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2012 is barely seven-weeks-old. But it's already evident the little baby year has amazing potential to change things up, and grow new ways and relationships.
Today, we're highlighting the new brick & mortar friends Ginger and Ivette have already made for Bean Up The Nose Art. Yay!
 The following very fine establishments have just joined up with us to carry Bean Up The Nose Art goodies. We thank them profusely . . . and hope that when you're in their neighborhoods, you'll support them.
 * Arlington Pharmacy, 299 Arlington Ave., Kensington, CA * PegasusBooks, with three locations: 1855 Solano Ave., Berkeley, CA 2349 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 5560 College Ave., Oakland, CA
And we remain oh so grateful to our established accounts with brick & mortar friends -- many of whom we've been able to tell you about on this blog. For example, we're thankful for recent re-orders from:
 * Avatar Community Business Center in Fairfax, CA (click here for our blog post)
 The greatest source of Bean Up The Nose Art's revenue is business through our brick & mortar friends. As our blog posts attest, we admire the moxie, tenacity, creativity, boldness and courage of folks who open up their own shops and do business in the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you to shopkeepers everywhere. YOU RULE.
We would not be here without you.
Typing away on this post about last Saturday's Valentine's Day Quickie Shop, I feel like an order at Cafe Gratitude*: YOU ARE LOVED. That's you. And me. Both of us. All of us.
Because it was a great day -- from its beginning a couple of weeks ago, right up to the end of the day. And there are a lot of people to thank, for spreading all the love.
 First, @toddlieman. (To those of you not on Twitter, nor interested in being there . . . the man's name is Todd Lieman. He's at Skadaddle Media. He rocks.) Todd became a friend in real life after we met first on Twitter. Around the first of the year, he sent me an e-mail introducing me to another artist friend of his: Willow Older. Todd thought Willow and I should get together and talk about our art businesses. Todd was right. THANK YOU, TODD! Because, in the way these things magically work, I invited Willow to be in the Valentine's Day Quickie Shop. On the phone, before we even ever met in person. And she said yes. And SHE rocks, too. You can find her etsy shop here. Color, color, color. Hearts. Energy. Love. Awesomeness.
 Second, friends helped publicize in the days ahead. With Facebook postings. With tweets and retweets on Twitter. With a blog of their own about it -- telling their readers to come to the show. With providing information the day of the show to people shopping at their nearby places nearby. Totally amazing. There was this little army of love, publicizing away. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Heather Kenney (Facebook postings); to @pcarlson0001, @dianefischler, @ctygrl99, @emerald150, @sally_k, @ipeggy, @ripelife, @toddlieman, @lisakifttherapy, @nextmoon, @fun_master (for tweets and retweets); to @sally_k (for a whole darned blog post); and to @emerald150 for telling people at the Fairfax Away Station to come on down.
 Third, big thanks and love to wonderful Suskia Hyde, another great artist at the show . . .
 . . . for bringing your awesome table set-up of old-timey trunks and boxes and mirrors, for providing so much fruit and chocolate goodness to the treat table, for offering totally cool jewelry of all kinds -- from watch-works and key necklaces, to felted pieces, to great earrings and bracelets. YOU RULE.
 Fourth: the people who came by. O.M.Goodness. Wow. So great to open the new studio space to the neighborhood and get to meet the kind people nearby. Including Pamela from pamelafrye.com. And Greg, who got the day off to a wonderful start by buying Valentine's Day goodies from all three artists. (Now THAT is a mensch.) And thank you so much to all the friends who came on out and supported us local artists. Thanks to Heather Kenney, to Bogi, to Toni from Avatar, to Kirstin and David and baby Jack, to Kenji, and to all the Twitter crowd in Marin who support each other on-line, and in-person. Like @dianefischler, @lindasea, @lisakifttherapy, @momntwins, @nextmoon, @pcarlson001, and @tonicarr . . . who brought along her fabulous Ollie.  And to @fun_master, who brought A MILLION DOLLARS for us (because that's what your tweeps do for each other):  Thank you so much to everyone who not only showed up, but who bought our goodies. Like, wow. We totally appreciate it, and get a good feeling in the tummy thinking of our Valentine's Day cards going out to folks :) Most popular of the day: And most popular luggage tag: It was an awesome afternoon, filled with kindness and love and treats and chocolate and champagne. We feel so loved! And hope you do, too. Because boy oh boy, it is a very good feeling indeed. 
