Artists Alley Information Thread

Selling at Cons is best during the...

Spring	11.5%	[ 117 ]
Summer	29.4%	[ 300 ]
Fall	7.2%	[ 73 ]
Winter	5.5%	[ 56 ]
Any time!	46.5%	[ 474 ]
Total Votes:			[ 1020 ]

[Aki Ameko]

Oooooooooh ok I get it now. XD

In that case, I would personally prefer the thicker, more durable ones. smile

[Capricious apple]

Kyousouka

Capricious: I'm currently looking into clubflyers.com for my next batch of cards. The quality is nice, customziation is default (they don't even let you edit anything on their site, they print whatever images you upload xP). If you don't mind an ad on the back, you could even get their cards for free (but you still have to pay shipping, which is upwards of $10). I'm probably going to get double-sided cards though. I hate having ads on my stuff, and if I am paying for them, I might as well pay the $2 extra xP

hazzah! thank you so much.

but what does it mean by standard and custom? Both options gives freedom on the image but custom just have rounded edges right?

sorry for so many questions D:

[StarMasayume]

Thanks Aki. Yeah I think I'll go with the 1/4 thick mousepads. Ouch after adding everything up I think I'm just going to hope to break even the first con XD

So does this seem reasonable for breaking up the designs? I could always make some of them less so I have more death note or other ones.

Sailor Moon Chibi ( 8 )
Death Note ( 8 )
Death Note Chibis ( 8 )
Kingdom Hearts Chibis ( 8 )
Howl Chibis ( 8 )
Corpse Bride, ( 5 )
Princess Ai Chibi ( 5 )
Twins from Host Club ( 5 )

[Vicemage]

Wow you guys were talkative while I was at work... biggrin

Business cards: I've been thinking of doing studio-specific ones (when I finally create one) through clubflyers, I've seen their quality and it's very nice for the price. Currently I'm doing VistaPrint "premium" ones, because I do a variety of cards for my comic (with different panels on each one) and that lets me take smaller quantities of more designs for still a good price.

Shrinky Dink Charms: I've NEVER had a problem with them sticking to themselves when I use the inkjet type paper... they curl, sure, but all shrinky dinks curl, you just need to do them in small batches and squish them when they come out of the oven and are still hot and pliable.

They don't always shrink perfectly evenly, though I've always found that gives them a little character. ^^ And you need to carefully varnish them-use a wide brush, do a single pass, don't glop it on and let them dry well. Most of mine will survive varnishing, though bright red and dark purple are the worst offenders of bleeding. I use basic water-soluble polyurethane varnish.

And they do break with rough handling.

Charm straps: The charm you have from me, Muffin, is probably on a different brand of charm, from just before I switched to the Rings N Things straps. They've been holding up well, though; I like to actually stress-test that kind of stuff on my own phone and they're lasting well.

Kyou, every brand I've bought doesn't actually require any special tools. The rings on them aren't jump rings, they're split rings, like what you'd find on a keychain, so you just need to pull it open a bit and slide the ring from the charm onto it, no tools necessary! biggrin Rings N Things has by far the best price, too, I can pull the direct link to the straps if you need it.

Mousepads: I actually lke the thin ones myself. ^^ I'd also be interested in where you're getting them made...

and my battery isdone. D:

[Kyousouka]

Capricious apple: That's right. Custom is rounded edges and custom cuts, while standard are regular rectangles. I think the custom stuff is too expensive for artists (but might be nice for graphic designers and such).

Vicemage: The split rings are not good for laminated keychains, we would much rather have something that doesn't involve bending the lamination.
A direct link would be nice.


Do mouse pads even sell anymore? I think most people use optical mice now, mouse pads aren't as commonly used since they're not necessary.

[Vicemage]

I guess that's a good point, Kyou, though there's also the option of grommeting the opening (costing just a cent or two more tops)...

They come from here: Rings N Things

As for mousepads... the mice on my computers don't work for s**t without a mousepad under them. biggrin They don't read properly on my desk. The one at work doesn't read properly on the cart it's on either, and we have to put paper or something under it all the time to try to force it to track. Mousepads are still useful.

edited because I fail at tags.

