I am really enjoying playing with classic vintage art mixed with my own art. There are quite a few sizes offered in this collection all of which will be found at my Etsy store Here are a few of the images of what is available. Because of the way that Etsy works with a single listing for a product, I’ll link to the entire store, not the item in question. They often sell in a day and that makes the link inoperable.
Shown are three different kits. Each is allowable for small commercial crafting use. This means that one person, crafting all their own items with home tools (no mass production equipment) can create physical crafts (not digital) to sell at craft shows, craft booths in malls and in online stores like Ebay and Etsy.
The first kit is one 4 inch by 6 inch postcard or card front with 4, 3 inch squares for greeting card making, magnets, gift tags or other uses.
The second kit is a 1″ circle set for bottle caps, inchies, soldered glass pendants, pebble magnets and other uses. The circles are available from 2 1/2″ on down to 7/8″ size.
The third kit is a 2 1/2″ square set that is also available all the way down to 7/8″ size for a wide variety of uses.
There is also a design collection at Zazzle for Wedding, Bridal Shower and other invitations. This design received a “Today’s Best Award” from the Zazzle Design Staff. There is a complete Wedding Ensemble coming including Table Seating Charts, Table Cards and Place Cards.
TODAY’S WINNER FOR THE BLOG CONTEST DRAWING IS:
Cheryl! She won her choice of any of the $4.95 kits at Etsy.
Thanks to each that wrote a comment, please keep it up. I read and enjoy every one of them. It makes me want to come blog more when I hear back 
I had a question in my comments section this morning that sent me looking at Studio E Fabrics’ FREE quilt project patterns page, where I found this project with my new “Paradise” Fabric Collection: You can click on the picture or LINK TO PROJECT PATTERN
A detailed PDF 7 page instruction booklet will pop up. I was very impressed by the clarity of the instructions and the beautiful way it was laid out. Great job by the pattern designers! I hop you’ll enjoy it!
In a quick search today, I found these online stores carrying the fabrics, there may be more. If any of the stores that read my blog are carrying them let me know and I’ll be happy to add you to the post:
It’s been a little bit since I released a brand new art, digital clip art kit. Today I released “Puppy Love 1″ at www.aimeeasher.com. It is priced at $5.98 for 26 pieces and if you are a crafter, you are allowed to use it to create products to sell at craft shows. See the Angel Policy terms for the limits on usage. Here is the link: LINK TO PUPPY LOVE KIT or simply click on the image to go to the store.
In the kit is 4 card fronts of various sizes, the puppy dog icons in borders and separated, 7 papers, 4 borders and a circular border that would be perfect to use on a paint can for a new puppy gift or packaging for a “Puppy Love” gift basket/can.
Now, my question to you… What products would you like to see made out of this kit for my Zazzle store? Do you have some ideas for me to work on? Here are my thoughts. They’re perfect for purses and tote bags, magnets, greeting cards, note cards, T-shirts and maybe even some really fun shoes! I used to own a Dalmatian and would have gotten a kick out of having a pair of shoes or shirt with a Dalmatian puppy on it. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
One of my favorite things about being an artist is the wonderful artistic friends I have met over the years. Debbie Kingston Baker’s art has always touched my heart and when I met her in Atlanta at the gift show some years ago, we became friends and my life became a little richer. We’d lost contact the last couple of years until yesterday when I got a little note from her. I’m so glad to reconnect AND to show you her wonderful artwork. If you would like to visit her Zazzle store all you have to do is click on any of the product shots I’ve included in this post or click on the link below.
Debbie has a shop at Zazzle that you can see here: DEBBIE KINGSTON BAKER’S STORE AT ZAZZLE Her style of watercolors is utterly unique in an industry full of copy cats. Whimsical, detailed, childlike, innocent… all are words that aptly describe her style.
I think one of my favorite designs in her store is “Going to Nana’s House.” What an adorable design to buy either for your grandchildren if they call you “Nana” or for them to buy for you.
If you’d like to see more of Debbie’s art, here’s her personal website: DEBBIE KINGSTON BAKER’S PERSONAL WEB SITE On it there are e-cards you can send, links to some of her products such as Leanin’ Tree cards and some wonderful Christian/Inspirational items. Enjoy!
