What's New in goodmarvin

Well, yesterday was my baby's due date and she still has not arrived.  So while I wait around, trying to keep busy, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you some new things that are going on in my shop.  That is, before the demands of mommyhood consume all of my time!

The first thing I'm really excited about is my new infinity/eternity/extra long cowls I've been knitting with specialty yarns.  They're super dramatic and fun - some look like Elizabethan ruffles when worn.

Extra Long Circle Scarf in Sage Green, Aqua Blue and Purple

Extra Long Circle Scarf in Plum and Sage Green

(so fuzzy, warm and fun to wear!)

Extra Long Circle Scarf in Blue, Green, and Lavender Gray

I have plans to make more - in fact, there is one in yellow and very light gray that is very long and beautiful that I plan to photograph today and list soon.  I will be knitting until this baby arrives so keep checking back!

Some other new things:  Man scarves!  They are exactly what they sound like - just good looking scarves for the men folk in colors and designs befitting of the manliest of men.  As usual, I can't just make plain boring scarves - all of these have been knitted using a combination of yarns so they are completely one-of-a-kind, unique, handmade items.  A perfect gift for the dude in your life.  

Black and Silvery Gray Man Scarf

Marbelized Teal, Sky Blue, and Spring Green Windy Day Scarf with Buttons

(Long title, but a wonderfully practical scarf.  My husband always complains that his scarf comes undone when he's out in the cold, so voila!  Buttons to hold it in place!)

Beige and Brown Boucle Striped Man Scarf

(I love how soft the yarn is in this one, but it still has a distinctly manly feel.)

Ribbed Manly Scarf in Oatmeal and Gray

I'm going to stop there and let you check out the rest for yourself here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/goodmarvin?section_id=7170541

The last, super exciting thing I will leave you with is my new line of Schoolmarm Clutches.  Based on the design of the Sexy Librarian series, but with a rectangular body and more everyday, practical type fabrics.  

 Schoolmarm Fold Over Clutch in Brown Plaid and Floral

 Schoolmarm Fold Over Clutch in Cerulean Gingham

Schoolmarm Clutch in Charcoal Gray and White Houndstooth

There are plenty of other exciting new things in the shop - fun pom-pom winter hats, pretty neckwarmers with buttons, and fringed cowls, but I will let you check them out for yourself.  

www.goodmarvin.etsy.com

If you don't hear from me again soon, you'll know we've finally welcomed our little daughter into the world.  

xoxo

Melissa

October Giveaway Winner Announced!

Thank you to all who participated in this month's giveaway at www.diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com.  I am pleased to announce that Linda Henderson is this month's winner of this cute little clutch!  Congrats!

There is also a special consolation prize to all of you who didn't win - a 10% off discount code good on your entire purchase (not including shipping) now through Nov. 15th.  Just enter "October Giveaway" in the note to seller box after purchase and your order will be reduced by 10% through paypal within 48-72 hrs.

I'd also like to mention that I currently have 99 sales in my etsy shop.  To celebrate my milestone of almost reaching 100 sales, I will be giving away a free gift of either a Sexy Librarian Coffee Cup Cozy/Reusable Sleeve or a coin purse for all orders over $40 (excluding shipping) for the next 25 sales.  So in other words, just by doing a little holiday shopping you can get a little something extra if you are one of my next 25 customers.  In the note to seller box just tell me whether you'd like a coin purse or coffee sleeve (colors and designs will vary according to availability.)

Sexy Librarian Reusable Coffee Cup Sleeve

Classy Quilted Coin Purse

Happy shopping!  And wish me luck as my due date rapidly approaches - Nov. 3!

xoxo

Melissa

new website

I actually put this up a little while ago, but forgot to post the link on the blog.  I have a new personal website where all of the things I do can be found in one handy place.  You can see the collection of items I've made for goodmarvin - past and present, it's the new home for all of my plush art (plush pooties especially), my photography, and my sculptures.
Check it out here: www.melissanannen.com

xoxo
Melissa

goodmarvin giveaway on craftaholics anonymous blog!

As usual, I've been terrible about blogging - it seems to always be the last thing I get to do...I'm 38 1/2 weeks pregnant now, so we're definitely playing the waiting game at this point.  But, happy news!  Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous is hosting a giveaway for me on her wonderful blog and you can win this Sexy Librarian Clutch!

Giveaway details can be found here: http://www.diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com/

Before I go, I'll give you one last baby belly pic...I took this a week ago.  I am already counting down the days until I can wear normal clothes again!  I am so sick of wearing the same shirts over and over!

