Today is my birthday ~ and Captain Hubby’s as well!  This is the 20th birthday that we have celebrated jointly ~ whew!  Every year we try to recall what we did on each and every birthday in the past and there are always a handful missing…

This year I am taking the day off to get my hair done, hit the library (keeping up with my non-resolution, thank you very much!), meet my mother for some lunch & shopping, then Captain Hubby & I are going to try a new-ish place for dinner.  And try to recall what we did on January the 27th for the last 19 years…

But I can’t have all the fun ~ I thought I’d celebrate by giving away something special.  Remember this scrapbook collection of mine?

I’m giving away a whole set of the Tapestry by C.R. Gibson GeoBreeze scrapbook products!  Just leave a comment below sharing the most vivid childhood birthday memory you can recall.  I’ll share mine when I post the winner on February 5th!

I am probably not telling most of you anything new here, but if you haven’t seen these art publications, I suggest you head over to Barnes & Noble and pick one up ~ or better yet ~ pick up all of them.  Then run home as fast as you can, make a pot of tea, grab a cozy throw and settle into a comfy corner and enjoy!  I savor each and every issue.

I myself have always found this sort of thing interesting.  I hope you do as well.  This was my first foray into ceramic, so the whole process was new to me.  Thankfully, it went smoothly, Westland was great to work with and they did a great job ~ in a very short time frame, I might add.  Here’s how the process went from my side.

It all started with Westland liking a design of mine and asking if I could provide them with sketches of a variety of products based on it.  I created a total of 38 sketches and from those they chose a few to request revisions, then chose 18 with which to move forward.  Here we’ll be following a candy dish.

We discussed color palettes and I provided swatches for two different ones ~ a brightly colored one and the more muted, vintage look you see on the finished collection.  Once the sketch was approved, I provided a color rendering with color call-outs for them to send to the factory to begin production.

They then made a clay mold of the design and sent it to me to approve.  I was floored at how close to my rendering it was.  The next step was to provide me with a “first-look” painted piece.  My main issues were that I felt the brown was way to dark and the green was too far off from the one we’d agreed upon and that there wasn’t enough contrast between the ground & the vines.

They agreed and went to revision.  The only real stumbling point we had in the whole process was that the factory was having a hard time matching the green.  They sent me a few variations and we agreed upon the green ground from one and the blue vines from another.

This is the final piece that was sent to me for approval via JPEG.  Overall, I think we were all very pleased.

This process was done for each and every piece in the collection (often in multiples rather than just one at a time as I have showed you here).  After all were approved, they shipped me one entire set to see in person and to approve ~ just a couple weeks before the Atlanta show ~ Whew!!!!

Thank goodness I didn’t have to spend much time outside ~ it was cold!  (Well, at least for a Florida girl like me)

It was a busy show meeting with clients, networking & visiting with fellow artist friends, researching new clients & making new contacts, trying to figure out where the heck I was half the time…

I realized that this was my 9th trip to the Mart (!) and even so, I have to reorient myself each time.  What made navigating this year more difficult was the grand opening of Building 2’s West Wing (so now there are 4 buildings instead of 3 to get lost in).  Much grumbling was heard about moved showrooms, getting lost, etc., but I predict by next year everyone will be seamlessly navigating the new building as part of the old.  The Gardens floors, now in the new wing, are particularly nice.

It was a kick to see my ceramic Home Tweet Home giftware collection on display in the Westland Giftware showroom.  There are frames, candle holders, candy dishes and salt & pepper shakers.  Westland did a great job with interpreting my designs and I couldn’t be more pleased.  Here are a few snaps:

Stay tuned in the near future I will post a from sketch-to-reality on one of these products.

Overall, when asked “How’s the show been?”, most replied brightly, “Better than expected! Traffic has been good as have orders.”  I felt much optimism from everyone and I look forward to this mood continuing and growing throughout 2009!  As for trends, since everyone is staying conservative and sticking with the tried & true in these times, nothing new was strongly emerging for the most part.

The new Licensing & Design section on the 3rd floor of Building 2 was rather sparsely exhibited (about 10 exhibitors), but of the ones I talked to, they said that it had been a good show for them as well.  The area itself looked rather temporary with pipe & drape booths rather than hard walls (like at Surtex) and large open spaces where more exhibitors should have been.  In my opinion, it would have looked better to at least have put up a couple false walls to close off those wide open spaces.  All in all, the new L&D show has potential to become a good show at which to exhibit.

I apologize for the lack of photos ~ for some reason, I seemed to forget I had a camera this year!  I wish I’d gotten a shot at dinner with my art buddy Gina Rivas and the next night with Lynnea Washburn, Martha Collins & her sassy sister Betsy (who is a botanist and somehow knows more about art licensing than all of us).  Or at lunch with Tara Reed as we shared stories from the licensing trenches.  Or visiting with Anna Maria Horner as she signed cute frames she just released with C.R. Gibson. Or catching up with my cat-loving show-friend, Tim Mikkelsen from MikWright (if you’ve never checked them out, you MUST!!).  Or checking out Susan from Leanin’ Tree’s shoes.  I told her I would dress entirely different if I could walk further than across the room in heels like those!  Anyway, I know I am likely forgetting somebody here, but I am not actually awake yet :-))

Here’s hoping for a creative, productive & profitable  2009!

When my grandmother was alive, she was my most challenging of all to buy for for Christmas and birthdays.  One year I went to the hair salon where she got her hair permed and bought a gift certificate.  And as I mentioned in a previous post, rarely can I just give a gift card without something to “dress it up”.

In this case, I took a snapshot I had of my Gram and pasted curling ribbon on to her head…I don’t think I’ve ever seen her laugh so hard.  This is packed in with my Christmas stuff and every year when I find it, it gives me a smile.

…that my new ceramic giftware collection “Home Tweet Home” will be debuting in Atlanta in the Westland Giftware showroom ( Building 2; 15th floor) later this week.    Well, of course, I just have to fly up and check it out.  I am very excited about this collection as I have seen the samples and they look fantastic ~ I will share pics after the show ~ I promise!

Now, the hope is that it sells well in this tough retail economy and that enough stores stay in business long enough to actually sell it!  It has been a scary time for those of us who rely on sales & royalties to pay our bills (not that it hasn’t been scary for everyone).

I am interested in how the Atlanta show will be.  I think it pays to be in the game even in ~ or maybe especially in ~ times like these and that in the end the expense might just be worth it.  In the past, I have had interesting opportunities arise from serendipitous meetings that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been there.  I have landed work from someone who saw my portfolio over somebody else’s shoulder.  I have been introduced to wonderful contacts that I’d not met had I not been in the right place at the right time.

I also love the opportunity to catch up and network with friends from all over the country that I only ever get to see at a show. Then there is the buzz to hear, and just the vibe of the show itself.  Seeing what is being offered, what is trending up, what is waning and reading just how cautious or optimistic manufacturers are actually being by seeing for yourself what is in their showrooms.

Here’s hoping for the best ~ no matter what this year!  Anybody else out there going?