Tag Archives: crawfest

busy season.

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god this month has gotten seriously busy.

just a reminder… crawfest is THIS saturday! i just checked weather.com and it looks like it’s going to be cool, breezy and sunny – a beautiful new orleans spring day with 0% chance of rain. that is music to my ears. and speaking of music, did you look at the lineup? rockin’ dopsie, baby boyz brass band, roots of music & rebirth brass band, and anders osborne! those are just the ones i’m excited about – tons more great music on three stages this year. yeah. look for me with the other art vendors – including my friends rachelle of greenKangaroo, mallory of miss malaprop, krissy of kristina renee jewelry, and christine of avantgarbe – in front of the lbc on the quad. (and don’t forget, it’s byob – they don’t sell beer out on the quad – but you can’t have glass, only plastic.)

then, after crawfest is put to bed, i have to get together what i’m giving my friend jen for her funky lil art show which runs through jazz fest. i gave away my postcard that had all the info about all the other artists who were gonna be on display, so i can’t list them all here, but it’s a LOT this year! there’s always a really eclectic mix of styles and media, from fine art to folk art to jewelry and other diy craft. i will have some stencil paintings, clocks, signs and tshirts available for sure – maybe even some totally new stuff if i manage to get it done by then. the opening is on friday the 22nd from 6-9pm, corner of ponce de leon and n. white over by the fairgrounds. you can’t miss it. i hope to see you there.

and then it’s jazz fest! i spent monday and tuesday of this week out at the fairgrounds volunteering in the signs barn for the jazz fest art department, which was a lot of fun. everyone in the area was super nice, and my task as a volunteer was to block-print these bizarre window-coverings for the dressing room trailers on big sheets of paper (see pic below).

my back and hamstrings are still sore from bending over working on the floor for hours! but playing with paint is always fun, and it was mind-blowing realizing just how many signs of various types go into marking and decorating the space that is jazz fest every year. maybe next year if i’m still hustlin’ i’ll apply for a job in the area. i am signed up to do more shifts next week with them, but it looks like i’ve got some dogs to walk during the times i was supposed to be volunteering, so i think i will have to bail on the free work in favor of the paid work.

which leads me to the thing that has been keeping me most busy the last few weeks: wags by mags! yes the website is finally launched, though very basic. i have business cards on order. i have a twitter account. and a facebook page. i even listed it on yelp.com. and the response thus far has been great. i’ve gotten a few new clients and lots of positive feedback. i think i may have finally stumbled upon something i can do, do well, enjoy, and make money at!

so yeah. busy busy. but busy is good.

i hope to see many of you out and about either at crawfest or jen’s art show/jazz fest porch parties in the coming weeks!

 

spring has sprung.

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oh i know. i have not been very good at keeping up with this blog, ever since i started the new one where i write about more varied and personal things other than my art/craft life.

it’s also been a fairly slow time for said art/craft life. post-holidays through mardi gras is always slow for me, since i don’t really make anything that is mardi gras-focused and the weather is usually crappy enough to keep me from any of the outdoor markets (and from wanting to work on making new stuff outdoors). i’ve had a slow-but-steady trickle of etsy orders, and did get a little bit of a boost from the publicity mentioned in the previous post. but it’s not been anything close to “normal” levels of business. it’s been beyond slow, really.

but here we are in mid-march (how did that happen?). mardi gras is over and st. patrick’s is tomorrow, with st. joseph’s day hot on its heels this weekend. the weather has been absolutely gorgeous for a few weeks; perfect new orleans springtime, with loads of sunshine and temps in the 60s and 70s. (apologies to all the northerners who have still been dealing with winter up until now.) i have been riding my scooter and bicycle a lot, and taking daily walks in city park for exercise, while enjoying the outdoors as much as possible.

i don’t, however, think i’ll be doing a lot of outdoor markets anytime soon. i’m just not making enough money at them to justify the ever-increasing booth fees. the only two i have on my calendar right now are on april 2nd, i’m helping miss malaprop out at the picayune street fair in picayune, mississippi… and then on april 16th i will be at tulane’s crawfest. the picayune street fair is actually a weekend-long event but i think i’m only going up on saturday, unless sales are just so good i can’t stay away on sunday. and crawfest is an annual treat for me; i’ve been doing it for years and it’s one of my favorites, due to the excellent music and all-you-can-eat crawfish!

i am starting to get back outside working on new stuff, though. and i’ll be stocking up for my friend jen’s annual funky lil’ art show in her home during jazzfest, which is just around the corner now. the opening for that will be april 22nd and i’ll have more info on that as it draws nearer. but you should put it on your calendar now to either come to the opening or remember to stop by her place on your way out of jazzfest any night so you can pick up some awesome, reasonably-priced local art and craft. she’s got an ecclectic array of creative friends and there’s always a party going on over there during jazzfest.

that’s about it for now. just a little hello to let you know i’m still here. still making stuff. still selling stuff. still available for custom commissions. and one-color t-shirt runs if it’s simple enough. and if you want to keep up with all my latest creations, bookmark my etsy shop and also my flickr page. i might not always think to make a blog post about things but i almost always take photos of anything i make and post it to flickr.

happy spring everyone!