Tis the Season...and a Tip

I had the odd sale on my cafepress site a few weeks ago which reminded me I should promote it a bit on my blog. (Disclaimer: I HATE marketing). I've never had a lot of sales but I do usually sell a few calendars and perhaps some gift items this time of year. Think of it as going to an art museum and then buying a postcard or print of a favorite painting at the gift shop. You may not be able to afford the original of any of my quilt art, or perhaps a favorite piece is not for sale or already in a private collection, but perhaps you might find an image of it on an affordable mug, greeting card or decorative tile or treasure box. There's even a journal with four different choices of paper. And who can't use a calendar in your studio or office? I've always been pleased with the quality of the merchandise cafepress prints my images on and the images themselves are high quality as well. Treat yourself or get a start on your holiday shopping at my shop!

Now as a reward for suffering through that commercial break, here is the promised tip. One of my art group was admiring the way I'd paired filled bobbins with their matching spool of thread by stacking the pairs on the pegs in my thread rack. Unfortunately, not all of my thread will fit in this rack, although it holds a lot of thread. So I shared this alternate method for spools stored in drawers or shallow bins. It merely requires ordinary cotton swabs. I don't remember where I read about it but I was skeptical that it would really work. But truly it does...look!

Finally, circling back to "tis the season", I've treated myself to a new lightweight winter jacket in a color for which I have no suitably colored scarf. But I was pretty sure I'd bought a very luxurious yarn a few years back that had some blue in it. It didn't take me long to find it (while I have a yarn stash, it really isn't very big), and I was so pleased to discover it not only had the right color of blue, but also some teal green that matches the jacket lining. So I've started knitting a cowl scarf from this wool/silk hand-painted fingering yarn while I watch a little snow fly outside the window.

A little printing and more cafepress

I'm down to the last few Christmas cards, some which will go with gifts, and so I took a bit of a break from writing yesterday to do some printing on fabric. (Sssh, don't tell anyone that some of these are presents!) I'm using cotton sateen that comes adhered to a stiff paper backing in a 24" wide roll. While my Epson Workforce 1100 does not accommodate rolls, let alone anything this wide, it will print up to 13" wide, and this particular backed fabric when cut to size feeds so well through it. The resulting prints look as sharp and true to color as if printed on photo paper - I just love it!

This printer hasn't gotten much use in the last couple of years, and when I printed something off on paper a few months ago, I got some odd lines running through my graphic. Printers that sit tend to develop heads that clog up. Sure enough, when I did a nozzle check, there were gaps in the test print proving that the heads required cleaning. I also took the time to check alignment to assure good clean and accurate prints. If this all sounds like Greek to you, I suggest you check the manual or help screens for your printer and work through these basic maintenance steps, particularly if you have been unhappy with the quality of your printing lately.

The difference between ICM & Adobe RGB settings

Another thing that is worth checking is the advanced setting for color matching and other settings found within the preferences or printer set-up (like unchecking "fast printing" and checking "envelop" to accommodate extra thickness). If what you see on your screen differs from what prints out, it may just be a mismatch of settings. I'd written down the settings that seemed to give me the truest color match on fabric in the past, but when I printed my first image, it was not very close. I checked the other settings I could choose from and decided to try a different one, and it was much closer to my screen image. Now for those of us just wanting to get on with it, all the time I spent yesterday morning cleaning and aligning heads and changing settings from the defaults might rankle, but with the price of ink and fabric, it is worth taking this time to get your settings right. I am so pleased with the results. And as so often happens with me, as long as I was set up and on a roll, I worked on and printed an image for my next art quilt. Holidays or not, the creative urge cannot be denied!

Angel of the Rock Journal through cafepress

And now for a commercial break. I've changed the image on another item in my cafepress shop. My "Angel of the Rock" art quilt is in a private collection, but you can enjoy it on the cover of this 5" x 8" journal. The journal is available with 4 paper options: blank, college ruled, dot grid or task pages. And does anyone use mousepads anymore? If so, perhaps you would like the mousepad I offer with the image of one of my journal quilts "Texture". Happy shopping! 

Holiday Break

The creative journey is on hold as the studio work table has been taken over by Christmas card preparation. I do enjoy this process, choosing cards that resonate with image and sentiment, recapping the year in a letter for those I only connect with periodically from season to season, adding a personal note to show this is not just an automated process. I guess I enjoy it also because I love being the recipient of the cards and letters that show up in my mailbox each Christmas. It's a different kind of staying in touch from our ubiquitous electronic one, a tradition I doubt I'll ever give up.

