Give Away!

 Enter to win a copy of the New Sunset Western Gardening book. My mother was asked to review the book, and in exchange was given 5 books to give away on her blog The Art Garden.
Drawing ends soon, so hustle on over there and leave a message.
http://jocelynsgarden.blogspot.com/

Color

I'm pretty excited to see the explosion of color in fashion this spring. Its been slowly trickling back after several years of black/ gray/ tan/ white pallets.
It seems as though we are collectively saying "fuck this depression. I'm tired of this shit. Its time to have some fun."

Lets hope. Seem slike a change of attitude- collectively, is what we need.

SGAS Follow up

Well, its been close to 3 weeks. I have not raised a single cent. Well, not here anyway. I have received another generous family loan, and am now down to needing $15k.

Thank you for all of the well wishes from friends and family.

I am applying for a formal loan to finish fund raising. and trying to secure a space. I have turned in an application on one space, but have not heard back yet.

Super Good Art Stuff

I received some bummer inducing news earlier this week, my application for Kickstarter was denied.

I have been debating about what to do. The reason behind a Kickstarter campaign was to allow the friends and family and random strangers to donate a few bucks, in a legitimate way. [Please don't hand me $3 cash, I will probably end up at a froyo shop.]
Moving forward I think the best thing to do will be to place info on this blog and FaceBook, set up like a Kickstarter page.

The Down Low:
I am opening a small art supplies store in the Tennyson Art District in Denver, CO. My dream is for this to be a warm, fun, community  friendly store, carrying student and professional grade art supplies. I plan to run classes for children through adults- think Painting With Your Pet, Graphic Novel Illustration or Macaroni Snow Flakes. I cant wait to participate in Tennyson First Friday shenanigans.

What I Need:
I need $63,000 to make this happen. That seems like a lot of money, and it is. But fear not, at this time I have raised $38,000 through a grant, gifts and a generous private loan. At this time I am researching SBA type loans.

I NEED $25,000

How Your Contribution Helps:
SBA type loans have very high interest rates. The less I have to pay back, the easier it is for me to financially run a successful business.
The money collected will go toward working capital, fixtures, office equipment  like computers and printers, and inventory.
I have heard a lot of support from friends and family. People telling me that they would like to help me out- if you have $2 to donate, that's fantastic. If you have $100 to donate that's fantastic. If you are broke and want to send well wishes, I would love to hear from you!
If You Contribute:
$1- $25: A heaping spoon of gratitude and an invitation to our grand opening.
$26- $50: Store logo bumper sticker
$51- $75: 4 post cards designed for this project
$100 and up: 1 piece of original art work

CONTRIBUTE

You are making a contribution to ME. This is not a charity, or a non-profit. The money collected will go toward working capital, fixtures, office things like computers and printers, and inventory. A contribution does not make you a shareholder, or in anyway involved with the business. No money will be returned or payed back. You are not guaranteed anything, except the contribution "prizes" as stated above.

I didn't get x-mas cards out this year, so I figured I would go for Happy New Year cards.

 

In 2011 we:
Bought a tent with our REI dividend. On one of the trips an animal stole one of my shoes, in the night. I have now happily replaced them.

Went to NYC for a dear friend's wedding. It was pretty fabulous.

Insulated the crawl space of out house. The floors are much warmer now.

I was able to get new hearing aids, and sent my old ones one to someone who was desperate to have anything. I hope they are serving him well.

Our cats are still cats.

In 2012 we:

Look forward to more home improvement projects.

Getting my store up and running.

Attending a wedding in Madison, WI over St. Patrick's Day.

And, having more camping adventures.

Denver County Fair 2012

The poster for the Denver County Fair 2012 was just realease. I. Love. It.

I am planning to have booth this year and I hope to get a copy of this poster for my self.

ups and downs

Today was a bad day... mainly I discovered that I set some things up incorrectly and trying to correct the situation left me in a temper tantrum aimed at the computer. I think things can be sorted out, but not in the mood I was in today.

On a better note, my husband has decided to start training for a 200 mile relay that is planned for this summer- with a team of equally geeky and out of [running] shape, friends. His usual exercising interests are not of the gym going sort, so the shift to running is new. He is starting with "couch to 5k" and then going from there. I am proud of him for trying something new, committing to this race and recruiting a large number of people for the team.
With the store opening soon, I just cannot commit to this race planned for July. But I am sure it will be great fun.

in other news I have almost 2/3rds of the founding I need to open shop!