Well, that is an odd collection of things! This is how they are all related-
Hurray! Today is my blog birthday- it has been 11 years! I have been working on felt you-deserve-a-medal prototypes (more on that later) so I made myself one. Don’t I look mighty proud?
My medal says blogger- it has a gold star for 10 years plus a white star for 1 year.
These are the rest of the medal prototypes I’ve been making, inspired by many things including this fellow, Lord Kitchener.
And the reason for the prototypes? This is a class I will be teaching (a project I will be leading?) at the ARC, the Art Stream Art Retreat Camp. There is a story about where the idea started. Last year, at one of the markets I was doing, someone came into my booth, looked around and asked, “Why are these so expensive?” I hate that question. It immediately puts me on the defensive and I get all huffy. Later I was thinking that one of the reasons I charge what I do is that I’ve done the work, I’ve been validated as an artist, I have a seal of approval. And wouldn’t it be great to have an actual seal of approval that I could pull out! And medals for all the “battles” I’ve fought along the way. Really, we all have fought the battles, have the scars, and deserve the medal so lets make our own.
Lastly, the patterns. Back here I talked about why I pulled my patterns from Etsy. Well, it looks like they’ve got things figured out so I will be putting them all back up. To celebrate, I have lowered the price of all the patterns to $8 for all of February. Here is a shop link.
And guess what? More snow on the way!
Oh, I’m loving the medals idea, Mimi. Bravo! I really could do with a chest full. And I’m delighted to hear that the patterns are back up too. :)
You deserve a medal! And don’t we all at one time or another. Congratulations on your blog anniversary. Stay warm!
Yours was one of the very first blogs I started to follow and I still do today. Just love your spirit and work, and I still remember your kindness when we met at Diesel for coffee a few years back. Hearty congratulations on the continuing success in all that you do Mimi! And hooray for medals.
You’re right to get “huffy” when someone asks you a rude question like that, because in reality your work is modestly priced if you figure in the hours it takes you to make a piece, along with the research and study to get to your level of craftsmanship. Next time tell them these works of art are a bargain!