I've also been busy updating my cafepress shop - it's not too late to order gifts in time for Christmas. My "Idaho Maple Leaves" image has been added to the tile coaster (available in both framed and unframed versions) and keepsake box. And you can now find my "Willow" quilt on notecards that can be purchased individually or in packets of 20.

Still available are t-shirts and sweatshirts, mugs and totes, stickers and magnets with my Idaho Beauty Block logo and motto (Quilting...an alternative lifestyle) as well as two calendars of my favorite art quilts and journal quilts. And don't forget the new items with oak leaf image recently added. Happy shopping!

Shopping...

I did my part yesterday in shopping locally at small businesses. I've been waiting months for the alpaca rancher to dye up some alpaca yarn like this - at last she had a wonderful selection in her store. Also succumbed to some wool/silk hand-dyed yarns at a new weaving shop in town. I look forward to knitting these yarns into wonderful scarves.

Cyber Monday gives us more opportunities to patronize small businesses and artisans. Don't forget, I have calendars of my work as well as notecards and gift items available in my cafepress shop:

2012 Fiberart Wall Calendar
2012 Quilted Birches Calendar

And if you shop on Monday, November 28, Cafepress is offering this one day only coupon special:

Cyber Monday Only! Free shipping on orders over $40*. Coupon Code SHOPNOV28. Details: http://www.cafepress.com/content/si/promo/details.html

New Calendar on CafePress

I've just added a new calendar to my CafePress shop. It features some of my more recent art quilts. My "Quilted Birches" calendar is still available, updated for 2012. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page to find them, listed along with cards & prints. Or follow the links below to go directly to each calendar. If you're in the market for a calendar for next year, maybe one of these will fit the bill.

Idaho Beauty's FiberArt Calendar

Idaho Beauty's Quilted Birches Calendar

Commercial Break

I've just added some new images and products to my cafepress shop. "Angel of the Rock" is now available on a greeting card (above) with a "guardian angel" message inside. Several of my recent fabric postcards can be purchased on greeting or note cards and traditional postcards.
There's a 2010 calendar featuring some of my birch tree quilts.


"Balance Check" and "Jockeying for Space" can now be found on ceramic tiles. Above is the framed tile, the other is a single tile 4-1/2 inches square.


Cafepress offers a great journal book in your choice of 4 different page styles. Mine features my "Simplicity" journal quilt on the cover.
There's even a messenger bag with "Azalea Mosaic 2: Garden Path" on the flap. I've also added the Azalea Mosaic image to a lovely lined lacquered wood box.

I've been very pleased with the quality of cafepress products and image transfers, so I can recommend them without reservation. Please take a look - maybe something will catch your eye - either for yourself or a gift: http://www.cafepress.com/IdahoBeauty

End of commercial message...

Now I AM Snowed In

It was with shock that I looked out this morning to 9 inches of fresh snow. Guess I should have believed the weatherwoman last night, but she's been so vague lately. When she says "1 to 3 ft of snow in the mountains" you don't know if she means on the passes or in the valleys. It's getting dark now, still snowing and at last check another 2 inches had fallen. This is wetter stuff than we've had previously - I didn't even make it to the mailbox with my shovel before giving up. It was when I hit that extra layer of salted sanded muck the plow throws up on the shoulder that demoralized me.





Three cheers for the postperson! She'd proudly announced earlier that she would not be thwarted by the snows this year, having purchased a 4-wheel drive rig. True to her word, she forced her way partly up the driveway to deliver some packages. Now I have in hand my 2009 calendar from my cafepress.com store. As with the greeting cards, the clarity and detail of my quilts on each page is stunning. If you haven't settled on a calendar for 2009, perhaps you would consider hanging mine - A Year of Quilted Birch Trees.

New Items In My cafepress.com Shop

It wasn't diversions or distractions that slowed down my progress on adding this calendar to my cafepress.com shop, but huge files and slow dial-up service! Oh, if Santa would only bring me high speed internet access for Christmas... Anyway, it features 12 of my birch tree inspired journal and art quilts and may be purchased here.

I also added this porcelain tree ornament featuring detail from my "Angel of the Rock" art quilt, now in the collection of Holy Spirit Episcopal Church of Sandpoint ID. Click here for more information.

See this post to read about other items recently added, or just go to www.cafepress.com/IdahoBeauty to see what else I have to offer.

It's a great relief to get this done. Now back to creating!

Indulgence

My stitches came out today (the ones in my mouth) and I got a clean bill of health from the dentist - hooray! I'll be eating normally in no time. On the non-hooray side, my Viking Sapphire still has its little problem when I free-motion stitch (discovered as I was quilting the last round of postcards) so is returning to the company for another try at fixing, or to be replaced. I'm leaning towards replacement myself, but I imagine they will keep working at it instead. My patience is running thin. So it got boxed up and dropped of while I was out today. Another hooray - the dealership is located in a small mall which makes lugging the machine to the store a pain. But there's a service door that he uses when you pick up a repair, telling you to pull right up to the door. My plan was to pull into the firelane, call him on my cell phone and tell him I was sitting there waiting for him to get the machine. Instead, he was already standing there having a smoke break - hooray!

