Archive for the ‘my studio’ Category

The greatest part about getting a new house is getting to finally design new spaces.

The first room we’re working on: The art studio.

Since I am working on the book, and timing is critical, we are getting right from the start so that things aren’t messy and chaotic like most things tend to be when moving in.

I am so excited to have a room just for art. Like really excited.

We chose a room in the basement for the studio, close to the family play area so that it’s close to the kids. It’s a basic standard room: 10×13 feet I think. Closet, one ceiling fixture and one south facing window.

But the room had really junk carpet, smoke stains on the wall, and sliding closet doors without bottom tracks and heavy metal band stickers on the doors. Nice.

So, for a bargain priced makeover:

1. Ripped up the carpet to expose the concrete foundation. Perfect for an art studio! Carpet is so hard to clean with messy art happening, hardwood is too pricey and laminate still came up to about $500. And with cement underneath, it would have been hard to put in a hard flooring anyways. Solution? We’re painting the cement a bright white. I can’t wait! It’s going to be stunning. And so easy to clean. And white. I love white.

2. Took off the sliding closet doors. They were junk, wobbly, marked up and covered in heavy metal band stickers not to mention they just covered up a really great closet space. This will allow for a bit more room for furniture, and exposed storage to motivate me to keep it tidy and organized! And, curtains will add a splash of color.

3.  Paint: Haven’t chosen it just yet…you’ll see by mid week what we chose. But for one of the walls, I’ll be putting up chalkboard paint so that the kids can create and draw in there too. It’s so important for me to have a studio where the kids feel welcome. Addie most always draws at my feet when I work. But since the space is so small, we are utilizing the wall space for the kids to create.

4. Light fixture: I’ll be putting in full spectrum bulbs, but haven’t decided on a fixture yet. If any of you have good suggestions for good studio lighting with a fun design statement, please share!

5. Furniture: This will be a mix of what I have plus a bit of new. More on that in another post.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress! My amazing husband has been working on this since I am illustrating in the evenings. He spent at least 10 hours prepping the floor for paint: ripping up the carpet, pulling up nails, patching holes, scraping up carpet glue and oil stains….the man is amazing. I love him! And I can’t wait to see how it all turns out!

I often get asked what my favorite pieces are from my shop, and my answer is always the same: “The piece that is currently in my head by not yet in print.” Once it’s up in the shop, the creation of it is done, and I am moving on to the next thing. I don’t tend to get attached. But I do have a few favorites, and I am so happy to say that one of my favorites is going to be carried by a very favorite online site of mine.

Have you browsed around Mahar Dry Goods lately? If there was a online store for children that inspired me most to get my shop up and running, it was this one. Was it the enter page illustrated so brilliantly by Jen Corace? Was is the quirky novelty toys? There is an exclusive tea set from Mahar Dry Goods which shows up in my Summer Tea Party print (commissioned for Small Magazine) that was too amazing to not be inspired by. Short story: I love this shop. And, this week, I found out, that they will be carrying my Personalized Family Trees and Paper Dolls.

I have a long list of retailers that I love working with, but I was just tickled to hear the news, simply because this shop is truly what inspired my desire to enter the handmade children’s industry. Robert, who also has a very hip and retro children’s blog Junior Society, has fantastic taste, and always offers a pic me up when I visit his sites.

Horray for good design. There is something about good design that feeds my soul. And today, I am thankful for great associations.

Does this happen to you?

Short pencils mean there is a lot going on around here. Mostly on my book scheduled to be set into print this summer. It won’t be in stores until Fall 2011, but deadlines are creeping up soon! I wish I could share more of what I am working on, but since nothing is in publication yet, I really can’t share too much. But I will say, pencils are getting shorter and shorter around here!

Keep watching the blog this week. I have A LOT of really fun new additions to the shop coming up! Christmas gifts, cards and stocking stuffers to mention a few!

In the mean time, check out this hot new list of the New York Times top illustrated children’s book list for 2009.  Aren’t they delightful? I’ve blogged about a couple of these artists before. Just gorgeous.

OK….back to drawing (and paper doll making with the kids…have  you tried these out yet? They’re a hit around here!)

Happy Monday!

