall into old habits. Work on piddix too hard (which I love). Eat out instead of cook. Keep getting dressed up to work out but never actually making it out the door. But for the moment, the excitement over "what if's" is still there. The fun feeling of New Year's resolutions and a new routine are with me today.

Sometimes, You Get What You Need

2010-08-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

When I visualize "balance" I picture a skinny, frail tightrope walker high up in the air, carefully trying to balancing all aspects of a life on the ends of a too-long balance poles. "Stability," on the other hand, seems much more stout to me. Assuredly (and perhaps boringly) plodding along on firm ground.

For so long I've been seeking balance in my life. How can I balance sleep, family, work, fun, friends, travel, and paying the mortgage? How can I cram too much into an already full life? But as it turns out, stability is the one that found me--and I couldn't be happier. As of August 30th, Brian will be turning in his freelance-writer gig for a pretty amazing (but still secret) full-time job.

This most definitely means change in our lives. We're trading the month-long house swaps and having both of us at home with Declan full-time for paid health insurance and a regular paycheck. I'll still be working at piddix full-time, but will also take on more childcare and house responsibilities. Two or three years ago I'm not sure I would have been ready for this. The freedom we've enjoyed in both travel and home-life have been great. But with Declan heading off to preschool in the Fall the timing feels fortuitous. I'm quite ready to take a deep breath on firm ground.

So while I wasn't seeking stability, happily, it found me.

Need More Chocolate...

2010-08-05T10:22:00.001-07:00

My three vices: reading, chocolate, and the beach. If I can somehow combine all three: absolute nirvana.

Why am I telling you this? Well, it seems that over the past year business has become my life. As an admitted workaholic, it's way too easy to fill up any extra time with business tasks. Add to this the pressure of being the main financial support for our family, along with some huge new projects (involving Target and Barnes & Noble, among others), and you get one tired, tired lady.

So I'm making it my summer resolution to eat more chocolate while reading on the beach. Doesn't that sound lovely? And since the 4th of July I've done pretty well. To completely out myself as the tired syfy geek that I am, I've devoured several Charlene Harris novels, an Anita Blake mystery, and now I've moved on to the Outlander series. None are amazing, though, and I'm still looking for that perfect beach book. Any suggestions?

48 Days Later...A Summary of a Crafty Internship

2010-06-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

Special guest post by first-ever-piddix-intern-extraordinaire Lara Schmidt of fraserhead

I'm sure this comes as no surprise to you, but in eight weeks with Corinna I learned a lot. More than I can even digest right now.

When I asked Corinna to take me on as an Intern, I had something pretty traditional in mind. A few hours of work for her in exchange for some craft supplies and the opportunity to peek behind the curtain. It wasn't the first time I had asked her, but instead of thanking me, this time she said, “Let's get lunch tomorrow.” When I sat down with her, she opened up a notebook and looked at me with a big grin, “What are your goals for the next 10 years,” she said. That was her opening line.

The next eight weeks followed suit. Corinna had something a little less traditional in mind (doesn't she always!). In exchange for a few hours of work for her, she wanted to guide me to the edge of the pool and convince me to jump in. She structured each week of the internship around part of the business planning process: conception, sourcing materials, marketing, market research, customer interaction, packaging, shipping, bookkeeping, the creative process, identifying opportunities and so much more. I thought I was starting a rather standard internship, but what I got was the Piddix Bootcamp, and I am so very, very lucky that I did.

In the eight weeks I spent with Corinna, here are some of the highlights. I:
1. Started a website
2. Set goals and benchmarks for my business/creative endeavors
3. Started a business plan
4. Read eight books about business planning and strategy
5. Listed three items on Etsy
6. Sold two items on Etsy
7. Signed up for two classes to hone my skills
8. Started the process of getting the IDA Small Business Grant through Mercy Corps
9. Did lots of deep personal exploration.
10. Gained confidence in my ability to start and run a business and an ever-increasing desire to do so.

In the spirit of wrapping things up, I wanted to share with you some of the most valuable things I learned during the Internship. I hope you'll find them valuable as well.

1. Know your strengths. This is actually one thing I learned more by observation than anything else. Corinna is an extremely successful person. She is successful at nearly everything she does (maybe not the best, but certainly successful). So I tried very hard to figure out what makes her that way. Turns out, it's a lot of things, as Corinna is also a very talented person. But the real lesson came when I started applying her methods to my own life and work. In doing so I realized that it is not necessarily her methods that make her successful but the fact that she knows her strengths. And because she knows what she does well, she can use her strengths to her advantage. Research, lists, statistics, and communications happen to be some of her strengths and she makes good use of them all. If she tried sticking to a rigid schedule, following rules, and making business decisions on intuition alone, she might not be where she is today – in Piddix or elsewhere.

This revelation was very exciting. Why? Because unlike Corinna I am not as good at analyzing the market and tracking things in spreadsheets. I felt like I was at a huge disadvantage until I realized that I, too, have strengths that I can use to my advantage. Copying Corinna's methods would only get me so far – understanding my own unique strengths and working with them will take me much farther, and I'll surely enjoy the process more as well.

2. Get out there and talk to people. Now, considering the above advice, I have to admit that talking to people is something Corinna and I both do very well and enjoy immensely. Still, this is good advice for anyone running their own business.

Interacting with others is such a vital part of generating positive energy around your business. Seize every opportunity to reach out to others and engage them in what you are doing. In an effort to do exactly that, I've been telling people about my work, this internship, my goals and my fears. In the last two months I've made two new friends and in both cases it's because they responded to something I threw out into the world. In one case, the friend is online and lives across the country, in the other, a friend of a friend invited me out for a beer because she saw we were both pursuing an independent career in the arts and wanted to connect.

In the organization where I work (and where Corinna worked for many years) we believe that conversations create a sense of community and a sense of place within that community. Think of that in terms of your professional community, artistic community, or any other community you are part of or wish to create. Conservation opens doors. So get out there and talk to people!

3. Ask People. Ask ask ask. I wrote a whole review on asking but I'll say it again. ASK. Asking is the reason I got this internship. Asking is the reason Corinna was able to work part time while she got her business going. I believe that between Asking and Googling, you are unstoppable. But you still have to ask.

4. Be resourceful. When I asked Corinna questions, I was often intrigued to discover that she had found the answer by asking, googling and taking some very affordable classes through local organizations. I like to think of myself as a resourceful person as well, but I took for granted that Corinna was an “expert.” If Corinna is an expert, it's because she asks excellent questions, knows where to look for the answers, and is a voracious learner.

Furthermore, despite the financial challenges of running her own business full time, Corinna and her family still enjoy traveling and eating out because she comes up with creative ways to make it all work. Once you start re-evaluating the barriers that are keeping you from doing what you want (money, time, house, dog, child, etc), you may find that they aren't so big after all. Resourcefulness is the key.

During the last eight weeks, I also learned a great deal outside of the “business” realm. Here are the first three out the eight most valuable things I learned about myself (you can read the rest right here):

1. I like to take things slow. Corinna likes to dive in. Corinna held me accountable for following through with my goals of making, learning and discovering, but I felt at times like things were moving just a little faster than my comfort level. At this point in my creative career, I want to take it slow. I want to fall in love with the process and if that means having a sparse etsy shop, a sporadic blog and the occasional freelance job – then that's the way its going to be. My mother always said, “Let your comfort guide you,” and that message has been loud and clear the last eight weeks. If I had a toe in before, I've at least got both feet in now, which is a big improvement, I think.

2. I am a creature of habit. The last book I reviewed was “The Creative Habit” by Twyla Tharp. While I wasn't crazy about the book itself, the concept revived me. Since the creative part of me developed through classical ballet, a rigid environment of habit, ritual, technique and infinite repetition, my creative brain is naturally accustomed to more structure. Since I quit ballet six years ago, my life has lacked that structure and I had no idea how much my creative energy was suffering because of it. Now that I know that habit and ritual are such an important part of my creative process, I can find my way back to them.

3. I need a room of my own. Remember Corinna's post about the door? Well I feel exactly the same way. Furthermore, I really miss the feeling of having a space that is all mine. When I lived at home with my parents, my room was a sanctuary and it had a life of its own. I love my house now and I love that I share it with my partner, but I look forward to the day when I can retreat to a room that is mine – ALL MINE!

(Read the rest of my Personal Lessons).

Thank you all for the support and encouragement I've received in the last two months. I knew I would learn a lot from Corinna, but I had no idea how much I would benefit from the support of this community of friends, artists, and crafters. After today, I will no longer be Corinna's Intern, but I'll still be around! You can count on seeing me here and I hope you'll feel welcomed over in my neck of the woods as well.

Cheers!

Wow, I'm in a Book! (and other fun stuff)

2010-05-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

I don't tend to blog about these things too often, but there's been some pretty exciting press about piddix lately that I wanted to share. The first is a book called Photoshop Wow by the lovely and talented Linnea Dayton. Linnea first contacted me almost two years ago to be part of her Photoshop book and it was finally published last week. It features at least a dozen pages on piddix including an "artist gallery spread," a "secrets" spread, and sample piddix images on the CD (not that I'm counting or anything ;). Fun!
The banner for the piddix blog was recently picked by Artful Blogging as part of their "Banners We Love" section. I was especially excited for this one because it's an original collage I made based on some of my favorite scans.
And finally, the always-amazing Jessica Moreau-Berry of Junque Revival has a huge article featuring her jewelry in the Winter 2010 Belle Armoire Jewelry. Here's my favorite line (of course) that also happens to be the first line in the article:

"As a found object jewelry artist, I am always looking for new ways to combine my favorite antique treasures with the beautiful images of nature that I download and purchase from piddix.etsy.com."

Have I mentioned lately how thankful I am to work with such talented, kind, and thoughtful artists? Thank you thank you thank you.

One Question: What Inspires Your Creativity?

2010-05-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

photo by Lara Schmidt

For each of the eight weeks of Lara's piddix internship I have created a list of set tasks. These pretty much always includes a book to read/review, several hours of work for piddix, as well as specific tasks for her own business, fraserhead. Last week I had a bit of an epiphany while I was putting together the intern assignment for the week: I was trying to create a mini-piddix. I had been showing Lara how to run a business in the exact same manner that I had done (too many hours working, too much stress). I had assumed that she, like me, was motivated by impossible goals and deadlines. But it turns out, Lara's goals are much more focused on learning, exploration and creativity (how fun and smart). In order to get a better sense of what motivates her, I asked Lara participate in my "one question" series and answer the following, and I love to hear from others what helps motivate your creativity, too:

Q: What inspires to to be creative?

A: Well, let me start by saying that there are many forms of creation, some of which I am good at, some of which I am not. Cooking and dancing, for example, happen to come very easily to me. I can dance and cook under almost any conditions without thinking twice. Then there are all the other acts of creation: drawing, singing, writing, painting, etc. that have taken on a life of their own and hover over me at night, snickering. To be creative in these ways requires a little bit of witchcraft on my part.

So what inspires me to be creative?

Riding my bicycle at night
The rain
Clean laundry
A beautiful book
Photography
Fresh cut flowers
A big stack of crisp paper
Beautiful patterns
A cute outfit
Talking and eating and drinking with friends
Music
Being alone

Essentially I need to feel at peace to create. But being creative is a bit of a torment for me. I've yet to reconcile the two, which is why I usually end up in the kitchen, cooking and dancing.

Printed Collage Sheets Available in Stores

2010-05-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

When I was in Minnesota recently I visited The Bead Monkey to check out their set-up of printed piddix collage sheets. They carry about 60 different piddix sheets and have a whole section of the store dedicated to them, along with crafty examples and pendant making supplies.

If you're in the Minneapolis/St Paul area it's definitely a fun store to swing by. Or if you're elsewhere, they also have the printed piddix collage sheets available in their web store as well as a great selection of online free tutorials.

