Taking Liberty with PopArt

The last few weeks I’ve been working on a slew of illustrations for a NYC publication and naturally, the Statue of Liberty had to get included. Timely, don’tcha say?

Series available for License.

….

Stalk by Email

Studio News: New Thirstystone Coasters

I completely forgot to announce through all of this Spring mayhem that Thirstystone has produced new coasters based on the classic wine designs!

Designed as a green product, the new double-sided paper pub coasters feature “Life is a Cabernet” and “You Had Me at Merlot.”

Thirstystone is working on building a new online retail site just for you, my enthusiast at Thirstycoasters.com. The new pub coasters and my other coasters will also soon be available.

Current coasters for sale on CalligraphyPets.

….

Stalk by Email

Breaking the Rules: Art Without the S&M

I’m not big into rules, in fact, I’m a rule breaker. I learn what the rules are, then I break ‘em.

Break-the-Rule #1

“Asking for approval is like seeking admonishment. Do your own thing without the masochistic tendencies.” -ecstewart

….

Stalk by Email

ECStewart Birthday Giveaway!

It’s my birthday and I want to celebrate!!

We’ve been working extremely hard the past month creating a new line of Paisley Collections and while doing so, we have a few good looking samples to giveaway. Since you’re fans of ours, we thought you’d like first snag at an opportunity to win a beautiful new luxe suede journal adorned with our paisley.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Random.org generated…

#24: Congrats Connie Harrington!
Connie: Send me your addy to creativegoddess (at) ecstewart (dot) com.
Must claim your paisley journal in one week.

But wait, there’s more!! For all of you who did participate, you get 15% off your next order (please don’t include originals) -just let me know at checkout and I will apply the discount.

Thank you all for participating.

Paisley Journal

Luxe Suede Adorned with Lisa’s Paisley Motif, Suede Bookmark affixed with sexy rivet, Size: 5×7, Refillable Blank Journal

Not So Sticky Rules:
1. One has to respond to this blog entry to qualify
2. I’d like you to be at least 18.
3. Contest Ends Tuesday, June 30th, 6:00pm (EST)
4. Free shipping for US Residents (lower 48 )
5. Shipping outside US/48 may have to help defray costs
6. You must confirm your prize within one week or you forfeit and another winner will be chosen.
7. You can’t be related to me -even thru marriage. Besides, you get all kinds of cool stuff from me anyway, right?
9. You must be reachable so that we can contact you. If I cannot verify your ID or reach you via email, learn that you’ve come from a ‘Sweeps’ forum, I will disqualify your posts.

Send your friends and good luck!

UPDATE: Can’t wait? Go shopping!!
….

Stalk by Email

Studio News: Featured in ShoppingConnection

If you love to shop for great finds in fine living, look no further than MyShoppingConnection.

Much to my surprise, MyShoppingConnection has just featured my lovely etched and hand finished sterling silver earrings featuring Bacchus.

When you click on any of the links that take you to the Bacchus earrings, please Retweet it or at the very least, stumble the elegant earrings to show your support.

Many thanks!
….

Stalk by Email

How to Create a Gravatar in 3 Easy Steps

How do you get your avatar to show up on my blog and promote your brand, too? Glad you asked. It’s easy! Oh, and it’s free.

The Act of Branding
My CREATIVEGoddess blog and ecstewart.com site is hosted by WordPress. When you see avatars that accompany comments made by people like you, you may see a unique image or you may see a general blue star as a placeholder awaiting your uniqueness. If you’re anything like me, we’re definitely image conscious.

If you see a blue icon next to you name, it’s time to swap it out and get your own gorgeous mugshot in that space! You own it, convert it!

Social Media: 21st Century Renaissance

I was invited by the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild to present “How to Use Social Media to Leverage Your Brand and Attract More Paying Customers For Your Business!” Saturday, June 6 with Donna Maria Coles Johnson, founder and president of the Indie Beauty Network and Indie Business Media.

At the Small Indie Business Breakfast, we had an exhilarating discussion surrounding concerns about small business. From discerning the difference between ‘Brand’ and ‘Branding’ to utilizing social media as part of the marketing tool-kit.

As a designer-entrepreneur, I’m a dedicated trendwatcher in all areas -not that there’s anything wrong with that- I rather enjoy it. As a small-biz marketer for myself and for others, I’ve watched a major trend shift occur in marketing over the past decade. No longer are the days of resting completely on what we know as traditional broadcast media (aka industrial media) : print, radio, TV & film, or sending out a campaign of postcards hoping for the 1.5% return.

I consider the beginning of the 21st Century a new Renaissance for the Creative Class. Watching the World becoming flat to Blue Ocean Strategies, my mantra for years has been that small business will be the back-bone of the United States.

