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Target recently contacted me (via a contact made at SURTEX) to send them "my book" to share with their creative team. My 3-ring binder of samples or my black leather portfolio was not going to be good enough for them, no, no. I needed something that said "Hey, look at me!", showed off my style from the front to the back and incorporated my love for found objects, lettering & color, so I created an entire customize album (that I can use later) where the contents can be easily edited and expand to any size.

I mailed it off a few weeks ago and got it back today in the same condition I sent it. I had a professor in college who had made this really cool portfolio that turned into a house (as part of her application for a architectural graduate program) and when it came back to her, she said the person looking through it must have been eating a snickers bar. There was caramel & nugget stuck to most of the pages. So thank you Target creative team for taking such good care of it.

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Today I am celebrating the new release of Birthday Wishes.... the latest Chicken Girl Design photopolymer stamp sets! This is one of my favorites- you can find it at I {heart} Papers for only $10!

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My Chicken Girl Design photopolymer stamp sets are featured over at Paper Crave today! The blog features wonderful delicious paper products and related accessories for everyone to drool over. Thank you for the mention and kind words, Paper Crave!

Speaking of my stamps, there are sneak peeks right now of another set that will be coming out called Birthday Wishes, one of my favorites out of all the sets. It will be coming out on November 16th exclusively at I {heart} Papers, of course!

Check out what the Chicken Girl Design Team is up to:
Lori
Meredith
Natasha
Shelly
Kate
Shannon
Judy
Tammy
Kendra
Loretta

In other news, I just spent my birthday weekend in Canada, (I'm actually still there right now!) but I'm heading home today. It was a lovely getaway but once I get back to my routine, I promise to have more fun posts here. Cluck cluck!

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I haven't posted to Illustration Friday for a while, but since this week's topic is "pattern" I couldn't resist. I love making repeat patterns and they are quite addictive. If you don't know how, Tara Reed has a great e-book for it and you'll be making patterns in no time!

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Halloween is just around the corner and I'm celebrating another 2 set releases from the Chicken Girl Design stamp line over at I {heart} Papers!

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I am determined to have an art filled weekend! I have a promo to do for the Illustration For Kids mailer, greeting card ideas to finalize, some product ideas to compile and send to a manufacturer, plus start junkin' my pumpkin for my annual contest & exhibit (you can follow Pumpkin Junkin' on twitter or facebook for updates)!

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I know I've been absent for a while...with the move happening in two weeks, its a little crazy here!

But some great news! I'm happy to announce that I'm having my very own stamp line! Exclusively through i {heart} papers, the first two sets will be released August 9th. I'll be revealing them then!

If you want a sneak peek, here are the talented stampers that make up the Chickengirl Design stamps design team (!!!), who will be posting their creations with my stamps this week:

Lori
Meredith
Natasha
Shelly
Kate

Shannon
Judy
Tammy
Kendra
Loretta

Thank you, ladies! Its been very fun to see how the stamps are being used. This is definitely something new and different for me, venturing into the world of stamping. I'll reveal more on August 9th. Be sure to come back and see the first two sets being released!

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My new business cards looking like a game of Memory.

First time printing with overnightprints.com and I'm very happy with them. Good quality paper and the shipping was fast. Never had anything done with rounded corners before- my type is a little bit close to the edge and its driving me crazy- although I'm sure I'm the only one thinking about it.

This week is all about printing my portfolio and sucking up all the inks in my printer. Surtex is this Sunday...am I ready?!?

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Surtex is officially one month away and I still have a ways to go, but I;m feeling really good about my progress so far. I figured out my booth layout and what all I will show (the biggest stressor for me). I used my skills from my environmental design class in college to work up a to scale elevation of the booth:


The green areas are what I already have printed out, the pink areas are what I still need to print out, the blue areas are signage and the orange areas are things I need to mock-up (I'm still working on my last panel though). I spent Tuesday and Thursday this week printing. I am using someone's large format printer by paying them per square foot. I like this better than sending it out somewhere and hoping it looks good when it's all done. This way I can check progress as I go. Luckily I haven't had any issues. I've cut everything out and will later mount it all on boards:





This week I also worked on some postcards for Surtex. I decided not to use the USPS postcards like i normally do because I'll be writing small notes on some of the mailers and I couldn't do that with the others. One is a mailer I plan to get out next week (we went through names yesterday and have about 220 people to send to), a bio postcard to hand out as giveaways and I had extras printed to include in any samples we mail, and thank you postcards (for Surtex and later). For the design I went with a design I originally went with
last year:



I still have to print my other giveaway goodies, so hopefully I'll get to all that next week. Other things on the to-do list:

• Get everything printed and assembled for my press kit (everything is written, just need to print it all out)


• Mock up several physical products to show


• Mock up products to put in design book - I think I'll get my designer to work on those next week


• Start packing my suitcase of of things I'll need for the booth (scissors, stapler, tape, etc.) - just filling it up as I go so I won't have to get it all together at once


• Chart out our road trip via Garmin


• Download audiobooks for the trip


• Shop for clothes and comfortable shoes

Now I'm off to spend the day preparing for the Woog's 5th birthday party tomorrow!!

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The above is a thank you postcard I designed last week to send to clients after I work with them (this is for my licensing clients - I have a different one I use for my children's illustration clients). I am getting them printed through Overnight prints since they did an awesome job with my business cards. I hope to get them early next week and I'll show the final product then (along with my Surtex postcards!).

Exactly one month from today I'll be on my way to NY for Surtex. Things are coming along great and I have yet to freak out (but there's still time). I finally figured out what I will show in my booth and how it will all look. That was the biggest stressor and now I feel like a load has been lifted off. I'll be posting tomorrow or Friday on part 5 of my Surtex Planning.

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There were some changes going on over at the Surtex show in which all the booth numbers had been re-assigned. Now we are in booth #552. Luckily, I haven't had any printed materials made yet. The group I am with is Vivid graphics and there are 5 of us. We'll be meeting soon to discuss the displays in our booth. Exciting!

I've been feeling very overwhelmed lately. So much so that I feel like I haven't been very productive with my time and energy. I haven't spent much time working on my licensing portfolio but instead feeling paralyzed and guilty. Last night, I finally stayed up to work on a few pieces:
I've been doing some research on licensing, and there are great resources out there such as the art of licensing yahoo group, Tara Reed's ebook on doing trade shows, and my fellow illustration for kids member Holli Conger documenting her Surtex show planning on her blog.

So far, I've had mixed feelings on licensing...such as doing art work on spec, artwork being kept in a private gallery, etc. which is very different from doing illustration. I am learning alot so far, and we'll see where this journey takes me.

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One thing I really love about licensing is you can draw one thing way back when, and use it for something, use it for something else, and then take it use it for something else. The first image is a tag I put on the back of the baby gifts I make, I then later took it and put it in my doodle+daddies™ collection and then reworked it for a shower invite.

I've been doing more Surtex planning and feel a little more confident and in control of it now. I'm deciding if I want to spend any extra money on on-site marketing now. I'll be blogging and update on the planning process in a few days. Oh, and I'm on twitter now. One of the things I'm going to do during Surtex it twitter during it to give everyone first hand accounts on the show. If you're on twitter, follow me!

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I've spent the last month doing some Surtex planning and getting a to-do list together. I've been scouring the web seeing what other artists have done with their trade show booth. I've found some great references here (includes great tips too!), here, here, here, here,here, here and here. I have a 10x10 corner booth that will be on the top floor. I tried to search for the person who had my booth last year but the layout seems to be different so I couldn't find them. I did find that Carol Eldridge had a corner booth once and this is what she did.

My main focus for Surtex is presentation. What am I going to show and how am I going to display it all. I'm still thinking about all this. I know I don't want to spend a lot of money because I don't think I would use any or much of it again. I know I want some kind of dimension to it rather than just flat panels and am considering mocking up some products to display. We will be driving rather than flying to ensure that my display get's there in one piece. It will be a long drive from Nashville to Manhattan but being my first show, I don't want the added stress of worrying about having my display getting lost in the mail or the airport, plus I'd like the opportunity to bring some back up things like a printer, etc. in case I need to print something I forgot.

So...on my immediate to-do list:

1) Get business cars designed - My info on one side, my licensing manager on the flip side. I received some print samples from overnight prints and I really like the satin finish on them. Now, to decide if I should get the straight cut or rounded corners....

2) Start printing out my pages for my portfolio (which I will have set up for buyers to flip through at my booth) print out 5-10 pages a week. I kind of have everything in layers on one photoshop file so I need to get them all separated first - UGH!

3) Get my listing set up on the Surtex site which I have done. See it here

4) Start designing a mailer to send out, inviting people to my booth. We have about 325 companies on our list and we are in the process of getting contact info from their buyers.

