SUMMER IN SARATOGA SPRINGS

Have you ever been to Saratoga Springs?  It's a magical place!  So many things to do and see, including strolling and shopping in the victorian downtown.  I've been going there for many years.  My brother and his family have lived there for a long time and my mom moved there about six years ago and lives on Saratoga Lake .  It really has become my second home.  I've also done quite a bit of business there over the years where our magnets have been sold in gift shops, museums and farm markets.  We make quite a number of Saratoga specific designs from original paintings I have done, several of which I have posted here.  One of the shops, The Crafters Gallery, is pictured here.  We've had our magnets in their shop since they opened over 15 years ago.  They carry both our Regional Saratoga Magnets as well as our Quotes and Sayings Magnets.  Visitors love to take a memento home from their trip and our Saratoga magnets are a great little souvenir.  They also buy a lot of our Quotes and Sayings magnets for themselves and for gifts.  Here are examples of some of the regional magnets we have for sale there.



Canfield Casino



A Victorian Home

One of the original paintings
I did for a magnet of the
National Museum of Dance

 Aside from visiting the Historic Saratoga Race Course and the renowned Saratoga Performing Arts Center which is a remarkable venue for the orchestra, rock concerts, and the ballet, one of my favorite places to visit is a long time customer of ours, National Museum of Dance & Hall of Fame.  The museum is a program of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. It was established in 1986 and is the only museum in the United States dedicated entirely to dance. Located in the former Washington Bath House, a spacious, airy 1918 Arts and Crafts-style building in the Saratoga Spa State Park (another wonderful place with many things to do and see, the museum houses a growing collection of photographs, videos, artifacts, costumes, biographies and archives comprising a contemporary and retrospective examination of influential contributions to dance available to the general public.

There is studio space on the property for advanced students in ballet and dance programs to enroll in master classes with renowned dancers, rehearse in sessions open to the public and participate in pre-performance conversation with visiting professionals. Education, residencies, and performance on the Museum campus enriches the atmosphere by representing the future of dance, as well as its past.

This grand facility is available for rental by individuals or groups, for catered weddings, gatherings and events.

This is one of the photo magnets we make for their gift shop.  We've also used this for custom wedding favors for events held there.  Below is another magnet of their logo.

I'm off to visit this week for a couple of days.  Maybe I'll see you strolling downtown, at the track, or the Dance Museum!

Fredda

The Magnificent Magnet

http://www.themagnificentmagnet.com

JULY ETSY TREASURIES AND FAVORITES

JULY TREASURIES

The Etsy Treasuries that we were featured in during the month of July are listed here.  Take a look at the collection of curated items with a central theme.  We were very pleased to be selected as part of these collections of Etsy artists.

Here's a cute treasury for "us girls."

This is the one that was selected for this treasury, but click below to see the entire collection.  Titled:  Girls Just Want to have Fun

Another Treasury that I liked is titled  Life is About Creating Yourself

And finally, Primary Lifesaver, a curated collection of art and craft of primary colors.

JULY FAVORITES

And our top five Etsy "Favorites" that were selected for the month were ALL for supplies of our Magnet Sheets or our Ceramic Tile Magnet Blanks.  Make Your Own Magnets is very popular for creating your own special wedding favors, party favors, and Save the Date magnets.  It's also great for turning your child's art into a magnet.  Our previous blog entry has instructions for making your own magnets.

Below is a sheet of magnet with the peel away paper that reveals the adhesive side of the magnet.

We also feature ceramic tile blanks that can be painted and embellished with your choice of craft items.  Painting can be done with glass paint or markers or you can use regular craft acrylic paint and then spray it with an acrylic gloss glaze.  A sharpie pen works well to write your message on top of the glazed magnet.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fredda

The Magnificent Magnet

http://www.themagnificentmagnet.com

http://www.themagnificentmagnet.etsy.com

CREATE YOUR OWN MAGNETS!

We're offering our magnetic sheets for sale on ETSY and instructions to MAKE YOUR OWN MAGNETS.  Purchase our magnet sheets in small quantities of 3 sheets that are each 7 x 10 inches.  Our magnetic sheets are .030 inches thick...sturdy and strong.  They DO NOT go in your printer, but rather have an adhesive backing that is peeled off and your print is adhered to it.


