Buy Handmade with Our Holiday Gift Guide & More...

Zooey Deschanel's Gift is on it's way!

The Artisan Group should be receiving my gift for actress Zooey Deschanel today for her personalized celebrity gift bag of hand made crafts from The Artisan Group. I am soooooo excited for her to have one of my pendants. I watercolored a special postcard and hand wrote a note to her on the back. I can't wait to hear feedback!

Speaking 
of Handmade...


Buy Handmade this Holiday Season!
This season, why not support artists from around the world by buying handmade? Don't you remember what it was like giving handmade gifts when you were young? It felt wonderful! Now that you are all grown up, you can still give handmade, just let The Artisan Group make them for you!

The Artisan Group has a Holiday Gift Guide on a website called Pinterest.com. Follow the links below for wonderful gifts for everyone!
Stocking Stuffers
Gifts Under $20
Gifts For Him
The Official 2011 Artisan Group Gift Guide

You can also browse all of the artisans by category using this link. It is for our official Pinterest.com page with all of our "boards".
The Artisan Group on Pinterest

Here's a direct link to my online shop as well...
Online Etsy Shop • Ilene Price Design
Wishing all of you a very safe and happy Thanksgiving. And happy shopping!
Ilene

Zooey Deschanel Will Be Getting an Ilene Price Design Glass Pendant!

Zooey Deschanel Will Be Getting an Ilene Price Design Glass Pendant!

Why is the star of the hit Fox series “New Girl”, Zooey Deschanel, so excited?

It's because she’s getting a glass pendant from Ilene Price Design, that's why! Yes you read it right, one of my glass pendants is going directly to Zooey Deschanel!!! How cool is that! She is one of my favorite actresses and I also love her music. I just watched her again in "Elf" this week!

I am beyond excited that I have been given the opportunity to include one of my pieces in an exclusive gift bag for her. It will be filled with handmade goodies from members of The Artisan Group. They have received so much attention and great press from their participation in GBK Production's Emmy Gift Lounge that the group has been contacted by several celebrity managers and publicists. The Artisan Group will be sending special gift bags to actresses Jessica Alba and Hilary Duff as well, who are both expecting new additions to their families. Last month, they also sent a bag of special get well gifts to Giuliana Rancic, host on "E News", who was just recently diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.

Now I have to decide which lovely pendant I want to send to her! I'm so excited!

Celebrity Photos Came Today!

Celebrity Photos Came Today!

Well if yesterday's news about Beverley Mitchell writing me a personal note wasn't enough... today, GBK Productions sent the Artisan Group their celebrity photos. I didn't expect to receive them until Friday! As I waited in suspense, Valerie and Nikki kept telling me, don't worry, you'll be happy, just be patient. Well they were right! Lorraine Bracco and Christopher McDonald took an interest in my artwork!

"Oh, now that's lovely. She's a Jersey Girl? Better yet." -- Lorraine Bracco

Lorraine Bracco

Lorraine Bracco is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Karen Hill in Goodfellas 

and Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the HBO television series, The Sopranos. She currently stars as Angela Rizzoli on Rizzoli & Isles.

Being that my print said "Be Yourself", they asked Christopher McDonald to be himself when he posed the photo.

Christopher McDonald

Christopher McDonald is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore, Tappy Tibbons in Requiem for a Dream, and Mel Allen in the HBO film 61*. He currently plays Thomas "Tommy" Jefferson on Harry's Law.

Not only are the members getting great press, but The Artisan Group itself is receiving a lot of really good press, from celebrities, media outlets etc. 

Artisan Group Post Emmy Press Release

It's been a wonderful and exciting week and I want to say thank you to them. The exposure is fantastic and even though the Emmy's are over I feel like the ride has just begun!

"7th Heaven" & "Secret Life..." Star Loves My Message...

"7th Heaven" & "Secret Life..." Star Loves My Message...

I received an amazing surprise when I checked my email last night. After all of the hullabaloo the last few days tweeting about GBK Production's Emmy Gift Lounge, yesterday was a fairly quiet catch up day. But around 7:15 last night I received an email from actress Beverley Mitchell, (best known for portraying Lucy Camden on "7th Heaven" and Kaitlin O'Malley on "Secret Life of the American Teenager"). She was thanking me for my gift. I almost fell off my chair! Here's the email she sent to me...


