2023 Craft Fair

It’s been so long since I’ve written in this blog it feels a bit weird and I’m not sure how to start it, but when I think about it, I guess that’s basically how I always feel writing these posts.

This past weekend was the annual Craft Fair which takes place at the local high-school and benefits the graduating class. It usually draws in a huge crowd and people come from all over not just to visit the craft fair but we get vendors from all over as well. It’s usually pretty jam-packed and highly anticipated.

Since I began attending the Craft Fair in 2019 there has been shenanigans nearly every year. The first year it was an unexpected power outage that killed one out of 2 of the days for us. The second year was 2020 and well, we all know what happened then. Last year was the first year back and it was packed, bustling and full of enthusiasm after everyone was so tired of lock down. People came out in droves to support and I did quite well (as did most vendors that year). Since we forgo our beloved Craft Fair before that, it seemed like we were given a free pass on the shenanigans that year. This year, BC Hydro had planned a power outage for maintenance for the 19th. People in our community were upset by this, we all have very little patience for BC Hydro with how often our power is out (and for hours on end). Every year they schedule this shut off and it’s always after it gets cold. I’m not sure why they don’t schedule it for the summer months but I imagine it’s the same reasons our roads don’t get painted until right before the snow falls; we’re end of the line and out of sight out of mind. It’s easy to put us last. But don’t mess with our Craft Fair. Enough people complained that BC Hydro actually rescheduled their power outage to the following weekend.

I’m typically a pretty homebody, keep-to-myself type of person. I’m a bit of a hermit, to put it bluntly. I drag myself out of the house once or twice a week to socialize my toddler at baby groups and I socialize with other moms, but I don’t really do a lot of socializing outside of that. I do dog training once every week or two, I host Pack in the Park every week or two, my husband and I take our daughter for swim lessons in Vanderhoof, but all these things I wouldn’t exactly classify as socializing face-to-face. The Craft Fair or any sort of market involves a lot of face-to-face interactions that I’m not really used to or always very fond of. I haven’t been focusing on my art that much this year and I felt really out of practice. By the end of each day (and definitely bu the end of the weekend) I felt like my social battery was over flowing. I don’t need that much social interactions to fill my battery; it doesn’t take much. That all being said, I actually really enjoyed most of the conversations I had with people. From talking about the cosmos and theories on what the point of the universe is to seeing little girls excited about my Slappy bookmarks. It was all really fun to connect with people who saw something in my art that spoke to them. I think I kind of forgot THAT is why I do this. It’s not about the money or being the best or anything like that. It’s about using my art as away to express myself in a healthy way and about connecting with people on those expressions.

I loved seeing repeat customers; the fans of my art who always buy a bookmark or two or maybe a postcard or print each year that I’m set up there. Your continued support is always amazing and greatly appreciated. Of course, I also deeply appreciate the folks who are new to my art. It caught their eye as they were walking buy, it drew them in and they felt compelled to buy a particular piece (or two) that spoke to them and called them over. I loved seeing this young girl who always lingers at my table, she came back twice today. She bought a $2 sticker and while that made a small financial contribution it meant the whole world to me that she chose to spend that $2 on my artwork because she simply can’t stop staring at it all. She does not like creepy but she still loves staring at the creepy bookmarks.

