custom hearts and laserbeams fabric on the horizon!
have you heard of spoonflower? i found out about this site through a friend a few months ago - you can basically create your own fabric repeats, send it to them, and order fabric with your artwork printed on it! super exciting because the mix of art and math that comes with a good repeat makes it one of my favorite things ever to do.
the site's in beta mode right now, so if you sign up you do have to wait a while for your invite to go through, but rumor on the street is they'll be up and running for all in just a few weeks!
yesterday i ordered a fat quarter of this plaid i designed a while back - if all goes well, i'll be designing a bunch of different fabrics and offerin em for sale, AND i'll be able to make things like pouches and skirts and aprons and so on completely one of a kind hearts and laserbeams style! SO EXCITING!!!
i'll level with ya, i'm an artist and not a coder. i've gotten my site off the ground, and am looking for help getting some issues knocked out that i can't seem to wrap my head around. please take a look at the following list and let me know how much it would cost for you to fix all of these for me, along with a time frame on how soon you can get it finished.
thanks so much, i look forward to hearing from anyone who can be of service!
steph calvert
*************
1) the home page link, category links, and top header banner have an extra "/" at the end of the link.
2) blog issues - need someone who is familiar with blogger.
a) the archiving is wonky. clicking on one of the archives pulls up a separate page instead of being pulled up on that blog page. i also need each post to have a permalink so people can share the link and or bookmark it. b) images from cell phone posts aren't showing up; there's a path that's always incorrect on those posts. once i fix the path the image shows up ok. c) the time posted for blog post is a link but goes to an error page
3) would like to have easier paths on the address bar throughout the site and don't know how to change that - for example:
i have: https://www.heartsandlaserbeams.com//index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76_83&products_id=290
Ideal would be: https://www.heartsandlaserbeams.com/accessories/1_inch_buttons
(NOTE: for this one, if it's an easy fix you don't have to go through every page to update the paths, you can tell me how you did the first one and i can fix the rest. this will be a neccessity since i'll be adding new pages and products in the future)
4) ssl issues: on every single page i'm getting a popup saying how "some items on the page are unsecure would i still like to view". i don't think that's supposed to constantly be showing up. i may not have set up my ssl properly, currently the https prefix is on every page and someone told me that may affect search engine results.
5) want the middle of the page (currently light grey) where the products show up to be white instead of light grey.
i saw secret life of bees last weekend without the boy - i generally don't make him take me to chick flicks unless it looks like something that maybe he might be into - like the baxter, that movie ended up being one of our favorites ever. anyhow, he went out hunting last weekend so i went and checked out the latest oprah recommendation. and it was really, really good, loved every minute of it. if you get a chance, totally go. my favorite part was that the movie sort of had a honey-tinged gold color to it. i don't know why i liked that so much; it was just really pretty and subtle and oh dear lord all the scenery in the south is gorgeous. it's a little weird seeing dakota fanning grow up.
sunday night we rented no country for old men, and i know it got really high marks and all that last year but holy crap could not get into this movie. like to josh and i, it pretty much just flat out stunk. and then the next day we ended up at the $3 theater and saw house bunny, which may be the worst movie of all time, but still better than no country for old men. is that possible?
2) one of my photos is on it's way to being in a book!
i got an email from the fabulous folks at www.wefeelfine.org last week, asking permission to use a photo from my blog in an upcoming book of theirs. they scour blogs on the internets and find blog entries that talk about feelings and things, and found my blog entry about when i bought my current printer last summer, and how much i effing love my printer and want to make out with it.
and i had posted a pic of what i did to try out the copier function:
i love love love that this is the photo they want to use. here's the entry they found on livejournal - aside from my own website, i post my blog to myspace, livejournal, facebook, and so on to increase readership and i guess it worked so hooray!!
3) i ordered a photo studio kit off of ebay today so i can take cooler photos of my artstuffs for the shop, so i can't wait for it to get here!
4) i'm hungry
5) you should make me a hamburger!
6) i haven't done a book report in a while; i'm currently reading a marketing book and it's slow going because non-fiction honestly isn't as fun but i'm still gonna finish it and report back. after that it's back to good-ol fiction!
7) i'm still hungry
8)josh's mom sent us a bunch of halloween candy today and i plan on eating every bit of it tonight!
so yesterday i had jury duty, meaning i didn't have to go in to the office, which was rad.
it was a pretty interesting day - sat in the jury waiting room for 2 hours, and then got called with a group to go into a courtroom. was one of the first ones called up to get interviewed as a potential juror, and as they told our group the specifics of the case, and named all the witnesses prosecution would call, they mentioned four long beach cops. being a cop wife myself, that was the moment i knew i would be cut. and when i had to tell them about myself, and what i do and what my husband does, i really knew i would be cut. and four hours later, i was, so no big fatty 4 day criminal trial for me this time suckas!
it's kinda too bad, i was really digging the inside scoop on people's court style procedures and would've liked to have seen the entire trial... but at least i could get back to work!
so this morning, i got to work and started checking emails.
i was all relaxed, had my proof of jury service certificate sitting there for my boss.
i hear her barge into the office (she's a bit overdramatic sometimes about mornings) - she comes right over to my desk and demands my jury service form.
