You might have noticed that our blogging has been a little bit sparce lately.  Here are the reasons:  (1) Cathy received a sewing machine from Santa and is learning to sew during her blogging hours. More on that later.  (2) Ellen’s blogging time has been filled recently with a move to a location around the corner from Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto.  Deliciously more on that later.   (3) Ellen and Cathy attended QuiltCon in Austin, Texas.  More on that right now!

Now, about QuiltCon: oh my goodness and wow!  Ellen joined me in Austin for a weekend of quilting awe.  This is the first year that the Modern Quilt Guild has introduced this wonderful event, and happily, they chose Austin, Texas for thousands of modern quilters to gather. It included classes, lectures, and a juried quilt show. When I registered in the fall, I didn’t even know how to sew.  We were originally planning to attend to see the fun projects that are made with our fabrics, but as a new “official stitcher,” I had a completely different experience.  We were able to look at every single little stitch very, very closely.   (No kidding, there was but a thimble-length between our noses and each quilt.)

Not only did we enjoy the juried show, but a separate group of quilts by Denyse Schmidt was also on display. “Modern quilting” is a little bit different than the kinds of quilts one imagines when thinking of traditional quilting. Lots of solid color and negative space, wonky shapes, and creative, improvisational designs. To attend a Modern Quilt Guild show feels a little bit like attending a show at the MOMA, only in this case, the artwork is made of fabric and thread.

The show was meticulously coordinated. The modern color palette used for all of the pre-show advertising was replayed throughout the show with signage, literature and even the hand-crafted award ribbons, shown below.

With all the Modern Quilt Guilds (MQG) in town, an extra treat for us was that several members from Ellen’s very own Bay Area MQG came to Austin, and with their friendly personalities combined with adorable Australian accents, they were most certainly the stars of the night when they took a break from quilting to go boot-scootin’ at the Broken Spoke!

The next day, we toured the main lecture hall, where the walls were adorned with quilts created by Modern Quilt Guilds across the country, for the Block Challenge using the QuiltCon color story. The blocks were sent ahead of time, and twenty were chosen to make a quilt that was selected for one lucky winner. The remainder of the blocks were then made into many amazing one-of-a-kind quilts. Following the show, all of the quilts were given to the Austin Children’s Shelter as a way of saying thank you to the city of Austin. I wish I could see a photo of a room in the Children’s Shelter filled with these beautiful modern works of art wrapped around little Austinites.

Below are the required fabric colors from the QuiltCon site, and an example of a challenge block by Heather Davidson of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild.

We attended several lectures, and enjoyed every single one of them.  A highlight for us was to see our friend, Laurie Wisbrun, speaking with a panel discussing the business of fabric design from the perspective of designers, as well as manufacturers.  The lectures covered a wide range of topics from David Butler’s photography secrets to Anna Maria Horner’s design process to the keynote speech by Denyse Schmidt, sharing her constantly evolving creative journey.  But interestingly, although every presentation was different, they all resounded with one similar message: Be True to Yourself.  We marched out of QuiltCon rejuvenated and ready to draw, paint, mouse and stitch.  And, of course, to be true to ourselves.

And in keeping with the lesson, we decided that to be truly true to ourselves, we needed to top off our last day with a delicious crepe from the very authentic crepe restaurant, Le Cafe Crepe, across the street from the convention center.  Quilts topped off with crepes … it just doesn’t get any better than that!

Before we leave our rainbow-colored trade show memories, we would like to share a bit of the preparation and marketing we created for both SURTEX in New York and the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. I am a marketer from way back … like the tender age of 10. Along with many a lemonade stand, I also held magic shows to sold-out audiences–our garage held at least 20 neighbors. And, even then, a good magician knew the importance of getting the message out ahead of time. Not only did I create compelling hand-made flyers, but also hired my younger siblings to do a little door-to-door pre-selling. Of course, I promised that they would be compensated from the profits earned from ticket sales, which were sure to be big, big, big!

So, here we are in a slightly different arena, and yet, flyers still need to be made and the word still needs to be spread. However, these days, I do actually pay my helpers for their work.

As you have seen in previous posts, we decided to show our collections this year with a Color Wheel-Rainbow-PaintSwatch theme. After 25 years of making art, we had plenty of critters and patterns to fill the color-spectrum display. Then, we had fun creating all of our marketing pieces to reflect our theme and draw licensees to our booth. Before marketing materials were designed, we started with a booth plan that looked something like this, and thankfully, our plan measurements were correct.

We added a colorful painter’s ladder with paint cans full of product. Paint sticks, too. We ordered flowers arranged in rainbow order. We even decided to wear painters’ aprons in the booth … bordering on nerdiness I know, but sometimes you just have to go all the way. (We did not make Jim wear one of our thematic aprons … but only because he was too big.)

