Gypsy chic issue 9 lorraine stylianou

the magazine dedicated to greeting card publishing and entrepreneurship

Gypsy Chic

magazine Issue 9 - 2016

Hello Autumn

GREETING CARD ETIQUETTE

1ST

SELLING FOR START UPS

RSARY ANNIVE !

ISSUE

BOOK NOOK

urdie of P n a g e M h it w s w Inside!!! Intervie Borg of h a r a S d n a s e v E lia Megan Claire, Ju ns Toffee Nose Desig

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CONTENTS 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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INTERVIEW WITH... JULIA EVES

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SELLING FOR START UPS

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SHARPIE STYLE / THE BOOK NOOK

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10 INTERVIEW WITH... MEGAN CLAIRE 12 WOODLAND WONDERS

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14 INTERVIEW WITH... SARAH BORG 17 GREETING CARD ETIQUETTE 18 NARCISSISM / ASK THE SEEKER 19 COMPETITION 20 THE DESIGNER’S CATCH 22

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LETTER

from the Editor

S

o it is officially Autumn.

I watched squirrels nervously climbing the giant trees in my garden this week. I’m falling in love with my new city flat. It gives me a mix of urban and country living as it is on a quiet street but only a 20 minute walk to the liveliest shops, restaurants and designer boutiques (Benetton, Oliver Bonas, French Village to name a few). With the shorter evenings drawing in, crafting projects appeal more and more as it is often cold and wet outside.

(Hard to believe that less than a month ago we were positively melting in London’s heatwave).

Gypsy Chic is exactly one year old this month.

Where has the time flown? It’s a nice feeling celebrating the anniversary of this creative, collaborative project. Without the valuable contributions from other artists, this ezine would be a whole lot slimmer - so thanks to everyone who has featured thus far. To mark the occasion there is a competition to win some of my gypsy chic notebooks so do enter that!

I’ve created the tiniest of offices in a broom cupboard and have an electrician calling this week to install an electric light and socket so I can power my laptop in there. The ingenious things we do to escape noisy teenagers in small spaces. The engineer from Sky Broadband will connect me to the outside

world the same day so hopefully that will keep the kids occupied too. I’m able to throw dog treats from my window to Roxy (pictured left) – she’s the gentlest canine I know, and loves to be made a fuss of.

As we welcome Autumn, I’ve managed to keep Issue 9 on track as well. I’m really grateful to my brilliant contributors Megan Purdie of Megan Claire, Julia Eves – An American naïve artist, and Sarah Borg of Toffee Nose Designs, who share their experiences as card publishers and Etsy sellers.

Thanks also to Christine Hammond, a sales coach who mentors many businesses on the art of selling, and closing deals.

I see lots of greeting card publishers have managed to fit in exotic holidays now that the manic summer tradeshows are over….but work never stops. As we prepare for Christmas madness, and Spring shows, remember to fit in some “me” time. Whether you are reading this on your mobile, or Macbook, grab a cup of Lady Grey and enjoy the read.

Lorraine www.lorrainestylianou.com

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Interview with .....

Julia Eves

1. YOUR GORGEOUS FOLK ART FULL OF HORSES, FLOWERS, PRINCESSES, CHICKENS, AND OTHER ANIMALS ARE A RHAPSODY OF COLOUR – SO NAÏVE, AND JOYFUL. WHEN DID YOU START TO PAINT? lll My first painting was at age 5. I painted galloping horses on my bottom sheet. My Mom was pretty surprised to find it. I’ve been painting ever since.

2. YOU PAINT ON SCRAPS OF WOOD, AND TIN TRAYS – DID YOU CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE TO KEEP TO PRIMITIVE CANVASES LIKE THESE – OR DO YOU ALSO PAINT ON GALLERY CANVAS FOR EXHIBITIONS? lll I like to use the resources around me.

I think it makes my art more interesting and I love giving new life to old things.

