How to Create Greeting Cards from Your Artwork

Creating a line of greeting cards to sell out of a series of drawings or paintings is a great way that many artists make passive income, which can be key to a thriving career as an artist.

Today I'm first going to discuss a little bit about I chose to make these Happy Hawai'i greeting cards (since they are quite different than the paintings I usually create!) in hopes of inspiring you to look around for opportunities to offer something reproducible within your own art business. Next I'll share my step-by-step approach to digitizing and formatting both the greeting cards as well as the logo'd insert and sourcing packaging. Then keep an eye on this channel (subscribe!) because I've got a video in the works about how to approach shops to carry your cards! Yay!

As artists we love to make things with our own hands. However if everything we make money on is original and made by hand then there is a limit to how many pieces we can sell. Conversely, if we find ways to sell art reproductions or products (or even better, find ways to have other people/businesses sell our products for us!) then the potential for income is as infinite as the popularity of the item.

I hope you learn so much today! Here are some resources for you:

Formatting:

https://www.canva.com

UPC Code:

https://www.instantupccodes.com

Bar Code:

https://www.upcbarcodes.com

Compostable Packaging:

https://bit.ly/2QoKtYB

Plant Raffia:

https://bit.ly/2GWRvV5

Snag a set of Happy Hawai'i Greeting Cards!

https://www.happyhawaiigreetingcards.com

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originally published January 3, 2018

Happy Hawai'i Greeting Cards Teaser!

Wowowow!! So excited these cards are in the works! And even more excited that I get to share the whole process with you!!

Hopefully you saw my timelapse video last week of me painting the Happy Hawai’i scenes, of not, no worries because I created this little 1 minute teaser to help get the word out on my latest artistic venture. Yay!

Snag a set of cards here at the discounted pre-sale rate (with free US shipping!):

https://www.caleighbirdart.com/happy-hawaii-greeting-cards/

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originally published November 19, 2018

Hawai'ian Surfboard Art :: Update

Last week for my birthday I was surprised with a gift of three of the mini surfboards with my featured designs from my first art licensing deal! So remarkable to see my artwork in this new format! 

They are actually made by hand, if you can believe it (they're so smooth!). The process entails shaping the boards by hand, then printing my images on rice paper and affixing it to the boards while dipping them in a fiberglass type sealant. Last, but not least, a small sculpted fin is attached with adhesive and viola! The most realistic miniboard you could imagine! 

Hope there are more opportunities like this in the future! Have you ever had a chance to design something that would be  licensed and reproduced? Let me know in the comments:)

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originally posted: January 21, 2017

Inspo Saturdays :: A Special Hawaiian Project

So in my personal life as a working artist, I try to be a "yes" person as much as possible. Even when I am first approached to do something that seems outside of my comfort zone or area of expertise, I suck it up and put on a smile and secretly cross my fingers hoping that I'll figure it out well enough along the way. 

Over the years one life lesson I have picked up is if you really want to make it in this business, you have to learn to not doubt yourself and just get excited about whatever opportunities come your way. 

Not my photo, but taken in a spot where I got to swim with two sea turtles

What came my way recently has been my first opportunity at art licensing! Woo Hoo! Some friends-of-friends out here on O'ahu are going to be making mini surfboards as a collectors item and they had a few specific Hawai'ian designs they were looking to have created as .png images and then  mounted on an entire series of different colored boards.

 Lo and behold, I meet one of the developers, he sees my snazzy business cards and website with my charcoal drawings, and boom! I've got two new commissions.

Certainly landscapes and wildlife are not in my normal repertoire, but I have learned to throw self-doubt out the window and tackle commissions with aplomb. Not to mention that I live in Palolo, which is a valley directly behind the legendary Diamond Head Crater so I see it every day. Plus, I've been blessed with Aloha and have enjoyed the magical experience of swimming around with sea turtles twice since moving here.

It can be scary to put yourself out there (terrifying, in fact) but I think it was my mother who told me that if someone wants to hire me for a creative gig, it's because they believe I can do it and so should I. Sage advice I think all of us creatives can all take!

My drawing of more of a classic pre-settlement Diamond Head Crater with canoe surfers in the water

Diamond Head today as seen from a harbor cruise

In summation, Hawai'i is fan-freakin-tastic (thanks, Captain Obvious!) and I love it here. I just realized during the writing of this post that today actually marks the one year anniversary of my living here on O'ahu - incredible how time flies! So here is a little slide-show of this past year's adventures here and on my trip to Big Island. (And that handsome chap you see me with is my loving boyfriend and the reason I moved out here, Tim. Lucky me!) Enjoy:)

Have you ever visited Hawai'i or any other Pacific Island? I have yet to venture towards Asia, but I can't wait to do so! I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments! 

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originally posted: December 31, 2016