Zazzle are now doing tea towels.

Just posted my first of a new line of products from Zazzle. Tea Towels are us.

Just to keep up with the new products being offered by Zazzle here is my first take on an old joke:-

buy it here

If you are of an age to remember these jokes, then you can search my Zazzle store to find more of these under humour.

My wife thinks that:-

Guitarists do it with their hands greeting cards by artyfax
Browse Guitarists Cards

this one has a double meaning. I thought that that was the joke in all of them. 

At last a sale from my zazzle store!

Thought my Zazzle store had become invisible or something, no sales up to or over the christmas period most disappointing. But this morning finally brought some good news - A SALE. Admittedly only a greeting card but at least it is something, brings me the grand total of £0.12. Wow, I had put in a fair bit of effort but not too much as I am becoming bored with working on the store(s) and not seeing any return. I only do a little now and then now. A whole year and only 12 sales in total and a couple of those were from me to use up the meagre royalties and a discount offer - only to find that I had to pay almost as much again in duties when they got here.

I get lots of good comments but dont seem to get any sales, I can make more writing elsewhere, but I shall keep the account live and the stores open. Adding a few products slowly, why not? I waste plenty of time elsewhere on the internet.

See new cards/postcards on my Zazzle account:

Most of my products are designed using my own artwork, especially the pastel paintings which I am currently creating. I also use some of my mixed media collage work and photography. A less often used source of images are public domain images from the internet, such as Hubble telescope pictures or Dover publications. So it is a fairly wide selection of images on a wide selection od products but sales do seem to keep eluding me.

I know I am told to keep making products on the store, but I never seem to hit the magic number which seeems to bring the buyers. Maybe it is SEO again, that debillitating subject for a creative artist which means that the internet just doesn't work for us.


Here is one of the latest postcards:-

snowdrops in a wood postcard by artyfax
color postcard printing by zazzle.com

Vintage Christmas cards on Zazzle

Just nipped back in to post this link. I just realised that although I gave some samples of greeting cards in the last post (yesterday) I did not mention christmas cards. Have to put this right! See a selection of my vintage christmas cards (and some by others) in this Squidoo lens (=web page), Vintage themed christmas cards.

Vintage themed 

christmas cards

Hope you find something that helps make your mind up.

Greeting cards on Zazzle

I wish I knew what sells on Zazzle. Have I said that before?

I guess it is just necessary to keep plugging away. And here are a few cards which I have in my card shop on Zazzle. New additions arriving (?) regularly, at least I do try to keep adding different designs to build up the number of designs available.

African Sunset Greeting Card by artyfax
Browse Sunset Cards

Hero Blue mixed media collage Greeting Cards by artyfax
Add your photos and text to blank greeting cards at Zazzle

it's a long road birthday card by artyfax
See other Greeting Cards

red sunset birthday card by artyfax
Design custom note cards online at Zazzle.

I have now started a page on Facebook to try and promote my Zazzle stores, I would appreciate your visit and possibly a like, they seem to be important for some reason. And don't forget my Zazzle lenses on Squidoo. They can all be reached via a directory lens (=lensography), but for a rundown of my first steps on Zazzle, try this one, in which I document how I learnt a few home truths while starting a store.

Autumn Leaves. Decal Walls360 from Zazzle

Zazzle has recently introduced many new products which I am only just catching up with. They now have a set of wall decals in many different sizes, shapes and configurations, which could have many uses around the home or work place - including schools. This was my first experimental design on this range of products and whilst working on this I tried out many of the configurations. I haad so many ideas; I just need a little time to actually design some viable products.

