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

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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...