3 Cats, 2 Dogs, and 1 baby on the way...

     I may have mentioned this before, but my husband and I have a bit of soft spot for animals.  Lost and abandoned animals tend to find us, and we have a hard time not helping out (and sometimes adopting them).
     About 4 weeks ago, we discovered that a neighborhood stray cat had given birth to two little kittens in our yard.  Unfortunately, one of them was abandoned about 3-4 days after birth and died.  We knew that she still had the other little guy, so we decided to feed her every night to ensure that the other baby would survive so she could continue nursing it until it could be weaned.
     After hearing some mewing in the afternoon, but not being able to find the little kitten, we heard some very loud mewing from our kitchen window last night around 8pm.  My husband went out to investigate and discovered the little wee kitten had been abandoned in our yard.  Not wanting to take another chance that this guy could also die if we didn't take him in, we decided to rescue him.  Of course, with something so small and helpless, it's hard to not want to keep him.  So, we now have a new addition to the family - a little nameless 4 1/2 week old male kitten.
     Here's some pics for your enjoyment.

I am so bad at blogging! Pics of pregnant belly and Sexy Librarian Coffee Cozy...

I apologize for my lack of posting...I am very neglectful of this blog!  :(  In any case, I've spent the last few weeks getting the baby's room ready (pics when all finished  - I promise!), making yoga mat bags and scarves and neckwarmers for the shop, trying to save a baby cat from dying (lost that fight unfortunately) and generally driving myself crazy with all kinds of project ideas I can't possibly get to...
Here's a pic of my latest possibility for goodmarvin.  I had this thought the other day that Sexy Librarian Coffee Cozies might be super cute (with possibly a male counterpart in the form of a Don Draper a la Mad Men style suit)....this one is a prototype - I'm still debating on the lace - I think I want it to float free instead of be sewn in, but then I wonder if that will be annoying when you hold the cup.

And then there's the other project I've been working on...this is me at 32 weeks preggers - from last week.  I'm now 33 weeks...and counting down.

Ta ta for now folks...I will try to be better about posting!

xoxo

Closing Down Plushpootie

I have recently decided to close down my etsy shop for my plush creations - namely, the pootie.  I was not able to spend much time maintaining the site and am fairly convinced that it is rather difficult to market such strange items online.  I will be moving all images of available work to my personal website (to be launched soon) which will be the home for everything I make.   Also I will still be selling them at Square Peg Artery and Salvage in Philadelphia.

One of the reasons I have decided to remove them from etsy is also because I feel that etsy is more geared towards commercial items - even the art that does well there is usually of a more decorative nature (i.e. stuff you'd put in your home).  Etsy is also a difficult venue to explain the impetus behind the work you make which can lead to a lot of false assumptions about the artist and the art.  A fellow etsy friend recently asked if I had considered having someone submit my pooties to regretsy in an attempt to get more views and sales.  Thinking that it was an option, despite the site's reputation for being mean-spirited, I said I didn't mind if she submitted my work.  Nothing seemed to have come from it, but after googling my work a few weeks later, I did find that someone had posted my cookie monster pussy on regretsy's facebook fan page.

Cookie Monster Pussy

After reading the comments posted, I was surprised at my own reaction to seeing people talk about my work.  I consider myself to have a pretty thick skin about most things - my work especially, but I was pretty disturbed by what I read.  It struck me for the first time how important context was for this work and that I was doing very little for it by posting them for sale on a site like etsy.  Because there is already this built-in understanding that etsy is a site for handmade items, many of which are gorgeous, technically well-made and clever, there is this other understanding that comes with the craft world; that some of it is not very well-made and that this site often attracts crafters who are pretty amateur in nature.  They may be able to give gifts to their families and friends who are appreciative, but their sense of craft, skill, and design is not as sophisticated as the thousands of other crafters/artists already on the site selling their wares.  It is this knowledge that has led to a very successful site like regretsy which points out some of the crazy things that make it to etsy simply because someone has time and internet access.  

In any case, I make this point because what I was surprised about when reading the comments about my work was that no one had much to say with regard to how the item was made.  They were perplexed at the fact that it looked more like muppet anatomy rather than human anatomy (something I strive for when I make these items) and they were much more concerned with the type of person who made them rather than the object itself.  There was also a general lack of respect for the artist in general which I don't feel a huge need to subject myself to.  I expect my work to be critiqued when it is online, I expect many viewers to be perplexed or even not like my work, but in general, when viewers walk into an art venue, I expect a certain level of respect for the maker as someone who has taken time to communicate something - be it difficult to understand, not well done, or something the viewer simply doesn't agree with or care to bother with, but something they will dislike in a relatively quiet way out of respect for the artist.   Hopefully, on the flip side - there will be people who do appreciate and find value in the work I make.  

So, to make a long story short, it seemed best that I try and control the context in which these little muppet pooties are being observed as much as I can so I am serving the work's best interests.  The impetus for making them was the result of a few years of research into human sexuality, taboo, and trauma that I explored while in graduate school.  And while I am delighted at engaging the viewer's tactile senses as well as their sense of humor and discomfort - I am eager to have these objects understood within a context of art.  Laughter is a very powerful emotion that when released among viewers and peers has a cathartic, empowering effect.  When directed at someone or something, it can be utterly devastating.  In short, I'd rather laugh with my viewers than have them laugh at me.  While I can't really control which they'll choose to do, I can influence the viewer by controlling  the context in which they view my work.

goodmarvin was featured on etsy's front page! Hooray!