What is the fuss about? These decals can by put up anywhere, taken down and stuck up again, over 100 times. They leave no marks and no residue. Perfect for a quick change of decor in those little corners or in a childs bedroom. Take a browse at some ideas and I am sure that you will find some ideas of your own. Here is my first trial product:-

Autumn themed Maple leaf Decal 360 by artyfax
View other Autumn Wall Decals

There are many more designs in, as I say, many shapes and sizes. This one is very much larger (but can be customised to a smaller size to make it less expensive. It uses abstract patterns:

Autumn Leaves Wall Decals by ChinaberriesEmporium
Browse Leaves Wall Decals

This time of year must be the best time to visit many of the arboreta which will be showing their trees in autum foliage. In the UK, one of the best known must be The National Memorial Arboretum which is open all year (except Christmas day with free entry. Another very well known and well visited arbouretum is that at Westonbirt, a must see option for lovers of trees. And not to forget Batsford Arboretum which claims to be the UK's most visited.

For non-uk residents, just Google your country name + arboretum and I am sure that you will find many splendid examples near to you.

All of these and many more, will provide wonderful displays of autumn colour in October of almost any year

Humerous quotes on Basic Tee Shirts

One thing it is easy to do is to find quotes on the internet, just google and you will find so many. A site which I have used for my last batch of Zazzle products is Hilarious funny quotes; one of the many. I have taken a few of the quotes and made them into a two-parter, the second part being the punch line and have used these on some basic white Tee-shirts. Let me show a couple of examples:-

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT avoid nuts by artyfax
See more Text T-Shirts
 

ASK NO LIES Tee shirt by artyfax
Browse Text T-Shirts

Of couse these are just the basic Tee, there are something llike 537 different styles which can be accessed via the customisation button. This is on an orange coloured texxt button on the bottom left of the image. 

How about some Tees from other stores, Mine are not the only gems around.

I know Kung fu! Tee Shirts by popaddict
Use Zazzle's shirt designer

 

Come back in a few beers t shirt by reuthammar
Create a customised tee shirt at zazzle

Complaint Department - We're Closed Shirt by kdspenart
Create a customised tee shirt at zazzle

You can stop laughing now

 AND BUY!

thanks for your attention.

Basket Weave Design On Zazzle

Visiting one of Birminghams old historic houses, Castle Bromwich Hall last week I was looking through a volunteers bric-a-brac stall and found some textile squares for patchwork quilts - which I though I could put to use in my crafting/art.

Once home I decided to photograph the textiles and record the patterns. One in particular caught my eye, a woven basket work pattern, I decided that this could make a good abstract design for some Zazzle products. So here are a few example of the latest additions to my Zazzle store on this theme. I have photo-shopped the pattern to give a selection of different colours, if you like the pattern but not the colour, watch this space or perhaps contact me via Zazzle; I will have whatever colour you would like but it will take a little time to get onto products.

Basket Weave Galaxy Nexus Covers by artyfax
Shop for more Galaxy Cases at Zazzle

Basket Weave Deck Of Cards by artyfax
View other Weave Playing Cards

Basket Weave Mug by artyfax
Create one-of-a-kind personalized cups from zazzle.com.

Of course there are lots of other great funky and humerous designs:-

Celebrity In Waiting Tee-Shirt by artyfax
Browse more Humour T-Shirts

Using sillouettes in designing Zazzle products

How to decide upon new designs for Zazzle products. I wish I knew what sold well but I find it difficult to make any conclusions in that area.

I tried google and found several links but they do not seem to be able to be specific. Zazzle itself has a list of many niche areas available on an excel sheet but it is simply a list of of subject areas. No indication of which areas do well. It offers lists of trending themes, best sellers and most wished for but again these do not seem to be very helpful.

I am ready to give up and just do what I have been doing which is to create designs which I think are worthwhile and hope that someone, somewhere will fancy them. And try to have them available on as many products as possible. I am beginning to think it may be PROMOTION all over again. I understand CEO when I read about it but simply don't do enough of it. THIS has got to change - I need to get involved with promotion if I hope to make anything from the time I spend on the PC.

When I first started posting, I was not interested in making money on-line. But as it became possible to see some potential I started to feel disapppointed that I wasn't making more. A change in targets I wish had not happened, but it did. Now I need to start making sure that I do whatever I can to raise that total even though I am so frustrated with most things about the internet.