I am working on a large canvas for an exhibit coming up soon in Hattiesburg Ms. 3. I FOLLOW A NUMBER OF US ARTISTS BASED IN THE SOUTH WHO HAVE SIMILAR FOLK-INSPIRED STYLES WHERE THERE ARE FEW ARTISTIC LIMITATIONS IN THEIR SUBJECT MATTER. BASED IN NEW ORLEANS DO YOU SEE A LOT OF CREATIVITY IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD? WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION? lll I live in rural area outside New Orleans. Most of my inspiration comes from my many animals. Horses are my greatest inspiration. ( I have 5) I am also very inspired by Mexican folk art.

4. YOU ARE A PROLIFIC PAINTER PRODUCING LOTS OF NEW WORK ALL THE TIME. HOW DO YOU STRUCTURE YOUR DAY TO ACHIEVE SO MUCH, AND CAN YOU LIVE OFF YOUR CURRENT ART SALES? lll I am very disciplined. My best work is created in the morning so I wake up and get busy. I put a lot of hours in painting, shipping, and promoting myself. I sell only original pieces of art in my etsy shop so, I have to create new pieces weekly to keep my shop fresh. I do live off my current art sales.

5. DO YOU ACTIVELY MARKET YOUR ART, OR SIMPLY USE FACEBOOK AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA? WHAT TIPS WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE TO GAIN MORE EXPOSURE? lll I use social media to market my art.

Etsy has opened a whole new world to me. I think the most important thing with social media is to be consistent and keep trying.

6. I LOVE SEEING YOUR LATEST CREATIONS. SHARE SOME OF YOUR FUTURE PLANS FOR JULIA EVES, INC PERHAPS PRODUCISING OR LICENSING YOUR IMAGES? l l l I would love to license my images.

I’m working on larger canvases in hope of getting in a nice gallery. I do have my work in a local gallery.

JULIA EVES

Etsy: www.etsy.com/people/evesjulia12 Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/julia.eves.7#!/ julia.eves.7 Pictaram: @evesjulia12

SELLING FOR START-UPS

BY CHRISTINE HAMMOND CJH TRAINING

I

am constantly energised and inspired in the work I do mentoring and running workshops for start-ups and new entrepreneurs. This is because of the eclectic mix of people I meet, from all walks of life, career histories,

personal/family circumstances - bringing with them an amazing range of business concepts and ideas!

The one thing they all have in common is vision and passion, often giving up a full-time salaried position or surviving redundancy in pursuit of taking their beloved product or personal

artisan/craft/public sector background with little or

specialism to the market on their own terms.

no customer-facing or negotiation experience? Or

Choosing the self-employed route also includes

maybe you have been operating for some time but

“Freelancing” i.e. supplying your services to others

find yourself experiencing repeated issues and are

on a contractual basis, thereby travelling light with

hungry for better, faster results.

regard to setting up an entire business.

Irrespective of your business model, or whatever

Unfortunately drive and determination alone are

you are offering in exchange for money, you will

no guarantee of success. This could be particularly

benefit from having a structured sales strategy. This

relevant for anyone who has started with no

will enable you to meet your revenue or income

formal training or experience in areas such as

goals through having a steady flow of “Prospects”

sales & marketing, business protocols, designing

(potential customers) that need to be managed

propositions, articulating price and value etc.

effectively through a journey known as the “Sales

Perhaps you have come from an academic/tech/

Cycle”. This is the bedrock of your strategy and your

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future growth.

on the way down – not always due to seller failure

The cycle will vary according to your business

but because of numerous other external influences

type. There may be some compression in stages

on the buyer such as incompatible time-frames,

e.g. Presenting and Closing while others may only

deferred decisions, changing landscapes etc.

apply if you are involved in consultation-type work

At each stage you will need to have not only a

e.g. Designing a Solution. Similarly, the associated

process including systems, calendar, documentation

timeframes will vary enormously according to your

etc. but a skillset that is both effective and

model and what your proposition is. For Freelancers,

competent enough to keep everything moving in

the “Sale” will represent the final stage when they

the right direction.

have secured work after say, pitching or compiling a

To conclude, I’ve illustrated the stages in the table

proposal, or both.

on the next page and given a brief description

We can represent the cycle as a “Sales Funnel”

together with a relevant (but not exhaustive) list of

which becomes your “Pipeline” as you manage

skills and behaviours for you to think about.

