Back in the day, I offered and held a few home parties for selling my artworks. Being about 15 years ago, ish, I felt like I was charting new territories.

I had a bunch of catalogs and brochures from other successful home party plan businesses — and my vast knowledge of attending such parties — to build my plan on, but even then, the concept was just that — more concept than anything else.

I made sales at the parties (and secured plenty of commissioned works as well), but found I really had to sell the idea of such a party by educating the potential host or hostess more than anything else.

Now that home party plans are so mainstream that a woman between the ages of 20 and 35 fears invitations in the mail, the indie crafting party isn’t an educational exercise — and the lure of less common products is far stronger than say the usual home party suspects, resulting in more attendees and an increase of wallets being opened.

I mention this trend for two reasons.

One, if you’re a crafter, craftsman, or artisan looking for a way to make sales and connect with your local community, you might want to consider using home craft shopping parties. Even crafters who just have an over-load of made things could probably find an occasional party a good way to rid themselves of surplus handcrafted items, and those with mad skills could combine selling creations with workshops at parties.

If this sounds at all like you, Miss Malaprop has a great article, 5 Tips for a Successful Handmade Craft Shopping Party, which also includes links to some great resources. She even peddles the stuff other folks make at the home parties she demonstrates/sells at. (Keen idea for those who want to increase their offerings past their own skills.)

I respectfully disagree with CraftyTammie, when she says that she wouldn’t throw a party and invite her friends because “they all know i have an etsy shop, and i figure if they want to buy something they will let me know.” Shopping for art, for gifty stuff and crafts, is very much a visual in-the-moment thing. And people need to see it.

The second reason I mention the home party plan idea, is that if you are not a maker of things but a lover of them, you might wish to host a craft selling party in your own home. You and your pals can get together, shop, maybe even become inspired to make a thing or two yourself, all while you support arts in your community.

The only real tricky thing with hosting one of these home parties selling handmade things is finding a willing artisan or crafter. To that end, The Ungulate has started an Art Directory, including a category for listings of creative folks who are willing to do home parties selling their arts and crafts.

Image Credits: Handmade goodies from MissMalaprop’s shop.

A lot of materials produced and marketed for crafting use also have applications for more “fine art” oriented artists.  One example being stamp markers.  These are felt tip markers marketed for used with rubber stamps.  Their key quality is that these markers are slow drying.  This allows them to be used to paint the surface of a stamp, and stay wet long enough for different colors to be applied before the stamp is pressed to a surface.

I was attracted to stamp markers as a tidy and compact alternative to paints.  They offer a lot of the versatility of paint, but are much more portable and easier to organise if you have very limited space available in your home.  For example, they can be brought out and backed away again in a simple pencil case. There are a lot of different stamping markers, the set I bought are from the Dee Gruenig Signature range produced by Marvy.

If you use stamp markers on normal paper the result is similar to any felt tip marker (see above right).  However they become a lot more flexible when used on a high gloss or cardboard.  Here the long drying period allows for a lot of painterly effects including blending, rubbing, scraping, smudging and erasing.  In fact, unlike paint, stamp markers can be completely erased from a surface even once fully dried.

The limitations of the markers relate to the same qualities that make them interesting to work with.  If applied too lightly the marker will bead up and withdraw from the surface as it dries, turning a pastel wash into a scattering of dark dots.  I am currently finding it hard to avoid white fringing my marks, as shown in the picture to the left.  And even when dried, the markers smudge easily and it is very difficult to avoid marring the surface with fingerprints.  At this point I am not sure what finishing product would protect the surface and not interact with the highly soluble ink.

You can see some of my other stamp marker sketches on my blog–if you have used them yourself, please drop us a comment or a link!

This time around the doodle theme is cats. I like cats, their independence, mysteriousness and that feeling that you never quite know which of you is the pet, the cat or yourself.

If you need to read about Doodle Week go back to the post all about it.

If you are in Canada and have the long weekend, take this as a time to extend your doodling till Monday, which is Family Day, here. Get everyone to doodle and post them all. If you live in a rural town or city (as I do) there will be no bus service on a holiday so you will have all that time to doodle. How about doodling the adventures of Mad Manx, the really cool (but tail-less) cat?

Happy Drawing!

Over at The Emerging Times, Michael Ferrare has written The ‘Picture Painting’ Gene, an article on Thomas Harrison’s book, Instinct:

In the book Instinct, Thomas Harrison describes many ways to leverage who you are (using your DNA) to promote success in business and in life. Of the many natural genes he mentions, one gene that may be hidden inside of you is the “Picture Painting” gene—a natural desire or way to create an evolving picture of yourself.

