I Think I Can...

I think I finally figured out how to get from a sketch to a drawing then scan it (hopefully I have the right dpi or ppi, but who knows?) and I think the end result is what I want to see, right here, on this little blog I've been neglecting.

So that there is my not-a-business-card. Which just so happens to be approximately the size of a dollar bill. :)

Happiness on Paper

Today I delivered two custom orders happiness on paper.

#1 A handlettered "Favorite Things" made for a bride and groom, made from two separate lists of their favorite things.

#2 A handlettered "Celebrating 60 Years of Favorites", to celebrate a 60th Birthday with a little artsy surprise from the woman's daughter.

After all the time and obsessing detail I put into these projects, it was absolutely satisfying to deliver them and see the smiles, hear the comments, and watch their faces as they found their favorite parts.

I love LOVE L-O-V-E typography and lettering. I love finding (or creating) the perfect capital "M". Or "R". I love Ampersands, fancy lil' Curly-Q's and shading. I love swirls. And curvy lines. And tall letters, skinny letters, accented letters, outlined letters. And I love putting all of those things together on paper.

Yep, happiness on paper. That's what I just made. :)

new client

Yay! I've got a new client, a paying client, who ordered signs today!
It's someone I know through my son's school, and she contacted me and said she wants some work done- and she wants to pay me for my time- because she likes my work and values my time.
Woo hoo!
That's so much nicer than hearing "Hey, can you do me a favor and make me a sign?" (To which I always want to answer, "Only if you do me a favor and pay me for my time!")

Now, for the hard part:
What in the world do I charge? I have to come up with an estimate!
I have NO idea how much time this new project might take me.

My husband jokingly asked- "So, how much money are you going to lose on this one?"
Uh huh! He did!

I know whenever I make posters or large signs, it always takes me longer than I think it will. And I have this bad habit of re-doing and starting over... I need to remind myself that I can do that, if I don't want to make any money.

Random Lists

I'm really good at making lists. Lists for stuff I like, things I want to do, ideas for art projects, random little lists of places I want to go, even grocery lists (when I force myself to!).

But I pretty much suck at I mean, I need to focus on finishing the things on my many lists. Especially the mundane household tasks. it's easy to lack motivation there.
I absolutely excel at all kinds of procrastination and forgetfulness. and I have the attention span of a fruitfly sometimes.
And I'm really awful at time management. Time just flies by...

Confession: Sometimes I add things I've already done to the lists I make, just so I can make it look like I've done something more. Sometimes it makes me feel better to do that. And it's silly, because I'm the only person who looks at these lists!

Wouldn't life be so much easier if the things we really WANT to do didn't have to be completely outnumbered by the things we NEED to do that just aren't fun?

Well, then... I'm off to see what I can get done. I think today I will alternate between my "Must Do TODAY" (un-fun items) and the "Wanna Do!" list. I've actually already taken care of the least fun things (dishes & starting laundry) so I think a fun painting project is next.

And there's a nice bar of chocolate I've got waiting for me when my list is finished. semi-finished.
Anyway, there's always tomorrow... And as long as we have clean undies (check!) and some sort of idea for dinner, I'm good to go.

Next goal: adding photos of current artwork to this here bloggy thing. :)

I'm working on a new art project: song lyrics, painted in India Ink.
Black ink, on off white paper, of course.
So obviously I screw up.... Halfway through. Oops.
Bummer. :( I hate when that happens!
And of course I liked how it was going. Until now. Grrrrr.

Now would be a good time to take a break.
And eat some chocolate.

first post, woo hoo!

My very first post... and I can't think of anything even remotely clever to say... Go figure. 

I'm pretty pleased with myself for setting up a blog, although someone had already stolen  taken the name I had wanted for my blog address.

Oh well. No big deal. I can go with www.wordartbysarah@blogspot.com (although I had wanted the blog address to read wordartstudio, blah blah blah.) 

I have the domain name for wordartstudio.com ....(Isn't that special?) Thank you to the guy named Jerry at GoDaddy. 

And someday I want to make my own website. After all, I did follow multiple steps to create this here blog... I played with lots of colors and backgrounds, and most amazingly, the computer didn't suddenly kill everything I had just spent an embarrassing amount of time working on!

(sigh...) Computers and directions just don't translate well in my head.

(Are people really going to read this?)