We assembled show snacks that sported our particular rainbow colors (white chocolate M&Ms, which are excellent, but perhaps a little dangerous to have in a booth all day). We added package headers to each bag of M&Ms with our matching characters and logos.

We served our tasty show snacks from a paint pan dripping with rainbow paint. (That might have been a little over-the-top, but it is possible that we had started to develop a mild case of ORD (obsessive rainbow disorder).

Next to our show snacks were the take-away cards, for remembering our booth and our work. This year we created spinning mini-portfolios suggestive of paint-swatch fan decks. However, the swatches in our fan decks were not color choices, but rather character choices. “Hm, I can’t decide honey, should we try blue striped zebra or turquoise ostrich mama?”

We continued the “Color Me Adorable” concept in pre-show mail-outs, email send-outs, trade show magazines, online sites, and post-show emails. Interestingly, we can definitively report that we received visitors who were responding from each of our different marketing methods.

After reading the many post-trade-show discussions on Facebook and LinkedIn, and the questions from new artists as to which marketing solutions work best, our recommendation would be: Try them all! Then, ask visitors how they found you. You will learn which marketing efforts work best for your art styles and product categories. And, we do recommend that if you decide to invest in a trade show, you must be prepared to invest in some kind of marketing to encourage new clients to visit your booth. You probably don’t need to rainbow-paint your card holder, but you do need to send out an invitation to your party. So, those are a few trade show tips from Cathy Heck, Illustrator … and before that, Chief Marketing Director of Cathy’s Amazing Neighborhood Magic Shows and Refreshing Lemonade Stands.

We wish you much success and profits that are big, big, big!

We’re back from the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. And this time, what happened in Vegas did not stay in Vegas. We brought back pictures, so you could have a peek into studio life from the Mandalay Bay Convention Center … which is not exactly the Vegas experience of which 21st birthday dreams are made … but we had fun in our own trade-show-lovin’ kinda way.

Most of our time was spent in this lovely 10’ x 10’ rainbow-themed booth. For this show, Hecklette number three, Margaret, came to help us. Although she is studying animal science in college, she has grown up in the studio and knows how to get a trade show booth up and running. After our booth was assembled, we spent the next three days talking with our licensees to plan new collections and meeting with possible new clients to describe the way we work. Occasionally, we had to sneak over to the Two Town Studios’ booth to harass Ronnie and Jim during the few moments that they were not deep in client negotiations. (We can’t figure out why they keep moving farther away from us each show.)

Throughout our stay, we showed our portfolios to visitors from all over the world, we discussed our methods of working, we attended meetings, we took turns grabbing lunch, we froze to death (because all trade shows are freezing), we took pages of notes, and we shared tips with other exhibiting artists. And, only at the Licensing Expo are we able to hang with the ‘toons. Yep. This show is always filled with every bigger-than-life character you can imagine from television, movies and video games. Every booth is beeping and blinging. If SURTEX is a lovely gallery opening, Licensing Expo is Fourth of July at Disneyland. The giant characters walk the aisles (with their handlers guiding them, lest they run into a booth pole and take an entire aisle down due to the fact that their eyes are not really their eyes. Here we are with a few favorites below.

On the last day, after two trade shows within four weeks, and three days inside the halls of Mandalay Bay without seeing sunlight, my troops did begin to show signs of delirium. But thankfully, Ronnie’s agent, Lisa Marks, provided us with an excellent supply of Peeps® to fortify us for our booth take-down. (And, yes, you can call Lisa to license Peeps® for all your perfect-for-Peeps products, as well as Ronnie’s Real Women, Real Country™.)

Happily, after our booth was packed and palleted, we did finally make it outside. And, when we did, still no daylight. It was night. (But that’s okay, Las Vegas is really prettier at night … or something … not sure prettier is the word … dazzling-er?) Either way, we walked along the strip and then had a lazy fun dinner at Todd English’s Olives and watched the fountains dance at the Bellagio. It was as if they were saying, “Congratulations! Trade show season is over, now go make all that art you’ve been talking about!”

We are exhibiting at SURTEX as we speak. Our booth is literally a rainbow of ideas and design, from walls to hand-outs to show snacks!

Until we return, we hope you will enjoy this floral arrangement that we made for the florist to illustrate a bouquet in rainbow order … not to be confused with a mixed rainbow bouquet.

And, below is a little video that runs in the exhibit hall during the show. So without even going to New York, you can be with us! If we don’t see you in Booth 550, we’ll see you below in cyber-booth 550. We’ll be back in a few days with pictures and a t-shirt. Have a great week.

SURTEX is right around the corner … May 20, 21 and 22! This great event is the global B2B marketplace for original art and design, where artists, agents and licensors connect with manufacturers and retailers to create the next best-selling products in every category under the sun … or under the rainbow, as the case may be.