The indulgence part came between the dentist appt and the dealership. I decided to see how close I could park to the downtown Coldwater Creek store - usually I can't get within a block. To my delight, I found an easy to slip into spot right in front of the store. Karma, I decided, good vibes radiating. With coupon in hand, I scored on a few gift items and a hat for me and was on my way. Oh, but I was right across the street from a Hallmark shop and in need of a small 2009 calendar to carry in my purse, so I zipped across to see what they had. The only thing remotely like what I was looking for was...free! Well, this is just too good. I decided to walk down the block and treat myself to a stroll through the artist co-op. So many lovely things to fill my senses, and a lovely artist on duty willing to chat about woven bead jewelry (her specialty) vs beading on textiles (which she had tried with a most unsatisfactory result). I didn't purchase anything, although I was tempted by a bowl which felt wonderful cupped in my hands and sporting a glaze in my favorite browns. Another bowl I do not need, but this one would certainly fit in with the rest of my collection.

I haven't had anything to show these last few days - I'm quilting the border of the redwork cross quilt (see previous post) when I'm not working on Christmas cards. I stood far too long at lake's edge yesterday as an ever changing sunset tinted the water pink and made me wish I had my camera with me. The picture above was taken two years ago and shows a bit of that tinge I saw yesterday. I haven't been down there for awhile, and it was so beautiful that I decided it was an indulgence I could afford. The preparation of the calendar I hoped to have ready for my cafepress shop by today turned out to be more involved than I anticipated. Lots of thinking through of how I want to present the images, what text to add, composing the cover. I'm just now ready to start the scanning and tweaking. Maybe before weekend's end, if I don't fall prey to indulgences again! Stay tuned...

An Invitation to Shop

I've been spending some time adding a few new products to my cafepress.com shop. I absolutely hate marketing, but if I don't tell, how is anyone to know? As much as I hate to admit it, Christmas is not that far off, so thoughts are turning to gift shopping. Perhaps something from my shop featuring my logo and my quilts would be just the thing for a friend, relative or even yourself!

My newest product is this cute teddy bear, sporting a shirt with my "Quilting...An Alternative Lifestyle" motto. Never too early to influence the next generation of quilters, I say. Or perhaps you just need a mascot for the studio?

I've also added a journal featuring my journal quilt "Strength." It comes blank, dot gridded, lined or as a task journal.

I'm working to put together a calendar as well, one featuring 12 of my birch-themed quilts. I've discovered I need to rescan some of the journal quilts I want to use to improve image quality, but hope to have it up in my shop by the end of the week.

In addition to these new items, you'll continue to find a variety of t-shirts, totebags, cards and mugs. So far I have been very pleased with the quality of the merchandise cafepress.com puts out. The clarity of every small detail of my "Wisdom" journal quilt as printed on the greeting cards astounded me. I've no doubt the life-size framed print of it is equally clear and crisp.

That's it - that's my plug for now. Enjoy browsing my shop, Idaho Beauty's Textile Art. If you like what you see, please tell a friend!

Open For Business

I've spent the better part of the last few days setting up and adding product to my cafepress shop, Idaho Beauty's Textile Arts at http://www.cafepress.com/IdahoBeauty. For years I've used the slogan: "Quilting...an alternative lifestyle" on my business cards and letterhead. I even transfer-printed it on a sweatshirt for myself. I always thought it would be cool to offer it to others in the form of magnets, mugs, sweatshirts etc., and with cafepress, I can.

I've also printed notecards and postcards at home for my own use for almost as long as I've had inkjet printers, using images of my quilts on the fronts. Some of my favorites are quilts I would never sell, even though people have inquired about purchasing them. Once again, cafepress to the rescue. I had one of those lightbulb moments that through cafepress, I could offer these quilts for sale, but in the form of notecards and even framed prints. I've heard good things about the quality of cafepress merchandise, so I'm hoping for good things here.

Right now I have notecards and greeting cards available with my "wisdom" journal quilt on them, and postcards with June! June! Strawberry Moon. You'll have to slog through the slogan merchandise to get to them (but then again, maybe you want a slogan t-shirt ;-}). Go take a look and see what you think. There's an option to sign up for a newsletter which I'll use to notify of new items in the store.

If you've had dealings with cafepress, either as a customer or shop owner, I'd love to hear about your experiences.