In town yesterday for the art class — we talked about the cards, how an artist can bring his or her art to the public quite easily and accessibly with fine-art greeting cards that are produced and marketed by the artist himself or herself. There are a variety of ways to sell greeting cards, but the very best is on a table on the street or in a mall. Be ready for a rush! My vintage cards went out the door, and I never intended to sell them. Here’s what happened:
We brought my sales box of cards because I wanted to show them to Lindsay and Kurt, which I’d done, and they duly responded with glee, happy faces and several great suggestions, all of which I’ve carried out. They know the paper art business better than anyone I know, and I trust their judgment, so I made the changes in the cards accordingly, thus adding several hours to my labor, but I see their point.
While we were showing the cards, someone asked, “What are you selling?”
Instead of answering “Nothing,” which was the truth, I decided to say “Greeting cards.” Result? I sold two five-packs on the spot, for cash money.
In order to make the changes recommended by Lindsay and Kurtis, I had to take the cards apart and put them back together again, then remake and reseal the package. Oy. But they were right; it’s worth the extra effort, and from now on, their way is the way I’ll do it.
The possibilities for application are absolutely endless. I have on hand over 200,000 images to which we own the copyright, and there’s a ton of artists just craving to get their hands on a palette and brush again.
For weddings, we can make exact reproductions of 1900-1918 cards from our vast collection, which comes to us thanks to Ken Ahrns.
For graduation, we of course feature photographs of laboratory glassware.
Naturally, we have the most popular card type of all…can you guess???
If you guessed “romance”, “love” or “let’s have a date” as the subject matter, you’d be dead on right, and as you’d imagine, we have a ton of incredible antique PROOF cards which are being held so we can scan them and re-issue them as reproductions. PROOF means that they contain an Official U.S. Government Post Office Cancellation Date Stamp somewhere on the reverse, or the message contains the date in the hand and ink of the writer, or the obverse contains the date, as in the case of the embossed message, “Happy 1914!”.
As I expected, the real photo postcards were not all that popular — they have a definite “blue book” of value, and the condition has to be far higher than what I have here, so I came up with a use for them as sources for reproductions, but then we have to keep the original stored safely somewhere in case something happens to the scan or we have to prove ownership for copyright purposes, and yes, you can copyright something old, if you do something to it to make it new, but if there are any claimants from 1904 to 1918, they won’t have a chance, unless it was published for the first time prior to 1949, the current cutoff date for public domain, I believe, but I’ve been wrong before.
I’ve got an incredible collection of vintage automobile cards that I’ve made up as a fancy set of cards on linen-laid-weave stock with a matching envelope, naturally they’re completely acid-free all rag content, 100% archival, and so is the color print and now so is the tape I’m using. All acid-free, all high archival quality, at a great low price with great price-breaks at definite and easy to remember price points, ie; $2, $3, $4, $5, $6 wholesale, and easy to remember retail prices so you don’t have to remember more than three or four prices, total, for any given street fair or event.
What kind of events work for charity fundraising with greeting cards?
How about a party? Wine-tasting party. There’s a world of material here. You could have me make up a wine label just for that event. I would also select a wine that I think would have some staying-power as a collectible as well as a great-tasting and terrific-finishing wine.
To me, it’s all in the finish.
I have already selected six wines at an average bottle price of around $35 just for the wine — my label, glass etching and woodburned box are all extras amounting to another $100 to $200 per bottle. I’ve selected three red wines that I would deem worthy to represent my wine-tasting skills. I will design a custom label just for your event, with my etching to prove source and my woodburned box for elegance.
I guess I should enumerate some of my current choices, while I appear to be at it:
2006 Domaine Savoureaux Napa Merlot — $29.99 — A very delightful juicy plum, eucalyptus with layers of sweet spice and cedar on the nose. On the palate, lush flavors of plum, blackberry and cherry dominate a warm, damp earth & mushroom that gives way to chocolate and sprigs of dried mint! Paired best with creamy cheeses, dark chocolate or Prasad. Etching & Woodburning add about $50 to the cost of each bottle.
2009 Jordan Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon — $79.99 — This vintage is a dream come true for Winemaker Rob Davis, combining both an excellent growing season and fruit-sourcing. Visually stunning clarity with a deep pigeon-blood garnet and ruby hue, certainly my choice for appearance in a Deep Cabernet, which this is. This wine possesses an uncanny elegance of fruit expression, lively acidity and tannin structure, good oak integration. Aromatics include blackberry, black cherry and cassis, supported by subtle hints of baking spice and vanilla from age oaking. Enjoy now, or put down for 2025. This is a real legacy bottle, well worth my finished price, which adds only $50 per custom-labeled, woodburned boxed and etched bottle you order. What a great gift for a newborn, eh? They’ll be ready to drink the wine not too long after the wine is ready to drink. But as I said, it’s good right now.
2010 Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon — $149.99 — An amazing Napa Valley varietal mountain-fruit effort from the incredible Dunn Family. Dunn Howell Mountain can age for actually 25 years or more, under proper storage & rotation conditions. Dunn wines are known for their fruity, jammy and HERBACIOUS body and supernatural qualities. This is a full-bodied wine with the essence of raspberry, plum, fig, cedar and of course, oak. Pairs well with roasty and charbroiled flavors, reduction sauces and steamed veggies. Cost of custom label, bottle etching and woodburning is about $50 extra on top of the basic bottle price.
This wine comes with the Dunn Family red wax dipped top. Dunn’s 2010 Cabernet is already off the charts. Inky, rich and deep, the 2010 possesses “stunning depth, power and richness. Plums, black cherries, mocha, licorice, with layer upon layer of fruit, all build to a huge, highly textured and memorable finish. There is much to look forward to here, but most of it will happen in the future, for the very patient. This is a dazzling drink even now, but it will flourish best between 2020 and 2040.” Antonio Galloni Rating – 98/100.
There’s more, but it’ll have to wait until this morning’s ICW, at which I hope to see you bright and early right on the dot, 6:30. I’ll be there.
See You At The Top!!!
gorby