corey marie ♥ com » comics, art, diy, digital ephemera & more:

Jul 19 1 comments

Customer Appreciation Sale Today!

Good things are happening around here. We got approved for our apartment in Eaton Rapids yesterday, and that means we’ll be going home in less than six weeks! I’m so excited (and relieved… it was taking longer than expected and we were starting to worry that we wouldn’t have anywhere to move to!)

I mentioned last week that my return to Etsy has been absolutely amazing. I’ve had orders coming in from both new and returning customers (thank you!), several treasury features and so many nice comments and emails. As much as I’ve loved having a beautiful and totally custom shopify site, I just can’t deny the fact that Etsy works better for me. Having two shops full of one-of-a-kind inventory just meant more work for me, and while shopify has lots of great options and features, it just can’t compete with the totally freakin’ awesome built-in community that Etsy has to offer.

I’ve decided to close my shopify, at least for now. That means I suddenly have a whole lot of art journals, accessories and other awesome stuff that I’m ready to list on Etsy, and that’s what I’m going to be doing all day today.

Just for fun, I thought it’d also be fun to have a big…

So, for the next 12 hours or so (until midnight EST), I’m going to list as many things as possible. I’m also offering FREE SHIPPING on everything in the shop for all domestic orders!

Details:

My art journals and nearly everything else in my shop is totally one-of-a-kind. When it’s gone, it’s gone! Since you won’t have to worry about combining shipping today, if you see something you want, GET IT right away (before someone else does!) I won’t be packing up orders until tomorrow, so if you check out more than once, that’s totally ok.

Unfortunately, I can only offer this deal to my domestic friends, but you know I’m not going to leave my foreign shoppers hanging. You can take 10% off your entire order today. If you want to get in on the shopping frenzy and check out more than once, I will be happy to refund extra shipping charges via paypal. (Please note that I won’t be able to refund extra shipping charges until after your order has shipped, which will be in the next day or two.)

To get FREE SHIPPING today, use code: FREESHIPPINGISRAD

To get 10% OFF your entire order today, use code: ILOVEPAPERCUTS

Sneak Peek:

Here is a look at some of the goodies that you’ll see in the shop today!

Are you ready? I’m ready. Let’s do this!

1 Comment

POSTED ON: Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 @ 12:31 PM
FILED UNDER: Art Journals, corey marie ♥ com, PAPERCUTS
TAGS: art journals, customer appreciation, Etsy, PAPERCUTS, sale

Jul 18 1 comments

False Starts

falsestarts

Here are a couple of panels from the web comic version of Scene Language – I drew this back in 2008. I’ve been thinking a lot about coming back to Scene Language, and with my upcoming move back to Michigan, I feel like that pull will get even stronger.

If there’s anything that I regret about Scene Language, it’s the series of what I consider to be false starts. Not long after this strip was drawn, we had our scooter accident and I fractured my elbow. I didn’t think I could keep up with a daily schedule anymore (SL was done 5 days a week then,) so took a hiatus while I worked through physical therapy, and then eventually I re-launched the series as a self-published longer form book. The art was tighter, and the story and dialogue was stronger than the first time around. I put out two books and got most of the way through the third, but never finished it up.

Like I said, I’ve been feeling the draw (haha) to come back to it for a while now… I have so much plot outline written, and massive back stories for all of the main characters. However, at this point, my art has continued to evolve and I’d likely want to change formats again… so that’d mean starting over again. I’m so eager to get past the initial stories and see the character interactions grow further, but I know that the story has to be told the right way, too. There’s also the cell phone problem:

When I first started writing Scene Language, it was 2003. People had cell phones, but they obviously weren’t as central to people’s lives as they are now. The characters in Scene Language are in their early 20’s and there are plots that just don’t make sense anymore. (Why wouldn’t Charlie just text Kate?)

The only solution I can figure out is to actually write Scene Language as a PERIOD PIECE, probably starting in 2001. This is somewhat daunting but not unappealing to me.