If you would like more information about carrying piddix collage sheets in your retail store, send me an email for all the details.

Now, which fire was I supposed to put out first?

2010-04-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

Back when I was gainfully employed and someone else was paying the bills, my company sent me to one of those "professional development" workshops. It was surprisingly helpful (believe me, if you've been to one of these, you know why it's surprising). One of the main insights I gained that day came in the form of a Punnett-type square that looked a little like this (click to enlarge):

Essentially, the presenter said, when deciding which tasks to do, we often choose ones based on urgency rather than importance. These are the many fires we end up putting out daily--essential or not. And sometimes the most important, but non-urgent, tasks are left undone.

I too often fall into this trap. It's the pressing but not necessarily essential emails and convos that can take up a whole day, while other perhaps more boring but often more important tasks I should be doing (filling out forms, updating item descriptions) get pushed back once again.

This is one of the many reasons it's been both exciting and oh-so-helpful to have an intern, even if it's only a couple of hours per week, to whom I can assign these important tasks that often get left behind. In less than a month Lara has checked a dozen long-languishing tasks off the piddix to-do list including a complete re-design of this blog (isn't it lovely?).

Recently the Oregonian published a six-point test to identify the most "proper" and legal internships (rather than just unpaid work) including:

"2. The internship is offered for the benefit of the student or trainee; the position may actually hamper the business."

It's an important point to make. My Mondays especially are spent in prep work and meetings revolving around the internship and it often feels like I get little "real" work done. But then I look and see what the intern is accomplishing--those thorny essential-but-languishing tasks--and it is so worth it. Thanks Lara!

Finding Your Core

2010-04-14T12:34:00.001-07:00

Last summer I spent hours upon hours at my in-laws exploring different ways to expand piddix. I had already analyzed piddix's strengths and weaknesses, but didn't quite know what to do next. Should I make a finished product (cards, jewelry), perhaps start crafts shows again? So to help address my conundrum my brother-in-law suggested reading Profit from the Core and Beyond the Core. The books themselves aren't great and are most-definitely dated. As this review points out, the first editions were written at the height of the dot-com era and use Enron as the example of an amazing company while amazon.com is seen as spreading itself too thin. But the theme of how to stay true to your core products, customers, and strengths is one I revisit every time I think of the best ways to expand piddix. This week intern-extraordinaire Lara has done a great job bringing out the most valuable information in both Core books. My suggestion? Skip the books and use Lara's excellent summary to help identify ways to grow your business while staying true to your strengths. And yes, my brother-in-law does wear a suit.

Profit From The Core, by Chris Zook with James Allen, 186 pages Beyond the Core, by Chris Zook 214 pages

Reviewed by Lara Schmidt of Fraserhead

Upon handing me these books, Corinna said, “These are the books men in suits read on planes.” Meaning these books are serious – in a Harvard Business School kind of way. This was a bit intimidating to me at first, especially since I don't even have business plan yet. The further along you are in your business—meaning, I suppose, the better you understand what you want and where you are going—the more useful this book will be to you. It is full of case studies, diagrams, charts and statistics that illustrate what makes companies succeed and what makes them fail. It will prompt you to take a very analytical look at your business to identify strengths and potential areas of growth. It asks good questions and encourages you to do the same.
Because I am still in the planning phase of my business, I skimmed through this book to find the pieces of information that might help me better understand the concepts and challenges I will face in developing my product and market share. While I still don't quite know what my “core” is yet, I feel better equipped knowing how to make it strong and lasting once I find it. If growing your business is important to you—and I think it certainly should be—this book will teach you where and how to look for new opportunities.

Thesis of Profit from the Core: “The foundation of sustained, profitable growth is a clear definition of a company's core business.” For some of you, defining the “core” of your business may be easy. If you're still wondering, however what a “core” is and where you might find yours, chances are you'll need to follow these steps:

Identifying the Core. Identify:

Your most potentially profitable franchise customers
Your most differentiated and strategic capabilities
Your most critical product offerings
Your most important channels
Other critical strategic assets that contribute to the above

Taking a broader look at the recipe for success, I found this outline very helpful from a planning perspective:

Three Steps to Success:

First, build market power and influence in the core business or in a segment of that business.
Having done that, expand into logical and reinforcing adjacencies around the core.
Then, shift or redefine the core in response to industry turbulence.

While both books preach that growth comes from the core, they also guide you through the process of identifying potentially successful adjacencies in which to expand.

Successful Adjacencies:

come from the strongest cores
have a repeatable characteristic that allows the company to build an adjacency machine that continually creates more growth opportunities of a similar nature
the best place to look for adjacency opportunities is in the strongest customers, not in the search for the hottest markets
the best adjacencies are driven by customer feedback

In summary:

Find your core and define it as clearly as possible.
Make your core your main priority. Build it strong
Use customer feedback to identify new products or capabilities for your existing customers.

As a final warning I should tell you that these books are not easy to read. They are full of jargon and sterile business acronyms. That said, they do a good a job of prompting you to take your business seriously. “It is the management team that applies rigor, not a vague sense of creativity or gut instinct, that wins the long-term adjacency game,” they argue. It's easy enough to forget that rigor isn't just for the Harvard Business School, it applies to us creative types, too. Suit and tie, or not.

Two great resources to brush up on your business savvy are:
Harvard Business School's Baker Library and MIT's free online courses from the Sloan School of Management.

If you have any advice about how you defined your core I'd love to hear it. Leave a comment!

Introducing the First-Ever piddix Intern

2010-04-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to officially introduce you to Lara Schmidt of Fraserhead. Lara is the first-ever piddix intern (unless you count Declan and his help at the post office) and so far she's doing an amazing job. I asked Lara to answer four questions about herself to help you all get to know her a bit better.

1. Please introduce yourself.
My name is Lara Schmidt. I’m not really able to answer the question “What do you do,” and honestly, I hope it stays that way. In brief, I am a dancer, an English and French major, an employee at a really fabulous non-profit, a thrifter, a cook, a writer, a traveler, and of course the list could go on and on. I was raised in Central Washington and moved to Portland with my partner, Joe, 2 years ago. We love it here. I’m sure adventures will take us elsewhere, but for the moment, we enjoy the city, our dog Charlie, and making messes in our small apartment.2. What do you hope to gain from this internship?
I’m hoping to learn a lot by osmosis, but if I have to get specific:

How to write/conceive a business plan
Strategies for developing a business, product or service
Sourcing materials
Pricing
Maintaining websites, blogs, and social media in the art/design/craft world
Investing in your business
Business accounting -- managing expenses and revenue

3. Why art?
I grew up a very dedicated, classically trained ballet dancer. I was good at dancing. When my career came to a sudden halt, I fell back on the other thing people told me I was good at: Writing. So I became an English Major. Recently, a little voice inside of me as been cheering, “Do something you think you’re bad at,” so here I am. I’ve always been intimidated by art and entrepreneurship. Thus, I figured this was a good place to start.
4. Where do you want your business to be in six months? In three years?
In six months I would like to have a clear view of the next few years, a business plan, a path to follow. I want my business to be earning revenue—preferably enough to pay the bills. Dream big, right? In three years I want my business to support me. Financially and emotionally. I either want to be in a business I love, or I want my business to allow me to do the things I love. Both would be great. We’ll see.

Book Nook: The Four Hour Workweek

2010-04-06T00:15:00.000-07:00

I'm quite proud to introduce the first installment in a series of book reviews to be published over the next two months, written by piddix intern-extraordinaire Lara Schmidt of Fraserhead. These will all be the books that I've found helpful when creating and running piddix and will be read and reviewed by Lara. The first is from the first edition of "The Four Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss. I think Lara has definitely found the gems in this one.

The Four Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Author: Timothy Ferriss
Pages: 308
Reviewed by Lara Schmidt

The mantra of this book is simple: There is no need to wait for the life you want and every reason not to. Its author, Timothy Ferriss, recognizes however that the barriers to personal fulfillment are both real and imagined—ranging from 80-hour work weeks to the undefined fear of not knowing what you want. His goal is two-fold: to help you identify your fears and passions, and to teach you to build efficient, automated businesses that will earn you money while you live the life of your dreams.

While Ferriss’ ego often upstaged his advice, he does have several valuable pieces of wisdom to impart. Here are the concepts I found most helpful:

Lifestyle Design: The art and science of creating luxury lifestyles by using the currencies of time and mobility. I found this definition too abstract but found the term itself immensely inspiring. Whereas the terms ‘life planning’ or ‘goal setting’ may feel obligatory and overwhelming, “lifestyle design” captures the whimsy and the creativity that should be present when imagining your perfect future.

Dreamlining: Applying timelines to what most would consider dreams. The chapter that covers dreamlining was, for me, the most fun but also the most daunting. As Ferriss says, “Dreamlining will be fun, but it will also be hard. The harder it is, the more you need it.” He gets the ball rolling by asking these questions, “ What would you do if there were no way you could fail? If you were 10 times smarter than everyone else?” I think the entire book hinges on these questions alone. He asks you to create two timelines, a six month and a twelve month, where you will list up to five things you dream of having, being, and doing—in that order. He encourages you to be honest. Don’t write, “Solve world hunger,” if “Own a Lamborghini” is actually higher on the list. The rest of the chapter walks you through six steps which involve setting priorities, determining a Target Monthly Income to support your dreams and identifying actionable steps that you can take immediately to get on your way.

The 80/20 Principle: 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs. In other words: 20% of the work we do produces 80% of the desired outcome. Ferriss suggests you apply the 80/20 principle by asking yourself, “What 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness? Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?” You can apply these questions to all areas of your life. What ensues is an elimination of the inessential or aggravating aspects of business and life. Ferriss recommends cleaning house this way as often as you reasonably can.

Parkinson’s Law: A task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. In other words, if we’re given a week to write a paper, it will take a week. If we’re given a day to write a paper, it will take a day. Parkinson’s Law is the reason we say, “I tend to work better under pressure.” To increase productivity Ferriss says we should: 1) Limit tasks to the important to shorten work time (80/20); 2) Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important (Parkinson’s Law). In this way, 80/20 and Parkinson’s Law work synergistically to help us work better, not more.

In short, this book offers several great pieces of information. The tone, however, felt very much like a late night infomercial, which I didn’t appreciate. My recommendation is to skim through the chapters first to see what grabs you. The activities Ferriss recommends (dreamlining, life design, etc.) are worth far more than the advice. In this case, 80% of the most useful information came from 20% of the content, but at least we know his theories work.

Getting Help

2010-03-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Image from Mary Engelbreit.

Is it just me, or do other small business owners have a hard time delegating, too? For many of the same reasons that I started piddix (I'm a perfectionist; I like to wear many hats), it's difficult to imagine bringing in someone else who would live up to the too-high standards I've set. Besides, it seems I would spend more time explaining to someone how to do a task (sending out orders, for example), than if I just did it myself. And what if they get it wrong? What if one of my customers isn't satisfied?

So if was with a bit of a knowing smirk that I listened to Mary Engelbreight--an artist who has been making a living with her art for 20+ years--talk about her first non-family-member employee:

"Finally I said I think I'm going to have to get some help to get all this done and we hired Stephanie (who is still my art director), and poor Stephanie sat there for three or four months. I wouldn't give her a single thing to do...I had this bizarre idea that I had to do every single bit of it myself. Of course, I got into it and figured out how to delegate and it was amazing."

I've had several people ask if they could intern with me, and it's always seemed a strange notion: why would anyone want to work with me just to learn? And for little (or no) money? What if they took all my secrets and ran? How much would they really help?

