A source of public domain photos - HubbleTelescope gallery

Looking for inspiration for a new source of available public domain images I came across a gallery of images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. As these are government sourced, they are in the public domain and an be used with attribution where necessary. In fact many government sourced scientific images are in the public domain and would provide a vast source of images. Try googling and see what you can find.

Being interested in the science of astronomy myself, I found this an absorbing source of images. It is necessary to be selective to find images of suitable size for the products on Zazzle but there are some very colourful and fascinating images available.

I have started with a few different products in my various stores, utilising these images. Such as these birthday cards:-

mystic mountain, hubble image birthday card by artyfax
See more Hubble Cards

Hubble photo: The Crab Nebula. Birthday card by ArtyfaxCards
See more Hubble Cards

or these small gifts:-

helix nebula keyring by ArtyfaxProducts
Browse other Keyring Keychains

white dwarf star keyring by ArtyfaxProducts
Make your own custom keychains on zazzle

Helix Nebula, look to the skies mug by ArtyfaxProducts
Browse other Hubble Mugs

white dwarf star tie by ArtyfaxProducts
Create your own personalised neckties on zazzle.co.uk

Many more products with these images on are available from other stores and I will feature some of these in my next post.

Christmas gifts from Zazzle

I have started a series of Squidoo lenses which feature similar groups of product as christmas themed gifts, for example:- aprons, ties, abstract canvasses. There will be a few more to come over the next few days but this is a start.

Christmas themed ties such as

Blue Santa Tie by ArtyfaxProducts
See other Blue Ties

A number of selected designs can be found on Squidoo under

Unique Ties As A Gift For Your Man This Christmas

Aprons with a christmas touch, for example :-

Blue Father Christmas Apron by ArtyfaxProducts
View other Blue Aprons

can be found under

Unique Aprons As christmas Novelties

And if you are looking for Ceramic christmas ornaments , wether for a tree or for more general use:-

christmas star ceramic ornament by ArtyfaxProducts
Get a Christmas ornament from Zazzle.

You can find a fine selection at

Ceramic Christmas Ornaments

New products from Zazzle

Zazzle has just announced another nine different products in its range of Print-on-demand items. I have of course started to post products based on some of these. Examples are:-

Notebooks:-

Yellow abstract landscape by artyfax
View other Yellow Notebook

 

Plates:-

red poinsettia plate by artyfax
More Red Plate

I have been linking these products to Zazzle.com but if you are in the UK then you can see all of my products at zazzle.co.uk, a selection are in my main store:-

Is it too soon for christmas

I have decided that it is time I started posting a few christmas orientated products on my Zazzle shop. There are many public domain images on the internet so there is no shortage of ideas and images to use, I just need a little time to start to get some work done and design a few. I thought starting off with a few cards would be best. Then once I have uploaded some images for these I can start to turn out more products. Christmas ornaments seems to be a possibility for the next batch.

Here are a selection of the first few cards that I have posted:-

Snowman Christmas card by ArtyfaxCards
Browse more Snowman Cards

snowflake christmas card by ArtyfaxCards
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Poinsettia Christmas card by ArtyfaxCards
See more Christmas Cards

 Except for the snowflake design (from Brenda-Starr in the flickr group, collage images) , the images used above were obtained from Kim Newberg's art community, Paper Digital Art and Images by Kim

Photographs of nature

I do love taking photographs when I am out walking, and if the scene presents an odd subject, so much the better. I saw this tree and the associated growth of its neighbour on holiday last year, I had to take a photo.

It made me think about several sets of feelings including "love / caring", "fear of potential loss", etc. The other thought was "why this tree and not the other?" And looking through some old images for another set of cards I came across this having already used it last week on some tee-shirts and thought that it would make an ideal image for a postcard. So here it is:-

hold me tight by ArtyfaxCards
Create your own postcard with zazzle.co.uk

I have quite a few photos of stranger than fiction trees, I think I really must look out a few of them - could be some mileage in them. I may also start to include some of these as I find them on my blog, "photography for fun". They won't all be suitable for Zazzle so it will be an opportunity to air them.

Which sells on Zazzle, humour or image?

