Let's Talk about Your Art Cards and Prints

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Excited to quickly share this with you before we dig into the card/prints.
I've joined up for this years ART BUNDLE and this week they are giving away a huge prize. The give a way is worth over $4000 in Art learning resources! It runs now until November 13th, so over here to check it out!

ENTER

When I first began painting it was hard to let go of my original art, you may know exactly what I mean, right? It wasn't quite time to make a number of costly prints because I was just starting out as an artist, and I did not have a place to sell my work in bulk, like in a retail setting, but I wanted to offer them up on Etsy, ebay, and to my friends and family at first.

After some research with Fine Art America , I downloaded a few of my favorites to test for my etsy orders.  It was a successful platform because they could ship, mat, and even frame my prints on metal, canvas, and even acrylic! I had some success with it, but if you are looking to expand and make more money with your art then working with a local printer in bulk is the way to go. Some will even have Digital designers that can work with you. 

Watch Video: How to download an image on FAA

Another great starting platform that is inexpensive to create your Christmas cards or promotional items, like your business cards, is an online company called Vista Print. Mind you that the colors may not be exact. Heads up, it can be a bit frustrating when placing your order with all the pop ups and options. Make sure to take your time and have your images ready when you sit down to place your order.

When you are ready to invest a bit more in your art and begin selling in larger quantities, check with your local printer company. I use A7 envelopes and Clear plastic sleeves for my cards. If you want to see how I package my prints for the holidays you can check out my Youtube Video here and under the description box is a list of the mat kits that I use.

Packaging Jewelry - Making Original Hang Tags For Your Necklaces

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Art Tags - Perfect for Retail Shops and Craft Fairs

If you have taken an online course with me (Course Sale Links Below) on Pendants and are thinking about selling your work at craft fairs or online at Etsy, let me share with you my easy way of creating some retail shop tags for your Alcohol Ink pendants and other items. I made these online at Vista Print using the square business cards.  (Referral Link) ----> Vista Print  

I used a Metal Punch for Retail Hanger that I purchased on Amazon to punch out the little peg hooks holder for my hanging jewelry pieces. I found that you can also use just a regular hole punch, but it will depend on the retail hooks. 

Another option and one of my favorite ways, because I'm all about presentation is to use the cards to write up a mini description. This let's your customers know that these are original one of a kind, hand painted art piece. I then place the pendant in a simple elegant white gift box. It is a bit more expensive but it really creates that next level of professionalism. 

You can order these little jewelry boxes from Amazon. I like to purchase them in Bulk and they end up around .35 cents a piece for 100 with Prime free shipping for me.

Please feel free to check out the Online Course's: Resin Jewelry Pendant Now $12 or Alcohol Ink Pendant Course Now $12 both are normally priced at $40 each.  

~HAPPY PAINTING

Concerned about Alcohol Inks Fading?

How to Seal Alcohol Inks - It's a great question that I think all of us have, and it's a really hard question to answer as it depends on so many variables. But yes, Alcohol Inks are a Dye and were meant for Crafts not fine art and they are NOT lightfast. But please continue reading - things are looking up!

First each Artist has a process for example the materials or sprays used to seal, how they spray, the Colors they use, the brand of Inks, etc....Of course Alcohol Ink isn't the first Art medium that may not last over time. You have Paper that is very delicate, Cloth, and other Materials, etc...that may fade, tear, or disintegrate in time.

I have been working with Alcohol Inks for over 4 years and I can only comment on my own experience as an artist. As with most art mediums direct sunlight can fade them. I often work with Art Resin which has a built in UV Stabilizer. For AI on Yupo I seal with Kamar and UV Spray or I recommend UV glass.

I've had my pure Ranger brand AI pieces hanging in my own home in a light filled room (Not direct sun rays) still testing after 4 years so can't say for longer but do not see obvious signs of fading on those pieces so I would rate that as excellent, but in direct sun the results are very poor.

I often like to mix other Inks such as Bombay Ink (These are Light -fast), and High Flow Acrylics in my Disks as well. And although the materials cost are equivalent to other mediums in some respect, I charge less for my AI pieces than Watercolor or Oil.

I've ordered some little "Care Tip" cards from Vista Print to give to my clients when they purchase a piece from me. (Referral Link) ----> Vista Print 

I cover in my Online Courses - Current Process: Kamar Varnish made by Krylon (2-3 light coats) dry between - Second UV Spray made by Krylon (2/3 coats) unless I'm framing under UV Glass for Yupo and if I am doing a resin piece then I use Art Resin that has UV built in.

I am a Contributor for the Alcohol Ink Art Community 

(Check it out if you love Alcohol Ink or want to know more about it - loads of info)

I wanted to share with you a note that was received by our wonderful founder, Laurie:  

Laurie: 

"Because of the questions and concerns regarding the lightfastness of alcohol inks and concerns over the use as a reliable fine art medium, I reached out to Ranger directly to find out more about the lightfastness of their alcohol inks.

I'm happy to report that I received a response from one of the owners at Ranger as follows:

Ranger Owner:

"I wanted to let you know that we love what you and others in the community are creating with our inks. Over the past few years, we have switched out a lot of the dyes to ones that have much better lightfast properties. We feel that most of the colors now provide good results, but we realize that many different substrates are used and all environments are different so individual results can vary. I always suggest that artists test colors and substrates together and see what works best for them. Of course, UV varnish and UV protective glass do help as Phil mentioned.

We are committed to always improving our products and we want to support the work you create."

Laurie:

This was a personal response from one of the OWNERS of Ranger Industries. They are following our community, our art and seem committed to growing and improving their alcohol ink products. I appreciated the personal response to our community and I personally have no intentions to give up my Adirondacks that have brought me so much joy and allowed me to create art that is admired and acquired by my clients."

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