Featured Artist

I was just featured on Cleveland Handmade! W00-hoo, check it out when you have the time :)

http://www.clevelandhandmade.com/2010/01/shannen-cleis-happy-elephant-designs/

Harry Chapin and my Epiphany

This weekend I was driving to Akron to go to a Baby Shower with my sister and I was jamming to some tunes on my iPod. I don't know if any of you are familiar with Harry Chapin, but I was raised listening to him, Billy Joel, Cat Stevens...etc. You couldn't be in my family without loving Harry and belting out his tunes (just ask my siblings spouses...they just LOVE it! lol)



So I'm listening to one of my favorites by him called Mr. Tanner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea6cgfU8bC4 and the words for the chorus really took on a different meaning this time to me. I don't know if it's cause I've been re-evaluating my company and trying to think of ways to turning it into a more profitable business, but those three sentences really touched a chord in my heart...



(chorus)

But music was his life, it was not his livelihood,and it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good. And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul. He did not know how well he sang; It just made him whole.



If you substituted 'music' for 'creating' in the chorus that is exactly how I feel. And it made me realize that I need to stop worrying about what other people think of my creations. Stop stressing about how to make my cards geared more towards the mass audience so that they will sell, but to make what is in my heart...and if it sells, then it sells. If not, then oh well.



That's not to say that I'm not going to try and make this business a success, but I'm going to try and do it so that my soul is still happy with my work!

Inspiration and the art at looking at things differently

I'm obsessed with shows like Top Chef and Project Runway. Especially the challenges where the chef's/artist have the same ingredients/materials and have to make something out of it. It fascinates me that people with the same stuff can make something completely different!

This is why I find art and creativity amazing. The different ways that people have of looking at the same exact things....that's just great! Even in my own studio, where I'm looking at the same materials that I had the day before. Yet I am inspired to create totally different things from day to day.

2010 Resolutions for Happy Elephant Designs

The new year is upon us, which is a perfect time for me to sit down and re-evalute where I want this company to go. For the new year I would love to have more sales, get my cards out there more, and create, create, create! In order to do this I made a list of 13 things that I think would help me do this. Hopefully I'm not biting off more than I can chew! :)

Here goes:

1. re-vamp my etsy shop and 1000 market shop so that it is geared more towards inviations (which I think sell better on-line than individual cards).

2. Read up more on how to letterpress with my new machine and then implemant it.

3. Market myself more by advertising (cheaply)...like with Project Wonderful Ads, twitter, Facebook, blogging, chatting in Etsy, etc.

4. Blog at least once a week and get more followers. This may be a challenge, but I believe it will help me get my business out there and make a connection with the community.

5. Learn more about Facebook Fanpage and implemant it.

6. Become more involved with my teams, especially Cleveland Team. I feel that there are alot of opportunities out there in that team that I'm not utilizing.

7. Get stock up to at least 100 cards so that I will have cards to list once a day.

8. Rotate stock more at the brick and mortar shops that I'm in. I believe I will sell more if I keep the merchandise fresh.

9. List at least once a day on Etsy and 1K market. This means doing a better job of getting my pictures taken of the cards.

10. Utilize my GA and SEO better.

11. Make Holiday cards at least @ months prior to that Holiday and get them in the shops and online.

12. Read all the articles in my inbox that I've been meaning to get too. There are some great tools in those articles that I've been putting off that I think will help me become more succesful.

13. Jump into the forums on both the 1K market and Etsy to get my name out there.

I have lots of things planned for the future. I have many ideas for Halloween cards that I need to get creating before the holiday comes and passes me by! Especially if I want to sell them in my shops on Etsy or 1000 Markets. I actually should have posted Halloween cards 2 months ago, but I'm the kind of person who gets inspired by her surroundings...so it was kind of hard to create fall/Halloween stuff when it was the height of the summer.



I also have an order from one of my most loyal and best customer, Lisa. Love that girl, she always thinks of me when she needs to give a card. And she lets me go wild with creating whatever I want. She just gives me a theme and says, "Go at it!".



Then there's The Local Girl Gallery http://www.localgirlgallery.com/index.html . She contacted me saying I have a few checks coming in the mail from past sales (woo-hoo!), and that she needs more cards for her store. So I'm stopping by there next week with some cards...last time I went there she took all of my stock! Needless to say, I want to make as much cards as I can before I go so I'm not left empty handed again. :) Then she has two up-coming events in her Gallery that are both deserving causes. The first is October 17th. It's a benefit called Land Escaping with proceeds going to Lakewood Earth and Food (LEAF) Community. LEAF has over 125 community gardens in the city, and funds raised from this event will go toward the 2010 growing season. She asks any artist to donate their interpretation of a landscape or garden, and the finished artworks will go up for auction the evening of the benefit. The second benefit is October 24th for The Children's Glioma Cancer Foundation "Sunflowers of Hope". For this one she asks any artist for their interpretation of the sunflower, or hope. So I would love to create 2 cards for her for the silent auctions because they are great causes and any exposure is good exposure.

I need to start getting motivated on making Christmas cards too. A woman I've dealt with who has a boutique in Singapore has sent a call out for Christmas cards, tags, and 2010 Calendar's for wholesale. I would love to participate in that, but fear I might not be able to make enough Christmas cards for my Etsy and 1000 Markets, my personal Christmas cards, Christmas sets for both The Local Girl Gallery http://www.localgirlgallery.com/index.html and Artefino http://www.artefinogallery.com/ (the other Gallery my cards are in) AND for Paultette (the girl from Singapore).

