Hope Studios...the shop

It's wedding season, again!  Sweet, romantic quotes are filling my orders these days as wedding season rolls around.   I love hearing the stories behind why a particular song verse or Bible quote is significant to the bride and groom.

One of my best customers ordered the frame below:

She always waits until after the wedding to order the gift so she can include the song from the couple's first dance.  She gets brownie points every time for being so thoughtful!

I feel like weddings come in waves, and I'm in an off year this year so I don't foresee any in my near future.  Any weddings out there for the rest of you?

If you need a gift for an upcoming wedding, Mother's Day, or any other occasion, you know where to find me at Hope Studios...the shop!

Hope Studios...The Shop

I haven't given an update on Hope Studios, The Shop since the fall and a lot has happened since then!  I have continued to "meet" some great people, hear their stories, and help them give some great personal gifts.  I combed through my photos to find a few to share.  Here are some of the custom orders I have worked on recently.

The 16x16 Photo Plaques like the one above have really taken off as an alternative to my usual 20x20 Photo Frames.  This plaque has endless options when it comes to photo placement and has been really popular for it's price point and flexibility.   I have painted some quotes that made me cry and some that made laugh like the one above.

Here is the same size 16x16 photo plaque with the photo center mounted to mimic the 20x20 inch Frames. Isn't that the greatest baby name ever??

Of  course, my mainstay remains my 20x20 Wood Photo Frame with a custom quote and center shadowbox-style photo mount. There is just so much space on this frame that the sky is the limit when it comes to quotes.  I have even painted text from actual love letters and wedding vows on this style frame.  The quote on the one above is actually the one I painted for my own mom!  Yep, trouble!

My most reasonably priced 12x12 inch Photo Plaque with custom quotes is always a great choice.  This Pooh quote is just so sweet!  I love it when couples have their own special love language I can help capture.

Check out this little number I painted to commemorate someone's first experience at a major league baseball game, this customer needed flexibility for two differently sized photos on her 16x16 inch Multi-Photo Plaque:

A gorgeous rich red 12x12 inch Photo Plaque - I wish my photo was of better quality! 

And here is a wedding gift, 20x20 inch Photo Frame. Weddings make up about 80% of my business with people choosing vows, special lyrics, and Bible verses most often:

So, that's a highlight on what has been up with Hope Studios, The Shop over the past few months!  Still chugging along!

I have sold on Etsy since 2008 (and Ebay before that), and have been pretty successful (Almost 700 sales! Over $54,000 worth of merchandise!) but the latest policy changes have left me unhappy and looking for a change. 

I noticed a site called Storenvy.com and I'm considering opening a shop as a test.  Anyone have any experience selling or buying from this site?  From what I can see, there is no listing fee but they charge a 10% fee after you sell something...hmmm...

What's Up in the Shop?

I haven't posted about my shop in awhile, so I thought I'd share some special orders and new items in Hope Studios"the shop" this weekend.

*Baseball season inspired the new Babe Ruth Quote Plaque (available for purchase).

*Wedding season inspired the Happily Ever After Photo Plaque (can be personalized with your own name and date, available for purchase)

*And the movie "Frozen" inspired the Frozen Quote Mirror (available for purchase).

The rest are custom orders from some of my amazing customers!

Have an idea?  Check out my shop to browse or contact me about an order.

What's Up With Hope Studios - the shop?

Things have really started to pick up at The Shop in the last month as Fall weddings come up. Here is just a week's worth of work - some custom and some new things for the shop.

I'm always looking for new quotes that speak to me, and here are a few examples of quotes that did just that:

Love Story



My Heart



I am always looking for inspiration, what is your favorite quote?

Hope Studios This Week

Here are the orders that shipped from Hope Studios - the shop this week!



Whew!

Happy Mother's Day!

Saturday Wrap Up

Wow, it's been a H. E. L. L. of a week...

We thought Munchkin broke his foot for about 4 days:



Thank goodness it turned out to be a bad bruise and he is off the crutches. Whew!


The Peacemaker turned 9, which seems impossible. How do these things happen???



We celebrated Easter with my family in New Jersey...



We needed to buy a new car with one day's notice as we learned my old car wasn't safe to drive all the way to New Jersey. (I don't like this sort of thing sprung on me. I like to plan, choose, save money before buying a car!)

And you could tell it was springtime at Hope Studios, The Shop. Check out the Easter egg colors that were ordered this week!



And check out this Family Tree I painted for a couple and their family of "furbabies"!



But, now the week from you-know-where is over...I have a babysitter coming soon so I can go on a date with The Big Guy, I've completed all my orders for the week, and the house is pretty clean...

Oh, yeah, there are 15 yards of mulch in the driveway. Crap. Onto a new week.

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What's up with Hope Studios? Saturday Wrap-up.

Here is what's been shakin' at Hope Studios The Shop this week. Some of these pictured are custom orders and a few are for sale right now. Happy weekend to you! See you tomorrow for a Sunday Funny :)