Bluegirl Graphics

Whimsical Illustrations by LDG

  • I had forgotten I wrote a little something in 2007 about where to sell and buy your art online. I guess I should update for the sites I currently use.

    Zazzle – Still a very good place to upload and sell your art without any upfront costs. Lots of options from stickers, tees, bandanas, prints, gift bags and more. They have online options for customers to get some cards in E-format. You make a sale but a bit less than the physical cards.

    Threadless – Free to upload your art to sell on various things from tees to socks and prints. They have contests too for those who like to design. You can win some good money there. I haven’t personally won any of the contests but some of the winning designs are impressive.

    OpenPrints – I don’t hear much talk about them, and I haven’t made any sales from there but they are a free site mostly for selling prints. Would be nice if you want to buy prints affordably to sell yourself.

    Imagekind – You can sell your art on prints, framed art, canvas and greeting cards. Free to set up.

    Fine Art America / Pixels – Free to join at the basic level. Limited to about 10 to 20 free listings. Prints, canvases, greeting cards and more to add your art to.

    Greeting Card Universe – Free to join, no upfront fees. Customers send requests to site about what they want in a greeting card. It gets listed on the forum for members to see. If you want to make a design for the idea, you create it to place in your shop then add the link on the forum post, the customer gets to pick which one(s) they like and the site owners let you know if you were picked or not. Meanwhile, any card designs you make that are approved can be added to your own individual card store. You can also make custom items if someone contacts you directly. Payment is every 3 to 4 months if you make $25 or more. Minimum earned per card is usually around 10 cents a sale.

    Redbubble – Free to join. No limit on designs. Lots of options with stickers, tees and more.

    Avery – The company most recognize as making printable sheets for your printers, they have an online shop to buy your art. I took part in a promo for 10 huge stickers (6 inches I think) and they came out BEAUTIFULLY! So if you need some good custom printing, this is your place.

    I have no affiliate links for these sites unless you want to visit my personal pages to buy my art. I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 https://linktr.ee/elledeegee

    Thanks for reading.

  • Ratyear

    I have to say the people at Imagekind are a great bunch of people!

    I bought a framed print of my own work (my “year of the rat” series as a dual print, single frame) and it came out beautiful! The only issue I had was that the frame was slightly marred. Normally I wouldn’t have too much of an issue but since it is my own work and I might consider selling it later on (kind of why I bought it / assessing how their service is) I let them know the frame had problems.

    Tasha was the main person I chatted with both on the phone and in email. She was very professional and friendly and sent me a call slip to send my frame back after they assessed damage from the photos I sent. I got the call slip in good time, printed it out and was able to have FedEX pick it up from my apt and deliver it back. In about a week (Today) I got another framed print of the same item back! I was very surprised and very happy with their quick turn around. This new frame and print is perfectly framed and matted.

    If you need something printed and framed, Imagekind is the place to go. They are a top-notch company!

    If you are interested in this print (it is for sale) Please contact me for more information.

    ~L~

  • I’m not a professional artist by far. I think I’m good but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a pro. I guess I haven’t gotten that conceit yet. I’ve known many an artist type, student etc who did have it and sometimes they rightly have it as they are very talented and some of them you’re like “uhm… sure… if you say so.” ;P

    So as confident as I am in some ways with my art, I have been trying to come up with an idea for this one site called Momiji. They are asking people to contribute a new doll idea. Their dolls remind me of the old clothes pin dolls… the old big wooden clothes pins that don’t snap… the ones that had a big wooden ball type head and just clipped like a paper clip does. They probably don’t sell those type anymore as people have taken to the clippy ones that snap. So I am trying to make a doll and have gone through so many incarnation I don’t know what to do. I need to decide soon though. The contest ends in March but you have to have had people vote on yours to qualify at all I think.

    Other than that, I have subbed to a great many free newsletters or have been spammed with a few good ones off and on that give me updates on online contests. The only problem I have is I feel intimidated if they’re open enough. I know I’ll have to compete against someone who’s probably better than me or has atleast some art school degree or something. I just have my natural talent and alot of work at making it better on my own to push me fwd. I’d love to take art classes but my folks always seemed dead set against it. I didn’t show the talent my brother did. He did alot of drawing, illustration and other more traditional art. I did stuff but I hadn’t really started to shine till I found digital mediums like Photoshop to play with. Now my mom is really happy with my art but then my brother isn’t there to compete with much on that front anymore. I wish he would atleast try. He was always really good at drawing and everything else. I think he’d profit by getting online and trying his luck at stockart or other such things.

    I should sleep… gawd it’s late!

    Wish me luck on the art contests.

    I’m going to need it!

    ~L~

  • Yep… I finally made my first order when they had 50% off their keychains a few weeks back. I bought one of their keychains they had and put my “tiffany stained glass styled dragonfly” illustration on it. I received it this week and it was just BEAUTIFUL! Check out the pic:

    My art on a Keychain
    I’m selling this for $10 dollars plus $1 dollar shipping if anyone’s interested.
    I only have one but I can get more if more people show interest. I can put other art of mine if you’d like a different print. Let me know. ^_^
    ~L~
  • For those of you out there that publish your photos or art at Photobucket and other sites like Deviantart, some of you have experience with art theft. Here is another case of a site that unfortunately creates an atmosphere for art theft: http://www.polyvore.com

    This link goes to the Photobucket section of Polyvore. Polyvore is apparently a site that allows members to create their own collages from images and upload them. Although their site obvious states “use your own images” several members insist on borrowing / stealing art of others and ruining it in ugly tacky collages.