Last, but not least, I need to re-take all my pictures of my cards for both my sites. I just ordered a Light Box off of Amazon. I'm excited because it wasn't expensive, and it collapses like a tent. I was going to make a homemade one for only $5....but was concerned where I was going to store it when I was through with taking pictures. But one of my Etsy Greetings Team members directed me to the one she purchased and uses, and her pictures are amazing. It was only $30, so I went for it. I can't wait for it to arrive! Now I can take pictures whenever I want, day or night, and it will reduce my time in editing on photo shop.

So there you have it! All the projects I have coming up in the future. And that doesn't include the trip I'm taking to Oregon the first week in October. That's going to eat up some creative time...but I'll be having a blast with my brother and his family! :)

Get on the ball

I really need to get on the ball and start creating some new cards!! My brother and his family were in town for 2 weeks over the Holiday, so I didn't get any work done then. Then my 2 year old decided to bite her binks and put holes in them, and the maker discontinued them...so I've been weening her off of binks during naptime and bedtime! Bedtime went great, naptime...not so much. So there went my creative alone time!

Well, she's back to napping (knock on wood!!) so time to get back to it!!

Here's a picture of a new card I made and just posted on Etsy and 1000 markets. Hope you like it :)

Closer look at my workspace

So here's the second part to my blog about organizing my workspace. As you can see, I reuse alot of things I had laying around the house and repurposed them to hold other things! Hope it helps you guys out a little. :)




I got this at Home Depot...it's supposed to hold nuts and bolts!

but I put all my embellishments in them (in alphabetically order)

I repurposed this box to hold my more frequently used adhesives

A top view of my stash of adhesives

These are two little containers I put my thread

A top view of my thread

A tin box I got with something I bought a long time ago...now I keep all my word chipboards.

As you can see I Xyron'd the chipboard so it's already for me to use when I feel the need.

These are the repurposed boxes I used to keep my thread in as a child...now it holds my buttons.

This came with a set I bought on QVC, now I use it to hold my spillover of buttons. It was made to orginally hold something else.

My button box closed up.

I can't remember where I got this clear plastic case from...but it was like the thing above, came with something else and I repurposed it to hold my many embellishments!

I have alphabet transfer, tiny buttons, flower buckles, metal party hats.....it goes on and on :)

And these little plastic tins come right out!

I bought these at Michael's I think.

They hold my ribbons now....

And one holds all my alphabets.

I put all the A's in one compartment, B's in another...that way when I need a letter I don't have to go searching.

This is where I store my stamps. I had these trays as a little girl too, don't remember what I kept in them.

but what's nice about them is that they accordian (or spin) so that I can access the bottom ones. They also lift off of each other if need be. I stamped all the stamps in a notebook, though, so I could see them all at a glance.

where I keep my sharp little scissors that I use all the time, my pens, chapstick, little eraser...

this is like the first picture, but littlier drawers. I keep all my embellishements here that i use the most....

...like mini brads

just another pic of my most frequently used things.

This is a standing plastic folder that I got at Orential Trading Magazine for really cheap. This one holds all the projects I'm working on, my notebook that has all my ideas in, the stamp notebook with all my stamp pics in.

These ones hold my 8 X 10 papers that I got at Hollo Papercrafts (this awesome store that sells paper by the pound so you can get TONS of papers for only a couple bucks. And they have great texture and heft to them)

these ones hold my 12 X 12 papers. Put in a rainbow order.

this is a filing cabinet one of parents had laying around....

...it now holds my 8 X 10 pics in rainbow order....

and the bottom drawer has folders with things like "seasons", or 'Halloween" papers, in alphabetical order

an old plastic container with drawers. As you can see it has my scissors, glue, .....

closer look of a drawer

an according folder that holds my 12 X 12 scraps

an inside view

this is how I hold my ribbons that came on a spool thingy . I got this at Joann Fabrics I think

closer look at my ribbons

this used to be my mom's cookie jar. Now it holds my silk flowers!

this is a tin container I got as a gift. It had lotions in it...i use it to hold my fabric paints!

This is a shoebox I use to hold the envelopes I got for free at Hallmark and American Greeting (did you know they will give you envelops for FREE!)

A basket my mom had that now holds all my envelopes

baskets I got at Michaels on sale. They hold my inks, chalk, some projects, pictures....

closer look inside the basket of inks and chalk

another old plastic container drawer. It now holds my pens and punches.

where I keep all my scrapbooks and idea books

my new and improved workspace

Here are the pics for my new workspace. After 2 years of being in the cold, dark basement (shared with unwanted spider friends!!), I've been moved to our Family Room (thanks to the understanding and help from my wonderful Hubby! :). I know it's kind of weird to be using space in our living area, but we do have another Living Room that we can entertain in. And I'm a very organized crafter, so I don't think it will be an unsightly problem. We decided that it's our house, so who cares what others might think...if it's going to help me create, than let's do it! Now I have a window to look out of to help inspire me, and I can create while me and Eric watch TV. Plus, I'm not that far away from Molly while she's napping. So take a gander at the photo's and let me know what you think!

(my workspace from when you walk into the Family Room)

(a closer view of my table)

(the view from my desk!!)