Catching up! My first Art Fair and inside Cloud Nine Studios!

              Hello Everyone! What a busy little bee I have been lately. I am grateful to have a second to breathe now and catch you all up on how my first art fair went! The Fair was from Friday-Sunday. Friday morning was set up from 9am-11am but when I got there they were still mopping the event space! We ended up only having about an hour and a half for set up which made me STRESS big time. When the event started it was like a ghost town. Friday I went home with $6 in sales. 

I felt very defeated.

Saturday came and I showed up with a positive attitude ready to hustle my stuff! I rearranged my booth a little to help the flow of traffic enter easier and I lowered my prices to see if it made some difference. Thankfully, the amount of people walking around was amazing! I was starting to see which things people were consistently drawn to in my booth and what was selling and not. I left Saturday with breaking even for the fair. I was happy with my decisions and feeling more confident about my work and space. 

Sunday rolled around and going into the day I was already even for the weekend. So anything that I sold was profit. This made it a little easier for me to let go of pieces for an even lower price. At first I was stubborn in my pricing but then I realized I can just make more of them and the more I sold the better I would feel about my first show. The traffic was a little slower again on Sunday but I end up about $100 plus for the weekend. 

(Mikaela and her homemade dog treats)

For my first fair I am extremely proud. My goal was to at least break even and get some great experience and advertising and I ended up in sales. I now know what people are interested in and what works for displaying my pieces and what doesn't work. Selling online is very different then selling in person. I had used a lot of strategies that I would for selling online at first at the fair and quickly realized the differences!

I was able to meet some great artists and people walking through. I handed out a TON of businesses cards and have some possible commissions that I am hoping will follow up! I am so grateful for all the help that my boyfriend George was able to do for me. I am so lucky to have someone who fully supports me and is always there if I need him. Also a HUGE thank you to my room mate Jessica for taking time out of her day off the help me set up! She really kept me in check when I wanted to break down before it even all started. 

My goal this week is to update my Etsy shop and list everything that I photographed before the show so if people decide to find me from my business card that everything is looking up to date and professional! I have a lot of work ahead of me but I feel only good vibes from the whole experience.....except for the parking ticket I got trying to unload my car! Oops. Oh well! 

Click here for my ETSY SHOP!

I should be back on schedule for the blogs now! Be sure to check out my Etsy for all the new items and updates! Also be sure to click the subscribe button on the top right of this page if you liked this blog and want more!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Recycled Sweater Coat- 2XL by - LauraAnnLyon

Song of the Day:

U2 - Beautiful Day

Color of the Day:

Little Angel

What's new in the world of Cloud Nine Studios?

It's me again! I have a lot of things to cover today and I am all over the place, so let's just dive in shall we! Today I have been working hard on posting the Michigan Greeting Cards I have recently mentioned in a past blog on my Etsy Shop. It is a lot of work to post new items. This will be the first time I am posting Greeting Cards to my shop so I wanted to do some research on the normal listings of successful cards first. I found some of the cutest greeting cards! Here are some of my favorites!

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Making my Michigan Greeting Cards was just a spur of the moment idea I had to have smaller items and less priced items in my inventory for the DIY Art Festival at the end of the month. I had so much fun making them and now I am super inspired seeing all the wonderful cards on Etsy. Anytime I make any product even if it's sold, I try and take pictures of it and post it on my Etsy shop. If it is sold, then I post it on a made to order basis. The more images and listings you have in your shop the more chances to get noticed and create a sale!

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Also today I am getting ready to meet with my Artists Talking Art Group for the second time! I am not expecting many people as I have been so busy in the studio I admit I have been lacking on the posts about it reminding people to come. Either way even if I have one person show up I will get some relaxing time to drink some tea and talk about art. Can't complain about that!

**Cue adorable tea cup picture!

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Isn't this cute? Tomorrow's blog is going to be dedicated to collecting things. You'll get to read about why I love a good collection and how it can inspire us and increase happiness. Which reminds me of my next thought I want to mention today....weekly dream color scheme. I have so many dreams that I am always wanting to share but I have no reason to. The blog I did about creating color schemes from memories had such great responses, that I thought I would dedicate one day of the week of this blog specifically for a dream that I had where I will describe it in as much detail as I can and create a color scheme that goes with it. So FRIDAYS will not be dedicated to my weekly dream inspired color scheme. Any clever names I can use for the title? 