* * * * * * And while we're sharing our love and gratitude . . . another thing for which we're very grateful these days is the sales of our Kindle book! If you or a friend are thinking about making your arts & crafts hobby into a business, we've got a $3.99 Valentine's Day present for you! Click here for our 100 tips book to help.
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*For those of you who have never been to a Cafe Gratitude restaurant, their offerings are all titled with affirmations: "I am _______." As in "Radiant," "Fulfilled," "Nourished." Yes, it is sweet. Yes, it can also be amazingly, ingratiatingly, New-Age-Nazi irritating . . . especially on the days when you want to say, "I am Anxious" or "I am Frustrated," or "I am In Existential Angst."
Maybe it was the truly great women who signed up for Bean Up The Nose Art's "Quickie Class: Matchbox Valentines" last Saturday evening . . . one of whom said at the end of class, "We've been giving a back seat to our creative needs. And they need to climb up into the front seat now!"
Maybe it was the art journal page Bean Up The Nose Art made the morning before, envisioning holding the class space and the folks in it with fun and love.
 Maybe it was the terrific class venue: Sunny Day Salvage, in Fairfax, CA (which we've talked about here before).  Maybe it was the bubbly we provided :)
Whatever the reason, whatever combination of them, we are most grateful for getting to "teach" one of our most fun, rip-roaring classes so far.
By "teach," we mean that the eight women who were "students" needed only about 30 seconds worth of explanation of how to turn matchboxes:  into Valentines. Then, the rip-roaring began. Because those gals were off and running. Rummaging through the materials provided. Sharing scissors, glue, pinking sheers, Dresden foil bits . . . and lots of jokes and laughter about . . . well, what girls say about Valentine's-type topics. Folding, glueing, cutting.   This is not an exaggeration: what I did after the first 30 seconds of "instruction" was help find more glue. Pour some more champagne. Pass around the chocolates.
And in the 90 minutes we had together, these women created matchbox Valentines much more cool and innovative than the sample I'd pulled together. For example.  This one ended up including a PUZZLE on the inside!  Another artist composed and folded a two-sided story book into hers.  Three-dimensionality ruled.  And voila! Folks went on to design and make their own bounty of Valentine's cards, too.  What an absolute treat to spend that Saturday evening time with women who jumped in with such gusto, who were creative and confident and content in their makings-of-love. It was a gift to me to be in the company of folks who already believed they could make art. Who understood already that, as one woman said of the students she teaches to sing when they think they can't, "They're not failing. They're just confused." Who already knew that when we doubt ourselves as artists, we just need to get ourselves unconfused and unstuck. What joy to spend that time with eight folks already grounded in this understanding, who confidently went forward and made SO MUCH COOL STUFF! And who were funny, and kind to each other, and supportive -- of the folks they already knew, and of the new friends they made that night. too.
It was one of those times when I giggle inside with glee, in delight at what is going on around me, and thinking I also get paid for it :) Thank you, "students." YOU RULE!!!!
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And now, a plug for our next Valentine's Day Quickie!!!
Hoping that if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, you will stop on by the new studio space and  Yep! Come on over to 2 Florence Ave. in San Anselmo, CA. From 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. this coming Saturday afternoon, February 4.
Bean Up The Nose Art is teaming up with two other great local artists to provide a one-stop shopping spot for Valentine's Day goodies: cards, mugs, jewelry, and other gifty-goods!
  And the fabulous Suskia, who makes great steampunk-and-more jewelry. (My bad: this photo does not do it justice.)  And awesome felt creations.  And, of course, we've got cards for you:)  Hoping to see folks here this Saturday afternoon. Cool indoor studio space. Bubbly and treats while you shop. What's not to like?
Thanks for playing :)
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The greatest source of Bean Up The Nose Art's revenue is business through our brick & mortar friends. As our blog posts attest, we admire the moxie, tenacity, creativity, boldness and courage of folks who open up their own shops and do business in the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you to shopkeepers everywhere. YOU RULE.