I have so many favorite moments, it’s hard to write them all out. This weekend was exhausting but it was what I needed to remind myself why I started showing the world my art. I didn’t come up with a lot of new stuff this year, the newest would have been my crochet critters. I’ve sold them here and there on Facebook but this was their first Craft Fair. I think a goal I’ve set for myself is to make a lot of those little guys for the 2024 Craft Fair. The reactions I got from people (the ones who even noticed the little guys tucked away at the back of my prints) was really fun. Everyone adored them. I don’t normally let or like people touching my art on display but these guys I volunteered for people to hold them. They have marbles in their feet and bum so that they sit really nice and have a nice little weight to them when they’re in your hand. They are also made with really high-quality yarn. They are soft, squishy and weighted. They demand to be held to be truly appreciated. One little girl saw my Dormouse and her eyes lit up and she pointed at it. Her parents were asking what she was pointing at and they kept guessing the art on my table. She shook her head and I could see exactly where her gaze had landed. I put him to the front of the table and asked her “is this little guy the one you noticed?” she nodded and had this great big smile on her face. I invited her to pick him up and she gave him this great big hug. Honestly, the sweetest moment. Her parents quickly put it back and then hurried her along, clearly not wanting to buy a stuffy their daughter just fell in love with. I can relate, my daughter also has a whole zoo. I was a bit sad they didn’t get it for her, because honestly I think he was made for her, but the little Dormouse did sell to someone else who also fell in love with him. A grown woman, in fact, but I make no judgements. She loved him and thought he was so cute. She hummed and hawed and bought a sticker and said she’d think about the mouse and maybe come back. She paused for a second and then said “you know what? I am going to get him. If I don’t then someone else surely will and I will have regretted it”. I’m glad he went to someone who loves him, that is always the goal for anything I make, but I can’t help but still think man, I wish that little girls parents would have gotten the Dormouse for her.

The Dormouse wasn’t the only crochet critter I sold at the Craft Fair. I also started out with a little white tiger that sold to a quiet lady Sunday morning. I had a platypus I had been working on when I made the other two but my ADHD inspiration zapped out before I could finish it. I worked on it over the two days at the Craft Fair and finished the little platypus Sunday afternoon. He had just over an hour to sit on my table for a chance at a lovely home. I kept showing him off to everyone because I was so proud of it. It turned out absolutely adorable and was something very different from the other critters I made (with having fingers on the hands and the weird shaped duck bill and beaver tail). I brought him over to Pearl from Fernweh Clothing to show off and she fell in love with him. She told me me prices were cheating myself and sighed, “yeah, I know… but I usually sell them for $40 and marked a lot down at my table so decided to sell them at $35”. She told me she had to have him and handed me a wad of cash. I looked down and said “oh you gave me way too much” she responded with “I gave you what it’s worth”. Nobody understands the value of handmade quite like other create people who are also making things by hand. I always worry that if I price my crochet critters too high people will think it’s ridiculous for such a small stuffed animal. But the thing is, I spend HOURS making them. They are made with top quality yarn and I have damn near mastered the perfect tension for small, tight (but not too tight) stitches. These things take time and money to make. Even pricing them at $40 I’m barely making any money on them and definitely not making my time back. Pearl’s comment felt extremely validating.

Something that bothered me was the placement of the tables along the wall where I was. Everywhere else there seemed to be big gaps between the tables; plenty of room to move in and out or expand your display beyond your table if you needed to. Along the wall where I was the tables were totally jammed together and the only way really out was to climb behind (and sort of over) everyone else next to you. The Fluff n Stuff girls who make cotton candy were right next to me. Now, I have no problem with these girls they were adorable, worked hard and were very apologetic any time they bumped my art or signs, or were generally in my way. They kept apologizing every time I had to go in behind them and I told them “stop apologizing, it’s not your fault”. I honestly don’t intend to be complaining here, but they were things that were not ideal that I feel could be improved on next year. If even one table was moved to somewhere else on the floor we would have had more than enough room to get in and out at each table. I’m sure they could have found room somewhere else, with how spaced out other tables were. The other thing was that I was the one in front of the outlet and not the Fluff n Stuff girls. I have no reason to need an outlet, they do and would have requested to be near one. So why was my table in front of the outlet and no theirs? Because my large stand up display was behind me they had to move it to plug their cotton candy machines in. This happened early in the morning before I got there on Saturday. So when I got to my table I found it with my Stranger Things prints blown all over, my signs knocked over and my paintings that were hung on my display all askew. I was not impressed and grumbled as I straightened it all out. It just felt rude. I’m sure they didn’t mean to do any of that, but it all would have been avoided if our tables were just a little further apart and if they had been put in front of the outlet, not me. That is all on the people who plan the Craft Fair. Who are all nice people who work hard to put this event together, so like I said; I am not here to complain. I would like to take these concerns to them though, as is feel it’s something they should probably be aware of. I also didn’t like being next to a cotton candy machine (especially being so close together) because I kept having to wipe sugar off my prints. Luckily, they were wrapped in plastic. I thought about it and I’m not sure what type of vendor would be ideal next to them. Probably not very many, but I definitely feel like they shouldn’t be next to a bunch of artwork. I’m just glad I had put the prints in plastic sleeves that were on that side of my table.