Ilene,
I just wanted to shoot you a note and say thank you so much for your beautiful cards that I received in my Emmy Gift bag from the Artisan Group. I absolutely love your cards and they embody all the positive messaging that I am all about. You have a fan here. I just wanted to let you know and again say thank you. Have a beautiful week and thank you for your beautiful gift!
    Beverley Mitchell
    from 7th Heaven, Secret Life of the American Teenager and so on


How awesome was it that she took the time to write me a personal note! I saw that she had tweeted about The Artisan Group on Saturday, the day of the gift lounge, but never thought she would actually send me an email! 

I'm still waiting to receive other feedback and hopefully photos of some celebrities with my display piece. The photographers that were there take so many pictures, it takes time to go through them. Hopefully we will have them around the end of the week. I guess the butterflies can live in my tummy a few days longer... I can't wait!

Day 2 of the Emmy Gift Lounge With The Artisan Group

Day 2 of the Emmy Gift Lounge With The Artisan Group

Well "Day 1" of the Emmy Awards Gift Lounge was soooo exciting! Yesterday was "Day 2". I was glued to my iPhone and Mac even more than the day before, (Yes, even when I was at my daughter's soccer game and when I was supposed to be doing laundry!). Lots of celebrities stopped by The Artisan Group's table and chatted it up with our own Valerie and Nikki. They not only got to meet and speak to celebrities, but they were interviewed by the press...Gosh TV, Splash Magazine to name a couple! Here's a couple of messages from Valerie and Nikki from the night. (Click on the image to read better.)

There were also a ton of TV's finest there yesterday, just like the day before, such as James Woods, Rico Rodriguez, Cloris Leachman, Christopher McDonald, Jennifer Carpenter, Julie Benz, Nia Peeples, Ana Gasteyer, Kathryn Joosten, Robert Morse, Christa B. Allen, Scott Adslet, Rex Lee, David James Elliott, Virginia Williams, Catherine O'Hara, Andy Milder, Zach Woods, Michael Trucco, Tony Dennison, Loretta Devine, Glynn Turman, Hector Elizondo, Marie Jones, and so many more. Some even tweeted about us after they left. How cool is that!

We all can't wait to see the photos with the celebrities and hear more about the comments from Valerie and Nikki when they back. They have at least two photos for each artisan of celebrities holding their work. They said people were taking our brochures left and right and there were no gifts left at the end! There was chatter that we had some of the best stuff there and many of the celebs asked to take home some of the display pieces! 

Handmade Rocks!!!

Tomorrow Night of course is the Emmy Awards and if you don't have a twitter account and aren't following The Artisan Group yet, then you need to do that ASAP! The Artisan Group is having there third and last twitter party where you can win some of the celebrity swag for yourself! No joke, it's easy. Just click the link below and follow the instructions and you could soon be sporting some swag!


Join the Party! The Artisan Group's Emmy Twitter Party!

It's really been an awesome experience. The Artisan Group has a private Facebook page where we all come together to talk, ask questions, support each other etc. For the last two days I have felt such a sense of community amongst these artisans... all of which I have never met (except Nikki), not to mention that we stretch across the US, Canada and abroad. I have laughed at some of the humor in the running thread of comments on our Facebook page. It definitely took some of the nerves away from the excitement of the day. Thank you Valerie and Nikki for starting this group and putting your blood sweat and tears into it for all of us.! Whether this leads to a celebrity ordering some of my products or not, this experience has been worth a million orders! 


I'm so glad I decided to have my business cards in the swag bags for the upcoming Golden Globes and Oscars and I'll definitely gift my products in another event in the future. The more exposure the better. I look back at the past year and I'm proud of myself. I created a website, became social media savvy, (well, still working on a some of that), launched an online shop, learned how to take and retouch my own photos (well, still working on a some of that too), learned how to write a blog and promote myself... and I am still moving ahead with whatever and wherever it all takes me. It's a big adventure and I am ready for it!

