What will 2023 bring for Mouse Makes Art and all my followers?
The Critters still waiting to be adopted had fun and saw the new year in together by making a Lucky Pig. There are all sorts of debates as to the origin of the Lemon Pig, but it is supposed to bring luck for the coming year and the coin brings prosperity. Some say when the coin falls out of the Pigs mouth, luck and prosperity have been granted. So the big question is what will happen first the Pig going moldy or the coin falling out? I will keep you all posted.
Also, I know my lemon Pig is a Lime, other citrus fruits can be used it doesn’t have to be a Lemon. If you give this a go you need a Lemon/Lime/leftover Satsuma from Santa, 4 cocktail sticks for legs (matchsticks could also work but for safety reasons strike them first), the eyes are cloves, and the tail a small piece of crumpled tinfoil, with a sharp knife you can make two cuts for the ears and a slot for the mouth where you place the penny. Please do let me know in a message or email if you try this with a photo of your lucky pig, perhaps your adopted Mouse can help and I will post them on my Facebook Page, and we can have some fun waiting to see whose luck is granted first.
What will be happening in 2023?
My biggest hope is that I can get my YouTube channel up and running, I set a goal in 2022 to Launch Mouse Makes Art and that has taken all my spare time, especially with commissions.
On the first of January 2022 I created this, it sat on a shelf in my Artspace as a daily reminder of my Dream to launch Mouse Makes Art. So with the ethos of Mouse Makes Art being to create pieces as Eco friendly as possible, it seems fitting that I recycle this same artwork with the new dream of getting the Mouse Makes Art YouTube channel up and running.
I have a whole list of things I want to create all with a recycling theme I just need to find time to make the videos. If you have any requests on what you would like to see drop me a message below or send me a PM on Facebook. I already have one request for altered collage faces, but that will have to wait until Spring as the friend who suggested it is off visiting her family and may like to be in the country and on the same timezone as her art supplies when I release that one.
What’s new?
Last year I attended an amazing Lino printing course thanks to CLP and Step to skills, and the main goal was to be able to offer some Mouse/critter themed prints as Artwork to adorn your walls but also as affordable cards and Tote bags and even on my coasters. I’m very aware that nobody has spare money right now to buy themselves gifts so I hope to bring some pieces your way that cost no more than a coffee or two so everyone can afford to treat themselves from time to time.
If you have skipped a trip to the coffee shop or two to afford a treat may I suggest the “Put the coffee down and leave” coaster… hehehe
I’m also hoping to bring some knitting patterns your way in 2023 with perhaps a larger Mouse with a wardrobe of mix-and-match outfits.
If there’s enough interest I will also be running some workshops, but due to my Mobility, the most sensible way for me to offer these will be via zoom as there’s only so much stuff I can fit on my wheelchair plus I would need to find accessible venues to host a workshop which could make them pricey. So zoom makes it accessible and affordable to all and because it’s me they would be mainly using recycled materials which I hope would help with the cost and make some of them family friendly.
Facebook Polls?
Over on my Facebook page, I have been asking what critters people would like to see and what hobbies they would have, you all get gold stars for saying yes to my favorite animal the Fox. There are probably some of your that wonder why my business isn’t Fox Makes Art there were certainly lots of you asking where Oakley was at the CLP Christmas fair. The answer to that one was he furloughed himself in March 2020 and has been freeloading ever since – also known as starting work as a tutor and starting my own business took all my time, but maybe he can make a comeback from time to time when I’m not so busy.
The most popular hobby you want to see is Knitting with Sewing, gardening, and reading also getting a vote (I may run that poll again as I think it was mistimed so close to Christmas people were too busy to get involved.
The critters you want to see are my smaller cotton reel ones
Fox got 6 votes (love you all)
Wolf and Fairy toadstool got 5 votes each – I have some fun ideas for the Fairy toadstools so watch my Facebook page for details.
Owl got 3 votes and poor old Mouse got 1 but I’m guessing that’s because you know I will be making more as that’s the name of my business so you voted for others not seen so much or not seen at all.
So looks like I will be knitting Foxes that Knit – maybe some of their industrious activity will influence Oakly.
Website
I would like to make some changes to my website and these changes may involve taking it offline for brief periods of time but I will put out a warning on when this will happen and keep them as brief as possible.
One thing I’m keen to do is to get postal options available with costs for overseas orders organised so I can offer Mouse Makes Art to a wider audience, and make the postage fair to all. At the moment if your item is cheaper than the standard £5 I will refund the difference but with some items being heavier than others it means the ability to select couriers instead of royal mail could make more sense, especially if you are in a hurry for an item as Royal Strikes significantly slow down delivery times, which would be very disappointing if you are hoping to gift it to someone.
Also as my range of products starts to grow I would like to organise the shop into sections via a drop-down menu so you can find what you are looking for quickly. I hope to also add a menu for my YouTube videos so as the channel grows there are multiple ways to find the latest tutorials.
So exciting times are afoot in 2023 I hope you stick around as exciting changes are made, thank you all for the support you offered in 2022, I couldn’t have done it without you.