Museum of Paper

Rain Rain; Send it Away

Pam Chatfield says that she just got a PO box and needs help breaking it in. She says that she will post all received in her photo album on a yahoo 360 page, and will send documentation to all.

Sounds like fun!

Subject: Rain or anything to do with rain, like raindrops, puddles, storm clouds, etc.

Medium: Any
Size: Post cards 4"x6" or ATC's 2.5"x3.5"  - she explains: I have a small PO box, so I try to keep my mailart small.

Deadline: Sepember 1, 2006
Send to: Pam Chatfield - PO Box 1705 - Seabrook, NH 03874 - USA

It's Tuesday, So Try Doing One More Thing

Try It Tuesday is a website that sponsors the idea of setting aside at least part of every Tuesday to do a project that they explain each week.

Illustration Friday, Inspire Me Thursday and now Tuesdays are tempting me too. So many ideas and so little time!

I thought that was a cool idea until I started realizing that priorities start to get lost at some point when we starting adding more and more things to the "to do" list.

The upside of Try It Tuesday is that you could do something in a new way or learn something new.

Get Seen: Illustration Friday & Inspire Me Thursday

Are you participating in Illustration Friday or Inspire me Thursday this week? How about last week?

Any week?

Here's an opportunity for you. I'm offering to help you gain some more viewers for your work. I'll even write about this feature as part of the Artsy Asylum blog where the readership of non-artists, art-buyers and new media people with more money will be likely to see it,

You Can Take a Giant Step : Want to Get Known?

Want to Get Known? The interconnectivity of the blogging world is something that can exponentially increase attention on what you do; increase your blog readership; increase your visibility.

You, the Service you Perform, or the Art You Make can take a Giant-Step forward.

And being able to let someone else know that we have mentioned them in what we're writing is of great benefit to us - and to them. It gives each of us a nice hand up and a pat on the back as well without having to hold hands and sing kumbaya.

The way we do the job of letting them know that we're talking about them - without having to phone or email them - is through "pings" which provide a "trackback" to what we're saying  AND  who we're saying it about.

Now wait though . . .
    before your eyes roll back in your heads  I've prepared a quick (and easy I hope) "show and tell" on the subject.

If you go along with each step I think you'll soon get it. And if not? Heck - ask me questions!

. . . No brain cells will be injured in the process. Take a deep breath . . .

Let's start by setting up an example. We'll say that:

1.) I want to write a post (article) about something that someone wrote in their blog.  Of course I want to include a link so the reader can just click and see what I'm talking about.

My example to demonstrate this is at this blog entry. You can go ahead and click that now and then come back here.

2.) As you read through that entry you will find a link to the Everyday Economist

3.) My blogging platform (Typepad) has a function that automatically (no kidding) "pings" the Everyday Economist as a way of communicating to that blog that I just referenced it in something I wrote. 

Think of this automatic message as if it were just like my sister tattling on me, running immediately to her and saying "Mommy, Susan was saying a bunch of stuff about you."

With me so far?

4.) OK - so back in the bloggosphere - like magic - the beginning lines of what I wrote about him show up right there in his Everyday Economist's blog.  And even better - my words appear right below the entry that I'm writing about!

Imagine that a magic cloud appears over my sister the tattler's head . . . and in the cloud appear the words that I actually said about Mommy, right there where she - or anybody else - can see them.

A Professional Presence Online

I came across the Expose' site by chance and was very impressed with not only how clean and professional the format looks but with how artist-intuitive it is.

I also like that their set up allows you to display your entire collection of work online quickly - and easily. Plus, it seems like the cost is low. That's true especially when compared to other rediculously overpriced services I've looked at on one hand - and the others which scream "amateurish" on the other hand.

There is a tour that has more detail at: http://www.myexpose.com/tour/
If you want to try a month free just use the freebie code : 17904

Beyond this, are there other services that you'd like to share with us?

Beyond the freebie things for photo sharing like webshots, what groups or businesses offer something similar?

The Museum's readers would be particularly interested in them - especially any that you've had experience with that are a step up from the free options out there.

 

Bite into Weird Wonderful Word Biscuits

From those informative folks at . . .
    

- othersise known as boing boing - I learned about Bokstavskex - which generates words of your choosing set in type composed of alphabet "digestive biscuits."

These digestive biscuits look like a cross between Ritz crackers and Saltines but I'm game. . .

After less than a minute I came up with biscuits spelling out

Hey this works pretty well.

and then

in no time . . .I put together . .

Funny thing to use to spice up the blog - or get some attention with what you spell out - or send  the right "words" to mom and make her laugh.

Or just see what fun you can come up with to share.

Weird or Wonderful - What do you think? 

Explosive Outbreak in the Information World

I haven't harped on this in awhile - so just let me pass on one thing quickly before you stop reading.

"...you cannot afford to close your eyes to them [blogs], because they're simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself.  And they're going to shake up just about every business - including yours.

                  -- Business Week Magazine, May 2, 2005

Notice that this quote is from nearly a year ago. Can you imagine how much truer this is today?

Clue: the graphic from technorati -
click image to see it enlarged.

The bloggosphere has more than doubled in the eleven months since this was written.

Yes, the group who write blogs - and more who read them at least three times a week includes: grandmothers, writers, teachers, musicians, lawyers, classrooms full of your kids, decorators, TV actresses, football players, the corner grocer, my vet, and people who would either like to buy your work, exhibit your work, write about your work or take a class on how to do what you do.

In short, what Business Week said does too apply to you, me, your aunt Hattie and your kids' soccer coach. And it applies now even more than when they said it in 2005.

Win an iPod & 44+ Hours of Expert Interviews!

So - you could learn how to earn a substantial income from the knowledge and experience you already have and also Win an iPod nano fully loaded with 44+ hours of interviews

Who can argue with that?

Patsi and Denise (aka The Blog Squad) pack their new ezine Savvy eBiz Tips with FREE marketing tips, tools and secrets that other people are using right now.

 

For Artists Interested in Swapping Art

Straight from the crowded mind of Serendipity comes The Postal Press, a monthly newsletter for mail and paper artists worldwide!

Each issue will include a mailing list of artists interested in swapping art.  The list will be one full page, front and back, and addresses will be added to the top of the list with each issue. As more names are added to the top of the list, old names will fall off the bottom of the list. 

If you'd like to be added to the first list…now is the time to do so! 

How:

1. Make a piece of mail art.
2. All art must be 4 inches x 6inches or smaller and

Get Seen; Get Known; Get Buyers

What if I told you that your work could be seen by a thousand people in 30 days. Make that a thousand interested people.

OK . . . I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Let's start with basics:

1.) Some artists make art simply for the purpose of creating. Others need to keep the creative business doing business.

2.) Even artists and other sole practitioners need to put their work or product in front of faces. Hopefully many faces.

 

---

So how do we get our names and our work seen?

One word: Communication

• We can network.
• We can blog.
• We can send out newsletters and ezines.

But we need to know WHO would LIKE to know about us and what we do.