    If you have photos or art at Photobucket and Deviantart , check out that site to be sure your photos and artwork haven’t been stolen. They also seem to steal directly from people’s websites too. It’s pathetic how people think JUST because images are online, they must be free. At least ask permission to use something. If it’s not your art… DON’T USE IT!!!

    ~L~

  • I was wondering that same thing when an online acquaintance referred me. I’m still a bit in the dark but I’m getting an inkling as to what the site is about.

    Qassia.com appears to be an ad revenue sharing site that involves people joining up to share their personal sites and information on various topics. Every time you add a personal site (they insist you have permission to add sites) you get a certain percentage of virtual revenue to use to pay for your ads online. They also pass this along to any sites you may already have joined such as Google Adsense. The amount of hits and referrers (haven’t tried this bit yet) as well as how interesting people rate your original news articles that you’ve written adds up to virtual ad revenue from Qassia and is split as you decide between your listed pages. So far I’ve managed to acquire close to $450 Quassia dollars for ad revenue.

    The site is still in Beta so I’m still trying to figure out exactly what their purpose is and how it works. They seem to be trying to run a kind of virtual advertising budget that helps to get people out in the forefront with help by their online peers and draw traffic to member sites through this same peer system. I just like seeing how things are and what they are for if they’re helping to advertise sites. Plus it’s free and you can quit when you like.

    Check it out for yourself… don’t take my word for it.

    ~L~

  • I’ve since drawn another image to celebrate this year’s animal: The rat. So if you are into the Chinese horoscope, check this out:

    Photobucket

    You can buy a copy of this at my Zazzle shop. Thanks for looking!

    ~L~

  • Yep… this next year is the year of the rat. Apparently it’s my sign for the Chinese calendar despite most of the sites saying for some reason that I am an Ox (not literally, but you know what I mean :P)

    So to celebrate the year of the rat, I drew this pic:

    Geisha Year of the Rat

    It’s for sale at my Zazzle shop. 😀 Check it out!

    I hope everyone has a happy holidays and very merry new year!

    ~L~

  • Need some last minute cards and presents? Why not visit my stores for ideas on holiday gifts or to get your holiday cards?

    Holiday cards:

    Blue Girl @ Zazzle
    Blue Girl @ Cafepress
    Blue Girl @ Greeting Card Universe

    Gifts:

    Blue Girl Mercado

    If you want personalization, tell me asap. The season’s are almost upon us!
    Happy Holidays all!

    Happy Holidays from Blue Girl Graphics

  • If you need stamps for holiday cards, Zazzle has their special going on.

    You can save on shipping if you buy three or more qualifying sheets of postage (sheets of 20) for free shipping. The coupon code FREESHIPSTMP must be entered during checkout to receive the offer. The free shipping offer is for ground shipping to U.S. addresses only. Shipping charges will apply to orders being shipped on an expedited basis or outside the U.S. Offer is valid from October 16, 2007 at 12:01 am (PDT) through December 31, 2007 at 11:59 pm (PST). Your order must be placed during that time to qualify for this special offer. This promotional offer may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or discount offers.

    Also starting on Thanksgiving Day, you get any sheet of 20 stamps for only $10.99!!! Talk about a great deal. Here’s the specifics:

    Promotional price is valid for any number of sheets of twenty Zazzle Custom Stamps with a denomination of 41 cents. Offer is valid from November 22, 2007 at 12:00am PST through November 26, 2007 at 9:00am PST. Your order must be placed during that time to qualify for this special pricing offer. This promotional offer may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or discount offers.

    So if you are interested in buying stamps from my shop or make your own on Zazzle, now you have reasons why. 😀

    ~L~

  • Well as any other artist thinks, I want to get something that will continue or expand my current artistic endeavors. As I am a “digital” artist, I’d love to get a laptop one of these days so I can do my art on the move; The most I might be able to afford this year is a new digital camera to pursue my love of photography. Speaking of which, check out the Casio Exilim. I saw it listed at Target at a reasonable price but my curiousity got me to look at the main site.

    Apparently they list this camera with “YouTube Capture Mode” which piqued my interest and disgust of fads a bit. I mean is this really necessary? Most people know enough to download their images and movies directly to the computer and then up to wherever they need to. Do we really need more crappily taken movies placed on the net with a direct mode? It just defies the mind. I admit being a Youtube fan and daily visitor but still I find this addition to the Exilim rather cheesy and not all that necessary.

    Other than that, I ordered some copies of my own cards from Zazzle as samples. They apparently showed up last weekend around the 12th but I haven’t received them yet. Seems one of the “not so friendly” customer service people in my apt complex offices signed for the package and it’s been lost. I have been told there “is” no package for me other than the one I know just showed up today. If they gave it to someone else I guess it’s not a big deal but I spent money on those cards. I am not a rich person in the least. To make things worse, I suspect one of my stupid neighbors may have stolen the note for the UPS slip or it flew away and it was claimed by another individual. I hope they were sorely disappointed to find it wasn’t anything valuable. I just want my damn cards I used my poor earnings from selling online to buy.

    I guess that’s it for my art rant today. Getting over a nasty cold. Hopefully I won’t feel so crappy on Tuesday. I work 4 pm till 2 am… can you say… FUN FUN FUN (sarcastic tone.)

    I’ll be leaving early on Thursday for my hometown to visit the family. I will take lots of pics as is possible. I’m sure my cousin’s girl has grown. She is the only baby right now. LOL She was also in an ad for the local big grocery chain. Her mom with help from my brother did it so he got a bit of the profits I think from the contest. It was a really good remake of “16 Candles” but with kids. It was so cute. 😀

    Everyone have a safe and fun Thanksgiving!

    ~L~