Noadi's Art Blog

It's Black Friday

2009-11-27T12:00:00.003-05:00

So it's the craziest shopping day of the year. I will be spending it at home, nice and comfy on my couch shopping online.

Of course Noadi's Art isn't going to be without a deal this weekend. I have free US shipping (and reduced shipping for international orders) from today through Monday night in my Etsy shop. This is the last time I'll be offering free shipping this year. I'll also be including stamped Giving Octopus cards that you can use to send cephalopod holiday wishes.

Oh yeah, I also have some new jewelry. Finally the cephalopod family tree is complete and I have Nautilus Jewelry! My brand new trilobite jewelry is also slowly being added to the shop as well.

New Jewelry Subject and Super Cuteness

2009-10-22T16:12:00.000-04:00

My original plan had been to make a holiday horseshoe crab ornament but once I had sculpted it I realized it would make a fantastic necklace instead. I really like how it turned out and plan to make more.

I was also thinking of doing other ancient animals both living and extinct in a more realistic form like this. Say trilobites, scorpions, etc.

Since I'm not doign the holiday horseshoe crab ornament I needed to come up with a new idea. I'll be making a Christmas Coelocanth ornament in the next few days.

So now for the cuteness. My brother and his wife have welcomed their very first child into the world. Little Joshua was born on October 17 and is a healthy little guy weighing in at 6lbs 4 oz (not bad for 2 weeks early).

Help Me with Some Research

2009-10-14T14:10:00.002-04:00

I just put together a quick little survey to find out a little more about who is visiting Noadi's Art and to help me do a little informal market research. The survey is totally anonymous, I'm not collecting any top secret information.

Noadi's Art Survey

Lots of Updates

2009-10-11T18:20:00.005-04:00

I have a lot going on lately so here are some updates:

International Cephalopod Awareness Days have ended. The giveaway and shipping special was a success. Jae has claimed her octopus and hopefully she loves it when it arrives.
To make room for a new trilobite design I'm planning I've dropped the prices on the current design to $15. You can find them on Etsy and eCrater
I've also lowered the prices on my gargoyle jewelry. I'm going to be completely discontinuing the line since it no longer really fits Noadi's Art very well. On Etsy and eCrater
I'm working on a commission of 20 pins for a member of a Mardi Gras Krewe, very cool and fun.
I sometimes have crazy ideas that I really want to make happen and one from this weekend is the Holiday Horseshoe Crab ornament so keep an eye out for that. It continues the theme from the Xmas Platypus of strange animal ornaments.
I created a new squidoo lens for my steampunk jewelry. It's been pretty popular lately so trying to get it a little more attention and making more multiples than I usually do.
Made a dinosaur specimen jar. Might make more, haven't decided yet.

Cephalopod Day Giveaway Winner

2009-10-08T19:00:00.010-04:00

The time has come to see who wins the octopus necklace. There were 49 entries (excluding two people who posted as Anonymous) so drum roll please:

The 4th entry wins and that is Jae!

Jae said...

Cuttlefish is so cute, but the giant squid... those guys I can just watch in awe 24/7. I anxiously wait for the day when we can actually find and watch these amazing creatures on a regular basis instead of only catching glimpses or finding corpses.

So please contact me Jae at NoadiArt@gmail.com with your mailing address in the next 3 days to claim the necklace.

International Cephalopod Awareness Day Has Arrived!

2009-10-07T23:55:00.000-04:00

The most wonderful day of the year is upon us. Head over to my Etsy shop for free shipping and goodies on all cephalopod orders.

If you haven't entered the giveaway yet: Go do it! Entries are only open until 6pm Eastern US time with the drawing at 7pm.

International Cephalopod Awareness Day Celebration!