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Told you I was all over the place today! Still with me? Great, you are the best. :]

I have so many ideas for the blog that the more feedback I get the easier it is for me to post what you all want to read about! Is there anything that you would love to hear me touch on? Let me know in the comments below and help this happy little art blog bloom into a beautiful flower of happy goodness! 

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Hummingbird Rustic Hand Printed Wrapping Paper - Three Sheets by - HandmadeandHeritage

Song of the Day:

Alle Farben - She Moves feat. Graham Candy

Color of the Day:

Split Pea Green

The power of consistency.

Hello again! Yep, you guessed it another blog. Today I want to talk about a topic that comes up a lot for me. This is probably my biggest struggle as an artist and business owner. It's something that is VERY important. To most people it either comes super easy to them or is a big problem like me!

Want me to just tell you already? Fine, it's CONSISTENCY! 

Booooooooo.

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Ughhhh my nemisis. Consistency is so important blah blah blah. As an artist is it really important to have consistency with your art. I feel this is especially true for artists who promote themselves online or social media. (aka me) Why is consistency important, you may ask....well here it is! 

(I loved video. He seems so genuine and his words are perfect for today's blog)

Consistency is important because people want to easily be able to recognize "who you are as an artist" and your products. If you are inconsistent, people might getting distracted or confused and leave your site. I know because I do this when I look at other Etsy shops. Unfortunately, I know that my shop is currently inconsistent. I am working on this as my top priority. My images first and foremost NEED to be consistent. Especially for a shop that has multiple types of products. I think if you only sell soap you can have some variety to things because your product is consistent. Since I work with so many mediums I need to have consistent photography. 

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Why do I struggle with consistency so much? Well...I haven't mentioned this in the blogs yet but I love astrology! My gramcrackers is an astrologer and she has taught me the ins and outs of being an Astrologer. Phew! I am glad I brought that up....look forward to much more astrology talk from now on! Anyway, I believe that a big part of my struggle with inconsistency is my GEMINI nature. Gemini's have many strengths like being a jack-of-all trades. With this they tend to be good at everything they try but get bored with things very easily. I KNOW this is how I work. I might do a watercolor one day and the next be into my wood burning. It keeps me interested and as long as I actually finish my projects I can continue to jump around!

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             How can I become more consistent with my art? I think routines are key. Setting routines might be hard at first but once you stick with them, after a certain amount of time they will become habit. Today I went to the Rustbelt where my space will be for the DIY Art Fair and walked about looking at other artist's shops and seeing their styles and set-ups helped remind me how finding my "style" for everything I do with my art and shop helps make consistency more natural. Coming up with a simple logo and using it for everything even price tags was one of the best ideas a saw. 

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           Well today's blog was a little difficult for me to try and write. It's hard to address something you might consider a weakness. I know it's an important topic and addressing it makes it easier to work on it. Consistently Consistent from here on out! What kinds of things to do struggle with in your art? Do you have any suggestions on easy ways to find consistency within my Etsy Shop? Let me know your thoughts!  

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Buddha . The Mind is Everything, What you Think you Become . Ring Dish . Yellow Moon . Star . Jewelry Dish . Celestial by - neCeramics

Song of the Day:

Wax Tailor - Que Sera 

Color of the Day:

Benjamin Moore Scuba Green 2046-50

DIY - PAINT BRUSH CLEANER (Made with hot glue gun)

It has been a weird couple of days but also an AMAZING couple of days. My love took me away for a night to the west side of Michigan with another couple. We stayed in an amazing castle and saw my favorite band Lake Street Dive. It was a magical two days and I felt very inspired and in love.

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Since I have been away all weekend I wanted to use my last day off to really get things done in my studio. I entered the room this morning and felt SO OVERWHELMED. There were things everywhere. I have started so many pieces and each are different mediums. I just couldn't get my thoughts together so I decided it was time to clean and reorganize everything.

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I started by getting all the random trash out and creating more space. I felt cramped and anxious and now I feel free! I had also been putting off cleaning a ton of my brushes that were just sitting in old mineral spirits. I was actually convinced I had ruined all of them because they had been sitting there for so long. I remembered this great idea I saw and decided to make one of my own!

I understand that this video was made for make-up brushes but it works the same for paintbrushes. I made one on a metal tray that I had left lying around. It works so well I wish I had more brushes to clean. I not only saved every single brush I don't think they have ever been this clean. It took maybe ten minutes to make and if you are an artist with deals with paintbrushes of any kind I DEFINITELY recommend making one of these.

