hello hello!!! after giving blogging a two week break, i barely know where to begin... instead of just bombarding you with over 336 hours of greenbeanbaby-ness, the post will be divided... out of the ten reasons i gave for the break, i managed to complete a few things... still, much time was spent between family, smallville, halo, emailing, and RELAXING! and art...
history flashback: since the times of stir-up pants, my mother taught me how to collect... she taught me the value of retro goodness including greeting cards... i remember going to rummage sales and buying a boxful of cards filled with ones of every holiday and occasion... i'd go through these cards admire them- and save them... every card given to me was saved, regardless if it was handmade or purchased... eventually my mom and i began a "tradition" where we'd buy a box of valentine and christmas cards [after season] and divide them in half for our collections... to this day, i have many of these cards stashed away in a big avon box stored in my studio [underneath the massively huge paper cutter]...
fast forward a few years: by college, it was my dream to have my own greeting card line... everybody at school knew this and even supported such a dream by leaving me "ellia-esque" cards... again, those are still in my possession in perfect condition... this dream landed me a job working at a greeting card company who also happen to work with handmade papers... double the fun for this gal, eh?! as i tried to begin my own line of cards, my dream fell to the wayside... for the amount of time it took to make a cut paper greeting card, i couldn't sell them wholesale... and rarely did people wanna pay more than $4 for a card... so, making billions of dollars in the greeting card industry didn't seem feasible... ON TOP OF THAT, there were several new lines of cards that were doing die cuts...my style didn't seem unique anymore...
a bit more fastforwarding: kids came along and my art career took several twists and turns... i went from having a strong belief that this gal would be known for her greeting cards and stationery to not knowing WHAT to do... magnets, prints, notecards, illustrations, notebooks- a variety was made and created and sold, giving me plenty to work on... actual greeting cards became the LAST thing i would make...
present time: it's been awhile since i've made cards or purchased a boxful at a rummage sale... i check out the card section at target to see the new designs being made... and the few times i go thrifting, i look for vintage greeting cards.. still, most of it was probably picked out by mom who seemed to REALLY EXPAND her collection... yes, her collection is to drool for!!!!! the same feelings return to me whenever i check out her latest additions... those feelings of inspiration, of hope, of card ideas... often she gives me duplicates and other interesting cards to fuel such feelings...
so what has become of ellia and her joy for greeting cards? is she planning on making some for her etsy shop?! well, yes but not for some months now... in the meantime, i've been taking old greeting cards and revamping them into a greenbeanbaby style... i'm not taking the original and duplicating it, exactly... i'm adding patterns, bigger eyes, and changing the pose a wee bit... of course, they are being cut out of paper too, using all those new stacks of paper just purchased...
like this example here... now i have a BIG stack of greeting cards to revamp and beautify... they are my new source of inspiration- i'm getting back to one of my first loves in the artworld... i'm using this inspiration as fuel to make packages to send off to publishers... perhaps, it will land me a couple freelance jobs... or maybe it will lead me into making greeting cards that will sit on a shelf of some shop... but honestly, that dream seems as far away as getting outside the wisconsin borders anytime soon... it feels good that all my years of saving greeting cards has not been a waste of space... its nice to feel rejuvenated by the very passions that gave me hope of BEING an artist...
wow! this post took a different route than planned... at least it gave you insight as to the makings of my latest artworks... it's crazy where we can find our inspiration! and most times it seems to rekindle a nearly forgotten passion...stay tuned for some ramblings about the greenbeanbaby kids...
happy tuesday!
welcome back! i enjoyed reading about the history of ellia & the greeting card ;)! your work always makes me smile and would be perfect for greeting cards.
Posted by: cindy k | September 16, 2008 at 07:13 AM
glad you're back!
Posted by: viv | September 16, 2008 at 09:24 AM
You sound refreshed! I am loving your greeting card revamps, by the way. They're completely charming :).
Posted by: amy | September 16, 2008 at 09:48 AM
Your new creations are gorgeous! I would buy boxes and boxes of your cards . . .
Posted by: Lis Garrett | September 16, 2008 at 01:09 PM
What a world of cute. I especially love the little blonde awesome girl.
Posted by: kiwi | September 16, 2008 at 08:30 PM
You are back! I am super glad to see an update and I LOVE the first pic of little miss Rainbow Brite! It makes the fact that I am officially a week overdue not suck so much!
Posted by: Aletha | September 17, 2008 at 01:01 PM
Ellia,
Your revamped cards are so much lovelier than the vintage ones! Your charming characters and composition are wonderful!!! I'm happy that your first passion has been revived. You will do well in this and all things! I just know!!
Posted by: xenakiddle | September 18, 2008 at 07:09 AM
So glad you are back to posting, Ellia!
This description of your love of vintage greeting cards is interesting, and I love your newer renditions!! It makes such a difference to be doing something you have a real passion for!!! You have tons of talent and should do very well!!!
Posted by: judy hartman | September 18, 2008 at 10:44 AM
couldn't e-mail you, the e-mail link doesn't work. If you don't mind I'll send you a clippie for Isabella for you could try out. I create them with with a velcro strip or with velvet ribbon so most likely they will grip and stay on. I also have ponytail hair ties that I use on my Daniela. So let me know. By the way I remember duck hut and I would also stand 2 inches away from the screen. I suck at all video games! Good Luck in Halo 3!
Posted by: Viv | September 18, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Hi Ellia it's great to see you back, I can't beleive it's been two weeks already, I love your story of your dream and think your creations are beautiful and I wish you could create for less cost I know plenty of people have asked me to do that and it is close to impossible!
Your interpretations are great and doesn't copy the original, but like Clive Stevens http://www.clivestevenssculpture.com/cards.htm I think you could copy and print your finished creations they will look just as stunning! Have a great time creating will catch up soon! Glad Diego is having a good time at school, my four year old is enjoying himself too! I bet your enjoying your time with Isabella!
Posted by: Kim | September 18, 2008 at 04:48 PM
Hi Ellia I want you to know that all your art work is awesome.I am so glad you still like to get vintage and new cards from me cause I will be doing this ,until who knows!!!! Keep up the art work♥
Love Mom♥
Posted by: Nina | September 18, 2008 at 11:02 PM
i love old cards! & i love your idea of revamping them with your own characters. they have such personality! good luck with this... :)
Posted by: erin | September 20, 2008 at 02:14 PM
ellia!
I enjoyed reading the history of your passion for greeting cards. It seems like it is coming full circle. Yay for You! Isnt it funny how your parents really do influence/inspire you? psst...I see a cute vintage bday party invite in that group of cuteness(~~)Julie
Posted by: skybluecrayons | September 20, 2008 at 03:57 PM
Beautiful! What a great story to share with us:) I agree with Kim - what about copying your originals???? I would definitely buy some and it would not be so time consuming and expensive for you????
Posted by: raesha | September 21, 2008 at 10:39 AM