Day 1 of the Primetime Emmy Gift Lounge Complete!

Day 1 of the Primetime Emmy Gift Lounge Complete!

Well Day 1 of the gift lounge was so exciting! I was literally glued to my computer and phone all day to see who stopped by our table to see our display! Valerie and Nikki, the co-founders of The Artisan Group gave us constant updates throughout the day. Celebs like Penny Marshall, Jeff Probst, Charlotte Ross, Elizabeth McGovern, Jerry "Turtle" Ferrara, Niecy Nash, Lorraine Bracco, Mayim Bialik and so many more stopped by! Here are some Facebook posts on the Artisan Group's Page...
The Artisan Group's Facebook Page - Like Us!

Some of the celebs spent quite a bit of time talking to us! How cool is that! I cannot wait to see all the pictures. We actually have a professional photographer there taking pictures of the celebs holding our works. I can only hope that someone picks up mine and takes a picture...

My Display Piece

The lounge runs from 11am-6pm, which is 2pm-9pm my time. I'm apologizing now to my family for being glued to my iPhone again today! Can't wait for the festivities to begin! We got an email last night with an extensive number of celebs that RSVP'd to the event today... I can't tell you now... You will have to read later to find just who visits The Artisan Group!

Countdown to the Emmy's!

Countdown to the Emmy's!

I know, I know, I haven't blogged in a while... again! I was at my daughter's back to school night last night and my friend yelled at me because I haven't updated my blog recently! Sorry for anyone who is following me! 


I wanted to share some recent press with you. I was interviewed by the local "Livingston Patch" this summer and they published an article about me and my Emmy adventure yesterday! It was really lovely. Here is the link...
Ilene Price Hits Stride as Emmy Swag!


Well it's finally Emmy weekend! It's so crazy exciting! There is an event mixer tonight where my work, along with others, is displayed and the gift lounge starts tomorrow. It runs through Saturday at the "W" hotel in LA! I can't wait to watch Facebook and Twitter to see how everything goes. And, I can't wait to watch the Emmy's Sunday night, which is my favorite awards show of them all. I am such a TV nut! I hope that I will be able to have some celebrity photos to add to the blog over the weekend. We'll keep our fingers crossed and see...

The Artisan Group Table

Below is a picture of the actual "Swag Bag" we are giving out and the Emmy Guide that goes with it! Neatly packed inside is work from 26 different artisans. It's like the celebs are getting 26 different presents wrapped in gorgeous little boxes and bags. It also contains many business cards from other artisans!

The link below allows you to look inside the event guide and see small bios on each artisan displaying work on the table, (including me!)...

The Artisan Group's Official Event Guide to GBK's Primetime Emmys Gift Lounge

issuu.com

The Artisan Group to Gift Celebrities at Luxury Gift Lounge in Honor of the Primetime Emmy Awards Nominees and Presenters – September 16-17, 2011. This Guide was distributed at the event to all attending celebrities and members of the press.

If you don't have a twitter account, here is a good reason to have one. The night of the Emmy's The Artisan Group will be having a twitter party where you can win some celebrity swag by answering trivia questions. Just follow along throughout the evening. Here is the link below with instructions.
The Artisan Group Blog: September 18, 2011 TWITTER PARTY!!

theartisangrouporg.blogspot.co

Another nice thing I like about this group is that at every event they give back. This year they are giving one of the Emmy swag bags to "Big Brother, Big Sisters of the Bay Area" to auction off for a charity event next month.

The Artisan Group Gives Back!

The Artisan Group is proud to announce our participation in one of Big Brothers/Big Sisters' upcoming charity events!   Our group has donated one of our celebrity swag bags full of handmade products to be gifted in a silent auction at the"Celebrating Our Matches Festival"  taking place on October 1, 2011.   Twenty-seven of our amazing artisans have co-sponsored this charity event by gifting a product from their respective shoppes.    The estimated value of The Artisan Group's donated swag bag...

