Order these sweet little books on amazon.com or, find them at / order them from your local bookstore!

Keep an eye on our facebook page as we will be posting give-aways leading up to Valentine’s Day.

Also, visit our website for the cutest love cards to send to that special someone.

xo-joyce

The Dragon is the fifth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 animal signs that include the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Snake, Horse, Sheep (or Goat), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Apparently, everything is magnified in a Dragon year, there will be spectacular successes as well as crash-and-burn failures. Also, as water does not have a definite shape and it represents flow, movement, and fluidity, this will be a year of changes, adjustments, new directions, and unexpected turn of events. This is the year to try new things but be sure to tread carefully and prepare for the unexpected!

According to Chinese tradition, a person’s birth sign has a profound influence on personality and destiny. For those expecting little Dragon babies, those born under this sign are said to be driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. While Dragons frequently help others, rarely will they ask for help. They are very strong-willed and have tempers that can flare fast. Because Dragons prefer leading to being led, they have the potential for accomplishing many great things.

For that perfect Year of the Dragon new baby gift – be sure to check out our Dragon onesies and onesie/bib sets.

May the Year of the Dragon bring good fortune to you all! Wishing you all the happiest of New Years!

xo joyce

Some highlights:

♥ New Mobile Apps
I was able to combine my two passions — art and technology — with the release of Kiwi and Pear’s World Adventure, an interactive storybook app, and Kiwi and Pear’s Balloon Adventure game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. With over 25,000 downloads combined to date – I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to spread love, hugs, and happiness all over the world!

♥ New Licensing Partnerships
Collaborating with amazing companies such as Badge Bomb has enabled me to focus a little more on what I love to do most which is illustration and design! Also, I still get a kick out of running into products with my designs on them in stores! Look out for some of these cool new items in 2012:

♥ New Books Published
The release of my two latest books You Are My Cupcake and We Belong Together published by Cartwheel / Scholastic.

♥ Book Launch Celebration
All my family, friends, and colleagues in one room to celebrate the release of my new books with me — and with tasty cupcakes! What more is there to say?

♥ Last-Minute Hawaiian Getaway
This trip reminded me that we all need to take a break from work and do something fun, out-of-the-ordinary, and spontaneous sometimes. As I gazed in awe at a full rainbow that I spotted in the middle of a field while driving around the Hawaiian countryside (after having made my friend pull over on the side of the road so that I could take pictures!), it also reminded me that we should never lose touch with our childlike sense of wonder.

♥ Teaching Continuing Education Courses at The School of Visual Arts, NYC
Having taken these very SVA continuing education courses and now, seven years later, teaching them myself has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I have found great joy in helping people take their creative pursuits to the next level, and hopefully, providing them with as enriching of an experience as continuing education courses has provided me over the years. For those of you in the New York area, make good on some of those New Year’s resolutions and register for my 2012 Spring Semester course on Greeting Card Design or Art Licensing!

♥ 2011 Society of Illustrators Original Art Show
One of my new books We Belong Together was 1 of 150 books selected out of 600 entries nationwide to be featured in the Society of Illustrators 2011 Original Art Show, an exhibit which showcases the year’s best children’s books. Not only was it my first time having a piece of my professional work hanging in a gallery but to be featured alongside artists, whose books I loved as a child and still idolize today, was a dream come true.

♥ New Book Contract
Just days before the Christmas holiday (when I thought everybody had gone on vacation already — mental or otherwise), I received wonderful news from my rock star literary agent Teresa Kietlinski of Prospect Agency that she had finalized the contract for me to illustrate SLEEPYHEADS, by Sandra Howatt, a cozy bedtime book about all the places baby animals rest their sleepy heads to be published by Beach Lane Books / Simon & Schuster! What a way to close out a year!

Thank you to all of my dear family, friends, and fans for your inspiration and support. I wish you all the very best in 2012 and am very excited to share a brand new year with you.