While Harrison, a corporate CEO, has written the book to explore the connections between DNA and entrepreneurial success, the author’s message is that “no matter who you are, there are learned success secrets you can put in place to compensate for what you inherited in ‘your’ genetic lottery.” According to the author, it’s a matter of “inborn traits that have to be ‘switched on’ to create the personalized winning scenario that’s right for you.”

Simply put, it’s a matter of visualization; the old sports dealio, where you see the basketball going in the hoop. Or, for those who fear they are talentless but wish for greater ability to create, you unlock the talent within your DNA by seeing your future as a more creative type or a successful artist (which surely is entrepreneurial).

Surely most of us could use a little more faith in our creative abilities. And if entrepreneurialism is an art, or some sort of talent, certainly other arts and talents can be so unlocked.

Ferrare, in his post, uses an example of a friend who uses the “picture painting” to leave a corporate ad agency for a more creative career in writing — and sums up the trickiest part of the process, post visualization techniques:

When you share your picture with a friend, get ready for a comment like “Hold on, don’t get ahead of yourself.” Don’t let their comments, or cynicism diminish your vision. Instead, remember that that’s the point—getting ahead of yourself.

I’m imagining that perhaps it’s best to paint a picture of your friends and family being supportive of your picture-painted-perfect future before you share it.

Image Credits: via Amazon.

Share your doodles. Post your link here in the comments. If you need inspiration look for birdhouses online. There were a lot of them. Some very ellaborate. Mine is kind of simple but I like how this one turned out.

Read about Doodle Week, the rules, regulations and standardizations (whatever that turns out to be). Mainly, just doodle something birdhouse related and join in.

Bookmarks are a great way to try on art. And I’m not just saying that because I’m one of the presenters at the first Bookmark Collectors Virtual Convention, either.

Bookmarks come in so many styles and are made of so many materials, you can enjoy and experiment with form & function ideas and concepts in your own mind without feeling the pain you would at some gallery reception. But even if such interior dialogs aren’t of any interest to you, bookmarks are a great way to inexpensively try types of art.

Simple bookmarks with reproductions of the masters and/or famous artists are cheaper (and take up less space) than posters — so it’s a grand way to make inexpensive mistakes. Maybe you find yourself drawn to the vivid oranges in a mod artwork, but after a week of seeing it, you find yourself feeling it reminds you more of a fast food restaurant. If so, you can just stick it in a drawer, doodle on it, or give the darn thing away. Or, you could start collecting them. *wink*

For those with modest or even tiny art budgets, collecting bookmarks may not only be the way to get your hands on copies of works by famous artists, but original artwork as well. And they aren’t only the little paper-slip or folded varieties either.

Made of metal, fabric, plastic, cord, wood, scrimshaw, and more, there are many craftsmen, indie and unknown artists making bookmarks.

Maybe you’ll even be inspired to make some.

If so, Jen Funk Weber, owner of needlework design company Funk & Weber Designs and founder of Needle and ThREAD: Stitching for Literacy program, is hosting the The Making of an Embroidered Bookmark and the Stitching for Literacy Program session at the conference.

The first annual Bookmark Collectors Virtual Convention, an online event celebrating all things “bookmark,” will be held on February 20th and 21st, 2010. Registration is just$10 for all the sessions, forums, and trade show & gallery goodies.

To entice you to consider attending the event, and collecting bookmarks, I’ve enlisted the help of our very own Laura Brown, founder of Doodle Week. We’re offering five Bookmark Collectors Virtual Conference Commemorative Collector Bookmarks for the first five folks (from the US or Canada) who mention “The Ungulate” in their registration for the event.

Only 12 of these commemorative bookmarks will be made (five to be given away here, five my antiques and vintage collectibles site, one for the artist, and, ever the collector, one for myself), so it’s truly a limited edition. A great addition to — or way to start — your bookmark collection.

I hope you’ll consider participating in the conference; if so, I’ll “see” you there! If not, at least consider the possibilities of art bookmarks.

Image Credits:

One of six The Wedding Of The Mouse bookmarks by Japanese illustrator Gustav Klim, via Mirage’s Bookmark Exhibition.

Metal bookmark by CL Designs.

Wooden bookmarks by TRwoodworks.

I’m Going To Need More Books doodle commemorating the bookmark convention by Laura Brown.