By: The Artisan Group

And if all that Emmy stuff wasn't exciting enough... I finished and launched my Etsy shop today, just in time for the Emmy Awards. For anyone who doesn't know what Etsy is, it's a handmade marketplace, like an Amazon.com for artists and crafters. After I shipped out all of my Emmy gifts to California in August, I made a whole new batch of my rectangle glass pendants. When that was finished, I spent the rest of the summer photographing, retouching, watermarking, writing and preparing my listings for the shop. I like the idea of selling in that type of creative environment. The craft and vendor shows I spent a good part of last year doing were really exhausting and time consuming. I am going to try and follow a different track this year.


Here is the link to my new shop...
Ilene Price Design Etsy Shop
I am starting off my shop with three of my products, my notecards, rectangle glass pendant necklaces and matted prints. Over the next few months I will add more products such as my initial charm bottle cap necklaces and others. It's exciting yet very scary to actual go global when you think about it. So far I've been a local artist, doing local venues. My farthest customer was a friends mother in law in Florida! Now I'm on the web! Someone from Kansas or Texas may see and purchase my work... or even someone from Peru or Spain, you never know...

The Artisan Group's Official Press Release went out Today!

The Artisan Group's 

Official Press Release 

went out Today!

The Artisan Group to Gift Celebrities at Luxury Gift Lounge in Honor of the Primetime Emmy Awards Nominees and Presenters – September 16-17, 2011

Weeeee're Off To See The Emmy's...

Weeeee're Off To See The Emmy's...

Happy Summer! I want to say first that I am probably the worst blogger ever! I haven't blogged since May, even though I had every intention to! There are just too many things to do! But even though I haven't blogged, I have been taking pictures of all of my Emmy prepping to share.


The entry I wrote in May showed a sample of what I was going to do for the Emmy's. After that I began ordering all the supplies I needed, including packaging, labels, new business cards etc. The first thing I started with were my notecards. I chose six of my favorite designs and began printing them at home on my Epson printer. I did bunches each day and it took about a week or so. Then came production day! I am sooooo lucky! My mother and my mother-in-law came over and helped me fold, sort, collate, stuff and label about 120 packages! (I made a few extra.) They were both incredible... With their help it only took a couple of hours. It would have taken four times that without them!

After the notecards were finished I started making my glass pendants for the necklaces. That would be the most time consuming for me. They take longer than you would think, because I am totally anal about them being perfect. I started by glueing the glass pieces onto my printed artwork. I have to use just the right amount of glazing glue and watch for unwanted bubbles. Too much will make for a lot of extra clean up around the edges and too little will not spread to edges enough and won't have good adhering to the glass. I hold the pieces down until they start to dry to the paper and then I weigh them down with books to finish drying. My coffee table books never had so much use.

Ready to trim

Once they were dry, I carefully cut each one out with an knife. I went through a ton of knife blades and bottle of Advil for the pain in my hands! During the next stage I feel like a dental hygienist. I scrape the glue off the sides like scraping plaque off teeth. I know it's a weird analogy, but it's what I think of when I do them! After that I trim down the edges until they are clean. Then I sand down the rough paper edges with my very fancy, expensive sanding tool, an emory board. 

Ready to scrape and clean edges

The scraps are cool...

When I am satisfied with the pendants, I tea stain the backs of each one with a photo marker, stamp them with a swirl (swirls are my most favorite shape), and sign them. The next step is glazing the backs. A couple of coats give it a nice shine and finally I can attach the silver bails that hold the ribbon necklaces. I absolutely love these silver bails I found on ETSY that are in the shape of a sun.

Tea stained, signed & stamped

Glazed and drying

Attaching bails

Once everything is completely dry I start choosing colored ribbons that go with each one and begin stringing the pendants onto them. Then they are boxed in clear front kraft jewelry boxes that I have labeled on the back. The clear fronts allow them to be seen in the organza bags I am using for the Emmy's.

Then it was time to put everything together and use my new business cards, bio sheets and tags. I did a little each day while I was watching TV. When it was finally done, I packed them into two boxes and I was off to the UPS store to ship them out!

And last but not least... I put together my display print with my favorite design "Be Yourself". I thought for a long time about how to display this print. I went through stages of brainstorming that included making the frame a piece of art itself, with wire and beads or maybe painted and decoupaged. But in the end, everything seemed to take a way from the artwork itself. I just couldn't find a frame I liked enough. And then, I happened upon this simple frame that was the perfect size and complimented the colors beautifully, and that was it! I replaced the glass with non-glare plexiglass and it was done. Much easier and nicer than I was trying to do before!