I have been adding products lately to my Zazzle store but I have begun to ask myself am I stopping people from buying my cards ( for example) by using messages which are examples of an off-beat humour? Should I simply leave cards blank, put images on t-shirts and leave these to sell the product. Does the average customer know that they can, or understand how to customise a product. I have decided to go for both angles. This means a little more work but should not be too ardous and if any products sell I might be able to answer this question. An example of my sense of humour:

past its prime by ArtyfaxCards
Create a notecard template at zazzle

The message inside reads:- Don't waste your time hanging around,
IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY
make sure that you have a great time and enjoy yourself
from one old ruin to another My thinking was that the image is of a ruined pier, PAST IT's PRIME. Is this too obscure? I think that this also raises the question about getting thte card seen on google. Who searches for the specific text message? Decisions, decisions, I will be thinking about this long and hard. If I get to any conclusions then I will be coming back to report, LOL

New Tee-shirts with pastel paintings

New products on my Artyfax store on Zazzle, tee-shirts with pastel paintings which have been trimmed to take away the rectangular feel - I hope.

woodland lane by artyfax
See more Lane T-Shirts

trees in orange scene by artyfax
Browse more Sunset Hats

The paintings have all been posted as larger images on my Flickr account photostream and blogged on Painting with John I am trying to build up a much larger inventory on my Zazzle stores, to date I have sold half a dozen items, cards and postcards. This seems poor but to sell this number from an inventory of less than 100 out of a total on Zazzle of 16 billion products must point to some sort of success. I just need more time to get stuff posted. Of course if you feel like helping my sales along, please feel free.

Postcards with original pastel paintings

Things have gotten so tight over the summer that I have not been able to spend much time adding products to my Zazzle stores, but at last I have managed to start finding a little time. This post spotlights some new postcards with original pastel paintings.

Not sure if I am going about things the right way though. I am adding text which the image suggests to me, maybe I should be making it far more general. On Zazzle you can always personalise messages on cards and postcards. I will have to chew this thought over if I want to make more (some would be nice!) sales.

you're hot by ArtyfaxCards
View other Yellow Postcards

Nature Lover by ArtyfaxCards
View other Yellow Postcards

thinking of you by ArtyfaxCards
More Green Postcards

You can see more about the paintings on my blog, Painting with John , and larger images on my Flickr account, see my set of pastel paintings

Birthday cards with vintage images

Another day, another card; its always time for more new products at my Zazzle store. Todays theme is vintage images. As usual they have a humerous twist, see if they make you smile:-

the astronomer by ArtyfaxCards
View more Astronomer Cards

wirewalker/juggler by ArtyfaxCards
See other Acrobat Cards

violinist by ArtyfaxCards
See other Boy Cards

I am going to have to think seriously about how to take this blog forward. The easy bit is showing new products as I add them to my store but I guess that could become a little boring. I may slow up the number of posts to give a more interesting "story" of how I am doing with sales / referrals and just generally learning the ropes.

Greeting Card on Zazzle: A bunch of purple and white flowers

OK I have posted lots of humerous cards for sale on my ZAzzle store but not everybody likes these sort of things. So of course I have posted one or two for the more serious buyers. THis one is a photograph of a bunch of purple and white flowers. Simple text and a simple message, of course all text can be personalised very easily even for those who may feel a little uneasy with computers. If you can use a keyboard - well, there's no problem. Even adding your own picture is a doddle but then you might as well design your own card so why am I saying this?

purple and white flowers by ArtyfaxCards
View other Flowers Cards

More cards to come in the days ( and weeks to come) why not browse over and see what I and other Zazzlers have to offer.

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon, button badges on Zazzle

Finding myself at a loose end tyhis weekend ( father's day and waiting for the lads to visit) I decided to post a set of button badges that I have on my Zazzle store. Taken from a set of four acrylic abstract canvasses, which were shown at my art groups yearly exhibition, they are:-

07abstract 002, I Love The Spring by artyfax
Sell art online at Zazzle.

I Love The Summer by artyfax
See more Summer Buttons

I Love The Fall by artyfax
Browse other Abstract Buttons

I Love Winter by artyfax
Browse more Blue Buttons

Lots more on my store if you want to pop across

A greeting card to throw a little light on a birthday

Still plodding away and learning as I go. Today I became concerned that although the photographic images I had been  uploading to Zazzle are fine, the scans of my art works are a little "iffy" in terms of size. I may need to consider this issue very carefully. Luckily, I have got many more photos than scans.

The problem is that the scans are smaller than the photographic images even though they are a much higher resolution. This is something that has bothered me for sometime but I believe that I was mistaken in thinking that the scans were of a suitable size, because they were a higher resolution. I have discussed this fully on my Squidoo page, my first steps with Zazzle. I put some figures to the different sources of the images and compare them with the recommended values from Zazzle.

 For now, I am posting another greeting card, possibly for a green-fingered gardener. Whatever, here it is:-

strike a light by ArtyfaxCards
See other greeting card templates on zazzle.com

I think that I will use this to make a series of specific numbered birthday cards, i.e. put a large 30,40.....,70 etc. in a suitable location omn the card. I will probably do this with some of the others. The buyer can personalise a card but will they want to bother. OK, I will provide the effort and hope that someone appreciates it.