Let me know, what were some of the best things that happened to you in 2011?

xoxo-joyce

The New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF) is a trade show that is produced twice annually by GLM Shows and is open to the trade only (people involved in gift-related businesses including buyers, press, sales reps, wholesalers, importers, exporters, and distributors). Held in January and August in New York City, the Fair hosts 2,800 exhibiting companies showcasing the very best lines across the home, lifestyle and gift spectrum and attracts 35,000 attendees from all 50 states and 85 countries.

I’ve been exhibiting at NYIGF for about 5 years now and have met many of my customers and even my first publisher Blue Apple Books at this show. Setting up the booth for a show is a tedious process but it’s fun and rewarding to see everything put together when it’s all done!

It took us a record-breaking 8 hours to set up the booth!

Voila!! The Wanart booth at the New York International Gift Show Summer 2011. The fabric on the sides of the booth are custom-made curtains from RoseBrand. The backdrop is a vinyl banner from Echod Graphics. The wood-like foam flooring is from Soft and Safe Floors. The display shelves on the sides which I painted to match my furniture are from Clear Solutions.

What a whirlwind summer! With teaching the two SVA continuing ed classes, the SCBWI Conference, the new book releases, and the New York Gift Fair past me, for the first time in a couple of months I feel like I can breathe. Now it’s time to switch back into creative mode and dive back into some new book ideas – can you believe it’s September already!? @_@

xoxo – joyce

Last week the National Stationary Show was in town! I chose not to exhibit this year (see me at New York Gift Show in August instead!) as I am trying to channel some of my creative energy into books right now but that show in particular has a special place in my heart because it is where I launched my company Wanart back in 2003 and exhibited for 6 years! The National Stationery Show was eye candy central with so many gorgeous designs, products, and booths. The Javits Center was bursting at the seams with creativity!

The conference opened with keynote speaker Seth Godin, best-selling author of 13+ books, marketing entrepreneur and ‘agent-of-change’. His book Purple Cow was one of the first books I read when I started Wanart and it changed the way I thought about business and everything I do really – I’ve been hooked ever since. A few “Sethisms” he stressed during his talk:
* Art = solving a problem in a new way.
* Make something worth talking about.
* Ideas that spread, win…

I love that guy!

To leave you with some eye candy, this year the National Stationery Show, in partnership with retailer Kate’s Paperie, presented the exhibit “Paper Runway” a collection of one-of-a-kind paper dresses and accessories (made completely out of paper products—gift wrap, ribbons, and greeting cards) created by some of today’s cutting-edge fashion designers such as Lela Rose, Susan Woo, and Yeohlee along with visual merchandising and design students from New York City’s LIM College. Here were some of my favorites!

GORGEOUS huh??? I WANT those dresses – who cares if they aren’t practical in the rain! ;)

As always – love, hugs, and happiness!

xoxo,
Joyce

I have been using their accounting software Quickbooks since I started Wanart years ago and am a big fan of their new GoPayment app that lets me charge credit cards on my iPhone at street fairs and book signings. I have to admit, dealing with financials isn’t the most exciting part of business, or even one of my strengths for that matter, but keeping proper accounting records and financial statements is probably one of the most important things a business owner can do. Thanks Intuit for the nice write-up! xoxo

I just found out I will be teaching a continuing education class at the School of Visual Arts for the Fall semester! For any of you in the NY area who may be interested in creating/marketing/distributing your own greeting card/product line, this would be a great class to take! Classes start next Tuesday, September 21! The details are as follows:

Course title: Greeting Card Design
Code: ILC-2797-A
Meeting Day: Tuesday
Start date: 9/21/10
End date: 12/7/10
Class hours: 06:30PM – 09:00PM
Location: New York City

This course will prepare students for the design, production and marketing of greeting cards and gifts in the “social expression” industry. Drawing skills are required; however, emphasis will be on concepts and ideas. Products will include: greeting cards, wrapping paper, postcards, paper party goods and stationery. We will discuss concept development, contracts, pricing, copyright laws, mass-market sales, freelancing and public relations. Students will complete a mini-collection ready for marketing. Information for card and paper companies, printing demonstrations and an introduction to industry standards and materials will be included, as well as how to prepare finished artwork for printing production. NOTE: Please bring samples of your work to the first session.

