**picture above, Kim of the popular knitting Craft Stash pod cast.
I'm not sure if all artists have this problem or if it's just me. Me and my ADD. I don't want to do one project, I want to do all projects! Right now. Right here. Let's do it all. Shockingly, I accomplish nothing from this approach.
When I first created my esty store ( the now defunct Printed and Hangable), my idea was that it would be a catch all for all my projects. Thank god for the honest people in my life. Stream line, stream line, stream line was all I heard.
It wasn't until I sat down with Katja Bartholmess visionary and co-founder of the international branding agency, The Brooklyn Family that I got it. Katja is launching her own new exciting project I think all of us are going to love! More on that later.
But Katja told me two things I needed to hear, 1) this is an idea that can work ( something about hearing it from someone outside of my family and my artist friends made all the difference), and 2) NO ONE CAN TELL WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
My name was vague - Printable and Hangable. I finally understand why names like AAA Trucking and 123 Dry Cleaners are used. There is no guess work to what they do. And so I make some choices.
•I changed my shops name from "Printable and Hangable" to
"Erica Campanella, Couture Bridal Illustration"
•I removed all products that did not fit with my new shops name. It was hard getting rid of work I really loved. But it will see the light of day again in another form.
•I took a hard look at the illustrations I already did and realized that I needed more unity in them. And it took FOREVER. I drew, and I drew. The same pictures over and over. Some were good. Some were horrible. Some we good but not realistic to create over and over. Some were so time consuming that my cost level would have been astronomical. But in the end, I developed a look that was trendy, eye-catching, and something I could build off of as I did more work. In other words, a good start.
**For instance, this is one of my new pieces. I was thrilled to do a couture bridal illustration for Kim of the popular knitting Craft Stash pod cast.
**here's a shot of the new shop. I still have some more tweaks but what a difference in the clarity of product.
And so I am starting from scratch. And I got my first two sales this week! I hope it's the start of something good.