Prospects through to completion. Doing this makes it easier to see that there’s a constant need to keep

Very best wishes for your business!

filling the funnel from the top due to an attrition rate

Christine Hammond

PROSPECTING FACT-FINDING/DISCOVERY DESIGNING SOLUTIONS

PRESENTING CLOSING SALE

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u

SALES CYCLE STAGE

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS

PROSPECTING This is the first stage in the cycle where you are identifying and recording names and contact details of people you’ve identified as potential customers. They could be either “warm” leads or just “cold names”, in which case you may want to qualify them at a later stage. A significant contributor to your list should come from your social media strategy and the community you are building there. This is also the time where you hope to stimulate enough interest in your product or service to move people to the next stage by arranging to contact them or speak to them to explore things further.

• Rapport-building • Understanding of questioning techniques • Well- developed listening skills • Able to sell the opportunity enough to move customer to the next stage • Limiting what information is provided at this stage • Taking control, making appointment/date for next stage • Ability to establish credibility • Able to portray a serious, business mindset • Ability to qualify potential prospects and spot time-wasters • Resistance to trying close a complete sale at this stage

FACT-FINDING/DISCOVERY This is the second stage and involves getting to know your potential customer in more detail. The complexity and length of this will depend on the complexity of your product or service and whether or not you are regulated. You may need to record the information you are gathering in order to refer to it at a later date in order to make your product more relevant and to fully understand your customer’s present challenges and set-up and how you can provide a solution. This might include an aspect of tailoring, in which case these details will be crucial.

• Understanding of questioning techniques • Well- developed listening skills • Empathy • Interested in people • Painting pictures of how you could provide a solution without over-selling at this stage • Gaining commitment from customer • Taking control, making appointment for next stage • Ability to record and take on board facts on which the next stages are based • Good preparation and planning skills • Ability to sign post the journey to your customer i.e. what will happen next etc.

DESIGNING A SOLUTION/SELECTING A PRODUCT/ TAILORING This might only apply if your product or service is capable of being altered to suit individual need, or if you are working on a professional/consultancy basis. You can also think of it as product selection, where you are using your expert knowledge and what you found out during the discovery process in order to ensure a great fit for your customer. Often this will include making decisions on your pricing/costs (according to budget).

• Work with customer information and objectives • Desire for a win-win outcome • Being able to identify incompatibilities • Ability to analyse and evaluate • Ability to sell to budget where applicable • Able to come up with creative solutions

PRESENTING This is the stage where you show, demo or explain to your customer what you are recommending and why. Sometimes this will involve a written analysis or proposal and may be presented either in person or sent for consideration remotely. Either way, this is a crucial stage in the sales cycle where you can expect to deal with objections.

• Good organisational skills • Focussed, able to work to an agenda • Excellent product/ service knowledge • Ability to bring forward work from previous meetings • Able to create relevant multi-modal, attractive presentations • Able to hold attention and encourage engagement • Able to control meetings • Ability to manage expectations • Negotiation skills

CLOSING This is the final stage where you should expect to be able to make the sale, get the deal done by asking for the business. Success here will be highly dependent on how well you have managed the preceding stages and dealt with all objections throughout and demonstrated behaviours such as credibility, product knowledge, rapport building and empathy.

• Confident, assertive enough to ask for the business • Understanding of questioning techniques • Well -developed listening skills • Ability to retain control • Influencing Skills • Objection handling Skills • Negotiation Skills • Seeking a win-win ©CJH TRAINING 2016 • Able to explain next stages

Christine Hammond is the founder of CJH Training and Consultancy, specialists in business growth through excellence in Sales and Customer Service.