So with inspiration from the Engelbreit podcast, I decided to address my fears and hire an intern. I went out to lunch with my top pick, asked her a ton of questions, and came up with a plan and a clear understanding of what we both hope to receive from the internship (which I will put in writing). I'm creating weekly tasks and goals that we'll review during check-ins. I've even asked her to sign a non-compete and non-disclosure agreement, since sharing the secrets of how I track down my images was one of my many concerns about bringing someone in.

I'll be introducing the new intern here soon (stay tuned). And in the mean time, it's quite exciting to be working on a big ol' "hand off" list for the numerous items I need but haven't had a chance to do myself yet. I'll definitely let you know how the internship goes.

Our Winter Headquarters

2010-03-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

When people start emailing me wondering whether they've accidentally fallen off the newsletter list (since it's been so long since they've received one), I know I'm overdue for an update. Several weeks ago Brian, Declan and I all packed up for a month-long house swap in Minnesota. Being at "our winter headquarters" (as Brian called it) was a ton of fun. Lots of ice skating, hockey, and time with the family. The house swap was great and I'm seriously lusting over several apartments in Paris for our next trip. I know we'll make it there some day.

For me, it was most definitely a working vacation. I visited 20 different archives, scanning some of the most amazing engravings and lithographs--the oldest from the 1700s. Some of these images I will turn into collage sheets (like the Marie Antoinette painting in the upper left corner). Others will be made into calendars and greeting cards by some of my larger commercial clients. All together, I think I scanned more than 1000 new images. Here's a small sample (click on the image to zoom a bit). Now it's time to recover from the "vacation," catching up on everything I let slide while away (like the 1500+ feedbacks I still owe). Yikes.

A Door of My Own

2010-02-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

I have a door in the office where we're staying in Minnesota. A real door. A door without glass, that closes and everything. I had no idea what a big difference that would make.

See, back in Portland I have a nice home office....with two huge divided light French doors. It's a bit like a fish bowl, surrounded by glass and right in the middle of everything, which makes it relatively impossible to work when a certain 3-year-old puts his little nose up to the glass and says "Mommmmmmy, play soccer with me." Or a certain 30-something-year-old says "can you do this little thing real quick." It means I work in fits and starts. Never quite getting an undivided chunk of time. In some ways it is wonderful. I definitely don't miss anything going on in the house. But it is definitely not an ideal situation for actually getting work done.

In Minnesota (where we're staying for a month) I've set up my temporary office on the second floor in an area that is small, bright, and best of all...has a door that closes. In Portland it is a huge struggle to balance home/home life and business/home life. I feel like I'm always working but also never working efficiently. That's part of the trick with having a home office, right? And I know it can be frustrating for Brian, too, since I'm always so anxious to shoo them out of the house so I can get things done.

I'm pretty thrilled that something as small as a door that closes might be representative of the door between work and home. Creating that division more strongly may allow me to not only work more efficiently, but also to leave work at the "office" at the end of the day. Who knows, maybe I'll even get my evenings back again? What a wonderful next goal to work toward.

Spending a Month in Minnesota

2010-02-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

For some reason I have grown up with the idea that money (or lack thereof) shouldn't be a barrier when making decisions. First you come up with your dreams, then you figure out how to make them happen. Back in November I started thinking about how fun it would be to spend a month in Minnesota in the winter. Yes, sounds a bit nuts I know. But Declan loves snow, I love all of the archives and antique stores out here, and we all love being close to Brian's family. The trick was that all of the expenses really add up: a place to stay for a month, car rental, airplane tickets, dog sitter back home.

So I came up with the slightly crazy idea to swap houses and sent out a tweet to find interest. And believe it or not it actually worked. Through a friend-of-a-friend we're staying at a lovely house near Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, borrowing their car, and taking care of their cats while the other family and their two young daughters stay at our house in Portland and take great care of our dog. We even had two free airplane tickets from miles, so the expenses have been minimal. And we're having a blast.
Apparently I'm not the only one who's ever had this idea. The Oregonian recently ran a couple of stories about house swapping (with slightly more exotic locales like Denmark and the Caribbean). Of course I'm already planning the next getaway. I'm sure someone in Hawaii will want to swap houses, right?

So Many Finds at the Craft & Hobby Trade Show

2010-02-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

I spent most of last week at the Craft & Hobby Association's 2010 Winter trade show. It was the first trade show I ever attended for piddix, and it was huge, exhausting, amazing, overwhelming, and totally fun. One of my favorite parts was learning about new products that can be used by piddix customers.
I'll be writing more in-depth about the new glazes and pendants especially, but here's a sneak peek of some of my favorites:

Premo Sculpey premiered a new, brighter white. Looks like it should work even better for clay image transfers.
Collage Pauge. Kind of like an updated Modge Podge, designed by Traci Bautista.
A variety of water-based glazes to try out for scrabble tiles including 3D Crystal Laquer and Aleen's Paper Glaze.
Amate Studio pendants. I can't say enough good things about their pendants. And there's even a new, scrabble tile size pendant tray they just came out with.
Vintaj jewelry. Their brand new technique book (and really their whole line of products) is beautiful. I love the look of aged brass.
Simply Swank. I've always recommended their soldering book, but I didn't realize they also offer all kinds soldering supplies including glass for pendants. The trapezoid is my favorite.
Grafix Rub-Onz Transfer Film. Print out an image and transfer it to tiles, stone, glass. And no further sealing necessary.

Look for more reports about CHA in the next couple of weeks including several hands-on product reviews and a ton of new tutorials I discovered, too.

Piddix Subscriptions are Back

2010-02-01T00:33:00.000-08:00

After a three month hiatus and many requests, I've finally brought back the piddix monthly subscription. Starting February 1st, I will list a limited number of each of the following:

1. One entire month subscription of every single new collage sheet
3. An entire month subscription of every single new collage sheet PLUS full sized jpgs
2. TWO entire months subscription of every single new collage sheet PLUS full sized jpgs

Basically, I send you lots and lots and lots of fun images and collage sheets for a month or two. See all of the different options here.

And in case you're wondering whether to try out a subscription, see some of the feedback from the last time I had a subscription available.

2009 Feedback:

“You are AMAZING! And I love the subscription. I'm always so excited to open my email and find a new collage sheet from you! It was better than expected ... a lot cheaper than the value of the stuff we got (you could charge a little more ... hint hint) ... I like the variety of sizes and themes ... and I am signing up for next month. Thanks for the great collage sheets! Keep up the good work!”

“Thank you so much. It's an absolute bargain and the images are of an excellent quality.”

“Girl, you hit the JACKPOT, you filled in the BINGO card, and you've won the LOTTERY with this one -- it's fabulous. Thank you, Thank you. The money I spent on a one-month membership is going to be some of the best I've ever spent. :-) LOVE THIS ONE.”

I am truly delighted with the subscription -- I could continue every week all year if it was offered.”

“Each email was like opening a Christmas present. Thanks!”

“Thanks so much for the wonderful images. I love not knowing what images are coming next. It's turned out to be very inspiring. You have sent me images that I would never have bought, but as soon as I've seen them I've thought of something I could make with them. I've liked it so much that I've signed up for the next month.”

“I always love your collage sheets and these were no exception, nice to have something a little different that I might not have bought. Thanks for the wonderful service.”

“Enjoyed every sheet! Highest quality images, wonderful customer service!”

“This has been absolutely wonderful! Your images have been top-notch and load fairly quickly for my DSL. I wasn't sure what I would be getting, so this has been a very happy surprise. I am very interested in continuing! I will be signing up for a continued subscription ... Thank you for all your hard work, it has been MUCH appreciated!”

“I love my subscription and all of the images! I think it is a wonderful value ... I would definitely like to continue my subscription through the end of the month. Just tell me where to pay!!”

“IT'S BEEN SO FUN, downloading all the cool sheets you've put out for us. I AM ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST FANS, and I think you should continue the 'subscription' offering whenever you can.”

“The mix of collages was perfect for me. Some of the collages are probably not ones I would initially look at and say, oh, I have to have this one. But then when I received it as part of the subscription, I immediately saw a use for it. I've loved every single thing you've sent this week -- I know I will use them all. As I mentioned, I think your price is too low -- you put a lot of work into these collages and the results are very evident.”

Give to MercyCorps for Haiti, Get a Free Collage Sheet

2010-01-18T16:44:00.001-08:00

Inspired by several crafty fundraisers (especially indiefixx & etsystalker), here at piddix we're going to be giving away one free collage sheet for any amount donated for Haitian relief efforts through MercyCorps.

When hurricane Katrina hit I worked directly with MercyCorps, an international agency headquartered in Portland, and saw the good work they did rebuilding New Orleans. In Haiti, MercyCorps is delivering clean water, food, and shelter to survivors of the worst natural disaster in years.

To donate, visit the piddix fundraiser page at MercyCorps. Once you've donated (any amount at all), just send me an email or convo letting me know the sheet number for any one sheet you would like from the piddix etsy store. You'll receive your free digital collage sheet within 24 hours.

The free collage sheets will be available until February 1st, 2010, or until I hit my fundraiser goal of $250---whichever comes first.

Play for Keeps

2010-01-06T15:29:00.000-08:00

For those of you in Portland, Brian has several photographs in the Tribute Gallery's new show, "Play for Keeps." Swing by on First Thursday (January 7th) from 6-9 pm to say hi. The show will be up all month. See all the details here.

Traveling, Crafty Style

2010-01-04T11:48:00.000-08:00

My family loves to travel. Even Declan makes us play "airplane" on a frequent basis, where he'll pack up his mini suitcase and practice flying across the county. So even though we've had to scale back on plenty of expenses while building up piddix, we've also come up with several creative ways to contine our traveling on a budget.

1. Rack up the Miles.
Now that we have to pay for three airplane tickets, flying is even more expensive. We almost always try to get at least one if not two of the airplane tickets for free using miles we've collected with credit cards. Both Brian and I signed up for the American Express Delta card, where we get 20,000 miles with the first purchase and no annual fee for the first year. When looking for the best airline miles cards I first ask friends and research online. I then call the credit card company, read the fine print, and make sure that the miles I "earn" by making my first purchase automatically transfer into an airline account rather than staying with the card. That way, I can cancel the credit card if I'd like before the yearly fees kick in. I also add a little sticker to the front of the card that says "cancel by May 2010." That way I won't get hit with a $95 fee by accidentally keeping the card more than a year. We have also set up most of our bills to be paid automatically by credit card and then pay off the cards right away (another great way to add up the miles). And yes, we're careful not to apply for and cancel too many cards, which may negatively affect our credit.

2. Do Your Homework Beforehand.
We're hoping to go to Disneyland in mid-January for a tradeshow/mini-vacation. Upon learning that one-day entrance fees are $70-$100, I did some research for alternatives. I found that by volunteering at a non-profit organization before we go, we can receive a free park ticket. It is often much easier to research and print out coupons and specials beforehand. That way, I'm not wasting my vacation trying to hunt down deals.

3. Find "Bonus" Time.
When I think of timeshares, the first thing that comes to mind is this South Park episode. In other words, not a very pleasant experience. But we've actually been fortunate to pick up "bonus time" through my parent's timeshare quite often. Basically, we purchase unused rooms for a small portion of the cost plus a cleaning fee. You have to go through a friend or family member who can book the timeshare for you, and in our case we have to wait until two weeks beforehand to secure a room. Another bonus, besides the very-low cost, is that the rooms have full-sized kitchens so we can save money by eating several meals a day at the condo.

4. Combine Work and Play.
For us, pretty much any work trip can be made into a mini family vacation. When I was still selling at craft fairs, we'd pick which fairs to sell at based on where we wanted to travel. Similarly, when I decided to attend a tradeshow in Anaheim this winter for piddix, we looked into activities we could do as a family in my off-days (like Disneyland). I also spend a good portion of my traveling time visiting different archives to scan material for my collage sheets and we almost always go as a family--definitely one of the large bonuses of us all working from home and having flexible schedules.

