Collagitation blog

Let me start off by saying a great big “Thank you!” to the Collagitation Blog followers. I wanted to send a personal note to each of you (which I will still try to do) but being a novice blogger, what I ended up doing was signing on to follow my own blog—surely that’s a no-no in the blogosphere—because apparently I have more than one Google profile (?) Now I have to figure out how to remove me.

I also found out that the name of my blog as it appears to followers is simply “blog.” How creative is that?? It seems the typography I uploaded in the banner that spells “Collagitation” is an image, as far as the blog engine in concerned, and not a word. Thus, not part of my blog title as I intended. So I’ve had to add the word Collagitation in front of the word blog to get the name to appear as Collagitation blog. Even though it messes up my banner lettering design!

I don’t know who coined the term “Snowmageddon” to describe the winter storms In PA (and NY and DC) but it’s quite accurate, as well as witty. I burned through 2 vacation days because of it. Not that I’m really complaining; any day off my job is a good day! Plus, I must’ve lost a few pounds from all the shoveling. But the best thing about it, of course, was that I got to spend extra time at my drawing table. I wish I could say have a new piece of art to post as a result, but this is not the case. I did finish one ATC, which no one will ever see, and thereby hangs a lesson.

The piece was done for an Artists’ Trading Card exhibit & swap to be held in Vancouver and the theme, of course, is the Winter Olympics. I have to say that although Olympics are intrinsically exciting, they do not bring forth an onslaught of artistic inspiration from me. I struggled to complete the first card, then found I was very unhappy with it. For one thing, visually it was a total departure from my usual vintage-driven style, which I guess was a reflection of my inability to find inspiration in the topic. So why did I even sign on for this project? Well, I was attracted by the idea of exhibiting the ATCs in a gallery in Vancouver, in addition to the usual swap. In the end, I contacted the swap host and withdrew from the project. I decided I don't have time to waste prying artwork out of myself based on a theme that doesn't inspire me.

KC Willis, whose excellent Marketing Mindset online workshop I’m taking, questions the minimal marketing payback of ATC swaps and I see her point. Still, they are another way to get the word out once I open my Collagitation shops. Speaking of which, after dropping the Olympics project, I spent yesterday (Wednesday) designing some small collages that I can offer for sale on Etsy and as printable designs on Café Press. Once I have a bit of inventory, I can finally open my long-planned Collagitation shop.!!! I also started working on a logo banner for the shop, which will definitely be in my “signature style”. I feel much better now! Full steam ahead!