Launch day for note cards

The world will never be the same. My note cards are now available on Etsy. You can now purchase my handmade note cards in a package of 5. I released a total of 6 cards to start and you can choose any combination of 5 that you wish. Keeping with my tree theme, they all have trees in the design.

Each card was drawn specially for a note card design. I draw them using micron ink pens and all color is done watercolor markers. Something I have just begun using and I love them. I use a lot of acrylic in my original paintings and even on my bookmarks. For my note cards I was looking for a softer look and not so much color.

My packets of cards come in an acrylic clear box with matching white envelopes. They measure 51/5 by 41/4 inches. Blank inside for a lot of space for writing. I use a 110 lb. card-stock and printed here in my studio. I hand cut and fold them, the corners are rounded to add some interest and extra detail.

The next obvious move is to add more design to my note card collection. I think it works out to do a collection of 6 at a time. I believe I will continue the count of cards so that anyone can mix and match the cards from any of the collections.

I hope you check out my cards and drop me a line about what you think. After I get enough of a selection I will jump into greeting cards.

Thank you for reading about my new items and talk to you next week.

A New Studio Space?

Is it possible that I am moving into a new space? Yes, yes it is possible. I am currently working out of my own bedroom area. Yes it is tight space, yes it is cramped but I am making it work and for now I don’t mind. Since I am just getting started with my shop I don’t realize how much space I actually need until I grow. I currently rent a from a friend. There was three of us living here and one roommate has left the nest. So I am taking over her two spaces. Both of them are bedrooms, I will take one over and keep it as a bedroom and the other is perfect for a studio space. It’s a 10 x 10 room with a jack n jill bathroom attached to the other bedroom, which I will use. It is currently carpeted, so I will assist in replacing it for a laminate flooring. Both rooms will be getting a make over. New paint, flooring and lighting. This will allow me to reorganize and have a space to properly create.

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So that’s the room. Your basic 10 x 10 with a closet, nice window and the pocket door to the shower/toilet. It is on the second floor and the window is set up higher then desk level so I won’t be able to look outside and be distracted by birds and neighbors any longer, unfortunately. I am looking at a 3-4 week time frame, so sometime in July. I will be signing a year lease. This gives me time to save for my own place.

Well, this is the update I have for you this week. I am still working on my note cards for my shop. I have decided to start with a 5 pack of note cards. Giving a choice to pick from so each customer can choose their own package to create. Next will be the greeting cards, specific to holidays and special times. Also I am working on my handmade journals, wall hangings which are coming soon to an Etsy Shop near you!

Until next time tree huggers, take care.

Growing The Healing Tree Studio

Growing The Healing Tree Studio, pun intended. So, here I am, just opened for just a couple of months now and I am very happy how things are going. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, “You don’t have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great” -William James. I think about this all of the time.

Since the title is Growing The Healing Tree Studio, I guess I should talk about that. In my previous post I talked about why I opened up my Etsy shop. So, my intentions moving forward are to start with my bookmarks then adding note cards and greeting cards, handmade journals, and hanging artwork. I have made greeting cards in the past, but they were individual cards, hand drawn, specific for one person. The cards for this studio will be hand drawn, painted or colored and mass produced, printed by myself actually. I do want to keep it “handmade” without using a professional printing service for now. If you have ever made your own cards, you know it can be a lot of work, at least to make them for consumers. Making one or two is no big deal, but to set up to make hundreds is some work!. But I won’t bore you with the details here.

Samples of note cards with kraft brown envelopes. I am still working on these, as far as printing and making sure they are perfect for printing without any flaws.

I will be creating multiple themes, such as, Birthday, Thank you, Thinking of you, and many more. I also will be offer sets of 5 and 10, with the option to choose which theme. So, a customer can choose the packet of 5 and adding one, Birthday, two Thank you, and one Merry Christmas and one Thinking of you. The same with the packet of 10. This seems to be the most cost effective way for my customers.

As I mentioned before about adding journals and artwork, I am in the research/design process of creating handmade journals. I will be using cotton canvas for the covers and adding unlined paper. The covers will be artwork themselves, some of them having the look of leather, very much like the grain, and of course TREES!, and very similar to my bookmarks, as far as the technique and leaving the fringe on the edges goes. The binding of the pages, now that’s a whole other process.