I’m not sure how soon I’ll be able to re-approach Scene Language, but this is probably the first step. I’ve got a lot to think about and a lot of decisions to make, but I really am eager to get back to it. I’ve missed it a lot. I also have to figure out how to balance it with PAPERCUTS & other responsibilities.

I admit that I’m afraid of this becoming another “false start,” but I don’t know what else I can do except accept the challenge. I guess Kate said it best in the panel above: “If it was easy, it wouldn’t count.”

1 Comment

POSTED ON: Monday, July 18th, 2011 @ 12:55 PM
FILED UNDER: Comics & Illustration
TAGS: Scene Language

Jul 15 0 comments

Something New…

Today was a long and exhausting day, but I wanted to pop in really quickly and make a little tiny post. Here’s a preview of something new coming to the shop this weekend!

Total side note: We’ve been watching a whole lot of Parks & Rec. I watched the first couple of episodes when it premiered and didn’t really care for it, but a good friend of mine encouraged me to give it another try. When we saw it was streaming on netflix, we finally dove in and I am so glad – this show is so great.

DIY Microwave Popcorn

Let’s say you’re me. It’s Thursday night. You have to put pinbacks into 1,200 one inch buttons and are settling down to watch one of your favorite movies (12 Monkeys) but you need A SNACK.

You aren’t the sort of person who has microwave popcorn on hand, but you want a quick easy snack. WHAT DO YOU DO?

You look up Alton Brown’s DIY Microwave Popcorn recipe, is what you do.

Put 1/4 cup popcorn kernals + 2 tsp of oil into a plain ol’ brown paper lunch bag. Shake it up.
Staple the bag closed with two staples. (No more, no less.)
Put it in the microwave for 2 – 3 minutes.
Eat your delicious popcorn and swoon over Brad Pitt.

1 Comment

POSTED ON: Thursday, July 14th, 2011 @ 11:40 PM
FILED UNDER: DIY Life, Let's Eat!
TAGS: movies, one inch buttons, popcorn

Jul 13 2 comments

Every Part of the Buffalo

So, today I thought it might be fun to talk a little bit about my process. Specifically: waste. I don’t have much.

Tod likes to say that I use “every part of the buffalo.” Sometimes my studio looks like I’d make a good candidate for Hoarders, but the fact is, a lot of my work is based on taking something that was destined for the dumpster and turning it into something awesome – and with that in mind, I try to throw away as little as possible. It wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to me to “save” a discarded book, then use the cover and toss the rest.

A lot of the books that I use come from library discard sales. (I absolutely love supporting libraries!) I also find books at thrift stores and garage sales, and occasionally I’m lucky enough to receive donations from people who enjoy my work. Some of my favorite books have been outdated encyclopedias and grade school literature books – they’re packed with great illustrations and paper stocks, but are unlikely to be picked up by a kid who wants a book to read.

After I remove a cover from a book, I cut the cover down to 4” x 6” to make a wire-bound journal. The remaining pieces of the cover go into a bin, to be set aside for making brooches & picture frames. The pages in the book are used for paper kits or sold as whole book pages in my shop. Anything left over goes into recycling.

A single book may be used to make Magnet Sets, Art Journals, and several Paper Packs. It’s important to me to run an eco-conscious business, and I’m proud of my commitment to using as much as I can. I love books and it’s really exciting to me to think of how much art and creativity might come from a single book when I turn it into supplies – I’ve sent Paper Packs and Ephemera kits all over the world, and it’s so inspiring to me to think about my role in turning trash into art.

This has been on my mind today, because with our upcoming move, I suddenly have to turn more of my “stock-pile” into supplies. That’s why I’ve started making Paper Packs for each color. Today I listed red, orange and yellow. Green, blue and purple will arrive to the shop later this week. If you’re an art journaler or mixed-media artist, I hope you’ll take a peek. :)