I had a quick afternoon in the Capital yesterday, to check out a show that I have never taken part of before but that I am strongly considering: Showcase Ireland.
Showcase is a trade-only event for retailers, presenting a super vast selection of Irish crafts, designs, jewellery etc… It is not a show to sell individual items, but to take wholesale orders from different shops around the country. Since getting into the wholesale business is one of my major goals at the moment, I think it would be a good one to do next! Obviously this would not be for my original art pieces, but rather for my prints, cards, coasters, and MAYBE for my jewellery as well.
I really enjoyed walking the aisles and having a good look at how things were hanging, the displays, the props etc, (my background, after all, is in Visual Merchandising) so I just love to look at these things, (and to collect ideas on my Pinterest boards!) I think I’m not too bad at putting a stand together myself…! Here are a couple of my favorites that I have done:
It was a quick enough visit, I only had a couple of hours between my two trains, (I live 3h+ from Dublin) but I’m very happy I went. My head is buzzing with possibilities, and I LOVE when that happens.
We are well into the first month of 2015, I hope it is treating you well so far…!
I just realised I have not posted anything on this beautiful new website/blog since October, and it’s time to change that… In one of my last posts I shared with you some goals I had before the end of the year, I haven’t accomplished them all but the ones I did were met with success!
I always find it hard to get going in January. I feel that it takes a while to shake the Holiday feeling, and I just cannot face doing any work while the Christmas decorations are still up. I finally picked up my brushes last week (which I shared on Facebook…!) and I have also been doing a lot of planning and thinking. (read here: spent a lot of time on Pinterest.)
So! My first thing to do at the moment is give Valentine’s Day a little attention…
There is a lot of lovely little goodies in my online shop which would make a nice little present for a girlfriend, a mother or a sister…! And to say thank you for having read this post so far, here is a little coupon code for you for 15% off any print, card or jewellery item. Just enter VALENTINESDAY2015 (no spaces) when you get to the checkout 🙂
It’s only this year that I have discovered the wonderful blog of Lisa Jacob, Market Your Creativity. I took an online class over the summer with Lisa and she was full of fabulous insights. In a recent post she encourages people to write a list of 15 goals to accomplish before the end of the year… I have decided to give it a go since I haven’t done much goal setting this year…! So here we go, these are a mixture of personal and professional goals, in no particular order:
1.Do a complete Fall cleaning in the house. With my last exhibition and then getting this website ready, house cleaning (which was never my forte I must admit) was put a little on the back burner… Say no more.
2.Find retailers to wholesale my line of prints and greeting cards. It’s something I had in mind for a while! I even have a webpage for it…
3.Write a list of Goals for 2015. I’m usually good at it but I don’t think I did it last year… 2013 and 2014 have been a little quiet since I became a mum and I want to be more prepared and focus for the coming year.
4.Put some systems in place to be better organised for 2015. From accountancy to supplies order, I have a constant feeling of being all over the place…
5.Take part in the annual Wine & Art event in the Malton, Killarney. Always a lovely night out and with the proceeds going to a local charity.
6.Take part in the Christmas Craft Fair in the Killarney Outlet Centre. My prints and jewellery did quite well at this fair over the years, and I like to pick a few presents there while I’m at it!
7.Do a MAJOR clean up in the studio. Seriously. I can’t see the table anymore.
8.Launch my new series of inspirational prints. Judging by the reactions I’ve had on Facebook, they should be quite popular! I will organise a pre-order very soon.
9.Create a Gift Guide for Christmas. Something I would send to my subscribers, with suggestions for your spouse, your work colleague, your best friend etc…!
10.Do up a Marketing Calendar. (Thanks again to Lisa Jacob for this one!) Something that will include the different holidays, when to send newsletters accordingly etc…
11.Start going to the pool with my son. We’ve had a nice summer so plenty of playing outside but with the winter setting in it would be a great activity for me and him, and he loooooves water.
12.Get to 2000 fans on Facebook. I’m getting really close and with your help I will get there!
13.Have a successful holiday season. With a combination of gallery sales, craft fair sales and online sales…
14.Make Christmas truly magical for my little boy. He was still a baby last year but he’s a little curious toddler now and I can’t wait to see him discover all the magic of Christmas!
15.Host a fab dinner party to ring in the New Year. We are receiving the whole family on my partner’s side for dinner on New Year’s eve, it’s the first time that we are hosting this traditional event, which usually involves everybody staying over, lounging, watching movies and have a few drinks. A little daunting (7 adults and 7 kids) but I’m looking forward to it!
Do you fancy taking up the challenge too…? Please feel free to let me know!
Best wishes for the new year…! Let me share my goals for 2013 with you…
In 2013 I want to..:
-find an art licensing agent -get a first licensing contract -have a better website to show my licensing collection -have one solo exhibition -appear in 2 publications -find more retailers for my signed limited edition prints -outsource the framing of my prints -publish and distribute a better range of greeting cards -set up a new and more efficient studio -improve my production of jewellery -get a studio intern for a little help (that’s a maybe!) -experiment with new jewellery models -paint 25 paintings -reach 2000 fans on Facebook -to keep better track of my accounts -give birth to a healthy baby -learn how to juggle artist life and motherhood
This list is not as long as some previous ones, and I have kept the goals somewhat realistic with my expected arrival in April… Some of these goals also figured in my list of last year and I have yet to accomplish them..!
I think we should all have a list and refer to it a few times during the year to keep on track, personal goals, career goals etc… An other task I will have to do is to break down some of these goals into a task list to help me achieve them… I’m not out of the woods yet..!
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