I have a thing for art nouveau and arts and crafts tiles, so I was drawn to this arts & crafts tile poster by Mindy Sommers.

From there, I discovered not only this beautiful Bell Epoch poster by the artist, but that her art nouveau stained glass art can be found on more than Zazzle products because the artist and her husband run Color Bakery.

The stained glass art works (along with many other works) can be ordered custom on all their products.

Of the stained glass works, the artist says:

People ask me if, when printed on glass, if they will light up. The answer is yes. They won’t allow extensive light as they are not transparent…however, they are luminescent and direct lighting behind them will give the artwork a beautiful ambient glow.

While Color Bakery offers hundreds of their own designs, they allow customers to upload their own images to be put on everything from scratch resistant porcelain floor tiles (that you really can walk on!) to artsy mirror compacts. And if you’re an artist, Color Bakery provides custom art printing for artists and photographers too.

Spring seems too far away as we get more snow each day.  Think of a flower or draw a whole bouquet!

Sometimes I feel full of ideas and can just begin to write. From one idea others build and flow and soon it becomes a might river. But, other times… I may be having a bad day, I may have too many things on my mind, I may just not know where to start, lots of things can make it hard to begin. Writing exercies are a good way to bring yourself back to focus on your writing. With some work, the words can soon be flowing again.

Here are writing exercises which challenge you to tell a story in limited words, letters or paragraphs. Or, provide you with specific topics to write about.

• 200 Characters
• 200 Sacred Words
• 50 Word Story
• 500 Words a Day Challenge
• Ficly
• I Want… Wednesday
• IComWeLeave
• Letters That I’ll Never Send
• Manic Monday
• Meme Express
• National Blog Posting Month
• National Novel Writing Month
• One Minute Writer
• One Question Interviews
• One Sentence
• Paragraph Planet – 75 words.
• Poetry Play Thursday
• Post It Note Tuesday
• Seven Days Seven Answers
• Six Sentences
• Six Word Saturdays
• Snackie Sunday

This week it’s stick figure girls (or women if you prefer).  There are lots of variations in drawing a stick figure, have a look online and see which sort you like.

This week the inspiration to doodle comes from the tiny world in a teacup pincushions from Mimi K. She has the pattern for sale if you would like to make one. Your doodle can be your start at creating your own little world.

Before you start to draw think about what kind of world you want to create. A rural or urban landscape, maybe a city skyline? What season will it be? What kind of pattern will be on your teacup? I went with flowery for mine but it could have gone with a winter snowflake pattern to suit the snow and snowman on my little world.

Try one, it’s fun to create your own tiny world in a teacup.

This weekend will be the first Doodle Week at U3. January 9th and 10th are the days for you to create your drawing and post it to your blog. Then link back here in the comments to show off your work.

The theme will be dollies, more properly known as dolls. For inspiration have a look at the Flickr group called Dolly Doodles. There are a lot of ways to draw dolls, simple, cute, pretty, complicated or just sweet and simple. What kind of doll will you draw?

Word Grrls has a post with 101 + Links for Doodling and Drawing by Hand.

I can’t get enough of artist Tamar Stone — her corset and bed books inspire me so much!

With all these projects and interests, I knew she’d collect lots of stuff, but I wanted to know more about what the artist draws from…

I collect a lot of books, images etc. However, because of limited space and finances, I also go to the NY Public Library to do research with their really old books. Before you could find things on-line, I used to go to the library to do a lot of patent research (something I learned while being a para-legal) — and learning how to read a patent’s family history — to get you to other resources.

With the internet, so much stuff is online — but a lot of it is low-res, which I can’t really use, and also you have to make sure the images are in the public domain (due to copyright issues).

As with my latch-hook rug, works are inspired by my travels.

One of my hobbies is “Polaroiding dolls on the road,” which I’ve turned into paper books from Polaroids. I also have a series of bathrooms/outhouses along the road… And meals on the road… But I haven’t had the money to turn those into books (all the scanning of those is just so time consuming, and I rather just keep moving ahead with the sewing projects).

You can get copies of Tamar Stone’s books at PrintedMatter.org: Dolls on the Road: The Barbie and Ken Series. Vol. 1, Dolls on the Road: Baby Dolls and Others. Vol. 2. And you can visit Tamar Stone’s website to keep up-to-date on the artist and her projects.

Doodle Week is back. This time it will be part of U3. (I type it as U3 because I don’t want to type slower and check my spelling).