And that my friends are my intentions for The Healing Tree Studio. Hope to see you around and of course check out my shop, if you haven’t already. The Healing Tree Studio

Why did I start an Etsy Shop?

Good question. I am glad you asked. I started my Etsy shop in February of 2020 with a launch date of April 2nd. As I was creating my shop, I realized I had started to do this in October of 2018 but never followed through. Until this year I had a stigma against Etsy. I honestly never gave it a chance. I thought it was for mom’s and grandma’s that made Popsicle sticks with google eyes. Basically crafty stuff that was not for me.

Here’s a little back story of why I didn’t think I was a good fit for Etsy. First, I still don’t know what category my artwork falls into. But here’s an example of what I do, although I have many types, this is typical.

Acrylic and Ink. Starting with an abstract background, sometimes opposites, sometimes complimentary colors. Then I draw a tree or trees, depending on what’s going on with the finished background. I use a mixed size of ink pens, in black and colors. So, as you can see, it is difficult to put into a category. I suppose it would fit into one or many. I just have figured it out yet. Honestly I didn’t think “real” artists put their art on Etsy. I thought it was a cop out. So I hung my art in galleries. Nothing large or well known, just the small ones I could afford around Vegas. My first time hanging was in 2008. I hung a single piece at an art exhibit with The Gay and Lesbian Center. The show was called ARTrageous. Then my first wall rental was in 2013 at the Arts Factory here in Las Vegas. It is a yoga studio by day with wall space available to rent. I left my art up for an entire month.

Anyway, over the years I have hung my art at various places, I attempted to do an online store that focused on tree themed merchandise. I even tried my hand at a brick and mortar gallery/studio.

I ran across a YouTube video about why this person was leaving Etsy, I watched it and thought I bet there is another perspective about Etsy. So I found it and it was inspiring and very honest about the current changes on Etsy. I had no idea how this was really effecting the shops since I wasn’t officially on there as an open store. After watching and having a different view point I started search)found a lot of them. Now I just needed to figure out what I want to put into my shop. I did not want to deal with shipping artwork. It’s a nightmare. I wanted something different but still within my scope of what I do. It’s like opening a shop in a mall, (although not a good example nowadays) there’s built in traffic, advertising can be a minimal cost, I have freedom to create the store front, it’s easy to share to social media, plenty of support. The best thing is I can still create an online website. It is a great starting point for my work.

Along with some inspiration from artwork I have seen in galleries and my determination, I created what I now call bookmark art. I decided to go with Etsy as opposed to doing an independent online store because now I believe it is a perfect fit!. I got over my ego, I have changed my artwork and shipping is a breeze.

However this may work out, I am excited and looking forward to what may transpire. And that is why I am on Etsy You can check it out here Thehealingtreestudio

What is bookmark art?

Bookmark Art is a name I came up with after creating handmade bookmarks because I was looking for something I could create and sell without the hassle of mailing large pieces of artwork. I had a massive fear of shipping artwork. I had been experimenting with canvas in the raw for the past year. I was at an art exhibit in 2019 and come across a beautiful assemblage piece that appeared to have leather or raw canvas, whichever it was I came out of that gallery very inspired.

Starting off with raw canvas, which is an unprimed artist canvas, I tear it into strips of 11 x 2 inches. I pin the strips to a board to keep them stretched and not warp during the prime and paint process. The primer keeps the paint from absorbing into the canvas and preserves the colors for years. The painting of the strips are done individually, at times keeping a color theme, others, whatever colors I think might work. After drying time of about 24 hours they are ready for grommets and tassels. My choice of beads is growing and changing. I was using block letters but thought they looked too bulky. Now I use a mixture of wood and glass beads that work with the colors of the bookmark. The finished bookmark to the left is wooden beads strung with cord. I stamped the back with my logo and then take a series of photos. The background I use for photos is also hand-painted, the hand is real.

And that is my process on how I make my bookmark art. It can be a challenge at times, trying to create little paintings but I am very happy with the results. You can find my bookmark art in my Etsy shop The Healing Tree Studio