Vintage 2012 whine

The other evening, I was rubbing water-soluble crayon into this art journal page so hard, I gave myself a blister.

Now that's hard-core. [rolls eyes at self]

TwoBoo just about kilt me with his bathtime/bedtime tantrum. I didn't yell back (too much) at him. But that boy commits when he decides he wants something. We try to let him "win" as often as possible, but at what point have we moved from Small Victorytown to Pushover City?

All right. Enough whinging about how haaaaard parenting is. I promise not to give TwoBoo away to the circus. But if they're hiring...

How do you Etsy?

Up until yesterday, I told myself I wasn't going to use Facebook's "Ask Question" polling feature. No way. Most questions I've seen people post are as unimportant to me as Farmville. (Yeah, I said it.)

But I wondered if it's really practical to try selling assemblage works on Etsy. And then I realized I might actually know some people who could help me figure that out.

Sixteen people responded to my oh-so-scientific poll. Some also messaged me about how and why they use these sites. Twelve use Etsy (sometimes with caveats); the rest sell their work on Etsy and their own sites, through galleries or some combination of the above. In a nutshell, this is what I learned about their Etsy experiences:

• My research sample skews heavily toward jewelry designers and 2D artists.
• Etsy's fees vs. eBay's fees: no contest. Etsy wins hands-down.
• People tend to go with Etsy (vs. Artfire, for example) because it's well-known, especially among mixed-media aficionados.
• Networking with other vendors: useful, but word-of-mouth (via FB or a blog) is even more so. That's how some people are able to sell their work before even listing it on Etsy. No listing, no fee! MaryBeth Shaw and her stencils are a perfect example.
• About word-of-mouth: people will hide your feed if you mainly post to sell your stuff. Unfortunately, no one knows the perfect balance between fun posts and sales posts, of course.

About their actual items for sale, I learned:

• Most of their items can be shipped easily (prints of 2D or 3D work, jewelry, jewelry supplies). Pamela Huntington and Laurel Steven's works are the lightest of all -- file transfers of jewelry tutorials and digital collages.
• Many items cost less than $50, and can be made in quantity relatively quickly (maybe a week). (Not really a surprise; Featured Sellers who earn most of their living on Etsy tend to make jewelry or stationery of some sort.)

I also did some general browsing of assemblage pieces, and the vendors with the most sales keep things lightweight and under $250, roughly speaking. Yeah, there are some pieces listed for thousands of dollars. But the only vendor I recognized who actually makes sales like that is Dolan Geiman. And from what I can tell, he's an industry unto himself with his own website as well.

• Speaking of selling work on your own site allows you to avoid Etsy listing fees, but it requires more marketing on your own, and a solid fan base.

Thanks so much to everyone who responded: Pamela, Laurel, MaryBeth, Nona Parry, Sunny Carvalho, Bekah Ash, Regina Lord, Kelly Snelling, Lulu, Phyllis Peterson, Clarissa Callesen, Canace, Stephanie Green, Randi Antonsen, Stefanie Lin, and Delores Taylor.

What's your experience with online sales of your art? Tell me in the comments or email me.

Three shows, two works, one book

I was reading art coach Alyson Stanfield's blog the other day. It said something to the effect of "look back at the previous year and you'll be amazed at what you accomplished." She was right. I'm blogging on the road, so I'm a little limited. But here are the biggies of 2011:
-- three shows, one of them in a Seattle gallery (ICON), another at a brand-new venue (the Schack Art Center), the first at our beloved Artfest
-- two new works inspired by stories about my mother's family ("Our Lady of Georgetown" and "Greener")
-- featured in Rice Freeman-Zachery's new book, "Destination: Creativity -- The Life-Altering Journey of the Art Retreat"
Not to mention meeting so many new people through Twitter and my Facebook friends page... Take a stroll through le blog and read about the Year in Lisa. Happy New Year!