In particular, I am frustrated with Redgage. 
A site that you have to be daft to work with. It is still in beta after several years and is so full of bugs it rattle. I achieved their $25 dollar payout limit this summer but they said they had changed their mode of payment for off-shore members. For this piffling amount I was expected to provide there chosen partner with enough details to know me better than I know myself including a photocopy of my passport. Imagine that, sending my passport over the e-mail system to a company in a foreign country - well no thank you we all know how security is a sieve for most banks and internet companies. I have tended my resignation, they can have a cup of coffee on me!

Examples of the lapse of security on the internet are:-
Mossad, one of the most seccreetive secret services
Facebook
IT&T i=pad mail users
Cahoot internet bank
Barclays bank

and many more later examples abound on the internet.

*********************************************************************************

But the reason for this post was not to unload my frustration with Redgage on your shoulders but to post one or two of my latest designs. I have been playing with sillouettes. These are great fun and very simple, even simplistic. Will they find a niche? I don't know but here is a sample.

Coloured Horses in Sillouette, i-pad cover iPad Sleeves by artyfax
View more MacBook Air sleeves.

Coloured Horses in Sillouette T Shirt by artyfax
See more Horses T-Shirts

 

A Team Of Horses, i-phone 5 cover iPhone 5 Cover by artyfax
Browse more Horse Casemate Cases

 

Happy Horsy Birthday - yellow2 Greeting Cards by artyfax
Browse more Horse Cards

 

stallion sillouettes, tote bag by artyfax
View other Horse Bags

Lots more sillouette designs horses and other images on my Zazzle stores. 

Custom pillows for your home

After the sale mentioned in the last post, I have had a second wind on Zazzle. I have been adding a few products every day. probably still not doing enough but hey, there's real life out there.
Here are a couple of Mojo pillows for your perusal:-

African sunset(2) mojo custom pillow by ArtyfaxHome
Browse Zazzle for a different pillow.

Spanish sunset mojo custom pillow by ArtyfaxHome
Browse other Pastel Pillows

Forest path mojo custom piloow pillows by ArtyfaxHome
Browse Zazzle for a different pillow.

The images are of pastel paintings by myself and can be seen in my blog, Painting With John. The backs are a carefully selected plain colour to complement the art work on the front.

More new products soon and maybe even a sale or two to report - you never can tell. I have been writing about my My first steps with Zazzle in a Squidoo lens (or web page) which you might like to browse through.

New Sale From My Zazzle Store

Is this news? Most definitely, I have not had a sale since early June and I must admit to have been getting quite despondent.

However this morning when checking my e-mail I saw that (by now) unfamiliar message - YES!

And to make it even better it was for an i-phone case which gives me a decent royalty, not just a few cents for a card, etc. Not that I wouldn't like to see more card sales, of course I would but seeing the royalty in dollars rather than cents is so much more fulfilling. Do I sound mercenary? Well that's the reason I am on Zazzle after all. This is the item sold:-

dancing couple in sillouette iphone 4 covers by artyfax
Check out other custom cases at zazzle.com

The only issue is that as an artist, the head of the male dancer being hidden is a faux pas. I designed the item on an i-3 phone case, on which the head was quite visible.  Zazzle allows the design to be used on several versions of products, such as different i-phone cases; the idea being that.you design one product and the buyer can select the version. In this case it seems that the lens is quite different and spoils this particular version. Oh well, the buyer can always return it if upset - and my royalty can go down the pan, LOL

New Tee shirts with text designs

I have been neglecting my blogs of late, a number of family illnesses have kept me occucpied , however I am beginning to se the light at the end of the tunnel and will hopefully be getting back to normal.