You can create wonderful and lasting keepsakes for party favors, photo magnets, or favorite mementos of a trip or event. Put your children's artwork on a magnet! 


You can scan your subject in and reduce it to the size you want on sites such as PicMonkey.com  which is an easy photo editing site or any other photo editing software you have, print it out and put it on a magnet!  Keep them for yourself or create wonderful event favors and gifts to give out at parties, dinners, fundraisers, etc.  The possibilities are endless!


Here are the simple instructions for creating your custom magnets:

How to make a magnet

Proudly display your favorite photos, child’s artwork, or memento on your fridge!  Great party favors for birthdays, family gatherings, clubs, and other events.  Perfect stocking stuffers, teacher and bus driver gifts for end of year presents.  Use your computer to create all kinds of things to put on a magnet!

1.    To begin, select the photo or artwork you would like to make into a magnet.  You might want to crop it a bit bigger than the final magnet to allow a bit of space to trim down the edge.

2.    Cut a piece of magnet a little larger than the size of the finished artwork size, leaving the paper backing on.

3.    To make placing the artwork or photo on the magnet a little easier, place the magnet piece on a  metal cookie sheet to hold it in place.

4.    Peel back about an inch of the paper backing and place your artwork face up on the sticky surface of the magnet.  Now carefully peel the rest of the paper backing away and smooth the artwork on the magnet as you peel the backing away, to make sure there are no air bubbles.  A brayer (roller) or even a rolling pin or a glass works well.

5.    Trim the artwork that is on the magnet to desired size.  A paper cutter works well for straight edges if you have one, otherwise use a pair of sharp scissors and cut around the artwork, photo or shape.

6.    Your magnet is now ready to display, give as a gift, or even sell on Etsy.com!

Questions?  Reorders?  Email us at greatmagnets@aol.com

The Magnificent Magnet...there’s a magnet for everyone!

http://www.themagnificentmagnet.etsy.com

Last Month's Etsy Favorites

Had a wonderful day in the garden.  Hope you enjoyed your day too!

Just looking at the different Etsy "Favorites" magnets for the month of June from our Etsy Shop. 

A "Favorite's" tag for those of you who may not know, is when someone clicks that they like a certain piece of your work or they like your entire shop. 

We thought we'd pick a few of the many tagged favorites for the month of June.   

This was the top favorite! 

It's part of our new MAGNET SUPPLIES section on Etsy.  We decided that people might like to put their "stuff" on a magnet and enjoy it on their fridge.  Others might like to create their own wedding favors, save the dates, or magnets for a family reunion.  So we are now offering our Magnetic Sheets and simple suggestions about How Make Your Own Magnet.  We also have ceramic tile magnet blanks that can be painted on and sprayed with an acrylic glaze.  We're hoping to get our decals available soon with instructions for water slide application onto the tiles.

The next most popular was this teacher magnet.  We offered quite a few teacher quotes this year, and this one seemed to be the most popular.

This humorous GOLF theme magnet came in third.  Golfers Diet...Live on Greens!  'Tis the season for golf and we do a lot of different golf sayings for golf dinners, gifts for golf partners and the like.

Stop by our Etsy Shop at http://www.themagnificentmagnet.etsy.com/ and have a laugh!  Click on your favorites!

Our regular site for gift shop owners, museums, historic sites and wineries features our Regional Line, Museum Designs, and Winery theme magnets
http://www.themagnificentmagnet.com/

Thanks for visiting!
Fredda
The Magnificent Magnet
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June Etsy Treasuries that featured The Magnificent Magnet

Here is a list of Etsy Treasuries that featured The Magnificent Magnet during the month of June.

An Etsy Treasury is a curated group of handcrafted items that have been selected by a member who has created this collection.  These are the magnets that were included, but click on any of the links to see the complete treasuries.