I just wanted to share that yesterday afternoon one of my pencil purses was featured on etsy's front page!   I'm so excited!  It's a little hard to see in this screen shot - but it was my little plaid pencil purse with the red buttons in the bottom row, second in from the left.

August Giveaway winners!

And the moment you've all been waiting for...the winners of the August giveaway...

For melissanannenart - the winner is Tina Pfeiffer!

For goodmarvin - the winner is Alina Bounma Stubbs!

I will be contacting you both through facebook, but please make sure to email your address by Wednesday so I can ship out your prizes!   Congrats to both winners and thanks to all for getting me some new fans!

As a consolation prize to those who didn't win, I will be sending a coupon code for 15% off your entire next purchase in the shop - good through the end of October.  Please check your updates box to find out what it is!

I will be running another giveaway in September and as always, would love to know what items in my shop you might like to see as prizes in the next giveaway...

xoxo
Melissa

August Giveaway for both melissanannenart and goodmarvin!

Here's the deal.  I need help promoting my shop and building up my network of peeps who like photographic prints and cute little purses and bags...so I'm hosting a giveaway for the month of August for both etsy shops.  (Sorry, no plushpootie giveaway as of yet - though, maybe I will do one in the fall.)

Let's get to the good part.  The prizes!  For melissanannenart I will be giving away:
This 8"x10" photograph:

More details on this photograph can be found on my site if you click this link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/50849129/bogo-magical-enchanted-redwood-forest

For goodmarvin I will be giving away:

The Sexy Librarian Clutch in Champagne and Gold Leaves

More photos and info on this purse if you click this link to the shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/52568364/sexy-librarian-clutch-in-champagne-and

3 Ways to Enter:

1.  Become a fan of my facebook page and post a comment on this blogpost with your facebook username so I can enter you into the contest.  Already a fan?  Lucky you, you've automatically been entered once already.

Links for facebook fan pages:

http://www.facebook.com/melissanannenart

http://www.facebook.com/pages/goodmarvin/89401387117

2. Go to my etsy shop (goodmarvin for the goodmarvin contest and melissanannenart for the melissanannenart contest) and leave a comment on this post telling me which item in the shop is your favorite.

Links to shops:

http://www.goodmarvin.etsy.com

http://www.melissanannenart.etsy.com

3. Suggest my fan page to a friend who is not already a fan and leave me a comment here with their username so when they add me, you will be entered into the contest again.  You can do this an unlimited number of times - so the more friends of yours who fan my page, the more chances you get to win.  Just make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry to be counted.

How the Winner is Chosen

The contest runs from Aug. 3 to Sunday, Aug. 15th at midnight EST.  Every time you enter you will be assigned a number for each entry.  At the end of the contest, a number will be chosen by the random number generator on random.org based on the total number of entries.  So, the more times you enter the contest, the better your chances are of winning. 

On Monday, Aug. 16th, I will post the winner of each giveaway on this blog and in the announcements section of each etsy shop.  You will have 48hrs. to email me at goodmarvin1227@gmail.com to claim your prize and give me your shipping info.  After that time, another winner will be chosen at random.

Questions? 

Email me at goodmarvin1227@gmail.com for any questions regarding the contest rules.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY SALE UNTIL JULY 31ST!

 I am hosting a sale in both of my etsy shops from now until the end of the month.  In melissanannenart.etsy.com  you will find buy one get one free on all prints in the shop.  In goodmarvin, I have a special section devoted to 25% off items and I also am running a buy two or more items and get free shipping on all items in the store (except custom orders.)  Now is a great time to stock up on gifts for the holidays (almost all of my scarves are 25% off)!
Check it out....

My favorite new sewing tool

Just thought I'd share about how awesome my new thread snips are.  They're made by Fiskars and cost $5.99 at Target.  They are perfect for cutting off those little tiny threads without damaging the rest of your work.  The best 6 bucks I've ever spent...

New Home Studio!

For the past few months, my good friend from grad school has been busy converting our front porch into a small home studio for me.  He finally finished it last weekend, my husband and I painted it, and I moved from my Port Richmond studio to my brand new home studio.  It is still being gradually organized and moved into and I've been documenting my progress as new things get added.

prior to the move-in, my cat Mr. Stevens checks out his new lounging spot

opposite end of the room

Slowly moving stuff in...

my somewhat hideous Ikea bookcase getting stuffed with fabric

detail of my quilter's cotton

sewing table (I'm dreaming of shelves on the side wall for all of my notions)

More images to come as I add shelves, curtains, and set-up my printing station for melissanannenart.etsy.com....