5) Create 5 new designs a week

6) Keep researching artists that have been at past shows to see what did well for them or how they designed their booth

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I was lucky to have just finished this piece yesterday, seeing that it is perfect for Illustration Friday. It's part of a series of Jungle Friends that I've posted about before here. I'm excited to be getting back to business after a great week with visiting relatives. I taught Art Vista to the 6th grade today. Later I'll help break down the kids' art show, and supervise my kids' homework, so I guess it's really tomorrow that I get back to business.

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Check out children's illustrator Don Tate's new Angel Divas scrapbooking set. It is adorable. Tell your scrapbooking fanatic friends about it.
( I love angel themes, and this one is fun, fresh, upbeat and inspired)
If I was a scrapbooker, I'd snatch these up, but I've got to control myself as far as what new areas I venture into creativity wise..there's only so much space and time in my crammed life)

Congratulations Don on your new line and this adventure of licensing.

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October was my brother's favorite month, which makes my life especially stressful right now. I think the most upsetting thing is that I recently read his journal, and last October he wondered what this October would bring. I think about him so much, and not being able to talk with him is not getting any easier. So I've decided that, to distract myself, I need to work ... a lot. I'm not sure if distraction is good or bad, but it creates art that I can license, so there is a pro. I've been able to on average create one image per day this past week, so that's quite a bit of work nowadays.

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The above is my full color logo that reflects they type of work I've been getting ready for my licensing portfolio. It's nice to do something a little different from drawing kids :)

I have totally engulfed myself in the licensing world and what I've been finding out is that there are a gazillion companies out there that license work and there is this air of secrecy that surrounds the entire industry from both artist and companies. It's really hard to explain but it's become very evident to me. I understand that some artist have to keep their licensing partners confidential due to specific contract agreements but when you can't see any of a companies or artist's work unless you are a manufacturer, that seems a little weird to me. I totally get why they do it that way, but I'm wondering if people are hurting their business by being so hush-hush (visually and informationally). I'm in no way telling people how to run their business (I still have secrets under my belt) and maybe they've been burned in the past? I think I feel this way because I've always had an "open" portfolio and freely talk about my experiences in the illustration field. It has gotten me thinking if I should be secretive with my work and information. I don't know the answer yet... Anyone else get this vibe about the licensing industry?

I had a great, awesome, long-overdue, meet-up with an old professor of mine from college. She was my absolute favorite and I had lost touch with her after graduation. Over the last 8 years I've been periodically googling her seeing what she was up to and couldn't find anything. When I started thinking seriously about licensing, I thought about how great it would be to pick her brain since I remembered she had dealt with licensing and product development for a company. Well, low and behold, while doing my research on licensing, I happened to find her on the staff page of a licensing agency. Serendipity? Serendipitous in deed! So I was able to pick her brain last week and my brain hasn't stopped firing since.

I've also been reading a lot of blogs from licensing artists and since Christy (love her!) tagged me, I'll share some of my recent licensing favorites:

Tara Reed's Art Licensing Information Blog
Heather Bailey's HELLOmynameisHeather
Paula Prass' Show + Tell
Amy Schimler's Red Fish Circle

And here's a fun piece I did this weekend. It's been on my to-do list for a while. Now I'm working on some things to compliment it:

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Here's a snipet from what I was working on yesterday. I'm please with how the entire piece turned out. I see myself going more and more in this direction for licensing and children's work. There's something so relaxing about making 3-D art :) Now, off to the two, 2-D projects due today... Read the rest of this post

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I love when you just stick stuff on a scanner, do a little in photoshop and it becomes something cool. This is from today's Woogie Wednesday. These will appear in an assignment I'm working on and also future pattern designs for licensing. A few weeks back I designed some stamps specifically for my junk a doodles work so this is really the first time I've had a chance to use them.

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I worked on a new mailer for licensing. Not 100% sure I like it yet though. I want to go ahead and get some promos out there and then figure out what my next step is for promotion. I don't think postcards are the entire way to go for this type of work so I'm coming up with some other ideas. I've found a lot of companies who have take email submissions so I've emailed them my tearsheets. It's been fun watching my stats as these companies come to visit my site.

I've also loved having the opportunity to just play. I've been experimenting with textures and more collage in my work. I've been able to break more rules and get out of the ridgidness (is that a word?) I've put myself into with children's illustration. I'm loving it!

