What Is The Universe Calling You To Do?

Cover for a custom book I am working on

So many things buzz around in my head before I sit down and write to you. I have to admit something here...this is my FAVORITE time of the day. Sitting and writing. Did you hear that? I said FAVORITE time of the day.

I want to share something with you. I have kept journals since the 5th grade. Reluctantly, I would write in them and then trash the written pages later when I reread them. Or I would start them and then never finish and due to the embarrassing fact that I left this journal half-filled, I would throw them away. God, we are hard on ourselves.

I have collected books on writing and blank books since I was in the 4th grade. Kind of a sign from the universe, don't you think? Why was I not paying attention?

This is what I am asking you today:

What are you collecting?
What signs is the Universe giving you
that you are ignoring?

Because believe me, it is trying to tell you
s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g.

Giveaway No. 3 and Something From Paris

Paris . . . is on my mind.
I have no plans to go there, but a girl can dream.
We can ALWAYS dream.


I am doing another GIVEAWAY.
Partnering with Vandi Hodges who graciously offered these gold hoops.


You can find all the details on my Facebook page for Little Lucy and Scooter.



24K Gold Vermeil over Fine Silver - Retail Value $195.00
Now getting back to Paris ...
here are a few details or thoughts that are inside the books.


Close-up of cover of book pictured above ... kinda proud of her hat.


This is one of the marblized pages I did with my friends, Brenda and Monica.


Some small details....


This paper was given to me by my artist friend Patricia Hinojosa.


Vandi just got back from Paris, and she brought me
some really CHOICE stuff.

This is some paper I had Bernard Bonnet bring
back from Paris in 2001.
Never found anything like this in the U.S.A.

I want to be this COOL.

This is the back inside cover ... of one book that is for me.I am saving it for when I go to Paris.


If you make it ... it will come.

Selling Your Art to a Retailer Continued

Chain designed by artist Laura Waldusky

This article is a continuation of my previous post about selling your artwork to a retail store. I interviewed Jennifer King, who is the Divisional Merchandise Manager for The Houston Museum of Natural Science. I tell all my artist clients that if they have not set foot in this store, they need to make a date to go. It reminds me of what the old Gump's looked like in the Houston Galleria (if anyone remembers this). They have an amazing collection of not only handmade artisan jewelry, but also some cutting edge designers like Alexis Bittar and Charles Albert. And they carry the cool stuff from these artists - showpieces. The museum's clientele is stone savvy and many of them like to take risks, and their selections offer these undeniably original pieces.

I posted the picture above, because it represents a piece of work that Laura Waldusky made, an artist that I represent, and whose work is shown at the HMNS. This is a picture I shoot in my office, sent to Jennifer King and then got feedback from her. This part of the job is really the best. Collaborating with artists, taking the information from the buyer, and then interpreting it for the artist. It is not every retail store who will let an artist have free reign to just "work their magic." And I wish more would take this approach, because look what it yields? And the bezel Laura created on this is CRAZY-good. And all done by hand.


So you have a little more information about what the museum carries and how they work with artists. Now let's get to it! Last post I wrote about what Jennifer thought were the 10 really important things to do before you try to sell to a retailer. Always wanting to start with the positive, today I wanted to help you focus on what NOT to do.

1) Do not be a pest. Buyers are bombarded with product submissions - it takes time to go through everything. Constant phone calls and emails will not speed up the process and will just irritate the person you're trying to make your customer.

2) Do not pop in to the store and expect the buyer to drop what they're doing and meet with you. It shows a disrespect for the buyer's time. Also, do not harass the sales staff about your product, about the buyer's whereabouts, etc. Basically, don't be a stalker.

3) Do not take rejection personally. Understand that buyers must make many decisions when looking at a line such as, does it fit into my store's image? Does it compete with my existing product? Are the prices too high (or too low) for my customers? Do I have Open-to-Buy dollars for this classification (Buyers work on a flowed budget - they may like your product but not have free funds for the line)? Am I expanding or narrowing this classification? These are business decisions that may have absolutely nothing to do with the quality and worth of your product.

4) Do not over saturate your market. Consider carefully where you want to sell your line and what products you want the store to carry. While I may carry some of the same lines as MFAH, I do not want the exact same product assortment. That lessens the line's impact. Be strategic and thoughtful about your product placement.

Speaking as a rep here. . . I have to really educate the artist about the above things. Sometimes they put undo stress onto me to call or keep bugging me. I know when to call for follow up, and when to leave people alone. Trust whoever you enlist to know the basic ebb and flow of business.


Touching on her point about over saturating the market, I cannot tell you how often someone tells me to call on the person right across the street from the store we have already sold to. You must remember to keep your first customers first, and to broaden your market further down the road. If someone can go across the street to buy your design, it does not hold much worth to the store that it is currently in.


Look for one more post about the RULES of retail. Following these will make or break you, I can promise you.

