Month: January 2011

Elysian Studios Welcomes 2011

Categories: blogging, business, DenverEtsy, design, Elysian Studios, ETSY, Etsy Treasury, family, fiber art, Giveaways, Holidays, Irreverant Couture, jewelry, marketing, painting, Rocky Mountains, The Artful Life

2010 was the year we decided to take the plunge and get our studio started.  Despite feeling the effects of the economic downturn and having no assurance that our hard work would pay off, we committed to forging ahead with our dream of building a design business that focused on many aspects of creative life.  Elysian Studios has begun its journey. 

“Elysian” (pronounced i-‘li-zhen) means “blissful, delightful” and is “of or relating to Elysium”. In Greek mythology, Elysium was a section of the Underworld, and the Elysian Fields, or the Elysian Plains, were the final resting places of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous.  The Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the most prestigious avenue in Paris and one of the most famous streets in the world, is French for “Elysian Fields.”  The goal of our studio is to share that blissful, delightful experience of creativity with our audience.  From contemporary fine art and art history, to current textile, jewelry and craft trends, we want to facilitate exposure for artists, art communities, creative techniques and aesthetics.  

2010 Looking Back…

We now have a social media platform! We are very active in the Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Etsy and LinkedIn communities, and have made some wonderful connections.

We have an inventory! Keeping up with production along with promotion is challenging, but this year we were able to get our painting, textile and jewelry lines started. 

We had some sales! It was so exciting to see some of our items included in Treasuries on Etsy, or in tweets by our friends, and we have sent some lovely artwork off to new homes for the New Year!

2011 Looking Ahead…

Social Media: the Blogosphere, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Etsy communities are not only fun, but an amazing resource.  We will grow our base and use these tools to help connect artists to each other, and also to share art with other communities.  Look for more contests and promotions, as we try to build audience interactivity this year. In addition we will invite more “Featured Artists” to share their inspiring work and stories with us!

Inventory: We are so excited about our “Irreverent Couture” line.  We will be producing more jewelry and accessories that push the boundaries between jewelry and textiles!  There will also be several new series of paintings. White is going to be a big theme this year.  Paintings of Snow/Mountain Sports and Apilco porcelain are in preparation stages.

Involvement:  We are members of the Denver Art Museum and DenverEtsy, but will also be joining the Parker Artist’s Guild this year.  Volunteering and participating in art events with these local communities will be a big part of our schedule.  Our perspective will always be from Colorado, and we want to maintain involvement and share all the great things happening in the art world here!

Family:  First and foremost, we are a family-owned business, and will always promote family values.  Though we won’t share every cute milestone and goofy photo, we want to encourage creative activities that families can do together.  Recipes, crafts, and unique activities will add a little variety to our topics!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, and Welcome 2011!!  May you all have a very blessed year, and we look so forward to sharing it with you!

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The Artful Life: 10 Crafty Tips to Boost a Child’s Self-Confidence and Improve Academic Performance: #4

Categories: comics, family, The Artful Life

As parents, we strive to help our children grow up to be healthy, productive adults. Times are changing faster than ever, and parents are working harder to make ends meet. With constant introduction to new technology, as individuals and as a family, we have more choices than we’ve ever had before. So how do we stay focused and ensure we give our children the best upbringing possible? In this series we will share some tips we have found that help children develop a positive self image, and encourage success in the classroom.

#4: Read Together



Image by lydiaisthebombdig, via Flickr


Perhaps you see a pattern in our list…together! Almost everything involved in a family’s daily routine can be done together.  In our house, we break into groups before bedtime.  Dad goes one way with one book, mom goes another with a different book.  Sometimes one of us will read one book to both kids at the same time, it just depends.  Having reading material at home that is at or above your child’s grade level is so important.  I am amazed at how teachers tell me every year that this isn’t the case for all children.  Every teacher will tell you: “Read, Read, Read!” It doesn’t matter if it is the weekend, holidays or summer: keep reading! Reading to your children helps them develop fluency. “One definition of fluency is the ability to read aloud expressively and with understanding. When fluent readers read aloud, the text flows as if strung together like pearls on a necklace, rather than sounding halting and choppy. The most powerful way for you to help your students is to read aloud to them, often and with great expression,” says Lisa Blau in an article for Scholastic. Some of our favorite book series are: Magic Tree House, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Captain Underpants.  We are also frequent library patrons, priding ourselves on the fact that they once turned us away because we had reached the maximum number of books we could check out!  Graphic novels, magazines, Sunday comics, and internet articles are all good sources of varied reading material to expose children to. The key is to find something that sparks their interest and then go with it! Reading aloud together, and allowing your children to see you reading in your free time, are both excellent ways to model this very important activity!

What are your favorite books? 

We’re always looking for good ones!  

Stay tuned for tip #5 tomorrow!

 

Did you miss the first tips? Start here

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The Artful Life: 10 Crafty Tips to Boost a Child’s Self-Confidence and Improve Academic Performance: #10

Categories: business, family, The Artful Life

As parents, we strive to help our children grow up to be healthy, productive adults. Times are changing faster than ever, and parents are working harder to make ends meet. With constant introduction to new technology, as individuals and as a family, we have more choices than we’ve ever had before. So how do we stay focused and ensure we give our children the best upbringing possible? In this series we will share some tips we have found that help children develop a positive self image, and encourage success in the classroom.

#10: Hire Them

There’s no better way to learn how to manage money than when you actually have some, and the best way to get money is to earn it.  Though their primary needs should be taken care of by the family, how can kids earn some extra cash for those bonus treats they tend to pine for?  Hire them.  Chores are fine employ: “feeding pets”, “cleaning room,” “taking out trash,” “dishes,” etc. We also think it is great to pay them for a skill they have developed on their own.  For example: one of our sons loves to draw comic books.  We enjoy reading them and have agreed to purchase newly created comics (though it has to pass a certain level of standards). 

Our younger son loves to color.  I needed help coloring designs for an Elysian Studios project, and I agreed to pay him to help me develop color schemes.  It actually worked out quite well!  We also currently have a standing order for a new video to add to the blog, like the one in Tip #9. 

If you own your own business, is there something your children could do to be a part of that success?  Is there something your kids are extremely talented in which you would be willing to pay them a little to produce a new “product”? 

Nothing makes you feel better than when you have been rewarded for your talent.  Being able to save up for your own purchase with your own money creates a wonderful feeling of self-sufficiency.  Learning how money works is an exercise in mathematics your children will use for the rest of their lives.  This is also an excellent way to prepare them for having a career, where pay is a result of a service or product you have provided to your employer/customer.

What are some creative ways your children have earned extra money?

We’ve reached Tip #10!  We hope this has provided a few interesting ways to encourage your children to believe in themselves and succeed in school.

Missed earlier tips? Start here

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