If all of our winter travel plans work out, I'll be posting from both California and from a month-long trip to the mid-West. Who knows, perhaps I can find a tradeshow in Venice this Spring? I'm sure they have some amazing archives, too...

Christmas Thanks

2009-12-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

Perhaps even more than Thanksgiving, for me Christmas is a time of gratitude and thoughtfulness. More than a dozen family members are descending upon Portland from around the country and I am honored and touched that they would leave their lives, friends, and other family members back home to make the trek out West.

And with the holiday parties and Christmas cards arriving, I have especially been thinking about the handful of mentors I've been blessed with in my life. Starting with my first "real" job out of college, I've had the incredible good fortune of working with the most amazing, brilliant, and nurturing group of (mostly) women anyone could hope for. They've taken me under their wings and given me two incredibly important gifts. First, the strength and courage to "leap and the net will appear." And second, the perspective to stand back and know what's truly most important at the end of the day--family, friends, and relationships.

Thank you all. I hope some day I'm able pass these same gifts on in a way that honors your friendship.

Merry Christmas everyone.

This is What 2,000 Collage Sheets Look Like

2009-12-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled to announce that after six months of product testing, research, design, and waaaaay too many late nights, the piddix line of printed collage sheets is finally here. They're printed on a the most amazing paper (which also happens to be FSC certified with recycled content) right here in Portland, Oregon at a 60-year-old family-owned print shop.

These little treats will only be available in retail stores. You can find the full line of 60+ collage sheets at The Bead Monkey in Minnesota, with other locations and details to be announced soon. Swing by their Minneapolis or St. Paul location and tell them piddix sent you.

The Biggest Storewide Piddix Sale Ever -- This Monday

2009-11-29T01:34:00.000-08:00

In three years of selling on etsy, I've never had a storewide sale before, so this should be fun.

Starting at 10 am pacific time this Monday, November 30th and going until 10 pm, I'll be offering amazing deals too good to pass up at least once per hour. I'm calling it my "10 by 10" sale since I plan to offer several sets of 10 collage sheets for just $10 (regular value $30-$35). Yep, that's right, 10 collage sheets for ten dollars. These will be listed with a limited number in stock and when they sell out, they won't be re-listed, so grab one quick if you like it. I may also throw in a couple of $10 CDs. Or perhaps a set of ten full-sized images? Or even a couple of random $1 images or sheets here and there. You'll have to swing by to see exactly what's on sale.

I'll post on twitter and in this forum thread just before I list a new set. Or you can also use the forum thread to suggest different images or collections you'd like to see on sale. Sale items will be listed prominently in the shop with the image above, or you can click here at any time to see if any 10x10 items are currently listed. See you Monday!

Looking for Balance (in all the wrong places)

2009-11-12T23:13:00.001-08:00

One of my lovely piddix customers wrote me today asking for advice on finding work/life balance. If only I had a good answer! While I am pretty good at "crying uncle" once I've reached a breaking point, achieving equilibrium before I reach it is a skill I am seriously lacking.

Since my last newsletter went out more than six weeks ago, I've worked mostly 16-hour days, staying up until 3 am most nights on the following:

1. A 70-item wholesale catalog of printed collage sheets. By Thanksgiving you'll be able to find printed piddix sheets in person if you live near Minneapolis and online for everyone else.

2. A free, 12-page pdf titled "Seven Tips for Etsy Success," published this morning on indiefixx.

3. A new, soon-to-be-released collaboration with Annie Howes.

4. Negotiation of several commercial contracts, including one that should land piddix images in Barnes & Nobles nationwide by late 2010.

And so much more...

Lucky for my sleep-deprived-brain, I dropped the collage sheet files off at the printers this week, so things are getting back to normal. But I still fear falling right back into the late-night routine the next time another large project comes up. Anyone out there have any tips to share that have worked for you? I'd love to hear them.

Paper and Ink

2009-10-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

Did you miss me? Well, no, you probably didn't. But just in case I'll tell you what has kept me hiding away at my computer for the past two months. My new project involves:

60 custom collage sheets
Quotes from 8 printers
20 paper samples
Packaging design
23 versions of new layouts
Dipping prototypes in glue, water, resins and anything else to otherwise destroy them

And a total lack of sleep while figuring everything out. I don't think I've gone to bed before 2 am once this month. I have such a love/hate relationship with new projects. They can have a huge learning curve, which in many ways I love, but can also be so frustrating at times while I try to figure out the perfect answer.

And no, I haven't told you exactly what I've been up to. I will save that announcement for when I actually deliver the new product to stores. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Check back in a couple of weeks to see how everything turned out.

In the mean time, here's a sneak peek at some of the images from a new Steampunk collage sheet I have been playing around with. Enjoy!

How I (accidentally) Had My Best Week of Etsy Sales Ever

2009-09-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

I LOVE reading tips for how to sell on etsy on other blogs, the etsy wiki, and especially in the Storque. Right now my favorite is etsy's Quit Your Day Job series. But at a certain point, to be honest, they all start to sound the same.

So I decided to ask in the etsy forums for some "secret" tips. Ones that were unique, special or worked really well. I included my own secret to get the ball rolling, then asked others to join in. The thread (which you can see here) includes some helpful tips from other sellers, with quite a few folks "marking" the thread to read later on.

Then etsy admin daniellexo chose the thread, which I had titled "What's your best etsy sales secret? Here's mine," to be in the etsy success newsletter. Sales started coming in within hours and continued at a high rate for several days. In the end, I had my best week of sales on etsy ever.

Plus (if that wasn't great enough), I've also been asked to host an etsy workshop at the beginning of December on How to Bring in Last-Minute Holiday Sales, which is quite exciting as well.

I admit that my accidental "tip" of getting picked to be in the etsy success newsletter might be a bit of a long-shot. However, in looking through dozens of other threads that have also been highlighted, there seems to a couple of ways to increase your chances of being chosen:

1. Keep all of your helpful information within the body of your forum post. In other words, don't say "hey, I found some great advice which I share here..." and then link to your blog. Many consider this spammy/promotional and it is not taken as seriously.

2. Similarly, this is not the time for self-promotional links to your etsy site, twitter account, or blog. If people want to find you, they will. But again, too many links to your information can be distracting.

3. Pick a great title that both summarizes your topic but also draws people in. Here are a couple of forums threads recently featured in the etsy success newsletter:

4. Strive to have a couple hundred comments on your post. This isn't essential, but will help keep your post toward the top of the forums, and thus more likely to be seen by an etsy admin. You can do this by promoting it outside of etsy (I announced it in my newsletter and twitter). You can also bump your thread up by being an active participant when people ask questions or are looking for follow up.

5. And perhaps it goes without saying that helpful information should be, well, helpful. Spend some time writing up your post. Spell check. Use paragraph breaks. Think about a tip you have that is unique or that has served you well. I'd also suggest subscribing to the Etsy Success newsletter both to get an idea of what is typically covered, but also because there are some great tips shared.

Nope; there's no guarantee that by posting a helpful thread that you'll be picked for the newsletter. But at a minimum, sharing your helpful advice with others will hopefully result in some good karma.

Full Time Crafting Six Months In

2009-09-10T14:58:00.001-07:00

Two months before I "Quit My Day Job" in March 2009, piddix had its biggest sales month ever. At the time I had lunch with an etsy friend and told her my goal was to double those sales within a year, and I had enough savings to act as a safety net during the growth period. She commented that it might take the full year to reach my goal; but I inwardly scoffed that it would take that long. After-all, my sales had been climbing steadily for a while, I had taken classes, I was prepared (or so I thought)...

Then "Wham!;" I ran into four months of fairly low sales, which were both scary and depressing. To top if off, my husband was laid off from his job at the beginning of June. It was looking bleak for piddix. I immediately went to my old non-profit organization, one that I sill love and admire, to see if they had any work for me. See, they still had my old position open, and I always had it in the back of my mind that until they hired someone new, I could always go back, with hat in hand, and help out there. Fortunately for both of us (and you'll see why in a minute), they were in the middle of a hiring freeze. They could offer some contract work, which would help me pay the bills for a bit, but nothing permanent.

Rather than be sad or stressed at the news, I found myself rather relieved. At that moment I realized that I truly loved working on piddix. I loved working from home. I loved being able to scan books and play trains with Declan at the same time. Every aspect of the business--from marketing to designing new products--still fascinated me. While I had left a very nice job with wonderful people and benefits, rather than the traditional mind-numbing cubicle work that is easier to leave, I was still having more fun working for myself, on my own terms.

So I intensified my efforts with piddix (thanks Mom and Dad for the extra babysitting) and thankfully, this past August was a new record for piddix sales, and September looks good so far.

I've learned a million things in the process. The two that stand out at the moment are:

1. Know your sales trends. If I had paid much closer attention to my sales trends over the past several years, and done some additional research, I would have noticed that the February through May are traditionally a very slow time for selling supplies, since everyone has already finished up their holiday craft fairs but hasn't yet started on their summer activities. That knowledge would not only have factored into my plans of when to leave my "day" job, but also cushioned my ego, too. Now that I'm tracking the ups and downs better, I can be financially and emotionally prepared for both.

2. Try Everything. A friend of mine calls this the "shotgun approach," since I'm basically shooting a bunch of ideas out and hoping one of them will hit its mark. Or, as a member of my board of directors puts it, I'm wandering around in the dark hoping for brief moments of illumination. I may at some point write an entire post on the 243 things that I have tried in the last seven months--from the hand-letterpressed thank you cards I made to send with my packages (which are still sitting unused on my shelf), to the four different collaborations I've tried (two great, one so-so, and one still in the works). Needless to say I wouldn't suggest this for anyone else. A more surgical, practiced approach would save a bunch of time. But it actually worked well for me. Of the 243 ideas that I tried, about five worked very, very well and are responsible for my current sales record. I would never have found them without the other 238.

So, as always, wish me luck. It's been very nice to have a bit of an emotional and financial boost this past month or so. And looking forward I'm hoping that the "ups" outnumber the "downs."

Confessions of a Completist

2009-09-07T15:42:00.000-07:00

I'm a completist. Not so much in the sense that I always finish what I start. In fact I wish that were more often the case. But more along the lines that when I start something, I want to do every single aspect of it thoroughly.

Let's take the example of a great book from 1912 with 300 steam engine parts. Instead of picking the 30 or 40 best engravings, which really should be all that I need, I will sit and scan all 300 ... just in case. In case of what exactly, I'm not quite sure.

So last week when I went to my favorite archive in the world--the one where I travel 1700 miles each way and only visit twice a year--I was prepared. I stopped by earlier in the week for several hours to narrow down my focus to about 100 colored plates that I knew I wanted. I told myself I would be steadfast in my determination and stick to just the 100 best to scan.

And of course you know what happened when I went back with my scanner. I spent the first several hours wandering around in complete bliss, pulling out all kinds of ephemera until I had amassed literally 3000 different colored plates, engravings, chromolithographs, and other fun bits. Then I proceeded to spend the next two hours whittling it down, and then the final few hours madly scanning as much as I could as quickly as I could.

In the end I was exhausted from hauling everything around, covered in a thick layer of red dust from all the crumbling books, and completely content.

Because while I'm not quite sure what I will ever do with this:
I also found these:
And these:

It was a lovely haul, including 31 really grubby botanical engravings from 1846; another 12 German floral sets from the early 1900s; almost 15 bird eggs, another 15 bird nests; and nearly 100 French Fashion plates. Many of the scans I may never do anything with. But so much of the joy is in the discovery. And at least I will have them ... just in case.

A Quick Marketing Idea for Crafters

2009-08-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

I recently scored a sweet copy of Bread & Badger's marketing e-book, which I am quite excited to thoroughly read soon. But before I do I thought I would share a quick and easy tip that I have used to receive a decent amount of publicity for piddix.