If you are planning to be in New York for the show, please come by our booth. (#550) And, if you prefer to visit with your designers in Las Vegas, we will also be exhibiting at the International Licensing Expo June 12, 13 and 14, so come by our booth there. (#4825) And, if you would like to make an appointment for a specific time during either of the shows, please email us here. See you soon! Cathy and Ellen

This year, I had the great idea for a fun way to spend Spring Break as a family:  Spring Break Work Week right here in sunny Austin, Texas!  My idea was that Ellen could fly to the Austin office, and our two college gals could join us for one full week of trade-show-prep amusement. For college students, this is probably not the first idea that pops into their heads for an exciting Spring Break, but I had a list of great reasons to join the fun: 1) opportunity to earn extra spending money, 2) warmer weather in popular Austin, Texas–although that part didn’t exactly go as planned 3) we could try out the hip new Austin trailer foods between projects  4) do not have to dress up ever  5) airfare included 4) your mom/boss will love you forever (oh yeah, she would do that any way).

Happily, all three helpers arrived from states afar, and the work week began.  By the end of the week, our trade show booth props and marketing were finished.  I guess our holiday wasn’t exactly an episode of Studio Girls Gone Wild, but we had fun and felt very accomplished–at least from my point of view.  Here’s a little video snippet with another perspective of the action-packed week from two of my workers.

And, here are a few pictures of our busy week in the studio. As you can see, we have a ROY G BIV thing going on as the theme for our booth. However, our particular rainbow is actually PROY G BIV–we just had to add a little PINK to the front of the color spectrum.

Here is our wonderful new studio assistant, Erynn, who also joined the work week fun. And, yes, she did survive the sisterly banter, and we are happy to say, she is still with us.

If you would like to try a Spring Break Work Week at your home or workplace, you are welcome to borrow my list of compelling reasons for attending the event. I think the secret is to take off time for a movie or two, and feed your staff well. And, for those of you attending SURTEX in a couple of weeks, we are looking forward to seeing you there!

If the trees are budding and the birds are tweeting, then SURTEX is just around the corner. SURTEX happens every May in New York City.  The Javits Center is filled with artists, agents, manufacturers and retailers gathering together to begin the creation process for the next best-selling products in every category under the sun.  We were delighted to be asked again to write a guest blog post for the SURTEX site, and this year, we decided to share a few of the places which inspire us after show hours.  Enjoy this link if you are heading to New York for SURTEX or just heading to New York.  It even includes a Google map with the imagination stations marked. Bon Appétit!

P.S. If you have more Big Apple ideas for the creatively-bound (or attendees in need of post-show sustenance), please add to the comment box on the SURTEX blog.

“Did you see any new trends?” This is the question that everyone asks after a trade show. Although retailers are deciding which trends are right for their customers in 2012, we, as designers, are working on products that will come out in 2013 and beyond. So, we are watching for inklings of new trends that are on their way in. For example, lately, we have been seeing sea turtles pop up here and there … not that they are necessarily going to be the next owl, but, keep an eye out for the sea turtle … it could be this humble creature’s time in the sun!

So here is my official mini trend report following the Atlanta Gift Show. It is based on the scientific observations made from the aisles that were on the journey between my booth and the really good barbeque stand in the AmericasMart food court.

Robots could be seen on kids products from t-shirts to toys. Some had a 50’s atomic feel, while others were made of repurposed household items. Either way, they were fun and hip. (And, I’m not mentioning this must-have trend just because we happen to have a very cute robot collection of our own … you can see that Gift Shop Magazine noticed it here.)

Although it’s all about a deep ultramarine blue, it has to be matched with lots of white to keep it fresh and crisp. The rich blues are often paired with provençal patterns or woodblock prints. Crisp and cool, it should make you think that you are vacationing on an island in Hawaii with a tall, fruity drink in your hand as you watch the sea turtles float by (see how sea turtles keep showing up … sign of an upcoming trend!)

Handmade is everywhere. It’s pretty, it’s sweet, but mostly you can feel the love of someone creating it just for you. (You can feel the sales, too.) This is cottage industry on steroids.

If one could have gathered all the tweets in Atlanta, they very likely said, Live, Love, Laugh, Dream, and You can Do it! … on gifts, furniture, accessories, journals, cards, jewelry, and more. This trend is perfect for the customer who is inspired by movies like Hoosiers, Something the Lord Made, The Bucket List and, of course, The Notebook … oh, that’s me! So, after this post, I’ll be running off to dream big, just do it, and hug on my babies.

