Living the Art Life: Creating,Selling,And Marketing Art in My Everyday Life!: How to be Creative and Still be a Great Parent!

Living the Art Life: Creating,Selling,And Marketing Art in My Everyday Life!: How to be Creative and Still be a Great Parent!: As a parent , you know that children are always going to need structure and a disciplined life. And as an artist , we are not k...

How to be Creative and Still be a Great Parent!

As a parent , you know that children are always going to need structure and a disciplined life.

And as an artist , we are not known as very structured or  have a disciplined life style.


But being the creative people we are and wanting to be a  great parent, sometimes everything has to be tweaked just a little bit in order to raise productive children into productive adults.



When I think about this , I just go aghhhhhhh! I am still a parent and I am also a grandmother.  Raising two girls was hard enough with my creative life style. But I made two specific rules at my home.  Do your assignments and get your education. Because once you have an education ,it can never be taken away.


I can remember my husband and I working sometimes into the late hours of the night to finish orders for customers.  We  were often tired ,but we  finished them . I can remember my children popping in and asking questions , and sometimes helping but, they always had her assignments done and ready for the next, day.



Recently my youngest daughter , her children and husband have moved back in with me, because of my husband's illness, the cycle has come full circle.   So being a little bit wiser and calmer , we have set up some new rules and guidelines to make her children and my grand  children more productive and responsible people.




I am going to list the rules that we use with my grandchildren, but  before we ever set any rules we sat down with them and told them one  important thing.

There are no excuses: the first thing we discussed with the children is the fact that nothing is impossible for them to accomplish. 
They can make good grades by studying, asking for help on things they don't understand, and finishing their assignment . But the most important thing  is being diligent on all things.
That means being determined, whether difficult or easy, follow through with the task.
No one was born to be an Einstein, we  all are  brought into this world knowing few things . And these few things are how to nurse , make noise , and excrete. we don't asked you to be all A's students, but we ask you to set your goals to do the grades that are expected of them.


So here are the rules:


1.Homework and studying: These are done everyday at our house after they get home. At the same place,  every time. Usually at the kitchen table so every child knows it is what expected of them.


All parents should be involved with their students studying or homework. That is another good reason to have the children sit at the kitchen table . While you are cooking dinner an adult can help and make sure they are at task. 

Every child should also have a parent who has knowledge of a each child's  schedule :classroom assignments and or assessments. For instance, which test are on what day and what assignment is due on what day.

Most  schools have a  website to go check these assignments out and schedules. Teachers will list lessons plans and schedules  on their school websites for parents.

Make a schedule for routine  dates of assignment, turn ins and tests. This  schedule should be done for each child.

2. Don't tell them they are genius'.  Stop telling your children they are wonderfully smart and bartering with them to make perfect scores. Good grades should be considered natural and expected by all.
 When you give children a fantastic reward every time they make an A on a test ,they will expect rewards all the time. Then when the rewardsw stop they will stop.

When you tell your child they are smarter than the average child this sets them up for failure.

They think everything is going to be easy and  when its not they cannot take the let down of losing  praise or the spot light. So they become defiant and give up.



Children should be told that getting good grades is hard work but builds great character and not everything is life is a win , win.

This way they can cope when times get tuff and they will not complete a task because they are not number ONE.

When my children have good grades I always tell them I am proud for their effort and not giving up. They are successful because they stayed the course. 


3. Always encourage through love and understanding, but always tell them when they have done something wrong and give consequences.



If a child has an excuse for everything he or she does wrong , behavior escalates and sometimes character of children get out of control.

It may devastate you to punish your child but later it will devastate you if he commits a crime or becomes a needy adult.

4. Children also need a chore. whether its helping with the laundry, feeding the pets, washing the dishes. They need a daily or weekly responsibility. And they need this consistently. This gets them in the habit of being productive and responsible. And it becomes habit , so it is instilled in them to continuously be responsible.



Being an artist , is sometimes hard to be consistent, but being an successful artist is also being a: consistent, responsible and productive artist. You have acquired this gift being a successful artist . And you, as an artist,  have  developed yourself into a successful artist in certain consistent and determined  scenarios, even if we don't know it.