Why?! Because I get to design the birth announcements for my brand new nephew. My sister Nancy and her husband finally welcomed their son into a household with 5 daughters!!! Chris is welcoming the companionship in a sea of estrogen and Nancy is reveling in a whole new vocabulary as she put it “there’s a whole new vocabulary in our house… boy, brother, son, lil man…”
So my task today is to get these set up and ready to go for him. What a fun job it is to be an Auntie
Tomorrow I leave to go to Las Vegas for The Licensing Show. It will be a treat to be with my entire Licensing Agency team. I haven’t met 3 out of the 5 of them and am really looking forward to the time together and the inspiration. I always come home with a million ideas on the direction I should go and usually very little time to work on those ideas because the requests from the manufacturers are coming in at the same time. If you are going to be at the show and would like to make contact, my agent’s booth is #4777 MHS Licensing. They will know how to contact me so you can leave me a message there. I will be in and out of the booth. If you would like to see my portfolio books they will have them there.
By the way, as of yesterday, my existing free-standing digital clip art store has been disabled and all of my art is available in the Aimee Asher Elite digital store. We had too many technical problems — especially guaranteed to happen the moment I left town, LOL! So I decided to simply refer things there. Same prices. Same art. Fantastic customer service if any issues arise. To get there, simply click on the third page down from the top on the right hand side of the blog “Browse Digital products” and it will take you directly to my store front.
I’m off to “play with puppies” and get my nephew’s announcement done!
I have some “housekeeping” items I thought I would throw all into one big post.
DIGITAL CRAFTING FANS: I offer digital clip art kits on my blog store and have for several years. In the next week or so, with Lynnie’s help (from www.aimeeasher.com) I am going to replace my blog store with a link to my store inside of Aimee Asher.
As those of you that have experienced it in the last couple of months know, my automated delivery system has been screwy and has failed to provide usable links more often than not. The Aimee Asher system is great and well worth my sending the business their way instead of here. The prices are identical as are the kits and terms of use. If you want to purchase any digital clip art kits, I would suggest that you use this link and go directly to AAE from now on. LINK TO AUDREY JEANNE’S STORE AT AIMEE ASHER
Perhaps with fewer issues to deal with and without needing to upload and install a kit in two places I’ll be able to get some fresh new kits up That is my goal anyway!
ZAZZLE STORES: I have two Zazzle stores now. One features “Everything Business” and is stocked with business cards, stationery, thank you notes, postage, address labels and more.
LINK TO “EVERYTHING BUSINESS by Audrey Jeanne”
LINK TO AUDREY JEANNE’S EXPRESSIONS ZAZZLE STORE
The other contains a wide variety of products from wedding invitations, baby announcements, baby onesies and tee shirts, scrapbook notebooks, recipe notebooks and pages and more. You’ll also notice a new panel to the left with 3 of my Zazzle products shown in it. Those three products change frequently so be sure to take a peek each time you stop by. This format provides larger images that can be seen more clearly. I had to give up the flash panel, but small moving objects aren’t really good for seeing anyway!
TWITTER: If you would like to follow me on Twitter, LINK TO TWITTER PAGE
FACEBOOK: If you would like to follow my on my fan page at FaceBook, LINK TO FACEBOOK FAN PAGE I don’t play any games on FaceBook, so please don’t message me about that, but anything else I’d love to hear!
I update both Twitter and FaceBook daily and sometimes a couple of times a day and it’s very easy to connect with me there. I love to hear feedback on designs I’m working on and often show the first peeks at Facebook as I’m working those collections out.
Okay, now off to bed after a long and wonderful day with my family!
LINK TO BIRTHDAY PARTY INVITATION IN THE STORE
Before I left town last week I had a “play day,” which is what I call it when I don’t have any particular assignments on my desk and I just feel like drawing and painting whatever comes to mind. This little girl contemporary whimsical floral art is the result. It is available in a variety of formats for birthday party invitations and soon will be available for baby girl birth announcements and baby shower invitations. Just click on the link above to go to the store if you would like to see it and the other products offered.