"calm down pumpkin, it's right here", i told her and handed it over.
"you know this shit looks forged, right?" she said. "didn't you write your name in yourself? this is totally your handwriting. i know your handwriting. did you bring your fifty bucks?"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT" i yelled at her, "you guys are supposed to pay me, or not pay me for jury duty days it's not the other way around!"
"listen dude i don't make the rules," my boss says, "all the laws are different when you're self-employed."
"also, did you see that adorable cupcake hat on etsy? i'm totally gonna go buy one right now."
and then to add insult to injury she demanded that our secretary take a photo of her giving me back my jury form all official/graduation day style. my boss is a jerk.
pick up your copy of this week's the district magazine!
i am so jazzed that the district weekly interviewed me for this weeks' "best of long beach" issue - i got to tell them all kinds of great things about living here! the issue hit stands today, so keep your eye out and pick up a copy!
fyi though! i have a bit of a knack for being wordy when i'm excited, so my entire interview isn't in the print edition - for that, you'll have to visit the article online!
the magazine is available pretty much everywhere all throughout long beach for the next week and it's FREE! if you're out of the area and would like one mailed, email me at heartsandlaserbeams@gmail.com and i'll get one out to ya!
in other news, put a slathering of stuff that's been in storage back into the shop between yesterday and today - custom 1" buttons are back, along with cool things like tiny watercolors and outlet covers!
most exciting, i just designed a couple of new plates for the holidays that are fully customizeable - pick either santa or a reindeer, pick your colors, add your own personal message, and pow! a fun gift for any little one (or big one, for that matter)... check em out:
thanks for lookin, stay tuned tomorrow when i tell you all about today's jury duty!
i found out about savor months ago, when they were one of the featured sellers on etsy. reading the profile, it was just really intriuging that lots of lisa's inspiration comes from actual real-world recipes. AND they look good enough to eat!
(soapsmells clockwise, from top left: ginger lemon, creme brulee, geisha, my boyfriend's tshirt, pineapple buttercream)
i finally bought some savor soap off of etsy this week, and i give her twelve thumbs up! communication with her customers (something i'm really big on) is tops, her packaging is classy and eye-catching, and shipping is fast! i ended up picking 5 to try out, and i'm totally sure i'll be back - they smell AMAZING!
savor also included a little crocheted washcloth in one of my favorite colors which gives them bonus points - hooray for soapy goodness!
i just realized like last week that etsy has "appreciation" photos that you can upload as part of your feedback, so i created this today to pass along to customers! once my workshop is up and running again i'd love to redesign these as thank you cards, maybe as a 3 color linoblock print.
new design work is on the horizon, with awesome new holiday items, so stay tuned!
(which makes me sound super popular, like i have 872 other instances i could tell you about)
i'm watching the new my name is earl, and david arquette's on it tonight - did you know he has a painting of mine? my life is full of small world after all stories, check this out!
last fall i was selling my hearts and laserbeamsy wares at a craft fair at the l.a. fairgrounds. sometime around late afternoon, a group of 3 kids (they were actually probably adults, but i still call everyone kids) came walking by, and they pause looking at the couple of original fruit and nuts series paintings i had left. and they start talking quietly to each other, and kinda laughing and one of them says "you should totally buy it for them".
when people stand there talking about something i've done for that length of time it's either really good or really bad, so i go up and say hi and we start chatting. and one of the group pipes up, pointing at her friend, "she works with courtney cox on that tv show dirt, and this week david arquette is directing the episode, so we were thinking about getting this painting for them", pointing to "david, courtney and apple take a bath".
i about pooped my pants and told them they absolutely had to buy it and they agreed and that is that! what's really great is there's a part 2 to the story - i had my stuff set up at the patchwork craft show in santa ana last spring, and a girl comes walking up and kinda looks at me funny. she asks if i was at that show at the l.a. fairgrounds, and i tell her yeah, and she's all "we bought that courtney cox and david arquette painting!" she went on to tell me about how they did give it to them, and that they totally love it and that thier kid cracks up all the time about it.
which is just really kind of neat. i mean i've sold a buttload of my artwork to a lot of people over the past few years, but that i can actually tell you that one of my quirky celeb paintings actually went to the celebs pictured in it? fuckin awesome. the end!
next time i'll tell ya how i saw the austin powers car on the freeway! no lie!
"notes from work" is really, REALLY exciting - it's a new feature i'll be writing every now and then that'll follow my adventures as a self-employed girl working at home, and i swear it's gonna be amazing!
i got a memo from my boss this morning that i should really start wearing pants to the office, that my pantsless carefree attitude is really starting to make my coworkers uncomfortable, and that if i don't fix the problem immediately i'm lookin at a harassment lawsuit... what does she know it's effing hot out.
in other news, i'm kinda bummed i won't be here for halloween, word around the watercooler is hearts and laserbeams is gonna have a companywide costume contest and the winner gets a bottle of wine and a nap and i could totally use both the end!
welcome to the hearts and laserbeams blog! i've been trackin my adventures (arts and crafty and otherwise)since the fall of 2002, so sit back with a delicious coffee drink and get to readin!
