2019 Recap

Well. Hello there, good old blog. It's been awhile!

Let's talk about 2019, shall we? 

There are only a few hours left in this year, and in this decade. I don't have the energy to think back on the past ten years today, but do want to look back a bit on the last 12 months.

I didn't have any specific goals for the year, other than slowing down and getting back to a life that felt manageable and aligned with my soul's purpose. 

What I didn't expect was that giving up some things that were weighing me down would open me up to so many new opportunities. I was amazed when I looked back on the year at everything I had been able to accomplish. 

If you follow me on Instagram, I created a highlight for the year with links to different posts. But for this blog post, I'm gonna keep it simple and list them with a few things linked up for ya. So here we go! 

In 2019 I...

• Showed art at my 2nd Surtex 
• Launched my 2nd coloring book
• Left my art agency
• Partnered to create printables for the Reset Girl
• Rejoined the Illustrated Faith team
• Created my first physical product for Illustrated Faith 
• Launched new branding
• Taught my first in person lettering classes
• Created lots of pet portraits
• Started creating gifs 
• (you can find them by searching "mandyfordart"!)
• Launched my first stickers
• Started meeting with a spiritual director
• I see Amy at Persimmon Studio.) 
• Moved to a new art space in our home
• Bought pink glasses
• Got to hear Lisa Congdon and Andy Miller speak together
• And chat with them both in person - such a gift!
• Moved to a four day work week at my day job 
• Had two super fun pop up shops

It was a YEAR. 

We capped it off on Sunday by getting in a scary car accident. 

Yikes. So the past few days we've been taking it easy and 

majorly counting our blessings. 

I'm so thankful for all of the support I've received this past year. 

I had no idea what it was going to hold, and looking back I'm in 

awe. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Here's to a 2020 where we give ourselves grace and grow 

even more into our best selves!

A Year of Magic

Hello friends!

How is your week going? Can you believe how close Christmas is? 

This of course also means it is almost time for a new year. And along with that come a new "one little word." 

I wanted to jump on today to talk about my one little word for 2017, which was MAGIC, and share some big, VERY magical, news!

When I chose magic, or rather when it chose me, I really didn't know exactly how true it would become as 2017 unfolded.

It truly has been a magical year for me, especially with this art business of mine. Before I share my big news, first let me recap some of the bits of magic that have led me up to it.

The first wonderfully magical surprise of 2017 was being invited to contribute monthly printable sets to the Illustrated Faith shop.

I began with my first set in April, and my most recent December set will be my last. Although I'm hoping they'll invite me back for another special project at some point!

Man, what a fantastic experience. I learned and grew so much as an artist and found myself included in such a supportive community of women. A blessing in so many ways.

The second magical opportunity that came my way this year was teaching for Big Picture Classes.

Having their videographer come to my house to film me and the entire process of creating the classes was such a learning experience, and again, gave me the chance to become a part of another wonderfully supportive community of creative folks.

In the midst of this, I bought my iPad, which was a major game-changer. (BIG thanks to my hubby for practically forcing me to buy it after drooling over it and talking about it for weeks!) 

I was seeing so many other artists raving about theirs, but let's face it, I'm SO frugal, and it was a BIG investment.

The biggest financial investment I've made in my art career so far.

And it has by far been the best decision. I had no idea I could create practically all of my artwork on it. Such a magical piece of equipment!

I also had the opportunity to create some really wonderful local projects, including a wall mural and coloring pages for our local schools. I live in such a fantastic, supportive community.

OK, so now that all of that magic is out of the way, here's the big one. The grand finale of my magical year, but hopefully only the beginning.

In October, I signed with Pink Light Studio.

I have an art agent. 

Say what? Who's life is this?

Apparently it is mine, and goodness I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. This kind of magic happens to other people, you know? But apparently it can happen to anyone, including this small town Indiana girl with an over abundance of hope.

If you aren't sure what signing with an art agent means, I will be creating collections of art for them, and they will share the collections with companies who buy the art to put on all sorts of products like wall art and gift wrap and fabric and journals and basically anything you find art on in a store.