ON THE PERSONAL SIDE — FAMILY MEANS EVERYTHING DOESN’T IT? I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in regretting that we don’t get to spend enough time with those we love most in this world. Sometimes the requirements of making a living get smack in the way of enjoying life However, this past week was spent with a wide assortment of family members. Some we haven’t seen in years and some we just met for the first time — all were enjoyed and loved very much.
Our son Scot and his new bride Naomi, joined their hands in marriage this past Saturday. We wish the day could have continued in the old testament version of the 7 day wedding feast. It all goes past way too quickly and suddenly the day you have awaited for months is well on its way to becoming a memory.
We had a delightful time meeting Naomi’s family and enjoying the talents of her mother, Patricia. Patricia pulled together not only a beautiful event — but had to change venues the day before the wedding due to the intense thunderstorms and rain. So the outdoor reception and wedding in a charming classic white chapel was suddenly moved to the larger (and drier) sanctuary. The move transpired with only a slight hitch here and there and in the end no one that attended would have thought that this venue was “plan B!” Congrats to her and her family.
My camera was eating batteries so I will try to get photos from my kids to post a little later in the week. Our son, Scot shed a tear as his beautiful bride came down the aisle and they really didn’t need lighting for the stage, as Naomi’s shining countenance lit up the entire church. We couldn’t be more pleased with Scot’s choice of a wife, she is a wonderful mother, a true friend to her new husband and has a delightful sense of humor to boot. Welcome to the family Naomi!
We also had the pleasure of spending some time with Brownlow Gifts’ design team while we were in Dallas. They are one of my favorite companies to work with not only because of their incredible quality of product and creativity of design, but because of how darn much fun we all have together!!! Thanks for the laughs and the warm welcome.
We will be out of the office Tuesday May 11th and back in on Wednesday May 19th. If there are any customer service issues with the website prior to that date we will be unable to resolve them until arriving back in the office. Our apologies in advance. We will attend to any issues promptly on our return.
I went to the Create and Craft website to order a kit and discovered they were all gone! I guess that’s good news and bad news The good news is that they’ll have them back in stock as soon as possible. If you missed the kit like I did, and would like to be informed when it’s back in stock here’s what you can do.
Go to this link: LINK TO JADE TREASURES PAPER CRAFTING KIT click on “Buy Now” and it will tell you it’s sold out and ask if you would like to be informed via email when it’s back in stock.
My thanks for the great presenters at Ideal World, they are so filled with the joy of crafting. You can tell that they use crafting products, love to create and enjoy showing off all the products they are entrusted with sharing!
Amanda Curtin, the Design Objectives designer and presenter that made all (or almost all) of the fabulous cards shown will be sending me some pictures of her work and I’m going to feature her here on my blog. If you have any questions you can think of to ask her, send them to me and I’ll pass them along.
Not knowing the UK show, my product is actually on the Ideal World show, one of three channels you can watch online. The show will be starting at 1 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 9 PM GMT and again at 3 PM, 11 PM GMT. I’ll be interviewed over the phone for the show.
Here’s my newest tee shirt designs. I’ve always loved “Grandmother Brag Shirts” and put my sweet cupcakes and chocolate art to work for this “Grandma’s Sweeties” Design. You can customize it to read “Nana’s Sweeties” or any other nickname you use for your Grandmother. I currently have from 1-6 grandchildren (or children for Mothers) designed and can and will do it for any number of grandchildren you need. There’s still time for Mother’s Day! LINK TO SHIRT IN STORE
I haven’t designed the sweatshirts yet, but if you want one before I have them up, just email me and I’ll put it to the head of the list. Oh and by the way this shirt design is two sided on a lot of the shirts you can select. On the back it reads “Our Grandma is the sweetest Grandmother in the world” You can change that message any way you wish.
I also learned something this morning that I thought I would pass on to my readers. Many of you have your own FaceBook pages, blogs, Squiddo Lenses, stores or websites. If you would like to earn a 15% referral fee from Zazzle products, it’s extremely easy to do. Here’s a link to the page that explains how you can do it: LINK TO ZAZZLE REFERRAL PAGE As I understand it, all you need to do is be a member of Zazzle. You don’t have to have your own store, but you certainly could if you produce art or photographs that could be used on their products.
