Random Hallmark Moments: Hallmarket

Awesomely talented (and hilarious) Allyson Lassiter

Steph's on the left, Jen's on the right

   Here's a quick Hallmarket report before I crash out early (soooo tired): The weather was crummy until late afternoon, and started with thunder and lightning and rain—the works!—but I found that it hardly mattered; we were able to keep our art dry, and had a steady stream of people throughout the day. There were 92 artists; the event has grown every year. I shared a booth with Steph and Jack two years ago, and marveled today at how it had grown, in numbers of artists, patrons, and in the variety of work created. The world has no idea how much talent resides at Hallmark.

   A sincere THANK YOU to everyone who came today—I know weekends are precious, and it was drizzly, but it means a LOT to me that you came to hang out and support me and my work. (Seriously. Thank you!) The day went so fast—I was having great fun visiting with everyone. (Aki and Taylor agree... And are quite tired themselves, from their adoring fans, most especially the cute kiddos.) I tagged most of you on Facebook, but a special shout-out to my friend, coworker, and creative conspirator, Monte Cushman, who isn't on Facebook. So good to see you. :)

   As I was driving home I was thinking about the crazy Venn diagram of friends who came: Hallmark coworkers—past, present, and... future? (we'll see on that one); Humane Society volunteers; Joni, Kristi and Kaye from our big, happy, dog pack; and an amalgamation of adventure buddies: my fellow rock climbers, hikers, kayakers, yogis, snowboarders, adventure racers... it was like the bizarro universe where all of my friends collided. So awesome! Everyone always comments on how active I am, and lately I've been reflecting on why... only by participating in all these hobbies can I meet such a diverse and incredible group of friends, and they've taught me a ton.

   Big thanks to my mega-talented boothmate Steph Allen for urging me to participate, and Jack Pullan for helping us set up, mind the store all day, and take down. Thanks to Regi for organizing, and to Hallmark for its generosity and support of the creative community: not only did they provide the tents and tables for free, they bought our lunches—and took NO commission on our sales. I know, right? WOW.

   I was more than a little surprised that I sold a little under HALF my pieces. Nice validation to the huge amount of fun I had creating them. The last two weeks have been a blur. Which should teach me NOT TO PROCRASTINATE, but—d@mn!—look how well it all turned out! So I guess I've learned nothing.  ;)

   Off to bed, with a big smile on my face. I am beat.

We had enough patrons that we were standing in the rain all morning, so we weren't blocking the art! Which explains my hair in the next photo...

John Keeling's gorgeous paintings

Letterpress awesomeness by "my KC family",  Diane and Madeline

Finally posted Hallmarket Photos from October!

   I'm spending the morning (and last night, actually) backing up my hard drive. I ran across these photos and realized I'd never posted them. So, enjoy!

Random Hallmark Moments: Postcards!

Just got my order from hallmark.com: cool postcards to use as my thank-you stationery! Of course I'm biased, but seriously, our print-on-demand service is fantastic!!!

Hallmarket 2, Electric Boogaloo

   Today on the Hallmark square: the second annual Hallmarket art show & sale! Steph & Jack invited me to share their booth, and they said it was dog-friendly, so I brought the crowd-loving Taylor with me, and spared his more shy sibling.

View from our booth

Our booth

Donna VanHooser's Sundog Mosaics

Tag Team Tompkins

Steph's work

Jack & Steph's work

Jack, Steph & Penny, and Taylor & me

Michael, Aidan, and Aiden's new bat plush!

Me & my Cyclopticat

Steph & Penny

Chieko's daughter & her friend loved Mr. Tay!

Panda lover Maria Villa

Jeff Wilson's Frenchy puppy, Rocco

Renee, Joe, Rosie & Boo

Flora Chang

A guy in Retail who used to work for Disney

Sarah & Colin Walsh

Ruth Donikowski

Carol Osborne

My loot!

Pitchin' & Bitchin'

   Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Even our local alternative weekly 'zine (free, because no one would pay for it?), The Pitch. I was looking for photos of today's event and a Google search turned up an unnecessarily sarcastic story. Yes, it's true that we are artists, and we work for Hallmark. That doesn't make us sell-outs. It doesn't mean we couldn't make it on our own. Maybe, just maybe, we enjoy working in the company of 800 other fantastically-creative and talented people? That being surrounded by almost incomprehensible talent five days a week is fun? That working in a building with an art collection that rivals most museums is a pleasure? That working for a family who has been a powerful force for good in Kansas City for 100 years is inspiring?
   I could go on, but what's the point? The Pitch has some unspoken vendetta against Hallmark, which was especially transparent a few years ago when they did an "expose" on our company; an article riddled with misinformation. (I'm talking facts like the names & faces of the company's leaders, not simply differences of opinion.)
   Working for the purpose of helping people make deep and genuine connections with the people they care about is a lot better than purposefully spreading ill will. At least in my opinion. But I'll leave the staff of The Pitch to their own.

Hallmarket part 2: Update

   This Saturday, Hallmark artists will be selling their work at "Hallmarket," an art fair in the square outside headquarters in Crown Center Square, downtown Kansas City, MO. I was originally thinking that I wasn't going to be able to participate, but Steph & Jack graciously invited me to share their booth, and I've got some plush that recently returned to me in a big box after they've been vacationing in LA & San Francisco for a while (lucky plush!), so I'm going for it!
   The majority of what I have to sell are from my "Catattack" series (monster cats of all breeds: catbats, mercats, cyclopticats, reptilicats, yeticats, robocats, etc.) Shaun & Ed of Shaun of the Dead may also make an appearance. These are some of my favorite plush that I've ever created, so it's bittersweet to offer them for sale. Good homes only! All are 100% hand-sewn, one-of-a-kind art pieces, not intended to be toys for kids or pets.

   It would be nice to make a lil' extra cash, for an upcoming trip-of-a-lifetime that I'm *hoping* I'll be able to take this year... more to come on that!

My photos of last year's event

Information about the event from the Hallmark newsroom

KC Star article

Hallmarket part 2: Electric Boogaloo

   For the second year in a row, Hallmark artists will be selling their work at "Hallmarket," an art fair in the square outside headquarters on Saturday, October 1. I'm not participating myself (too many extracurriculars to make time to create all that artwork!) but will be there with my checkbook for sure. Last year's was great—don't miss it!

Information about the event from the Hallmark newsroom

KC Star article