How to Be a Spokesmodel

Do you have a product that you absolutely love? I've had very good response by offering to write up a testimonial or be a media reference. If you're specific, and even give examples of what you might say, chances are it might lead to something.

For example, several years ago I took an amazing business class through MercyCorpsNW. I really can't say enough good things about my experience. I had mentioned the class in a storque article on piddix and in a blog post, and so I sent the links to my MeryCorps contacts and concluded my email with the following paragraph:

"Also, if you ever need some quotes from participants for filling out the grant reports or anything, feel free to use this: Going through the MercyCorps NW IDA small business program was incredibly helpful for my crafting business, piddix llc. I learned critical information at every class from instructors who were incredibly knowledgeable and helpful, and I came away with a concrete plan for how to sustain and grow my digital image business. Almost immediately I began seeing the results of my new focus, and within three months I had doubled my income from piddix. Thank you so much for offering such a helpful program."

By emailing them articles where I talked about their program, as well as a sample testimonial, the folks at MercyCorpsNW were able to get a good idea of what I would say in an interview. And they took me up on the offer. I was interviewed as one of their "featured business." Plus, piddix was also highlighted in the new printed MercyCorps brochure.

When looking for places to pitch your "testimonial," think a little outside the box and look for organizations that already feature other businesses. For example, both my electric company and local hospital highlight a different customer each month in their printed newsletters. Constant Contact, whom I use for my e-newsletter, publishes regular "success stories" and says they are always looking for organizations to showcase.

And the easier you can make it for them, the more likely someone would be to respond. I often include a link to my "office" flickr photos or media-ready samples. I know from personal experience working as a journalist that you're often writing at the last minute and trying to fill space. Items such as pre-written quotes or readymade photos help greatly.

Finally, if you do include a sample quote or if they ask you to write one up, be sure to mention the name of your business several times. Especially for online posts, this is a great opportunity for them to link back to your website.

While being featured by your electric company may not seem as glamorous as somewhere like modish, think of the thousands and thousands of people who will see your smiling face and learn about your business. Plus, there's way less competition, and you never know who may be reading it.

Getting the Most Out of Your Collage Sheets

2009-08-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Digital collage sheets by piddix are 8.5x11 inch .jpg files delivered to your email within 24-hours. Most people print them out as-is, cut out the individual images with scissors, and then use them to make beautiful pendants, collages, cards, and other jewelry (see lovely example from Under the Looking Glass on left).

But what if you want an image to fit a particular size or shape that is not offered? With four pretty easy tricks, you can re-size just about any image offered through piddix to fit your needs.

Step 1: Know your "mms"
Many pendant settings are listed in millimeters, while some collage sheets are only listed in inches. One mm equals .039 inches. So to find out a good size for the 25mm pendant tray you just ordered, multiply 25 by .039 to equal .98 inches--so the one inch circle or one inch square sized collage sheets will be the best fit. Here's an online calculator to find the same answers.

Step 2: Use your printer to re-size
One of the easiest ways to re-size an entire sheet is to print the whole file at a smaller percentage. Let's say you have a 1.5 inch sheet, but you want to print it out at .85 inches for scrabble tiles. Divide the size you want by the size you have, then round up to the nearest percentage to allow for trim room, to calculate your printing size:

.85 / 1.5 = .567 (or 57%)

To print a .jpg file out at 57% go to file/print, then change the scale to 57%. Here's a couple of sample print windows (click the images on left to enlarge). Basically, you're looking for an option that says "scale" or "print size."

Also, since all piddix images are 300 dpi and high quality, you can use the same steps to enlarge a whole sheet to two to three times larger as well. However, you'll only get the images in the middle, or it will print onto two sheets while cropping the edges. To avoid missing any of the images, use the steps below to select and enlarge individual images or groups of images.

Step 3. Re-sizing Individual Images
For those of you with a graphic design program, such as Photoshop or CorelDraw, it's fairly straightforward to copy and paste individual elements of a file then re-size them as you'd like. Every program is different, but the basic steps include:
1. Open your piddix .jpg file in your graphic design program.
2. Find and click on the "marquee" or "select" tool. It normally looks like a dotted circle or square.
3. Draw a circle or square around the individual image you want by clicking on a blank space near the image, then holding and dragging until you have covered the whole image.
4. Copy the image.
5. Paste it in a new file.
6. Enlarge or shrink the new image in several ways. Most software programs will allow you to click on the new image, then grab one of the corners and drag it to make it smaller or larger. Be sure to hold down the shift key to keep the image the correct ratio so it doesn't get warped.

I also have a free, 5-page step-by-step tutorial with photos that shows you how to do the same thing in MS word. If you're a piddix customer, convo me or email me from the account from which you ordered your piddix files and ask for the re-size tutorial and I'll send you a free copy.

Step 4: Changing the image shape
So far, all of these steps have been good if you want to shrink or enlarge an image while keeping it the same basic shape. But what if you want to change a square into an oval or vice-versa?

One easy way is to find a shape punch in the size you'd like, such as this circle punch from Annie Howes. They're also available in most craft stores and online. Then find a collage sheet that shows a whole image, like these fairies or French fashions and punch away.

You can also make your own, hard-copy stencils specifically tailored to your needs. Let say you would like to make 13x18mm ovals, and you have a sheet of one-inch squares to start with. First, create an oval the right size in any graphic design software. To do it in word (click on the image at right to enlarge and follow along):
1. Choose a circle from the objects palette and draw it on the page.
2. Double click on the circle. This should bring up the size options.
3. Change the size to 13mm width and 18mm height. You can write in mm and the computer will change it from inches to mm automatically.

Then print your file and get creative. I like to print the oval out on cardstock, then cut it out and put it on top of a printed collage sheet and trace around the edges--like you would with a bottle lid. You can do the same by printing on clear mylar. Or even take your paper oval, put it on top of a recycled plastic (like a clear cookie box lid) and cut the lid out in the same shape. Oh, and be sure to try your new template oval out in the pendant first to make sure it fits well and adjust accordingly.

Putting on My Sunday Best

2009-08-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

While scanning images from old books, I often get caught up in the text--reading about countries that no longer exist or fairy tales no longer told.

This past week I've been scanning the most amazing hand-colored engravings of 16th-19th century French Fashions. The hair and hat descriptions are the best (think Marie Antoinette):

"We find the "Cascade of Saint-Cloud" style, consisting of a cataract of powered ringlets falling from the top of the head, the 'kitchen garden' style, with bunches of vegetables hooked in to the side-curls, the 'rural' style, with landscapes representing a hill-side, windmills which actually turned, a meadow crossed by a silver stream, with a shepherdess tending her sheep, mountains, a forest with a sportsman and his dog in pursuit of game, and so and so..."

Here's a sneak peek. They'll be made into col lage sheets for the shop soon, or find the large, full-sized images here.

How Much Money Will I Make Selling on Etsy?

2009-07-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Call me materialistic (or perhaps practical), but whenever I start researching a new online venture, one of the first things I want to know is "How much money will I make?" It helps me determine whether the new site -- say istock photo -- is worth some of my interest and time. And if so, what are realistic goals to set for attention spent, income potential, and growth. And frankly, I can never find the answer.

So without further ado, here are some completely reliable and some completely guessed-at etsy stats.

If you are relatively new to etsy and have a nice, but somewhat common product (such as wire-wrapped earrings) with decent but not great photographs and spend 10-15 hours per week on your shop, you annual gross income from etsy will be:

$512.72

Yep, that's all. And that's before expenses. It's less than $1 per hour, and you'd make more money weatherizing your house or cutting out an extra latte here and there.

But wait, if you instead have a somewhat unique item, with great photographs and spend more than 20 hours per week, you could make up to:

$3618.13 per year

Which really isn't too bad, but again, there are much easier ways to make money. Like having a couple of great garage sales or clipping a whole lot of coupons.

Okay, okay, but what if you get really, really lucky, have a completely amazing product, work 80-100 hours per week and become one of the top etsy sellers? Can you really Quit Your Day Job and support your whole family?

Sort of.

Last year, the top three handmade sellers on etsy each grossed around $100,000. Several supply shops probably did even better. But after that, it drops off pretty quickly, with most other sellers in the top 100 making closer to $10,000. With about 90,000 active etsy sellers (according to a recent etsy talk), your odds of making $10,000 per year are better than winning $10,000 through the PowerBall, though not by a ton.

So if you're not in it for the money, why in the world would anyone want to sell on etsy? Quite frankly, it's fun. It's a community of other creative women. It's flexible--and can be done from home, as a second "job," or while little ones nap. People will pay you for your arts and crafts, which is greatly rewarding. And even a smallish amount of additional income can sometimes make a big difference. Plus, in addition to direct income, your etsy shop can help bring recognition to your goods outside of etsy, such as wholesale accounts and blog mentions.

There's been quite a bit of talk lately about whether etsy is a "female ghetto," or promoting a false sense of hope of the ability to make a living from crafts. I find that most of these articles are filled with inaccuracies and generalizations. At the same time, I think it's important to have realistic goals of what etsy specifically can do for you. Piddix is currently #6 in sales in the handmade category, and while honestly I could make significantly more money in less time at a "day job," I wouldn't trade it in. In no way is etsy a way to get rich quick, but with way too much work and hopefully an equal amount of fun, it can definitely be a way to supplement an income by doing something you find rewarding.

Going Up: Taking Your Craft Business to the Next Level

2009-07-16T09:50:00.000-07:00

How to expand piddix is the main question that has been haunting me this past year. In other words, once you've reached a plateau, how can you take your business to the next level? In addition to taking a class for entrepreneurs through MercyCorpsNW and writing up a business plan, there were three main areas where I looked for my answer:

1. I asked just about anyone I could for advice (see my post on it here).

2. I read numerous books, articles, blogs, etc. about the major pitfalls and best practices for expansion. The book Profit from the Core, for example, really hammered home the idea that businesses who spread themselves too thin--who take on too many new ventures outside of their normal focus--most often fail. (Though the book, written in 2001, did question amazon's "new" strategy of selling more than just books. So obviously new ventures can definitely pay off if done well.)

3. And finally, I did a SWOT analysis, which proved to be very helpful in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of myself and my competitors.

SWOT -- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

My simplified version of the standard SWOT analysis essentially compared piddix to my competitors, look at my business assets, and tried to come up with a way to address my weak areas. It went something like this:

Strengths: My images are legal and a very high quality.
Action: When several competitors came on the market a while back with illegal, cheaper, and lower quality images, I wrote a blog post about how I research copyright. I also changed my shop announcement and item listings to reflect my research and restoration process. This seems to have worked well.

Weaknesses: I'm a slow designer. I take a very long time to research copyright and restore images. I'm also darn stubborn.
Action: I took several graphic design classes and learned a new software to be able to make the collage sheets more quickly (and be able to respond to custom requests). That's been mixed. I've learned a ton of great new techniques, but I'm still so much slower than others. For example (and this is where my stubbornness comes in), I know that I probably should just repeat more images in each collage sheet and not worry about lining everything up perfectly, since it's the quick little happy sheets that are selling well for my competitors right now. But I am stubbornly holding onto spending hours and hours making each new sheet--little tiny tweaks sometimes that may not even be noticed. I justify this to myself by saying that my customers appreciate the high quality and that's why they come back. At the same time, though, it's tough to see others' "quick sheets" selling three times as fast. Hmmmm.

Opportunities: Even though I sell mostly smaller images in the one- to two-inch range, I have thousands of larger scans just sitting on my computer. I also have many of the original colored plates that I have removed from books, vintage postcards that I've scanned, and vintage ephemera just sitting on my shelves.
Action: I put some of my original ephemera for sale on etsy with only limited success. And I don't think my assemblage sets have sold once. I have also started an area on my instant site for as-scanned larger images as well as a commercial section. With all of these ventures, I think I would need to put more energy and time into building up these new products, but it may also pull me too far away from my "core." We'll see how these develop.