If you like my work (or any other Zazzle artists’ work) all you have to do is post a link to that work on your blog, facebook etc. and if a purchase is made you’ll earn the referral fee. The artists love the promotion, so you help your favorite “starving artist” LOL, and you help yourself in the process. So, if you see something you like in my store, please, by all means feel free to link to it for your own purposes. The links will be searched by major search engines and help drive viewers to your site helping you to gain more exposure even if you don’t see immediate sales results. I know people that are earning a tidy income from their Squiddo Lenses using this program !
Once you’re signed up and signed in, all you do is click on the product you like and below the image is some text that says “Link.” From there select the option that works for your blog or website, (option 2 works for facebook). Insert that link in your post and you’re done! You could do a blog post picking your very favorite Mother’s Day gifts or Wedding Invitations — giving your good material to post with and potential income as well.
Just to let you know, I have just installed a widget to the bottom right side panel that will allow you to follow this blog if you would like to be automatically notified of new posts.
Print Your Own Birth Announcements!
http://www.zazzle.com/audreyjeanne?rf=238286672971574472
I have had a couple of questions about Zazzle, so I thought I would explain it. Zazzle is a print on demand service that allows an image to be placed on a wide variety of products. They usually ship orders in 24 hours and virtually all items can be personalized or customized so there is tremendous freedom to make the perfect gift, announcement or invitation at a very reasonable cost.
This morning I designed a baby boy and baby girl photo birth announcement. This birth announcement has a place for your own baby’s photo, weight, length, date and time and is 8″ x 4″ and all of this is only $1.10 per card!
LINK TO ZAZZLE STORE In the left column of my blog is a flash slide show of my Zazzle products. It’s pretty small in order to fit the column constraints, but if you place your cursor at the right corner it’s a link to the store.
Now, all I need is a new grandchild to announce, LOL!
I update quite frequently on my Fan Page on Facebook. It is “Audrey Jeanne’s Expressions, Audrey Jeanne Roberts.” I’m utilizing this page to keep my closest fans/friends updated on my newest art work and products. I have links to some of my manufacturer’s products there so that you can see if there’s anything you can’t live without
If you would like to be informed as to what I’m doing and when I offer little gifts, please sign up to be one of my fans. You do have to be a member of Facebook to sign up. If you are, simply click on the link near the top that says “become a fan.” When you go to the page today, there’s something fun waiting for you. HERE’S THE LINK TO MY FACEBOOK PAGE
I bought a new sewing machine about 6 months ago and FINALLY pulled it out to learn how to use it. My previous sewing machine is an Elna circa the 1950s. My new one is computerized and I think I should have had a few hours of pilot’s training and a pilot’s license to “fly” it!
Once I got the hang of it, I pulled out my stash of fabrics and went looking for ideas to make out of them. I wanted to make an apron out of my “Chocolate Love” fabric collection. I found the most delightful pattern on Susan Branch’s blog site. LINK TO PATTERN HERE Susan has graciously allowed her pattern to be used for personal use only and her instructions are very clear and easy to follow.
This project is not for a beginning level, I would say it has a medium to advanced level complexity. I created my own bias tape to use with it, and my bias tape folder makes it wider than the 1/4″ that was called for, so I ironed the tape flat and stitched it down. Here’s the link for instructions to create your own bias tape out of any fabric: LINK TO BIAS TAPE INSTRUCTIONS
I am going to be making more retro-style aprons in the future and I’ll post them when I do. They’re easy, quick and delightful projects to make for gifts. For those of you that love quilting, a quilt pattern block can be a beautiful apron top. If you’re also a digital crafter, you can make some wonderful goodies such as recipe cards, matching food packaging for home made cookies and treats and create your own elegant gift baskets.
Here’s a free pattern for a place mat and napkin combination using my Deja’ Brew Collection fabrics, but with a little imagination any of these patterns can be used with any fabric combination. So if you’re a fabric-a-holic like I am pull your sewing machine out and see what beautiful creations you can put together out of the fabrics you already own! LINK TO PLACE MAT PATTERN HERE.