Want to Sell Art to a Store? Top 10 Things To Do

An Example of Vandi Hodges' Collection currently at The HMNS

Since I am always interested in helping artists out, I thought I would interview a buyer who I know and respect and ask her expertise on how to get your handmade items into a store. Please pass this on to anyone who needs some guidance in this area, because it's HARD to know what to do.

My interview is with...drum roll please...Jennifer King, the Divisional Merchandise Manager for the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Jennifer has been with the HMNS for over fourteen years. She is in charge of several classifications including fashion jewelry, fine jewelry, giftware and home accessories. The HMNS is a multi-million dollar retailer with a main store of 6,000 square feet, and a special gem and mineral store that is 1,000 square feet, in addition to 3 satellite stores. It is one of the highest attended museums in the United States and welcomes over 2 million visitors a year.

All this being said, I have placed 4 artists at the HMNS. Two of them, Laura Waldusky and Vandi Hodges, have extensive collections presented at this venue. Buying handmade for the stores is obviously one of Jennifer's favorite parts of her job. She says she is constantly amazed at all of the talent and creativity out in the world.

An Example of Laura Waldusky's Collection at The HMNS

Here are her Top Ten Things An Artist Should Do in order to obtain a Wholesale Account at a Store like the HMNS:

1) Create your brand and decide what image you want your business to project. Retailers like lines that create a merchandising story. Your products should be immediately identifiable as your work and each product in the line should come together as a cohesive whole. Alexis Bittar is one artist who is absolutely brilliant at this. He has three separate lines that are released twice a year. While each of the separate lines has it's own unique look, the individual pieces work with any other piece in it's own line or in one of the other two lines.

2) Be your own cheerleader. Don't be afraid to talk up your press, awards, what stores you are currently in, and your accomplishments.

3) Identify your customer and who you want to sell to. What kind of store do you envision your products in? This step is part of your brand creation.

4) Invest in some professional (or professional looking) photography. Photos of your product create the first impression - make it a good one. Photos should be clear, uncluttered and show details. Everything should be on a simple white or neutral background. If you can't include something that shows the scale of the piece, you need to include measurements. If you can afford it, get multiple shots of your signature pieces.

5) Have a catalog or a line sheet with clear pictures, pricing, contact information (email address please), bio, and detailed product information. For me, a print line sheet along with a digital photo follow-up works best. My mailbox (real and virtual) is overflowing, but I eventually look at everything.

6) Be professional in your presentation. That means writing a clear and coherent letter or email that tells me about your product and why it would work for my store. Consider it like a job interview - you're selling yourself and your work.

7) Really analyze your pricing. Remember, you are pricing at wholesale, not retail. You need to pay for your time and materials and then factor in a 2.5 to 3 times mark-up on the retail end. Does that retail price match the perceived value of your product?

8) Research your target store. What do they sell? Can you envision your product there? Does the store already have something similar?

9) Respect the buyer's submission and contact guidelines. Some buyers work on the phone. Some, like myself, are email only for prospective vendors. Some may have a specific submission process. Don't expect an immediate invitation to come show the line in person. Send a reminder email (with photos!) in six months. Expect that you might never get a response. Buyers are overwhelmed and usually understaffed. We're not deliberately being rude, we simply can't give an individualized response to every product submission.

10) Expect that the process will take time. If you mailed me something last week, don't expect follow-up the following week. Likely the buyer is still wading through last month's submissions. If you send an unsolicited sample, don't expect to get it back. If you absolutely must have your unsolicited sample returned, include a postage paid box or envelope. Even then, you might not get it back.


I will be posting two more articles about the process of a selling to a store. Stay tuned for what not to do, along with things every artist should know about the RULES of retail before they sell merchandise to stores.


Hope you find this information helpful. Jennifer really wrote this...didn't she do an outstanding job?

I'm On A Roll with The Second BLOG Giveaway

Yup....you heard it here first. I am doing another BLOG giveaway. What to do? What to do? And here is the item....a handmade altered art journal/book for yours truly made by moi!

Now....I did not make the book. I found it...at a retired art store (so I repurposed it) by taking it all apart, restitching it together and then altering the cover to something completely different. This is called mixed media art, and more specifically altered art. These terms were completely unknown to me 3 years ago.

Here is a close up of the stitching...


Here is a close-up of the stamps and clock....stamps are actually on a piece of a bubble mailer, so they pop up, so to speak.


Here is a close-up of the layers of paper used. I took some from s French travel journal and some from Anna Griffin. The jewels are from an old box that I bought at Events 120 years ago, or so it seems.

The book measures 4 1/2 inches wide and about 4 inches tall. The pages are blank and ecru colored with a sort of rice paper like pattern . A perfect format for:

• A Gratitude Journal


• An Intentions Book


• A Goal or Wish Book

All you have to do to win it is become a Follower of My Blog. How do you do that? Look at the top right corner where it says "Followers" and click on "become one." You have to register with Goggle. No, this will not come in your Inbox each day. Will you get spammed? Hasn't happened to me yet from signing onto others, so I think you are safe. Winner will be announced on Tuesday, June 29th. Lucy will draw the name again at 6:00 PST. Spread the word and Good LUCK!!!!!!!!