Despite those annoyances, it was a very enjoyable event. Not quite as busy as last year but still a lot of people who came out and showed support. I made more money last year, but honestly not by a whole lot once I broke it all down. I really didn’t put a lot of effort into any new stock, besides the crochet critters (and I made just three of those) so all things considered, I think I did well and it was a worthwhile event to attend.

July Update

Warning: this is going to be a long post.

I’ve been sort of dreading and avoiding writing this post. If you’re a regular follower you’ve maybe noticed a lot of radio silence on my end after I posted about doing a drawing course and promising weekly updates about that.

I still have my course to finish. I ran out of room in my sketch book and got distracted by other things, but I would really like to get back into it seeing as I did pay for it and I do believe this drawing course could do nothing but help improve my artwork. That being said, I’m stepping back from being a “content creator” and actively selling my art.

I am still an artist. This is the part I’ve been struggling with. I saw a post yesterday by an artist on Instagram that actually made me feel so much better. I think it was a re-post, but I’m not sure who shared it originally so I’m not giving them credit. I saw the post by @bserway and it is the following:

I am still an artist, but I’ll be stepping back a bit as “Artist” as my career choice. In the end, this was a very difficult decision that I know was also the right decision. My family and I can’t live off the “income” I make off my art. I am proud to say this is the first time I haven’t made money at it in almost 10 years. I used to at least break even or make enough to support myself to continue to create art. But more and more I am not buying new supplies because I can’t afford it. I sunk too much money (not an extraordinary amount but more than I feel comfortable with) into stock and trying my hand at selling in a brick-n-mortar. Not only was I not able to support myself but I lost money. I hold no fault to the store owner at all, Nikita has done so much for all of the Artisans, and I know she’s done a lot to try to get my bookmarks to move. It’s a very niche thing to sell and I of all people know how difficult they can be! They are still at So Divine Artisan Boutique until the end of July if you’d like to snag one! You can check them out in person if you’re local or head over to So Divine Online and Nikita will ship it to you! You can also get them as a freebie in the super fun Blind Date With a Book that she’s doing.

I think I will still sell my art from time-to-time. I will likely still do the Craft Fair in the fall, and if you’re interested in a commission send me a message and I will let you know if I’m available to do it or not. I will ALWAYS be available to make the Classic Horror Crew bookmark. I will not be putting a lot of effort into advertising on Facebook or Instagram. Whether I keep my bookmarks in my Square shop or not, I haven’t yet decided. I’m kind of thinking I probably will because I’ll need that set up to do the Craft Fair anyway, but we’ll see. It depends on how much effort it is to maintain. At the moment it is more effort with the stock being shared in Nikita’s shop but after that I think it should be pretty easy to manage. You may get an occasional update on Instagram/Facebook from me, but I won’t be putting in the effort to make sure I post every week. When I do get back to my course I may share my progress on my Instagram stories, but it won’t be weekly updates or posts about it.

I’m sorry for the inconvenience and/or disappointment that this may cause anyone. I did not come to this decision lightly, but I know in my heart this was the right decision for myself and my family.

So what will I be doing instead? I’m so glad you asked. I’ll be focusing my efforts back onto the career I dreamed of since I was 5 years old; dog training. I became a certified Master Dog Trainer when I was 20 but I didn’t do it for very long. I loved dogs and dreamed of being a dog trainer since I was a little kid and first trained our cat to sit (and concluded dogs are less frustrating to train). In high school my career counselor told me to go to Emily Carr Art Institute and I thought that sounded so ridiculous because I knew my dream was to train dogs. Even when I was a teenager too cool for anything I was still a geek for dogs. I still ditched my friends to hang out with my dog. After I went to school and came back to Fort St. James I set up my dog training business and was so excited. The disappointment hit hard when I realized I wasn’t training dogs; I was training people. I was never a people person, especially back then. Half of the reason I wanted to train dogs was because I didn’t want to work with people. Realizing that in order to train dogs I had to train people was really hard for me. I know it seems like something so obvious, but I honestly had never even considered it. I got frustrated dealing with people who wouldn’t listen to me, who’d argue with me, who’d cancel and reschedule over and over again, who wouldn’t pay me in full, and the dogs were always way easier to train than their people. I gave up training and started focusing on selling my art. Giving up dog training broke my heart, but like being an artist just because I wasn’t professionally training didn’t mean I stopped being a dog trainer. It was still so deeply a part of who I am, no matter how hard I tried to shove it down.