2009-10-01T12:00:00.056-04:00

On October 8 it is International Cephalopod Awareness Day and in celebration of this day I'll be doing several things:

1: I'm giving away the necklace on this page. Here are the rules:

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment on this post saying which cephalopod is your favorite between now and 6pm (EST) on October 8. I won't consider any entries posted after that time.
I'll be pulling the winner out of the virtual hat at 7pm on October 8. I will announce the winner shortly after 7pm so watch this blog (if you're on twitter leaving your twitter username will make it possible for me to contact you directly as well)
The winner will have 3 days to claim their prize by emailing me their mailing address.
In the event the prize isn't claimed I'll pull a new number out of the hat.

2: Free shipping October 8 on everything in my Etsy shop featuring a cephalopod (necklaces, earrings, perma-pets, etc.) sorry that I can't offer international shipping free but it will be greatly reduced.

3: Little cephalopod surprise with every order. It's a surprise so I'm not telling you what it is.

4: Today is my one year anniversary on Etsy (yes I know my account says September 28 but I didn't actually open shop until October 1st last year) it's amazing how far I've come since then.

Going out of town

2009-09-10T16:05:00.000-04:00

I'm extremely excited. I'm heading to the Northeast Conference for Science and Skepticism tomorrow and I won't be home until Sunday night.

I'm keeping the shop open but just a heads up if you planned on ordering that I won't be mailing orders on Saturday and since I'm going to be completely wiped out when I get home I probably going to be able to get things packed Sunday night to be mailed Monday morning. I'll try to get them out Monday afternoon but more likely they'll be going out Tuesday morning.

Sooo Busy

2009-09-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

I have been working my tush off this week. First of all I've been getting things set up for the half off shipping special I'm running this weekend.

Monday I started a brand new blog called the Culinary Cuttlefish which is all about food and cooking (two things I love to do).

As always I've been busy making stuff too. Pretty new Cosmic Octopus and Cosmic Squid necklaces with Swarovski crystal stars on them. Also a brand new baby rat sculpture, I'm thinking of doing a series of baby animals in everyday objects and this is the first one. He's in an altoid tin.

Zombie Fun

2009-09-02T19:40:00.002-04:00

Several years ago I worked on this crazy, fun, ultra-low budget zombie movie. Well after many delays it is finally being posted online in several parts. So here is Color of Cannibals - Episode 1. I'll be posting the other parts as they go up.

Color of Cannibals - Episode 1 from Collective Subconscious Producti on Vimeo.

Also, just a reminder that I'll be running a 1/2 off shipping special for Labor Day weekend at Noadi's Art on Etsy, September 4-7.

Etsy News and Specimen Jars

2009-08-30T21:40:00.001-04:00

I've now set up my Etsy shop for shipping to all of Europe as well as the US, Canada, and Australia. Etsy just introduced this wonderful new shipping region feature that makes it easy to set shipping to large regions of countries. This makes it easier for those of us who would like to offer more international options.

I've also been making some more specimen jar necklaces. Here's a couple more, brain and heart.

Frankenpods and Upcoming Events

2009-08-23T16:05:00.002-04:00

Halloween is coming up in a couple months. My jewelry generally would be fun for Halloween with the squid and fetuses in jars but I wanted to do something really fun for the holiday. So the Frankenpod was born, a creature that would have been created by Dr. Frankenstein if he were a cephalopod. So far I've only done the first test necklace a cuttlefish frankenpod.

I also have some upcoming holiday sales:

Labor Day Weekend Sale during September 4-7 - Half-off shipping and discounts on some items.

International Cephalopod Awareness Day on October 8 - Free shipping and goodies for all purchases of cephalopod jewelry, ornaments, and tins. Half off shipping and goodies for Perma-Pets.

Supplies and a Great New Hat

2009-08-18T12:30:00.000-04:00

I've been starting to stock up for the holidays. Soon I need to order more clay and jewelry findings. This week I got enough little jars to keep me making specimen jar necklaces for a while, 50 to be exact, got them from judgedredge on eBay. Also a whole quarter pound of itty bitty watch parts from ChaoticSupplies on Etsy which should keep me supplied to make steampunk cephalopods for quite some time.

