Well, quite a lot actually!
You should know by now that when it goes a little quiet on the blog, it usually means that my life has become busier. Several exciting things have happened over the past couple of weeks, so I'll share a few of them with you today.
May Bird © Natasha Newton
1. My Twitter followers already know about this, but I had a wonderful surprise on October 13th when I found out that my online shop had been featured on the popular Design*Sponge website! This was a huge honour which has resulted in many new followers - or 'admirers' as Etsy calls them - for the shop. And I've also sold every piece - and more! - they featured in the article. You can read the D*S feature here: The Blackbird Sings on Design*Sponge
2. Also as a result of Design*Sponge, I've been contacted by the Deputy Editor of Homes & Gardens magazine who saw the feature and wanted to know whether they could include some of my work in a nature-inspired article next Spring. Of course, I jumped at the chance! I'm incredibly excited because I've loved this magazine for years and have bought countless copies - I can hardly believe that my work is going to be featured. They want to include one of my sycamore 'Feather' plates (like the one in the D*S article) and also a collection of my painted stones. I'm busy working on the pieces right now as the photo shoot is in mid-November. I'll keep you updated with news of this!
3. I've spent some time updating the website recently - take a peek here. A new page has been added, Licensing Images, because I've had a lot of enquiries lately from people who would like to use my images and designs for their websites or projects.
4. You may remember that back in mid/late August I mentioned I was raising money for the charity Cancer Research UK by donating 10% of all proceeds from sales of artwork through my online shop to the charity. This continued until the end of September, and I'm pleased to say that I managed to raise £50.20, which I think is a decent sum! Huge thanks to everyone who bought something during this time. I'll be popping a cheque in the post to Cancer Research UK within the next week or so.
5. I just wanted to mention that I've been overjoyed with the growth of The Blackbird Sings this year and I will share a statistic or two to show you just how much it's grown in the past few months. I posted a blog back in March of this year celebrating the fact that the shop had reached 1,800 'admirers' (people who have added it to their favourite shops on Etsy). I opened The Blackbird Sings in September 2008, so it had taken roughly two and a half years to reach 1,800. Fast forward to today, 26th October 2011, and the shop now has a total of 3,524 admirers (at the time of writing).
Those of you who are doing the maths will realise that in just seven months The Blackbird Sings has almost doubled the amount of admirers! It gives me a huge amount of satisfaction to be able to share this news with you, because building an online business takes a ridiculous amount of hard work and dedication, and I'm only now beginning to feel as if it's really paying off. There's still a long way to go for The Blackbird Sings - I have many plans and exciting ideas for the future - but thank you for giving your support and for following me along the way!
There are now lots of new pieces (stones and paintings) in the shop that I haven't had a chance to share on the blog yet, so please take a look here.
And finally...
The Snape Maltings Gallery in Suffolk have offered me a Solo Show for Autumn 2012! I had a meeting with them at the beginning of October to discuss the details and we're all very excited about it. This type of show takes a long time to plan and we're already compiling a list of people who would like to attend the Private View, so if you would like to receive an invitation nearer the time please contact me via email: natasha@natasha-newton.co.uk - include your name and postal address and I'll make sure your name gets added to the list!
You have had an amazing year both creatively and in the organization of the business side of your art! You are an inspiration in the way you interact with people in such a lovely way, too!
xx {O}
Posted by: leon | October 26, 2011 at 09:22 PM
Holy moly, congratulations! You deserve all this and so much more. I'm only sad that by the time I have a home to buy one of your originals for, they'll be worth a gazillion bajillion dollars. x
Posted by: Katherine | October 27, 2011 at 10:02 AM
Wow, congrats on the features! It is so exciting to be featured in a magazine, to see your work in their beautiful glossy photos. I've just sent two owls to Paris for a photo shoot for art & décoration magazine :)
Posted by: Laura | October 27, 2011 at 12:17 PM
Congratulations, Natasha, on all your hard work to get you where you are today!
Posted by: Jennifer Brooks | October 28, 2011 at 04:10 PM
Thanks so much everyone! And congrats Laura, on the magazine feature in Paris! Brilliant news. :)
Natasha x
Posted by: Natasha from The Blackbird Sings | November 03, 2011 at 07:29 PM