I trained my own dogs, I gave advice to friends and family, but otherwise I tried really hard to push down that part of myself because it was too painful to think about how I “failed”. Then I met Winston. I didn’t mean to start dog walking. I just sort of happened upon a post by someone looking for a dog walker. I did dabble in dog walking a bit when I was early in my pregnancy with my first daughter and I really enjoyed doing it but stopped when my pregnancy made it too difficult. It happened that at the time my husband was home a lot because he’d just quit his job to start a new career. I started walking Winston in the fall and did it throughout most of the winter and spring. Being able to work with the dog on my own without the owner was absolutely so much fun. Having the excuse to get out 5 days a week for an hour long walk got me in pretty decent physical shape. Getting paid for it was nice too! Winston is a big dog spending long hours waiting for his owner to come home so I knew he needed a REALLY good walk during our hour. I started exploring the area and fell in love with my home all over again too. I started hiking in the winter and we had a blast on the trails behind the graveyard before they were cut down this year.

One day I was on Facebook and I just got so sick of seeing posts on the community page EVERY DAY about dog problems in this town. Dogs at large, dogs biting people, dogs attacking other dogs, chasing cars, eating garbage, barking, you name it it’s a problem here. I also needed a way to get Winston more exposure to other dogs in a controlled environment so that I could work on his dog reactivity and have more peaceful walks (to clarify; dog reactivity does NOT equal aggression). So I made a post on the community group and asked if anyone would like to come train together (but at a distance and with dogs on leash) in the park with me and Winston. The response was overwhelming, I had mostly super positive feedback and interest and one guy who thought it was a recipe for disaster.

I’ve heard so many comments from people who’ve said they won’t walk their dogs a certain way or won’t walk their dogs at all because of dogs at large (which is the biggest problem here). I realized that while we can’t control what other people do with their dogs and how they keep them, we can teach our dogs to handle any situation where a dog at large may approach them. Keeping our dogs locked away was the opposite of a solution. They need to learn basic obedience around that big of a distraction. I knew in my gut that this would be just one piece (but a vital piece) to the puzzle of finding solutions. People were a bit unsure at first, I didn’t get a lot of people showing up to train in the park but it was enough to keep me trying. Most of the people were those who are already out there training their dogs, but slowly I started getting other people asking about it and showing interest, but it’s taken some time to teach enough people what it is about, I think.

I didn’t want to clog up the community group with my dog training posts so I made my own group called Fort St. James Dog Owners and I wrote a bunch of articles about everything I could think of and filled the group with it. I then started to spread the word about it and invite people to the group. In just a few days I went from 0 to over 100 members. I expected to be just one person talking to myself in an empty group and today it has people who post regularly, comment often and ask questions. I see people planning their own get-togethers in a safe way and I’m so proud of that.

About a month ago I injured my foot while hiking with my husband and my dog Zelda. It was our first hike together in YEARS and we had so much fun. I tripped over all kinds of rocks on that trail and at one point I felt a tweak and thought “ouch that might hurt tomorrow”. I forgot about it and kept training in the park and kept walking Winston around the loop for a whole week before it started to swell up. It progressively got worse. I went to the clinic and had it looked at by a Nurse Practitioner who sent me for x-rays. The x-rays showed nothing abnormal and I was told to rest and ice it.