I can offer students current, real-world advice on how to effectively manufacture, market, and distribute their own greeting card/product line as well as license their artwork to product manufacturers and the publishing industry.

Having taken this very course seven years ago in addition to a few other SVA courses over the past several years, I believe in the value of continuing education and have experienced first-hand how it can, indeed, enrich one’s life.

Click HERE for a link to the course on the SVA website. Hope to see you there!

xoxo
joyce

The show was great and the overall mood was upbeat. One of my booth neighbors even reported that it was their best show ever! Things are definitely picking up and that’s good news for everyone. Here are some of my pics from the show:

I forgot to take a picture of the booth before I started setting up but I took one of the booth across so you can see what we have to work with. Not much thats for sure! A day and a half later….

Voila!! The Wanart booth at the New York International Gift Show Summer 2010. The shelves on the sides which I painted to match my other furniture are from Clear Solutions. The backdrop is a vinyl banner I ordered from Echod Graphics. The rest of the furniture is from Ikea and Target. The foam flooring (I don’t recommend doing shows without them – after 4.5 days of standing, your feet will thank you) is from Soft and Safe Floors.

Detail shot of the left side of the booth.

Detail shot of the right side.

I made little signs and posted them around the booth to highlight certain items.

ME! Someone at the show that day told me that my cupcake dress looked yummy!

One of the highlights of the show was the day my agent Teresa Kietlinski of Prospect Agency visited me with her daughter. What fun we had!

On one of the days I even spotted a pigeon on a buying trip! He didn’t buy anything from me though.

In terms of actual sales taken at the show I can say I’ve had better. Although, if a couple of the leads I met at the show pan out – it could be my best show ever! That’s one of the great things about these shows – you just never know who you’re going to meet. It was this very show where I first met my publisher of Greetings from Kiwi and Pear, Blue Apple Books, a couple of years ago. With exposure comes opportunities – that’s what I always say! Now I have to switch gears once again and get back into working on some of these book ideas I have been developing. Can you believe Fall is right around the corner?

xoxo
joyce

In the Cards: An Interview with Joyce Wan

Although Joyce Wan designed her first greeting card while she was in the first grade, it wasn’t until much later when she started her own card company Wanart. From her first line of Chinese Zodiac cards, she has branched off into framed prints, clothing and now children’s books. She was able to spare some time and answer a few of our questions.

**************

Tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up? What did you study in school?

I was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts and now live in New York City. My parents owned a little Chinese takeout restaurant where my three other siblings and I used to work when we were growing up.

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I designed my first greeting card when I was in first grade for a city-sponsored greeting card design contest. The design won first place and was subsequently mass-produced and sold through a major department store chain.

I studied architecture at Barnard College with the hopes of becoming an architect. I thought that it would be a creative yet practical career but something was still missing for me and I grew very disenchanted with the work I was doing. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be designing greeting cards when I “grew up” but here I am!

Read more here!

Check out my recap of the conference as a guest writer on children’s book author Tara Lazar’s blog.

Here’s a picture of me hanging out with Bumblebee at the Licensing Show!

The Licensing Show was overwhelming and slightly intimidating! I exhibited last year but decided to just walk the show this year. I’m in the process of finding a licensing agency who will help me to procure licensing opportunities while I focus on my core business. I decided this after much soul searching and coming to the realization that I really can’t handle everything with wanart, publishing, licensing and designing! Although I don’t have any qualms about making my own deals, and have done so up until now, I figured that I should really focus on what I do and love best which is art!

Walking the show enabled me to see what types of agencies were out there, how they represented themselves, what kind of clients they have and how would I fit in. Strangely, I thought it was less intimidating when you had your own booth. When you have your own booth you’re kind of in your own little world unaware of what you’re up against. Walking the show made me realize that I have a long road ahead of me if I want to break into the licensing biz, though, I think I am up for the challenge!