I also got a goody for myself. This absolutely amazing vintage bowler from Dress Up Doll Vintage on Etsy. She even included a cute matching scarf.

This week I'm working on new jewelry. I have quite a to do list that includes Frankenpods for halloween (yep, frankenstein cephalopods).

Starting a Fan Page

2009-08-15T12:45:00.001-04:00

I've set up a brand new page on the website all for fans of Noadi's Art. Right now it's sad and empty so if you've bought anything from me get a picture of yourself modeling with your Noadi's Art treasures and send them to me. If you also want a link back to your site, blog, or twitter make sure to include that as well.

New Projects

2009-08-06T13:30:00.002-04:00

I've been busy making lots of new stuff lately. Most of it has been replacing things that sold but I have a few things to show off.

First is this Cuttlefish Specimen Jar necklace that I absolutely love. Of course once I started doing these necklaces I just had to make a cuttlefish one.

I've also been doing some fun illustrations lately that I'm putting on products in my Zazzle Shop so you can get them on tshirts, stickers, and other goodies like that. It started with this holiday/birthday octopus that I sketched and I'll eventually have a rubber stamp made out of it for making cards.

Then since I was on a roll I sketched up this nautilus and squid that I'm on the process of reworking in Inkscape and they'll be up in my shop soon.

Goodies from Etsy

2009-08-02T12:30:00.001-04:00

I love to shop on Etsy as well as selling there. It just has so much cool stuff and I recently got a couple very geeky presents to myself.

First is this great necklace from Surlyramics that says "Be Skeptical".

The other goody is this amazingly cool plush trilobite from Weird Bug Lady.

Lots of supplies lately

2009-07-22T22:50:00.001-04:00

I always have fun when it comes to shopping for supplies. Last week I had some new clay cutters, clay, and nice brass wires come in. Then I bought some rhinestones at a craft store that I used on my latest Cosmic Octopus.

Today I had beads, gold and silver wire, clip-on earring findings, lobster clasps, more hair sticks, and a grab bag of gemstone cabochons.

So my plans for all these goodies?

The clip-on earrings I got because I've had requests for them, I'm going to offer to switch out the hook earring wires I usually use for clip-ons for whoever wants them.

The precious metal wire is for my specimen jar necklaces. I thought mixing it up with a little gold as well as silver would be nice. The brass wire is for those larger bubble shaped bottles I got a few weeks ago. Their going to be in the tradition of my Perma-Pets and Specimen Jars but a little different.

I can't wait to show all the fun new things I'm making.

Norway Sidewalk Art Show Recap

2009-07-12T19:45:00.001-04:00

Another week another art show. This is my last one for the near future so I can go back to focusing on making new jewelry and sculpture for a while. This show was a lot of fun here's how it went:
Scroll to the bottom or go here if you just want photos.

Friday night: I was maybe less than smart about this but the James Randi Educational Foundation was streaming the Amazing Meeting live and I had to watch it. I was up until about 2am watching George Hrab perform his Occasional Songs for the Periodic Elements live which was incredibly good. The streaming video had a chat along with it which made it all the more fun to talk with all these other skeptics. The down side of course was that I had to get up at 5:30 in the morning. That's right I did the show on 3 1/2 hours of sleep.

Saturday 5:30 AM: I am up and getting ready for the show. I already had all the boxes packed so it was just a matter of dressing, eating breakfast, and getting everything loaded in the truck.

7:30 AM: Arrive at the show, sign in and drop off my Natural History Cuttlefish Necklace for judging. Setting up the tent went fast but getting the display ready took me until 9 AM.

9:00 AM: The show starts. From here to 4 PM I didn't keep much track of time but this is more or less in chronological order. These are the highlights that stuck out to me. I wish I'd gotten some pictures of a few things but I was so busy the thought just never crossed my mind.