Website: www.cjhtraining.co.uk Email: cjhtraining@outlook.com

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SHARPIE STYLE l Like a big kid in a sweetie shop I couldn’t resist buying one of those “back to school” sharpie sets every store seemed to stock as children returned to school a few weeks ago.

The set is a good alternative to paints when you neither have the time nor inclination to prepare an art table of water pots, canvas and palettes. Although you can’t achieve the variations of colour you get by mixing paints, felt pens allow you a little flutter with colour when you get those artistic cravings to do something creative.

Prices vary drastically between stores but Tesco’s seem to offer the best deal (£8). Happy Colouring.

THE BOOK NOOK l In the positive world of Greeting cards, you don’t often

sweary references to genitalia you’ll either be laughing out

see outright expressions of hatred – because negative

loud or chuckling silently inside. This is the ideal book for

sentiments are deemed self-defeating, and could get you

ex-girlfriends or boyfriends you loath with a vengeance.

into a lot of trouble. But there are times when we feel

Perfect for the kind of emotion one of my former work

righteous anger towards someone and need to express

colleagues went through when she found out her partner

those emotions. In the genre of offensive angry greeting

was unfaithful. Had she had one of these cards, she would

cards and colouring books, Cynthia van Edwards is in a

not have had to dash off to Argos to buy a toilet seat,

league of her own. Her language is “positively blue”!

and post it to her errant boyfriend with a message inside

In her Angry Greeting card book, Cynthia uses X-rated

“Here’s something else you can sh** on.

language that is provocative and full of F’s. With loads of

Purchase on kindle for around £2!

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Interview with .....

Megan Claire

FEATURED CARDS:

Right: ´Dancing Unicorns´ from the Pink Champagne range. Rose Gold Foil on luxury thick cream stock Top: ´Eat Cake´ from the Gold Dust range. Blonde Gold foil with gold striped lined envelopes.

Opposite page: ´XO´ from the Good Morning Sunshine range. Yellow and Black trend led range.

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1. HAVING FOLLOWED YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA THESE PAST MONTHS, I THINK I’M RIGHT IN SAYING 2016 HAS BEEN A MOMENTUS YEAR FOR YOU – SETTLING IN TO NEW PREMISES, SEVERAL TRADESHOWS, AND A NEW PUPPY. HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO GET EVERYTHING DONE AND HOW MUCH TIME IS LEFT TO DESIGN?

2016 has certainly been a busy year for us so far. When it comes round to New Year we seem to be moving into a bigger studio and I’m pleased to say I think we’ll be in this one for a while now! Then doing many trade shows throughout the year and getting a cockapoo puppy too has certainly kept us on our toes. I honestly have no idea how we get everything done!! There’s only two of us working for Megan Claire in the studio and we do everything ourselves. We work very hard and dedicate ourselves to the business ensuring we deliver the best quality, fresh designs and good service too. There’s usually very little time left to design, which is the best bit of course, but we seem to work well under pressure and often launch many new designs throughout the year. lll

ask for feedback on our ranges. We have certain ranges that sell better than others.

We make sure to bring out new and fresh designs throughout the year in order to offer something different to our customers.

4. FOLLOWING TRENDS IN A FASHION LED INDUSTRY LIKE GREETING CARDS IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO BE COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL. WHAT ARE YOU 3 TOP SITES FOR TRENDSPOTTING, AND WHAT PROCESS DO YOU FOLLOW TO TRANSLATE THESE INTO CARD DESIGNS?

We don’t really look at specific sites for trendspotting. We do look to see what is on the catwalk but mainly we look around us in every day life for inspiration. Usually I have an idea in my head for a new range before looking at any trends. Sometimes I will look around to see what colours and patterns are popular. lll

5. WHAT ARE YOUR TWO TOP TIPS FOR KEEPING YOURSELF IN THE BUYER’S MIND –ANY CLEVER WAYS OF GETTING YOUR CARDS IN FRONT OF THEM?

1) Keep in touch with your customers.