So pass it on ,your strategies to your children and it will give them the opportunity to be successful and to become a productive adult.

 This is the most wonderful gift or legacy you can give to your child.
So hope this will insight you to continue to be creative and    the answer to having a  creative life style and still be a wonderful parent.

 Good luck! And keep being creative.

 

How to make Money selling on Facebook Now!

Now is the time to really make a great  sales strategy on

Facebook.

How to Make Money selling on Facebook, Now!

You could have a bunch of sales right now !

 First, you have to realize the season. It is the holiday time and people will be buying for decoration or gifts.

So now is the perfect time.

First , using your face book post  a painting.

If it is a traditional landscape list the painting as a sale  and sale it at a 25% discount.

What ever you thought it was worth reduce your price.

People love getting a bargain . So paint one of your most popular paintings that you have done in the past. It doesn't hurt to  repaint it and put it up for sale.



Two, You can paint a seasonal item.

Santa Claus, Snow man,  winter scene, horse with a wreath,  any thing that is popular this year for Christmas.


List it at a very reasonable price and describe that you are taking orders. Orders between now and some time before December.
 Emphasis that you can only take so many orders  because of the time frame. I guarantee that you will have people interested after the deadline.







Last , paint commissioned portraits. 

Place one of your old portraits  on Facebook and list your services.

Describe that you are a professional artist and that holiday discounts are available.

Also. include a background dog or any other pet.


People will go crazy over this.




Now, four ways to post are:


1.Your timeline, where all your friends will see your post.


2.Facebook messenger to past buyers and some you have researched that might be interested in a painted portrait. Include a message that you thought, this person you are sending the message, they might be interested in capturing
a family member on canvas to be kept as an heirloom.

And 3.   Local Swap Shops on Facebook. Every place usually has at least 3 local swap shops on Facebook.  List them in all three even the towns that are 25 or 30 miles away. You can arrange a pick up or email them to these out of town customers. They can pay by PayPal or send you a check . But don't mail until you get paid.

And 4. Member of any special groups on Facebook.   Post a message on your Facebook group page and see what happens.
 

Living the Art Life: Creating,Selling,And Marketing Art in My Everyday Life!: What you should be doing NOW with your Art, Craft ...

Living the Art Life: Creating,Selling,And Marketing Art in My Everyday Life!: What you should be doing NOW with your Art, Craft ...: What you should be doing NOW with your business, is very crucial. This time of year is the most profitable sales time of all. Actually...

What you should be doing NOW with your Art, Craft ,Hobby anything business!

What you should be doing NOW with your business, is very crucial.

This time of year is the most profitable sales time of all. Actually, from October till the end of December, there will be more sales than another time of the year. And it is  until the very last part of December that you can make a lot of money.


The first thing that I hope you have already done, is to create many of your profitable merchandise. If you sold a lot of one item this year you need to have quite a few of these on hand.

Also, If you have any merchandise that goes well with the season, increase them .

A good idea, is to keep records of what you have sold a lot of during the  year and what you sold a lot of  at this time last year for Christmas.

Record keeping, I Know is a terror, but stats don't lie and it can sometimes make or break you.



Another thing, is to go back to your email marketing list.

Make  email flyers of your merchandise: what you usually sell, and what you are selling for seasonal items.



Present your usual items as a gift campaign or a discount campaign.  Throw in a piece of merchandise if they buy a package.


Also, Seasonal items will sell if they are packaged in the seasonal décor. Take photos of your merchandise in a seasonal decorative atmosphere. Throw in a lit candle in your scene maybe,lol.


And Advertise, advertise, advertise.



 Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook pages, swap shop pages, flyers, work areas. Advertise where ever you get a time or place. This is the time to make a lot of sales .It will be busy and will take lots of your time. But if you concentrate on you sales technique you will succeed.

 So hope you can obtained some insight to how crucial this time of year is  in sales and get the itch to really pitch your merchandise.

Thanks for

reading and good luck.