Threats: This is the scary part. Collage sheets (which are my main product) are relatively easy to create poorly. You can grab a bunch of images off of websites and fill up a store quickly. Even shops that create legal, original designs can bring hundreds of items over from an ebay store or other venue and go from newbie to top seller within a couple of months. The very precarious nature of selling on etsy, and the fact that almost all of piddix's income is based on etsy sales, is worrisome.
Action: I am slowly diversifying where I sell, adding other online venues that may add some cushion. Again, I hope this won't spread piddix too thin. And since most folks who try piddix once become repeat customers, I am working to thank and further support my repeat customers through things like my newsletter and subscription.

Wow, in the end I've put way more personal and business information into this post than I had intended. It's obviously something on my mind quite a bit. Though I sometimes worry that I'm giving too much information away to my competitors, I figure it's what you do with the information that counts. Hopefully you can create your own SWOT and see which ventures may help build up your core.

La Vie Cherie :: Using Vintage French Postcards as Photo Backdrops

2009-07-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Taking amazing photographs is probably the single best way to showcase your products. In addition to good lighting and angles, "staging" the item can make a huge difference in its presentation. A lovely trend I've noticed lately is using vintage French postcards as backgrounds for small items--especially jewelry. It not only makes the jewelry "pop," but also adds a romantic, Victorian-era feeling.

Arete has some of the most lovely photographs featuring vintage postcards, a theme which carries through her entire site--including her banner and these great shots of her jewelry and packaging below:
Chinacherie's Eiffel Tower necklace goes well with this colorful, vintage Eiffel Tower postcard.
Another Eiffel Tower postcard from 1889 adds drama to these sweet earrings by Marolsha:
Another lovely French theme in earrings (on top), and a necklace below, from nostalgems.
For some helpful tricks on photographing small items, such as jewelry, check out either this storque article or one from my website. I've searched high and low for a simple, effective light box and this one by Sugar Panda is by far my favorite. And also check out my downloadable vintage French postcards on etsy.

The piddix Board of Directors

2009-06-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Before I left The ReBuilding Center to work on piddix full-time, I went out to lunch with two friends who both had run their own businesses for several years. I asked about working from home, and whether they had any regrets about leaving a more stable income. The advice and support they offered was invaluable.

One of the challenges of running a business by myself has been the lack of an immediate sounding board. I can't turn to my co-worker and say, "which one looks better," or "what do you think of this new idea?" To compensate, I've gotten pretty good at asking anyone who will listen--from best friends to the man sitting next to me on the airplane--for advice on whatever question has been plaguing me at the moment.

During this process I've come up with two tricks to help get the best advice possible while also not wasting anyone's time.

First, I have a pretty good "elevator" speech that summarizes piddix. This includes:
1. What piddix does.
2. The mission of piddix.
3. My products and pricing.
4. Who my customers are.
5. Who my competition is and how piddix is different.

This summary can be said in anywhere from one to 45 minutes depending on the situation. Once the person has a basic idea of my business, I then ask the one question that I'm wrangling with, which lately has been on the subject of the best ways to grow piddix as a business.

This brings up my second trick:

Ask about your weaknesses and their strengths.

If you are great with color, don't bother someone asking about different combinations--you'll just get advice that you won't necessarily agree with or need. Instead, ask about areas where they are by far the expert.

For example, I went out to dinner recently with a group of High School friends, many of whom have MBAs from fancy-pants universities and have in-depth knowledge of businesses practices. I know piddix pretty well: what images my customers will like, how to write about my products, and so on. But I have never taken a college-level business class. What I wanted to know from them, after they had heard about piddix, were basic business practices for growth; "rules of thumb," if you will, about the best ways to expand into new markets or increase product offerings. Once again the advice was unbelievably helpful, perhaps even more-so since this large group was able to bounce ideas off one another and brainstorm on the spot. Honestly, if I had paid to bring them all together as professional consultants, it would have cost me thousands of dollars. But by having my quick speech and question ready, I received great tips that are shaping the direction of piddix's future.

These amazing groups and individuals--whom I consider my informal Board of Directors--have become an essential part of piddix and I couldn't do it without them.

Copy Cats: Bring Them On

2009-06-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

If you sell your products online, eventually someone will copy you. Online craft sites such as esty are especially well-known for how rampant outright copying can be.

During my years on etsy, I have had just about everything possible duplicated--including exact copies made of my profile (who copies an entire profile?) and even how I leave feedback or name my items. The quickest that someone has made a knock-off of an entire collage sheet is three hours.

At the beginning I would get pretty upset. Last year I must sheepishly admit I even sent the seller of the "October special" below (mine's on the left; hers on right) a snarky little convo saying that she hadn't quite gotten the copy right and that I would gladly send over the names of the fonts I had used if it would help.

(She no longer sells on etsy and her name is not attached, which is why I include this as my only example from someone else).

Recently though, two things happened that made me much more zen about the entire process. First, I came across a listing for someone else's butterfly ephemera collage sheet described as "a new take on a popular theme." You see, several years ago I created some sheets with vintage butterflies on postcards (both below are mine):In 2007-2008 these were some of my most popular items. Since then, more than 200 different variations of "butterflies on ephemera" have popped up from other sellers. Seeing something that I had originally created now identified as a "trend" or theme could have been very frustrating--but I actually had to laugh. By turning the idea of copying on its head, I can see my best postings as setting trends. If I add a collage sheet of vintage keys or a new size like 2.6 inch pocket mirrors, it's become almost a game for me to see how long it takes until someone else does the same. And if something doesn't get copied--was it not good enough? Should I push my ideas further?

Secondly--and I think this is probably the most important--I realized that copying doesn't work. Remember the etsy shop with the "October Special" I mentioned above? Initially her entire shop of 100+ items were near duplicates of mine. After I contacted her she started going in an entirely new direction--making her own, original designs. And guess what? Her sales went through the roof! Shoot!

So now when someone duplicates my items--even if it's 99% the same--I say nothing for very practical, business reasons. A shop full of knock-offs of other people's work has no creativity of their own and etsy buyers can sense that. Sure, they'll get a couple of sales, but the best shops constantly push themselves, always being innovative and trying to stay ahead with new ideas and new products. That in the end is what will pay off.

So when something you create is full-on copied, and responses such as "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" and "who knows who really came up with the idea first?" seem flat--remember that at the end of the day your creativity has inspired others and that is what pays off in sales and customers who are looking for innovation. Push yourself further and don't worry about looking behind to see who is chasing you.

Happy Trails

2009-06-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

The big news here in piddix land is that Brian (my significant other and better half) was laid off from his non-profit job of the last 4+ years last week. After much cursing and crying, my next thought was....so where should we move?

See, I'm one of those strange people who actually likes moving. I love the process of cleaning things out, boxing up what's left, and exploring a new city. For graduate school, Brian and I packed everything we owned into my tiny Honda hatchback and drove cross country to New York City--neither one of us ever having stepped foot on the East Coast before. Three years later we sold just about everything we had accumulated and bought one-way tickets back to Portland, where we've been for the past 10 years.

Since the sun (still) hasn't made a appreance in Portland much this summer I've been contimplating sunnier lands. And as Declan isn't in school yet, and I can work from anywhere with an internet connection, why not explore for a couple of years? While there's about a 2% chance that we will actually sell the house, pack things up, and make the big leap, I do love the idea of it all.

My current dream locations include:

Malta -- Stay a couple months with my sister and her husband.
Paris -- Brian's been working with a French/Austrian art group on a TV pilot.
Bay Area -- Always lovely, though expensive.
Hawaii -- Sigh. I love Hawaii. Why not?

I'd love to go somewhere sunny, laid back, and friendly. Am I crazy? Probably. But still, the the possibility of change is always a fun one for me.

Here's to Good Friends

2009-06-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

The summer after we graduated my friend Dan created a chain letter for all of our High School friends to keep in touch. This was in 1992--before email--so the letter involved actual paper and photographs. The package was moving along swimmingly, spending a week or two with each person while they added their own thoughts or news. But then it got to Kristine, who was having a bit of a rough time. She kept waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting for things to turn around so that she could add happy updates to the letter. Kristine is of course doing much better almost 20 years later, but the letter never made it out of her hands.

I've been feeling a little bit like Kristine lately. Definitely in the middle of a rough patch these last couple of days and not really wanting to write about it yet. I've started three different blog posts and abandoned them all. So instead I will leave you with some fun photographs taken last weekend at our friend Jeff's wedding. Here's 14 of my High School friends who traveled from around the world to come together once again. We are very fortunate to have kept up with one another--these days via facebook, emails, and the occasional trip. The last photo is me and Dan, who started the original letter and still is much of the glue that keeps us in touch. I'm feeling very fortunate for such great friends.

Building Sandcastles (or how to turn my craft business around)

2009-05-16T21:45:00.001-07:00

I can pinpoint the exact moment that things started to turn around for piddix. I was sitting at my computer in Hawaii (long story) thinking about all of the pros and cons of running my own business. Things were looking pretty bleak. Then something happened: As I was tallying up all the positives of working from home (including being in Hawaii) I decided that this is what I want to do. I committed to piddix. Even if that meant postponing student loans and eating a lot of rice while things got off the ground.

In many ways that moment of commitment was exactly what I needed. That day I taught myself a new graphic design program and started a whole new line of more modern collage sheets. I sent out my then-quarterly newsletter and have continued sending it out every week or two. And I also started doing some advertising--something that, despite my preconceptions, has actually worked pretty well for bringing in new visitors. Oh, and I threw my to-do list out the window and have instead started listening to my gut about how to prioritize each day.

Piddix is far from safe. I feel like I'm building some massive structure out of toothpicks, ice cubes and the occasional sand bag. I keep adding different parts, shoring up others, all while the tide is rising. But for the moment the precarious structure that is piddix is holding off the floodwaters--hopefully for long enough to find a long-term solution to making piddix work.

I'll leave you with a Henry Thoreau quote that was on my office wall for many years and seems especially appropriate at the moment:

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. There is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."

Help Me Pick Colors and Win 20+ Collage Sheets

2009-05-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

I've been having a blast coming up with new color combinations for my digital collage sheets, but some are definitely better than others. If you help me out by sharing your advice on which color combos you like best, you'll be entered to win every single one of my new collage sheets in my "birds and swirls " and "zen birds" lines (a value of more than $60).

Here's how it works:
1. Sign up for my occasional newsletter here. I'll then send you a link to a sample collage sheet with 10 different color combinations and instructions on how to pick your favorites.
2. One winner will be randomly selected and notified by May 31, 2009.
3. Plus, every person who enters will receive one free high-resolution download of the sample sheet as well.

Thanks for your help!

Full-Time Crafting Six Weeks In

2009-04-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

I had a friend ask me this weekend how running my own business full-time is going, and honestly I have to reply that it's somewhat mixed. It's been about six weeks since I left my non-profit job to work on piddix full-time. I of course had dreams of 1) making enough money to support my family, 2) getting to spend more time with friends, 3) working out more and eating healthy, and 4) having a better work-life balance. So what's the reality? I feel like me two-year-old when he says "It's haaaaaaard."

Around the time I left my "day job," piddix's sales dropped dramatically. We questioned whether to still go ahead with piddix full-time and decided to take the leap, betting that the increased hours I'd be able to put into it would make up the difference and we could live on savings while things grew. February and March are typically my slowest months and this was especially true this year. Savings were getting eaten up more quickly than planned and it's definitely on the scary side.

