Blush cards!

Above: One of my letterpress card designs launched by Blush Publishing at the Spring Fair in the UK this past weekend, woohoo! The cards come with a deep red envelope that matches the ink in my card signature, and there are currently four designs (more coming).

Blush Publishing consists of Mark Moran and Alison Hopkins, a couple who live in a small North Wales village with their young daughter. They feed each card by hand into their Victoria printing press where the inked image and handset type are pressed into 100% mould made cotton paper. I can't wait to get my samples!

I'll let you know when the cards are available in stores and online. Unfortunately Blush doesn't yet have a North American distributor (if you're interested, please do let them know), but I've written to the Etsy people and they say it's ok for me to sell them in my Etsy store. The cards will be available in the UK, however.

I'm going to compile a list of stores carrying my cards and will post them periodically in Blatherings.



Yes, I know my Etsy shop is still empty. I'll be adding original paintings eventually; please sign up for my Etsy mailing list to be kept up-to-date on when I add new items. In addition to the occasional original painting, I'm also going to be selling prints, cards and buttons with my artwork, as well as some more pottery (created by Luisa, painted by yours truly). However, I'll only be doing this periodically...more like once a week or every two weeks rather than every day.

I've been feeling stretched a bit too thin lately and am in the midst of taking a hard look at how I spend my time. I've opted out of blogTO; as much as I enjoy writing for the site, it just doesn't pay enough to justify the time I spend on the articles. I should be spending that time on my own fiction writing projects instead, and posting interviews/reviews on my own blogs where I'd be earning more money through Google Adsense. I'll still be submitting the occasional article to blogTO, but for the pure fun of it than for pay. They're a great bunch of people, and I love the site.

I'm also going to drastically cut down on the number of low-paying or non-paying illustration projects. I enjoy drawing, and so it's hard to say no when someone asks me to do a cartoon or drawing for free or almost free if the project sounds fun. But these have been gradually accumulating and my writing has suffered, and I'm realizing that I have to better about Just Saying No.

So if you're planning to ask me to draw something for free, please don't be offended if I have to politely decline. :-)

I'm also in the midst of testing out various greeting card services. I do so many cartoons and Blather-illos for fun; I figure it's about time I try to make a bit of money from them. I've tested out Zazzle; the card quality is great, but it's bit pricier than I'd like. I'm currently testing out the cards from Greeting Card Universe and Cafepress. If you know of any other greeting card service I should try out, please let me know! I'll be posting an overall report. Eventually, I'd like to settle on one place where I can set up a card shop. Ideally, it would be a print card shop where I just have to submit my illustrations and not have to worry about the packaging and mailing. I know that means less profit, but the saved time/hassle is of greater value to me...I could spend it writing.

Thank you to those who posted in response to my Secret Club advice survey. Some of your responses made me cry (in a good way).

Anyway, I'll be posting a follow-up in Blatherings. I also haven't forgotten about the music video survey follow-up!

Have a great weekend, everyone. Tom Jeffers and Sue Posteraro are coming over for dinner and music tonight, and I'm so looking forward to a mellow evening with friends. :-)




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