I Have Two Very Silent Business Partners

There are some blog posts I write with the reader solely in mind, i.e. something during my week occurred that I wanted to share with you. There are other posts that I write because I want to inform.

And then there are some that are really just written for me. Something I want to record about a feeling that I have and is so heartfelt, pure and raw that it is almost hard to put into words, much less share with another person. Normally in my journal, I would write something like this. This time. . .I want to experiment with trying to let you see what I often times do not share with others.

People ask me why I named my business Little Lucy and Scooter. After all, the name does not tell anyone what it is that I do for a living or what is the nature of my business. That is just fine by me, because I had that intention when I named it. Let me explain a little further.

As you may or may not know, Lucy is my daughter and Scooter is my dog. Some may think that this is a typical mom thing to do. . . to name her business after her kid. But there is so much more to the choice of this name.



I started this business as I sat in Starbucks writing morning after morning and trying to figure out what to do with the next chapter in my life. I started making lists of what I liked about my former life in retail and what I did not like - something my mom would always encourage me to do. "Make a list," she would say. With no better starting point, this is what I did. I would get up at six o'clock, roll out of the house (with my daughter and husband still asleep at home) and sit for one hour in the same spot and write.


It was not always easy. There were days the writing just poured out of me. There were days that it was hard to write 5 sentences. But I committed to the practice of 3 morning pages with Julia Cameron as my writing guide and mentor. And EVERY day I wrote those 3 pages. I still do.


I wrote down what I liked and missed about retail. There were a lot of dislikes written down too. I don't need to spell them out. What I did differently for the first time in my life was IMAGINE a life, a job, a lifestyle even, that fit with what I really wanted for my life. And one thing I wanted for sure was.....

To Wear Jeans Every Day That I Worked In My Job!

Now this may seem kinda silly to you. But for 28 years, I was not allowed to wear jeans to "the office," and if I was going to start my own thing, I was going to be able to wear jeans every day, because for once in my life, I wanted to be able to make the rules.


And I as I thought and dreamed and wished and prayed, a funny thing happened. I took one step. That one step brought me to the next step. Then a friend of a friend of a friend brought me to the next one. Low and behold, I had a business. It even had all the components that I sat and wrote about in Starbucks every day. This was not me that made this. This was me putting out to the universe what I wanted and it directly listening to me and giving it right back. I truly believe in answered prayer.


I have the privilege of a very loving husband who once wrote something to me that I carry inside my journal as my bookmark and rad every morning before I write. It says,

"Know with quiet certainty, I believe in you."

If this wasn't blessing enough, I then got aligned with the two best partners I could ever be with...Lucy and Scooter. Because it doesn't matter to me that my business say what I do, what matters is the feeling I receive every time I tell people the name of my business. I feel good starting something with my daughter's name on it. Proud. And Scooter? Well, if you had a dog like Scooter, you would name your business after him too.

My Creative Family and My Sister The Florist

Whenever I see a car that looks like this, it reminds me of my sister Tara. Around 1975, my mom and dad bought a VW bug that looked a lot like this (except the color was the same as a fluorescent tennis ball - I kid you not). This car was driven by all six of us kids. I learned to drive a stick shift from my sister Tara on this very car. This is one reason I still think about her when I see a VW bug convertible.


The other reason I think of her is she bought this car from my parents and used it as her delivery vehicle for many years when she decided to go into business for herself as a florist. My parents were shocked she could even begin to fit so much in her car. It looked pretty funny driving to the places she went with no A/C and all those gorgeous flowers in the car. She did what she had to do. And she did not worry about what people thought.


A lot of businesses could learn a thing or two by how lean she kept things when she started. I often times think of this business example before I make investments into my own business. Normally, I can get by with just what I have already.




Twenty years later, she is still in business. She has a very unique business model. Her shop is not open to the public...meaning it is not a retail flower store. It is by appointment or you can call and order something. They do not accept credit cards...no, seriously...they still send an invoice. Here is her website and her telephone number is 713.520.8010.




I think you can tell she is very talented...and the word, creative, applies to her in other areas in her life. I am going to see if she will let me take some pictures of her house...because I think you would die. She can buy things at Marshalls or TJ Maxx and mix them into her house and they look like a million bucks. My other sisters and I have been encouraging her to maybe think about staging or decorating as her next career.



A lot of these pictures are taken at River Oaks Country Club because she does their flowers. One of the cakes she decorated was in People, and she has been featured in Southern Living. She would never tell you this. I promise. She does not even have these things framed in her shop.




I have posted previously about other members of my family and their creativity. I am incredibly fortunate to have had this type of influence in my life growing up and to be able to continue to be around it.