[Cetriya]

Kyousouka

Vicemage: The split rings are not good for laminated keychains, we would much rather have something that doesn't involve bending the lamination.
A direct link would be nice.

try binder rings, the one you pull and click close.


hey star, dont know if you remember me from megacon some years back, you stayed at mt place.
I dont know what to say about mouse pads, you have a few done already so test the waters and see how they sell before you make more.

anyone know where I can get those Asian hand fan frames? I'd like to put some custom art printed on fabric. It cost to much/to much time to hand make the frames.

where's there a srinky dink tut, would like to try it out.

[StarMasayume]

Yeah same here -- my family all use an optical mouse but they usually still work better with a mouse pad. I think the problem I saw before was more people owning laptops. I don't plan to sell a ton of them, but usually have some people interested in buying them so they're nice to have (plus I like them for myself lol).

Hey Laurie! Of course I haven't forgotten you. Feel bad we haven't kept in touch well. I sold all the rest of the mousepads I had before quite some time ago so haven't had any. The least I can get now is 50 so it's basically all or nothing smile I figured I don't mind holding on to them to gradually sell them. Can always sell leftovers online.

[Aki Ameko]

@ Star: That's the thing with me, I have a laptop. ^^; If I had a desktop computer I would totally buy. And even if I used a mouse with my laptop I still wouldn't really need one, cause the mouse I use is the one that goes with my tablet. ^^;

I am also interested in a shrinky dink tutorial. razz And does anyone know if shrinky dinks would make good pins?

[Kyousouka]

Weird. I use a desktop and my mouse works perfectly fine on my desk. COuld be the type of surface though. It's got a printed texture (wood) so maybe that helps.

[Cetriya]

with optical mouse I found that slight grain surfaces are better then smooth glass like surfaces.


@star, its cool we're both busy working artists. how much will each mouse pad cost for the 50 run? if you still want to test, you can try kablam to print like 5 but they cost 5$ each

[StarMasayume]

Hey biggrin Thanks for the suggestion for Kablam - I didn't know they did them. I think I'm going to go ahead and order them though so I have them in time for Ancient City Con July 10-11. The price is pretty decent - 50 for $175 with shipping and they're allowing me to split it between different artwork.

Midnite and I got a dealers table since the artist alley was sold out at Ancient City Con, but we wanted to check out a different FL con. I don't have a table for Metro, but I'll be in the artist alley for AFO. biggrin

[Cetriya]

StarMasayume

Midnite and I got a dealers table since the artist alley was sold out at Ancient City Con, but we wanted to check out a different FL con. I don't have a table for Metro, but I'll be in the artist alley for AFO. biggrin

its reverse for me, I have a table for metro but not for afo so far, I will have a panel though

[Capricious apple]

Kyousouka

Capricious apple: That's right. Custom is rounded edges and custom cuts, while standard are regular rectangles. I think the custom stuff is too expensive for artists (but might be nice for graphic designers and such).

thank you so much, it has been very informative : D!
Now I just have to find out if they ship internationally :C

Skye River

What's the dumbest request(s) you guys ever get at the artist table ?

There was one that I refused, basically he told me to eyeball an image from an anime. I find that a bit degrading and isn't the point of artist alley to get something original? : /

Also, the girl beside me got a request where she was asked to draw animal porn. Two cats and a dog doing it...

[SamhainStar]

Quote:

Shrinky Dink Charms: I've NEVER had a problem with them sticking to themselves when I use the inkjet type paper... they curl, sure, but all shrinky dinks curl, you just need to do them in small batches and squish them when they come out of the oven and are still hot and pliable.

Interesting! You are about the only person I've heard not having trouble with this lol Lots of past topics on Etsy about it, someone said about cooking them on a silicone sheet really helped.

It sounds like you use a full size oven for yours? I purchased a little toaster oven to do mine so I wouldn't use up so much energy but I'm pretty sure that temperature and temp consistency has a lot to do with it. Well it's kind of broken now so I guess I'll be using my oven anyway lol

Here's a tutorial for the normal ones
http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=shrinky+dink+tutorial#/dwkotc

and one for inkjet:
http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=shrinky+dink+tutorial#/d27zj27

The inkjets are more expensive than the normal papers and you get less of them, also (I've not had this problem but some others have) sometimes they send you bad sheets with no printable side on so just something to keep an eye out for.