Pretty fantastic right? Pinching myself daily.

I've been working toward this for what seems like forever, but it has really only been like four years. Crazy.

So I'm still in the beginning stages, learning how all of it works, and cranking out all sorts of artwork. 

This is a fun collage of my first collection I created for Pink Light, Cozy Christmas...

I am so in love with it and proud of how far I've come. 

And I'm learning that it is OK to say you are proud of yourself. 

That is a hard one for me.

The process of creating this first collection was equal parts exciting and anxiety-inducing, so in some ways it felt like growing and giving birth to another child. And I'm one proud momma!

I can't wait to see what 2018 brings as I dive further into this art licensing journey. Hoping to keep carrying on that 2017 magic for sure!

I shared this quote in last year's one little word post, and man did it ever come true for this past year...

Thanks SO MUCH for being along for this ride with me. I have the BEST cheerleaders.

And now I need a word for 2018. Tough shoes to fill for sure.

Any suggestions?

XO,

New Tricks

Hello friends!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you are well today and ready for all of the holiday business right around the corner. I'm fighting a cold today but refuse to let it put a damper on my Christmas excitement! 

And speaking of excitement, I have a few new illustrations to share!

I was so giddy the other day when I figured out a new trick in Photoshop to give my lettering more dimension...

See how there is another layer of color underneath? Yep...that is what I'm giddy about! I also played around with a translucent layer of color underneath the pine branches which turned out nicely. 

Here is the pencil sketch of the above piece...

I'm thinking about possibilities for my next Skillshare class teaching these tricks. My first class went amazingly well so I'm itching to create a second!

And here is another fun lettering piece I did last night. Can you guess the movie this quote is from? 

(I know...suuuper hard 😉 )

I've been focusing on creating artwork that I want to see out in the world. Something I would buy if I came across it on a notebook or canvas at TJ Maxx or Target. And these illustrations are getting me closer to that goal. 

Yay for new tricks! 

I had another giddy moment a few days ago when I opened up my first roll of wrapping paper with my own artwork...

Ahhh! I basically want to re-wrap all of our gifts now. But it is a small roll so maybe just a couple special ones. 

It is so awesome that there are online shops out there for artists to create these products without needing to have a license with a company. So many possibilities! (this is from my Zazzle shop)

Thanks for sharing in my illustration excitement! And I hope you are finding time to rest and find joy in this holiday season today.

XO,

{hello HomeGoods!}

I'm over the moon excited to share some photos of my first This Girl's Doodles sightings in HomeGoods stores! 

{thanks to my friend Alyson in Wisconsin for these photos!}

Ahhh! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would see my art for sale like this. But boy is it happening!

I was a bit thrown off at first by how HomeGoods changed my original pieces. {I've known this for a few months.} All of them are printed in gold foil instead of my original color palettes and they also removed & moved around some bits of the illustrations. I know they are following retail trends but in all honesty some of the changes were a tough pill for my artist's ego to swallow.

Here are the original pieces for comparison... 

The "shine" piece works wonderfully with the gold foil though! You can see that piece below in the upper right thanks to an Instagram photo I spotted...

Being new to art licensing, this is a lesson learned for future collaborations with retail stores. I'm still immensely grateful that my first shot at this was HomeGoods of all places though...so, so grateful. 

If you spot one of my pieces in your local HomeGoods, tag me on instagram with @mandy_ford or Twitter with @TGL_mandyford and #thisgirlsdoodles!

Looking forward to what may come next!

XO,

{hashtag stalking}

Things are all sorts of crazy around here this week. 

I have one of my big work events this Saturday so I'm in final prep for that which = Mandy in full anxiety/panic/"I can do this!" mode. And of course the rest of life keeps going like school delays and doodle orders and piles of laundry and the perfect timing of "auntie flow"...yeah I said that one with lots of sarcasm. And yes I just told you waaaay too much information. But you all can feel my pain, right?

