Thursday, December 27, 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

2013 Calendar


My 2013 Calendar
it's Free.

Download it here.

Save it as your desktop wallpaper
or print it yourself...
my 'gift' to you
and
wishing you
"A Happy and Joyous New Year"!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Framing your print art...on a budget.


Over the years I have painted many
small OSWOA paintings...
and I often try to offer them
with a frame included.

The frame above was a very cool find
that I found at a yard sale
and it worked 'perfect'
for my original little painting...
it sold pretty fast too...
just with the frame included.

I do quite a few small paintings each year
on sheets of acrylic or watercolor paper...
or small pieces of unstretched primed canvas...
and as often as possible...
I do try to make sure I put these in a frame...
not always though.



 A lot of my art is created digitally,
which means that in order to display it...
a frame is needed.
My favorite frames are not the
pricey ones found in framing shops...but rather...
the little 'treasures' one can find
at yard sales or thrift stores.

I found an interesting tutorial about
framing with 'thrift store frames'
here.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Prices lowered for some International Packages

As of December 17th...I am no longer
charging International Priority shipping rates on
standard sized or large limited edition prints.

I am now offering First Class prices, which are significantly
lower in price...
however...
the shipping times on First class packages is usually
longer in duration...
just an FYI.

I will also offer First Class shipping on my smaller paintings...
again...
the times are longer
so Priority shipping is an option for anyone
wanting to expedite shipping.

Originally my thoughts about charging priority shipping prices
was that I would be able to 'track' the packages through
to delivery...
such is not the case...
tracking updates cease once the package departs
the final US Sort Facility.

Also...I don't have a car...so I couldn't make regular trips
to the Post Office to mail my International packages.
To solve this problem...
I will 'catch a ride' to the post office
once a week...
so the 'turn around' time on International packages will
be a couple days longer than the US packages.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Deadlines for Shipping


While I have been completely caught up
with my Shipping,
I thought
I would post a reminder that purchase
deadlines
for shipping packages in the US is:
Tuesday - December 18th.
 
Both first class and Priority Mail can still be delivered 
by Christmas with this deadline.
 
Sorry...but all International Shipping
deadlines have passed.
 
 

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Eight Years and Counting

I have been selling my art, online, since 2004.
I started with my own 'shop' on eBay...
and then joined forces with my husband, one of my sons,
my youngest daughter and her husband...
to become a Family Art Group...
and we listed our art as the
ZOA Group...
the Z.O.A stood
for "Zatloukal Original Art".

While on eBay...I painted everything from 'Tuscan Folk Art' to 
 
Modern 'statement' paintings to
 

Florals and Abstract Tree Art Paintings...


It was easier to manage the site as a group.  
 
The year following my husband's passing...eBay began to make changes that
directly affected the artists selling on eBay
and where we had been making a fairly comfortable living on eBay for three years...
our sales began to 'flatline' because of the changes.
 
And my art reflected how I was feeling...
 
 
 
Soooo....
we all went our separate ways.
Patrick decided to go back to school...
Jaime and Mike opened their own shop and...
I opened my Rustic Goth Shop on Etsy...



why
"Rustic Goth"?
 
 
Well...I was still dealing with the loss of my husband and kind of
'saw myself' as one of those 'tragic widows' from the
Gothic Novels I used to read in my teen-age years...
and Heaven knows I love anything 'rustic'...
and I just liked the name...
Rustic Goth.
 
To be honest...I didn't really associate the word 'goth' with the kids
who dress all in black, wear black eye makeup and lipstick...dye their hair black
and wear black fingernail polish.
So...in that sense of the word...I'm NOT 'goth'...
 
 
My 'melancholy girls' were a reflection of the stages I was
going through personally...
 
 
...though my Creepers were an even better reflection...
 

But....
life goes on...
and I am finally moving on too!

I have recently opened two shops...
one on Artfire and one on Etsy...
which I've already talked about...so I won't go into that...

and I've taken on the attitude...


...and I'm looking forward to, at least,
another 8 years of creating and selling my art online...
those are my plans, at this time, anyway!
 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

As the Year Draws to an End


It feels like 2012 just Flew by....
unfortunately...
more often than not...
every year is beginning to feel that way
as I find myself getting older.

Ah well...it is what it is...

I tried something 'different' this year...
get the funds needed for 
Steampunk Art Cards
and Jewelry.

I succeeded at reaching my goal...
spent the money on cards and jewelry supplies...
but
neither were the 'success' I thought they would be.
 
I am glad I 'went for it' though....
 
I also decided to 'go back to basics'
meaning
art designed especially for the 
'young and the young at heart'.
 
I have two shops dedicated to this...one on Etsy
and one on Artfire.
While neither shop has been even minimally successful...yet...
I do have hopes for both of them.

Why two shops...when neither are doing well?
Well...I rank higher in Google for my
search terms
with my Artfire Shop...
and Etsy tends to draw it's own crowd...
so I am hoping to gain exposure from both avenues.

I decided to go this route...when Etsy made the changes 
within their site
that have greatly impacted my

I know it's going to take a lot of work on my part
to make all of my shops successful
and so...in 2013..I guess I
have my work
cut out for me.




Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Last day for Scrabble Tile Pendants


Today is the last day to get Scrabble Tile Pendants
in ANY of my Shops
this year.

These are all 'made to order'
and
this year
I do want to enjoy the holidays.

It seems every year since I started doing the scrabble tiles,
I am working like crazy to get these made
and to the buyers
in time for
Christmas.

Then...on Christmas Eve...I can start thinking about
my own holiday.

I really am just getting too old for the added stress...
so I've set December 5th as the deadline for these...
no exceptions.
(though I'm sure there will be one or two
who 'didn't see my announcement'
and talk me into doing some.)

Who knows...this might be the year...I
'stick to my guns'!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

In the Coming Year


I've been thinking A LOT about what to do with my life
and my shops
in 2013.

As of December 10th,
will go back to the Basic Shop
of only 50 items.
I really like the site, but unfortunately...
it does have some issues when buyers check out
that require me 'doing the math' and issuing
refunds for overpayments...usually on
shipping.
They have announced improvements
and upgrades to their site,
but it hasn't happened yet so,
I decided to wait until they do to go back to premium.
 
I will not list any duplicates on the site though...
it will only be pieces I've 'retired' from my Etsy Shop
and some pieces 'exclusive' to the Zibbet Shop.
It is also the only places I will offer my
Steampunk Art Calendar and my
Creeper Calendar.
 
I have opened a new shop on Etsy...
it is art for kids rooms...
and is called
similar to my
Artfire Shop
I actually had this shop 'in progress' when
all the weirdness went down on Etsy...
I decided to wait to see what was going on before opening it...
and now that it appears to have straightened itself out...
I went ahead with it.

Why similar shops?
Well...basically because of what happened on
Etsy in October.
I don't plan to get 
"caught with my pants down"
again.

Selling my art online is how I pay my bills...
and the unexplained closing (even for only 4 days) of my
Etsy Shop...
which I might add...
has never been explained...to this day...
I'm sure it was a 'glitch' as it coincided with the
'upgrade' to the entire site...
but...
I still think it would only have been courteous
to respond to my emails
to say...
'whoops...our bad'
or something of the such.

I didn't much like just having my emails ignored
with no idea of what was going on or
what happened...and it's left me a bit 'gun shy'.

But...in a nutshell...I will be doing more
'happy' art...for the two newest shops...
fewer 'Creepers'.
Since I'm no 'spring chicken'
I also plan to concentrate on smaller paintings...
4" x 6" to 12" x 16" and 'in between' sizes.
I'll do an occasional 16x20
but not many.