First sale of the day came early, maybe 20-30 minutes in by an adorable little girl of maybe 5 years old. She really wanted a necklace but Daddy said no because $30 is a little too much for something she's likely to break. I do have the tentacle charms that are a dollar and she went for that idea because she got to pay me with her own money. She was so proud of herself, and she paid me with a dollar coin which was cool first of the new presidential ones I've received (William Henry Harrison on it), Daddy pitched in the extra nickel to cover tax.

Around 10 AM or so Danyelle and James came to help me out for the rest of the day. They live in Norway so a nice short drive for them. They were a huge help, the show would be so much harder and longer without them.

Noon was when the winners of judging were announced, I didn't win anything. Too bad but my jewelry is pretty unusual so I can't say I'm surprised. The winner was a beautiful gemstone and wire-wrapped necklace and totally deserved a prize. All the other jewelry was great too and it had to be a really tough job for the judges.

Shortly after lunch (yummy sandwiches made by Danyelle) a family with their kids came by. Little girl really wanted a squid necklace. Mom said "You don't need a squid necklace", little girl relied "Yes I do!" in a totally serious voice. No sale but a good laugh.

Some entertainment was provided by a procession of pro-marijuana protesters. Now I fully support their position and think marijuana should be legal and treated the same as alcohol (but this is about the art show not drug policy). I still had to find the phrase "I smoke pot but I'm not a criminal" incredibly funny and ironic.

I learned it was a very good idea that I brought findings and tools with me just in case. A girl wanted some of my earrings but the price was more than Grandma wanted to pay so I put a couple matching tentacle charms on earrings and charged her $5 for it.

The only sale of one of my big necklaces (sold a lot of tentacle charms and $5 pieces) was to a girl in her late teens who loves squid. The whole day would have been worth it for just this sale because she was so excited about it and took quite a while to pick out the one she wanted to buy. Finally she settled on the gilded steampunk cuttlefish but took some cards so she could get another one later.

Later in the afternoon I see a couple come by with the guy equipped with a baby sling. Only there was no baby human in it but two adorable kittens. They are fostering the kitten for Responsible Pet Care in Norway a no-kill cat shelter until they are of adoptable age (old enough to be spayed or neutered). I really wish I had thought to get a pictures because it was really cute.

4:00 PM: Show finishes. With Danyelle, James, and my dad it didn't take too long to get everything down and packed in the truck. We listened to the Dr Horrible soundtrack on my laptop while working on it. Done and left by 5 PM.

Big Milestone and Saturday's Art Show

2009-07-08T14:25:00.000-04:00

Yes, I do think I'm crazy in doing 2 art shows in 2 weeks. The second show is this Saturday, July 11. It's the Sidewalk Art Show in Norway, Maine, check out this page I put together for info and directions on how to get there.

I just reached a major milestone for my Etsy shop, I've topped 100 sales. This is pretty big for me, I only opened the shop about 9 months ago, it's amazing to see how much it's grown.

Now how to celebrate? I'm thinking with chocolate.

Bethel Art Fair Recap

2009-07-06T12:00:00.005-04:00

So Saturday was my first art show of the year. Here's how it went.
(scroll down to the bottom if you just want to see the photos)

Friday
7:00 PM-9:30 PM: Janet threw a party for the Shy, Novice, and Closeted Art Show. I was the graduate this year so they sponsored my booth for the show on the Common.

The party was a lot of fun. There was wonderful food provided by some of the artists in the show and Janet's house looked gorgeous with all the art displayed. The party didn't go totally smooth, shortly after it started a big thunderstorm hit, so we lit candles around the house just in case the power went out.

10:00 PM: I get home and with my dad get the truck packed up to go. I don't get to bed until 12:00 AM.

Saturday
5:30 AM: I get up to get ready for the show. I got maybe 4-4.5 hours of sleep. This was not a good idea. We also had to repack the truck to make sure none of the boxes got wet because it was raining a bit.

7:00 AM: Arrive at the show, check in, start setting up the booth. It was still raining but lightly.

9:00 AM: Show starts. There was a good crowd starting off pretty early and the first half of the day went great. This is when I made the most sales and got a lot of compliments on my work. I sold one of my octopus necklaces to a lady who wanted to give it to her daughter who's a veterinarian and octopus lover which was just great.