Oh, and THIS happened on Friday. {insert a million exclamation points}

Right after I blogged about the rollercoaster of emotions that is art licensing. That one was SO God's timing, I tell ya. 

I knew that stalking #homegoodshappy on Instagram would pay off. And I did some SERIOUS stalking. 

If you skipped the link up there...THIS = this...

That's my "shine" piece in the upper right corner, and that lovely blogger purchased it at HomeGoods! So if you missed my news on every other possible social media platform, I'm super excited to be able to announce This Girl's Doodles is available at HomeGoods!

I'm not sure which stores are carrying my pieces but hopefully they will be available across the country. The closest store to us is about an hour away so I haven't been able to do any checking myself. 

If you happen to be at your local HomeGoods and see one of my pieces, snap a photo of it and share it on Instagram or Twitter with #thisgirlsdoodleshomegoods and tag me! 

I would love.you.forever. 

Not that I don't already love you. But you know that, right? Right.

So although things have been crazy, they are mostly crazy good and for that I'm so, so thankful. 

Oh! And I'm working on a fun March freebie for my email list subscribers, so if you haven't already, head on over to my home page and sign up to get This Girl's Life in your inbox!

XO,

{am I there yet?}

It has been awhile since I've given an update on my art licensing situation.

That's because it is a freaking long, and if I can be honest, at times excruciating, process. 

Over the past almost year and a half, I've found myself on many occasions whining to God like a toddler on a long road trip, questioning over and over again, "Am I there yet?!"

When is the magic going to happen?

When can we remodel our kitchen with my huge royalty check?

I found out in November that a large national chain bought some of my work. And I was doing a major happy dance. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops but because of legal stuff I have to keep my lips zipped until I know my pieces are available for sale.

You all...it is February and still no sign of them in stores. So here I am...sitting on this exciting announcement like an annoyed, squirmy cat.

Oh, and that big fat royalty check? I got my first one a few weeks ago. 

And I'm gonna be REAL honest with you all now.

It was $78.

Yep...I waited like the most ridiculously impatient child you've ever seen, for over a year, for $78. 

I threw a total pity party for myself for approximately two hours {or two days, but who's counting?} after I opened that envelope because: 1. I pretty much knew the first check was going to be small; 2. Just not that small; 3. I reallllly want a kitchen sink that stays white; and 4. I had SO much hope tied up into this art licensing thing.

I still do. 

But now it is a bit more realistic, in the harshest reality-check ever sort of way.

Once I was over feeling sorry for myself, I decided to spend my whopping nearly $80 earnings on a pair of turquoise leather moccasins and a sweet little tree necklace. 

And an owl mug because...well owl mugs make everything happier. 

It's no kitchen sink, but hell if I don't look cute wearing my moccasins + necklace while drinking coffee out of my owl mug.  

But seriously, friends. After I came back from the throws of my one-woman pity party, an exciting and fresh reality hit me over the head like one of the boys' Nerf darts.

I made more than that royalty check {OK...not much more, but still more} in my Etsy shop last month. 

I can do this with or without art licensing.

Sure, I'm still early in the licensing game and it could grow into something much bigger. 

But it comes down to this: My focus has to return to making art and putting it out into the world. 

And I need to stop tossing all of my hopes into the art licensing basket, because right now it is the tiniest basket ever, holding itsy bitsy eggs that haven't had much time to grow. 

And by focusing so much of my mental energy on what I hoped it would become, I wasn't moving forward. I wasn't leaving space for spontaneous and worthwhile projects to be born. And I've found over the past few years that those are the ones I need to pay attention to. 

I'll still be working on the art licensing thing because it excites me and it has immense potential. And I hope that one day soon I can tell you where you can go buy one of my canvases. 

But until then I'm going to stop asking God "Am I there yet?" and focus more on the journey. *Not that I won't have whiny toddler days, because they will most certainly pop up here and there. 

Have you found yourself wondering when you are going to arrive to some magical destination? Do you think that focus is holding you back from the important work you are called to do? 

XO,