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ANYWAY! Now that everything is clean and has a place I am going to organize my inventory on paper which is something I have never done before. I want to do this because like I already mentioned I keep starting all these little pieces for the DIY Art Fair but not finishing them and I feel all over the place. I want to know exactly what I have and how many of each so I can focus on what I want to have for the fair. I know as of now that I probably need to at least DOUBLE my inventory which is terrifying but I know if I can just get my thoughts straight I will make it happen.

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Before I left for the weekend adventure I did however finish my lovely little Alice in Wonderland inspired Watercolor piece! Sometimes I make pieces and I think "oh, that's cute.....moving on" but every now and again I make something I love and it might be vain but I CAN NOT stop looking at it. I really want to make more pieces like this and get prints to sell but I feel like I need to stick with what I can do for the fair for now and after this month dive a little deeper into my watercolor ideas.

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So that's all I have for today. I really want to get to work in here now that it's cleaned up but I wanted to make sure I blogged since I couldn't while I was away. I hope you all have a wonderland day!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

USB flash drive 8 GB, kawaii blue cat, cat with constellation big dipper, back to school , cobalt cat usb flash by - CloverPower

Song of the Day:

Garden Sessions: Lake Street Dive - "Look At What Mistake" - Radio Woodstock

Color of the Day:

 BENJAMIN MOORE CORLSBUD CANYON 076

The Wonderful World of Wood Burning - Pyrography

Hello Again! Today I thought we could talk about a type of art that I have gotten into within the past year and I am OBSESSED! Wood Burning or "Pyrography". I really enjoy experimenting with new mediums and different materials to create on. On a whim near Christmas of last year I decided to buy a starter kit just to play with......Well, I ended up making up practically all of my Christmas gifts to friends and family using it! I couldn't get enough and I was jam packed with different ideas.

This was one of the first pieces a made from an old TV tray. My mother and pops are moving to Oregon so I burned the state on the tray with their "clan name". I stained the outside and sealed it with varnish. They loved it! It was a fun, simple, and thoughtful gift. Homemade gifts are definitely better than bought!

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I have continued to adventure away with my wood burner and was lucky enough to get a ton of really great tips for my burner that allow me to create some unique lines and shapes. Also it came in a great organized container with different sections that I can separate however I want. If it keeps easily tidy I am already in love! 

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What is so appealing about burning wood? I grew up in a very "rustic family' which is odd because I grew up in a normal suburban town in Michigan just outside of Detroit. Not the most rustic places in the world but that's just how my family was. My mother grew up in Colorado and most of our love for wood and nature was probably brought on by her. So even the idea of working with wood I was drawn too and had been painting on wood for a while and it feels much more organic. 

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I have a love / hate relationship with the fact that it's pretty much permanent so if you mess up it is almost impossible to fix. I am use to oil painting which is easy to work with since it stays wet for so much longer and you are fix your mistakes much easier than say watercolor or even acrylic. I have learned this great "scraping" technique with a small razor to eliminate light burns in areas you don't want. But I tend to use the burner on the higher settings and it burns rather deep, quickly which tends to not scrape well. I end up with big divots in those areas.

(This video is a really great example on how to scrape some mistakes away from your burning.)

I had sketchbooks filled with these great doodles I came up with for fun a while back. I never thought I would end up doing anything with them but when I decided to make small wood burned paintings out of them I was pleasantly surprised at how CUTE they turned out! 

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Mixing paint on a wood burned area is so much fun because it can almost feel like you are coloring. you have to be very careful not to get too close to the burn or the paint tends to run down in the burn and it's very hard to "wipe away" but it is fixable for the most part and I think the finished look is really stunning! 

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Mixing paint on a wood burned area is so much fun because it can almost feel like you are coloring. you have to be very careful not to get too close to the burn or the paint tends to run down in the burn and it's very hard to "wipe away" but it is fixable for the most part and I think the finished look is really stunning! 

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Well that's it for today everyone! Thanks for stopping by and if you are even slightly interested in trying out wood burning after reading this I ABSOLUTELY recommend it! For more on pieces like "The Owl" below, be sure to check out my Etsy Shop! Or follow me in Instagram where I frequently post these step by step pictures of my process through a piece! Thanks again!

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Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Custom Made To Order Wood Burned Sign With Pressed Flowers by - EarthenAllure

Song of the Day:

Ellie Goulding - Burn

Color of the Day:

Ben Moore Tuscan Red 1300