Redbubble Happy Nowruz Persian New Year Mug

I’ve been drawing and painting on my iPad for about six years. A lot of my work is commissioned pet portraits. Once the painting is completed, I upload the digital files to a variety of websites. If someone likes the image enough they can make something out if it - a t shirt, pillow, card... the sky is the limit. The sites I use for this purpose are Fine Art America/Pixels, Zazzle, Amazon Merch, and Redbubble. So rather than have to paint anything, I get a notice from these places whenever something of mine has sold. So it’s always a treat when this happens. Yesterday Redbubble sent an email that someone in the United Kingdom bought a coffee mug with my Persian new year motif. The haft-sin display is actually from a photo my niece sent to us several years ago of their celebration. I also have a Persian art section in my Etsy shop for ready made downloads. These images were painted from photos I took when we were visiting Iran ten years ago. I also have several Washington DC scenes, as well as paintings from the three children’s books I wrote and illustrated. Digitalart is a really great hobby. My studio travels with me wherever I go. It is really exciting to be noticed out of the millions of images out there. Thanks so much for that! 

Zazzle Boxer Coffee Mug

I have a few websites that I have uploaded and displayed my digitalart paintings - Fine Art America/Pixels, Redbubble, Amazon Merch and Zazzle. And I promote all of them on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and my Business Facebook page. I’ve also written three children’s books that are on Amazon, and created a few You Tube videos. My Etsy shop is used primarily for custom orders, and my Wordpress website has links to all of this! Whew - it’s like having a full time job. So whenever I get a notice from one of these places, it is very exciting. A few days back Zazzle notified me that someone bought a coffee mug with my black and white pooch on it. All of my furry friend designs are from my pet portrait custom orders. When I get those orders, I need to work with the customer about all the details from start to finish. But when I get these notifications, I don’t need to do anything. What tickles me most is that someone noticed a painting that I created, and liked it enough to purchase it. Out of the millions of options out there, it is really amazing. I certainly couldn’t make a living on any of this, but it’s a great hobby. So thank you for noticing! I really appreciate it. 

https://loistavaf.com/

Amazon Merch, Redbubble, and Zazzle Sales

I started painting again when the iPad was introduced in 2010. I opened an Etsy shop and continue to do a lot of custom pet portraits. I’ve used a lot of those images to open Zazzle, Redbubble, and Amazon Merch Shops. Getting an order for a custom portrait means I need to set aside time to actually paint the image and communicate with the customer throughout the process. What’s fun about having sales on the other sites is that I don’t need to do anything. I’m certainly glad I don’t have to make a living doing what I love, but it’s a great hobby in retirement. This month a parakeet pillow was sold to someone in California and a St. Bernard coffee mug was sold to someone in Australia on Redbubble; a set of German Shepherd greeting cards was sold to someone in Finland on Zazzle; and an Australian Shepherd T-shirt was sold on Amazon - they don’t share where the buyer comes from. All I can say is that it’s amazing to me that out of all the millions of images and products that are available on line, someone likes my artwork enough to purchase it. And it’s comes from all over the world! Thanks so much for noticing. I really appreciate the huge audience out there. 

Bodum Bistro Mug

There must be something in the air. Last week I dropped a cup in the sink while I was washing it. The glass broke in to many little pieces. Luckily none of it splattered down the garbage disposal. Then a plastic bottle of syrup fell off the shelf on to two plates below. I don't know what those plates are made out of but they both survived the attack. Last night my husband chipped a salad bowl. It sounded a lot worse from the other room. While we were shower curtain shopping at Crate and Barrel we remembered to get a replacement for the cup. It's really a nice idea to have Bodum insulated cups for hot drinks. We have a Bodum tea pot too. But that is now more for show since we have a single service Keurig coffee/tea device. When we moved here from Milwaukee we got rid of a complete china set, an every day dining set, and just about everything else. It was a pain to have to replace it, but we need to have at least four cups in the house, just in case of visitors.