Now in a Retail Location!

I’m SO excited to announce I’m now selling some of my furniture in a retail location! Wood Icing is an art store/Chalk Paint distributor in the local mall here where I live, and as of November 1st I’m the newest featured artist selling my furniture there!!!

Can I add any more exclamation points? I don’t think so, because it doesn’t adequately express how thrilled I am!

Let me tell you how it happened… A few weeks ago a friend of mine (who is also an artist/photographer who sells her work in the store) invited me to their quarterly open house. It was on a Friday night and they would have an Annie Sloan wax brush drawing, and drawings for certificates and an eye spy game with the art. Most all of the artists that sold their work there were attending. When she invited me, I thought, “Yes! Great opportunity to win a gift certificate for Chalk Paint!”  So, I brought a sweet friend of mine, and we had a really fun night! We were the only ones who were really serious about finding out all the eye spy clues and winning gift certificates, so at the end, we got to know all the artists pretty well and we each one certificates!! However, they couldn’t be used toward Chalk Paint, I found out later, but only toward art. I had so much fun, that I didn’t care!

This was also the same day I found out that I was featured on Miss Mustard Seed! At the end of the evening, the owner, who specializes in Chalk Paint and teaches the workshops and is the only other furniture painter/artist there, and I were talking with her daughter (another artist there), and my friend told me to show pictures of my furniture to them from my phone. So I did. They loved it and also got so excited when I told them about the Miss Mustard Seed feature! Basically, we exchanged information, and within a week, we had agreed that I would start selling my work there!

It was really an answer to prayer! We have been so blessed! My agreement is to have 4 medium size pieces (or the equivalent) in their shop. With my sweet husband’s help, yesterday we transported the dressers (wrapped in blankets in pillows to protect them haha) to the mall and installed the art!

Here are some pictures, after they were placed on display!

If I had some tips for those of you wanting to start selling in a shop… I’d say, don’t be afraid to market yourself! You have to! No one else will! Even if you think they won’t say yes, go ahead and brag about yourself a little to them and see what they say! You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

And don’t sell yourself short! I’ve talked with a few store owners, that I wasn’t happy with their protocol for selling my furniture in their stores. I didn’t feel their policies or agreements were fair, so I let them pass. This could be different for everyone, so you just have to figure out what your work is worth. So far, this one has been the best. But I’m not going to stop here! I’m going to start looking into art fairs or higher end consignment stores as well. You get a different crowd that appreciates the amount of work you put in. I’ll still post things on craigslist, because I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket.  But this opportunity is so fun because I’ll even get to start teaching workshops in the near future!

Good luck and God bless!