It was about this time I realized I needed to get back into dog training. Not only did I rekindle my love for it but I also realized I could be making way more money at training dogs than I make at selling my art. Way more. At the end of the day it’s not about the money; I got back into this because I love it and I want to help people. I am tired of people getting mad about the dogs and I want to teach people we can train our dogs to be calm, happy, healthy minded individuals that we can take out in public in a way that is respectful to our neighbors and fellow community members. The money certainly helps during uncertain times though. My mindset is different this time and I’ve had more experience in life and with people that at this point in my life the idea of teaching people doesn’t sound so awful. I also have found that people are different now than they were 16 years ago. People are more open to training their dogs. People want help with their dogs. My career choice doesn’t sound so cooky that the career counselor would try to get me to choose art school instead (which just seems so laughable to me in hindsight). I can also charge a lot more now than I could back then and it still feels weird. My prices are extremely reasonable compared to other dog trainers in the surrounding areas and yet I feel like I’m charging too much because it’s way more than I charged when I was 20 years old. I’ve also designed my schedule, contract and how I structure my training sessions in a way that supports me better than I did back then.

Last week I went back to the clinic and had a doctor examine my foot, as it hadn’t gotten any better. She ordered the x-rays again, an MRI and an ultrasound. I’m waiting for those appointments now. One of my training clients generously gave me a support boot for my foot. It’s exhausting and like dragging around dead weight but has definitely made a difference on my foot healing. It’s way less swollen by the end of the day.

I’ve had a few training sessions with people now and it just makes my whole day. When I walk away from doing a craft fair or market my attitude is usually “yeah it was fun, but I’m exhausted”. I am pumped after doing a training session. It’s so exciting to see a dog learning and to see how happy it makes the owner, and I especially love seeing that owner and dog connecting and working together. It’s something so magical and the owners feel that too because I get endless thank yous and you can see the joy on their faces when their dog finally does what they are asking from them.

It’s also been a really tough fire season for BC, record breaking bad. We’ve had fires surrounding us and we have been locked inside because of all the smoke. We’ve had a few clear days but as I sit outside and write this I can see and smell the smoke growing thicker and today is worse again. Still clear enough we can continue to enjoy outside for a bit. We’re fortunate that the fires around us have been managed by firefighting teams and are now getting under control. A lot of people have not been so lucky. It has been stressful to watch the BC Wildfire Service app show 4 fires “near me” pop up to 9 in just a day and then 14 by two days later. I’ve had to consider what we need to have ready in a go-bag just in case, and how we’ll manage to fit everyone and everything we need into our car. The car we have now is smaller than we had in 2018 during the last fire season we evacuated from (and we had less family members then too). It’s been stressful. There’s a lot of things that have been stressful this year (and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that…). Getting back into dog training has felt really right to do.

Just like I have always been a dog trainer since I was 5 years old and trained the cat to sit; I will always be an artist too.

April/May Update

Here I thought I had nothing to really write about but when I sat down and started I began to realize a lot more happened in April than I thought. It happened in such small pieces each week that it felt like I had nothing going on. That’s all the time I’ve really had for my artwork for the past month is small amounts of time here and there. The kids keep me pretty busy and with warmer weather I have a lot of spring cleaning to get done in and outside the house. Let’s not forget the spring colds that circulate!

I decided not to focus on posting my blog every week for the time being because I just don’t have time for it. It usually takes me about 3-5 days to put together a blog post and I don’t have that kind of time to dedicate to it every week, right now.

For the first time ever my bookmarks are available in a real brick and mortar store! I’ve contemplated it many times but in the end always concluded it wasn’t really worth it or I didn’t have the time to get stock together etc. So I spent a good few months slowly building my stock and carefully curated an inventory I felt reflected the types of people who shop locally in our town. Many of the bookmarks can be found online on my Etsy Shop or Square Shop but there’s a bunch that are exclusive to So Divine Artisan Boutique. You can find them in her shop on the corner behind Pharmasave (across from the Library). Also known as 470 Stuart Drive West Unit #15 if you don’t understand small town directions. Not only that but you can also find them in the So Divine Artisan Boutique Website! Below are the bookmarks exclusively sold at So Divine.

While curating an inventory I was also working on a commission which ended up taking me way longer than a bookmark usually takes me to draw. I kept having to restart the face and struggled so much that at one point I thought about starting all over from scratch. I persevered and in the end had something that I didn’t feel horrible about. I felt okay taking money for it. I kept wondering why did I struggled so bad? I decided I needed to take some time to focus on relearning and brushing up on some drawing fundamentals. I thought for sure the struggle was just I’m out of practice and don’t do it enough.