Another sale for me on Zazzle

YESSSSS!!!

It is only a postcard for which my royalty payment is hardly going to make me rich, however it is a sign of things to come. I have a new shop with about a dozen cards and one is sold. Is this good? Well Zazzle say on their homepage that they have 41 Billion, that is 41 000 000 000 products for sale. I guess to be seen and sell one is pretty good. At least I am very optimistic that I may be able to makae a few pounds as I start to populate my store(s). The card sold is:-

make music by ArtyfaxCards
Start selling my art online with zazzle.

Very similar to the greeting card which I have already posted on here, but with a slightly different text.

Back again tomorrow.

Amusing greeting cards on Zazzle

Humerous or amusing cards can be fun and I think I have a sense of humour that most people can identify with. So as far as greeeting cards go my store has a number of amusing epithets on cards with a matching graphic. In the cards I show here, the graphics are all public domain or Creative Commons licensed images.

I have recently made a series of cards with the theme " a group of people" does it with ( or using) " something". If it doesn't make sense then take a peek at the following cards:

artists do it with brushes by artyfax
Join Zazzle's greeting card affiliate program

photographers do it thru a lens by artyfax
Shop for a different greeting card template online at zazzle

singers do it with gusto by artyfax
Join Zazzle.com's artist affiliate program

All of these and more can also be found on Tee-shirts, for example:-

guitarist_hands by artyfax
Become a part of Zazzle's artist affiliate program

All products can be customised:- design, colour and in many cases the text may all be customised to your choice. The quality of the products from Zazzle is top class and there should be no difficulties with receiving your order quickly.

Tote bags by Artyfax on Zazzle

Just another quick post to show off some of the products on my main Zazzle store; in this post, Tote bags:-

My Kinda Poison by artyfax
Sell art online at Zazzle.

Another Day Done by artyfax
Browse other Tote Bags

Tiptoe, thru the tulips by artyfax
Join Zazzle.com's artist affiliate program

Watercolour painting, pastelling and photography, all are grist to the mill for Zazzle products. I will be adding more on a daily basis to try to establish this blog. Once a week I will be posting a more in-depth article about the site and my experiences. You can read more about mu Zazzle experiences in the meantime on Squidoo, My first steps with Zazzle.

More greeting cards for my new Zazzle store

I am still adding new products to this new store trying to build up a large and interesting stock. Here is one of thte latest:-

make a little music by ArtyfaxCards
View other Guitar Cards

And how about a floral card:-

flower power by ArtyfaxCards
Shop for a greeting card on zazzle.co.uk

If you need a card why not pop over to my Zazzle card store and see if there is one you could use. I guarantee that you won't find any of these anywhere else. I have a very individual sense of humour.

A Humorous card for father

OK, just to get this new blog up and running I am going to see how long I can keep posting one-a-day.

I really do find the navigation on Zazzle a real pain. Wether it is simpy that I am not using it enough but I keep finding thjat I have to think really hard about how to get to a particular page. I do not find it intuitive. Foe example, I noticed this morning that I had made a typo on one of the cards which I had just posted yesterday. How on earth could I edit it. I soon found out how to edit the information but not how to edit the card itself. In the end I tried something and ended up re-posting it as a new product, so I had to delete the original. That can't be right, there must be a way of editing something.

Anyway, another card from ARTYFAXCards.

have a relaxing day by ArtyfaxCards
View more Water Cards

My first post

I have been telling myself for some time that I need to start a blog to comment on tmy experience with using Zazzle, a print on demand facility, to sell my art and digital designs. I started by writing a page on Squidoo, titled, My First Steps With Zazzle. However it soon became clear that I would need an on-going blog to write about and promote the Zazzle store. So here it is.

So far I have two separate stores on Zazzle, The first was started before I really knew what I was doing ( in feet first as usual) and I developed a range of products which included many different types and image sources. As I got to klnow a little more I decided that I needed to hace more than one store with a range of products from a particular niche. A card shop, A clothes shop and a gift shop. Why? Hopefully it will be easier for potential customers to find something that they will want to buy. If you are looking for a t-shirt then you expect to be able to look through a shop which sells t-shirts. At least that's my way of thinking. I will be opening 3 or 4 shops over the next few months as I race toward my retirement. Hopefully by the time I am cut adrift from work, my earnings from Zazzle will enable me to have jam with my bread and butter.

Vintage family by ArtyfaxCards
See more Vintage Cards

My very first product in the first new store. I hope to add many more soon anad I will try to let you know what I am learning about being on Zazzle. Back soon....