2) Send customers snail mail lll

2. PERSONALISED CARDS ARE VERY POPULAR. WHAT METHOD DO YOU USE TO PERSONALISE YOUR CARDS – A LOCAL PRINTER WITH QUICK TURNAROUND OR HOME PRINTING?

We have always had the facility to produce personalised cards in house since the beginning of our journey 4-5 years ago when we started to sell on Not On The High Street. lll

3. HOW DO YOU FIND OUT WHAT YOUR CUSTOMER REALLY WANTS TO BUY? IS THERE ONE RANGE OVER AND ABOVE ALL OTHERS THAT SELLS BEST, AND WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS POPULAR?

We speak to our customers and find out what sells well and what their customer is looking for and lll

6. TELL US WHERE YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 3 YEARS TIME – GIVE US SOME DETAIL IN TERMS OF PRODUCT LINES, DREAM STOCKISTS, OR EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES.

We hope to still be exhibiting at the shows and producing more ranges as we go ahead. We would like to find more work in licensing and broaden our export customers. We always have lots of ideas for launching new product lines so it would be good to put those plans into fruition in a few years time. lll

MEGAN CLAIRE

W: www.meganclaire.co.uk E: megan@meganclaire.co.uk T: twitter.com/meganclaireuk F: facebook.co.uk/meganclaireuk

Woodland

Wonders W

oodland animals have trended in design

Woods are places we escape to for restorative

for decades. They give the designer

walks, to kick leaves, and snap twigs. We recharge

so much scope in terms of colour (those

our batteries and connect with nature. If you can’t

gorgeous earthy hues). In terms of composition

manage to get to the woods just now, why not post

delicate bird species can co-exist with much

a wildlife themed card to another tree hugger.

heftier mammals such as big hairy bears or

You’ll never imagine what autumnal cheer you will

mischievous polecats.

create by doing so. Spread the love.

ORDER FORM

WOODLAND WONDERS CARD RANGE £6 for 6 cards

CODE

AMOUNT

WOW1 Stag WOW2 Squirrel WOW3 Raccoon WOW4 Hedgehog WOW5 Bear WOW6 Pheasant WOW7 Fox WOW8 Owl WOW9 Rabbit WOW10 Blackbird WOW11

Baby Deer

WOW12 Hare WOW13

New Forest Pony

WOW14 Badger WOW15 Polecat WOW16

Field Mouse

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TOTAL

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Interview with .....

...Sarah Borg

of Toffee Nose Designs

1. THE MOMENT I SAW YOUR DOG PAINTINGS I KNEW YOU WERE ON TO SOMETHING! SO DELIGHTFUL TO PLACE THEM IN RATHER POSH SITUATIONS, AND CHARACTERS WE ALL KNOW FROM OUR OWN LIVES, OR IN LITERATURE. WHEN DID YOU START PAINTING DOGS IN COSTUMES? lll I’ve always loved historical costume with sumptious fabrics and have done fabric designs. I’ve been a portrait artist for 35 years. Putting many of my “doggie sitters” into frocks came about from a conversation with a friend not that long ago talking about painting costumes and she suddenly said “dogs in dresses” and “Dashing dogs” was born! It’s such fun creating a “Peter the Great Woof” heirloom style portrait that tries to mimic the fine art portraits in stately homes!

2. YOU LIVE IN SCANDINAVIA BUT ARE ABLE TO HAVE ALL YOUR ORDERS FULFILLED VIA THE IMAGING CENTRE. HOW DOES THAT WORK IN PRACTICE (A LOT OF OUR READERS WILL BE INTERESTED TO KNOW)? lll As a Brit living abroad, when I saw the Imaging Centre had a “one stop shop” meaning they could print, pack and send orders direct to stockists, it made it possible for me to sell in the UK. No extra postage or warehousing costs.... brilliant, I can compete. In practice, any order I send through to the imaging centre takes 8 working days to complete then is sent by overnight courier (£10) to my customer.