Why do so many people break the rules? The show stated very plainly that dogs were not welcome but there were so many there. I have no problem with well trained dogs (and most were wonderful and friendly) but why bring a puppy that isn't even leash trained yet? Luckily I had no mishaps with dogs knocking things over but it was close.

12:00 PM: Friends Danyelle and James come to help me out the rest of the day.

12:30 PM: 10 minute downpour. Unfortunately this is when the show started dwindling in visitors, the rain drove off a lot of them and they didn't return. Still had a good crowd but not as good as in the morning.

There were a ton of kids at the show, a lot more than I've seen at other shows I've done. Most of the kids were great and a lot of fun. There was one boy in particular who was probably about 9 or 10 who loved my squid necklaces. He came and looked at them then ran off and brought his mom back, she said no. About 5 minutes later he was back with his dad who also said no. I'm surprised I didn't see him back with a grandparent. I felt kind of bad for him but I don't blame his parents, the necklace is $30 and while my necklaces are fairly tough I don't think they could survive an active 9 year old boy for too long.

4:00 PM: Show wrapped up and with Danyelle and James' help I got everything packed up pretty quickly except the canopy. It had started to rain again just after 4 so we waited under the canopy until my dad arrived with the truck.

Good:

There was a great crowd with a lot of enthusiastic people.
The organizers and other artists there were all incredibly friendly and helpful.
Sales met my goal, obviously selling more would always be great but the show is about getting my name out more than making a lot of cash.

Bad:

The weather.
Visitors did skew to older folks and couples with young kids which are not my best audience.
I didn't set up my booth in the best way I think. Too much high priced sculpture, next show I'm not bringing so much. Also I should have arrange the tables in an outward face U that people could walk around rather that face in because not enough people could fit inside the area.

Two Art Shows in Two Weeks

2009-06-30T15:30:00.000-04:00

So I'm down to the wire preparing for these two shows. Getting a little stressed but also really excited.

If you're in the Bethel, Maine, area for the 4th of July please come to the Art Fair on the Common. The Norway Sidewalk Art Show on Main Street in Norway, Maine, is on the 11th. Both go from 9am to 4 pm. Expect to see lots of photos after the shows.

Having fun

2009-06-23T17:20:00.001-04:00

I'm getting more prepared for the art shows coming up. I got a 3rd large table and a little side table for my checkout area, a new cashbox (this one actually has a working lock!), and a few other things. If it ever stops raining this week I need to do a test run setting up the canopy and tables.

I also got yet more supplies. This time a collection of little bottles to fill.

Sexy Squid Shoes

2009-06-20T14:03:00.001-04:00

Sexy Squid Shoes
Originally uploaded by Noadi - noadi.net

I just had to show these amazing shoes I got on Etsy. Aimee's Armoire custom painted these gorgeous tentacled shoes for me and they are amazing.

I'm a busy bee

2009-06-13T17:40:00.000-04:00

Things have been a bit crazy the past few days but in a good way. Here's what's going on:

Tuesday was my birthday! I'm 27 now. Thursday some friends threw me a little party complete with a cake that had an octopus.
I've had the combination birthday/Yart deal going with half off shipping for jewelry and free gifts going from the 9th and going until tomorrow the 14th.
Squidoo made some major layout changes including the introduction of themes so I've been updating my lenses to take advantage of them.
Still preparing for the art shows coming up.
Between replacing what's sold during my special and preparing for art show I've been busy making new jewelry including these weird specimen jar pendants.
The show I'm doing July 11th has a $200 jewelry prize so making something special for that.

Some deals for you

2009-06-07T15:25:00.000-04:00

Etsy is having a Yart Sale from June 10th-14th. My birthday is on June 9th so I'm going to kick it off a day early. From Tuesday through Sunday I will have discounted shipping throughout my Etsy shop.

In my ecrater shop I've now set up a section of discounted jewelry.