TENNIS PLAY 



IT'S THE IRISH LUCK THAT KEEPS THEM SMILING



A 20TH ANNIVERSARY


WHEN IT COMES TO FOOTBALL, WOOPS SOCCER, I AM VERY BLACK AND WHITE ;)


GRADUATION IN BLUE


GARAGE SALE ART


Have you shopped Etsy?  It's a great group of artists who create amazing things as well as a Vintage collection of items sold by many vendors.  Take a look at our shop and then look around from there.
http://www.themagnificentmagnet.etsy.com/

Have a great weekend!
Fredda

New Product! Magnetic Bookmarks

Happy Friday!

We are excited to be launching a new product...magnetic BOOKMARKS!  These laminated little works of art come in our sayings and quote designs as well as our regional designs.  Any of our magnet designs can be made into a bookmark...we are slowly converting all of our artwork to reflect this, but if someone lets us know, we can created a bookmark of their choice.  These place holders for books are double sided art that fits over the page and snaps closed.  The magnet makes the bookmark stay in place so you won't lose you place.

We have launched this on http://www.themagnificentmagnet.etsy.com/ and will be offering it in our wholesale catalogs shortly.

Here is an example of our new magnetic product.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/102550356/magnetic-friendship-bookmark-pink-flower


Fredda
http://www.themagnificentmagnet.com/

New Wedding Magnet Launch and Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day!  We were busy filling orders for all types of Mother, Grandmother, Oma , and Godmother magnets.   We were also very pleased to be featured in two Mother Theme Treasuries on Etsy.  An Etsy Treasury is a group of selected items curated into a collection and titled.  Click on the two we were featured in to see the lovely curated collections from talented Etsy artisans.

FEATURED ETSY TREASURIES

I Love My Mommy 

Momma Said There Would Be Days Like This

By far, the most popular magnets this year were our Mother-in-law quotes.  We have two sayings and although you might think they are the same, the messages are totally different.  I was very lucky to have had a wonderful mother in law.  I could have given her both quotes as they were both very fitting.  Here’s to my own wonderful mom, mothers and grandmothers everywhere and to all the wonderful mother-in-laws out there who all share the joy of motherhood.

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

NEW! WEDDING MAGNETS AND PARTY FAVORS FOR ALL OCCASIONS!

Just made and delivered the Wedding Favor magnets for my future niece Ali’s wedding.  Refrigerator Magnets make such a wonderful wedding favors and party favors because they provide a lasting memento of the event that continues to be seen every time the fridge door is opened.  This happens to be a destination wedding in the Outer Banks in North Carolina, so they have selected a seaside theme magnet and are adding their names, date, and location.  This will be a great reminder of what I know will be an amazing weekend.  We have made these refrigerator magnet favors over the years for weddings, both as party favors and Save the Date magnets, family reunions, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, fundraising dinners, and many other events.  These are some of the designs that we suggested to Ali and her mom…can’t tell you which one or if it even appears here because we want to keep it a secret.

 

We are making these Wedding Favors, Save the Dates available in our Etsy Shop, TheMagnificentMagnet.   Stock designs will be featured as well as the ability to have custom magnets made to match the exact theme and colors of the wedding.    Themes for Family Reunions, Baby Showers, Bridal Showers will also be featured.  Although we have been making all of these themes for many years on an individual basis for local customers, we are excited to be launching them nationally on Etsy with quantity pricing.

Well, back to the studio to create more of our Magnificent Magnets!

Fredda

http://www.themagnificentmagnet.etsy.com
http://www.themagnificentmagnet.com/

Magnificent Magnets and the Pollock-Krasner House

Magnificent Magnets and Pollack-Krasner House

One of The Magnificent Magnet’s newest museum customers is Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center.  This is the former home and studio of Jackson Pollock and his wife, Lee Krasner.  As an art major, I remember studying the Abstract Expressionist movement in college when pursuing my degree in art, and Jackson Pollack was an artist that always fascinated me. 

Here is the magnet design the museum selected, which is a photo they provided us of the inside of the studio.  Our magnets will be featured for sale at the museum beginning this month! 

Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) is regarded as the undisputed leader of the Abstract Expressionist movement. In 1945, he married fellow artist Lee Krasner (1908-1984) and moved from New York City to Long Island’s East End. With a loan from art dealer Peggy Guggenheim, they purchased a small homestead on one and a quarter acres overlooking Accabonac Creek in The Springs, near East Hampton.