3. CAN YOU TELL AT THIS STAGE WHAT YOUR BEST SELLER IS – AND IF SO, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS? l l l Having just launched Cards at PG Live it is too early to say which is the best selling “Dashing Dog” however in the orders so far Virginia Woof, Angelina Jolly and Gussie Blink-Nottle have featured equally! Henny Penny and Lucy Lockett have been my best seller “County Set” in Sweden for the past two years.

4. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE YOUR DESIGNS IN THE FUTURE? I SEE YOUR CANINE CHARACTERS PERFECT FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS AND ANIMATION. l l l I feel very energised by all the many possibilities in the greetings card market and prints and am yet to achieve 100 designs, but ultimately to turn some of my posh dogs in frocks into a book of some kind or other would be enormous fun.F

5. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR LIFE IN SWEDEN AND WHAT INSPIRES YOU THERE. lll I married a Swede and moved here in 1989, we have a small farm on the beautiful Baltic coast. I immediately loved the old Swedish design, the soft subtle colours, Gustavian greys, soft pinks etc.

The light is wonderful for any painter and when you see Carl Larsson, Anders Zorn’s beautiful paintings and many of the Scandinavian painters you can’t help but be inspired.

6. ARE THE DOGS YOU PAINT INFLUENCED BY YOUR LIFE IN ENGLAND OR IS THE “COUNTY SET” A PARTICULARLY SWEDISH PHENOMENON? l l l Having lived here for 27 years with one side of me latterly very much influenced by old Scandinavian art and design, being British and living abroad one does hanker after the life I knew in England. Having grown up with and brought to Sweden, introduced and bred our beautiful British Riding Pony Breed, I had already painted portraits of dogs favoured by horsey friends who were part of the “County Set” in Devon, which is a very British “social group” of people who are part of the Hunting/shooting/fishing green wellie brigade, so a perfect name for their dogs I’d painted and turned into cards. Toffee Nose Designs is a tongue in cheek name because certainly many of the Dashing Dogs are human characters I’ve known from the past!

TOFFEE NOSE DESIGNS

Web: www.toffeenosedesigns.com Tel: 0046 490 73022 Email: sarah@toffeenosedesigns.com

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D R A C G N I T E E GR

E T T E U ETIQ

IN MY NEW ROLE AS ETIQUETTE EXPERT (WHO KNEW!) I LIST A FEW TIPS AND TRICKS TO BEAR IN MIND WHEN SENDING A GREETING CARD u Purchase, and send your card in good time. “Belated” greeting cards of any sort just don’t have the same kudos and tend to show that the recipient’s celebration was not your top priority. l

Send a good quality card stock – cheap, flimsy cards suggest you are scrimping (heard of Scrooge in a Christmas Carol?)

l

Buy a medium to large card – mini sizes for big occasions scream “stingy”.

l

Try and sign each card yourself with a personalised sentiment appropriate to the recipient. No sloppy handwriting please.

l

l Check

postal deadlines – particularly for international post.

l Don’t

forget to mention the person’s significant other if you have met them. People can get offended if their partner isn’t mentioned. (Nothing as strange as folk!) l Only

sign off the card in a way that you are comfortable doing. If you don’t know someone that well “love and kisses” is probably a tad too familiar!

Pick a stamp appropriate to the recipient.

Nothing too fancy if relationship you have with the recipient is more formal than friendly.

l

Avoid printed address labels too – they cry “perfunctory mass mailing”.

l

l Avoid

drinking coffee and tea when you are writing. Coffee stains screech “clumsy, lacking skill or grace”.

Prevent stray hairs, and bleeding fingers from contaminating the greeting card.

l

Start your envelope addressing well before your dispatch date so there is no missed postal deadlines.

l

l

Don’t forget to put a return address on the back of the envelope. If the recipient has moved house, it is nice to have that £20 note you slipped inside returned (fat chance!) l

Don’t send cash through the post.

CAN YOU THINK OF ANY OTHERS? Please email me!

