Welcome to all!
I just wanted to write a short note to tell you why I created the Cranky Bee Art website before we move on to the blogging part!
Please note, when you purchase a product through the links below, we may receive an affiliate commission (at no additional cost to you) which helps to support this project. Thank you!
I’m a full-time university student and as spring was turning toward the summer of 2021, I realized finding a job for my summer break was not looking hopeful. I was certain I would continue my university studies in the fall, however finding a job to fund my upcoming year looked less certain.
Rising tuition costs, dwindling student job opportunities, and the continuing presence of COVID-19 still loomed largely. Time was running out.
But wait! This is NOT a woe-is-me story. I had an idea.
The Idea
My idea was to start an online business! I thought about all the things I love to do in my spare time and narrowed my list to art, photography, and gardening. Playing the piano is also important to me, but I wasn’t sure how I could make that fit online.
Importantly, I wanted to find a way to combine my love of gardening with my interest in art and photography. I thought about the joy that I felt each time I gave one of my handmade cards to someone (see my about page to learn more about that!) and the pride that both of us felt in the finished artwork. Friends and family members shared that they loved their cards and often framed them, added them to scrapbooks, or stored them in special memory boxes.
And then, I had an idea: why don’t I make some of my cards available in an online store, and allow others to share in the joy of art, creativity and gardening?
Cranky Bee Art Was Born
My idea to create beautiful things from my art and photographs and then sell them to appreciative customers grew quickly. What kinds of things to make was pretty easy to figure out, but how to sell them required more research.
In the end, I decided to sell my products mostly online. I selected a fulfillment company that I was already familiar with called Zazzle. Choosing the Zazzle platform as my storefront allowed me to concentrate on making beautiful products and the business of selling was mostly left to them. (Be sure to look for an upcoming blog article about Zazzle to read the nitty-gritty details).
Cranky Bee Art Products
The next step was to decide on the products that would be a great fit for a gardening-loving-photographer-artist to create besides focusing only on greeting cards. Some of the products I’ve already created include :
- Greeting Cards on all kinds of important topics, like Adoption Days, Birthdays, Thinking of You and more!
- Wall Art featuring my floral photography and watercolour art
- Home products like pillows and tote-bags
- Apparel like t-shirts and aprons
- Gadgets like clocks, stickers, buttons, and mouse pads
- And of course – a Cranky Bee line of products!
I’m making it easy to find everything by placing links to them directly on the Cranky Bee Art website. They are all on Zazzle, too if you search for my store (CrankyBeeArt).
The Cranky Bee Art Blog
I decided to include a blog on the Cranky Bee Art website for several reasons. It would allow me to:
- promote my products to help fund my education
- have a place to share tips and tricks I have learned
- provide tutorials about drawing and the editing tools I use
- share stories and pictures I find interesting
- to engage with other like-minded gardeners and artists.
My blog is where I can share my love of nature, especially gardens, gardening, flowers, bugs, birds, critters and bees with you. There will be interesting facts about bees, gripe sessions about slugs, and gardening tips.
Cranky Bee Art is a place for humans and bees of all ages to come together and learn about the joys of creating and sharing nature-inspired art. If you’re looking for a light-hearted and upbeat blog about art, photography, watercolour art, gardening and especially Cranky Bee, then you’ve come to the right place!
What do you think about this idea? Do you have some products or designs that you’d like to see? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!