On here I would like to post a coulple of newly designed shirts, one for the man in your life and one for the ladies. The text is humerous and perhaps not quite original but I wanted to hit the floor running so here are a couple of examples. Most of the past designs have featured my art work or vintage images but whilst lots of interest and compliments have emerged, this has not lead to any sales. Must ponder on the question of converting interest to digging in one's pocket. Anyway this lack of sales success has lead me to try another tack and these are two of the first examples:

Genius In disguise Tee-Shirt by artyfax
Make cheap custom t shirts at zazzle.co.uk

HERE TODAY FAMOUS TOMORROW Tee-Shirt by artyfax
Browse Joke T-Shirts

I will be looking at some famous (short) quotes and trying to come up with some original and humerous (clean) texts.  

Poems On Posters

I read an article on Squidoo recently, making money from poetry and one of the suggestions as to how to do this was to try creating posters on POD sites and make money by selling the posters. Well I was not absolutely convinced but thought that it was worth a try.

So I have created my first two posters in this group. The first uses a background image provided by one of my pastel paintings .

Poster: A poem by John Dyhouse by artyfax
More Poem Posters

The second utilises a public domain photograph.

A Poem: The Waterfall by artyfax
View more Poem Posters

Both poems can be seen and read in my Squidoo lens, Poems on attitudes to life

I have ordered a couple of Tee-shirts from my store as nobody else seems to be buying them, LOL. Seriously tho', I decided that I really liked some of the designs and in order to use up some of the money which I have been accumulating, I would treat myself to a couple of shirts.

Vintage Mothers Day Cards

Wow, sure is hard to make posts here regularly - I really must try to gee myself up. With the latest new poetry blog I now have seven on the go and I am writing articles on one or two web-sites. I am going to have to start to make a concerted effort to rationalise and plan my on-line activities.

Do you find that you spend too much time on forums without doing anything really positive ..... thats me; always procrastinating. I read rather than get down to doing that which I should be doing. A much more positive approach is needed.

Ok, enough self-development, what have I been doing on Zazzle?

I made a set of St Patricks Day cards and begorrah, I sold 24 of one design. A nice little earner.

Mothers' Day in the USA in 2012 is Sunday May 13th and a few weeks ago I started to create some mothers day cards with a view to possibly getting a few sales for this holiday. So far I have sold one card. That isn't going to make me rich. It is a small victory however, and I will be looking for more opportunities to create cards and expand my portfolio.  Like everything else on the internet, you need lots of "stuff" to even stand a chance. I am also trying to improve my SEO understanding to bring more visitors to the Zazzle store as well as my other web-sites.

Here are a sample of the vintage cards that I have in the store:

Vintage mother and daughter greeting card by ArtyfaxCards
Shop for a different greeting card template online at zazzle

Happy mothers day greeting card by ArtyfaxCards
make your own greeting cards online at Zazzle.

Of course not being sexist, I am also putting together a set of vintage fathers day cards, June 17th in the USA. Here is an examples of this set I have designed so far:

Vintage gentleman fathers day card by ArtyfaxCards
create a card designs on Zazzle

All the cards can be customised by changing or adding/subtracting any text and sentiments to make the cards personal. You can even add your own photographs.

New Greeting Cards On Zazzle

So much has been happening at home and I haven't had much time for the internet in any form. But I am finally able to see a littlte light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel. I have not been working on my Zazzle inventory until today and I have added a couple of cards to my Artyfax cards store. 
I have been working on some vintage greeting cards, these are the  images I seem to have easily available. For instance, this image of an owl ( from a collage sheet by Kim Newberg) has allowed me to use a little Harry Potter reference. Is he still cool and of the moment? Anyway here it is:-

A message by owl post greeting card by ArtyfaxCards
See more Owl Cards

I wanted to use this next image, also from Kim Newberg, but couldn't see exactly where it might be used. However that is the beauty of Zazzle, a buyer can personalise their messages if an image catches their fancy.

to say hello, greeting card by ArtyfaxCards
create cards online at zazzle

This last card uses a recent pastel painting of my own, with sentiments from the internet. I do mostly use my own words but found this and will be trying it out.

Red and yellow landscape greeting card by ArtyfaxCards
Browse more Red Cards

Hope I will be  making more regular posts from now on.