Since then, I've come out with several new lines of collage sheets, different items in the shop, and a couple of marketing campaigns. Things are sloooowly coming around. Whether it will happen before savings run out is still to be determined. To make up for the lower income we've also cut back on a ton of expenses and this will be hard, especially, on my family as things like new shoes or a dentist appointment become luxuries. I feel very supported but also don't want to be selfish in my pursuits of new challenges.

On the other hand, I've actually made it to bed before midnight a couple of times--which was unheard of while I was working two jobs. I feel significantly more rested and have discovered that I'm a better mom and a generally more happy person when I get 8 hours of sleep. I've been seeing friends and neighbors more. And the funny thing is that now that we have less income it actually makes me rely on other people more (in a good way). Since we can't afford to hire any extra help, I'll be trading babysitting, nights-out, dog sitting, extra produce, and hand-me-downs with friends and neighbors.

Other highs and lows come and go. I miss my former co-workers much more than I expected and working from home can sometimes be challenging. At the same time I'm so excited about the new work I'm doing, a new book coming out with piddix images in it, the design classes I'm taking, a potential article in USA Today, my new twitter account, and on and on. It feels great to be able to focus on one kind of work instead of spreading myself too thin.

What's next? That's the big question. At this point my main goal is to stabilize income and expenses so that we're not hemorrhaging savings. If that can be accomplished within the next couple of weeks then I see great potential for future expansion. As always, wish me luck.

One Question: How to Submit Your Jewelry and Crafts to Magazines

2009-04-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

This week's "one question" goes out to the lovely Jes of Junque Revival, whose jewelry has been featured in several national publications, including three different articles in Belle Amoire Jewelry Magazine. Jes also has a blog and a weekly column on Indie Public called "She Dreams of Art."One Question: "What advice and tips would you give to someone who wants to submit their jewelry for publication?"

Answer:
JUST DO IT! No seriously. For the longest time I put off submitting with excuses, "I'm just too busy right now," or "I just don't feel like I'm there yet." My online artsy friends kept telling me that I should and I'd give them the same old tired lines as well. I know I thought I wasn't good enough, and I know a lot of artists struggle with this as well. I was lucky enough to have the editor of Belle Armoire contact me and ask me to submit, but I should have done it long before. Not everything I submit gets taken, but I just look at that as part of the job. You can always build your confidence by starting a little smaller. There are some wonderful art-zines out there that are always looking for new art. Just google "art zine" and find what's best for you.

I think that if you believe in yourself and your art the rest will follow.

TIPS FOR SUBMITTING:
1. Look online for magazine guidelines and submission dates. Copy and hang it in your studio.
2. Please be sure your work is unique and that you are not sending in pieces that are similar to other artists.
3. Go the extra mile. Your piece is looking fabulous. You think it might be good enough to submit, but is there one more little tweak you could do to put it right over the edge?
4. Read and follow all guideline submission directions carefully.
5. JUST DO IT!

Using Collaboration to Widen Your Market and Increase Sales

2009-04-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

Collaborating with a fellow etsy seller can be a very effective way to diversify your market and product line. I've had a full range of partnerships including one very effective scrabble tile tutorial with littleputbooks that increased my sales by 30% last summer, a collage sheet with beautiful photos by doubleyouEm that sadly went nowhere, a glass pendant tutorial launched today with AnnieHowes, and a super-secret one in the works with one of the top sellers on etsy. But where do you start? Read on for my step-by-step tips on how to make it work for you.

Glass pendant tutorial by Annie Howes with images by piddix

Finding Your Partner
Some of the most natural combinations involve shops with similar styles but different products. This could be licensing an artist's image to make into mousepads or pendants, or commissioning embroidered custom bags for your dog treats. Perhaps one shop makes scarves to match another's earrings. What makes these stand out as collaborations is first, there was an intentional discussion between two makers of how to create the final product. And second, each shop promotes the other through the item description.

Monkey Coasters by MirrorGirl with Art by Matthew Porter

When looking for someone to partner with, think about what you make and what would go well with it (like Chocolate and Peanut Butter, as Annie Howes says). Avoid a shop with items that are too similar. Two journal makers, for example, would simply be promoting to the same audience. But one person who makes handmade paper and another who fashions journals might be perfect together. Look for a shop with a similar theme or style to make sure that the customers of one shop will be interested in the items of the other. Also, since your reputation will in some ways be tied together, check out their feedback and number of items sold before contacting them.

Ryan Berkley illustrations on TinyMeat wallets.

There's even some shops, such as TinyMeat, that have an entire process for how to submit your custom images.

Tips for First Contact
Once you've come up with some ideas, make a prioritized list of potential collaborators. Starting at the top, send a convo that lays out your idea, how it might work, and links to your blog, shop, or articles. The more detailed your proposal, the more seriously the person may take you. But also be sure to allow or flexibility. After all, this is a partnership, and some of the best ideas may come down the road as you plan together. If you haven't heard back in a week, send a polite "just checking in," then move on to number two a few days later.

Mouse pad by MyFavoriteMirror with image from TheBlackApple.

Get it in Writing
Now that you've started a dialogue, the fun part starts. Open communication is key to your success, so be sure to discuss all of the details and specifics up-front such as:

Payment
Link trading and other cross-promotions
Setting a time limit
Exclusivity

And if you've discussed your details over the phone or coffee, it's best to confirm them all in writing via convo or email. Then if something comes up later you'll have a record of what you've agreed upon.

Scrabble pendant by Home Studio with image from JOYPOPstudio.

Payment
There's many different ways to go about this. You may buy the rights to an image or a custom supply with payment upfront. Perhaps you agree on a percentage basis or dollar amount per sale (say, $1 per pendant or wallet). Or even offering the same items in both shops, with each person responsible for their own order fulfillment, such as these lovely pendants from Irene Suchocki and Heartworks by Lori.
Cross Promotions

Cross promotion can include links or mentions in item listings, item names, shop announcements, newsletters, blogs, tags on the item itself, and so on--so it's best to be as specific as possible about what each person expects. For me, I've found I get the best exposure from being in another person's shop announcement. Something simple like "check out my new collaboration with piddix here...." can send hundreds of views to my shop. I ask for a minimum of two months where we both link back to each others shops, with a possible extention if all goes well, plus my shop name in the item title and a link in the description. Keep in mind the possible ramifications of wholesaling as well. For example if your customized doll clothes will be sold on handmade dolls in brick and mortar shops, consider asking for a link to your shop on the hang tag.

Dark Hamlet necklace by JenniferRydinDesigns with image by Immortal Longings.

A Few Last Tips
Other items to consider include whether you'd want to set a time limit on your collaboration, or at minimum a set time down the road (three to six months) where you officially reevaluate the relationship to make sure it's working for both of you. Also think about how hands-on you want to be. Do you want to evaluate every posted item that you collaborate on before it goes live? And finally think about exclusivity. If you hand dye slips that another artist then silkscreens, do you want them to work with other clothing sellers as well? What about other fabric collaborations? Would you work with other silk screeners? There's no right answers to these questions, but it's helpful to be as upfront as possible to avoid bruised feelings down the road.

Tutorial and pendant by AnnieHowes.

Above all remember that collaboration is not only be a way to increase sales or make some extra money. It should also be creative and fun as you bounce ideas and techniques off of other crafters and come up with something that neither of you could have created on your own.

Kiss magnet by RunAliceRun with image from CindyG.

I Love Photoshop

2009-04-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

I'm quite smitten with TTV photos (through the viewfinder). They look all old and otherworldly. It's basically a way to take digital photographs through an old camera lens. You can find some amazing examples on flickr or esty. So look what I learned to do in class tonight. So fun:

Eating Dessert First? How I prioritize my day.

2009-03-30T11:51:00.001-07:00

I'm a big proponent of eating dessert first. Here's my flawless logic: I look at my plate and eat the thing I like the most first. Then I look at it again, and then pick (from what's left) what I like the most and eat that. That way, I'm always eating the absolute yummiest thing that's available right away. Makes sense, right?

But this doesn't work so well for running a business. I'd be surfing lots of fun blogs all day long and checking out other etsy stores while my taxes, health insurance bill, and messy desk would be left on my proverbial plate.

So instead what I have to do is the old "eat your broccoli first, then you get dessert." Borrowing a trick from the Four Hour Work Week, I come up with a list of one to two major items each day to finish. I write these down either the night before, or perhaps even laying out my whole week on Sunday night.

This way, I can jump right in and get the most important tasks done for the day, and if there's time left, I can do the more fun aspects of my job. It keeps me focused, but also makes me work faster and more efficiently since I'm trying to finish up.

For example, here's my to-do list for today:

1. Send out at least one press release.
2. Write a blog post.
3. Create new sampler sheet for super-secret distribution.

And if I'm able to finish up quickly, then I can eat my yummy dessert and current addiction, the weekly "Quit Your Day Job" post on etsy's blog. I can't wait!

It's Here. It's Here!

2009-03-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

I always feel positively giddy picking up a new batch of CDs. The people at the local duplication house are just so nice, and I get a big box of goodies. Yea! I spent last night wrapping a big bunch of them in 1950s dictionary pages getting them ready to go out.

You can check out the new CD in my etsy store, or see all of the collage sheets that are on it here. It has some of my favorite and best-selling collage sheets (including pin-ups, postcards, Victorian Alice, and a ton of holidays). Plus, for the first week only, each CD comes with two free digital collage sheets sent via email so you can grab some of your favorites not on the CD.

And if you want to be notified of new CDs, coupons, free downloads and such, be sure to join my newsletter.

Jefferson Students Present Carbon Footprint Fair

2009-03-17T23:46:00.001-07:00

I had the extreme pleasure today of meeting a group of sharp, caring, and amazing Jefferson High School students. I was invited to their class to present some tips on how to interact with the media, and I have no doubt that they will all represent their school well. These students, along with their peers, are putting on a Carbon Footprint fair this Wednesday, March 18th. You can read more about it here. Declan and I will be heading over post-nap to see what it's all about.

Step 1: Revive my blog

2009-03-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

I am admittedly not a good blogger. Before yesterday, my last post was more than six months ago. But I also know the value of a good blog in keeping people informed. Pretty much all of the top handmade sellers on etsy have timely, informative blogs that they keep updated on a regular basis. Some of my favorites at the moment include:

The Black Apple
Petite House
LittlePut
AshleyG
Berkley Illustration

One of the major reasons that writing posts has been hard for me is my lack of information about whether I'm talking to a big, empty room or not. So, today's task in my plan for World Domination (also know as how to pay the mortgage and health insurance is): Blog Statistics.

My first step is to head over to the etsy forums and search "blog stats." From there, it seems that both google analytics and stat counter are fairly well received. I'll start today with google since I already use them for my etsy shop. Following these instructions, I've added the code and....

Oh ... well apparently I'll have to wait up to 24 hours to see.... stay tuned to see what's up.

In the mean time, see these helpful articles in the storque about how to add google analytics to your etsy store.

So I Quit My "Day" Job

2009-03-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today is my first official day as a full-time, work-from-home crafter. When I tell people I left my nice, non-profit, part-time job (with benefits) in this economy, most people seem to think I'm a smidge brave and mostly insane. If you've read the etsy Storque article on piddix, you know that I've been trying to balance two 30-hour-a-week jobs plus be home with my son four days per week. It had finally reached the point where something had to give.

Over the past two years piddix has grown from a hobby to a real, grown-up business with Quickbooks and all. Designer AshleyG has said about her amazing etsy shop "our time is directly proportional to our income." During the next 30 days I'll be sharing different tips that I've learned along the way, plus try to answer the question of whether, by putting more time, energy, and resources into my crafting business it can take off and thrive.

Wish me luck.

