This past winter and spring I worked on getting some new and different products up and going that I could put my art on. Some of it I just put on Etsy, and I have posted about those before. Others I waited to see how they would do in my local Farmer’s Market, as well as how hard it would be to keep up with doing it, how long it would take to get more supplies, etc.

I create several new products, some have to be printed by other companies as I don’t have the equipment to do so. But 2 products I created I make here at my home and I have really enjoyed making them.

Earrings was the first and has been a lot of fun to create. I love how my art pops and how unique the earrings are. They are somewhat labor intensive getting them prepped and then getting the hangers put on them, but deciding what to put on them and printing and sublimating has been really fun.

The second item is microfiber towels. They have been a nice addition to my booth, and have been a consistent seller both with local people as well as tourists. Because of their consistency in selling I have started to add them to my Etsy shop. I have the Forget-Me-Not towel set available and many more set of pictures to process and upload of the other pictures available.

Painting lately hasn’t happened as much as it should, but I have had a set of white peony flowers on my art table for a few weeks. Although I haven’t had a lot of time every day to paint, I have gotten it finished finally. This painting is a larger size, 15×22 was the original size. When I framed it I had to cut off some of the excess so it’s 14×18 now. I don’t paint white flowers very often, and it’s harder to get detail into them, but I really enjoyed this process and I like the finished product.

Lastly, the Alaska State Fair started last week and I had a wonderful friend go and send me a picture of the results. She was super excited and I was super excited when she sent me a picture of my blue ribbon! A few days later I was able to go myself and see my picture and blue ribbon. So many people in Willow were excited to see the results, and their excitement at my winning was exciting and humbling for me. I am so grateful for their support and excitement!

Fall is in the air this past week. I am looking forward to being inside a little bit more and being able to paint more regularly. I am also looking forward to the upcoming classes I have planned and expanding my class schedule to include other towns in my local area.