The whole thing is now traveling on its way cross country to The Artisan Group! It's very exciting. And, I also just found out that The Artisan Group received an email from a nationally-syndicated TV entertainment news show inquiring about the fabulous products our group will be gifting to the celebrities next month at The Primetime Emmys... which of course will include my notecards and jewelry! Yippee! 


The Artisan Group has been getting nice press and it's really wonderful being a part of them. I have decided to participate in the Oscars and Golden Globe Awards in the business card category. That means that my business cards will be in The Artisan Group's swag bags for those award shows. For the Emmy's I did the whole shebang... a display item, press bags and swag bag gifts. 

Now I have to focus on making more jewelry to sell, since most everything I have made this summer has been for the Emmy's. I am also planning on finally getting my online store up and running. I have to finish some more jewelry and take photos of every piece. That's going to be a huge undertaking! And of course, I have to clean my studio from the summer chaos!


Two last bits of exciting news I would like to share. First, the local online newspaper, the "Livingston Patch" will be doing a feature on me this month. I just sent them my updated bio and I am meeting with the reporter next week! And second, I had a meeting with a manufacturer two weeks ago about licensing out my artwork on different home products. I am very, very excited about that. I'll have more to tell when I know more! For now... enjoy summer!!!

Pay it Forward...

Hello, I'm back. As I say every week, I find it so hard to find time to blog. Yesterday I spent hours cleaning my computer, emails, bookmarks etc. I am constantly bookmarking things and creating folders of information to use later on. Some good and some I can't remember why I bookmarked them! I have folders for inspiration, sources, favorite artists etc.


I've also been busy working on my Emmy prepping. I've been printing notecards, making samples and playing with the packaging. Here are a couple of photos I took today. I've changed the jewelry tin to a kraft box and printed some new tags for the drawstring since the last photo. I also started to design a small bio sheet that shows some more of my designs. I'm still deciding how to frame my print for the display. Hopefully I'll have something to show in next couple of weeks.

I've also been trying to catch up on my blog reading. (I know I should be reading my book club book instead!) I always search for really good creative blogs. I have learned so much about materials, sources, venues, business and everything handmade through artisans all over the world. Creative people are such a wonderful, giving community. Many artists share inspiration, ideas and tips and more for other creative souls. We should say thank you and pay it forward.

The first pay it forward goes out to The Artisan Group. They are incredible in every way. They are supportive and helpful every step of the way as we journey to the Emmy's. Their blog is full of information about us including links to our own blogs, giveaways and general information about the group. Right now they are running a giveaway for when they reach 300 Facebook fans, so sign up!  Here is the link  http://theartisangrouporg.blogspot.com/   They also just had their first of three twitter parties leading up to the Emmy's and the next one is in Thursday, July 14th at 8pm. I will be giving away one of my notecard sets as a prize to one of the lucky winners. For more information go to  http://dreamers.marthastewart.com/profile/TheArtisanGroup


The second pay it forward goes out to Kelly Rae Roberts. If you don't who she is, she is as she puts it, an "artist, author and possibilitarian". I took an e-course with her last June called "Flying Lessons, Tips and Tricks to Help Your Creative Business Soar". It really helped me overcome my "fear of flying" as she says, to believe in myself and realize that I can accomplish anything I want to. She writes a great blog, which openly talks about her journey that has taken her to what I call "creative stardom". Her blog on Monday thanked the people who have help her and talked about how it basically takes a "village" to have a creative business. It's where I got my "pay it forward" theme for this week. Here is the link to her blog  http://kellyraeroberts.blogspot.com/

And while I'm on the subject of gratitude... I sit in my studio everyday and feel so lucky that I have the support and love of my family and friends to take on this adventure. I have always dreamed of having a little space that is just my own, to draw, to create, to dream... and I thank my husband for letting me spread out and create a area just for me, that inspires me to work. It may be a little cluttered, but it's well organized and full of inspiration. Thank you!