Free Money to Create a Business Plan

2008-07-24T19:58:00.001-07:00

It's been a great summer, filled with some amazing opportunities. I headed to the Mid-West to hang out with family and was able to spend eight glorious hours at my favorite children's archives. I was scanning so fast and furious, I barely got up to go to the restroom, let alone eat. Here's the image that has been haunting me (as scanned). It's from Pinocchio and the caption reads "The pigeon . . . soared so high that they almost touched the clouds."

There was a super-helpful class I took at the IPRC on how-to letterpress, and I'm currently sending out my handmade Thank You cards with each CD from my etsy store.

And I completed a business class through Mercy Corps NW. It was part of their individual development account (IDA) program. If you live anywhere near Portland, Oregon, or if you have a similar program in your area (google "individual development account" and your state name), I highly recommend it. Basically you take a six-week class where you create a business plan, which was great for me in-and-of-itself. I set up piddix as an llc. I also created a separate business checking and savings account and have specific, concrete plans for expansion.

But the best part? For every dollar that I save, up to $900, the program will match at a three-to-one rate for any capital improvements. That's right--up to $2700 free cash money. Oversize scanner, here I come.

Mushrooms and Toadstools from 1900

2008-06-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

I was scanning in my most recent find today, a book on Mushrooms and Toadstools, first published in 1900 (the version I have is from 1902), and I kept stopping to laugh at the text. Apparently, this book was for both the student/botanist, but also for the everyday person who would want to know which mushrooms were edible. There's hundreds of descriptions from the author about his adventures trying out different mushrooms to see if they are poisonous.

Here's some fun ones:

G. Minimus, when found by the writer, was not tested because not found in condition.

Once, in the West Virginia mountains, 1882, I found a large patch of it...The outer part is tough and semi-glutinous but of pleasant texture. It has not a marked flavor, but makes a succulent dish.

And my favorite...

This description is given that the student may recognise one of our common plants, and eat it, if very hungry.

Share the Wealth: Free French Download

2008-03-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

I must admit that this is not one of my images, but it still looks pretty fun. It's from Stampington and Company, which has an Angel Policy. Click here for the link to the full sized image.

Copyright and Digital Collage Sheets

2008-03-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

"How does that copyright thing work?" is by far the number one question that I am asked concerning digital images and collage sheets. While I am not a lawyer, I have spent quite a bit of time working with my lawyer and educating myself on copyright laws. So I'll tell you how I work with copyrights when creating my collage sheets.

Copyright basics:
Almost everything that was published in the United States before 1923 is in the public domain in the United States. "Public Domain" means the copyright is no longer owned by anyone, (it's owned by the public), and thus you can do just about anything with the images, including sell them for profit. This is why, in part, so many of the images that you may see for sale are "vintage," because this is the easiest category to find items that you can sell.

From 1923 to 1978, a published document, such as a book, was required to have a copyright notice in order to be copyrighted (with a few exceptions). This is often why you'll see digital items from the 1940s or 1950s for sale such as seed packets or greeting cards that did not tend to have copyright symbols on them. However, the images and the published words are copyrighted separately. So you have to research the image itself even if the book is in the public domain. This makes sense if you think about your own work of art. Let's say you make a painting of a tree and another esty seller wants to make pocket mirrors from your painting. You set up an agreement that allows her to make and sell these mirrors, giving you a portion of each sale. You, however, retain your copyright to the original image that you created. Thus, the pocket mirror and the original tree image have separate copyrights and might have different copyright status.

An item from 1923 to 1978 may also have fallen into the public domain if it was originally published with a copyright notice but the copyright was not renewed. Images from this time period are much more difficult to confirm. My 1950s pin-up girls took 6 months to research, and that does not even include the time it took to make the pictures into sheets.

From 1978 on, the majority of published material is still copyrighted. So unless I've taken the photographs myself, I tend to avoid the newer images.

It's not quite as cut-and-dry as it seems above, which is why I can take days if not weeks to determine the status of one image, but these general boundaries are a great starting point. The U.S. government has a thorough website that outlines many of the rules and the exceptions to the rule.

Terms of Usage
The other aspect to consider is "terms of usage." This basically means that even if a piece of art or illustration is in the public domain, such as the Mona Lisa, the organization that owns the art may limit what you can do with it. Last summer, for example, I visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art. They allow photographs of their entire collection, so I was happily taking photos of this amazing, ancient collection of tapestries. Upon contacting them to confirm that I can use these images, however, I learned that while I may take photographs, I may not use these photos for commercial purposes. Basically, by entering the building, I agree to their terms of usage which says what I may or may not do once I enter the building. If I do not agree to abide by these terms, I cannot enter the building.

This is the same concept that works with digital images and many websites. A museum may have images of their art on their website, even art that is in the public domain. But this does not mean that you can use these images however you want. If you look at the bottom of the webpage you will often see a "terms of usage" that spells out what you can and cannot do on that website.

Similarly, when you buy an image or image collection from someone, you are agreeing to their terms of usage.

Derivative Works
One additional concept that comes in handy in understanding digital images is "derivative works." These are brand new works that are made up of many other images and are thus able to be copyrighted. Collage is the most common derivative work. If you take, for example, several public domain images and create a new collage work, you may copyright your new work. This also works for collage sheets, where I've taken dozens of different public domain images and made them into a new work that I thus copyright.

Derivative works can be tricky however if you attempt to make something like a collage out of copyrighted material. I've often heard people say that as long as they are using an original item instead of a copy, they can do whatever they want to with it. The theory is that I can take an ad from 2008 or a children's book from the 1950s and make it into something else as long as I use the original. In my research this is often not true. According to title 17 of U.S. copyright code, only the owner of the copyright may grant permission "to prepare derivative works based upon the work." FunnyStrange has a series of excellent articles on collage and copyright that explore these ideas further.

But wait there's more
Finally, there's several other concepts that can come into play: trademarks, logos, and "right of publicity." So no, even if a Coca Cola ad was published before 1923 in the U.S., you may not be able to use it if it contains the Coca Cola symbol or trademark. Same for that photograph that you personally took of Paris Hilton (or even people who are no longer alive like Elvis or Marilyn Monroe). Without their permission or the permission of their families, you may not be able to use their likeness. And to complicate matters, rights of publicity often vary from state to state. In the case of Marilyn Monroe, there's debate over which state's laws apply, and thus whether her likeness is able to be used freely or not.

After all of this you may start to wonder how anyone can make anything at all! Needless to say, many, many people do not follow these rules, including many on etsy. But if you're reading this, you're probably interested in doing things "the right way." Hopefully these basic guidelines can give you a good start to understanding copyrights and how they relate to collage sheets and crafting.

My Favorite Archives ... and a few new illustrators

2008-03-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

I'm back from a week's vacation, nice and refreshed. We headed up to Seattle, then to the San Juan Islands. It's off-season up there. So it's both beautiful and quiet. I also stopped with my portable scanner at one of my favorites archives. I could spend weeks there, so the two hours I had were just not enough. But I did find two new illustrators from the 1920s. They both are very Art Deco, but also look relatively modern as well. Let me know what you think.

Grrrrr. Angry Easter Bunnies.

2008-02-15T21:31:00.001-08:00

With hundreds and hundreds of vintage images, I'm often amazed by the odd themes and coincidences that show up as I collect them. For example, I have probably ten Victorian postcards that show how to find your future husband by looking into the mirror on Halloween. The specifics involve, alternately, snails, apples, candles or brushing your hair to make his face appear to you.

Similarly, animals dressed in human clothing seems to have been very popular at the turn-of-the-century. My favorite new, odd group that I'm come up with involves several really grumpy, angry, and slightly crazed rabbits. Not exactly the Easter Bunny I grew up with, but they make me laugh.

Instant Downloads are Finally Here -- Valentine's Day 50% Off Special

2008-02-14T23:26:00.000-08:00

It took way longer than expected, but I'm finally getting instant downloads set up for my digital collage sheets. Yea! I'm excited because I did a ton of research and found a nice system that allows true "instant downloads" instead of an autoresponder email with a link. The whole process skips email completely.

see:: www.instantcollagesheets.com

It' new, it's kind of ugly (I still need to overwrite the pre-set template colors), and I've only put up about half of my collage sheets, but if anyone wants to try it out, I'll send you a coupon for 50% off to be my tester for the month of February.

Send me an email at piddix@gmail.com and I'll send you a coupon.

Thanks everyone.

Easter Eggs

2007-11-16T22:39:00.000-08:00

Have you ever played around with the special features on a DVD? Every once in a while you'll find an "easter egg," a fun little surprise that was hidden on a screen somewhere. I like to hide similar items in my etsy shop every once in a while. If I've accidental listed an item twice, or if I have a digital collage sheet that will expire soon, I'll list it for $1 until someone finds it. I've also been known to send a free sheet every 100 "hearts."

Why do I tell you all this? Because I'm getting close to 1000 sales, and to celebrate, the person who purchases the 1000th item will get something fun and big. What? I'm not telling. But I'm excited.

4x6 inch mini collage sheets

2007-11-04T16:23:00.000-08:00

The other day I was working on some collage blocks, and I only needed a couple of images. But I ended up printing an entire sheet of paper with a couple of butterflies in the middle. And to top it off, I started running out of ink, which can be pretty expensive. Didn't I just get a new color cartridge the other day? It made me start thinking of little mini collage sheets, printed on 4x6 photo paper, which could save paper, ink, and could be easily printed with a professional printer. I wondered how that would work.

Several trial versions later, I'm super-excited about the results. I made a batch of test 4x6 sheets, stuck them on a CD, and took them to various drug stores and do-it-yourself photo kiosks around town. Some places only printed on glossy photo paper, others had glossy and matte. All were very easy and averaged 19 to 29 cents per copy. I'm totally sold.

I hope you like them. I'm going to list several as my piddix November special for $1 each since they're a new venture. I'll have to figure out how to sell them differently in the future, since etsy and paypal take something like 63 cents out of each $1 listing. But throughout November, they're yours for just $1.

1950s Christmas

2007-10-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to working on these great images from a 1950s Children's book I picked up at an estate sale several weekends ago. It's a good chance to test out my new scanner, since the book was very well loved and the images are taking a lot of work to clean up. There's some super-sweet little elves, deer, and birds.

100 Surveys Returned -- Thanks

2007-10-14T23:02:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who completed my survey about digital collage sheets. I was especially impressed with the thoughtful, thorough responses. Though I did receive one joke survey that was one of my favorites. In response to the question about new images someone wanted to see in collage sheets, the answer was "yo momma." I'm not sure if my mom would like photos of her used in a digital collage sheet, but I can ask her.

Another question in the survey was what topics people who like to see covered in this blog, or what questions people had about digital collage sheets in general. The overwhelming response was "What's up with that copyright thing?" So that will be one of the first posts I'll create.

On the digital collage sheet front, new images I'm working on include several versions of trees (from photographs and paintings), along with finishing some sheets that I've started long ago, such as more cowgirl images.

I also have a lovely new scanner that I'm playing with, scanning in images from recent estate-sale-finds, including butterfly photographs from the 1890s, 1950s Christmas books and vintage holiday wrapping paper, and baby books.

piddix October special -- free sampler sheet with response to survey

2007-10-03T22:29:00.001-07:00

To receive a free digital collage sheet by piddix, simply answer the following 1o questions about your preferences for digital collage sheets:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DB0nHfg7UKuvjgIVM7WNGA_3d_3d

I'll send your free collage sheet as a .jpg file within 24 hours. This sampler is a high-resolution file that you can use for personal crafts or to create items to sell (see the low-resolution version at left.)

Welcome to piddix

2007-10-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
Welcome to the piddix blog, home to all things crafty. Here you will find updates to my etsy shop, www.piddix.etsy.com, including the latest information on upcoming digital collage sheets. Plus, for those of you in the lovely Pacific Northwest, look out for craft show sales and announcements.
Thanks for checking in. Stop back soon as more content is added.
All the best,
Corinna