Lorraine@lorrainestylianou.com

M S I S S I C R A N l l l Let your inner narcissist run wild with PRISMA, a free downloadable app on your iphone.

Distinguishable by its black triangle, this creative app is fab, and can save you lots of graphic design costs by providing you with approximately 38 different templates. No need to pay vector artists for a new facelift. I really liked “Dallas” for its gentler artistic appearance.

Simply give the app access to your photoroll, pick a photo you would like artistically enhanced, and bingo - you can apply a variety of filters to suit your taste. Simply save to your photos, and forward to your desktop to illustrate articles, blog posts, or for use on social media. The filters vary between sharp urban outline to soft Impressionist style graphics. All free of charge.

ASK THE SEEKER! l l l To understand your industry, it is helpful

to know the kind of questions people are asking about it.

The jpeg below gives you a good insight

into the type of things people want to know

about greeting cards in general. Gained from

AnswerthePublic , this information can help you formulate blog posts, features, and infograms on social media. Using open question

techniques – how, why, when, what, which,

where, who, are, you can delve even deeper

into the industry with more specific keywords

such as sympathy cards, or New Year cards for

example. This is a great free keyword research tool and the sage who appears behind the search box is waiting for your question!

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N O I T I T E P COM WHO DOESN’T LOVE NEW NOTEBOOKS?...

To celebrate the 1st anniversary of Gypsy Chic magazine, I have a competition to win one of my Gypsy Chic notebooks.

For everyone who 1) follows me, and 2) messages me on Instagram, with their top 3 trend ideas for 2017 I will post out a free sample.

With blank, unlined paper, each one features my folk art designs on the

COMPETITION CLOSING DATE NOVEMBER 15TH 2016

cover – art transferred directly from my hand painted vintage suitcases.

There’s nothing like a notebook to get down our original thoughts in some sort of organised order.

So contact me on my favourite social media platform and a notebook will wing it’s way to you very soon.

Covers may vary.

www.instagram.com/ lorrainestylianou/ #LorraineStylianou lorraine@lorrainestylianou.com

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THE DESIGNER’S

CATCH 22 D

amned if you do, and damned if you don’t share and upload your art online. That’s the dilemma all artists face when trying to make a small passive income from art sites like Redbubble, Artwanted etc.

Their mantra is empowering artists – which they do, but the downside, as we all know too well, is that your designs can be instantly copied. There is hardly a mobile phone or laptop around that doesn’t offer a screenshot facility. It they don’t then get out your camera and photograph the laptop or phone screen if you want that image badly enough. Possessing the image isn’t a crime. It’s only when you plagiarize it,

or reproduce it widely enough in a format that very recognisably bears someone else’s signature that you are in trouble.

We need 1) inspiration from the world around us 2) to earn a living.

This week several of my designs have been chosen to feature in Society6’s shop.

I got a couple of cheery emails from the nice people who monitor the website congratulating me that my artworks have been nominated to appear in their print gallery.

This is great news. It raises my chances of making some profit, and puts my designs in front of the buying public as well

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as confirming that staff actually monitor what is uploaded to the site. https://society6.com/product/hare-fdv_print https://society6.com/product/deer-gx1_print

And you are not limited to prints. You can have your designs on canvases, metal prints, cards, mobile cases, totebags, hoodies, pillows, shower curtains, mugs, towels, wall clocks, duvets, and leggings to be precise.

The great thing for us is that we have entered the world of production, fulfilment, and drop shipping all at once, and we are informed of which designs sold too. If we

don’t participate, we don’t earn.

The art and design world is cut throat – there are thousands of new artists clipping at your heels every hour on an international stage. So for now, I’m glad to have joined an international community that makes an impact on other’s lives by sharing my work and for which I earn a percentage.

Isn’t that what our big vision as artists should be? To light up the world with our art?

The cease and desist letters may have to be drafted, but if we hide our light under a bushel, we’ll never know whether we were commercially attractive at all.

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A window on the world of a greeting card publisher

Gypsy Chic magazine