Two years ago today, I took a really, really big leap of faith: I started selling my art work. I had no idea my art would be accepted or interesting, but I did it anyways because I had to. Part of being an artist includes a need to share, give and express. Opening my ETSY shop 2 years ago filled that need.

And it’s been 2 years! What started from a corner computer desk in our small apartment bedroom has grown to a 4 person operation. I have met some incredible people, made valuable connections and have grown so much as an artist since that day. I am so glad I made big leap: it was scary, but oh so worth it. It’s been an incredible journey for myself as well as for my family, and I want to thank you for your support! It has meant so much!

*You must indulge me for a second while I take a couple lines to thank the person who is responsible for why I am still here: my incredible side-kick and better half. My husband has been so generous with his efforts: countless dinners made, laundry done, floors vacuumed and children tended to so that I could squeeze in “just one more hour” of time to my passion. Without him, I would have burned out long ago. But he believes in me and has encouraged me the whole way. When I have wanted to just give up (and there have been a few sleep-deprived moments of “why am I doing this” kind of talk) he has been my cheerleader. And somehow through it all, we have had time still to be together as a family, run a small business, have a third baby and manage normal (and magical) family living. We have been truly blessed. He is my best friend.

Ok! Now for the fun stuff:

Every Party needs party favors…and this is a good one!

The Giveaway includes:

Gifts from my shop as well as Warm Biscuit Bedding Company: a wonderful online store…one of the first in the market to offer personalized and custom gifts and decor for children. My products have been in their online retail store for a while now and I have just loved their company. You are just going to love these:

A set of Matruoshka dolls

and 3 darling suitcases. You can’t pass this up!

a Personalized Family Tree and

and a set of 10 Halloween Cards from Yours Truly.

• All you need to do is enter a comment below (just say “Hi”, smile and wave…offer a suggestion…or just say “Happy Birthday”)
• Thursday, I will present the winner here on the blog. Make sure to include your email address in your comment.
• Entries are valid through Wednesday at Midnight (EST)

But of course, we can’t all win this one. So….

THIS WEEK ONLY:

FREE shipping at Warm Biscuit Bedding Company when you make a purchase and mention: Sarah Jane as your coupon code

and…

BUY 2 GET 1 FREE in my shop!

• Purchase TWO items in my shop.
• At the time of purchase, MENTION the FREE item you would like in the message to seller box.
• FREE items can only be equal to or LESS than the other items purchased.
• There is a cap of TWO free items for the entire order.

But remember: every good party comes to an end: Wednesday October 7th at midnight (EST) is your last chance!

Have fun everyone. And thanks so much for all your wonderful support and e-friendship (is that a word? well, it is now…and it’s meant so much to me!)

Spread the word, and have fun at the party!

xo

sarah jane

Meet Emily Smith.

Over the past nearly 2 years, I have gone solo with printing, corresponding, updating, recording, illustrating, ordering, stocking and marketing. It’s been great. But add 3 babies, illustrating a book and trying to squeeze a shower in every day, and it was obvious that I needed help. I have had April take on the printing jobs, and I just hired a new shipping hand whom I love, but Emily oversees it all. Some of you may have already had responses from Emily via email, and I wanted introduce you. Say Hello to Emily!

Isn’t she wonderful?

Here’s are some interesting facts about the woman keeping me together these days:

• She is the 7th of 10 children.
• She worked for General Electric for 10 years as a human resources manager.
• She lived in Boston for 10 years before getting married and starting her family.
• She now has a great husband, 2 boys, 2 horses, 1 pony, 2 cats, 2 goats and a dog. (City girl meets country girl!)

And my favorite interesting fact about her:

• She was the widowed Margaret Rey’s roommate (the author of Curious George no less) for a year while she lived in Harvard Square and took care of her out of house needs until she died (for which she has some pretty amazing stories no doubt!)

Emily is amazing and will be keeping things moving for me. So say “Hello!”

Well. I’m here. I’ve left my 20’s and have just stepped into the great-wide 30’s. I’ve heard your 30’s are the best years and I think I might even be a little excited to try them on for size. Experience tells me I don’t really have a choice in the matter. So….big THREE ZERO here I come!