Nautical has been grabbing the spotlight for awhile, and it was still going strong in Atlanta. Sailboats, shells, fish and whales … all things sea, matey. Due to the fact that I was not exposed to a lot of these icons growing up in the desert of West Texas, I had to do a bit of research. I am almost certain that the nautical flags above spell B-U-Y M-E N-O-W. (And, look there, here comes that sea turtle again!

Knock. Knock. Who’s there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you gonna include orange in your 2012 retail mix? Because it is the color. Everywhere. And, not just Tangerine Tango, the Pantone Color of the Year, but every orange in the grove. There were so many shades of orange that you couldn’t go wrong with your orange selection: Tangerine, Tangelo, Clementine … go for the Vitamin C–you know it’s good for you.

Pull out your apron and bake yourself a cake. It’s 1956 in 2012! It’s not a super new trend but one with long legs … like comfort food that never goes out of style. We saw lots of retro fun all around, usually in a slightly brighter palette than the original one of the fifties. But hey, we have color television now! It’s I Love Lucy in HD.

So those are seven of the trends that were popping up in the aisles of the Atlanta show. And, there were many other emerging trends I haven’t even touched on … equestrian, bees, whales, geometric, lots o’ color, neutral color, no color … but I’m going to save those for another post, so that I can get to work on my new collection … SeaTurtles Swimming in Orange Crush.

P.S. For those of you who would like to hear some trend reports from people who were able to observe more aisles than the one I traveled when heading to the food court, here are a few. One of my favorite hours at the show, was the one I spent listening to the energetic (and very pretty) Christiane Lemieux of Dwell Studio describing upcoming trends in the juvenile market. She mentioned that Apartment Therapy might be posting her trend reports, so watch for those there. Also, you might check out these Atlanta Trend updates by Gifts & Decorative Accessories here and here. After reading these, you’ll be ready to greet 2012 in the know. So go be trendy in ‘12.

I think one of my illustrated characters must have whispered into Julianna’s ear, “I want to be real,” because, I left Julianna sculpting fish, and when I returned to the project area, she was holding Baby Bot’s big sister in the palm of her hand.

Above are the drawings from the Visitors page in the Baby Bot baby book we created for C.R. Gibson. Once Jules created BabyBot’s big sister 3D, she decided to keep on going, because you can’t bring a gal into the world without some friends.

Photos above from top clockwise: (1) Julianna starts sculpting head-first. (2) Jules painting Baby Bot. (3) One of Baby Bot’s buddies tucked into a box across from his 2D-self. (4) Bot Buddies® sunning on a paper plate to make sure they are completely dry before packing them up for their first trade show.

Above, Bot Buddies® are all packed and ready to fly to Atlanta where they are hoping to meet some new friends and enjoy some southern cyber-cuisine.

For those of you who will be in Atlanta for the big gift show, come see us. We will be at AmericasMart, Building 2, West Wing, in the License and Design Showroom, #774. And for those of you who will not be there, we’ll be sure to report back so you will be in the know for gift-giving 2012.

As we prepared for Atlanta last week, you could have literally put a sign on the studio door, “Gone Fishin.’” The MicroFish pattern, (which is one of our favorite designs from the Bot Buddies® fabric collection) was just begging to show up on a variety of product categories. We pulled out our Sculpey box again. All three girls spent some of their home-for-the-holidays time producing fish bodies. Some fish were too fat, some were too flat, (we even had to throw a few back into the sea) … but 10 little fishes were just right to fill our Fishmas Tree.

Above is our inspiration, the Bot Buddies® Big Border panel, which you can buy here.

The Food Network was playing on the television in the background while we worked, which was an odd juxtoposition, because periodically, a tasty fish dish would be featured, and we felt a little uneasy, because, well, our new fish creations were smiling at us … we had bonded.

Photos above from top clockwise: (1) After years of Sculpey play, Margaret makes fish for market. (2) Julianna pulled out the box of CelVinyls (which used to be our medium of choice before Photoshop entered our lives) and starts mixing pots of paint the old-fashioned way.
(3) Jules painting a base-coat on a fine fat fish. (4) A closeup of one of our smiling fishbots.
(5) After painting the fish, we hung them in the trees to dry … if birds could swim and fish could fly …

Just to imagine these busy MicroFish with yet another medium, here they are, below, in thread. We made these mockups to help buyers to visualize these little guys in a powder room at the beach or in a child’s bath upstairs at home. And you can make these, too! (They would be a great “thank you for inviting me to your beach house gift.”) We’ll post the how-to when we return from Atlanta.

And, while all this sculpting and sewing was going on, Margaret had the duty of cutting, and cutting … and cutting our newly received Bot Buddies® flannels for a variety of needs. We now have fat-quarter sets for Atlanta, as well as yardage to go to the members of the East Bay Modern Quilt Guild to cut and sew some fun projects. And although we provided Margaret with a fancy new rotary cutter, Margaret plans on not cutting anything for at least a month.