Marketing Monday: Present Yourself to the Press

Last year, I had bookmarked an Etsy blog post Seller Tip: Present Yourself to the Press.
Since I'm also posting the Feature Me Friday posts, I thought it would be a great topic.

As a crafter and seller, you want to get your story out there - summer fairs, gallery exposure, wholesale orders, and don't forget the holidays (yes, time to start thinking about it now!).
Your story should include a few basic photographs, according to Vanessa and Danielle.

a nice head shot


slyraccoon

a photo of your studio or workspace


alexkeller

a photo of you in the creative process


rikrak

your items in context


eyepopart

your items against a plain background


ecokaren

You'll want to keep high resolution photos on file and you can always resize those later.
What else can you use these for?

• About Me or Contact Me page of your business website
• Your blog
• Facebook Fan page
• Your Flickr stream
• One of the images in your Etsy listings
• A blog, magazine, or newspaper interview
• Applications for a grant, artist in residency, gallery show or craft show
• If you're picked for Featured Seller on Etsy
• Etsy Open Studios Tour series on The Storque and its Flickr group
• For another example, check out ShareSomeCandy's Workspaces series
• Other Storque posts

goodgirlsstudio

Facebook

Just wanted to let you know that Etsy Trashion team member


Christine of Eye Pop Art



has been busy working on the Etsy Trashion Team fan page



We currently have over 600 fans!
What a great way to spread the work about trashion
and to promote your own work!
So if you haven't already, become a fan, spread the word,
and if you would like, put the badge on your blog!



Here's the code! Just copy and paste!

http://www.facebook.com/EtsyTrashionTeam" title="Etsy Trashion Team" target="_TOP" style="font-family: "lucida grande",tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: #3B5998; text-decoration: none;">Etsy Trashion Team
http://www.facebook.com/EtsyTrashionTeam" title="Etsy Trashion Team" target="_TOP">http://badge.facebook.com/badge/125955248202.2194.1088740034.png" width="" height="" style="border: 0px;" />
http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard/" title="Make your own badge!" target="_TOP" style="font-family: "lucida grande",tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: #3B5998; text-decoration: none;">Promote Your Page Too

EyePopArt's Series on DIY Art Education

Christine Claringbold of EyePopArt wrote a great article for the Storque:
Parents Teach Art: A DIY Approach to Elementary School Art Education
It discusses a very personal way to bring art back into the schools! She included simple steps for becoming more active in your school districts arts program.

Stay tuned she will also be taking a closer look at how the program works, including roles and responsibilities of the art committee, scheduling classes, teaching tips, and ideas for hosting an exhibit of student art!

Christine you are an inspiration of artistic sustainability! Thank you so much for sharing your know how with us...we can't wait to read more!

EyePopArt Upcycles Vinyl with Passionate Art

Etsy Trashion Materials Focus: Vinyl

Trashion team member Christine Claringbold of Eye Pop Art gives new life to Vinyl records with amazing talent! We asked her a few questions about reuseing vinyl and here is what she had to say:

What do you make from vinyl?

I create mandala art, home decor, and wearable accessories from upcycled vinyl records.

These include my Popsicle Clocks, Mandala Record Bowls, Feng Shui Mirrors, Roman Record Cuffs, and Eye Candy Cuffs.

What do you love about vinyl?

I love vinyl records because they are perfect circles with a perfectly defined center - perfect for creating mandalas!

I also love them for being flexible and easy to manipulate into other unexpected forms.

I love that they are so abundant - people give them to me all the time.

I love that they are retro-cool and easily recognizable, and they make people feel a bit nostalgic. People are always amazed to flip over one of my bowls and read the original record label.

I also love the fact that they represent a hugely important part of my life, which is MUSIC! I love to listen to records, I grew up on records as did my husband, and we still love to spin discs, as do our kids. But there are so many old, crappy, scratchy, unplayable records out there that people can't seem to get rid of, and these are the ones to which I love giving new life.


What’s the largest challenge in re-utilizing vinyl?
Well, it was a big challenge to me to figure out how to cut them so I could start making cuffs. Now that I have that figured out, it's a breeze! I do prime all of my records before painting them and I guess that is the biggest pain of the process - it's not challenging, but I don't enjoy it that much so I tend to procrastinate on doing it.