So….wanna party with me? Presents are necessary for these kinds of events! And I can’t help but to give some away today. I was trying to decide what to give away, and I just couldn’t. So I am letting you choose! Well, two of you!

Two lucky winners will get this:

$50 gift card to my shop!

To enter:

All you need to do is leave a comment and you’re in! And as a return favor, I’d love to see you add my blog to your side bar or links. Spread the word and let’s have a party here:)

The giveaway will go until Friday at 10pm MST and I’ll randomly draw numbers out of a hat and announce the lucky winners on Saturday. Best of luck to all!

But, since all of you can’t get a party favor, I will be adding a free card of your choice to all orders made through Friday. All you need to do is mention “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” in your order, and the gift is yours!

Best of luck to all! Let’s party!

Good morning friends! I wanted to fill you in on another place to come and visit:

Join my group here for great ideas on framing and decorating with the art from my shop.

And if you have photos to share, please do! The more the merrier.

And come be my FLICKR friend here and keep in touch with my photos.

Are you a FLICKR junkie? Me too. No dieting here folks. Just love.

Happy Day to you all!

One of the ‘projects’ I have been filling my time with is getting more interesting product photography for my shop. Oh boy. I love taking pictures, but this is something I am not an expert in! I am hoping that I have had some happy accidents!

The color of my walls (we are renting) doesn’t work with my art and products very well. So, my sister and I went shopping for yards of interesting fabric. We didn’t have a lot of time, but what we came up with worked pretty well! I rented some big studio lights from a local photography shop to help enhance the natural morning light in my home, and we did the best we could! I would have liked to get a fancy camera in addition to it all, but we did the best we could!

I have used a 50 mm lens (the only lens I have that allows the most light!) and went at it. Oh, I wish i had all the time in the world to learn all the things I want to about photography! Hopefully these will do for now!

I hoping to get a website up and running by the time this baby comes, and so this is all in efforts to get one going soon.

And of course, this was all done in my family room, with my darlings running about. Most projects are done this way around here. And they of course wanted some camera time too. They are my best products really. The only thing is, they are not for sale! Sorry.

We just cut 7 1/2 inches off Addie’s hair over the weekend, and she loves it! We love it! The Little Miss no longer has her baby hair attached to her head, which makes me a bit sad. But oh she is so cute!

Speaking of cutting things off, I am taking a break here for the next week. The internet seems to be the #1 place to check into these days, but I am needing a mandatory diet for 1) to make sure my inspirations aren’t coming strictly from a screen (the WEB’S image overload can be just that…overload!) and 2) to get some necessary projects done. With only 3 months left in my pregnancy, I have given myself some big deadlines so I can be free to mother my little one with as few distractions as possible.

So this week, there are new designs on the agenda, as well as some other less interesting but mandatory projects. But I will be back soon, hopefully with some pretty exciting updates! Spring designs are coming, and I think you will love them! So check back soon! My internet diet can’t last too long…I absolutely love keeping in touch with you guys! So, farewell blog world…time for a brief vacation!

xoxo

sarah jane

We are in the middle of it all at the moment…moving I mean…and though I love the idea of being out, I am not loving the idea of living with boxes and junk everywhere. I do love that I have been able to uncover some things that I have had to put away for a while. My oil paints. After Addie started walking, I realized that I would have to find another way of making merry…thus my present photoshop addiction. But it is in oils that I first started my painting adventures. Sure, drawing is always first. But I was lucky enough to start private art lessons at the age of 10, and after one painting in acrylic, my teacher let me switch over to oils, and I have been hooked ever since. The smell, the feel, the sheen…oil paint is honestly sacred to me:)

I haven’t painted since 3 years ago today when I finished my first and last portrait painting. It was a Christmas present for my husband. I can still remember Addie crawling at my feet while I painted this!

I think that this other painting was also done that same month, my last landscape painting since the day I put my paints away.

And today, when I pulled out my paints from storage, I was wishing I could get my hands dirty again. Messy and DIRTY. Someday! Small space living allows room for the most important things…and someday, this will be important again. But right now, I would rather have my babies crawling at my feet…but oh, the smell of these tubes did give my heart a flutter!