When I was filling out the authentication card I realized I didn’t even know the dogs name. I always ask for extra info about the pets I draw. I ask for their name, how old they are, breeds as well as more information about their personality. I request any stories that the owner loves to tell. I want to know more about who they are as individuals because, while I can’t explain why, it just helps me capture who they are better. I didn’t ask for any of that because the woman who commissioned me sent a LOT of really good photos to choose from. I was instantly inspired by one in particular and was excited about drawing it. I really didn’t think much more about it and just assumed I was ready to draw it no problem. When I didn’t even have a name to put on the authentication card I realized my mistake right away. When she picked it up I asked what the dogs name was and she told me “Elsa”. It felt so good to put a name to the face I’d spent hours staring at. Later on she sent me this message that brought me to absolute tears. It made the whole struggle worth-while to know this story behind Elsa and my heart broke for her owner (and friends who cared about her) because I too lost my old dog very suddenly. His name was Coal and I had him from the time I was 15 until my late 20’s. Like Elsa, he was in his senior years but his death was still unexpected and heartbreaking. Below is Elsa’s story. I’ve removed names except the dear beloved Elsa’s.

While I’m sure that not having enough info about Elsa led to my struggle to draw her I still feel like it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on my drawing skills. I have, on occasion in the past, taken online art classes but it had been quite a few years now. I found a course on Udemy (The Ultimate Drawing Course) and this isn’t an ad or anything but it’s currently on sale for $25 – originally well over $100, I don’t remember and can’t seem to find the original price now. At any rate, it’s a good deal and affordable for me. It covers all the basic principals of drawing that I wanted to brush up on, and hopefully I’ll learn something new too.

I’ve accomplished one lesson so far and had posted it in my Instagram stories. I think I will continue to post the drawings from each lesson on my Insta stories, so make sure to give me a follow @slsartistry if you want to follow along with me.

I was surprised to realize I really struggle with following instructions now. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a class of any kind. It felt really weird and was oddly stressful just trying to follow along. I kept finding I would just do my own thing and then I’d realize the guy was talking and giving instructions and I’d already been doing my own thing way ahead of him. I had to slow myself down. Take my time and listen. It was surprising how that was such a struggle to do.

So far I’m enjoying it. The trouble is finding the uninterrupted time to work on it. The first lesson had me draw an eye and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. At the end of the whole course I will have to draw it again and will be able to see any improvement. I’m looking forward to really sinking my teeth in and enjoying the whole process of this course. I want to get the most out of it that I can.

Artwork Care

I’m going to give you a few tips about how to care for the artwork you might purchase from me. These days I’m mostly making bookmarks but that doesn’t mean I don’t still sell paintings. My studio still has a handful of my canvas paintings and I’m sure if you’ve bought one off me in the past it’s probably ready for a good cleaning!

Artwork that is created using good artist quality materials shouldn’t age too much on it’s own. The type of paper and the quality of tools used on it can determine the longevity of the artwork. Cheap materials change colour and/or fade with time. Some cheap paints crack over time. This is why I always try to use artist quality materials. Paper that isn’t acid free archival paper will turn yellow and break down over time (I think of my childhood artwork on brittle yellow paper now).

Even when high-grade materials are used a piece of artwork needs to be cared for properly or it can be damaged or change over time. Don’t ever hang artwork in direct sunlight. The sun fades anything left sitting in it long-term. Keep it away from windows that will be open or areas of your house that it is more likely to be splashed with. This especially goes for water colour artwork. Some types of art might be able to be hung in a bathroom, for example, but most of the artwork I create can not be.

If possible, frame your artwork under glass to protect it.

CANVAS PAINTINGS

A canvas left exposed (not framed and under glass) will collect dirt and dust over time. They should be cleaned about once a year or every two years if you don’t have pets. You can clean a painting using bread in the method I describe in the post Prepare a Canvas for Hanging. Use a piece of white bread to gently rub away dust and oils. I mainly paint canvas with acrylic paint, which when dried is essentially like plastic. It is very durable and holds up to regular cleaning using the bread method.

