JennFamousArt Craft Artisan and Storyteller.

OK so I felt kinda like writing a blog post today, especially since I haven't written one in a while. I have kept pretty busy lately, and done a lot of reading, some was for fun, but most has been for learning. the main topic? Business plans. I'm trying to come up with a good one that could possibly get me a grant to help get my business off the ground and possibly get me and my family on our feet and stabilized in a bad economy.  I'd like to be able to buy a house, and have a studio room that I could base my Shop out of.  perhaps have it be a well organized "craft" room with a desk for the computer so I can list my items and keep up with the Internet social media thing .  with the way so much of commerce in general is moving to the Internet, there is so much to think about and the world just seems to be expanding at a very rapid pace.  some ideas I've been thinking about are the various causes and fundraising for them. it seems that some business strategies ...

So, I've been reading, and rereading, and taking notes, and reading some more from this realy great book " marketing for dummies " (I borrowed my copy from my local library)  Now I'm not dummy, but the reasons why I've been reading - the first chapter even! - over and over, is because it is just that good.  I've litterally been using it like a text book for colledge, using the questions like assignments and going the extra mile on them. Chapter 1 is all about "optimizing your Marketing Program".  Well I didn't really have a marketing program, or a marketing strategy, or know anything about marketing and sales other than you have to do some sort of marketing to make sales.  what an eye opener this one chapter has been!  Now that I've been made aware of this, I've been developing a plan that will be more successful for me.  A few key points made are focusing your time, and your money on marketing techniques that have a major or secondary bu...

This past week I've been reading a book by Joe Garcia , a watercolor painter.  That's one of his paintings on the left. The book is called "The Watercolor Bible"  It was written in 2006, so it is fairly current.  It gets down to all the little details watercolor artists need to know, but one thing I noticed: it barely mentioned watercolor pencils!  I was rather dissapointed by this at first, but after reading further I found that while the watercolor pencils are slightly different, the same techniques and general rules still apply. There were many exsamples with detailed explanations throught the 8 sections, from materials and supplies, collecting and recording ideas for paintings, composition, Drawing and painting techniques and properties, Color and special effects, even demonstrationss of popular subjects. It was easy to understand, and really helpful, and I came away inspired and full of ideas.  Perhaps I'll show you some in later blogs!  I willdefinate...

this is the first thing I did with my new pencils. (it's not finnished yet) I started it in the car on the way home! all that's left to do is use water to make it look all soft and watercolor painting ish. I took a pic and posted it to my facebookFanPage  it would appear that I'm starting a watercolor pencil obsession... last month it was knitting I made several scarves and have listed a few in my ArtfireShop  I will be adding more as I find the time.  I've been away for a while, mostly because new internet arangements... um ie get it at the Library or taco bell or other Free wi fi connection places around town instead of at my own home.... it's been rough.... but I guess I'm just a survivor.... I've survived w/ no phone, even no electric for about a month or two... no internet is no big deal... Library's only a mile away... and weather is getting nicer so if I can just fix my bycycle tire it'll be a sinch to get here.... oh yeah... don't let me...

     Yea, I've been on facebook with a profile page for a little over a year. For a while, it was bringing in views for my etsy. I liked having a profile page, especially because I didn't have to spam my friends with what was going on in my shop . They could find that info by a simple click on my profile page under my etsy tab . Recently, facebook decided it was inefficient for business, so they put the word out that they would be deleting them from profiles, and instead to create a fan page . Ok, so I made a fan page, but I doubt that it will be effective due to my lack of a sufficient amount of fans. I'm struggling with the SEO stuff, and don't really know how to talk about my art. When I socialize on facebook, groups, and stuff, the  links will still go to my profile page. I guess it will be about two years before my fan page is built up like my profile page. I have 200 friends, but only 15 fans. My dilemma is; How do I teach myself how to make my fan p...

I have a friend who loves Betta fish. (also known as Chinese Fighting Fish) He has seven, and is always looking at more. I think it may be kinda catchy too, as hubby has three, which he acquired after we started hanging with our friend.  Hubby's taking care of one for me, (I tend to kill fish) which I named Sapphire.  We went over to our friends house for a visit, and I took my acrylic pad (for acrylic paintings) and decided to do a sketch of Snow Wolf, our friend's Veil tail Betta.  Snow wolf is housed in a half gallon cube tank, with a dragon pattern background, and a grass like plant (fake).  He is white with a little bit of red violet across the top, and a hint of blue green hues in his tail. He was purchased at half price, because of near fatal illness, which our friend cured quite easily with expert care. Snow Wolf is now happy and healthy, and has lived a year and a half since his recovery, and is expected to live to a ripe old Betta age of 3. (they have a sh...

OK, so this post doesn't have a picture, or anything really neat to link to. it's just a really sweet story of my thanksgiving holiday.  the story starts a bit before the holiday with a little background info. so here goes my attempt at a story, (be warned you may cry both sad and happy tears with me on this one) It was Tuesday morning, 2 weeks before thanksgiving, and I was scheduled for an 8:30am appointment to "Donate" Plasma (what I do for quick cash) and I get a phone call from the hubby.  It was about 8am, and he's explaining to me that he's at McDonalds. Why? What happened? He got pulled over. When? In the parking lot? For what? The Plates. Huh? what do you mean the plates I thought we were good on them. Aren't they antique? (it was a misconception about not having to renew the plates ... because of the vehicle being antique or something I thought we sorted out last year) Anyway, so we talked for like 15 minutes about what had happened, why it hap...