How long have you been working in this medium?
I started painting records in 1997. 11 years!

Where do you find inspiration?
I have always been inspired by the psychedelic '60s. I love the mad patterns, bold colors, stylized florals and paisleys and weird motifs that characterized that era (including the music!). I have a really huge collection of vintage psychedelic coffee cups and the designs on them have inspired me a lot. I also get inspired by working with children. I teach art to kids and just love the beautiful works of art they create.

Wow! Christine you have certainly taken vinyl to a place of extraordinary beauty. Thank you for sharing your talent and creativity with us!

Interested in discovering more about Christine Claringbold and her work check out her blog, and website. Want to have some of her passionate creations for your very own? Go to her Etsy shop!

Trashion team spotlight - Interview : EyePopArt

Shop name: Eye Pop Art

Shop address: http://www.eyepopart.etsy.com/

In a nutshell:

Mandalas art and accessories made from recycled vinyl records

Tell us a bit about yourself:
Christine Claringbold - mom, artist, art teacher, music lover

I have a husband and two kids, ages 13 and 11.

I have filled my house with psychedelic murals and I paint on just
about everything including furniture and my car.

I have been teaching art to elementary kids for the last eight years,
and I am also offering mandala classes for all ages this summer through
http://www.diylounge.com/ and http://www.workingartistsonline.com/ . I am
also the store manager and website manager (and one of the artisan
members) for Trillium Artisans, a nonprofit organization that supports
Portland artists who use recycled and reclaimed materials - please visit
us at http://www.trilliumartisans.org/ .

Right now I am a member of the Vignettes - we are the backup singers
for my husband's punk rock band, Dartgun. I also play a little flute and
I have played bass guitar in a few bands as well.

Trashion materials: Vinyl records

I transform them into:

Mandala Clocks, Mandala Bowls, Feng Shui Mirrors, and Roman Record Cuffs

How do you do it?

With acrylic paints and lots of imagination.

What inspired you to do this and why are you involved in trashion?

I have never had a lot of money to spend on canvases, so I just started
painting on whatever was lying around. Being involved in trashion was
just a natural step, as the recycled-materials concept is really my
"niche."

Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept?
My very first painting was done on the front panel of my old hardshell
suitcase. The Greyhound tags were still attached. I was briefly
living in Montana at the time, and I was pregnant with my first child. I
just wanted to paint, and it was all I could find. After that I painted
my husband's guitar (since then I've done quite a few guitars), and did
the entire interior of our car, a 1970 Galaxie 500.

After we moved back home to Portland I started painting on records, an
idea I got from our good friend Billy Brahm, who is an awesome artist
himself, and he still paints records - he just gave me one the other day
and I love it!

What are your current projects and what is on the horizon?
I have recently started my blog, http://eyepopart.blogspot.com/ , so I am
getting into the whole blogging thing. I am also on Etsy's Portland
street team and we are planning another outdoor art show for August 11 -
visit http://www.pdxetsy.com/ for more info. I also hope to go to New
York in October for the PDX Etsy trunk show - hopefully I'll make
enough money at my summer job (teaching ceramics at Oregon College of Art
and Craft's kids summer camp) to swing it.

I have been painting my car this summer, practicing with the band, and
hanging out in the pool! I am also continuing to make new designs in
my record cuffs to sell on Etsy.

Why should people buy handmade, and buy from trashion?

People should buy handmade because mass produced stuff is boring. When you buy
trashion, you are also helping to keep reusable materials from going into the
landfills, which is a positive step that everyone should take toward
helping to save the planet Earth!

Can you tell us anything about the etsy trashion trunk show?
I am really excited about the trunk show! I will not be there in
person by I am sending a box of my products and my friend Joan, who lives in
Brooklyn, will be attending in my place and selling my items. I think
this is such a wonderful and unique opportunity to expose my work to a
completely new group of people (in New York!!!) - another reason why I
am so glad to have discovered Etsy!

More:
Watch HGTV's "Look What I Did" on September 19, 2007 at 6:00 pm ET/PT.
I will be featured in a segment called "Psychedelic in Portland"
which is all about how I transformed my master bedroom/studio into a
psychedelic wonderland of bright colors and fabulous mandalas. Tune in!