I have learned from experience (too many times, really) that stretched canvas punctures easily. It can get stretched out and become saggy if something is stacked on it, or worst-case-scenario it can be punctured. A small puncture can be fixed by using a piece of canvas that is at least an inch bigger than the hole in diameter and cut in a circular shape. If you don’t have canvas you can use a piece of fabric that matches the canvases colour. Lay the painting face-down on a clean surface. Use an acid-free glue (such as white school glue/craft glue) and (using a thin layer) glue your patch down over the hole on the back of the painting. Use a flat surface such as a credit card or piece of cardboard to smooth the patch and remove any excess glue (this is why a thin layer is needed). Blotch away excess glue. Put weight on the patch (use a book, something flat that won’t further damage the canvas). You will see the patch through the front. If possible, while the glue is still wet you can align the threads of the ripped canvas so that as little of the patch shows through and the image on the front is put back together. This patch job works best for small holes or tears. If you can get paint to match (you can always ask me what I used) and try to paint the front of the canvas where the patch is to match.

The best way to repair a hole in a canvas is to prevent it from happening in the first place! When moving and traveling your canvas make sure it is stored either face down on a flat, clean surface or in a box on it’s side so that it can’t tip over or have something fall on it. Trust me, all it takes is one touch of the breaks and suddenly your whole box of inventory has plummeted onto your canvas that wasn’t stored properly (like I said, I have experienced this too many times). It’s always better to just store them safely when moving them!

HAND PAINTED BOOKMARKS

Keep your hand painted bookmark new by treating it as a work of art. If you can’t frame it under glass then keep it in it’s protective plastic sleeve.

While I don’t recommend it, laminating will keep a hand painted bookmark safe if you wish to use it as a bookmark. However, to prevent stains or bends I highly recommend you frame and display your piece of bookmark artwork.

Keep away from moisture.

“I feel like a dick because I’m way too hard on my bookmarks I’ve bought from you… but also I needed bookmarks.”

– a collector

At the end of the day the artwork you buy off of me is your property to do whatever you want with (except copy, print and resell it of course. You own the product but I own the image). These are just my personal recommendations if you want to keep your bookmark art living long and beautiful.

I started creating the prints of the bookmarks so that people had a choice to use them as an actual bookmark. After all, I can’t exactly be selling bookmarks if you can’t even use them in a book! But just know that if you do put the large (hand painted) ones in a book over time they will wear, get bent or (if you’re like me and take your books into the tub) get water damaged. They won’t last forever. The printed bookmarks are hardy enough to withstand most book abuse for a long time and if they get completely ruined you can just buy a new one because they’re much cheaper than the hand painted ones!

Enjoy your artwork however you’d like! Take care of them and they will look beautiful for ages.

Runaway Train Never Coming Back…

Runaway on a one way track… Just kidding, sort of. (If you don’t know what the reference is look up “Runaway Train” by Soul Asylum). I’m not leaving and never coming back but my train has definitely headed for derailment. Spring has sprung and I’ve been SO distracted from my art. I apologize tenfold. I’ve been busy with the family, trying to hold my house together with all this spring dirt being tracked in and our extra outdoor activities leaving very little time left to keep it all together. I’ve also been walking a dog most days Monday-Friday for an hour so that takes away from that time I normally spent on my artwork and whatnot. I get paid to walk him and I enjoy it though so I’m also sort of not sorry. Dog training was what I originally planned to do. My guidance counselor at school tried to talk me into going to Emily Carr to pursue my artwork and I said no (no joke). My dream was to train dogs. That was my dream from the time I was 5 years old until I tried to do it in 2007–2009. I packed up my bags and one of my dogs and moved to Salmon Arm for 6 weeks in the fall of 2007. I walked uphill both ways to get to school and back to my home in a pull trailer at the KOA campground where my dog slept in a kennel under my table (so you couldn’t put your legs under the table when you sat at it). It was a grueling 6 weeks and I learned everything from basic grooming to personal protection dog training. I earned two certificates: Master Dog Trainer and Kennel Management. I later on also earned a certificate through the Humane Society University online course for Animal Behavior Evaluations. I volunteered for the local humane society training and fostering dogs. I helped go on emergency calls and evaluated if the dogs would be suitable in a home or if they needed more training. On top of volunteering I ran my own small business called Dog Gone Good Training where I helped people master the 5 basic obedience commands and any behavior problems. My first love was dogs, not art. So what happened? I learned that I love training dogs but hate training people. Walking dogs gives me a chance to work with them without their owners and I’m really enjoying that but oh boy am I exhausted. Not only do I walk Winston for 1 hour 5 days a week but I also walk to town to run any errands I need to do during the day because I don’t have a car when my husband is working.