This past 10 years or so has shown me that social media is a steadfast part of our life and as small business owners, we must embrace it as it gains speed and velocity. If you’re a working Creative or Gallery owner, I bet you’re asking…

What is Social Media All About?
This epoch stage of social media discourse allows us to interact (instead of broadcast) and allow us to cast a much different net with our customers and community. Yochai Benkler of Harvard Law School, describes social media as the underlying economic, social, and technological characteristics a “network information economy.” Social Media is known also as new media and currently, Web 2.0. Social media is the opposite of traditional marketing in that it is engaging and not purely broadcast. Social media is also about interactivity and reciprocity, ideally to engage in conversation among your enthusiasts to promote a well-rounded brand ownership.

Currently, most of us are already playing in social media: forums, weblogs, social blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures and video. Technologies notwithstanding include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP (VoIP), to name a few.

Still confused? Let’s break it down:
Web 1.0 | When the Web was new, the new era was all about read-only content and static HTML Web sites. It was thought that people preferred navigating through link directories (Yahoo! ,dmoz) but they were quite limiting. Even jumping off the AOL island was a bit of difficult leap until one realized that linking to other Web sites was “considerate,” even becoming the norm.

Mostly read on your computer’s monitor, there were only 45M users that used portals, web forms, dmoz directories, Netscape, page views, and advertising.

Web 2.0 | This era of consumption allows one to generate content as well as contribute within forums, blogs, and other sources like Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. Quickly, the consumer and content publisher line in the sand is getting obscured with waves of fresh innovation.

With over one billion online, communities, blogs, Wikipedia, RSS, Web apps, Google, are the mainstay through this epoch change of discourse. Ever important it is to get yourself and your business online to remain deep within discussions and seated infront of your buying audience.

Web 3.0 | Your Portable & Personal Web. It’s a fascinating approach focused on the individual through lifestreaming, consolidating content, dynamically and personal input, widgets, mashups, semantics, advertainment and much more.

So, now you’re asking… how does social media involve my brand? Stay tuned!

Up Next | Brand Awareness Through Social Media.

Meanwhile… CREATIVEMeans | Sign up for a 60-minute CreativeSM Session with Lisa! Just because you’re a Creative, doesn’t mean you have to be poor. Want to know how your Brand and social media can harmoniously weave together? Through years of marketing experience and small business insight, we can bring you closer to harnessing the power of social media and leveraging it for sustainable income.

—
Cheers!
Lisa, CREATIVEGoddess
lisa@ecstewart.com | 919 271 0668

You may also like these stories: BrandYOU: Your Avatar Pt 1 How to Create a Gravatar in 3 Easy Steps Lisa Speaks at IndieBiz Breakfast Thanks for reading! CREATIVEGoddess survives and thrives because of all your support. If you liked this post, please: SHARE This Retweet it and subscribe to the feed.

Practice Makes Voice

You cultivate your own World through your own taste.

Discovery
Simply, if you love art, you might be in the process of creating art. If you’re a musician, you might be in the process of picking up a guitar to learn folk music -because you love folk music that much. It speaks to you. You’ve listened to John Denver and Annie Lenox a thousand times and you’ve said to yourself, “I can do that. I want to do that. I want to get up on stage and play that.”

Theory & Practice
Eventually, your creative endeavor, whatever that may be, engulfs you and manifests itself. You evolve, nurture, and explore it within that self-assigned practice. You seek teachers, like-minded students, attend concerts, watch, absorb and allow it to fill you up. You know good taste. You’ve seen it. You’ve discerned it through critiques, public and private. You can talk about it with passion and aplomb.

Now, you even call yourself an artist.

Studio News: Luxe Paisley Accessories

Throw away those lifeless totes and dull mobile phone cases… Straight from our workshop to your hand are Paisley accessories!!

ECStewart Collections expands the famous paisley series into Luxe accessories. Totes, mobile phone cases, and journal covers,leather and suede supple Luxe elements will will definitely set you apart from the crowd.

Will be available in multiple color ways. Hint: Wine, Blueberry, & Chocolate!

Field Trip: Shopping for Leather

Who likes to go shopping? Better question, who doesn’t like to go shopping?

Our leather totes have hit a popularity stage that keeps us in the workshop. Yay! So, Andrew suggested on a Friday night that we get our carcasses out of bed to take an hour drive to Ramseur to go shopping for new leather and suede.

This is a video of where we shop and our process for selecting leather and suede for our products.

Now that you’ve seen the myriad of colors available, let us know your preference. While we can’t get the specific blue that you adore, we can come close. As tastemasters, allow us to create the products highlighting your personal taste.

Lisa, CREATIVEGoddess

Tweet This! | Stumble