      

The property is a National Historic Landmark, a federal designation that recognizes its significance as one of the nation’s most important cultural monuments. It is also a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios program.  Built in 1879, the house is typical of the 19th century farmers’ and fishermen’s homes in Springs, a hamlet in the Town of East Hampton.

Their opening exhibit is The Persistence of Pollock, May 3–July 28, 2012.  Co-organized by the museum’s director, Helen A. Harrison, and art historian Bobbi Coller, the exhibition will feature works that reflect Pollock’s powerful impact and attest to his continued presence as a reference for contemporary artists. The featured artists are Janine Antoni, Robert Arneson, Lynda Benglis, Mike Bidlo, Arnold Chang, François Fiedler, Joe Fig, Red Grooms, Ray Johnson, Vik Muniz, Alfonso Ossorio, Norman Rockwell and Lee Ufan. 

I love this image by Norman Rockwell that features Pollock’s work.

                                                     Norman Rockwell, The Connoisseur, 1962.

                                                Magazine cover. Pollock-Krasner House collection.

The Pollock-Krasner House looks like a great place for a day trip or as a destination if you are vacationing in Long Island.  I am planning to visit this summer when I spend the weekend at my friend’s beach house on the North Shore.

For more information on this site, the exhibit and future exhibits, click here to go to their site.  Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center. 

We are so pleased to welcome them as a customer and to have our handcrafted magnets in their gift shop!

Fredda

http://www.themagnificentmagnet.com

http://www.themagnificentmagnet.blogspot.com/

Museum Village and Magnificent Magnets

This week I’d like to feature another Orange County, New York favorite of mine. 

Museum Village in Monroe, NY is a place I have visited since I was a very little girl.  School trips, camp trips, Brownie and Girl Scout trips are all part of the happy memories I have of Museum Village.  It is the place where I first discovered my life-long love of rock candy that I bought in the gift shop!  Moving forward a generation, it is a place where my daughter and I spent some happy times on several occasions.   

At Museum Village, visitors can shop in a 130-year-old general store, see a real Mastodon skeleton, dip a candle, step inside a 200-year-old log cabin, sit in a one-room schoolhouse, and watch a broom or coverlet being made.

Museum Village still pursues its founder's vision of educating generations of Americans about the work and life of their ancestors.  Through educational programs, hands-on-exhibits and special events, Museum Village is dedicated to exploring and interpreting 19th century rural life, as well as inspiring an appreciation for the evolution of industry and technology in America.  It’s a local gem that is fun to visit.

These are the magnet  designs that we have painted from photos they provided us that we will be featuring for sale in their museum gift shop.  Magnets make a great little memento of a visit to a museum or historic site.

  

 

Do any of you have memories of Museum Village that

you would like to share?  We'd love to hear about them!

Above is Museum Village's logo that
they provided for us to make magnets.

The Magnificent Magnet blog, the first day!

Hello!
Today is the first day of my blog!

I hope to use this blog for a gallery of the magnets we are creating for the gift shops, museums, historic sites and wineries that we sell to around the country, as well as new items we are posting daily to our retail shop on Etsy. 

I also want to use our blog to promote our different customers who have locations that are interesting  to visit and organizations we belong to that we feel are notable.

One of the organizations we recently joined is the Museum Store Association where we feature our magnets for museums and historic sites.  If you are a museum or historic site, this group is well worth joining as the members are a teriffic networking group and it is a very interactive site.

Another group we are associated with is Orange County Tourism in New York State's scenic and historic Hudson Valley.  I just came back from a meeting last week where Scott Levy of First Brain Media spoke on Social Networking.  The OC Tourism group meets, exchanges brochures and networks on great things to do in Orange County.  We gained a new customer from this meeting, Gillinder Glass Factory in Port Jervis, NY and are making custom Gillinder Glass logo magnets for them.

This company is one of the oldest glass making companies in the United States!  They give interesting tours, have a glass store on premises, and is a fun thing to do in Orange County!

Well, it's a beautiful day and I am going outside now to work in my garden, so I will leave you with a gardening quote for today...           My Heart is in the Garden!  You can see more info on this magnet by clicking the highlighted quote.

Have a great day!

Fredda