I’ve had a commission I’ve been working on and I wish I was making faster progress on it but at the same time I really feel the need to take my time and get it right. When I get the honor of drawing someone’s passed away beloved pet I always feel like it’s something really special that deserves my full effort. So much of my effort has gone into walking the past few weeks that I feel like I have no effort left to give by the end of the day. It’s frustrating to make such slow progress but I know if I tried to rush it I’d wreck it somehow.

I keep having to learn the lesson about looking after myself the hard way over and over again. I’ve always been one who had to force myself to practice self care and since having kids it’s been even harder to do. I pushed myself way too hard last week. I walked over 30km and 10 of them were in one day (last Thursday). On Good Friday we had plans to drive to the nearby city to take our oldest daughter to see the new Mario movie. We made it 40 minutes out of town when I had to get my husband to pull over so I could puke on the side of the highway. I wish I could say that was a first but after two pregnancies where I puked almost every day for 9 months I am a bit of a pro at it. Didn’t even get any on my shoes. We had to turn around and come home. I felt so bad for disappointing our 6 year old but she took it with grace as she always does. I spent the rest of the day in bed and chugging water and then throwing it up. I’ve had this happen before so I knew what it was. I wasn’t looking after myself. Wasn’t eating well, wasn’t sleeping well, wasn’t drinking enough water and was walking way too much. My body was telling me I needed a break. Thankfully, I recovered enough that we were able to take our kid to the Mario movie the next day. I recovered enough, but am still feeling it. I’m forcing myself to take care of myself better. Even just a few days later I started to feel it again after walking Winston on Monday. I had a headache and passed out on the couch by 8pm.

So if you’ve been wondering about my radio silence, this is why. I’m sorry I am not a reliable content creator. Oh wait, I’m not a content creator, I’m an artist. I’m here to express myself through art and I choose to share that with you. Art and life are very interwoven so sometimes you may find that other aspects of my life leak through. I’m not here to share the rest of my life with you all the time, but I’ll share enough that you may understand me more as a person.

I’ve also been working on designing packaging that will act as a backing on my printed bookmarks. I am getting stock ready to go to So Divine Artisan Boutique and one of the things in their contract is that each product needs to be priced. I didn’t want to put price tags directly on my bookmarks (for obvious reasons) so I had to come up with a creative solution. I saw these neat backings but they had a piece that went right over the front of the bookmark and I don’t want the image blocked like that. Not a bad idea for shipping but not a good idea for a display. So instead I decided to make slots that the corners will fit into.

After receiving a message on Etsy recently about a bookmark that was damaged during shipping (a first for me) I decided I might as well make backings for shipping as well. I liked the idea of the piece across the middle instead of the corner slits for this. For one, I don’t want the corners accidentally getting bent and I felt that the corner slit backing would be more likely to do this. I have few other ideas I might try for the shipping packaging, but for now I’m pretty happy with how this turned out.

March’s Giveaway

I drew the name for my March giveaway a bit late, but better late than never. Congratulations again to @alittlemixoffix for winning for the 2nd time in a row! March’s giveaway was one of my favorite bookmarks; the fun design of a psycho hamster for Monster Blood II.

I have debated whether or not to redraw when people win the giveaway twice in a row in the past and I’ve decided that whatever name is drawn first is the winner. If that person chooses to pass to the next winner that is up to them but I feel if people are putting in the effort to enter the giveaway they’re more than entitled to win it if their name is drawn, no matter how many times!

April’s giveaway is a two’fer! The double set of Engineer Bob and Charlie the Choo Choo is up for grabs for the month of April (or until I reach a minimum of 5 entries). See my Giveaway Page for more information on how to enter.