cookie at brighton's west pier market

I haven't made any new posts lately because I've been very busy for the past two months getting cookie ready to launch down at Brighton's West Pier Market. After a very blustery weekend and a failed attempt last Saturday, I checked the Met Office for Brighton's weather forecast, packed the car up and headed down bright and early yesterday morning. With just a light breeze off the sea and the sun poking through the mist, I set up my stand with the beautiful, eerie skeleton of Brighton's West Pier as a backdrop.

OK, so I didn't make a fortune (cookie) -- which may have been a little anticlimactic -- but what made up for it were the amazing PEOPLE I met. And to me, that was everything. My neighbor stall owners were helpful, encouraging, friendly and very welcoming.

Though the weather was stunning, there weren't a lot of people down on the pier, and everyone agreed it was a particularly slow day but that I shouldn't let it discourage me from coming back. Who knows, maybe it had something to do with it being a Wednesday, or maybe people were just shocked that we finally had a summer's day in England and it took them a while to remember where the beach was.

Either way, I'm not judging anything from just one day. I'll be back down on Saturday! (Let's be realistic, if everyone had an office space like this, that wouldn't be a very difficult decision to make, would it?)

cookie do whatcha make of it. (heh?)

It's a rainy, dreary day in Southeast England and my youngest sister (mert) is no doubt tucked up safe and sound in her bed in Seattle after her long flight home yesterday. For the two faaabulous weeks she was here with us, I did very little work on cookie . . . so today I followed my other little sister's (mel.e) lead and got me a spot on blogspot.

Since I launched my website (cookiechang.com) and opened my etsy shop (cookiechang.etsy.com) last May, I have admittedly done little to promote them. And how stupid! I spend so much time creating things: making dolls, painting, illustrating, writing, yada yada yada . . . how is anyone going to know they exist and are available to purchase if I don't actively tell them? Duh.

Joining the UKTeam on etsy has been really helpful and I'm learning about the importance of networking sites, etc. Talk about time consuming though! It's hard to divide my time between creating and producing art and promoting it -- but, as I'm learning, there ain't one without t'other.

So I'll end this entry with a couple pictures of my recent work.

This is my Mamey Beergarden doll. Look familiar? Like someone else we might know? You can have her for your very own by clicking on my etsy link on the right!


I've also had limited edition ACEOs of some of my paintings printed. In case you don't know what an ACEO is, it stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals and must always be 2.5" by 3.5" -- the same size as baseball and other trading cards. They're meant to be an affordable way to collect art. And at just $8.00 for 4 signed edition prints on etsy, I'd say that's pretty affordable!


You can also visit cookiechang.com and learn about cookie's "crumz" -- the naughty little characters who like to do their virtual crumfiti on various landmarks in the UK. You can even hear their voices (god knows I do).