Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Great Graphics New Website

New Website

Just thought I would do a quick post to tell you all about the new Great Graphics website.

It has all the graphics that our Etsy and ArtFire stores have, but if you order on the website
it has INSTANT DOWNLOADS!!!  
that means no waiting for your files- EVER!




check it out!

I will be adding some new Halloween things in the next couple of days and then I am getting to work on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah.  So if you have any special requests let me know so I can add them to my sets as I am creating!!

I would love to hear your thoughts about the website...good, bad...or ugly- just be gentle

Thursday, August 25, 2011

My New Studio

a tour of great graphics' new studio

So, Great Graphics started off as something to do rather than work on my husband's website all day, and as I started getting busier and busier on Etsy, and having more and more requests for sets, I took over our den, then the dining room, then the living room- all of my art supplies that had been hiding in closets, or under the bed, starting making their way into the rooms of our house. When I heard my husband tell the dog "you better jump up in that chair quickly or she will take it over too!", I knew it was time to make a space for myself.  Our garage was never used for a car, just as a junk room for all the stuff my kids brought home from college, and now they have all graduated, but they don't have room for it yet...so our garage was pretty full- well now it is my studio and it is full again, but with MY stuff!  Here are some pictures of the transformation from almost the start (I didn't include pictures of the garage full of mess!)

BEFORE


The beginning...well almost- the insulation is in- the french doors are about to be in- I have french doors in the front of the room and the back of the room- tons of natural light- it's great!


sheet rock is almost done, front french doors are in- and yes that is my son's Galaga machine, that is still in my studio- no where else for it to go. I guess if I ever am really bored I could play, but not likely.


back french doors are in and all the sheetrock is finished- oh yes, I have the washer and dryer in my studio too-but that's ok, I have it well hidden!

AFTER


so now here is the front of my studio, complete with my hanging chair that I dubbed "The Womb", because when I curl up in it, that is what I feel like, it is a wonderful escape.


this is where I keep all my craft supplies, I do other things besides graphics, well I used to, I have all my yarn for knitting, and tons of other "junk", that hopefully at some time I will get to play with again.


this is the back part of my studio- (behind the laptop), where I can put together all the things that I make with the junk that I don't use.  The laptop is connected to my wacom tablet where I draw a lot of my graphics to transfer to the "Mama Mac".


and here is Great Graphics central- this is where I really do my designing work, I have my drawing table, where I sketch out my ideas before moving over to the wacom tablet to get them digitally designed, then to Mama Mac, where I can see them very large and tweak them as needed.

and the MOST fun thing in my studio is .....


my "shoedelier"


a closer look


one of the shoes up close

and of course I used some of my graphics on the bottom of each shoe


I wish I could take credit for this being an original idea, but I saw it in a magazine somewhere and knew it would be the perfect fixture for my studio. So I got out some of my "junk", well a lot actually, as you can tell and had more fun with my glue gun!  My daughter and my sisters are horrified- they think it is the most horrendous thing, but I LOVE it, it is so far over the top, that it ceased being tacky and became fabulous fun!  So much so that my husband has me making a "brideileir" and a "groomdelier" for his invitation store. The bulk of his business is wedding, so they will be perfect for that- and give everyone a lot to talk about.   I'll take pictures when I get them finished.

So that is pretty much it, now that I have my own space, I have given the den back to my sweet, patient husband and the dog.  I think they are both very happy and I am THRILLED  to have my own spot!

I am presently working on getting all my Great Graphics Halloween backgrounds and clip art finished, so I can get to work on Christmas!!!  Check out my website Etsy shops to see the newest additions.

Great Graphics Website
Great Graphics on Etsy

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The Today Show!!!

Ribbonmade was on the Today Show- here is a link to the clip where she is shown- it's quick, but hey- she was on the show!!! 



So happy for Ribbonmade!  I will have to put a little plug in here for my husband's store. Barbara called me and needed a couple of wedding invitations to put in her trays. So my husband, Alan, found 2 sets of invitations, save the dates, rehearsal dinner invitations, etc, for her to use in her beautiful trays. If you would like to see some beautiful wedding invitations here is a link to his Alan's Invitations store website. He has owned a brick and mortar stationery/invitation store for 20 years and is the biggest and best in all of Alabama!



Alan's Invitations specializes in helping bride's plan all their stationery and invitation needs for their wedding. Starting with Save the Dates, their invitation, bridal albums, cups, koozies, napkins, programs, personalized stationery and thank you notes and everything in between. Alan's sells to brides all over the country, so even if you aren't in Alabama, if you see something  you like, he can help you through emails, and on the phone. He did everything for a bride in Spain, without her ever walking in the door and she was thrilled!

Sorry for the shameless plug for the husband, but he puts up with a lot from me, so I thought he deserved a little pat- plus he really is great at what he does. If I had to talk to brides all day, I don't think I would be nearly as pleasant as he is when he gets home!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Ribbonmade on the Today Show

One of my customers Ribbonmade is going to have some of her products shown on the Today Show tomorrow morning. Be sure and watch!!!  She makes beautiful products and I know that she made a couple of trays using wedding invitations for the spot tomorrow, because my husband helped out by supplying a couple of wedding invitations for her to use- here is a sneak preview



and then of course there are all the wonderful things she makes using Great Graphics!






well the sock monkeys aren't mine, but the dots are!! and the binder was such a cute idea I wanted to show it off anyway!


Thursday, August 4, 2011

getting ready for the holidays

It'll be here before you know it!

I have already had customers requesting holiday backgrounds and clip art for Halloween, Hanukkah and Christmas -isn't it just August?
I have already started getting a few things ready for my customers that make jewelry, wooden trays,
cell phone covers, ipad covers, and other gift items they need to start making before the holiday set in.
I have started with the basics, dots and stripes. If you shop with me you know I love polka dots and fun and funky stripe digital backgrounds.  I will be working on all my other backgrounds and clip art, so if you have requests, let me know and I can add them to my sets.

Here are a few backgrounds and one clip art set to get you started on your holiday gift items.






and there are 8 sets total of various polka dots in 3 sizes and different colorways


Christmas holiday bow printable clip art

Many more fabulous Halloween, fall, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas backgrounds and clip art will be added soon!  For now, enjoy the HEAT!!!