Doodle Week was something I started with Claire. Later, Mo joined us and helped bring in more people to doodle. Over time things wound down until I gave up on Doodle Week. I kept doodling myself, took a break for a couple of months, then started up again sometime before the holidays. It’s like a bug, you just can’t get over.

When Deanna mentioned bringing Doodle Week back as part of U3 I took a second to consider it. Taking it on again, telling people about it and trying to encourage more people who think they can’t draw to draw anyway. That’s how and why I started Doodle Week after all. As you can see, I decided to do it again. Once you doodle you can never truly go back.

The Rules of Doodle Week:

Doodle Week is like other memes online. One site hosts the event and others chime in with their contributions posted to their own blogs. Everyone who participates links back here so we can all find each other. Some will leave comments on each other’s doodles. But it isn’t a set rule, just very nice to do. We all need encouragement!

Doodle Week will be one day each week. A topic will be set for the weekly doodle. If it isn’t something that inspires you, pick something related. I will try to come up with ideas/ themes/ topics which are seasonal or at least inspiring enough to give everyone room to grow their own version of the theme. For instance, if the theme is Valentines Day, you can come up with something as simple as drawing hearts to as complex as drawing your own Valentine card to send to your favourite love.

That’s about it for the rules. Pretty simple.

Doodle Week on Flickr. Handy for anyone who wants to join but does not have a blog to post doodles to.

Doodle Week on Twitter

A lovely fashion sketch by Sir Cecil Beaton, which wafts off my monitor and makes my heart lighter…

In non-art related news, I’ve been spending all weekend cleaning my home, laying down poison and traps, all to rid myself of an unwanted, non-pet, mouse. I can understand him wanting to move in here; it’s already friggin’ cold here in Fargo. But he cannot stay here.

I tell you all this so that you A) understand why I would be feeling the need to get away from the cleaning fumes and get some fresh spring air, and #2 have an actual real life lesson in how art can transport one.

When I was about to turn 10, my mother took me out — just her and I — to go shopping for my own gifts. It may sound silly, but at the time it was the coolest thing ever. A few blissful hours in which I was the only kid and had the sole attention and direction of my mother. And her wallet. We even stopped for sundaes too.

The only thing that topped it was the actual gifts I chose.

There was the Louis Marx Comanche horse, the bay with black mane and tail with articulated head and legs; sure to make my sister pea-green with envy. And there was a boxed set of colored pencils — not just any colored pencils, but water color pencils.

Comanche was lovingly played with, surviving far better than most plastic horses, and was eventually given to a younger horse-loving cousin. But the pencils are another story.

I’d had colored pencils for years in school, of course; but these were different. They were water color pencils. They even had a permanent plastic case which stated their magnificence and superiority above the usual temporary cardboard box. These pencils were so prized, so grown-up, so filled with the colors and promise of real art, that they intimidated me. I rarely used them. In fact, 30-odd years later, they sit, looking nearly untouched.

I won’t lie and say that Comanche wasn’t loved; he really was. But I was willing to put him to use as the manufacturer intended. The water color pencils, however, were so loved I didn’t dare use them.

Without getting overly sentimental (and risking sounding like a cliche), it’s really sad to acknowledge that somehow I’ve thought the world needs more loved-into-being-tailless horses more than whatever art I might have made. The world, and I, can survive both.

Memo to self: One of the New Year’s Resolutions is to get out the water color pencils and make something. Maybe even some horses.

Art Credits: Horse Running in Gold Field and Prancing Horse by Hosslass Art.

Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk, via the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, has created a new international contemporary art prize to discover, recognize and give long-term support to a future generation of artists.

The Future Generation Art Prize will be held every two years and the winner will receive $100,000.

All artists up to 35 may apply with their work without any restrictions concerning gender, nationality, race or artistic medium.

The artists apply through an open call via the Internet. Application form shall be available to all on the Prize website.

Additionally, 100 correspondent art experts from all over the world will nominate a minimum of two and a maximum of five candidates. The experts are curators, artists, critics and tutors at art colleges and academies. All artists apart from former Prize winners are be eligible to apply multiple times, as long as they continue to fulfil the entry conditions.

Online applications for the prize will be taken between January 18, 2010 and April 18, 2010. In October of 2010, twenty shortlisted artists will be selected to show their work in an exhibition at Kiev’s PinchukArtCentre, one of the largest centers for contemporary art in the Eastern Europe, founded by Pinchuk in September 2006.