I have big plans and expectations for my licensing work and I've been tackling it like I did when I first started out to become an illustrator. It's been so fun and I've already learned so much!! I've even decided to take on a marketing assitant who will do a great job for my business and I think be a great agent/rep one day. She has a sales background and is used to the phone call, meet and greet scene (something I'm not into and don't like very much) plus, I'll have someone to travel with for trade shows and such. Plus part of her responsibilities is window shopping so that's right down her alley! I'll be sharing what all she's doing for me throughout the process.

Thanks to everyone for the "good luck" and "advice" emails. I really want to thank Vela at Little Star Soup for being so generous with information. Isn't her work the cutest?

By the way, my desk still looks like it does from the last post. Maybe I'll have time to clean it today.... Read the rest of this post

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See. It did help showing my logo to the world. I took action! I'm getting everything together for my licensing push. I have a meeting with an attorney tomorrow about it all and then I'll start making some contacts and getting my work out there. The site is coming but I need to figure out a few things before it goes live. I have a pretty big client wish list so here's hoping they like my work!

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One year on from the introduction of the UK government’s 24 hour licensing laws, the official report finds a “mixed picture” of their impact. I asked Martin and Moira Plant, of the Alcohol and Health Research Unit at the University of West of England, for their reaction to the report as they wrote our book Binge Britain: Alcohol and the National Response. This is their short, hard-hitting reply. What do you make of liberalizing alcohol laws? Let us know in the comments below.

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Stylized 3D illustration regarding automation of data about criminals using a computer database.

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You can't just walk up to Bourbon & Branch, knock on the (unmarked) door and expect to get in. Bourbon & Branch is a modern day speakeasy, and, just as the bartenders exert extra effort in ensuring that the cocktails the bar serves are perfect, so too patrons are expected to exert a little effort to get inside. Effort that includes reservations and passwords.

Now some may consider this policy elitist and snobby, and frankly it is. However, I don't care, as when it comes to cocktails, I'm elitist and snobby, too. When I have a beautifully crafted cocktail before me, I want to be able to enjoy it leisurely, at a table, with convivial friends, whose scintillating conversation I can actually hear, and without drunken yabbos dribbling two dollar Pabst Blue Ribbon and cigarette ash upon me, while techno music drills out my eardrums, and there's no place to even stand, much less sit.

And any bar that ensures no drunken yabbos, no techno music, and no Pabst Blue Ribbon has my undying gratitude and support. Even if I do have to jump through hoops to get in. The hoops that Bourbon & Branch asks its customers to plie through aren't that onerous really, nor are they insurmountable. And they are well worth the spring.

Once you've found the location (no address, but clear directions), rung the buzzer, whispered the password, and been ushered inside, you find a beautifully decorated 1920s style space, with dark red wallpaper, chummy little booths, a gorgeous bar, and very polite servers. Not a trace of snobbiness did I detect. Indeed, the server was gracious and charming.

Bourbon & Branch's drink menu is large and almost overwhelming, but our choices were lubricated by tiny glasses of a liquid amuse-bouche--some sort of delicious fruit beer. The bar's juices and infusions are all made from scratch--no crappy pre-mixes here--and the ice comes from a special super expensive ice machine that guarantees purity and the proper shape.

I had a Blackberry Bramble, Madama Sister-in-Law had a French 75, and Sieur Hermano had the house special which had whiskey in it, and I'm not sure what else. Alas, poor Devilman, who was driving, had to stick to Diet Coke, but it's a testament to Bourbon & Branch's dedication to quality liquids that said beverage arrived bottled--bar soda out of a wand is notoriously bad. The drinks were all delicious--perfectly mixed, carefully poured, and nicely presented. I usually like to sit at the bar to watch the bartenders in action, but due to there being four of us, we were at a table, so I missed that part of the show. I did notice that the bartenders were using Boston shakers, which they should be doing but not everyone does.

Some reviews of Bourbon & Branch have complained about drink prices and elitist attitude. All I can say is that I am willing to pay the price for a well made cocktail--good liquor isn't cheap and neither is a skilled bartender. And mixing a cocktail does require skill--any one can snap the top off a beer bottle, but there's an art to a good pour. There's no smoking section--hooray--and the neighbourhood is sketchy (don't go alone). But the cumulative experience is well worth it.

If you are over 21, of course. Those of you who are under 21--your day will come, I promise!

Ut!

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